Windows 7 BSOD while running certain games

[huflungpu]

I have been battling random BSODs for over 5 years. I built my PC in 2011. They occur only in certain games, and seems to have no correlation with graphical intensity (I can run loads of high end games with no issues). It's almost as if the games causing the issues are just poorly optimized (7 Days to Die, and Savage Lands being the worst offenders). They tend to occur in random frequency (may happen once a month, or a dozen times per day), depending on what I'm playing. They ONLY happen while gaming.

Here are the things I have tried:

• Updating drivers (even went as far as installing Driver Booster 5 for steam, and updating them that way)
• Installing Speedfan, and monitoring internal temps (no correlation between BSOD and CPU/GPU temps that I could tell, although it is difficult to get an accurate read after the PC has crashed and been rebooted)
• Completely disabled my onboard (AMD) graphics to rule out clashing with my nvidia graphics card
• Ran a registry checker through CCleaner
• Total wipe and clean install of windows
• Replaced graphics card about 2 years ago from a GTX460 to GTX970 (it was old, and ran hot anyway) to rule out graphics hardware issues
• Brought it to a shop for repair (three times, and I can never get it out of him what exactly he did), which works for 2-6 months, and then the issue returns
• Tried running said games at absolute minimum graphics settings
• Pretty sure at some point I ran a memory test, which brought 0 issues to my attention
• Regular blowing out of dust inside computer case (every month or two)

I'm running Windows 7 64-bit, AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition 3300mhz, 16 GB DDR3 ram at 1333mhz, Standard 7200 RPM 1TB hard drive, Nvidia GTX970, 950W power supply, and an Asus motherboard (not sure of the model number anymore)

I'm at my wits end. I just want to play uninterrupted. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Here are the files from RAMMon, CPU Z, W7F, and the dump files.

 

[kemical]

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 124, {0, fffffa800e000028, b61a4000, 9d000135}

Probably caused by : AuthenticAMD

Followup:     MachineOwner

Hi,
as your probably aware bugcheck 124 relates usually to hardware failure particularly overheating.

One thing which may be happening is is your cpu is overheating when the game gets busy or even unoptimised. The thing is this 'overheating' won't show up if you test with say Prime95 or other such stress testing apps.

I've experienced this personally so know it can occur and your best way of finding out if this is your issue or not is to use something like HWiNFO64 to record temps (it keeps a history of highs and lows although this is lost on a reboot or bsod) and alt-tab out of the game once it gets busy and before you bsod (not always an easy task I know and it may take you a few tries).

What are you using to cool the cpu and can you test it anyway please. See what the temps get to.

 

[huflungpu]

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 124, {0, fffffa800e000028, b61a4000, 9d000135}

Probably caused by : AuthenticAMD

Followup:     MachineOwner

Hi,
as your probably aware bugcheck 124 relates usually to hardware failure particularly overheating.

One thing which may be happening is is your cpu is overheating when the game gets busy or even unoptimised. The thing is this 'overheating' won't show up if you test with say Prime95 or other such stress testing apps.

I've experienced this personally so know it can occur and your best way of finding out if this is your issue or not is to use something like HWiNFO64 to record temps (it keeps a history of highs and lows although this is lost on a reboot or bsod) and alt-tab out of the game once it gets busy and before you bsod (not always an easy task I know and it may take you a few tries).

What are you using to cool the cpu and can you test it anyway please. See what the temps get to.

I will download this program and try to do some testing with it today. Currently only using the stock cooler on the CPU. It worked fine for a couple years, but maybe it needs new thermal paste.

Thank you for the insight as this helps narrow it down. I will try to post my results tonight.

 

[kemical]

I will download this program and try to do some testing with it today. Currently only using the stock cooler on the CPU. It worked fine for a couple years, but maybe it needs new thermal paste.

Thanks for the update.

Look forward to your next reply..

 

[huflungpu]

Alright, so I have some kind of mixed results from the information I've gathered.

First, I launched the program to monitor my PC's idle temps for about 10 minutes. I was getting an average of 41 C. Reset the average and launched one of the games that has never caused a BSOD, for about 45 minutes. CPU read out a peak of 67 C, and an average of 61 C. Closed the game, and let temps cool back down, then reset the average again.

Then, I launched 7D2D which recently has been causing a BSOD within 10-30 minutes. I Played for about 45 minutes with an average of 64 C, and a peak of 70 C. No BSOD. Paused the game, went to make coffee, (10 minutes) came back to a BSOD.

After rebooting my PC, relaunching the game and starting over, I played for almost two hours solid with NO BSOD (still getting an average of 64 C and peak of 70 C. To try and duplicate the BSOD from earlier, I paused the game, waited about 3 minutes, then ALT-Tabbed out to check my temps. CPU was reading in the high 60's, so nothing out of the ordinary. However, I did notice my GPU had spiked up to 74 C, with an average of 64 C (previously wasnt paying much attention to it, but had noticed a prior peak of 72). While tabbed out of the paused game my GPU temp was maintaining low to mid 70s. Waited like this for about 10 minutes with no BSOD. Alt-Tabbed back into the game, and had a BSOD within two minutes.

All in all, this almost seems more like a GPU heat issue than CPU, however my graphics card is only about two years old, and the issue has been going on for much longer than that. Could it be the location of my graphics card inside the case is not getting enough air flow?

 

[kemical]

CPU read out a peak of 67 C, and an average of 61 C. Closed the game, and let temps cool back down, then reset the average again.

The trouble here is that the max safe working temp for your CPU is 62c.

Ideally you want to keep it in the middle 50's and I would invest in a new cooler.

 

[huflungpu]

I was not aware of that. I will do some shopping and post the results once I have solved the heat issue. Thank you very much for your help.

 

[kemical]

Your very welcome.

Just to answer one of your earlier questions regarding airflow, more airflow is usually always more desirable and simply doing a little cable management can help enormously.

 

[huflungpu]

I had not thought of tidying up the cables. That could definitely use some doing. Also, when I built it, the processor came with some sort of pre-applied thermal paste. Maybe that has run it's course. I still have the tube of paste I bought when I ordered the parts, so maybe I will try redoing that as well.

Lastly, regarding the graphics card location, directly above the power supply. Is it possible the power supply is blowing hot air right at the GPU, or do power supplies even generate that much heat?

 

[kemical]

Lastly, regarding the graphics card location, directly above the power supply. Is it possible the power supply is blowing hot air right at the GPU, or do power supplies even generate that much heat?

Well the way you have it positioned means the fan you can see is an intake so it will be drawing air from inside the case and blowing it out the back. This will help vent some of the internal warm air outside so don't worry about it heating the gpu.

One thing which doesn't help is that your gpu has a cooler attached which means that hot air is expelled into the case instead of the blower type which expels it outside.

This can affect the components such as the cpu which is directly above.

Good airflow can help to remove the warm air and i see you have a decent extraction fan at the back of the case.
Is it possible to attach fans at the front blowing in? Also if you can attach a fan directly above the cpu extracting out (some cases have room for radiators and the like, you can use this space to attach extra fans).

If you post the make and model of your case it might help further.

 

[huflungpu]

I have a 200mm fan on the top blowing out, one on the side facing directly at the CPU and graphics card that's blowing in, and another on the front of the case blowing in. It's a CoolerMaster HAF 922, so the top and front were stock, but I added the one on the side to help cool my old graphics card.

While disassembling for deep cleaning today, I found a mesh cover on the front that was completely caked in dust and hair. So cleaning that should definitely improve air flow.

The part I'm stuck on right now is getting the heat sink off of my processor. I have released both latches like shown in the picture, but it still will not budge.

 

[huflungpu]

Well just a little update. After some hours of cussing and frustration, I have successfully separated and cleaned the CPU and heat sink. The thermal paste had turned into dry, hard, cement...pulling the CPU out of the socket along with the heat sink. Thankfully, no pins were bent or broken in the learning of this lesson.

That being said, I had to soak them in isopropyl alcohol to weaken the bond, so I'm currently waiting a couple hours for them to dry, before reassembly.

 

[huflungpu]

Oh and almost forgot the best part. I found a nearly solid blanket of dust and hair between the fan and heat sink. It wasn't really noticeable until I got it out into some real light. So that should DEFINITELY cool things off a bit.

 

[kemical]

pulling the CPU out of the socket along with the heat sink. Thankfully, no pins were bent or broken in the learning of this lesson.

Hehe.. I've done this myself, a number of times. Once the cpu detached with such force that whilst trying to control the sudden jerky movement I managed to bash over a good few cpu pins. Luckily a credit card or similar is really handy for setting the pins straight (as well as a magnifying glass).
It sounds like your doing a great job and as you say cooler running should be in no doubt now.

I just built a new system (which is why i've been scarce at times). Here's a couple of screenshots:

 

[huflungpu]

Well, I pulled a late one last night getting this thing running. And of course about 4 hours of testing (for science). Running stable, with no BSOD for about 3 hours in game. CPU is also averaging about 47 C in game now instead of 64. Peak was 52 this time around as well. So I believe this was a success. Thank you again for all of your help.

Also, very nice rig. What kind of case is that?

 

[kemical]

Fantastic!

Sounds like you did a good job sorting out the heating issue, if anything crops up again please post back. We never close threads so you can always revisit this one if need be.

Thanks for the kind words re the new build. Specification is as follows
Corsair Crystal X460 Tempered glass case - Fitted with ML RGB fans throughout)
ASUS Crossfire VII Hero X470 Wi-Fi
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
Corsair H150i 360mm Liquid Cooler
16GB Corsair Venghence 3200MHz RAM
Samsung 860 Pro SSD
Seagate 1TB HDD
EVGA 980Ti SC ( a EVGA RTX 2080Ti XC Ultra is on pre-order )
Be Quiet Modular 750W PSU