HWMonitor BSOD crashes?

Mr_Lemons

Active member
I have noticed that when I have HWMonitor running, I occasionally get a BSOD crash quoting a nvlddmkm.sys problem. Does this happen to anyone else? It appears to be sporadic, sometimes it happens the moment I close the program other times when it is running.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I have noticed that when I have HWMonitor running, I occasionally get a BSOD crash quoting a nvlddmkm.sys problem. Does this happen to anyone else? It appears to be sporadic, sometimes it happens the moment I close the program other times when it is running.
It's unlikely it's HWMonitor causing the crash, all HWMonitor does is read temp probes and general information that components are constantly outputting at any time, it doesn't link into the drivers at all.

The nvlddmkm.sys process is part of the Nvidia driver, so it's whatever is using the GPU at that time that you have HWMonitor open that's triggering a driver crash either through incorrect driver installation, or possibly through thermal issues.

You need to stress the GPU and monitor temps for when the crash occurs.
 

Mr_Lemons

Active member
I have recently replaced the thermal paste with kryosheets, and the laptop temps have been fantastic - never above 90dC for the CPU and 75dC for GPU [edited]. It could be a driver issue, I suppose I can try rolling back the nvidia driver to the previous one. I did recently update the drivers.

Laptop specs below:

Chassis & DisplayRecoil Series: 15.6" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)AMD Ryzen™ 9 Eight Core Processor 5900HX (3.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)16GB Corsair 3200MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics CardNVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Memory Card ReaderIntegrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
BatteryRecoil Series Integrated 94WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal PasteARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & WirelessGIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard LanguagePER-KEY RGB BACKLIT UK MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery MediaWindows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office SoftwareFREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
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BrowserGoogle Chrome™
Notebook MouseINTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
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Warranty3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
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DeliverySTANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build TimeStandard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Welcome BookPCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
 
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SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
never above 90dC for both the GPU and CPU
The thermal limit for the GPU is 85, so if it's getting above that then there's a serious problem

This is where you need to be very sure of exact temperatures, not rough averages, if the GPU is reaching over 85, then something is wrong.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
From what I'm reading, 87c is the thermal cut out for the RTX 3070, so if it's getting up that high, a BSOD would be expected.
 

Mr_Lemons

Active member
You are right sorry - the GPU hits maximum temps of around 74dC and hot spot around 82dC

note: i edited OP for clarity
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
You are right sorry - the GPU hits maximum temps of around 74dC and hot spot around 82dC

note: i edited OP for clarity
Ah, that’s fine then, that’s good.

In that case best to clean the gpu driver with DDU (only way to properly uninstall a driver, and then reinstall the previous version perhaps, see if it’s more stable.

Also, when updating Nvidia gpu drivers, always be sure to select a custom install then clean install if you’re using GeForce Now, that can prevent a lot of driver related issues. Also, best advice is not to include the HDAudio component as that’s known to cause instability
 

Mr_Lemons

Active member
all good advice thanks - I will give it a go.

It certainly wasn't happening before I think there were 2 driver updates in relatively quick succession from nvidia so hopefully that's the cause.
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
The minidumps are saved, the last BSOD dump will be in that folder - along with any others.
 

DarkPaladin

Enthusiast
It's unlikely it's HWMonitor causing the crash, all HWMonitor does is read temp probes and general information that components are constantly outputting at any time, it doesn't link into the drivers at all.

The nvlddmkm.sys process is part of the Nvidia driver, so it's whatever is using the GPU at that time that you have HWMonitor open that's triggering a driver crash either through incorrect driver installation, or possibly through thermal issues.

You need to stress the GPU and monitor temps for when the crash occurs.
It's a bizarre issue, but my laptop completely refuses to work with HWMonitor. The system either has major stuttering/hiccups or crashes when using HWMonitor. HWInfo64 is my recommended software for monitoring nowadays.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
It's a bizarre issue, but my laptop completely refuses to work with HWMonitor. The system either has major stuttering/hiccups or crashes when using HWMonitor. HWInfo64 is my recommended software for monitoring nowadays.
That’s interesting, what cpu is it, modern or a bit older?

I must say I personally prefer HWInfo anyway, it goes into more depth and is extremely handy although can take a bit of getting used to at first, it's a great bit of software.
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
If it's BSODing then there will be mindumps saved in C:\Windows\Minidump.

Also look in C:\Windows\LiveKernelReports, search all sub-folders for dump file (.dmp). Upload any dumps that you find.

If HWMonitor BSODs on your PC then your PC has some sort of issue and it would be wise to track it down.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
If it's BSODing then there will be mindumps saved in C:\Windows\Minidump.

Also look in C:\Windows\LiveKernelReports, search all sub-folders for dump file (.dmp). Upload any dumps that you find.

If HWMonitor BSODs on your PC then your PC has some sort of issue and it would be wise to track it down.
Yeah, that's my feeling as well
 
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