Windows 7 New machine with continual f4 and 7a BSODs, ususally while gaming

[mdgamer]

Hi,

I have a new machine (1 month) on which I am getting continual f4 (mainly) and 7a (sometimes) BSODs, usually while playing Battlefield 3. Sometimes on the ensuing re-boot after the BSOD, right after windows and the desktop have come up, the SSD activity light is on and the computer freezes, then BSODs again.

System details:
2600K CPU
Asus P8P67 pro m/b
On-board Realtek audio
Corsair Vengeance 2x4 GB 8-8-8-24 RAM
Corsair HX1050 PSU
Corsair Force 3 120 GB SSD (O/S and game files)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD
EVGA GTX 570 SC (x2 SLI) (factory overclocked to 797 MHz vs. 732 MHz)

Windows 7 64-bit O/S

I normally have the system mildly overclocked (4.0 GHz vs. 3.4 stock). Here is what I have tried:

--making sure I have current version of BIOS, chipset drivers, audio driver, graphics driver, SSD firmware
--Removing overclock on CPU and GPU
--Setting and raising Vcore (to 1.17 V)
--Setting RAM voltage to 1.55 V (vs. 1.50)
--Setting VCCIO to 1.10 (vs. auto)
--Removing Norton antivirus (currently running MS Security Essentials)

The BSODs occur at random times and intervals, but normally the first one does not happen until I have been playing BF3 for at least 30 minutes. I thought it may be heat related, but I opened my case cover and put a room fan directly on the boards (which lowered GPU temps to 72C and CPU to 50C), but still got BSOD.

Sometimes while playing BF3 I get a loud buzzing loop for a few seconds followed by the BSOD. Other times it is more gradual. I lose part of the graphics, but the game is till running. 30-45 seconds later I get the BSOD. Again, another clue is that sometimes after a BSOD playing BF3, the ensuing boot-up causes a BSOD before I really start doing anything.

Any help would be much appreciated. Dump files, CPU-Z images are attached in zip.

Thanks!

 

[ickymay]

windows debugger shows the first crash as 0x3b SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION caused by fltmgr.sys which is forced on a x64 Windows platforms when an exception happens during a system service this is pos Vcore or voltage instability, then you have eight 0x7a KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR's where the Ntkernel has fallen over and are usually usually hard drive errors or RAM, then you have twenty six 0xf4 CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION where the Ntkernel has again fallen over and these are normally caused by hard drive problems IDE/sata config cabling or controller ?

everything is pointing to a hard drive problem, so I would first turn off all overclocking and backup anything critical ?

I would then pull all power and sata cables and reconect them being 110% sure they feel firm and stable ?

This could after all be something as simple as a bad connection on a sata cable or it could be something more sinister ?

As you are running your Os on your 120gb SSD I would also be tempted to create an 80gb partition onto the 1TB mechanical drive and drop an image of your running OS into that partition and experiment with running your system from there while you run some stress tests on your SSD ?

you could use an excellent but old tool like IOMeter, but be careful as you could kill an SSD with 36 hours of 4k random writes ?

Also there have been some reported problems with a batch of these drives so check the serial number and refer here ?

let us know how it goes

 

[mdgamer]

Just wanted to report back that I have solved the problem.

Turns out it was RAM voltage. The Corsair Vengeance RAM I have is spec'd and tested at 1.50 volts. That's what I had it set to from day 1. I get multiple BSODs per day at that level. When I raise Vram to 1.55v, I get about 1 BSOD per day. When I raised it to 1.56v, no BSODs in a week and counting. I've changed nothing else.

I found nothing on the internet which indicated this issue, but I did find a couple posts relating that some motherboards do not provide the full nominal voltage, so that if the RAM is set to 1.50v it may actually be getting 1.46, etc.

I guess the 7a STOP CODEs were pointing us in the right direction--not sure why I got so many F4's as well.

At any rate, thank you very much for your help. You got me pointed in the right direction.

 

[ickymay]

excellent glad you got it sorted and thnx for reporting back

 

[Elmer]

Good to hear you've got it sorted mdgamer and we really appreciate the feedback. Things like this could well help others with a similar obscure problem.

Thanks for joining our community. We hope to continue to see you around**.

**Pinched from Trouble, our own Mr. Ferrero Rocher. He spoils us.