Recommended Pre- built PC

[Err]

The PC I built a couple of years ago suddenly started freezing followed by BSOD. The coincidentally started when I swapped out a dead UPS with a new one. The old one started shutting off if the power went out. I did try plugging the PC into the surge only side just in case. It didn't help.

The first BSOD happened when I was watching Twitch and had another window open because I was stuck in the game I was playing on my steam deck. I decided to give it a rest for the evening and the moment I put the deck to sleerp, BSOD. Disabled Steam Link. Ran sfg /scannow and it found corrupted files but I can't find what the were in the log. Ran Windows Mem Diagnostic and that passes. Attempted to update video drivers and repeatedly got freezing. The PC isn't creating a dump so Blue Screen viewer cant be used. Tried a restore as my last resort and it didn't help.

I'm defeated and no longer wish to screw with this thing. I'd like to purchase a pre-built so I at least have some tech support. I'm thinking of AMD this round as I want nothing to do with Intel's ecore processors.

Sorry for the long post and typos. Thanks for any suggestions.

[FlyingPenguin]

This Lenovo Legion Tower 5, direct from Lenovo, looks like a good deal at $1300 with a Ryzen 7 7700 and RTX 4070:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/desktops ... 90ux000cus

The Legion Tower 5 line seems to have good build quality according to this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ySKpQh9yeM

Only a 512GB M.2 SSD, but you can drop in a 4TB SATA SSD as a secondary for your games. They go for around $200 - maybe less on sale.

Found that link on this PC Gamer's page along with some other good deals:
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyber-monday-gaming-pc-deals/

Should be lots of good deals this week, and maybe the next few weeks. Just google 'cyber monday gaming pc deals'.

FYI: I think the issue with your current PC mag be a failing drive.

[Executioner]

You can check your HD with this free utility: https://macrorit.com/disk-surface-test/ ... -test.html

I use it to check for bad sectors of a drive. It even works if you have your HD on a USB connection. You can also use the Windows one as an admin C prompt: chkdsk /r

[Err]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check the drive this evening and see what's going on. If it's the drive, this is the second NVMe I've had fail in this build. The system log states a WHEA hardware error but that's it. I fear it's a motherboard or video card issue. I'm going to pull my data drives out and reinstall windows just to see if I can get it going without freezing up and BSOD.

I'm still going to purchase a new PC because there is something odd with this build. The first issue was bad RAM, then I had a drive fail, and now I probably either have a bad drive, video card, or motherboard.

I have a Microcenter 90 minutes away so I may see what they can do for me. Thanks again.

[FlyingPenguin]

Btw they have some less expensive builds on that Lenovo Legion page if that's out of your price range. Same system with a 1TB SSD and an RTX 3060 for $1080, which is a very good deal, if you're gaming is 1080p.

[Err]

Small update. Reinstalled windows, drivers, etc. And started running macrorit on the Samsung NVME. I was watching twitch at the same time. I looked over and saw the software marked a bad sector and BAM, BSOD.

You were right FP. I just dont get why this thing is burning through NVMe drives.

I did go ahead and am getting Microcenter to put together a new rig. The price made me sick but this replaces my current rig.

I was about to copy over my user folder just now but BSOD. I don't need anything out of it but I generally copy it for good measure.

[Executioner]

What model is the Samsung NVMe drive? Was it the same NVMe drive on other BSOD? I would try a different model or mfg.

[FlyingPenguin]

You have a heatsink on that M.2 SSD? The Gen 3 and 4's can overheat easily, although they usually just slow down, not cause errors. Even just the factory mobo heatsink, which is usually just a strip of metal with a thermal pad on it, will help.

FYI: To try and copy your files off the drive, try booting from a WindowsPE bootable USB or DVD. It should see the M.2 drive and let you copy from it. Bit of a pain making the boot media, though: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windo ... windows-11

Or use any other bootable OS that can read Windows files. I have a copy of Gandalf's Win10PE on USB that's loaded with tools that I use for that kind of thing, but you can only find it on torrents, or fcportables.com, if you think you can trust it, but keep your adblockers up.
----
Edit: I have the ISO for Gandalf''s Win10PE. Send me a PM if you want it, and I can arrange to put it somewhere that you can download it.

[Err]

What model is the Samsung NVMe drive? Was it the same NVMe drive on other BSOD? I would try a different model or mfg.

The model that failed before was a Samsung 970 1Tb, no heatsink. I replaced it with a SAMSUNG 980 PRO SSD with Heatsink 2TB. The firmware is also up to date.

[FlyingPenguin]

I've soured on Samsung the past year. They've had lots of problems.

Your model has an issue, although latest firmware is supposed to fix it: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/samsu ... are-update

I've been going with Crucial lately. I also have two Sabrent Rocket drives in my gaming PC. Pricey, but wicked fast.

[Executioner]

So is Samsung going the route of their crappy house appliances like refrigerators? Don't ever by a frig from Samsung. We had one brand new that lasted only 2 years. We also had problems with their washing machine. Had to get a tech from Samsung to come out and install additional hardware to the top does not blow off.

Anyway, yeah do what FP suggests. Get a different NVMe from Crucial for example.

[Err]

So is Samsung going the route of their crappy house appliances like refrigerators? Don't ever by a frig from Samsung. We had one brand new that lasted only 2 years. We also had problems with their washing machine. Had to get a tech from Samsung to come out and install additional hardware to the top does not blow off.

Anyway, yeah do what FP suggests. Get a different NVMe from Crucial for example.

We have a Samsung refrigerator and so far it's been okay but the compressor is too loud for my liking.

I threw in the Samsung 970 that failed previously and while I don't trust the drive, it allowed me to not be bored in the evening while I was waiting for Micro Center to finish my new PC. I'm on the new PC now and need to figure out how to turn off the Rave lights in the case. I also need to rearrange my desk completely as the new case is taller that I intended.

I'm now on Windows 11 Pro so that's going to be a learning curve with the new UI. Micro Center did manage to set me up as a local account

[FlyingPenguin]

Open Shell is now is supposed to work with Win11, if you prefer the classic start menu: https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu

If that is not to your liking, there's Stardock's Start11 which can also revert to the classic menu, but also lets you customize Win11's start menu: https://www.stardock.com/products/start11/

They should have included the RGB software for the fans, but If you just want the RGB fan lights off, there is a separate connector going from the fans to either the mobo, or an RGB controller. You can pull the RGB plug for each fan, or the power to the fan RGB controller, and the fans will still work as fans as they get power via the standard fan headers.

If the mobo has RGB, while it can be controlled by some software, the easy fix is to disable it in Bios.

For the video card RGB, you will likely need to download the RGB utility by the video card manufacturer.

[Err]

Thanks FP. They forgot to install the iCue software for the AIO cooler. After getting that installed, I got all of the case lights set to a static color. I think I got the cooling profile set up properly. I'll have to mess with the fan curves some more though. The case fans were ramping up every time the processor was getting warm. I think I have that sorted and got the fans on the cooler set to ramp up once the coolant starts getting warm.

The 7800X3d seems to run hotter than my previous Intel. I'm seeing 61 C with 10 to 15 % utilization, running at 4.5 GHz. CrashPlan and Outlook are sorting themselves out at the moment. However it seems a bit warm considering I have a 360 cooler and the coolant temp is ~34 C

The only hitch I've ran into so far is Windows 11's Controlled Folder Access. I was trying to run 3D mark and it wouldn't initialize. I found out from reddit that this was the issue because 3D mark couldn't access it's folder properly. The problem was I couldn't access the settings. I kept getting that your IT admin as disables settings... message. It's a bug and I found a Microsoft forum that provided the commands to fix it.

[reno]

Open Shell is now is supposed to work with Win11, if you prefer the classic start menu: https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu
it works well been using it for about 6 plus months without any problem .Im running windows 11 pro on my laptop !