[SOLVED] - Bugcheck 0x0000007e, BSOD, and Event ID 41 (63) Kernel-Power issue (2024)

Hi, all.

(System specs are at the end of this message.)

I'm running into a seemingly random, yet consistent, BSOD issue that seems to be the result of a bugcheck. The most recent error I've received is:

The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x0000007e (0xffffffffc0000005, 0xfffff80016e70e36, 0xfffff900c0fbddf8, 0xfffff900c0fbd630). A dump was saved in: C:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP. Report Id: 83482fe2-5a39-43de-9752-4d6166d90c7e.
Click to expand...

This results in the predictable critical error event ID 41 (63) Kernel-Power notification that "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."

These BSODs only happen when I'm gaming, I'm pretty sure all of these BSODs have occurred while I was playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla... there might have been one when I was playing War Thunder weeks ago, but I can definitely say that the vast majority of times it was during Valhalla play. Initially, the BSOD would happen, my machine would reboot, and then it would act like nothing happened, other than the info showing in the Event Viewer. But otherwise the machine would seem to function as expected, until the next BSOD. I hardly ever got these sorts of BSODs, but in the last few weeks it's become much more frequent. (And I'm not aware of any major changes I've made on my end prior to these BSODs, other than Windows updates.)

My machine started acting even more oddly three days ago after I ran OCCT (v7.2.5) stress tests to see if the PSU was stable. (In my research of the bugchecks, it seems like it's usually power-related, so I wanted to see if it was my PSU.) Ran multiple OCCT tests for the full hour and everything passed. So it seemed like the PSU wasn't the culprit. However, after running those tests, I'm now unable to either put or let my machine go to sleep per usual. Now when it sleeps, the display powers off, but the RGB lighting remains on and the fans go to full speed, and I'm unable to wake it via the mouse or keyboard as usual. I have to push the power button on the case to shut it down. I can restart it without issue. I'm not sure if it's simply coincidental, but that particular issue only occurred after I used OCCT (and that was the first time I ever used it.)

Two days ago I did the following:

Updated BIOS to the most recent (American Megatrends P7.30, dated 1/23/2018, from the ASRock site)
Disabled the sleep function from the BIOS settings (so the fans don't go nuts when it tries to sleep)
Fiddled around with the various power setting/profile options from within Windows (doesn't seem to make a difference which profile I'm using, etc.)
Confirmed GPU drivers are the most recent (Nvidia GeForce 461.9)
Ran the Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool 64-bit (no issues found, everything passed)

After I did all that, I only have two shut-down options (restart, shut down) in Windows as expected, since I disabled sleep from BIOS. I can hit restart and it does just that and everything is as expected. But when I hit shut down, the machine does what it did before when it was trying to sleep - display powers off, RGB lighting remains on, and the fans go to full power. Hmm.

The machine ran overnight as expected (which is fine, since I rarely ever power it off so backups and AV/AM scans can run in the wee hours of the night when I'm not on the machine). Everything was fine all yesterday morning. And then yesterday afternoon, I started playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla and initially it was fine; I bet I was playing for 60-90 mins without any issues. Then whammo. BSOD with the bugcheck code mentioned above. That's when I threw my hands in the air and decided I needed to ask for help from folks who are far more knowledgeable than I am. And now I'm here.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

_
System Specs:
OS: Windows 10 Pro Version 20H2 (OS Build 19042.746)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 932
Motherboard: ASRock ATX DDR4 FATAL1TY Z170 GAMING K4
CPU: Intel Core I7-6700 FC-LGA14C 3.40 GHz 8 M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I76700
GPU: EVGA RTX 2080 XC (08G-P4-2182-KR)
SFX: Creative Sound Blaster ZX
Monitor: ASUS Swift PG278Q Gaming
CPU cooling: Only using fans (CPU and 5 other various case fans - not OCing, so temps have never been an issue)
RAM: G.SKILL 32GB (2 x 16GB) Ripjaws V Series DDR4 PC4-25600 3200MHz
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2 80+ GOLD, 850W
Primary SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB
Storage SDD: Samsung 860 EVO 2TB
Optical 1: Pioneer BDR-206D 12x BD/DVD/CD Burner
Optical 2: Sony Optiarc AD-7261S CD/DVD Burner
Network card: None (using mobo’s integrated Killer E2400 Series LAN chipset)