RTX 3060 (GA106) Hard Crash / Falls Off PCIe Bus on Linux B450 + Ryzen 5 3600

Graphics / Linux Linux
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**TLDR:**RTX 3060 GA106 causes instant hard system crash (blank screens, forced reboot, zero log entries) in any 3D application on Linux. Crash is 100% reproducible with Unigine Heaven benchmark. Issue persists across every available driver (open module, closed proprietary, GSP enabled/disabled), every kernel tested (6.12 LTS through 6.19), both Wayland and X11, and multiple distro configurations on Fedora 43. Desktop use is completely stable. GPU, PSU, RAM and thermals all verified healthy. PCIe link consistently negotiates at 5GT/s (Gen2) despite both GPU and root port targeting 8GT/s (Gen3) on ASUS TUF B450-PLUS GAMING. Extensive troubleshooting documented below. Requesting Nvidia engineer review as this appears to be a driver or firmware level issue specific to GA106 on AMD B450 platform.

System Configuration:

  • OS: Fedora 43 KDE Plasma

  • Motherboard: ASUS TUF B450-PLUS GAMING, BIOS 4604 (updated from 2008 during troubleshooting)

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600

  • RAM: 32GB DDR4 Corsair 2133MHz (4x8GB)

  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GA106 (10DE:2504)

  • PSU: Corsair 750W

  • Monitors: 3x 1080p (2x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI)

  • PCIe Link: Negotiating at 5GT/s (Gen2) despite capable of 8GT/s (Gen3)

Kernels Tested - all crash:

  • 6.19.11-200.fc43 (current)

  • 6.19.10-200.fc43

  • 6.19.9-200.fc43

  • 6.17.1-300.fc43

  • 6.12.80 LTS

Drivers Tested - all crash:

  • RPM Fusion akmod-nvidia 580.126.18 (open module)

  • RPM Fusion akmod-nvidia 595.58.03 (open module)

  • negativo17 nvidia-driver 595.58.03 (open module)

  • Official Nvidia .run installer 580.126.18 (closed proprietary module, GSP disabled)

Parameters Tested:

  • NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware=0

  • NVreg_PreserveVideoMemoryAllocations=1

  • NVreg_UsePageAttributeTable=1

  • pcie_aspm=off

  • pcie_port_pm=off

  • GPU power limited to 150W

BIOS Settings Tested:

  • PCIe ARI Support disabled

  • PCIe Ten Bit Tag disabled

  • AER Cap disabled

  • Early Link Speed Gen2

  • IOMMU enabled/disabled

Symptoms:

  • Hard system crash, instant blank screens, forced reboot

  • Zero Xid errors captured in any log

  • kdump never fires

  • Reproducible with Unigine Heaven benchmark

  • Crashes at both high load (165W) AND low load (18W at initialization)

  • Desktop completely stable, only 3D applications crash

  • Display server: X11 (also tested Wayland, same crashes)

  • Crash is instant with no warning, no thermal throttling beforehand

  • GPU temperatures normal at crash time (under 70°C)

What was ruled out:

  • PSU insufficiency (750W Corsair, tested on different outlets circuits with and without a UPS)

  • Thermal issues (temps normal)

  • RAM defects (memtester passed)

  • Power delivery from wall (tested multiple circuits)

  • Steam/Proton (reproduced with native Unigine Heaven outside Steam)

  • Wayland vs X11 (both crash)

Unique Finding: PCIe link negotiates at 5GT/s (Gen2) despite both GPU and root port capable of and targeting 8GT/s (Gen3). This may be related to B450 + RTX 3060 compatibility.

Crash is 100% reproducible with Unigine Heaven benchmark at any settings including default low settings.

2

I can confirm it’s a Linux driver/PCIe negotiation issue. The Nvidia Linux driver is failing to negotiate PCIe Gen3/4 properly on my B450 board, causing the GPU to fall back to Gen1/2 speeds which then causes instability under load.

3

Actually no that is not it - when you put a load on the card it jump its rates up to the proper gen rates. I recently installed the latest nvidia driver directly on fedora 43 - reran the Heaven demo again and it crashes the machine immediately. Fresh wipe of all nvidia drivers and reinstallation no nouveau.

I can confirm on the SAME PC with Windows running the demo and all 3d games work fine - (dual boot) (So this is not a hardware issue)