Recurring BSOD during desktop use (0x0000003b)

Hi everyone.

This is a self-built system which has been running (mostly) smoothly for about four months now with a BSOD every now and then. Suddenly I've had three in the space of four days.

In the attached file are the last four minidumps. Each and every one of them has always happened on the regular desktop, for example during video playback or browsing the net. Three of them (SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION 0x0000003b) were during active use, while the other one (NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM 0x00000024) occurred over night while I was in bed.

I've tried to search for some more information on the specific error codes, but haven't really found one thing that stood out. Can you find out any specific part of my system that is causing these errors? If not, what steps must I take to locate and eliminate this problem?

Thanks for your efforts,
Raider

Richard, I'm grateful that you took the time to have a closer look at my minidumps. When I tried to look at them closer with the Nirsoft BlueScreenView, I saw that 3 of the 4 BSOD's I included minidumps of in the zip-file, were caused by the same file and address (ntsokrnl.exe+7f1c0). How did you come to several different conclusions from that?

Anyway, after 4 cycles with MemTest86 4.2 produced no errors, I used SeaTools because the original Samsung diagnostic tools weren't available for download anymore. That produced no errors either from any of my three drives. What else can I test?

Thanks for this in-depth response to my question.

The extended RAM checks took me a while longer. Even after running the tests with ~10-12 passes during the evening & night, it hasn't produced a single error. I guess that means the RAM is okay then.

For some curious reason, I haven't had a single BSOD since I posted my minidumps in the first post and it's a clear difference from a few almost daily crashes prior to that.

This newly found stability might have something to do with what I did since posting here. First, I noticed that I had always used the Oracle VirtualBox application hours before a BSOD, so I uninstalled it for the time being. On the hint from a co-worker, I raised the CPU vCore to an offset of +0.050 volt in order to eliminate the possibility of an unstable CPU. To get ahead of the question: no, I had been running everything with the original unchanged BIOS configuration and have not undervolted or overclocked in any way.

I don't know if I should hope for another BSOD now or not. I'll gladly test my other hardware for errors, but after both RAM & HDD have been ruled out, what's left that I can reliably test without a crash around the corner?

It's been a few days again and the BSOD problem hasn't surfaced again. Everything's been running incredibly stable lately.

Yes Richard, I did exactly as you told me to. After you let me know that 4 passes was too little to get a credible result, I tested the present RAM configuration of 2x4GB as they were and when that didn't produce an error after I let it run over-night to a total of ~10 passes, I removed both modules and tested them separately. While I did a bit of cleaning as well, without any pressured air on hand, I wasn't able to ensure completely dust free RAM slots. If the RAM was indeed the problem, maybe the repeated movement of the modules was enough.

While I'm not sure what exactly has been the problem, my issues have all thankfully gone now. I just wanted to post again to thank you for your help in trying to solve my problems and for your patience and willingness to explain things to me beyond the correct answers, when I asked about more details on my minidumps. Thanks :)