Windows 7 Random BSODs when gaming

[Marcus85it]

Hi everybody

In the last few months i've been experiencing some real issues with my computer (specs are below). It randomly freezes up when I'm playing games, or even when I've just closed the game and want to open a 2D application: every time I start an application just after I've played a game, the system hangs and I have to force the reboot by pressing the reset button.


Specs of my computers are:

Corsair 750W ATX Power Supply (bought 6/2012)
ASUS Rampage II Gene - X58 skt1366 DDR3 (bought 10/2010)
Intel Core I7 920 2.6GHz @stock freqs. (bought 10/2010)
3x4GB Corsair HyperX Modules @stock freqs.(bought 11/2013)
ASUS DirectCU II GeForce GTX770 @stock freqs.(bought 11/2013)
1x Samsung SSD Pro 256 GB (OS) (bought 12/2013)
2x WD SATA2 Caviar Black 500GB raid0 (data) (bought 5/2012)
ASUS XonarDX Audio Pci-Express card (bought 10/2012)


I made a clean install of OS and basic programs, along with last updated drivers, just few weeks ago. Memtest86 ran for 12 hours without finding a single error, Prime95 ran for 3 hours without errors, FurMark ran for 1h without errors.
There must be something wrong with VGA or CPU: it looks like every heavy-loading game would randomly crash (opening the application, exiting the application, after two hours of play or even after 5mins).
I was able to collect memory minidumps and system infos through WF7, please find them attached to this post.

I really can't figure out what's going on, I just noticed that as the cpu fan runs quicker and quicker, the more it's likely the system will hang, so I suppose it's a cpu problem. But I think that none of the applications I use is ever reaching 4 cores and 8 thread running simultaneously at full speed as Prime95 does. I think Prime95 is telling me that the cpu is not overheating, though...

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

Marco

 

[kemical]

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
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WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (124)
A fatal hardware error has occurred. Parameter 1 identifies the type of error
source that reported the error. Parameter 2 holds the address of the
WHEA_ERROR_RECORD structure that describes the error conditon.
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000000, Machine Check Exception
Arg2: fffffa800cb51038, Address of the WHEA_ERROR_RECORD structure.
Arg3: 0000000000000000, High order 32-bits of the MCi_STATUS value.
Arg4: 0000000000000000, Low order 32-bits of the MCi_STATUS value.

Hi,
the above dmp file is pointing to the processor as culprit with a 124 bugcheck meaning an hardware error. This may not mean your processor is faulty but something is making it crash.
When you ran prime95 did you actually monitor the CPU temperature? If not, download this a and test again:
Link Removed

dtscsibus DAEMON Tools Virtual S Kernel 29/10/2012: Daemon Tools is well known for causing bsod's please remove.

b57nd60a Broadcom NetXtreme Gig Kernel 26/04/2009: Network driversplease update:
http://www.broadcom.com/support/ethernet_nic/netxtreme_desktop.php

Your Intel drivers also need updating, use the driver utility to update:
Link Removed

Please change your dmp file settings to the ones shown in the screenshot:
Link Removed

Please post new dmp files. Your last dmp file was a kernal dmp. I really need to see a memory dmp file.

 

[Marcus85it]

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

WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (124)
A fatal hardware error has occurred. Parameter 1 identifies the type of error
source that reported the error. Parameter 2 holds the address of the
WHEA_ERROR_RECORD structure that describes the error conditon.
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000000, Machine Check Exception
Arg2: fffffa800cb51038, Address of the WHEA_ERROR_RECORD structure.
Arg3: 0000000000000000, High order 32-bits of the MCi_STATUS value.
Arg4: 0000000000000000, Low order 32-bits of the MCi_STATUS value.

Hi,
the above dmp file is pointing to the processor as culprit with a 124 bugcheck meaning an hardware error. This may not mean your processor is faulty but something is making it crash.
When you ran prime95 did you actually monitor the CPU temperature? If not, download this a and test again:
Link Removed

dtscsibus DAEMON Tools Virtual S Kernel 29/10/2012: Daemon Tools is well known for causing bsod's please remove.

b57nd60a Broadcom NetXtreme Gig Kernel 26/04/2009: Network driversplease update:
http://www.broadcom.com/support/ethernet_nic/netxtreme_desktop.php

Your Intel drivers also need updating, use the driver utility to update:
Link Removed

Please change your dmp file settings to the ones shown in the screenshot:
Link Removed

Please post new dmp files. Your last dmp file was a kernal dmp. I really need to see a memory dmp file.

Hi kemical, thank you so much for your reply.

I uninstalled the Daemon Tools Ultra suite, along with its virtual scsi drivers.
I followed your advice and tried the Intel Driver Update Utility but since I already checked the last available drivers when I freshly installed the OS in early January, there's no need to update any driver:

I don't know where the Broadcom NetXtreme driver comes from, since the only NIC I have is the Realtek Gigabit ethernet pci-express card, and the drivers for this card are up to date.
I changed the settings in my control panel according to your screenshot, and I'll post the correct memory dump as soon as I will get another BSOD.

I checked the temperature of the 4 cpu cores during a session of prime95, results are attached to this post. Those are the maximum temps the cpu will ever reach (in december I checked them with Coretemp and after 1h or prime95 they wouldn't change anymore). Since this is the worst case scenario I will ever come through, I was wondering why the system isn't crashing after or during this test.

Do you have any suggestions (even some changes in BIOS settings, maybe)?

Thank you again, Kemical!

Marco

 

[kemical]

Hopefully your system didn't crash because you had removed Deamon tools but i guess time will tell. Your temps looked fine apart from this one I noticed in the screensnip here:

Link Removed

Now I'm unsure if that is cause for alarm or not. Some chips are rated for high temps depending on what they do and where they are. It might also be a false positive, I'll do a little googling and see what turns up.

 

[Marcus85it]

Hopefully your system didn't crash because you had removed Deamon tools but i guess time will tell. Your temps looked fine apart from this one I noticed in the screensnip here:

Link Removed

Now I'm unsure if that is cause for alarm or not. Some chips are rated for high temps depending on what they do and where they are. It might also be a false positive, I'll do a little googling and see what turns up.

Good morning Kemical. I just got another crash...

I had just closed the game "Sniper Ghost Warrior 2", and I had quickly opened Chrome to browse the internet. After 3-4 secs the screen went black, the cpu fan started to run at full speed, then after 10-15secs three beeps from the motherboard told me the system need a reboot. So i pressed the reset button...and here I am

This just seems to be out of control, I don't know what's wrong. But I ran the W7F Diagnostic tools again, the results are attached to this post. Hopefully you'll find something more useful.

Kind regards,

Marco

 

[kemical]

Hi Marcus,
these 3 beeps your getting:
AMI Bios
3 Short beeps means Base 64k RAM failure
Award Bios
1 long and two short beeps means a graphical error has occurred. (display circuitry )

 

[Marcus85it]

Hi Marcus,
these 3 beeps your getting:
AMI Bios
3 Short beeps means Base 64k RAM failure
Award Bios
1 long and two short beeps means a graphical error has occurred. (display circuitry )

It was a sequence of three short beeps. The onboard bios is the AMI one. Does that mean I have to worry about DRAM issues too?
By the way, the QPI/DRAM controller in the first Core i7 series has been integrated into the CPU, so a DRAM problem doesn't actually mean the CPU can be removed from the list of suspects.
The tri-channel Corsair Dominator kit has been bought in late November 2013...I simply cannot believe one of the sticks already died.

Did you find something useful in the package I sent you with my last post?

Thank you,

Marco

 

[kemical]

Hi Marcus,
not really. I was hoping that a dmp file was included but no. Then again you didn't actually bsod so there wouldn't be one. Something obviously isn't right otherwise you wouldn't get those 3 beeps. If it happens again leave it to actually bsod so we can get a file to debug.
Try testing the CPU with the diagnostic tool from Intel:
Link Removed

 

[Marcus85it]

Hi Kemical

Ok, I'll give the IPDT a try, I just need to find some time to run an extensive test.
I guess I won't get a memory dmp file then....every time the system crashes the screen goes black, the cpu fan runs at maximum speed and after few seconds the three beeps tell me there's nothing left to do but to reset the machine. Do you think that waiting some time after the beeps will show the BSOD on the screen at some point?

I read on some forums that low voltage on DRAM modules can lead to system failures. If the IPDT won't find anything, I could maybe raise a little bit the voltages on DRAM modules and DRAM controller and see what happens. Leaving all voltage options on AUTO in the motherboard BIOS isn't always the best solution.

I'll keep you update. In the meantime, thank you again! I hope I'll find a way to send a memory dmp somehow.

Marco

 

[kemical]

I know you checked your RAM but did you check the actual motherboard slots too? Try running the system on one RAM stick. If it errors out, you get the three beep thing, then change the stick over to a different slot and try again. Keep doing this with each stick and each slot. This way you'll either come across a stick that doesn't error out or find a slot that does. If they all error out then the issue is plainly not your RAM and either your CPU (which is the main culprit we think) or some other bit of hardware like moBo...