Daily BSOD's, some random, some during gaming (Prime95 Insta-BSOD)

I have been having the worst time with my custom built PC since it was built. I am getting random BSOD's here and there, but there does seem to be a correlation between a greater occurence when playing games. Often I can't play a high-resolution game for more than an hour or two before I crash.

I heard a recommendation to try Prime95, and I get an insta-BSOD when doing the Blend test.

I haved tested the memory and did not see any problems.

Here is the dump report. Any help possible would be greatly, greatly appreciated. I unfortunately am under the suspicion that this is a CPU hardware error and the CPU will have to be replaced, but I do need some form of help or confirmation before I take the next step RMA'ing it.

Sys Info: Intel i7 920, 6gb OCZ DDR3 1600 RAM, ATI Radeon HD4870, Asus P6T Deluxe V2, Win7 64.
Hardware is about 2.5 years old. OS Installation is less than a year old.


Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.12.0002.633 AMD64
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [C:\Windows\Minidump\111811-22339-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*DownstreamStore*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is:
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7601 (Service Pack 1) MP (8 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 7601.17640.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`02c53000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`02e98670
Debug session time: Fri Nov 18 15:31:14.301 2011 (UTC - 5:00)
System Uptime: 1 days 16:08:48.254
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
........................................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
.............
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 124, {0, fffffa8005fa4028, fe200040, 60114a}

Probably caused by : hardware

Followup: MachineOwner
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3: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
* *
* 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: fffffa8005fa4028, Address of the WHEA_ERROR_RECORD structure.
Arg3: 00000000fe200040, High order 32-bits of the MCi_STATUS value.
Arg4: 000000000060114a, Low order 32-bits of the MCi_STATUS value.

Debugging Details:
------------------


BUGCHECK_STR: 0x124_GenuineIntel

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

PROCESS_NAME: System

CURRENT_IRQL: f

STACK_TEXT:
fffff880`031ddb58 fffff800`02c1ca3b : 00000000`00000124 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`05fa4028 00000000`fe200040 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`031ddb60 fffff800`02de0513 : 00000000`00000001 fffffa80`05dcba10 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`05dcba60 : hal!HalBugCheckSystem+0x1e3
fffff880`031ddba0 fffff800`02c1c700 : 00000000`00000728 fffffa80`05dcba10 fffff880`031ddf30 fffff880`031ddf00 : nt!WheaReportHwError+0x263
fffff880`031ddc00 fffff800`02c1c052 : fffffa80`05dcba10 fffff880`031ddf30 fffffa80`05dcba10 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalpMcaReportError+0x4c
fffff880`031ddd50 fffff800`02c1bf0d : 00000000`00000008 00000000`00000001 fffff880`031ddfb0 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalpMceHandler+0x9e
fffff880`031ddd90 fffff800`02c0fe88 : fffffa80`065ebdf0 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalpMceHandlerWithRendezvous+0x55
fffff880`031dddc0 fffff800`02cce52c : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalHandleMcheck+0x40
fffff880`031dddf0 fffff800`02cce393 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KxMcheckAbort+0x6c
fffff880`031ddf30 fffff880`0459253c : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiMcheckAbort+0x153
fffff880`031fd4a0 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : USBPORT!USBPORT_NeoValidDeviceHandle+0x3c


STACK_COMMAND: kb

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: hardware

IMAGE_NAME: hardware

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 0

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0x124_GenuineIntel_PROCESSOR_CACHE

BUCKET_ID: X64_0x124_GenuineIntel_PROCESSOR_CACHE

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

Could the Prime95 Blend-test issue possibly indicate the CPU is bad directly due to such instant, immediate failure? Every single time I run this test I immediately crash.

I can narrow this down to the Mobo, GPU, CPU, or PSU, as other parts have been replaced over time.

Memory checks out okay, crashes occur when 3d graphics/heavy gaming are not running, GPU is underclocked also. Have no way to test the PSU, but it is a Corsair higher end model and not a likely source of the issue. So I highly believe it is due to CPU or Mobo as a secondary cause, and with the mobo seemingly jiving just fine with everything else, don't see how it could be the mobo.

At this point, I am almost ready to declare it being the CPU from my own knowledge, but I may be missing something here. I'm simply thanking the heavens I bought the CPU boxed and it is under warranty.

I went through 7 passes of Memtest, no errors reported.

I did play around with Prime95 some more changing a few options in BIOS, and changing memory options seems to have a direct effect on Prime95 crashing or not.

I am using OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK. The DRAM speed on this memory is supposedly 1600. I made sure my timings were set correctly, and then changed the DRAM speed. At 1600 and 1333mhz, it will crash Prime95 within 2-30 seconds and give me the "uncorrectable hardware error" BSOD. Setting it to 1066mhz however allows the test to run for 25 tests in 1 hour, 6 minutes with 0 errors, warnings, or crashes. It could have gone longer, but I decided to stop the test.

I am not exactly sure what this means, but I do see a direct change in circumstances when changing DRAM speed, and I can certainly live with the memory running slightly slower if my system won't crash every day. I will continue testing, and any information you may have as to who is the "culprit" here in not allowing my RAM to run full speed without crashing would be helpful.