PC bluescreens everytime I play TRS 22

[Little_Boy921]

I'll just cut straight to the point, my pc has been bluescreening a lot lately. More so than it should, one thing I have noticed is that half of those cases, TRS 22 was open or had been opened before my pc BSOD'ed. And always with Trainz. It doesnt do it with Minecraft, or with Trains Simulator Classic. This has never happened before, I dont know why this is happening now, I wish the game would just crash and not take unsaved progress of art stuff I was drawing on the side down with it. And to narrow down the cause, I'll lay out some factors and why I rule them out

My graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, which Ive had in my PC since 2020. Its far from being the most up to date but its not horrifically out of date. Its served me while and Trainz casuing my pc to crash has only been a problem recently, as in the past month. Besides, I do not money to afford a new gpu

I have four 8gb ram sticks that are no older than a couple of weeks. I did take my computer to a repair place where ram issues were discovered, which is when I got new ram sticks.

A month ago, I replaced the thermal paste on my CPU, as the original had begun melting off recently. So the possibility of my CPU overheating can be ruled out.

Lastly, and Im not sure if this even counts as a factor, but the saves for my trainz routes are on a HDD. My older brother suggested that the reason Trainz keeps BSOD'ing my computer is because I have them on an HDD and not my main SSD hard drive (the reason I cant just use that one is due to storage). I dont know if that's even a factor because, like I said, this has only been a problem very recently.

And thats all I have. I hope this situation isnt so unique that I wont be able to find help.

Edit: Prior to typing this out, my pc bluescreened 2 times today with trainz open, then bluescreened again as I typing this while I had the game open just to see how it what task manager would say. And all three bluescreens had the same error code: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR

 

[Forester1]

Overheating? Is there any other device-related info on the blue screen?
Some info from the Google AI:
WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (Stop Code 0x124) indicates a fatal hardware failure in Windows, usually involving the CPU, RAM, GPU, or SSD due to overheating, voltage issues, or driver conflicts. Key fixes include checking for updates, resetting overclocking/voltage, cleaning internal fans, and reseating components.
Common Causes

• Hardware Failure: Failing CPU, RAM, motherboard, or storage drive (especially NVMe SSDs).
• Overheating: Components exceeding safe operating temperatures.
• Overclocking: Unstable voltages or speeds set for the CPU.
• Driver/BIOS Issues: Corrupted or outdated device drivers, particularly for the GPU or chipset.

Troubleshooting Steps

• Restart and Update: Force a reboot, then check for Windows Updates and the latest drivers.
• Reset Overclocking: Revert CPU/GPU overclocking to default settings in BIOS/software.
• Check Temperature: Monitor system heat and clean dust from fans.
• Run Diagnostics: Use Windows Memory Diagnostic to check for RAM issues and tools from manufacturers like Intel to test the processor.
• Reseat Components: Ensure RAM sticks and graphics cards are firmly plugged in.
• Check for NVMe Issues: If the first parameter of the error ends in "10", it likely indicates a failure of an NVMe SSD.

If these steps fail, it may indicate a necessary replacement of a component, such as the power supply (PSU) or motherboard.

 

[Little_Boy921]

Overheating? Is there any other device-related info on the blue screen?
Some info from the Google AI:
WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (Stop Code 0x124) indicates a fatal hardware failure in Windows, usually involving the CPU, RAM, GPU, or SSD due to overheating, voltage issues, or driver conflicts. Key fixes include checking for updates, resetting overclocking/voltage, cleaning internal fans, and reseating components.
Common Causes

• Hardware Failure: Failing CPU, RAM, motherboard, or storage drive (especially NVMe SSDs).
• Overheating: Components exceeding safe operating temperatures.
• Overclocking: Unstable voltages or speeds set for the CPU.
• Driver/BIOS Issues: Corrupted or outdated device drivers, particularly for the GPU or chipset.

Troubleshooting Steps

• Restart and Update: Force a reboot, then check for Windows Updates and the latest drivers.
• Reset Overclocking: Revert CPU/GPU overclocking to default settings in BIOS/software.
• Check Temperature: Monitor system heat and clean dust from fans.
• Run Diagnostics: Use Windows Memory Diagnostic to check for RAM issues and tools from manufacturers like Intel to test the processor.
• Reseat Components: Ensure RAM sticks and graphics cards are firmly plugged in.
• Check for NVMe Issues: If the first parameter of the error ends in "10", it likely indicates a failure of an NVMe SSD.

If these steps fail, it may indicate a necessary replacement of a component, such as the power supply (PSU) or motherboard.

Like I said, the only part that was failing was the only ram sticks I have and those have been replaced. In fact, when I took my pc to the place where the ram sticks were found to be the issue, the people looking over my computer found now issue with the motherboard. As for my drives, Cyrstaldisk info isn't showing that there's anything wrong with the HDD I have my local data folder on. And what I have noticed is that, whenever the BSODs do happen, my motherboard and CPU are not at a dangerously high temperature. And, like I said, Ive replaced the thermal paste on CPU last month which has had an effect on how hot it gets when I play trainz (before I replaced it, it would sit around 70 and get as hot as 80C when playing trainz, but since then its sat at around 60 to 50C). And as for outdated drivers for my GPU, I last updated the drivers for it in November, and that was in response to my PC bluescreening all the time.

The version of Windows Im using is Windows 10, which has stopped reciving updates except for Extended Security Updates. I do have programs that monitor my pc, espeically if I have trainz open, though Ive only been monitoring my cpu temperature and not anything else like my motherboard or GPU. I am scared to open up trainz again if my computer BSODs a fourth time but I do want to see how hot it gets for both. Running memory diagnostics would be redundant since, as I stated, my ram sticks are few days old at least and a few weeks old at most.

Maybe it is an issue with my power supply but if it is, why does it react negatively if I have Trainz open? Minecraft and Train Simulator Classic are the only other games I play and I've never once had an issue playing those games.

 

[johnwhelan]

Age of your PC please, brand name and model number. You mention it has bluescreened when not running TS22?

Thanks John

 

[ColPrice2002]

It's possible that the PSU is failing - trainz does use a bit more power than most apps. I guess it's possible that the motherboard capacitors are failing

 

[Little_Boy921]

Age of your PC please, brand name and model number. You mention it has bluescreened when not running TS22?

Thanks John

My PC is custom made and was built around Christmas 2020, so 5 years ago. Although, due hardware problems Ive had with my computer from that point to 3rd quarter of 2022, not all of the components are from when I built it. The only things that are original are the disc drive (which I took from my previous computer), the case and the GPU. My C drive is from 2021, my power supply and motherboard are from 2022, and the hard drive I use as my trainz saves was installed in early 2025. Because of that, I dont think I can give a model number

It has bluescreened while not running TRS22 but in those cases, the error code was Memory Management. Which itself was caused by faulty ram sticks I had in my computer which have been replaced as of this past Friday. The bluescreens I did get after that point all had the code WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR, which arent related to the ram at all

 

[johnwhelan]

Putting together a reliable PC isn't the easiest job in the world and Trainz does push the limits. The average office PC runs at around 3% of CPU and that doesn't take much cooling. Overheating will shorten component life. Realistically Currently https://www.dellrefurbished.com/ite...ml?child=dell-precision-3650-tower-000102&p=1 has one for $1,189 with 40% off, see opening screen, and that might be a reasonable option at the moment rather than chase the combinations to find out what is wrong. The other ones have poorer GPUs. Sometimes you can find an RTX4000 or RTX 3080 amongst them. I prefer 5820 models they generally have bigger power supplies and can take bigger GPUs.

Use https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ to check the GPUs.

Sorry John

 

[Little_Boy921]

It's possible that the PSU is failing - trainz does use a bit more power than most apps. I guess it's possible that the motherboard capacitors are failing

Putting it that way, it actually makes sense. I have noticed Trainz is more graphically demanding than Minecraft and Train Simulator Classic individually. It would be like running shadders on Minecraft or if TSC has the graphics of the train sim world games. Im going to see if I can take my pc to Microcenter so they can have a look

 

[skittlekicks]

Old thermal paste, dust bunnies, failing fans, clogged liquid coolers, vent blockage, etc. all can cause hardware failures and BSODs.

 

[pdkoester]

Let's narrow this down.
I have the GTX 1080, and it never has BSOD issues.
Latest drivers are installed, running on Windows 11 Pro 25H2.
Processor is an Intel i-5 12400F CPU
32GB of DDR5 6000 RAM
Samsung 980 Pro SSD

What are the specs for your system, aside from knowing you have a GTX 1080? What is the operating system?
Do you have the latest drivers for the GPU installed?

 

[johnwhelan]

My guess would be to start with the motherboard de jour. ASUS and Dell tend to have BIOS updates when problems are found. Many other manufacturers don't bother. So manufacturer and model number of the motherboard please and have you checked for BIOS updates?

Thanks John

 

[johnwhelan]

I assume you are using a UPS. If not a couple of voltage surges can be enough to zap a machine and shorten the life of it. This can also happen if it's on the same circuit as a fridge.

Cheerio John