BSOD at various times, not always the same error

Greetings,

I have an overclocked PC I built in December of 2010. It runs Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. As I built it, I purchased Windows from a computer store, and it was the System Builder edition. I have not attempted to reinstall Windows.

I get get the BSOD at random intervals. Sometimes it will go weeks without an issue, and then it'll BSOD a couple times in the same day. This was not always the case; the computer operated fine until last fall when it started with the random BSODs. I have noticed that I get the BSOD more frequently during times the CPU is under heavy load, however this is not always the case (I have woken up before to a restart after BSOD that occurred while the computer was inactive and virtually no programs were open).

The actual error message I get is not always the same either. At times I will see it say something along the lines of "IRQL_not_less_or_equal" during the BSOD, and other times it will give me a generic "Windows shut down your computer to protect it" type of message. I apologize for not having more specifics, it's difficult to catch the message on the blue screen as it can disappear quickly.

I have followed the instructions in the sticky at the top of the forum, and the resulting .zip file is attached to this post. I finally have gotten tired of this issue enough where I have decided to seek out help, and I came across this forum which looks like it could be a great resource. So thanks in advance for the help, and let me know if you need any more info!

System specs:
Processor: Intel i5 760 2.80GHz clocked to 4.00Ghz
Memory: 4.00GB OZ Gold, clocked at 1600Mhz (I think it's OZ gold, not positive, I do know it's clocked at whatever speed it's supposed to be)
OS Version: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit System Builder

Dwarf said:

Hi chuckbone and welcome to W7 Forums

One of the first things to do if you are having BSODs, lockups, etc, and you have overclocked your computer is to return it to normal settings and see if the problems persist. Please restore it to the standard non-overclocked settings and report back.

Thanks for the warm welcome! This seems like a helpful knowledgeable bunch here, and I'm glad to be part of it.

I understand that I will probably have to end up reverting to normal settings, at least to try it and see if the issues persist. The thing is, the overclock was stable for a long time, including passing various stress tests such as prime95. Although I know that may not mean much, I'm hoping that people who know what to do with the driver and minidump information I have posted can point to a potential culprit that does not necessarily have to do with the overclock. If it turns out the dump/driver information yields nothing other than a "general hardware fault" or something similar, I'll go back to standard settings and see if the problem persists. At the very least I won't be able to go back to normal settings until this weekend.

Code:

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


Loading Dump File [D:\Kingston\BSODDmpFiles\chuckbone\Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2\032112-27534-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*C:\SymCache*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is: 
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7601 (Service Pack 1) MP (4 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 7601.17640.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`03059000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`0329e670
Debug session time: Wed Mar 21 13:55:40.672 2012 (UTC - 6:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 23:43:02.890
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
................................................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
..........
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 124, {0, fffffa8004ff3028, be000000, 800400}

Probably caused by : hardware

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

0: 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: fffffa8004ff3028, Address of the WHEA_ERROR_RECORD structure.
Arg3: 00000000be000000, High order 32-bits of the MCi_STATUS value.
Arg4: 0000000000800400, 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:  EXCEL.EXE

CURRENT_IRQL:  f

STACK_TEXT:  
fffff800`0445ea98 fffff800`03022a3b : 00000000`00000124 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`04ff3028 00000000`be000000 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff800`0445eaa0 fffff800`031e6513 : 00000000`00000001 fffffa80`05090a80 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`05090ad0 : hal!HalBugCheckSystem+0x1e3
fffff800`0445eae0 fffff800`03022700 : 00000000`00000728 fffffa80`05090a80 fffff800`0445ee70 fffff800`0445ee00 : nt!WheaReportHwError+0x263
fffff800`0445eb40 fffff800`03022052 : fffffa80`05090a80 fffff800`0445ee70 fffffa80`05090a80 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalpMcaReportError+0x4c
fffff800`0445ec90 fffff800`03021f0d : 00000000`00000004 00000000`00000001 fffff800`0445eef0 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalpMceHandler+0x9e
fffff800`0445ecd0 fffff800`03015e88 : 00000000`0ba12448 00000000`0ba12900 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalpMceHandlerWithRendezvous+0x55
fffff800`0445ed00 fffff800`030d452c : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalHandleMcheck+0x40
fffff800`0445ed30 fffff800`030d4393 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KxMcheckAbort+0x6c
fffff800`0445ee70 00000000`2f97fd8b : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiMcheckAbort+0x153
00000000`041df024 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x2f97fd8b


STACK_COMMAND:  kb

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: hardware

IMAGE_NAME:  hardware

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  0

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x124_GenuineIntel_PROCESSOR_MAE

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x124_GenuineIntel_PROCESSOR_MAE

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

I think it is safe to say it is a general hardware fault: Stop 0x124 - what it means and what to try

Will you now stop overclocking?

Overclocking limits the life of components and can slowly degrade those components over time. It is possible this is what you are now facing. It is also possible there was minor ESD damage during installation of electronic components that is now starting to show symptoms.