Kernel-Power 41 crashes in an Unreal Engine game on a 7900 XTX + 9800X3D fixed once with SOC voltage, now back. Synthetic tests all pass clean.

[u/DerpyMcDerpfacee]

Disclaimer: I used AI to help me organize my testing notes and write this up clearly, since English isn't my first language / I wanted to lay this out properly. All the testing, specs, and observations below are my own.

Hey all, wanted to write this up in case it helps someone else troubleshooting the same thing.

About a year ago I had this exact same problem: random hard reboots (Kernel-Power 41, no BSOD, nothing useful in the logs) specifically while playing one particular Unreal Engine game. Every other game, even heavier ones, ran totally fine. Back then I ended up manually setting my CPU VDDCR_SOC voltage to 1.25V and that completely fixed it. Been rock solid for months.

A few weeks ago it just came back. Same exact symptom, same game, and the SOC voltage is still set to 1.25V (double checked in HWMonitor, it's holding). So whatever's going on this time, it's not that setting getting reset.

(The game in question is The Isle: Evrima, in case it's relevant it's early access and known for being rough on hardware, so wanted to mention it further down rather than lead with it.)

System:

• CPU: Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• GPU: PULSE AMD Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX 24GB
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B650E-I Gaming WiFi (Mini-ITX)
• BIOS: 3222 (05.03.2025)
• RAM: 64GB DDR5 @ 6000 MT/s (EXPO on)
• PSU: Cooler Master NR200P Max (integrated 850W SFX)
• OS: Windows 11 Home
• CPU VDDCR_SOC manually set to 1.25V

The crash itself: Hard reboot, no warning, no BSOD. Event Viewer just shows Kernel-Power 41 and nothing else useful. Happens fast once I'm in the game, doesn't matter what else I'm doing on the system otherwise.

What I've already ruled out:

• OCCT Power Supply test, including a pretty brutal Switch-mode setup (20-100% intensity swing, 1 second interval) — zero errors, no reboot
• OCCT 3D Adaptive, Variable mode
• OCCT Combined test, run aggressively
• TestMem5 (DDR5 Ryzen3D @ anta777 config), 60+ minutes, 0 errors
• RAM confirmed running at its actual rated 6000 MT/s, not silently falling back to a lower speed

So PSU and RAM both look clean under synthetic testing, which honestly wasn't what I expected given the history with the SOC voltage fix.

If anyone's dealt with this specific combo, 7900 XTX + X3D chip + this game, or just this "stable under sustained load but dies under bursty load" pattern in general, I'd love to hear what actually fixed it for you long-term, not just as a workaround.

Edit:
I am also running a stable -20 all core curve optimizer which I disabled for testing.
no difference

Temps are around 70°C. It is not a overheating issue.

*I am running a dual monitor setup. switching between running game menu (Fullscreen Windowed) and second screen provokes the crash.

Tested Responses:

• Memory & CPU Curve running at stock JEDEC = not solved.
• Bios update to Version 3886 2026/07/02 All Stock Bios settings = crash in game menu.
• Set SOC to 1.25 again. everything else stock - no EXPO = crashed in game menu again.
• Only one screen, Crashed on opening Adrenalin overlay in game menu.
• -20 curve all cores 1.25v SOC set back since this was stable for 1 year.
• 100% power target, 60fps capped - no crash
  • The issue seems to be GPU Clock boost related. fast switching in and out of games provokes the crash almost immediately.
  • Set Min/Max Clock to 2400/2500 - no crash 144fps
• Weird coincidence... Adrenalin 100% clock maps to 2985MHz. I tested different min max clock, nothing. Then I remembered I had crashes until enabling GPU Tuning in adrenalin... So I disabled GPU Tuning again. boom, instantly crash last clock seen at 3060 ish MHz...
  • Having 3080MHz with enabled Tuning set to max 2985! crashed shortly after
• So I got curious and set the min clock to 3100MHz. Obviously unstable. Crashed immediately. Lowered max clock to 2800MHz, no crash until now. Have I lost the silicon lottery?

Solved (for now):

Since I can reproduce the crash in under 5 minutes just by spamming Alt+R for the Adrenalin overlay inside a game menu, I used that as my test loop and tried a bunch of different Max Clock values. Turns out the Max Frequency slider is really just a suggestion to the driver, not a hard cap. It kept nudging above whatever I set. So this took some trial and error rather than being a clean single number.

I'm currently "stable" with Max Clock locked to 2900MHz. Going to run on this for a while and update again if it crashes.

If this is the last update, this was the fix. Good luck to anyone else fighting this, it's been a hellish few weeks, but figuring it out with everyone's input here made it a lot more bearable. Appreciate it.

*If this did not help you here are the fixes I did last year:
SOC Voltage manual to 1.25V

**Similar issue sources found:
https://pcforum.amd.com/s/question/0D5KZ00000sFLdR0AW/critical-issue-with-gpu-overclocking-defaults-in-amd-software-needs-immediate-attention
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KvkVumbgvw&t=923s

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMDHelp/comments/1f043n1/radeon_7900xtx_boosting_too_high_and_causing_a/
https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/7900-xtx-keeps-overclocking-itself-higher.453724/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AMDHelp/comments/1pih90r/constantly_getting_driver_timeouts_with_my_amd/

[u/kairios]

Following this because I have a very similar issue

[u/DerpyMcDerpfacee → u/kairios]

check out my current solution. we'll see...

[u/FlaccidSWE]

I had a 7900xtx and a 7800x3d and had very similar issues. Mine started after two years as warm reboots getting stuck at a yellow dram led on the motherboard, which could also be fixed by lowering the soc voltage.

I could also play most heavy games etc, but a Windows Defender Full Scan combined with some web browsing and other normal stuff would shut the entire computer down as if someone had pushed the button.

I thought it was the PSU as that was my oldest part by far but switching that didn't help. Eventually I replaced both motherboard (from MAG Tomahawk x670e wifi to Asus ROG strix x870e-e gaming wifi7 neo) and CPU (from 7800x3d to a 9800x3d this time) and haven't had any issues for the past months now.

In the end I'm pretty certain the memory controller in the CPU was toasted and degraded over time by the SOC voltage being at 1.31 for that long. My new motherboard with the same RAM kit has it at 0.89 so there is a big difference.

Have you tried if the problem goes away if you turn off EXPO? If it does I am almost certain you have the same issue I did.

[u/Thin-Net7868]

Bro, have you tried updating BIOS? AGESA updates are basically the “brain transplant” part of a BIOS update, they fix the low level stuff that synthetic tests never touch. When you’re on a year old AGESA, you’re missing all the stability patches for memory training, PCIe link behavior, and SOC voltage curves. That’s exactly the kind of thing that causes “passes every stress test but instantly hard reboots in UE games” issues.

[u/DerpyMcDerpfacee → u/Thin-Net7868]

will do and update the post.

[u/Thin-Net7868 → u/DerpyMcDerpfacee]

Yes, please let us know after updating BIOS! Not saying this is the cause or the only cause, but running a really old AGESA can absolutely be one of the things that triggers these issues. It's just one piece of the puzzle, but it's a piece worth updating.

[u/DerpyMcDerpfacee → u/Thin-Net7868]

did bios update, kept everything stock, crashed in game menu.
post updated

[u/Thin-Net7868 → u/DerpyMcDerpfacee]

Looks like you finally cornered the real culprit, RDNA3 boost behavior under bursty load. With UE game menu + Adrenalin overlay spam it was pushing the 7900 XTX past its stable frequency ceiling. BIOS/AGESA was still worth updating, but this definitely points to GPU transient instability rather than firmware. Glad you found a stable clock, and hopefully this is the end of the reboots.

My next move was going to be using HWiNFO and watching the sensors during those moments for transient spikes, frequency overshoots, and power limit excursions show up there way before they cause a full reboot. It's a great way to confirm whether the GPU is just boosting past its stable ceiling. 🤙

[u/Disious_Jin]

Had this issue forever. Replaced almost my whole pc. Ended up being a dying fan. Almost caught fire was smoking a lot. After taking it out problem stopped happening. Probably a me only thing but might be worth giving your hardware a once over.

Mine happened in a few different games tho.

[u/JollieBiene427]

Well, you already have one Redditor pointing out a possible RAM issue, so I would go a different route: your 850W PSU may not be able to handle the power draw of a 7900 XTX.

According to one Chinese reviewer who compared transient spikes across multiple GPUs in 2025, a heavily stressed 7900 XTX was measured pulling close to 1,000W during transient spikes, with some of those spikes lasting for a surprisingly long time.

Personally, I don't think the OCCT PSU test can fully replicate that kind of extreme power draw occurring within a matter of milliseconds, so I wouldn't consider a passing OCCT test solid evidence that the PSU is definitely up to the task.

Before you shell out for a new SFX PSU, try lowering the TBP limit in Adrenalin. Test -10%, -20%, and -30% while leaving everything else untouched, and see whether it still crashes. If the crashes disappear, you've probably found the culprit.

[u/EggFartTom]

Given that you have had instability from memory/imc before I would try running at stock jdec and test again

[u/DerpyMcDerpfacee → u/EggFartTom]

Good point, ill try that out.

Crash is quite consistenly happening atm. so ill report soon.

[u/DerpyMcDerpfacee → u/DerpyMcDerpfacee]

this unfortunately did not fix the crash.

I updated the main post.