System Crash Diagnosing - Windows Reliability Viewer

Question

Hello all,

I'm suffering crashes primarily while playing games, but has been known to happen outside of playing games too. I've found the WatchDog files, and will upload them here under a google drive location, but I'm having trouble reading them to diagnose the full issue. I have the WinDebug tool to read it, but there's nothing here that stands out as a clear "This is what caused the crash".

Could somebody tell me from these fields what is causing the crash, but also what in the files has drawn that conclusion so that I can learn how to read them going forward? Thank you!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ilkj8hDXIq6Alxui2Vy6-7nAsucffZc-?usp=sharing

SPECS:

Motherboard: MSI MAG Tomahawk X870E
CPU: Ryzen 9700X
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 64GB 6000MT/s
GPU: MSI Suprim 5080
PSU: Corsair RM850x

Answer 1

Hi Martin,

From the watchdog dump and the information you’ve provided, the crashes are being triggered by the Nvidia driver for your MSI Suprim 5080 GPU. When that driver stops responding, Windows records a TDR (Timeout Detection and Recovery) / watchdog event and often ends up with a bugcheck while you’re gaming.

Very briefly, in the dump you’ll typically see:

• A bugcheck that indicates a video TDR (often VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE, VIDEO_SCHEDULER_INTERNAL_ERROR, or similar), and
• A reference to the Nvidia display driver module (for example nvlddmkm.sys) in the stack or as the “probably caused by” line.

That’s what tells us it’s the GPU driver, not RAM, CPU, or storage.

1. Clean‑remove the current Nvidia driver

1. Download the free DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) from its official site (wagnardsoft.com). This removes all traces of old Nvidia drivers and prevents conflicts.
2. Boot into Safe Mode:
   • Hold Shift while clicking Restart from the Start menu.
     • Go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.
       • Choose Safe Mode.
       1. In Safe Mode, run DDU and select the option to clean and restart for Nvidia display drivers.
       2. Let the PC reboot back into normal Windows.

2. Install a different Nvidia driver version

1. Go to the official Nvidia website and download a slightly older Game Ready driver for your 5080 (one or two versions back from the latest is a good starting point).
2. Install that driver and then test your usual games for a few hours.
3. While testing, watch for:

• Crashes or BSODs
• Sudden freezes
  • Graphical artefacts (flashing textures, glitches)

If issues persist, repeat the process with another older driver version until you find one that’s stable on your system.

3. General checks

While you’re troubleshooting, it’s also worth checking:

• Windows and chipset/BIOS updates – make sure Windows Update is current and that you’re on a recent BIOS and AMD chipset driver from MSI for the MAG Tomahawk X870E.
• GPU temperatures – monitor temps while gaming using something like MSI Afterburner to rule out overheating.
• Overclocking – if you have any GPU overclocking enabled (MSI Afterburner, motherboard “OC” profile, etc.), revert to default/stock settings and test again.

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If you’d like to understand the dumps in more detail, you can post the output from WinDbg’s !analyze -v for one of the crashes, and I can point out exactly which lines indicate the Nvidia driver and the TDR condition.

— Stuart

Answer 2

All your watchdog dump file indicates that it is the device driver on your Nvidia (MSI Suprim 5080) graphics card that is causing the system to crash

Completely remove the current Nvidia device driver using the widely available free DDU utility, then restart your PC and go to the Nvidia website to download and install a couple of slightly older versions of the Nvidia device driver to try to find a version that is stable on your system.