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System Crashes during gaming

Tom 0 Reputation points
2026-05-16T20:37:49.7733333+00:00

Good Afternoon,

I have for a few months been dealing with system crashes & am at a loss. I feel like I have tried everything. Been using Chat GPT to work through the issue here is a list generated by ChatGPT detailing what I have tried.

System / Crash Issue Summary

  • Hardware

    • CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
    • GPU: Radeon RX 7900 XT
    • Motherboard: ASUS TUF GAMING B650-E WIFI
    • Storage:
    • Samsung 980 PRO 2TB (OS drive)
    • Samsung 980 PRO 2TB (secondary drive)

    Main Problem

    Frequent crashes/restarts while playing:
    • Final Fantasy XIV
    Typical crash behavior:
    • Game freezes or minimizes/shrinks
    • Sometimes UI/crossbar icons go blank before crash
    • BSOD flashes briefly
    • System reboots before BSOD completes
    • No usable dump file generated
    Recurring Event Viewer error:
    • volmgr Event ID 161
    • "Dump file creation failed due to error during dump creation. BugCheckProgress was: 0x00040049"

    Important Symptom Observed

    Right before many crashes:
    • FFXIV controller crossbar/hotbar icons become blank/missing
    • This became a reliable warning sign that a crash was imminent
    This suggests:
    • possible GPU resource/texture handling failure
    • possible DX11/driver instability
    • possible PCIe/platform instability

    What Has Been Tried

    1. Clean Windows Reinstall

    Actions:

    • Fully wiped drives
    • Fresh Windows install
    • Reinstalled drivers/software cleanly

    Result:

    • Crashes continued

    2. Memory Testing

    Actions:

    • Ran MemTest86 overnight

    Result:

    • Passed with no errors

    3. Crash Dump Investigation

    Initial Finding

    • No MEMORY.DMP
    • No Minidump folder initially

    Actions:

    • Changed:
    • Startup and Recovery → “Write debugging information”
    • from: 
      -  Small Memory Dump
    • to: 
      -  Kernel Memory Dump
    • Created Minidump folder manually
    • Forced manual crash using CrashOnCtrlScroll registry method

    Result:

    • Manual crash successfully generated MEMORY.DMP
    • Proved dump writing CAN work normally

    Conclusion:

    • Storage/pagefile/dump configuration appears functional
    • Real crashes fail before dump completion

    4. Storage Testing

    CrystalDiskMark Tests

    Settings Used:

    • 1GiB, 5 passes
    • 4GiB, 5 passes

    Result:

    • No freezes
    • No stutters
    • No crashes

    Conclusion:

    • No evidence of obvious NVMe/storage instability

    5. GPU Stress Testing

    FurMark 2

    Result:

    • Ran stable
    • No crashes
    • No artifacts
    • No thermal issues

    Conclusion:

    • GPU survives sustained synthetic load
    • Problem appears tied to real-world game workload/transitions

    6. AMD Driver Troubleshooting

    Original Driver

    • AMD Adrenalin 26.3.1

    Behavior:

    • Could play for some time before crash

    DDU Driver Cleanup

    Actions:

    • Used DDU in Safe Mode for complete driver removal

    Driver Rollback Test

    Installed:

    • AMD Adrenalin 25.9.1

    Result:

    • Crashed even faster
    • Could crash during initial FFXIV load screen

    Conclusion:

    • Not simply “latest driver bad”
    • Different drivers change crash timing/behavior

    7. GPU Tuning Tests

    AMD Adrenalin Manual Tuning

    Initial Settings:

    • Max Frequency:
    • 2825 MHz
    • Power Limit:
    • default initially

    Observation:

    • Crashes occurred frequently

    Reduced GPU Frequency Test

    Tried:

    • 2600 MHz
    • -10% power limit

    Result:

    • Temporary improvement
    • One gaming session without crash

    Additional Observation:

    • Crossbar blanking disappeared during stable session

    Further Reduction

    Tried:

    • 2400 MHz
    • -10% power limit

    Result:

    • Crashes still eventually occurred

    MSI Afterburner Test

    Actions:

    • Switched from Adrenalin tuning to MSI Afterburner
    • Applied:
    • -10% power limit
    • 2400 MHz cap

    Result:

    • Crashes still occurred eventually

    8. TDR (Timeout Detection & Recovery) Adjustment

    Registry Change Added

    Location:
    Added:

    Purpose:

    • Give Windows more time before GPU timeout reset
    • Attempt to allow proper dump creation

    Result:

    • BSOD behavior changed slightly
    • Still no successful dump from real crashes

    9. Event Viewer Findings

    Most common errors:
    • volmgr Event ID 161
    • Unexpected shutdown events
    No confirmed:
    • WHEA PCIe errors
    • storage corruption errors
    • persistent NVMe failures

    Current Working Theory

    Potential causes still being investigated:
    1. GPU driver / DX11 interaction
    2. GPU transient instability under real-world workloads
    3. PCIe communication instability
    4. PSU transient/power delivery issue
    5. Possible motherboard/PCIe slot issue (not confirmed)

    Things That Did NOT Fix The Problem

    • Clean Windows reinstall
    • DDU + different AMD driver versions
    • Lower GPU clocks
    • Lower GPU power limit
    • MSI Afterburner tuning
    • Kernel dump configuration changes
    • Storage testing
    • FurMark stress testing

    Things That MAY Have Reduced Symptoms

    • Lowering GPU clocks/power
    • Temporary reduction in crashes
    • Temporary disappearance of blank crossbar symptom
    But issue still eventually returned.

    Current Status

    • Crashes still occur intermittently during FFXIV
    • BSOD still flashes briefly
    • Dump files still fail during real crashes
    • No definitive hardware failure confirmed yet
    • No confirmed root cause yet identified

Im not sure what is left to do? I dont have other parts to swap out & am considering taking it in to a local technician. Can anyone help before i do that?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures
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  1. Carl-L 14,890 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-05-20T10:05:17.28+00:00

    Hello Tom,

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

    Before we proceed further, I see that you said there are multiple BSOD while this happened. In this case, may I have the minidump file of the crashes to check for you? You can find them at C:\Windows\Minidump.

    I'm waiting for your reply.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-05-16T20:38:05.7833333+00:00

    Given everything already tried, treat this as a persistent Windows stop code/bug check issue and work through remaining platform-level checks that align with Microsoft’s guidance.

    1. Apply general stop error troubleshooting
    • Install all pending Windows updates and cumulative updates for Windows 11.
    • Confirm BIOS/UEFI and motherboard firmware are fully up to date from ASUS.
    • Ensure at least 10–15% free space on the OS NVMe drive to allow pagefile and dump creation.
    • Run Microsoft Safety Scanner or another AV that checks the MBR to rule out low‑level corruption.

    These steps align with the general guidance for recurring stop errors and unexpected restarts.

    1. Use Safe Mode to isolate drivers/services Because crashes are gaming-related and driver-sensitive, use Safe Mode to narrow down:
    2. Open Settings → Update & Security → Recovery.
    3. Under Advanced startup, select Restart now.
    4. After restart, select Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart.
    5. Choose option 4, 5, or 6 for Safe Mode.

    In Safe Mode:

    • Use Device Manager to check for devices with an exclamation mark and update/disable any suspect drivers (especially GPU, audio, and any virtual devices).
    • Temporarily disable non‑Microsoft services and overlays (RGB, capture, monitoring tools) and then test again in normal mode.
    1. Check for device/driver and hardware issues Follow the bug check troubleshooting table:
    • In Device Manager, look for any devices with a warning icon. For each:
      • Update the driver.
      • If issues persist, disable or uninstall the device temporarily and retest.
    • In Event Viewer → Windows Logs → System, look for critical errors around the crash time that mention a specific driver or device. If a driver name appears, update or remove that driver.
    • Run the Windows Memory Diagnostics tool (even though MemTest86 passed) to confirm Windows sees no memory errors:
      • In Control Panel, search for “Memory” → Diagnose your computer’s memory problems.
      • After reboot and test, review the MemoryDiagnostics-Results entry in Event Viewer → System.
    • Run any hardware diagnostics provided by the system/motherboard or PSU vendor if available.
    1. File system and system file integrity Because crashes occur under load and dumps fail, rule out file system and OS corruption:
    • Run Scan Disk on the OS drive:
      • In File Explorer, right‑click C: → Properties → Tools → Check.
    • Run System File Checker from an elevated Command Prompt:
      • sfc /scannow
      • If SFC reports repairs, reboot and test again.
    1. Focus on GPU/graphics stack The symptoms (UI icons blanking, DX11 workload, GPU tuning sensitivity) match a graphics‑related bug check scenario similar to VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE guidance:
    • Ensure the AMD graphics driver is cleanly installed and fully up to date.
    • Confirm DirectX and any graphics‑related runtimes are current.
    • Make sure Final Fantasy XIV and any other affected games are fully patched.
    • If a specific graphics driver is ever named in a BSOD (for example, an AMD driver file), remove or update that driver.
    • Use Safe Mode to test whether crashes stop when only minimal drivers/services are loaded; if so, re‑enable GPU‑adjacent software one by one (overlays, recording, RGB, monitoring) to find a trigger.
    1. When to involve a technician If after:
    • Updating Windows, BIOS/UEFI, and all drivers,
    • Verifying disk and system files (Scan Disk + SFC),
    • Running Windows Memory Diagnostics and vendor hardware tests,
    • Testing with minimal drivers/services via Safe Mode,

    the system still experiences gaming‑only crashes with no clear driver or device flagged, the remaining likely causes are:

    • Intermittent GPU, PSU, or motherboard/PCIe hardware fault that only appears under specific real‑world loads.

    At that point, a local technician with spare parts can:

    • Swap in a known‑good PSU and GPU.
    • Test the GPU in another system.
    • Inspect the motherboard/PCIe slot and power delivery under load.

    This type of part‑swapping is the most direct way to confirm or rule out subtle hardware instability that standard stress tests and software diagnostics do not catch.

    References:

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