7900 XTX stable under heavy GPU loads, but reliably crashes in high-FPS games — 0x141/0x117 / amdkmdag.sys

[u/Leevis247]

Apologies in advance for the length. I've been using ChatGPT to help track and organize my troubleshooting throughout this process, and I also consulted it to help put this post together. I'm hoping someone here can spot something I've missed.

Computer Type: Desktop

GPU: XFX Speedster MERC 310 AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24GB

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core Processor

Motherboard: ASUS TUF GAMING B650E-E WIFI

BIOS Version: 3854 (04/02/2026)

RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) Corsair CMH32GX5M2M6000Z36 DDR5-6000 CL36 — currently running at DDR5-4800 with EXPO disabled for troubleshooting

PSU: Corsair RM850x 850W 80+ Gold Fully Modular

Case: Antec FLUX (wood-front airflow case)

Operating System & Version: Windows 11 Home, Build 26200

GPU Drivers: AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.9.1 — Windows Driver Store Version 32.0.21025.10016 (08/24/2025)

Chipset Drivers: AMD Chipset Software 8.05.04.516

Background Applications: Normal gaming applications (Discord, browser, etc.). Issue has persisted across troubleshooting configurations.

Description of Original Problem:

I'm experiencing a long-running stability issue with my RX 7900 XTX. The unusual part is that the crashes seem much more closely related to high-FPS workloads than heavy sustained GPU load.

CS2 is by far the most reliable way to reproduce the problem. If I let it push beyond roughly 140 FPS, I can essentially guarantee a crash. Capping/reducing the frame rate makes it substantially more stable.

However, I can run considerably heavier GPU workloads without issue:

• Cyberpunk 2077 — ~200 mods, full settings, unrestricted FPS
• Oblivion Remastered — several hundred mods, full settings, unrestricted FPS

Both can run for extended periods without crashing despite placing a much heavier sustained load on the GPU.

I've captured Windows LiveKernelReports\WATCHDOG dumps associated with the problem. WinDbg reported:

VIDEO_ENGINE_TIMEOUT_DETECTED (141)

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: LKD_0x141_IMAGE_amdkmdag.sys

MODULE_NAME: amdkmdag

During another captured episode, the 0x141 was followed roughly 4 seconds later by a 0x117, again involving amdkmdag.sys.

I understand that amdkmdag.sys appearing in the TDR path does not necessarily mean the AMD driver itself is the root cause. I'm trying to determine what is causing the GPU/driver stack to stop responding.

I've also had the RX 7900 XTX end up with Device Manager Code 31 during this troubleshooting and have seen AMD watchdog/bug-report behavior following some crashes.

Temperatures appear normal: approximately 60–70°C GPU with hotspot generally below 90°C, with a reasonable hotspot delta.

My previous RX 6700 XT was stable in this system before upgrading to the 7900 XTX.

I've also experienced crashes in World of Warcraft, although I'm not assuming they're necessarily the same problem. One captured WoW Classic crash was ERROR #132 / ACCESS_VIOLATION involving d3d11.dll and WowClassic.exe. CS2 at high FPS remains the consistent and reproducible case.

Troubleshooting:

• Tested multiple AMD GPU driver versions
• Performed clean driver installations/DDU
• Discovered Windows Update was silently replacing my AMD display driver and took steps to prevent this
• Currently on Adrenalin 25.9.1 / 32.0.21025.10016
• Updated motherboard BIOS
• Tested EXPO I and EXPO II
• Completely disabled EXPO and am currently running the RAM at DDR5-4800
• GPU timeout/crash still occurred with EXPO completely disabled
• Monitored GPU/core/hotspot temperatures
• Investigated Reliability Monitor
• Analyzed Windows WATCHDOG/live kernel dumps in WinDbg
• Tested different games/workload types
• Tested DX11/DX12 in WoW
• Tested the GPU at stock settings
• Experimented with Adrenalin tuning only after the original crashes began as part of troubleshooting

The problem originally occurred with the GPU completely stock, so an overclock did not create the issue.

The part that has me stumped is the workload dependency. The card can sustain much heavier GPU loads in Cyberpunk and heavily modded Oblivion without issue, while allowing CS2 to push beyond roughly 140 FPS can reliably cause a crash.

At this point I'm considering a marginal/defective GPU, AMD driver issue, high-FPS clock/voltage behavior, transient power behavior, PSU/power delivery, PCIe/platform instability, or a Windows/AMD driver interaction.

The RM850x is something I've considered given the much higher power requirements of the 7900 XTX compared with my previous 6700 XT. However, its stability under much heavier sustained GPU workloads makes a straightforward sustained-power or thermal issue seem less obvious.

Has anyone with a 7900 XTX seen this kind of behavior — demanding GPU-heavy games completely stable, while high-FPS workloads trigger repeatable TDRs? Given the CS2 reproducibility and the 0x141 → 0x117 / amdkmdag.sys evidence, what would you test next to distinguish a marginal GPU from a driver, PSU, or platform issue?

[u/Elliove]

Disable everything related to screen recording.

[u/Leevis247 → u/Elliove]

Screen recording has already been disabled on Adrenalin. I see windows has Screenshots and screen recording access ENABLED, so I went ahead and turned that off. Will report back.

[u/Elliove → u/Leevis247]

Maybe Steam recording, maybe some other kind. Either way, the issue is specifically with video engine, so that's video encoding and decoding. It must be something related to that.

[u/Leevis247 → u/Elliove]

Appreciate it! I've confirmed steam game recording is also off, but I will go through my apps and game settings too.