Win 11 screen freeze (Not DCS related)

[bflo]

I just installed Win 11, everything runs fine, except I get random screen freezes, even when idle.  I'm not short on ram, tried various nvidia drivers , did every test in CMD window I could find, but no help.  This doesn't happen during any game, mostly just doing non intensive things, or idle.   

[FR4GGL3]

Do you overclock or undervolt or anything out of spec?

Because this can happen when your CPU goes into idle mode and then stalls because a Voltage (most likely VCore) drops too low. I have this happened on my undervolted machine. My Motherboard only allows an offset. And this offset is used through all the Performance gates. As soon as I go another 0.05V lower, my machine freezes in idle.

But it can also happen if you finetune memory timings. But then you should see some other effects like crashes to desktop in certain games (most likely on frostbite engine games).

Edited February 25, 2022 by FR4GGL3

[bflo]

Thanks, this is a new build, Win 11, Asus Prime-A, I9 12900K, 32gb DDR5, everything default.   I installed all the updates for the MB, & flashed the BIOS, (after BIOS update the problem went away for 3 days).  Dealing with this problem I haven't had a chance to think about overclocking.  Strange thing to me is, core speed increases to 5ghz when playing a game according to cpu-z.  I checked the BIOS, & don't see any boost enabled.  Please keep in mind I'm not that skilled in computer building, tweaking.  Also, I had this setup running on Win 10, with no freeze problem.

Edited February 25, 2022 by bflo

[FR4GGL3]

"everything default" means a lot of Settings on "Auto"?

Well, there are OC Boards that do quite a bit of overclocking by leaving Settings on "Auto" (mine does for example).

So you might find a guide for your Mobo of setting it up right.

 

On the other hand there are functions that boost up the processors speed a bit farther than statet. There are Settings like Terminal Velocity Boost that can push your CPU a bit higher if the system is cool enough. But that should not lead your system to freezes. And it is really strange that you haven't had this issue on Windows 10. Sorry, I am afraid I can't help as long as I can't see what is going on on your system

[bflo]

Thanks for your comments.  I don't think it can be something to do with OC when it happens at idle, maybe more of a Win 11 clash, idk.   If I can't find a solution, I'll go back to Win 10.  What I may do is remove the ssd, add another ssd, install Win 10 on it,then put the other back, & boot back to Win 11 just for updates, & see if it''s a Win 11 issue.  That may sound odd to do for you more skilled guys, but I can play on Win 10, & not be frustrated.  Then maybe at some point I can use other ssd for storage.

[BitMaster]

Possibly an issue with one of the hardware components and it's drivers if it runs OK in other OS's.

What drives are you using and what Power Mode setting to you use ?

Freezes usually happen as a result of a bus-lock, something is waiting for some other thing to respond, this can be a HDD drive going into or coming from sleep mode, a stupid LED software flooding the bus, a FAN control software can cause this while it tunes the fans to a different speed. Seen all this with my own or client systems over the recent years and the best way to track it down is to start new and go SLOW. It may not be there after a FRESH install of 11 --WITHOUT INTERNET--   by all means, if you run  11Pro you dont need that and must leave it off to forbid Auto-Driver installs within windows and even some boards ( my Gigabyte can do this too if I allow it in Bios ). This is not good if you want to install each one to see WHEN the error comes with it. My last error was with this new board, when it was new it had freezes in 10 and 11 ( thought only 11, but found out later 10 too ). No game, no video, even it indle...FREEZES..it drove me nuts cause it did it well until something was changed. So I went all over and eventually found that after installing a Gigabyte Board tool it startet to happen, deinstall that and all was fine. Meanwhile the software is fixed, installed and no freezes anymore, but for almost 2 weeks it rendered the all new shiny beast USELESS. Easy fix ONCE you know what causes the freeze.

My other, 8700k on an Asus boad, had freezes for many years and it forced my to use an older Intel Rapid Storage driver to avoid the freezes or disable my 2x 2TB HDD. Those 2 did not like each other anymore after a certain Bios and Intel Management Chip upgrade. Anyway, it took me many weeks to find the reason for those sporadic feezes, 2-5 sec, that happend regardless of load or work. I stumbled across the hint after countless Google searches and reverted the Intel driver to an older one, Bingo !  no more freezes. Later on I found out it only happens with those 2 older HDD's on Sata. If I turned those OFF in Bios any Intel driver worked, aha, its not the driver and board, it's the specific Combo I have, even less likely to find help in google. After that Intel provided a driver that allowed the drives, they now work with the newest drivers w/o any issues but I have them off anyway, too loud. Only let them spin for backups and shut them off in Bios after that.

I have seen similar issues with USB attached devices, USB hubs etc..  To exclude that, directly connect only Mouse & Keyboard to the board directly. USB20 preferred ( the black ones ).

 

[bflo]

Install is on 1tb Samsung NVMe M.2, & 500gb Samsung ssd storage.  Power is balanced, never off HD & display.  Something interesting though, I put the BIOS to default just for kicks even though I made no changes, & I saw something was selected.  It surprised me, & didn't noticed know what it was.  This may be coincidence, but no freeze all day.   Thanks for your info.  

[bflo]

Happened again this evening.    BitMaster after ready your comments, I didn't realized when I said random freezes it could be taken as pauses, mine are push the reset.   I'll take a better look at my setup tomorrow, thanks.

Edited February 26, 2022 by bflo

[BitMaster]

Ah, ok, I never needed to reset the rig when it froze for a ferw seconds, it just "brrrrrrr"ed for 2-5 secs and then went on like normal. Always giving a BRRRRRR sound when it did it. It only did it in Windows OS, any Linux ran and runs flawless on this rig ( so I knew it's something driver/SW related ).

If yours freezes and won't recover it is much more severe I guess.

Again, do it bit by bit and watch when the error shows up. With luck you can find the trouble maker

 

Don't give up !

 

[bflo]

BitMaster you were on to it.  I'm pretty sure it's a powered hub for KB & trackball that I used for years on win 10, 11 didn't like it.  Thank you both for helping. 

[BitMaster]

Congrats !   What a relief, isn't it ?

[bflo]

Yeah, & something I already know, but forgot "Do the easy stuff FIRST"