Kernel Power 41 Error when playing hardcore games

[Herr Lopes]

I recently moved from my parent's house and brought my computer with me. Well, as soon as I unpacked all my stuff, I decided to test the machine, but as I turned it on I got stuck on the windows loading screen. So I contacted a local company specialized on repairing, and I few days later my baby was back again to my place.

Fortunately the loading screen issue was resolved - basically, one of the SSDs, the one containing the OS, corrupted and they had to install Win10 again. The timing was indeed odd.

But surprisingly a new issue appeared: the infamous, Kernel Power 41. Once again, I took my computer to the local technician. They made several test (like testing each hardware and gaming for the whole day) and installed Win 11, but they did not find anything out of ordinary. After that, I brought my PC back home and decided to install some hardcore games, like Days Gone and Red Dead 2... and there it was again, Kernel Power 41. At the highest point of the games, my PC turned off, but this time it was a little bit different: it shut down, tried to restart again, but soon gave up and turned off.. And when I tried to turn it on by pressing the power button, there was no sign of life. I had to turn the PSU off and on to get the computer back to life. At that time, I was certain that was something wrong with my GPU and its temperature. At the climax, the temperature was reaching 75°C. So I noticed that a OC Software (Expertool) was installed on my PC and decided to remote the little b******. Surprisingly , the performance became much better and the issue disappeared for 7 days. However, last night, I was playing Days Gone and the issue came back again.

Turns out that maybe the GPU is not the issue... Do you guys have any guess? Should I contact a local electrician?

Operating System: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
BIOS: 3202 (type: UEFI)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz (12 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 32768MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 32690MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 12
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Power Supply: Corsair 600W

[Illusion of Progress]

Replying here from the other thread so it moves focus to this thread...

Oprindeligt skrevet af Herr Lopes:

Oprindeligt skrevet af A&A ✠:

Just disable CPU C-states and test again.

That's actually a good ideia. It was on "AUTO" mode, now is "DISABLE".

If this fixes it, it would signify something isn't getting the proper voltage it should while the CPU is switching between (either to or from) the lower states.

The C-states allow the CPU to properly clock down when there's no need to be running at full clock speed (base speed or above). And this functionality should operate properly.

So what I'm saying is is if this does get rid of the shutdowns, while you've found the issue, and have a way to avoid it, the fault is still there (you're just avoiding the condition which leads to it). Of course if you don't mind it running at higher speed and just want it, you know... not shutting down, then all is well.

I have a suspicion this won't stop the shutdowns (especially since you mention it's happening under load instead of more at idle), but I'd be interested to see if it does.

My advice otherwise remains the same as in the response in the other thread.

Check event log for any further clues.

Try reseating cables and parts.

Beyond that, I'd be doing some combination of taking it a service place or otherwise using your own spare parts to rule out a bad PSU > motherboard > GPU/RAM/rest roughly in that order (but motherboard is more effort to change so up to you if you skip it for lesser stuff first).

[Herr Lopes]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Illusion of Progress:

Oprindeligt skrevet af Herr Lopes:

I've checked Event Viewer and there were 2 events related to Kernel-Power that preceded KP 41: ID 125 and ID 172.

If you can, provide the full text of those logs (and do so in your other post so things don't remain split and confusing). Looking up the first event ID is giving me results of it accompanying others with shutodwn errors and the text they provide suggests it's a thermal throttling issue?

But please provide your log contents so I'm not presuming another speaks for your own. If yours is the same though, I'll preemptively suggest reseating the CPU cooler and reapplying thermal paste. I did also recommend reseating everything but I mentioned the CPU should be fine. Might as well get it if you're doing the cooler though.

Event 125:

- <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
- <System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331c3b3a-2005-44c2-ac5e-77220c37d6b4}" />
<EventID>125</EventID>
<Version>4</Version>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>86</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000020</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2023-09-09T02:08:53.7904493Z" />
<EventRecordID>4308</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>THOR</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
</System>
- <EventData>
<Data Name="ThermalZoneDeviceInstanceLength">9</Data>
<Data Name="ThermalZoneDeviceInstance">\_TZ.TZ00</Data>
<Data Name="_PSV">0</Data>
<Data Name="_TC1">0</Data>
<Data Name="_TC2">0</Data>
<Data Name="_TSP">0</Data>
<Data Name="_AC0">344</Data>
<Data Name="_AC1">328</Data>
<Data Name="_AC2">323</Data>
<Data Name="_AC3">318</Data>
<Data Name="_AC4">313</Data>
<Data Name="_AC5">0</Data>
<Data Name="_AC6">0</Data>
<Data Name="_AC7">0</Data>
<Data Name="_AC8">0</Data>
<Data Name="_AC9">0</Data>
<Data Name="_CRT">392</Data>
<Data Name="_HOT">0</Data>
<Data Name="MinimumThrottle">0</Data>
<Data Name="_CR3">0</Data>
<Data Name="OverThrottleThreshold">0</Data>
<Data Name="DescriptionLength">0</Data>
<Data Name="Description" />
<Data Name="_TZP">0</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

Event 172

- <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
- <System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331c3b3a-2005-44c2-ac5e-77220c37d6b4}" />
<EventID>172</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>203</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000404</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2023-09-09T02:08:53.8287632Z" />
<EventRecordID>4310</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="320" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>THOR</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
</System>
- <EventData>
<Data Name="State">2</Data>
<Data Name="Reason">6</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

Event 41

- <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
- <System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331c3b3a-2005-44c2-ac5e-77220c37d6b4}" />
<EventID>41</EventID>
<Version>9</Version>
<Level>1</Level>
<Task>63</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000400000000002</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2023-09-09T02:08:53.7937452Z" />
<EventRecordID>4309</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>THOR</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
</System>
- <EventData>
<Data Name="BugcheckCode">0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter1">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter2">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter3">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter4">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="SleepInProgress">0</Data>
<Data Name="PowerButtonTimestamp">0</Data>
<Data Name="BootAppStatus">0</Data>
<Data Name="Checkpoint">0</Data>
<Data Name="ConnectedStandbyInProgress">false</Data>
<Data Name="SystemSleepTransitionsToOn">0</Data>
<Data Name="CsEntryScenarioInstanceId">0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckInfoFromEFI">false</Data>
<Data Name="CheckpointStatus">0</Data>
<Data Name="CsEntryScenarioInstanceIdV2">0</Data>
<Data Name="LongPowerButtonPressDetected">false</Data>
<Data Name="LidReliability">false</Data>
<Data Name="InputSuppressionState">0</Data>
<Data Name="PowerButtonSuppressionState">0</Data>
<Data Name="LidState">3</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Kernel Power 41 Error is just generic error designation meaning that Windows encountered unexpected shutdown.
There could be plethora of causes from failing PSU, motherboard, RAM or simply old and outdated drivers (often old sound drivers).

[Herr Lopes]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Illusion of Progress:

Replying here from the other thread so it moves focus to this thread...

Oprindeligt skrevet af Herr Lopes:

That's actually a good ideia. It was on "AUTO" mode, now is "DISABLE".

If this fixes it, it would signify something isn't getting the proper voltage it should while the CPU is switching between (either to or from) the lower states.

The C-states allow the CPU to properly clock down when there's no need to be running at full clock speed (base speed or above). And this functionality should operate properly.

So what I'm saying is is if this does get rid of the shutdowns, while you've found the issue, and have a way to avoid it, the fault is still there (you're just avoiding the condition which leads to it). Of course if you don't mind it running at higher speed and just want it, you know... not shutting down, then all is well.

I have a suspicion this won't stop the shutdowns (especially since you mention it's happening under load instead of more at idle), but I'd be interested to see if it does.

My advice otherwise remains the same as in the response in the other thread.

Check event log for any further clues.

Try reseating cables and parts.

Beyond that, I'd be doing some combination of taking it a service place or otherwise using your own spare parts to rule out a bad PSU > motherboard > GPU/RAM/rest roughly in that order (but motherboard is more effort to change so up to you if you skip it for lesser stuff first).

So I've just had KP 41 again. I was playing the whole afternoon. Same thing as always: it shutdowns and tries to restart, but It gives up. I really don't know what to do... should I buy a no break or a stabilizer? Maybe a new motherboard? I really don't know.

[Herr Lopes]

Hey folks, just a quick update about my issue. Well, It was the motherboard. Basically, it couldn't handle the processor - something about the number of transitors and capacitors.

[Illusion of Progress]

Glad to hear you found the issue. Sorry to hear it was a bad part. Random shutdowns are typically are a bad part (likely PSU or motherboard, but sometimes others) so that tracks.

Number of transistors wouldn't be an issue though. That's just a tech spec.

A capacitor going bad could definitely cause that though, and sort of falls under the broader "PC has an electrical issue" as a result because something likely isn't getting the voltage/power it needs due to the failed capacitor. Though that CPU isn't too old so I would figure a motherboard from that era wouldn't be either, and I thought capacitors tended to be better these days so it's interesting. Sometimes you win the failure lottery I guess.