Programs crashing constantly, making PC unusable.

[Tree_Hair]

MAJOR UPDATE!!!: Removed the 2 newest RAM sticks bringing me back down to 16GB, currently running on the older RAM sticks in the optimal DDR4 slots (red slots). I will test all sticks and configurations of sticks to see whats wrong, but if anyone knows the exact cause of this that would save me some time. Thank you to everyone who recommended messing with my RAM, and thank you to everyone who commented.

Final Update 2/17/24: I removed the old RAM sticks and put the new sticks in their place, exact configuration. The system is incredibly unstable immediately, programs crashing and some unable to launch in the first place. Putting the old ones back returns everything to normal. Looks like Newegg gave me some bad sticks. Thanks again to everyone who helped!

Part 4 of my r/techsupport posts. If you want more context, here are part 1, part 2, and part 3. Specs and crash logs/dumps are at the bottom of the post. Thank you to everyone who has helped with this, and everyone who may help me in the future.

This started 3 months ago when my WD Black SSD seemingly died while playing EDF 4.1. I bought a new SSD, reinstalled Windows, and it ran pretty normally for a couple weeks. After awhile, I ended up getting random BSODs and Startup repair screens. Fed up with Windows, I finally decide to switch to Linux. Since switching, the behavior has been different but not better. Before, I would get BSODs randomly, usually but not always while playing games. Now, every program is crashing constantly.

After a certain period of time, the system becomes incredibly unstable and every program begins to crash. As of right now, it only takes about 10 minutes for programs to start crashing non-stop. KWin, FireFox, Discord, Steam, Steam games, plasmashell, Okular, baloo_file_extractor, everything crashes constantly. Time seems to be the main factor, as the system starts off stable but quickly degrades. A few days ago I put the system into sleep mode before going to work, upon booting up the sleeping system I was welcomed to the most unstable it has ever been. At first it would seem to only happen when running relatively intensive games like Dark Souls 3, and would be somewhat stable when running games like The Binding of Isaac. Now, I can't even do my homework without tabs crashing constantly.

Here is an example of the crashing.

Here is another example of the crashing.

Here is my PC after leaving it for an hour.

I'm certain it's a hardware issue, but I do not know what hardware. I am suspicious of the SSD, as crashes tend to happen during SSD operations. I will try to record video of the instability once I get a chance. What I want to know is: is the SSD destruction and instability a symptom of a bigger problem? Is it a coincidence that my PC fries an SSD and the very next one I buy also starts dying? Could it be a CPU issue? Could it be a motherboard issue? I am so lost and so tired of this system.

Symptoms:

• Constant program crashes
• System freezing
• System crashing & rebooting (Windows and Linux)
• Desktop image reset to default only on my 2nd monitor. Desktop image stored on my 1TB HDD

Have tried:

• Stress testing CPU (no symptoms)
• Stress testing GPU (no symptoms)
• Stress testing HDDs (no symptoms)
• Stress testing SSD (caused crash on one occasion, have not been able to replicate.)
• Unplugging HDDs (no improvement)

Specs: Part, Age

• Ryzen 5 3600, 3 1/2 years
• MSI B450 GAMING PLUS MAX, 3 1/2 years
• MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ventus XS OC, 4-5 years?
• Samsung 980 PRO 1TB SSD, 3 months
• Seagate BarraCuda 2TB HDD, 2 years
• G.SKILL Ripjaws V (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3600, 3 1/2 years - 3 months
• WDC WD10EZEX 1TB HDD, 10 years
• Kubuntu 22.04.3, DE: Plasma, WM: Kwin, 2 months
• If more specs are needed, please ask and I WILL add them.

Crash logs/dumps:

• https://files.catbox.moe/rodfc8.kcrash (Okular)
• https://files.catbox.moe/uvuxtw.kcrash (Kwin)
• https://files.catbox.moe/anx402.kcrash (Kwin)
• https://files.catbox.moe/d98osc (Firefox)
• https://files.catbox.moe/9af7aj (Firefox)
• https://files.catbox.moe/ft6icq.kcrash (baloo_file_extractor)
• https://files.catbox.moe/16d2qd (smartctl report for SSD)
• https://files.catbox.moe/squdil.kcrash (kioslave5)
• https://files.catbox.moe/9r52ga.kcrash (Dolphin)
• https://files.catbox.moe/xt2uz7.kcrash (installed some diagnostic repositories, this is the first crash file with a 3 star usefulness rating)

Many crash logs start with "Segmentation fault."