PC started crashing repeatedly after installing a new NVMe SSD — BSOD 0xA / IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

[u/someone-w]

I'm trying to figure out what could be causing repeated crashes on a PC after installing a new NVMe SSD.

Hardware:

• CPU: Ryzen 7 5700X3D
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE B550M AORUS ELITE
• New SSD: Kingston NV3 2TB
• Windows 11 x64

The problems started after installing the NV3. To install it, I had to remove and reinstall the GPU. The installation itself was straightforward and the PC initially booted normally.

After that, however, Windows started behaving inconsistently:

• At one point Windows went into Automatic Repair.
• chkdsk found and repaired filesystem errors.
• sfc /scannow reported no integrity violations.
• Windows subsequently booted normally.
• Later, while copying files from an external drive, the PC froze/crashed and restarted again.
• On one boot, there was a brief graphical artifact on the AORUS logo screen (a distorted multicolored horizontal strip).
• The PC subsequently booted normally again.
• There have now been multiple unexpected shutdowns/freezes.

I have a minidump from one of the crashes.

WinDbg !analyze -v reports:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)

Arg1: ffffb90405527c80
Arg2: 0000000000000002
Arg3: 0000000000000000
Arg4: fffff80484ab48f0

Relevant output:

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: AV_nt!SwapContext

MODULE_NAME: nt

IMAGE_NAME: ntkrnlmp.exe

PROCESS_NAME: NVIDIA Overlay

The NVIDIA driver currently installed is version 32.0.15.9571 (February 27, 2026).

The dump also contains:

BLACKBOXNTFS: 1
BLACKBOXPNP: 1

!blackboxpnp reports:

PnpProblemCode: 24

The Windows Event Log also shows:

• Kernel-Power 41 with BugcheckCode 10
• volmgr 46 — failed to initialize crash dump
• volmgr 162
• EventLog 6008 — unexpected shutdown

There are also recurring DistributedCOM 10010 and TPM-WMI 1040 errors, although I'm not sure whether they're relevant.

My main question: does this look more like a driver/software problem, an NVMe/PCIe issue, RAM instability, GPU/PCIe seating issue, or something else?

I'd especially appreciate any clues from the minidump that could narrow down the cause. I can provide additional WinDbg output if needed.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/82usa8sqtvz1ani/082726-7156-01.zip/file

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Getting dump files which we need for accurate analysis of BSODs. Dump files are crash logs from BSODs.

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