BSOD on Startup

A friend of mine ordered a prebuilt from Cyberpower not too long ago, we installed Windows 10 on his system with no issue. Some time later he started experiencing bsods and now it is to the point where trying to boot Windows or the Windows Installation Media results in a bsod with a range of stop codes including:
REFERENCE BY POINTER
REGISTRY ERROR
SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED

I ran memtest86, it froze at Test 13 on Pass 2/4 and I haven't been able to get memtest to run without freezing since. I ran a test on the HDD as well, no errors there. I've tried changing the RAM sticks, as well as swapping GPUs, all to no avail. I was able to get a minidump from one of the bsods but I haven't been able to make out much myself. I would run the tool in the Posting Instructions sticky thread, but I can't even boot into the Installation Media, so I don't think that's going to work. Any help is greatly appreciated. The dmp can be found here : 050520-17468-01.dmp - Google Drive

SPECS:
i9-9900K
MSI GTX 1660 TI VENTUS 6G OC
16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport 3000 MHz (8GB x 2)
Seagate BarraCuda 3TB HDD
MSI MPG Z390 GAMING EDGE AC

What test did you run on the drive(s)?
Did you run the long/extended/full test(s)?

Try MemTest with only 1 stick of RAM in the first slot.
If it doesn't work, then try the other slots
If that doesn't work, then try the other sticks of RAM one-by-one in each of the slots

Check the MSI website for BIOS/UEFI updates. Your current version (A.70) dates from early 2020 - so there may not be any updates (but it's worth checking for - just in case).
Check the MSI website for compatibility of your motherboard with the i9 processor (had this issue recently in another topic). In that topic the issue was fixed with a BIOS/UEFI update.

Memory dump shows a STOP 0x7E BSOD blaming code/memory corruption.
Although this could be due to either software or hardware, I most often see these as a hardware problem (this includes compatibility issues).

The memory dump shows a lot of outdated drivers and a lot of them are dated from before Windows 10 came out. Most of them are chipset and other motherboard on-board components (such as storage controllers).
Can you boot to MemTest if you disconnect the power and data cables from the drive (do it when the system is shut of, unplugged, f and using good antistatic precautions)?

jdc1 said:

What test did you run on the drive(s)?
Did you run the long/extended/full test(s)?

Try MemTest with only 1 stick of RAM in the first slot.
If it doesn't work, then try the other slots
If that doesn't work, then try the other sticks of RAM one-by-one in each of the slots

Check the MSI website for BIOS/UEFI updates. Your current version (A.70) dates from early 2020 - so there may not be any updates (but it's worth checking for - just in case).
Check the MSI website for compatibility of your motherboard with the i9 processor (had this issue recently in another topic). In that topic the issue was fixed with a BIOS/UEFI update.

Memory dump shows a STOP 0x7E BSOD blaming code/memory corruption.
Although this could be due to either software or hardware, I most often see these as a hardware problem (this includes compatibility issues).

The memory dump shows a lot of outdated drivers and a lot of them are dated from before Windows 10 came out. Most of them are chipset and other motherboard on-board components (such as storage controllers).
Can you boot to MemTest if you disconnect the power and data cables from the drive (do it when the system is shut of, unplugged, f and using good antistatic precautions)?

For the drive, I downloaded HDDScan and ran the "Verification in linear mode" test which came back with 0 bad/errors and also looked at the S.M.A.R.T. info about the drive, all of which return green check marks. This and a chkdsk were the only tests I ran, but it ran overnight and seemed to be a full test.

I have not tried to run memtest with just one RAM stick in the first slot and switch, etc. so I will try that soon.

I have the most recent BIOS update, I updated somewhere in the middle of all this to make sure that it wasn't some sort of incompatibility with the 9900K. I can double check the compatibility on MSI's site but as stated, this was a prebuilt from Cyberpower and as I know they aren't perfect, I doubt they would sell parts incompatible with each other.

As far as bad hardware goes, I suppose that is what I'm trying to test. If needed I can throw the memory in my own system, but I've tried sticking my own 16GB of G.Skill TridentZ RGB in the system to no avail. I'm not sure where outdated drivers would have come from, as I have not been able to even boot into Windows. Unless friend had messed with drivers during the month-or-so period the PC worked, I'm not able to provide reason for outdated drivers present. I can boot to memtest without the HDD plugged in.

Thanks for the reply, hopefully we can figure something out and I'll update the thread if I find anything new!

- - - Updated - - -

axe0 said:

Hi warysaur,

Did you run memtest86 also on the new RAM sticks?

The RAM I swapped wasn't necessarily "new" but I know they are fully functioning as they work everyday in my personal build. I haven't ran memtest on them.

I'm a bit confused....

1) What OS did the system come with when purchased from Cyberpower?
2) When you boot to MemTest with the drive disconnected - does MemTest freeze?

I don't know where the older drivers came from - but I do know that I have seen problems with the file dates for Microsoft provided drivers in the Windows debugger KD.EXE.

Can you try wiping the hard drive clean and then installing Windows 10 again?

What does Cyberpower say about this? IF it's a new system, they'll offer some sort of support (and maybe an exchange).

jdc1 said:

I'm a bit confused....

1) What OS did the system come with when purchased from Cyberpower?
2) When you boot to MemTest with the drive disconnected - does MemTest freeze?

I don't know where the older drivers came from - but I do know that I have seen problems with the file dates for Microsoft provided drivers in the Windows debugger KD.EXE.

Can you try wiping the hard drive clean and then installing Windows 10 again?

What does Cyberpower say about this? IF it's a new system, they'll offer some sort of support (and maybe an exchange).

I'm not sure any OS came with the PC, however he did purchase Windows 10 with it and there was an activation code for Windows on the receipt. Memtest does freeze with the drive disconnected, however I'm not sure if it freezes with it connected as well. I'll try wiping the drive again and seeing where I can get. Cyberpower wants him to send it in, which I believe he'd have to pay for shipping and the thing is not light and it would most likely be weeks, more likely months for them to get it back to him considering the current state of things. Just trying to see what I can do about it in the here and now before he ships it out. Plus another friend of mine shipped a PC from Cyberpower back for repair and the computer came back with the case broken in several places.

- - - Updated - - -

axe0 said:

Please run memtest86 on them.

I suspect this is a motherboard issue, memtest86 test 13 is a common test where errors occur which is due to a charge leakage. Errors at this test 13 doesn't always indicate problems though, but that is quite dependent on a few factors and we would need to see the results to determine whether or not the errors from test 13 are real errors. If memtest86 reports the same errors on the swapped sticks we may be looking at a motherboard problem.

I'll test them on the board soon and get back to you. I didn't get errors in the memtest program during memtest's test 13, the program kind of just froze and was unresponsive. I believe they also froze in a second attempt at testing during test 10.

I understand the pain in dealing with manfuacturers - having been in PC repair for many years.

If MemTest doesn't work, then it's NOT a Windows problem (as MemTest doesn't run on Windows).
It's either compatibility (unlikely in an OEM build), or it's a hardware problem.

Have you disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled all the parts carefully?
Beyond that, there's not much you can do unless you're willing to buy parts.
I'd think that it's best just to send it in for repair as it's most likely a hardware issue and you want them to pay for the parts.