ErrorID 18 - Machine Check Exception

Howdy All,

For a long time now I've been plagued with problems whist using Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit. I've tried everything I can think of, replaced many components inside my computer, but the problem still exists. The only thing I can think to do now is burn my computer and buy a prebuilt Dell with a warranty.

My rig is as follows:

Mobo: Asus P5QL Pro
CPU: Q9400
RAM: OCZ DDR2 Gold 1033Mhz
Graphics: ATI HD5770 1gb
PSU: 550w thermaltake
HDD: Samsung F1 Sata
Sound: Creative X-FI

Every couple of days I get an error ID 18,
machine check exception
Reported by: Processor core
Error type: bus/interconnect error
ProcessorID: 1

I've noticed when these errors occur I get 3 all at the same time usually with different ProcessorID numbers, but sometimes the same. I also get black screens regularly, although one time just yesterday I got a pale blue screen (not the blue screen of death). My computer seems to carry on running, but the display goes black and I can't do anything except reset.

Everything in my computer is running at stock - no overclocking

I've tried the following:

Underclocked my GPU
Relaxed my RAM timings (from the ones it recommends running at)
Changed my PSU from 550W to 750W
Removed my sound card
Disabled all my sound cards
Updated my graphics drivers with 3 different versions
Disabled AHCI and tried IDE
Disabled ACPI
I have no Virus scanners running.

I've tried memtest 0 errors in 6 hours including tests 5 and 6.
I've ran prime95 on all tests for many hours, which also concluded nothing.

My motherboard, Hard drive and CPU are less than 2 months old, as I replaced them due to the frustration of "Display driver stopped responding errors"

Does anyone have any ideas what I should do??

Thanks in advance

Thanks Usama,

I've checked those steps and to be honest, most of them I've done already several times.

Last night, I disconnected my sound card, secondary hard disk, DVD drive, removed 1 RAM stick, and booted my machine with just the mobo, CPU, Graphics and HDD, and it froze within 5 minutes. When it froze, the screen went black with vertical lines down it a slightly lighter and yellower shade of black. Do you think this could be a graphics issue? My card is less than 2 months old.

Regards,

Here are my mini dump files.

If anyone could take a look and post an opinion I'd be very greatful,

Thanks in advance

Hi Usasma,

I believe I have fixed the problem.

I got another older NVIDIA PCI-E card and tried it for a couple hours, guess what I started getting loads of errors.

I changed my RAM settings in the BIOS to auto and it loaded at 800 Mhz (400 for each stick), I was running them at 1066 (which according to the label on the side they should run at). I've ran it for approx 10 hours not and it's been totally stable.

To be honest I never would have expected RAM to be sold as advertised 1066Mhz, where it's actually 800Mhz. Cheeky devils

Thanks for your help

Regards,

usasma said:

Yes, it's possible that it could be the video card.
The dump files don't reveal any outdated drivers - so we can rule that out.

Interesting BSOD issues with a similar mobo here: Asus RAM issues - P5Q - Memory Remap

usasma,

I've been having this 0x0000009c machine check exception error as well and been searching for a solution for a while now. Stumbled upon another thread with your input here as well where you say this error does not usually come up with Win7, but is XP related or may happen in dual boot with XP/Win7.

The bsod only happens after I have been in XP and as I am booting into Win7. It does not get far enough into the boot-up to write a crash dump. I have a Gigabyte p55 board (ga-p55-usb3) where you mention that it may be prone to such errors. It was slightly OC'd but even when put back to normal it still does it. Bear in mind that this never occurs if I restart or boot into Win7 if I was last using WIn7, but only happens if I was last using XP.

Did some mem tests on the ram for a few hours and it was OK (GSkill 4x2gb). Any comments, suggestion would be appreciated.

P.s. sorry didnt know whether to start a new thread or continue into one with the same topic.