Understanding and Troubleshooting GPU-Related Crashes: A Case Study with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
Introduction
Modern gaming and high-performance computing rely heavily on the stability of graphics processing units (GPUs). However, users occasionally encounter critical issues, such as system crashes, black screens, and hardware malfunctions. This article details a comprehensive case study of a persistent problem with the GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9070 XT ELITE 16GB, highlighting potential causes, troubleshooting steps, and solutions to similar issues.
System Overview
- Graphics Card: GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9070 XT ELITE 16GB (RDNA 3)
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- Motherboard: ASUS X670E chipset
- Memory: 32GB DDR5 @ 6000MHz
- Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2025 model, ATX 3.0, 850W, 80+ Gold)
- Operating System: Windows 11 Pro (version 23H2, fully updated)
- Graphics Drivers: AMD Adrenalin 24.5.1
Identified Issue
The primary problem involves system crashes occurring during both gaming sessions and idle periods. Symptoms include:
- Black screens across monitors
- Momentary audio freezes or loops
- Failure of the display to recover after the crash, necessitating a hard reset
- Post-reboot GPU being disabled, requiring manual re-enablement via Device Manager
Additionally, a Windows crash dump analysis indicated the following:
- Bugcheck code: 0xA0000001
- Faulting module: amdkmdag.sys
- Symbol: amdkmdag+f03d
Sequence of Events
The issue emerged after updating the AMD Radeon Adrenalin software to version 25.5.1. The user reported that the crashes occurred under various conditions, including gaming and idle states—sometimes even without high GPU utilization.
Troubleshooting Efforts
A structured troubleshooting approach was undertaken, encompassing:
- Driver Reinstallation: Using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to perform a clean uninstall in Safe Mode, followed by fresh driver installation.
- Stress Testing: Running OCCT power and VRAM stress tests for over 20 minutes without errors.
- Temperature Monitoring: Ensuring GPU temperatures remained within safe limits (max 38°C under load, 50°C under
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