Troubleshooting a "Possessed" PC: Artifacting, Freezes, and Long Boot Times

Initial Symptoms and Recreated Issues

• 🥶 The PC presented with symptoms of freezing, making a grinding sound, blue screening, and shutting down, primarily during World of Warcraft gameplay.
• ❓ Attempts to recreate the problem in the studio were initially unsuccessful, leading to frustration similar to the "car mechanic scenario."
• ⚠️ A key clue emerged when running Superposition, which caused pink artifacts and rendering issues on the screen, indicative of a potential VRAM issue with the graphics card.

Diagnostic Steps and Findings

• ⏱️ A significantly long boot time (nearly 2 minutes) was observed, with ASUS BIOS code 3A indicating issues with System Agent (SA) initialization.
• 💻 Running MemTest86 resulted in a freeze at 58% on the first pass, suggesting a potential problem with the RAM or the boot drive connection.
• 🛠️ After switching to a USB-A adapter, MemTest86 completed the first pass on one stick in 24 minutes, prompting further testing of individual RAM sticks.
• 📈 Disabling the ASUS AI optimized overclock and reverting CPU settings to auto significantly improved CPU temperatures and voltages, dropping the CPU package temperature by 20°C.

Resolution and Potential Causes

• 🚀 The CPU overclock was identified as a likely culprit for system instability and potential artifacting, as it was pushing voltages unnecessarily high.
• 🧹 A DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) and fresh driver installation were performed, which is considered good practice after multiple crashes.
• 💡 The artifacting observed might have been caused by the CPU sending corrupted data to the VRAM due to instability, rather than a direct GPU hardware failure.
• 🔌 While the PC issues appear resolved after removing the CPU overclock and updating drivers, the possibility of dirty power in the townhouse remains a concern, with a UPS recommended.
• 🔊 A strange grinding/buffering sound heard during crashes is theorized to be an audio buffer overrun, an old-school indicator of a system crash, rather than an AIO pump issue.