Windows 11 Drive Usage and BSOD

Thanks for the detailed follow up. It sounds like you've been very thorough in your testing and I appreciate the effort you've put in so far. Based on your most recent update, I can see that you're narrowing down the issue and I agree that your skepticism about the motherboard is worth considering.

There are a few things we need to consider.

1. given that the two NVME slots perform identically with different hard disks, this could indicate a deeper problem with the motherboard's PCIe channel or NVME controller.

While updating the BIOS, it's also worth checking if there are specific settings related to the storage configuration, such as PCIe mode (Auto, Gen3, Gen4), M.2 slot priority, or AHCI/RAID modes, which may be worth tweaking or resetting to default.

Sometimes using an NVME drive in different slots at the same time can put different stresses on the controller, which can be the cause of inconsistent behavior.

2. Testing the SSD via SATA is a good idea for troubleshooting NVME controller or motherboard related issues. If the SATA drive runs without problems, this is strong evidence that the problem is not related to the NVME interface or controller.
3. Make sure the storage controller mode is set to AHCI, not RAID, unless you specifically set up RAID. you can also try setting the PCIe link speed in the BIOS. Setting it to Gen 3 instead of Auto/Gen 4 may help stabilize operation, especially if there are power or signal integrity issues with the PCIe lanes.
4. Since you mentioned that the temperatures are normal, I would still recommend that you keep an eye on the voltage stability, especially for the CPU and GPU. Tools like HWMonitor or HWiNFO can show voltage fluctuations under load, and sometimes issues like unstable voltage under game load can lead to crashes.

Also, check that your PSU has enough spare capacity to supply power during intense gaming. If the PSU is at the edge of its capacity, it may cause instability during high load tasks.

5. Given event ID 161 (volmgr), it points to a volume manager issue, which can sometimes be related to disk I/O issues under heavy load. Since you are seeing 100% hard drive usage during game load, this is a further indication that there may be a storage controller or disk I/O issue.

I sincerely hope that the above expanded information will be helpful to you!

Hi Arthur,

Thanks for taking the time to assist me with this issue.

I've been monitoring my temps on all components and for the most part, everything is nominal. As you recommended, I used DDU and booted into safe mood to remove all Nvidia video drivers. I then did a fresh install of the most recent gaming driver via the stand-alone driver download. I also ran MemTest86 which came preinstalled on my motherboard. The test passed with no issues. I also updated my BIOS to the most recent version as well as my chipset drivers.

Unfortunately, I do not have swappable parts anymore other than NVME and SSD drives. My motherboard has two NVME plugs which I previously used both plugs. I tested my new Samsung 990 NVME by itself in both of my NVME ports on the motherboard. The first NVME plug performed as usual (BSODs when gaming). The second NVME port was promising for a few hours but then I had the same outcome as the previous plug.

It's interesting because the issue occurs at the same time in every game. For example, in Marvel Rivals, the game boots up and the menu acts fine. As soon as I join a match, the drive usage skyrockets to 100%, always when loading into game followed by the BSOD. I also noticed my entire computer locks up with the frozen BSOD. I tested a few other games as well and at some point, the drive usage skyrockets and my PC BSODs.

I'm starting to believe it could possibly be my motherboard due to both NVME ports with different drives all reacting the same, 100% usage followed by a BSOD. I have a spare SSD drive that connects via SATA. I'm going to install Windows on it and test it to see if games crash on that drive as well as another test.

I will let you know the outcomes of this test.

Brian

Hi lienonairbII

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Happy New Year 🎄 Wishing you a new year filled with peace, happiness and success! ✨

Based on your description, I understand that you get a blue screen on your computer when you are playing a game, and I understand very well how you feel!

I see that you have tried very many solutions with very many aspects of troubleshooting, even reinstalling the Windows system, analyzing the dmp file through WinDbg, hard drive testing, etc., and I commend you for your problem-solving ability and thinking!

From your text description and the pictures provided, I think it could be due to some of the following reasons.

1. A sudden spike in disk usage on the C drive may indicate a problem with the drive itself or the way the game is using the drive, which can lead to I/O errors and crashes.
2. Although you have reinstalled the drivers, there may still be conflicts, especially with the storage or GPU drivers.
3. Overheating of components can cause instability, especially when performing resource-intensive tasks such as gaming.
4. Insufficient or unstable power supply can cause crashes, especially under load.
5. Memory issues can lead to BSOD, especially errors when accessing data.

Here are some troubleshooting options I came up with after an in-depth analysis that I hope will help you find what's causing the problem or narrow it down as much as possible.

Option 1: Considering that the problem could indeed be caused by high hardware temperatures or high loads, this could also cause the hard disk's occupancy to spike.

1. Temperature.

Let's try to use some third-party tools dedicated to real-time monitoring of hardware temperature to observe the temperature changes during daily use and gaming, and see if the temperature is too high.

Especially GPU and CPU.

Due to the community rules restriction, I can't provide you with specific third-party tools, you can check the relevant information through Github, Reddit and other technical communities, and choose reliable and safe third-party tools.

2. Personally, I think we can stress test the computer, but after thinking it over I think we might do different tests to narrow down the problem as much as possible.

(1) Let's try to stress test the whole computer and look at various parameters of the hardware to see if there is any parameter that exceeds the safe frequency or safe temperature causing sudden downclocking or outright crashes.

(2) We then try to stress test individual pieces of hardware, such as CPUs, GPUs, and so on.

Generally speaking, if the hardware exceeds the safe frequency or safe temperature, it will trigger the built-in protection program of the motherboard or hardware, and immediately reduce the operating frequency or not work, so as to avoid hardware damage.

Option 2: One piece of hardware that we need to test separately and additionally is the memory stick.

It's a good idea to do a full test of the memory using a tool like MemTest86.

These tools are designed to repeatedly read and write to the memory stick to see if there are any bad sectors or bad spots in the memory stick that could cause the game to crash during a memory call.

This is because if the game or another program calls a bad spot or bad channel, it will cause the cache or data to be swapped to be lost and eventually crash.

Option 3: I see that you've tried uninstalling, reinstalling the driver, and so on.

There are some things to consider in this step.

We need to make sure that the BIOS, chipset drivers, hard disk firmware, and graphics drivers are as up-to-date as possible, or as stable as they are known to be, otherwise there is still a chance of driver incompatibility.

For discrete graphics cards, I personally recommend the manual installation method.

First of all, we can completely uninstall the current graphics driver with the help of DDU utility (Display Driver Uninstaller), then download the latest version of the driver from the official website of the graphics card manufacturer and install it.

The main reason for using the DDU tool is to prevent file and registry leftovers, which may cause driver conflicts or problems that may still exist.

Again, if the latest version of the driver still has problems, we can try to install some known older and more compatible versions.

Option 4: We try to manually calculate if the power PSU can support the hardware requirements.

Normally the PSU has to be 20% more than the maximum hardware requirement.

This is because the higher the frequency of the hardware, the higher the PSU used, which exceeds the rated PSU, and we need to keep some extra PSUs to avoid power overloads or similar crashes due to insufficient PSUs.

If possible, please try to test with other PSUs to rule out power issues.

Option 5: If you have overclocked any components, restore them to their default settings and see if stability improves.

Option 6: Please try to clean boot your computer.

Since clean boot uses only a limited set of files and drivers, it can help us to effectively troubleshoot the possibility of problems caused by third-party applications, driver conflicts, etc.

You can refer to Clean Boot for more information: How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support

After clean boot, please slide down the webpage after opening the link and find “How to determine what is causing the problem after you do a clean boot” This is a dichotomy that helps us pinpoint the service that is causing the problem and disable it.

Disclaimer: A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It helps to determine whether a background service is interfering with your game or program and to isolate the cause of a problem. These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by step so that it will help you get back on track.

Option 7: Perform a full scan of your system with Windows Defender or another reputable antivirus program to ensure that no malware is causing these issues.

I sincerely hope that the above information will help you! Please feel free to contact me (Photos related to the question would be great!).

I look forward to hearing back from you. 

Best Regards

Arthur Sheng | Microsoft Community Support Specialist