ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero random freezes and BSODs

[konstanz]

For some reason my PC randomly freezes. Sometimes the screens go all black, sometimes it's a hard lockup where no input is registered, sometimes I get a BSOD. It's very strange because this machine has been very stable for the past two years or so and I've only started encountering this issue a couple weeks back.

GPU and CPU temps are fine so I'm confident I've ruled out temp issues.

Specs:

• Crosshair VIII Dark Hero, BIOS ver 4402
• AMD Ryzen 5950x
• Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360
• 64GB G.skill Trident Z (F4-3600C17Q-64GTZR)
• EVGA RTX 2080 Ti FTW3
• Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 11 1000W
• Windows 11 Pro

I have tried:

• using default CPU clocks
• turning off DOCP
• running sfc /scannow and DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
• increasing RAM voltage to 1.36 V
• disabled global C-state in the BIOS

A peculiar yet interesting finding: for some reason when I have task manager and/or HWiNFO running, the system crashes more frequently. The one time I didn't run either of those programs, the system managed to be stable for over 24 hours.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Silent_Scone]

Hello,

occasionally, when tools such as HWINFO are polling the system this can induce instability faster.

Firstly: enter the UEFI and select tools, run Memtest86 and see if the system can pass at complete defaults.

[konstanz]

Hi,

Just finished 4 passes with 0 errors. Really stumped...

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello, @konstanz 

May I ask what specific software or hardware changes you made before experiencing this anomaly?
Checking the QVL list on the official website for the ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero shows that the specified model or part number you provide is not listed under the category of 3600 MHz memory.
Therefore, we suggest installing a single memory module in the recommended DIMM_B2 slot as stated in the user manual and reconfirming the problem, or try the memory listed on the QVL.

Additionally, the latest BIOS version released is 4501 as of May 23, 2023.
We also recommend attempting to update to the latest BIOS version and clearing the CMOS before rechecking the issue.
Please note that the official website release times may have a few hours of variation across different regions.

Thank you.

[konstanz]

I can see that it's listed in the QVL though...

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello, @konstanz 

Apologies for the misleading information. In that case, we would recommend testing a single memory module in the DIMM_B2 slot or updating the BIOS and clearing the CMOS before reconfirming the problem.

Thank you.

[konstanz]

Updated BIOS to 4501, tried with a single RAM stick, and I still have the freezing issue.

For some reason the system works perfectly when it's not idle, however when there's no activity for at least a couple hours it just freezes and will accept no input at all. I'd always have to forcefully turn it off. No BSODs, no dumps.

Event viewer: The previous system shutdown at [time] on ‎[date] was unexpected.

Power plan is set to max performance, not sure where else to look at this point.

Would appreciate any advice.

[konstanz]

Thanks for letting me know about the latest BIOS version, I'll try it and will report back in a few days. Thanks!

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello, @konstanz 

Based on your description, we would recommend cross-testing with other system disks or performing a Windows restore to rule out the possibilities of infection or insufficient disk storage.
Please ensure to back up your data to avoid any potential loss of important information.

Thank you.

[freddynerky]

ROG Crosshair VIII Hero WI-FI here.

For the first time in many months this started happening to me.  What gives ?