Daily BSOD after upgrading a stable system with a new GPU

[Jusi]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping you can help me with some BSOD crashes I've been experiencing since I've upgraded from my trusted 3070 to a 4080 Super.

I had a perfectly stable system running smoothly since I built my PC in 2020 so I'm assuming my hardware is fine (speccy: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/vNzxwCY6VGriMeWrtem0xPJ). I never had any BSOD or crashes until I replaced my GPU with a 4080 Super (ASUS ProArt) last week. Since then I had multiple BSODs, initially involving nvlddmkm.sys file but recently they changed to volmgr for some reason (possible result of a myriad things I tried to fix the issue?). The BSOD happens roughly once or twice a day and without a consistent reason - it can happen when I'm in game, or just browsing in Chrome or even when I'm AFK and come back to a restarted system. What happens is: the screen goes black while audio is still going, then the PC restarts -- no ACTUAL blue screen :)

Things I've tried so far:

• updated my BIOS to the most recent version
• reinstalled Windows 11 (I used Chris Titus Windows Utility - only recommended settings in the Tweaks section)
• updated my chipset drivers to the latest version
• ran DDU after Windows installation to get rid of whatever drivers Win downloaded and installed latest Nvidia drivers
• made sure Fast Startup is off (hibernation is disabled via WinUtil)
• enabled user permission on nvlddmkm.sys to full control as per this reddit thread

A bit of extra info about my PC:

• nothing is overclocked - CPU and GPU run as they came out of the box
• Windows install is very fresh (as of three days ago), so there's barely any software other than Chrome, Discord and a few games
• it's a mITX build so I have very limited space and GPU choices (ASUS ProArt was the only 4080s that would fit my case - IQUNIX ZX-1)
• the GPU is connected to my mobo via a GEN 3 PCIE riser cable that came with the case (and YES - I set it in BIOS as Gen 3 not Auto) -- this was also the case with my 3070 and it ran perfectly fine for 4 years
• my PSU (Corsair SF750) didn't originally come with a new gen GPU cable back in 2020, so I bought the Corsair 12VHPWR cable to connect the 4080s (don't think I have enough space for the extender that came with the GPU + the PCIE cables)

I'm running out of ideas and my Google skills only got me so far. I'd rather not invest in new hardware, especially since I have limited selection due to my case choice. Sysnative file attached.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

 

[axe0]

Hi,

Welcome to Sysnative forums.

Do you still have the 3070 laying around?

Could you set any XMP configured to the default SPD settings for the RAM.

How soon did you get the first BSOD after installing the new GPU?

 

[Jusi]

Do you still have the 3070 laying around?

Yes, I have it available.

Could you set any XMP configured to the default SPD settings for the RAM.

Okay, disabled DOCP.
I also changed the Power management mode in Nvidia Control Panel to "Prefer maximum performance" just now, realized I forgot about this after reinstalling Windows.

How soon did you get the first BSOD after installing the new GPU?

I'm pretty sure the BSOD happened within the first few hours after installing the GPU.

 

[axe0]

All right, let's see what effect these changes have.

Also, have you checked for any potential physical damage after the crashes started? It sometimes happens that hardware has some physical damage right off the bet.

 

[Jusi]

Alright, here's a quick update.

I've got no crashes ever since I disabled DOCP and put the GPU into "max performance" power mode. My PC has been running without any issues since Saturday so I decided to do some more testing today -- I kept DOCP disabled but changed the power mode back to "normal". Lo and behold, it crashed after about 12 hours or so. Now I'm testing the other way around - DOCP enabled + max performance power mode.

Is there any reason why the GPU would require the max performance setting to run stable? Is it a good enough reason to try to RMA?

 

[axe0]

This isn't my area of expertise, but it's possible a BIOS setting may be misconfigured to allow the GPU to run other power modes too.

 

[ubuysa]

It's not my area of expertise either, but I do wonder whether convincing the vendor that it's the card may be tricky when your PC may not be fully Windows 10 compatible - especially since there appear to be no official Windows 10 drivers available for it.

 

[Jusi]

It's not my area of expertise either, but I do wonder whether convincing the vendor that it's the card may be tricky when your PC may not be fully Windows 10 compatible - especially since there appear to be no official Windows 10 drivers available for it.

Not sure what you mean, I'm on Windows 11 not 10 and as far as I'm aware, my PC is fully combatible.

 

[ubuysa]

Not sure what you mean, I'm on Windows 11 not 10 and as far as I'm aware, my PC is fully combatible.

Sorry, wrong thread!