Desktop Blue Screens, Apps crashing and Failing to Install

[Meletis]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forums and I'm creating this thread because I'm experiencing weird issues with my desktop PC since December 2022 and none can find the cause or fix to it. I've wanted to make my own rig some time now, I saved up money for few years as I'm a uni student and I finally managed to build my own rig. I specify the components below before I describe the problem;

- Asus GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB GDDR6
- Asus TUF Gaming B660-PLUS WiFi D4 Motherboard ATX
- Intel Core i7-12700 2.1GHz
- G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB DDR4 RAM
- Samsung 870 Evo SSD 1TB 2.5'' SATA III
- Samsung SSD 980 NVMe M.2 500GB

I've had the PC since early November, I built it on my own with instructions and help from my cousin and a few tutorial videos. Everything worked fine at first, good performance but occassionaly weird framedrops. Around December just before Christmas, apps started crashing with message errors like "memory "..." couldn't be read" then apps started reloading and eventually I was getting blue screens with tags like "MEMORY MANAGEMENT" "KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE" "BAD POOL CALLER" and more. I tried to fix the problem on my own, did a format but with no luck.
I visit a PC tech store at my place, I describe the problem and the technician keeps the PC for about 1-2 weeks (Holidays didn't make it any better) and he updates that there's a problem with the disks and specifically the M.2 (windows were installed there). He told me it was slightly bent and a few days later he updated me that he fixed it and installed windows again. I go home to test the PC and same problems arise again. Apps fail to install correctly and weird behaviors overall. I go to the same tech again, this time he informed me that since my motherboard supports "windows 11 ready" that we should install windows 11. He installs windows 11 but it doesn't fix anything.

Few weeks ago, I decided to go to another tech store which is a bit far from my place but I read it had good reviews. As usual I describe the problem and they thought it was the M2 at first but the M2 worked fine in other computers that they tested. He de-assembled the PC and assembled it again, just in case I didn't do something correctly. He installed Windows on the M2 on a different PC and then put it on mine again. He said he made all updates, even BIOS updated, he tested the PC for a few days and that it was working fine except a single blue screen but he told me those happen. I got the "fixed" PC just yesterday and today I opened it again, without touching any updates or drivers, I went on to install apps and games and they were crashing mid installation, weren't installing correctly and then more blue screens.

I am getting very desperate at this point, I don't know what to do. I'm upset about this because I also gave a lot of money. I at least would sleep safer knowing the cause of the problem but none can identify it so I'm hoping someone here can help me. All components are brand new, bought from stores. I also apologise if something isn't clear, English isn't my native language.

Thanks in advance and I'm hoping that I get some help with this.

[xeromist]

These issues could be memory related. Did any of the technicians try other memory sticks or try running the memory at slower speeds? You may want to run some memory tests. I like HCI memtest and it has a free version, but you'll have to manually open multiple copies to test 16gb(each copy testing about 2gb).

[Meletis]

They did not test any of that no. Only the second technician told me over the phone (Before I handed in the PC) to take one stick out and let it work like that, but still the same problems. I also did a memory diagnostic through windows and I remember getting a "hardware problem" result. My cousin is coming over sometime the weekend with a pair of ram sticks. We'll put those in my machine and test it. Hopefully you're correct about it being memory related.

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello, Meletis.

Thank you for the relevant information and description.

May I ask if you have chnnect a external equipment, any installation/replacement hardware equipment, or recently installed or updated software/applications before the BSOD?
Could you please share the requested information below?
- screenshots of the error message
- the OS version and OS build
- the serial numbers of your motherboard and GPU via pm
- the current BIOS version used and the content of the setting in BIOS (or whether it is the default)

Meanwhile, according to the TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4 support page, the G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB DDR4 seems not to be listed in the QVL list. It is recommended that you cross-test the memory in the QVL list.
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/tuf-gaming/tuf-gaming-b660-plus-wifi-d4/he...

Thank you.

[Meletis]

No i didn't install anything new before the BSOD.. Here is the information you asked of me, I hope i got it right;

OS version: Windows 10 Home, 22H2 (with the recent format)
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 2212, 13/December/2022, UEFI

Below are the pictures;

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello, Meletis.

Recently, the Samsung 980 "PRO" SSD seems to have had users report that the drive is abnormal and cannot enter Windows.
It is recommended that you check your SSD model, cross-test with other SSDs, and confirm with Samsung customer service if needed.
Meanwhile, I have forwarded your case to our relevant teams. If you have done cross-testing on the SSD, please share the brand, model, and results with us.

According to your post, you mentioned that after the second repair, the blue screen occurred after reinstalling apps and games. I am wondering if it might be caused by the software.
May I ask what apps and games did you install (name and version)? If you uninstall these software programs, will the blue screen still persist?

Thank you.

[Meletis]

The technicians did some tests with the SSDS. Both of them told me that they had trouble installing windows and drivers properly on both SSDS. The second technician however, told me that he moved the m.2 to his own pc and managed to install windows there with no issues at all. He then put the m.2 back in my pc to install drivers and he told me he faced 1-2 bluescreens during installation but he said it's something that tends to happen. So I'm assuming windows are properly installed in the SSD as he used a different machine for that and I'm thinking that it could be memory related issues in the end like it's stated before.
Apps I start to install are; Spotify, Discord, Bnet and then attempted to install World of Warcraft to test if everything is okay. Spotify and Discord would crash or start reloading and for example during WoW's installation I'd get a bluescreen and at 99% I'd get an error about the installation not completing and when I attempt to play the game it crashes after 3-4 minutes. I'm gonna attempt to run smaller smoother games as well but I think I will have the same results. And yes, I've ran the PC with just the drivers and minimum stuff. Without anything running, it seems to be fine. But even Mozilla would crash here and there. In the next few days I'm gonna test replacing my memory sticks with my cousin's and update again.

[Meletis]

Okay I just noticed something. I lowered the RAM speed to 2000. I started Installing overwatch 2 and I had task manager open on the side and keeping an eye. My GPU was up to 30-35% usage while installing, then suddenly it dropped to 0% and then up to 30% again and right after I get a blue screen with "memory management" error.

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello, Meletis.

May I ask if you have updated all drivers to the latest version after reinstalling Windows 11?
Please go to the TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4 support page, select Windows 11, and check if all the drivers have been updated to the latest version.
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/tuf-gaming/tuf-gaming-b660-plus-wifi-d4/he...
It is recommended that you refer to the following link to restore BIOS setting as well. https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1030210/

Also, could you please share the current installed graphics card driver version?

Thank you.

[Meletis]

Current installed OS is windows 10, sorry for the confusion. First technician installed windows 11 then the second one upon doing a clean format installed windows 10. I checked through Armory crate too and all drivers seem to be up to date.
However I am confused regarding my graphics driver, as an app installed it says;
516.94
In device manager tho the driver edition says; 31.0.15.2824
Again, it wasn't me who installed the drivers.

On another note today I tested with my cousin's Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB 2666 mHZ. Everything ran smoothly, except a wifi disconnection twice on startup. I installed overwatch 2, no blue screens and installation completed properly. Also played for a bit. Also I don't know if it's important but with my Gskill ram, I wasn't able to enable XMP. Like the option "enable" wasn't even showing. However with the Corsair ram, the option was there and I was able to enable XMP (i didn't though) so maybe that hints that my ram wasn't properly compatible. Do you think it's now for sure a RAM issue?