RDR2 Crashes my PC

**jmarket** · 10-27-2025, 11:43 PM

Hey there, and welcome to PCHF! 👋

Thanks for sharing your system details and everything you’ve already tried — that really helps narrow things down.

The WHEA Logger Event ID 18 error usually points to a hardware communication problem between the CPU, memory controller, or GPU.
Since it only happens in Red Dead Redemption 2 and not in other games or stress tests, it’s likely a stability issue triggered by the way that game loads the system.

🧩 Step 1 — Force PCIe Gen 3

Enter the BIOS.
Go to Advanced → PCI Subsystem Settings.
Change PCIe Speed from Auto or Gen 4 to Gen 3.

Some MSI B450 boards can get a bit unstable when running a Ryzen 5000 CPU with a 6950 XT at Gen 4 speeds.

⚡ Step 2 — Turn Off Fast Startup & Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling

In Control Panel → Power Options, disable Fast Startup.
In Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Default Graphics Settings, turn off Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling.

These two features sometimes cause black screens or driver resets on RDNA2 cards.

🧱 Step 3 — Clean Driver Reinstall

Use DDU in Safe Mode to completely remove the AMD drivers.
Install the latest AMD WHQL driver (avoid the “optional” or beta versions).
Don’t apply any tuning, overclocking, or undervolting yet — leave everything stock.

🧠 Step 4 — Check PCIe Stability
Run the 3DMark PCI Express feature test.
If it crashes or the screen goes black, that confirms a PCIe-related issue.

🔋 Step 5 — Double-Check Power Connections

Each 8-pin GPU connector should use its own separate cable from the PSU — no daisy-chains.
Make sure the 24-pin and 8-pin motherboard power connectors are firmly seated.

🎮 Step 6 — Verify Game Files

Verify the game through the Rockstar Launcher or Steam.
Delete or rename Documents → Rockstar Games → Red Dead Redemption 2 to create new settings.
Try both DirectX 12 and Vulkan modes.

When you get a chance, please post back with:

A screenshot of the full WHEA Event ID 18 entry (from the Details tab → XML View).
Whether forcing PCIe to Gen 3 changed anything.

Once we have that info, we’ll know what direction to go next. 👍

— PCHF Technical Response Team

**jmarket** · 2025-10-28T00:17:42+00:00

Thanks for the update! 👋

Good to know your board only supports PCIe Gen 3 — that rules out any Gen 4 signaling issues right away.

From the XML log you posted, the important line is:

Code:

MciStat 0xbea0000000000108

That specific code points to a cache hierarchy error, which is generally tied to L2/L3 cache or inter-core communication instability on the CPU side.
Since you’ve already RMA’d your CPU and memory, and you’re running stock settings, it’s likely not a defective part — just something very particular about how RDR2 stresses the system.

Let’s move through a few more checks:

🧠 Step 1 — Check for Curve Optimizer or PBO limits
Even if you’ve disabled PBO, make sure there are no negative Curve Optimizer offsets applied in BIOS.
Set:

Precision Boost Overdrive → Disabled
Curve Optimizer → All Cores → 0
Global C-state Control → Auto

Then retest RDR2.

⚙️ Step 2 — Manually set SoC and related voltages
Try manually setting the following safe baseline values in BIOS:

SoC Voltage → 1.05 V
VDDG CCD → 0.95 V
VDDG IOD → 0.95 V
CLDO VDDP → 0.9 V

Sometimes MSI’s auto settings undervolt these slightly, and RDR2 happens to be sensitive to that.

💾 Step 3 — Reinstall or move the game
If possible, try reinstalling Red Dead Redemption 2 on your Crucial P3 Plus NVMe rather than the SATA SSD.
The PCIe error references a memory I/O operation, and we’ve occasionally seen similar behavior tied to older SATA controller drivers on B450 boards.

🧩 Step 4 — BIOS sanity check
Make sure:

You’re running BIOS version 7A38vBP1 (which you mentioned).
Load Optimized Defaults → save → reboot → reapply only XMP and the voltages above.

This clears any potential residual instability from prior tuning.

🔍 Step 5 — Windows settings
If you can’t find Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling, that’s fine — some driver builds hide it depending on version and registry flags.
Just double-check you’re on the latest stable (WHQL) Radeon driver, not the optional one.

Go ahead and test again after setting those voltages and loading optimized defaults.
If it still crashes, we’ll look at event timing and address consistency from multiple WHEA entries to see if it’s always hitting the same core or address range.

Keep us posted with:

If any of those voltage tweaks helped.
Whether the crash time changed (faster, slower, or same).
A new WHEA entry if it still occurs.

— PCHF Technical Response Team

**jmarket** · 2025-10-28T15:50:28+00:00

Thanks for the quick update! 👋

That’s actually a really useful finding — the fact that disabling PBO and adjusting SoC/VDDG voltages makes the game last longer strongly suggests we’re dealing with a marginal stability issue in the CPU’s fabric or cache interface.

In other words, the CPU and memory controller are *almost* stable under RDR2’s specific workload, but not fully. Most stress tests don’t hit that combination of instructions and memory access patterns, which is why they all pass.

Let’s narrow it down a bit further:

Step 1 — Lock CPU frequency temporarily
Try setting a manual all-core clock just below boost, around 4.3 GHz at 1.25 V–1.275 V.
This removes boost variance and isolates whether the crash is linked to transient voltage drops during boost transitions.

Step 2 — Memory tuning test
Even though your RAM passes tests, try running it at 3200 MHz CL16 for now (leave XMP timings, just lower frequency).
That will reduce memory controller stress and help confirm whether the crash relates to the Infinity Fabric clock.

Step 3 — Chipset driver check
Make sure you have the latest AMD B450 chipset driver from AMD’s site — not MSI’s.
The Fabric and PCIe drivers there are often newer and can help with stability.

If lowering memory speed and locking the CPU frequency makes it completely stable, we’ll know it’s a fabric-timing issue rather than a hardware fault.
If it still crashes, we can try small voltage steps up to 1.1 V on SoC for testing — still safe for the 5600X.

Keep us posted on:

Whether the manual all-core clock improves stability.
If 3200 MHz memory changes the time to crash.
If the latest chipset driver is already installed.

— PCHF Technical Response Team

**jmarket** · 2025-10-29T20:33:55+00:00

Thanks for testing all of that — great job narrowing things down. 👏

The fact that both CPUs and both RAM kits produce the exact same crash pattern, and that it happens in roughly the same spots in-game, is very telling.
This points away from a CPU, RAM, or voltage-tuning problem and much more toward a system-level or storage/controller issue — basically, something common to the entire platform.

Here’s what we’ll check next:

Step 1 — Storage path test
You mentioned running the game on the Crucial P3 Plus or the PNY CS900. Try moving the game to the other drive temporarily.
If it’s on the NVMe now, move it to the SATA SSD — or vice versa.
> RDR2 streams massive data chunks constantly, and if a controller or driver hiccups under load, it can trigger a WHEA error and reboot exactly like you’re seeing.

Step 2 — PSU and cabling check
Even though the PSU seems strong, a marginal rail drop during heavy GPU load can still cause instant resets without a BSOD.
Please check:

Each GPU 8-pin uses its own dedicated cable from the PSU (no split leads).
The 24-pin and 8-pin motherboard connectors are seated fully.
No adapters or extensions are being used on the GPU.

If you have access to another PSU, even briefly, it’s worth a quick swap just to eliminate that variable entirely.

Step 3 — Windows and driver integrity

Run

Code:

sfc /scannow

and then

Code:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

in an elevated Command Prompt.

Ensure you’re on the latest Radeon WHQL driver (not the optional one).
Try temporarily disabling any overlays (Steam, Discord, Radeon Metrics, etc.) just for testing.

Step 4 — Environmental check
If the crash keeps happening in the same in-game area even after reinstalling or moving drives, it might indicate a corrupted asset file.
Try a full uninstall and reinstall of RDR2 on the alternate drive with antivirus temporarily disabled during install to prevent file corruption.

Once you’ve tested that, let us know:

If switching drives or reinstalling changes the behavior.
Whether the crash timing/location stays identical.
If any new WHEA entries appear afterward.

That’ll tell us if we’re chasing a power or storage-level fault versus a deeper platform issue.

— PCHF Technical Response Team

**jmarket** · 2025-10-29T22:16:37+00:00

Thanks again for the thorough follow-up. 👏

You’ve already done an impressive amount of testing, and the latest details narrow things down a lot.

The fact that:
- You’ve swapped CPUs and RAM,
- Reinstalled the game on another drive,
- Confirmed proper PSU cabling,
- And still see identical WHEA-18 logs with different APIC IDs,
strongly suggests the problem lies at the motherboard or VRM level, or possibly the GPU power delivery path.

Let’s take a few more targeted steps to confirm that theory:

Step 1 — Load Optimized Defaults + Minimal Settings

In BIOS, load Optimized Defaults.
Leave PBO disabled and XMP off.
Set SoC Voltage manually to 1.05 V.
Set VDDG CCD/IOD to 0.95 V.
Disable any MSI “Game Boost” or “Enhanced Mode” features.

Then test RDR2 again after a clean reboot.

Step 2 — Reseat GPU and Inspect Slot
Power the system off completely, remove the GPU, and reseat it firmly in the primary PCIe slot.
While it’s out, check for any dust, oxidation, or physical damage in the slot or on the contacts.
> Even minor signal noise on the PCIe lane can cause WHEA-18 bus errors.

Step 3 — Clean BIOS Reflash
Even if you’re already on version 7A38vBP1, download it again from MSI, reflash the BIOS, and clear CMOS afterward.
This rules out any corruption from a prior flash and resets power tables cleanly.

Step 4 — Stress Testing for Stability
Let’s see if we can reproduce instability outside of the game:

Run OCCT (latest version) with the following tests:
- Power Test → 15 minutes (stresses CPU + GPU simultaneously).
- Memory Controller Test → 20 minutes.
Watch system behavior and note if it reboots or logs any WHEA errors during testing.

If the system passes these without crashing, that further supports a PCIe or game-specific interaction issue.
If it fails, that confirms an underlying stability or board-level problem.

If the system still crashes after all of that, it’s very likely the issue is with the motherboard’s power delivery or PCIe signal integrity.
Testing your GPU in another system, or testing with a known-good PSU if possible, would confirm that before considering a board replacement.

Please post back with:

Results from the OCCT tests (pass, crash, or WHEA entries).
Whether the clean BIOS reflash or minimal setup changed behavior.
If WHEA events still alternate between multiple APIC IDs.

— PCHF Technical Response Team

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