Asus K53E Laptop with 0x00000124 BSOD

That looks like a filter capacitor. It's high power so look for a "hole" next to a power transistor, diode or AC line.

The last dump indicates a 0x124 hardware error. More specifically, an L2 Cache Read Error. L2 Cache is located on the CPU chip itself. It's causing page faults so I'm not sure I would rely on maintaining data integrity. The missing capacitor may be associated with power to the CPU.

Code:

 
STACK_COMMAND:  kb
FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner
MODULE_NAME: hardware
IMAGE_NAME:  hardware
DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  0
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x124_GenuineIntel_PROCESSOR_CACHE
BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x124_GenuineIntel_PROCESSOR_CACHE
Followup: MachineOwner
---------
1: kd> !errrec fffffa8006688028
===============================================================================
Common Platform Error Record @ fffffa8006688028
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Record Id     : 01cf00fd543a6244
Severity      : Fatal (1)
Length        : 928
Creator       : Microsoft
Notify Type   : Machine Check Exception
Timestamp     : 12/24/2013 23:11:15
Flags         : 0x00000000
===============================================================================
Section 0     : Processor Generic
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor    @ fffffa80066880a8
Section       @ fffffa8006688180
Offset        : 344
Length        : 192
Flags         : 0x00000001 Primary
Severity      : Fatal
Proc. Type    : x86/x64
Instr. Set    : x64
Error Type    : Cache error
Operation     : Data Read
Flags         : 0x00
Level         : 2
CPU Version   : 0x00000000000206a7
Processor ID  : 0x0000000000000001
===============================================================================
Section 1     : x86/x64 Processor Specific
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor    @ fffffa80066880f0
Section       @ fffffa8006688240
Offset        : 536
Length        : 128
Flags         : 0x00000000
Severity      : Fatal
Local APIC Id : 0x0000000000000001
CPU Id        : a7 06 02 00 00 08 10 01 - bf e3 ba 1d 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  @ fffffa8006688240
===============================================================================
Section 2     : x86/x64 MCA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor    @ fffffa8006688138
Section       @ fffffa80066882c0
Offset        : 664
Length        : 264
Flags         : 0x00000000
Severity      : Fatal
Error         : DCACHEL2_DRD_ERR (Proc 1 Bank 6)
  Status      : 0xbe20000000011136
  Address     : 0x0000000137c03180
  Misc.       : 0x00000070c1000086

Just as an update. The other two dumps are also L2 Cache Read errors. The first is a data read and the second is an instruction read from L2 Cache.

LOL... No, it's a figure of speech. I mean the "hole" would be a location on the MB for the capacitor that isn't there. :) Its location might be ink screened on the board but not necessarily. I would just look for empty locations near other power components.

As far as L2 cache, I can only tell you what the dump says. I would imagine the CPU test with primes is using mostly the Numeric Processor and little data is moving in or out of cache. It may be one bad area that only gets used occasionally or a voltage spike that getting through because of the missing capacitor.

I thought you meant that Ken, but didn't want to speak for you.

Can it be the missing cap is taking power from the L2 cache? I think the parts of a CPU are allocated their own power?

I scanned the pictures but didn't see anything obvious but I can't see the whole board. Those components are applied with solder paste then the board goes through an oven to melt the solder paste and affix the component. It's not likely the board left the factory with a spare piece.

If it is a filter capacitor, the circuit may still work but would carry transients (noise) or spikes in voltage. Either could affect the CPU and memory. Check around the memory modules too. The flow of incoming data (to the CPU) starts at the memory modules then goes to L3, L2, L1 then the CPU. "Data" being information and/or code instructions.

Britton30 said:

I thought you meant that Ken, but didn't want to speak for you.

Can it be the missing cap is taking power from the L2 cache? I think the parts of a CPU are allocated their own power?

You're right about that! Nearly half of the CPU pins/balls are for power to various circuits.