Random BSOD on new W7 installation: IRQL Error

Britton30 said:

A weak power supply or overheating are both common causes of spontaneous reboots as you describe.
Go to the Hardware part of your BIOS and find the voltages readings and post them.
Install Speccy - Download and post a snip of the overview window.

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Thanks. Attached is my Speccy overview screenshot, together with BIOS screenshots showing my voltages. I noticed that the DRAM was v low for my RAM. I have Mushkin 991657 RAM which is really voltage sensitive and needs 1.85-1.95v to run stably. It was trying to run set to Auto in the BIOS which had it down at 1.5v, so I changed it to 1.9v and will see how it runs. I set it to 1.9v when I installed this mobo and CPU and did the fresh W7 install so it must have somehow reset the BIOS during one of its BSODs or reboots.

My PSU is a 1000w Corsair and my whole system (inc 3 monitors, speakers and printer) draw less than 500W at peak CPU power. I have my system plugged in to a battery backup UPS which tells me how my power it draws, but the monitors, speakers and printer draw directly from the UPS.

Also, I've been monitoring temps and haven't seen high CPU or GPU temps as I'm running stock clocks and voltages with an Antec 120 Tower Extreme cooler on the CPU. I'm also about to install a Kuhler 620 water cooler to the 7970 GPU.

I'll see if changing the DRAM voltage makes a difference to the reboots.

Cheers
Simon

ICit2lol said:

Look I found the Marvell site to be quite convoluted and this is the nearest I can get to a driver for your controller Marvell - Support - Driver Downloads

Now if you can find the right one out of tis lot then it is the best way to do drivers. I don't like "driver finders" personally preferring to go to the beast's home site.

One more thing is if you go to Giga for answers be prepared for a VERY long and involved heap of queries re numbers on the board and then you will need to be able to hold your breath for some time they are very long winded in replying.

Sorry I could not be of any more help.

Thanks for that. To be honest, that Marvel site is a mystery to me and I have no idea which driver I need to download. I'm gonna see if re-setting the DRAM voltage stops the reboots, since the BSODs seem to have gone away recently and I know that this RAM will force reboots if it doesn't have enough juice.

Cheers
Simon

So I've been running video conversions which formerly would give me a reboot or BSOD and, so far, all is well. Will keep you guys posted over the next few days as to how it gets on.
Thanks again for all your help!
Cheers
Simon

Britton30 said:

Your temps are good. Try setting your HT Link voltage to 1.4V, this is for the memory controller. Check the label on your RAM for its voltage, 1.9 sounds very high for DDR3 as your spec say you have and the board supports. Today 1.65V is considered high voltage for RAM. With the bump in HT volts, you may be able to lower the DRAM volts.

If you were looking for a Marvel driver for the SATA/RAID/AHCI, check here: GIGABYTE - Support & Downloads - Downloads= Note there are 4 revisions for that model board.

Thanks for the Marvel find! So far I haven't had a BSOD or random reboot since adjusting the DRAM voltage. The RAM specs state 1.85-1.95v so I put it in the middle at 1.9v. I'll increase the HT Link voltage to 1.4v and drop the DRAM voltage down half a click to 1.85v at the lower end of its voltage scale and see how it goes. Before I upgraded the mobo and CPU I was running the DRAM voltage at 1.9v for a couple years and it was totally fine, not hot and didn't crap out on me at all.

Cheers
Simon

ICit2lol said:

Britton30 said:

Your temps are good. Try setting your HT Link voltage to 1.4V, this is for the memory controller. Check the label on your RAM for its voltage, 1.9 sounds very high for DDR3 as your spec say you have and the board supports. Today 1.65V is considered high voltage for RAM. With the bump in HT volts, you may be able to lower the DRAM volts.

If you were looking for a Marvel driver for the SATA/RAID/AHCI, check here: GIGABYTE - Support & Downloads - Downloads= Note there are 4 revisions for that model board.

Well done Gary I couldn't find much at all for the Marvellstuff and agree the volt on the RAM seem tad high.
Yep they are DDR3
991657 - 2GB DDR3 PC3-12800 7-7-7-20 Blackline (Module)

but they are rated according to this quite high

I haven't got time to go back through as I am just on my way out but am wondering if memtest has been mentioned somewhere??
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

Thanks! I'll run a memtest when I'm not using the PC next, just to know the RAM is still good

Cheers
Simon

Britton30 said:

With the board and CPU upgrade, how about RAM too? Here's a few selections with similar specs as yours but with a lower volt requirement. Lower volts will not be as stressful on the CPU, not that is seems stressed now, but may lead to better performance.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Memory, Desktop Memory, 7, 8GB (2 x 4GB), ddr3 1600 8gb

Thanks. To be honest I'm trying not to spend anymore money on my PC for the time being, but will definitely look at these RAM when I next upgrade. My CPU really takes the higher voltage RAM in its stride and I rarely do anything that is high CPU stress. I mine using the GPU, which doesn't really stress the CPU and that's about the most work I give it. I've just installed a Kuhler 620 to my 7970 GPU to cool it down a bit while mining.

Cheers
Simon