New PCS laptop Recoil 17.3” crashing at startup

[LeSpicey]

Hi, I just received my new laptop, and after booting it up the first time, it has been constantly crashing either at boot, or after a few minutes of using it.
I tried reinstalling Windows, but it didn’t change anything.

	Recoil Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 300Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)	Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-11700K (3.6GHz) 16MB Cache
Memory (RAM)	64GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3080 - 16.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive	1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader	Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor	2 x 280W AC Adaptor
Power Cable	2 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery	Recoil Series Detachable 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (97WH)
Thermal Paste	STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card	2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Atlas & Super X-Fi
Bluetooth & Wireless	GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options	2 x THUNDERBOLT 4 + 1 x USB 3.2 (TYPE C) + 3 x USB 3.2
Keyboard Language	PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System	Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]

 

[Bhuna50]

How have you done your reinstall of windows - was it a clean reinstall, deleting all partitions etc?

Are the fans working? If so do they appear excessive at all?

Have you checked temperatures?

Have you checked for any potentially loose components - things move due to handling of some deliveries

 

[LeSpicey]

I don’t think I deleted the partitions when reinstalling, I will try doing that.

The fans are working, and nothing out of the ordinary in terms of temperatures.

I did open to check for loose components, but I am not sure what to look for to check what‘s loose.
The RAM seemed tightly plugged, as did the SSD, but other than those I didn’t check much.

 

[LeSpicey]

Will I need a key for Windows if I delete all partitions for a clean install?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Will I need a key for Windows if I delete all partitions for a clean install?

There is no key these days, the license is tied to your hardware and will automatically license when it hits the internet.

 

[ubuysa]

Stuff does move in transit, even in laptops. It may be a fiddle to get to your RAM, but if it's not then pop the RAM out and back in. If you can get to the M.2 drive easily pop that out and back in - we've had a few people solve some strange issues by reseating the M.2 drive.

By 'easily' I mean without having to remove the keyboard.....

 

[LeSpicey]

I popped out and back in the SSD drive, but it didn‘t fix the issue.
I will try with the RAM too.
I am not sure if it can be related, but installing the GPU driver seems to cause the beginning of the crashes.

 

[ubuysa]

I am not sure if it can be related, but installing the GPU driver seems to cause the beginning of the crashes.

Ah, that's interesting. From where did you get the driver? It might be sensible to uninstall the driver, reboot and let Windows Update install the best driver it can.

 

[LeSpicey]

I got the driver directly from the NVIDIA website. When doing a clean install though, the GPU’s drivers don’t get installed at all, and I’m running on the CPU graphics, pretty slowly too.
I am going to check the RAM just to make sure.

 

[LeSpicey]

When I get a bluescreen crash, I can see the DCP_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION error too.
I will get the log next time it happens.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I got the driver directly from the NVIDIA website. When doing a clean install though, the GPU’s drivers don’t get installed at all, and I’m running on the CPU graphics, pretty slowly too.
I am going to check the RAM just to make sure.

Are you definitely installing mobile graphics and not desktop?

 

[LeSpicey]

Yes, when I choose the option for my GPU, it only leaves me with the laptop 3080 option.
I also tried installing via GeForce Experience, so it recognised the GPU automatically.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Yes, when I choose the option for my GPU, it only leaves me with the laptop 3080 option.
I also tried installing via GeForce Experience, so it recognised the GPU automatically.

Hmmm, that sounds bad, like the GPU isn’t being recognised and failing to start.

Can you post a screenshot of the GPU from device manager? Or doesn’t it show up at all?

 

[LeSpicey]

I will do that when I get to the desktop.
Though why does GeForce experience recognise it properly then? That‘s weird.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I will do that when I get to the desktop.
Though why does GeForce experience recognise it properly then? That‘s weird.

That’s true.

 

[LeSpicey]

It does indeed not appear in the device manager...

I will check if it shows in the BIOS

 

[Martinr36]

It does indeed not appear in the device manager...

A lot of yellow triangles there looks as though windows isn't configured properly, what say you @SpyderTracks

 

[LeSpicey]

A lot of yellow triangles there looks as though windows isn't configured properly, what say you @SpyderTracks

True, I will run a Windows update to see if it takes care of some of the errored components

Also, just to specify, this is a fresh reinstall as I couldn’t even run Windows before, thanks to the crashes.

 

[Martinr36]

run windows update till it doesn't update any more even between reboots and then i think most of those are covered by the chipset drivers which you'll have to download from the Intel site

 

[LeSpicey]

Fully updated windows, and took a look at the last Unknown Device, an I assume this is the GPU not being recognised properly