Memory related BSoD - Bad motherboard or CPU?
I recently built a new rig with the below specs:
CPU: i5 12600KF
MOBO: MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4
GPU: MSI Ventus 3080 OC 10GB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 3200MHz CL16 2 x 8GB
PSU: MSI A850GF 850W
I've had it built for about three weeks now and have been experiencing infrequent blue screens which I thought were due to the fact I'd swapped hardware without reinstalling Windows.
I went through the reinstall process for Windows 11 last night and was barely able to complete it due to dozens of blue screens. Nearly all of then pointed to a memory issue.
What I've tried so far:
Disconnecting all USB devices and moving them one at a time to different ports.
Disconnecting extra hard drives.
Reseating PSU cables.
Disabling XMP profiles.
Reseating RAM in the same slots (#2 & #4)
Moving RAM to different slots
Trying only one stick at a time in different slots.
Trying single sticks of my old, known working, RAM.
Running MEMTEST86 - so far I've tested one each of the new and old sticks and both have failed on the new CPU and Motherboard. However, I've tested them again on my old CPU and Motherboard (i5 6600K & Asus Z699) and haven't had any errors yet.
So, I'm thinking I either have a bad motherboard or a bad CPU in my new rig. Any ideas on how to diaagnose which is the culprit? I haven't yet tried reseating the CPU in the new rig yet, but it is something else I will try.
Posted Apr 13, 2022, 12:44 AM UTC
Have you confirmed that your RAM is compatible with that motherboard and CPU? If it’s a memory related BSOD, I would be looking at that first and not the motherboard or CPU.
The spec sheet didn't list specific models of RAM but the speeds are compatible with both kits of RAM I've tried.
Thanks for the idea though
Another thought is to update your motherboard BIOS. I built a PC for my buddy last year and we confirmed all parts were compatible but we couldn’t get it to POST. Turned out it needed a BIOS update to support the CPU.
Yup I've updated the bios. I've also now reseated the CPU and removed my remaining SSD. Memtest still falls immediately. Next I'll try another GPU. I'm clutching at straws here. **
Well you may be right then, sounds like a bad motherboard or CPU but it’s hard to say which one without swapping everything over to a test board including the CPU. That’s the best way to test it. It would be unfortunate to RMA the board and that not fix it and then have to RMA the CPU and wait even longer but it’s hard to say which one is the cause without testing each of them on different hardware.