Question system crash & freeze

mmd1121 · Apr 18, 2025

hi i have this pc
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
ASUS TUF A520 Plus II
ASUS TUF RTX 3070 8GB
64GB (4x16GB) DDR4 -GSKILL AGES 3200MHZ
Lexar NM620 NVMe 512GB + WD Blue 2TB HDD
Green 700W 80+ Gold
Green 240mm ARGB Liquid Cooler

i've been facing this issue for several months.
Previously, it would freeze a few times a week, but now, after about 10 seconds of booting, the system completely freezes and restarts. It doesn’t even allow me to install Windows or perform any tasks.
The CPU voltage in BIOS shows between 1.47V to 1.5V.
I haven’t done any overclocking.
Has my CPU failed and become unusable?
I tested it on another motherboard, and the same problem persisted."**
I tested my own spare parts at home (PSU, GPU, SSD, RAM). A few days ago, I took it to a repair shop—they tested my CPU on another motherboard, and the issue persisted. They concluded the CPU is faulty. They also tested another CPU on my system, and it worked fine.

In2Photos · Apr 18, 2025

Is the BIOS up to date? Maybe try with 2 sticks of RAM. If that doesn't work try 1 stick.

Sgraffite · Apr 18, 2025

Have you tried other steps in narrowing down the issue?

Try with only one stick of RAM
Try with no video card
Try booting to an OS on USB

mmd1121 · Apr 18, 2025

all ram tested and nothing changes
"Recently, my system crashes, freezes, restarts, or gives a BSOD with the error: 'DCP_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION' or 'CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT.'

A few months ago, I adjusted the Power Plan settings under Maximum Processor State to 99% to reduce the CPU frequency and minimize fan noise (the system was getting loud).

With this setting, the frequency locked at 3.72–3.75 GHz, and during rendering, temps stayed below 60°C (normally 80–85°C).

mmd1121 · Apr 18, 2025

Sgraffite said:
Have you tried other steps in narrowing down the issue?

Try with only one stick of RAM
Try with no video card
Try booting to an OS on USB

"Yes, I tested each RAM stick one by one, but it still didn't work.
I even replaced the GPU power supply, SSD, and motherboard—no difference.
I also updated the BIOS to the latest version.
But a new CPU worked fine on my motherboard."

Thunder 57 · Apr 18, 2025

mmd1121 said:
hi i have this pc
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
ASUS TUF A520 Plus II
ASUS TUF RTX 3070 8GB
64GB (4x16GB) DDR4 -GSKILL AGES 3200MHZ
Lexar NM620 NVMe 512GB + WD Blue 2TB HDD
Green 700W 80+ Gold
Green 240mm ARGB Liquid Cooler

i've been facing this issue for several months.
Previously, it would freeze a few times a week, but now, after about 10 seconds of booting, the system completely freezes and restarts. It doesn’t even allow me to install Windows or perform any tasks.
The CPU voltage in BIOS shows between 1.47V to 1.5V.
I haven’t done any overclocking.
Has my CPU failed and become unusable?
I tested it on another motherboard, and the same problem persisted."**
I tested my own spare parts at home (PSU, GPU, SSD, RAM). A few days ago, I took it to a repair shop—they tested my CPU on another motherboard, and the issue persisted. They concluded the CPU is faulty. They also tested another CPU on my system, and it worked fine.

Sounds like you got your answer, not sure why you are asking for a third opinion. Let me guess, it's out of warranty and you don't want to spend money on a new CPU?

Sgraffite · Apr 18, 2025

Sounds like you have an excuse to upgrade to a 5700X3D/5800X3D

mmd1121 · Apr 18, 2025

I even tried scanning with Kaspersky Rescue Disk, but it's still unstable and keeps restarting.
It won't even let me install a fresh copy of Windows—it crashes at 17%."
One more observation:
During the few seconds Windows runs, I launched CPU-Z and ran its CPU Stress Test—it handled full load without crashing. But the moment I stopped the test, it crashed. It’s as if the issue occurs during idle states.

mmd1121 · Apr 18, 2025

Thunder 57 said:
Sounds like you got your answer, not sure why you are asking for a third opinion. Let me guess, it's out of warranty and you don't want to spend money on a new CPU?

"Because I saw in several places that they fixed the issue by adjusting voltage or BIOS settings.
I'm not an expert user—I was just making some guesses."

mmd1121 · Apr 18, 2025

I didn't expect AMD CPUs to fail this easily. Do you think Intel's 14th gen (like the 14600K) is a good alternative?

Sgraffite said:
Sounds like you have an excuse to upgrade to a 5700X3D/5800X3D

Sgraffite · Apr 18, 2025

You could try setting the CPU voltage to Auto if it is not already.

Is PBO enabled in the BIOS?

Sgraffite · Apr 18, 2025

mmd1121 said:
I didn't expect AMD CPUs to fail this easily. Do you think Intel's 14th gen (like the 14600K) is a good alternative?

You would need to switch out the motherboard to move to a less reliable and more power hungry platform. That seems like a hard pass.

bba-tcg · Apr 18, 2025

If the problem follows the CPU, the CPU is the problem.

mmd1121 · Apr 18, 2025

Sgraffite said:
You would need to switch out the motherboard to move to a less reliable and more power hungry platform. That seems like a hard pass.

I don’t think Ryzen 5000 series processors are available brand new anymore—I’d have to buy one used. If I want to upgrade, I’d need to pick a motherboard that still supports DDR4 RAM since the newer AMD series only work with DDR5

mmd1121 · Apr 18, 2025

bba-tcg said:
If the problem follows the CPU, the CPU is the problem.

I was hoping to find a way to fix it, because I always monitored its temperature—it never went above 85°C. I also never overclocked or manually adjusted voltages

Sgraffite · Apr 18, 2025

mmd1121 said:
I don’t think Ryzen 5000 series processors are available brand new anymore—I’d have to buy one used. If I want to upgrade, I’d need to pick a motherboard that still supports DDR4 RAM since the newer AMD series only work with DDR5

Are you sure you can't find them new?

https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Ryzen-5700X3D-16-Thread-Processor/dp/B0CQ4H4H7X/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1

bba-tcg · Apr 18, 2025

mmd1121 said:
I was hoping to find a way to fix it, because I always monitored its temperature—it never went above 85°C. I also never overclocked or manually adjusted voltages

Sorry, It's not going to be possible to fix a broken CPU.

bba-tcg · Apr 18, 2025

mmd1121 said:
I don’t think Ryzen 5000 series processors are available brand new anymore—I’d have to buy one used. If I want to upgrade, I’d need to pick a motherboard that still supports DDR4 RAM since the newer AMD series only work with DDR5

Sure, they are. In addition to Amazon, these are listed at Newegg: https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007671 50001028 601294614 8000&Order=1

aigomorla · Apr 18, 2025

mmd1121 said:
"Because I saw in several places that they fixed the issue by adjusting voltage or BIOS settings.
I'm not an expert user—I was just making some guesses."

you can do that, but i am guessing the cpu set on auto all the time, probably made the board naturally overvolt it, speeding up electron degredation.

ASUS is notorious for ramping voltages up, especially to attain PBO. Can't stress enough that you should NEVER leave voltages on AUTO with EXPO and PBO on, as the BIOS will feed voltages like mad crazy speeding up degredation, like giving a fat kid skittles to speed up diabetes.

You can try to increase voltages on vSOC and vCORE. Its only a Band-Aid tho. May last you though to the next upgrade cycle, or can speed up degradation even more spiraling you to complete cpu failure.

alcoholbob · Apr 18, 2025

If you don't want to upgrade, your only option is to raise your default voltages up a little bit, say a positive 50-75mv in adaptive mode and then downclocking the CPU or capping the boost clocks. Sounds like the turbo frequency clocks can no longer hold on the stock voltages due to degradation.

mmd1121 · Apr 18, 2025

alcoholbob said:
If you don't want to upgrade, your only option is to raise your default voltages up a little bit, say a positive 50-75mv in adaptive mode and then downclocking the CPU or capping the boost clocks. Sounds like the turbo frequency clocks can no longer hold on the stock voltages due to degradation.

Alright, it's worth a try. I think the motherboard might also cause issues in the future, so if I decide to make changes, the motherboard should be replaced as well - since the A520 chipset might not be able to properly power the CPU

aigomorla · Apr 18, 2025

mmd1121 said:
Alright, it's worth a try. I think the motherboard might also cause issues in the future, so if I decide to make changes, the motherboard should be replaced as well - since the A520 chipset might not be able to properly power the CPU

As much as my love and hate relationship with ASUS is, the TUF series is GOOD board.
Its just ASUS Monkeys like to write poor bios so they make it feel there boards are faster and superior then the other vendors at the cost of longevity.

Honestly i would just raise your voltages slightly, and consider an upgrade to the 9000 series, or whatever comes out b4 you have a complete cpu failure... meaning it wont even boot into bios.

You can keep raising voltages slightly, ever so, until that point, and then upgrade your entire platform to whatever is recent.

You can watch some youtube videos on how to raise vSOC and vCore on ryzens. Its not too difficult to do.

Shmee · Apr 18, 2025

Is the CPU under warranty? If so, obvious way forward is to RMA. If not, maybe buy a 5800XT or 5700X3D as a replacement. Or do something like as Aigo suggested, with either adjusting frequency/voltage curve for stability until you can upgrade, or just go for a full platform upgrade now. AM5 and 9700X would be a good place to start.

Question system crash & freeze

Junior Member

Platinum Member

Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Diamond Member

Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Member

Member

Senior member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Member

Senior member

Senior member

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member

Diamond Member

Junior Member

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member