BSOD possibly cured but not sure.

AMJordan · 09 Jan 2016

Hi Folks, new here and looking for advice regarding my BSOD issue. I have attached the relevent file as recomended.

I built this machine a couple of weeks before Xmas. Loaded the OS and drivers then updated everything. Before starting to browse the internet I attempted to load antivirus, Bullguard as I already have an account. The setup program would unpack everything and then attempt to scan the machine. When it got to 15% it would BSOD with an Unknown Hardware error message. This happened everytime I tried to load it.

To enable me to use the internet to trouble shoot the problem I then installed Avira free antivirus with no problems.

I contacted Bullguard for advice and they requested the minidump files for analysis. They replied saying that they thought it was a processor fault.

I then downloaded and used the Windows debugging tools to see if I could see anything (although I don't really understand what I am reading). I noticed that the active thread at the time of the crash was the Gigabyte "Easy Tune Engine". This is some kind of overclocking feature that I have not knowingly used as I don't need/want to overclock.

So, I uninstalled Easy Tune and tried to load Bullguard again. This time it worked without a problem.

Since then (around two weeks) the PC has been working flawlessly but I am still worried that I might have some faulty hardware since the Bullguard people said they thought it was a processor fault. Obviously if I have faulty hardware I would like to return it while under warranty.

I suspect that it was Easy Tune causing the problem but does that indicate a fault with the software or is it just showing up a hardware problem?

I have run as many stress testing utilities that I can find and the PC has coped with them all without breaking a sweat.

The Intel Processor testing utility reports the processor running at 6Ghz and 70 degrees below maximum temp. Is this normal for a 3.4 Ghz locked processor? Turbo boost maybe? When I boot into the BIOS it shows it running at 4Ghz at 20 degrees while idle.

Any advice would be gratefully recieved.

Cheers
Andrew

Baddog22556 · 09 Jan 2016

Hey, if it's working why bother. Seems uninstalling that app was the solution.
Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or/and die.

**axe0** · 09 Jan 2016

AMJordan said:

I contacted Bullguard for advice and they requested the minidump files for analysis. They replied saying that they thought it was a processor fault.

I then downloaded and used the Windows debugging tools to see if I could see anything (although I don't really understand what I am reading). I noticed that the active thread at the time of the crash was the Gigabyte "Easy Tune Engine". This is some kind of overclocking feature that I have not knowingly used as I don't need/want to overclock.

So, I uninstalled Easy Tune and tried to load Bullguard again. This time it worked without a problem.

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to the 7forums.

They aren't wrong, the 0x124 is usually hardware related and this is an internal unclassified error meaning it isn't publicly documented.
This error could relate to a faulty CPU.

However, some software are known for causing bluescreens, like Gigabyte software is known for causing 0x124 crashes.
Your action to uninstall Gigabyte Easy Tune Engine was a good one

Code:

2: kd> !errrec fffffa801db4f028
===============================================================================
Common Platform Error Record @ fffffa801db4f028
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Record Id     : 01d1415b6ed61401
Severity      : Fatal (1)
Length        : 928
Creator       : Microsoft
Notify Type   : Machine Check Exception
Timestamp     : 12/28/2015 11:05:16 (UTC)
Flags         : 0x00000000

===============================================================================
Section 0     : Processor Generic
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor    @ fffffa801db4f0a8
Section       @ fffffa801db4f180
Offset        : 344
Length        : 192
Flags         : 0x00000001 Primary
Severity      : Fatal

Proc. Type    : x86/x64
Instr. Set    : x64
Error Type    : Micro-Architectural Error
Flags         : 0x00
CPU Version   : 0x00000000000506e3
Processor ID  : 0x0000000000000002

===============================================================================
Section 1     : x86/x64 Processor Specific
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor    @ fffffa801db4f0f0
Section       @ fffffa801db4f240
Offset        : 536
Length        : 128
Flags         : 0x00000000
Severity      : Fatal

Local APIC Id : 0x0000000000000002
CPU Id        : e3 06 05 00 00 08 10 02 - ff fb fa 7f ff fb eb bf
                00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
                00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Proc. Info 0  @ fffffa801db4f240

===============================================================================
Section 2     : x86/x64 MCA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor    @ fffffa801db4f138
Section       @ fffffa801db4f2c0
Offset        : 664
Length        : 264
Flags         : 0x00000000
Severity      : Fatal

Error         : Internal unclassified (Proc 2 Bank 1)
  Status      : 0xbf80000000200401
  Address     : 0x00000000fee00000
  Misc.       : 0x0000000000000086

AMJordan · 10 Jan 2016

Hi axe0

Thanks for your reply. It is reassuring to know that Gigabyte software is known for causing these errors. So, I guess that was probably the reason for the crashes. Is there any way to be 100% certain that this was the cause rather than a faulty CPU?

**axe0** · 10 Jan 2016

If you'd like you can stress test your CPU.

I have to mention, no program is 100%. It could be that the tests are wrong in the results, but mostly you can assume the results are correct.

Diagnostic Test

CPU TEST

Run Prime95 and IntelBurnTest to stress test your CPU. Prime95 - Stress Test Your CPU - Windows 7 Forums & CPU - Stress Test Using IntelBurnTest

Warning

Your CPU temperatures will rise quickly while under this stress test. Keep a keen eye on them and abort the test if overheating occurs.

AMJordan · 10 Jan 2016

OK, well I haven't had time to install and run Prime95 yet but I have run the IntelBurn test at all of the stress levels with no problems. At maximum stress level I didn't have time to let it run to completion so had to stop it after 30min but none of the core temps. went above 50 degC whle running at a max of 3.9GHz.

While I had HWiNFO64 open I ran the Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool again and strangely this was still reporting a detected frequency of 6GHz but HWiNFO64 only showed a max speed of 3.9GHz. So, I don't know what is going on there.

**axe0** · 10 Jan 2016

In the BIOS you can detect the real frequency, if any program is saying something else then it is a bug.