***Chat GPT wrote this up for me. I have spent a long time trying to get this computer to run properly.***

Computer Type: Desktop
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D — 16 Core / 32 Thread
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero
BIOS Version: 2402
RAM: 96GB Corsair Vengeance RGB, 2x48GB, Part # CMH96GX5M2B7000C40 — rated DDR5-7000/XMP, currently running at 4800 MT/s
PSU: Lian Li Edge Series 1300W, 80 Plus Platinum, Fully Modular
Case: [I don’t think we have recorded the exact case model — fill this in if you know it]
Operating System & Version: Windows 11 Pro 25H2, Build 26200.9168
GPU Drivers: NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Driver 616.56 WHQL
Chipset Drivers: AMD X870E Chipset Software 8.08.12.551
Background Applications: Problem has occurred with minimal background applications running and has persisted across a fresh Windows installation. Primary affected applications are Firefox and, under some extension configurations, Chrome.
CPU Cooler: Lian Li Galahad II LCD SL-INF 360mm AIO

I’m trying to diagnose persistent and increasingly strange application/browser crashes on a high-end Windows 11 system.

I’ve already gone substantially beyond the usual “reinstall the browser / update drivers / run a memory test” troubleshooting, so I’m hoping someone may recognize the pattern or suggest the best next diagnostic step rather than having me randomly change BIOS settings and hardware.

System specs

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D — 16 cores / 32 threads
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero
• BIOS: 2402
• CPU Cooler: Lian Li Galahad II LCD SL-INF 360 — 360 mm AIO
• RAM: 96 GB Corsair Vengeance RGB, 2×48 GB
  • Part number: CMH96GX5M2B7000C40
  • Kit is rated for DDR5-7000/XMP
  • Currently running at 4800 MT/s, according to Windows
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
• PSU: Lian Li Edge Series 1300W 80 Plus Platinum, modular
• OS: Windows 11 Pro 25H2
  • Build 26200.9168
• AMD chipset software: 8.08.12.551
• NVIDIA driver: 616.56
• Firefox: 154.0.1 during the most recent crash batch

Main problem

Firefox has been the worst offender.

One common symptom is when opening links into background tabs. I middle-click a link, the new tab briefly shows the correct URL/title, then the navigation seems to disappear and the tab becomes blank or turns into a generic “New Tab.”

I reproduced the same behavior using Ctrl + left-click, so this is not a mouse/middle-button issue.

Eventually Firefox starts crashing content processes, sometimes many tabs in rapid succession.

This is not limited to complicated or ad-heavy websites. I reproduced it repeatedly on Wikipedia.

Firefox has also crashed while running in Troubleshoot Mode, so extensions, themes, and the normal accelerated graphics configuration have already been largely removed from the equation.

Firefox troubleshooting already done

The crashing has continued despite:

• Firefox Troubleshoot Mode
• completely fresh Firefox profiles
• testing an older version of Firefox
• disabling/removing extensions
• removing Bitwarden
• changing Firefox tab-loading/unloading settings
• a complete Windows reformat and clean installation
• graphics-driver reinstalls/updates

At one point I had a large crash storm where many open tabs turned into Firefox Crash Reporter tabs at essentially the same time.

After closing them, Firefox became difficult to open at all.

Firefox crash signatures

This is one of the reasons I’m concerned that something deeper than a single Firefox bug may be happening.

The crashes are not all the same signature. I’ve seen crashes in several apparently unrelated parts of Firefox, including:

style::properties::generated::StyleBuilder::build

That one reported:

MOZ_CRASH Reason: Accessed vacated style struct
Process Type: content
Crash Reason: EXCEPTION_BREAKPOINT
Crashing Thread: StyleThread#5

Other signatures have included:

webrender::pattern::PatternKind::from_u32

js::BarrieredBase<T>::unbarrieredSet

JS::Value::unboxGCPointer

js::gc::InCollectedNurseryRegion

and repeatedly:

mozilla::detail::EndianUtils::copyAndSwapFrom

One example Mozilla crash report ID is:

bed7306a-4d3f-4f43-a175-69cd80260827

That particular crash happened with approximately 88 GB of physical RAM still available and only about 12% system memory usage, so this does not appear to be ordinary memory exhaustion.

The variety of crash locations — style engine, JavaScript GC/pointers, WebRender, etc. — is what makes me wonder whether Firefox is detecting corrupted state originating somewhere lower in the system.

Chrome has also behaved strangely

I eventually gave up on Firefox temporarily and moved to Chrome.

Chrome initially worked fine. I had approximately 27 tabs open simultaneously without a problem.

Then:

1. Installed the Bitwarden extension.
2. Chrome began crashing almost immediately.
3. Removed Bitwarden.
4. Chrome became stable again with ~27 tabs open.
5. Later installed/configured uBlock Origin Lite.
6. After closing and reopening Chrome, it hung and crashed again.

I also launched Chrome using:

--disable-gpu
--disable-extensions
--user-data-dir=<temporary profile>

That stripped-down Chrome instance remained stable and handled multiple Wikipedia tabs normally.

So Chrome may have a separate extension/profile-related problem. I’m not assuming that its crashes necessarily have the same cause as Firefox.

Firefox, however, continues crashing even after extensions were removed and while running in Troubleshoot Mode.

Other possibly related crashes

These may or may not be relevant, but I’m including them because they occurred on the same PC.

ChatGPT desktop app

The ChatGPT Windows application crashed and at one point would no longer reopen normally.

I uninstalled it, rebooted, and reinstalled it. It initially continued having problems, although it eventually began working again.

Online assessment / secure browser

A PSI/Delta Airlines online assessment workflow crashed twice on this PC.

One crash happened almost immediately after starting the first test question. Another occurred after roughly 15 minutes of setup/recording/checks.

These could be unrelated, but they are additional application failures on the same machine.

Hardware testing already completed

MemTest86

4 complete passes

Result:

ZERO errors

This was performed before the most recent Windows reformat.

OCCT CPU + RAM

30-minute test:

• Large data set
• Normal mode
• Variable load
• Auto instruction set
• Auto threads

Result:

PASS — zero errors

OCCT CPU

30-minute CPU test:

• Normal
• Variable
• Auto instruction set
• Auto threads

Result:

PASS — zero errors

The 9950X3D reached approximately 95°C under sustained OCCT load, but:

• no calculation errors
• no shutdown
• no reboot
• no BSOD
• no WHEA events

The CPU is cooled by a 360 mm Lian Li Galahad II AIO.

OCCT Core Cycling

Configuration:

• cycle through all physical cores
• 30 seconds per core
• 2 threads per core
• 33-minute duration

With 16 physical cores, this resulted in approximately four full sweeps across all cores.

Result:

PASS — zero errors

There was one earlier attempt where OCCT displayed:

CPU - Crashed

after approximately two seconds.

However:

• OCCT had not recorded a calculation error
• Windows logged no WHEA event
• there was no normal Application Error/WER entry
• immediately repeating the exact same Core Cycling test for 33 minutes completed successfully with zero errors

So I’m not treating that single occurrence as proof of CPU instability, but I’m mentioning it in case someone recognizes the behavior.

OCCT VRAM

RTX 5080:

• 80% VRAM allocation
• 15 minutes

Result:

PASS — zero errors

No artifacts, driver reset, crash, or black screen.

OCCT 3D Adaptive

RTX 5080:

• Variable GPU load
• 30 minutes

Result:

PASS — zero errors

Again:

• no errors
• no artifacts
• no display-driver reset
• no black screen
• no reboot

WHEA / Windows hardware errors

I queried the Windows System log for WHEA-Logger events covering the preceding week.

Result:

No WHEA errors at all.

No:

• Cache Hierarchy Errors
• Bus/Interconnect Errors
• Machine Check Exceptions
• corrected CPU errors
• memory-controller errors
• PCIe hardware errors

Obviously no WHEA events does not prove hardware is healthy, but there is currently no WHEA trail pointing toward a specific component.

Drivers / Windows / firmware already checked

The machine is now on a fresh Windows installation.

Current configuration:

• ASUS BIOS 2402
• AMD X870E chipset software 8.08.12.551
• NVIDIA RTX 5080 driver 616.56
• Windows 11 Pro 25H2 build 26200.9168

Before the Windows reformat I had also already performed a DDU graphics-driver cleanup/reinstall.

On the new Windows installation, the NVIDIA driver was later updated again from 591.86 to 616.56, followed by a full reboot.

Firefox immediately continued crashing afterward.

I also checked Windows for inpout / WinRing-type low-level drivers because of known compatibility issues involving some RGB/peripheral software.

None were present.

Power / cooling

The system has:

• Lian Li Edge 1300W 80 Plus Platinum PSU
• Lian Li Galahad II LCD SL-INF 360 mm AIO

So simple PSU undersizing or using an obviously inadequate CPU cooler seems unlikely.

Obviously that does not prove the PSU or cooling system itself cannot be defective.

Memory configuration

The RAM kit is capable of DDR5-7000 using its performance profile, but Windows currently reports:

Speed: 4800
ConfiguredClockSpeed: 4800

So it is currently running at the conservative JEDEC 4800 MT/s speed rather than 7000 MT/s.

That makes an aggressive memory overclock less obvious as the explanation.

I have not yet systematically tested every BIOS CPU setting individually.

What I’m considering testing next

At this point I’m considering these possibilities:

1. 9950X3D CPU/cache/per-core instability that conventional stress tests are not reproducing.
2. PBO / Curve Optimizer / ASUS automatic CPU tuning causing marginal low-load or boost-state instability.
3. Integrated memory controller / motherboard issue, despite four clean MemTest86 passes and clean OCCT CPU+RAM.
4. Testing the RAM one DIMM at a time, even though MemTest86 passed.
5. A true Windows clean boot to eliminate third-party services/background software.
6. Windows 11 25H2 / build 26200 interaction.
7. A motherboard or PSU problem that does not produce WHEA errors.
8. Some driver/service/software component injecting into browser processes.
9. Something obvious I have managed to overlook.

What I’m hoping to get help with

Given the testing above, what would you test next, and in what order?

I’m willing to:

• load full BIOS defaults
• explicitly disable PBO
• disable/reset Curve Optimizer
• test one DIMM at a time
• perform a clean boot
• test another PSU if evidence points that direction
• change additional CPU/memory settings
• gather more crash dumps/logging

But I would prefer to follow a logical diagnostic tree instead of changing five things simultaneously and never knowing what actually mattered.

The thing I find especially strange is that this machine can survive fairly brutal CPU, RAM, VRAM, and GPU synthetic testing without errors, yet Firefox can fall apart doing something as mundane as opening a bunch of Wikipedia links into background tabs.

If anyone has encountered a 9950X3D / AM5 / X870E system that passes stress tests but produces seemingly memory-corruption-style application crashes, I would especially appreciate hearing what eventually fixed it.