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Random BSOD's

Qyratar

Member
I "recently" (In december) replaced my GPU to a GTX 660Ti SC.

Components:
CPU: Phenom II X1100T 6x
GPU: GTX 660Ti SC
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x 4GB
PSU: XFX 750W
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate edition
Motherboard: ASUS M4A88T-M

At first this only happened in one game and I did not even play it regularly so I didn't mind but after a couple of months I get BSOD's pretty much every second day while doing everyday stuff such as playing some (specific) games, it ranges from low requirement games to high requirement games. It has also started to happen while I browse through pictures (using ACDSee).
(In today's minidump, I believe ntoskrnl.exe was to blame, accidentally deleted the minidump:whiste🙂

I have cleaned the HS + the whole case in order to lower the temp, but it still results in the random BSOD's. I'm starting to wonder if my GPU was faulty from the beginning or if it's something else. Because I dont think the PSU is to blame as XFX is pretty trustworthy.

Note regarding ASUS + XFX is that my anti surge protection on the mobo kicks in sometimes but I dont understand why as the PSU is trustworthy.

I would very much enjoy any and all suggestions on what I should do as I am completely in the dark!
 
Just because it's a reliable brand/model it doesn't mean there aren't failures. You could use a software monitor to monitor your voltages and see if there are any out-of-spec fluctuations, and you could also underclock your GPU to see if the reduced power requirement reduces the frequency of the BSODs. Also, if you are overclocking anything, reset it to default.

PS, what BIOS is the motherboard currently running?
 
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Im not quite sure if this is right but I think the Ver is 24.03, last updated 12/23/10. Quite some time ago.

And sorry for being nooby but how do I know if a value is "out-of-spec"? (EDIT: I'm using "Open Hardware Monitor" and the CPU Vcore is around 1,4V and VBAT around 3,312 V)
I'l try to underclock it, havent done it before but I'l do my best.
 
Im not quite sure if this is right but I think the Ver is 24.03, last updated 12/23/10. Quite some time ago.

Looks like you have the latest BIOS, so that's fine.

And sorry for being nooby but how do I know if a value is "out-of-spec"? (EDIT: I'm using "Open Hardware Monitor" and the CPU Vcore is around 1,4V and VBAT around 3,312 V)
I'l try to underclock it, havent done it before but I'l do my best.

Try HWMonitor, and pay attention to the 12V min/max. If it swings more than 5% high or low (11.4V - 12.6V) then it's out-of-spec. This is not the most reliable way to measure voltage, but it's usually good enough.
 
After checking the HWMonitor I see the following values: 12.544 V Min and 12.672 V Max. It is pretty much staying Idle at 12.608V. So it is slightly out of spec.
 
Should I test all of the Voltages when I do this? And should I be wary of something while doing this?
(Thanks for your quick answers by the way! appreciate it)
 
Should I test all of the Voltages when I do this? And should I be wary of something while doing this?
(Thanks for your quick answers by the way! appreciate it)

Yes, but if the 12V is out of spec, the others are unnecessary since you should replace the PSU anyway. As for being wary, you'll get a nice shock if you aren't careful, but nothing serious.
 
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Okay! I'l measure the Voltages tomorrow as I have no energy to try to find the multimeter and later measure the voltage at 1 AM in the morning.

So if the Voltage is out of spec I should get a new PSU? And if its not out of spec?
 
Okay! I'l measure the Voltages tomorrow as I have no energy to try to find the multimeter and later measure the voltage at 1 AM in the morning.

So if the Voltage is out of spec I should get a new PSU? And if its not out of spec?

If it's not out of spec, it's probably the GPU.

BTW, what was the original GPU?
 
Yeah I did, just checked the program list and couldn't find any ati drivers.
I believe that I actually reinstalled Windows as I wanted to completely wipe my C harddrive.
 
Ok, I just measured the Voltage with a multimeter. I got the values 12.11 V and 5.03 V (Don't know if I can measure the 3rd digit) I used an option which said 9V. I think those should be ok considering that they are close to the 12V and 5V.
But the difference measured volt and what my computer says is a pretty big difference, it makes me sort of worried...
 
Ok, I just measured the Voltage with a multimeter. I got the values 12.11 V and 5.03 V (Don't know if I can measure the 3rd digit) I used an option which said 9V. I think those should be ok considering that they are close to the 12V and 5V.
But the difference measured volt and what my computer says is a pretty big difference, it makes me sort of worried...

Run a game benchmark and check your voltages while it's running.
 
@AnonymouseUser: When checking the voltages from when I was at the desktop to when I started the benchmarks the voltages changed from 12,12 to 12,14 V. At the low quality benchmarks I had 12,14-12,15 V. At the high quality benchmarks I at first got a steady 12,16 V but after a while it changed to 12,16-12,17 V.

@dclive: I have WhoCrashed but it won't provide much information as the minidumps gets erased when a new dump is created. In the last minidump I had I think that it said that ntoskernel.exe was to blame (Wrote that in the first post) And I accidentally erased the dump when cleaning the registry and such.
 
Qyratar, have you done anything to check the memory yet? I am not sure how often you are seeing these issues now, but you can try running a game with 1 stick at a time, and see if the issue return. You could run memtest for a while, but there is no guarantee it will find a memory problem, if there is one.
 
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@AnonymouseUser: When checking the voltages from when I was at the desktop to when I started the benchmarks the voltages changed from 12,12 to 12,14 V. At the low quality benchmarks I had 12,14-12,15 V. At the high quality benchmarks I at first got a steady 12,16 V but after a while it changed to 12,16-12,17 V.

@dclive: I have WhoCrashed but it won't provide much information as the minidumps gets erased when a new dump is created. In the last minidump I had I think that it said that ntoskernel.exe was to blame (Wrote that in the first post) And I accidentally erased the dump when cleaning the registry and such.

Simply copy the dumps somewhere safe whenever this happens, and then run whocrashed to determine the cause. After a few crashes you should see a pattern.

How does one 'clean the registry' ? cccleaner?
 
@ketchup79: I have not tested the memory actually, but I don't think that's the problem as I used these memories before I changed the graphics card and my computer only restarted once then. But I'l try playing with only one stick and see if it occurs again!

@dclive: Yeah, I completely forgot that it(ccleaner) would delete the minidumps... Il star to save the minidumps in a different folder when I get them.
 
@ketchup79: I have not tested the memory actually, but I don't think that's the problem as I used these memories before I changed the graphics card and my computer only restarted once then. But I'l try playing with only one stick and see if it occurs again!

@dclive: Yeah, I completely forgot that it(ccleaner) would delete the minidumps... Il star to save the minidumps in a different folder when I get them.

I suggest you don't touch the registry or any ''ccleaner' type applications until this is fixed. They add enough confusion and potential problems by themselves; let's get the BSOD issue fixed first.
 
I have been on vacation for a while so I could not answer any additional remarks which have been posted.

@dclive: Yeah, I realised that it was not quite so smart to use it. Will refrain from doing so from now on until the problem is fixed.

@ketchup79: I am now running on 1 memory stick, will try the game later and see if the BSOD reappears.

EDIT: I still have my old graphics card, should I try running it later instead of my current one and see it the BSOD'S appear? (want to finish the memory stick tests)
 
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I suggest you don't change anything until you get a few minidumps (or better yet, configure the machine for kernel dumps!) -- then see what the whocrashed application says caused the problem.
 
Even though I only ran with 1 stick at the time the BSOD's kept reappearing. I tried to make a kernel dump file but it wont save it on my computer for some reason, so I swapped back to minidumps. But that wont work now as well for some reason.

Any tips on how to fix this?
 
Even though I only ran with 1 stick at the time the BSOD's kept reappearing. I tried to make a kernel dump file but it wont save it on my computer for some reason, so I swapped back to minidumps. But that wont work now as well for some reason.

Any tips on how to fix this?

No pagefile / pagefile not on C: / pagefile smaller than 1-2GB or not system managed?
 
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