random BSODs, screen freezes

Hi ivanwakeup, I will try to offer some help, if you don't mind. First, I need you to completely fill out your system specs in as much detail as possible. The simplest way is to click 'My System Specs' in the bottom left corner of your last post and there will be a link to update system specs. When you are finished be sure to click save at the bottom of the page. If you need to know exactly what we want, click my system specs at the bottom of this post to see mine.

Next, if you don't already have it, please download and install CPUz. With your computer at idle, please post screenshots (Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums ) of the CPU, Mainboard, memory and SPD tabs. On the SPD tab, I only need screenshots of the dimm slots populated with ram.

Next, please open CPUz to the CPU tab and Core Temp and run Prime95 (never run but 1 CPU temp monitoring program at a time). Please post screenshots of CPUz and Core temp after Prime95 Blend test has been running for an hour.

It is my opinion that the CPU is the last component of a computer that is subject to go bad, especially with Sandy and Ivy Bridge. However there are a lot of things that can make your computer throw a 124 error. in fact most anything can. But, over time components wear and age and don't work quite the same way as they did when new. I will also tell you that as you can see by the badge at the bottom of my signature, I am not opposed to overclocking, if done right. That being said, any computer that is not stable at stock will never have a stable overclock. Please post those screenshots and let me see what is going on.

OK, are you at idle there? If so, you should be at 1600 MHz and your Vcore should be around 1.0V, unless you turned EIST off. You should be able to enable XMP in your bios and run your ram at 1600MHz instead of the 1333 it is now. Just be sure to set your Dram Voltage to 1.5V.

Bios is usually more correct, but it will always be higher than in Windows as EIST is not applied in bios where it usually is in the OS. It usually takes a while for thermal paste to cure, and you should see temp drops around 2-3C. How long depends on the paste you applied. Artic silver 5 can take as much as 200 hours, while some others much less.

Depending on the ambient of where you are right now and the airflow in your case, with the warmer weather, you can expect some increase in your CPU temps. Never expect to be below ambient, it isn't possible with air or even water. I trust you did clean the old paste off before applying the new paste. Also, consider you are using software to read temps which is notoriously wrong. It is worse at idle temps. The higher the temps go, the more accurate the readings are, for some reason. Besides, in reality, we don't care what idle temps are, it's when it is put under stress that matters most. Having said that, I do agree that I would like to see idle temps drop a few degrees. Are you using manual or offset voltage in bios? That can make a great difference in CPU temps.