Different BSODs in ntoskrnl.exe, (Codes: 0x3b - 0xc5 - 0x124)

Arc said:

Nice info.

As you stated in post #33 .... you have done almost everything possible.

Now, is there any other hardware or devices attached there with the computer? Any USB or PCI devices? If so, disconnect them. See how it goes.

The Only USB devices attached an on are my Mouse and Keyboard. I also have an external USB HDD, but that is almost always off, except when i need it. I also don't have any PCI devices installed. So there isn't really anything i could remove.

Come to think of it, my mouse doesn't always work when i boot up the PC. I'd say about 3 out 4 times, only one of 2 lights on the mouse is actually on and it doesn't work, i have to re-attach it for it to work. I bought a USB Extension cable, so i can re-attach if without crawling beneath my desk all the time. Could it be worth a try to get rid of the extension cable? Or maybe the Mouse? I never considered this because i didn't really think they could cause those kinds of crashes.

Arc said:

Can you apply any other keyboard/mouse combo, at least as a test?

I don't have any here, but i think that should be pretty easy to get. Thankfully, they're a lot cheaper than GPUs and PSUs.

I'll ask around to see if i can borrow some. Or I'll just buy new ones. Wouldn't be the worst 30 euro i ever spent! Since the crashes seem to be very rare right now (4 days without one hasn't happen very often), it may take me a while to post back.

Layback Bear said:

Sorry for being gone so long. I have been back and forth to hospitals and doctors.

I'm not understanding post # 43.

What I think is being said is your motherboard has a 8 pin cpu connector in the upper left corner and the motherboard. And the harness connector from the power supply only has 4 wires in the matching connector. Is that correct.
I have never use a Gigabyte motherboard but all motherboards I have used had the cpu connector from the power supply for the cpu connection filled with wires.

Example:
If the mother board has a 8 pin cpu connection the harness from the power supply should also have 8 wires in the cpu harness connector.
If a motherboard has a 8 pin cpu connection and you only have a 4 wires in the harness connector you are not supplying enough power to the motherboard.

Check your power supply harness and manual. You might have a 4 + 4 cpu harness and connectors.

Yeah, that's correct. I posted a Photo of the connector on the MB on page 4 i think. Should be Post number #41.

I'll check the PSUs Manual, if i can find it online (i don't have the manual or the box anymore) but I'm pretty sure there is only this one 4 pin connector. I looked several times at all the other connectors. I'll open the PC up, check the exact model of the PSU and post back. Thanks for the Input!

I assume the problem is solved now.

This is my PSU: Leises Netzteil SYSTEM POWER 7 | 700W be quiet! Silent PSU & Cooling for your PC

As you can see, it has 2 separate 12v connectors. 1 P4 and 1 P8. Guess which genius had the p4 connected to the MB that required a P8? Right, this beacon of human brilliance.

I always thought "Hey, the P4 is already connected, keep a look out for another 4 pin you can connect to there as well". I never even noticed the P8 before just now. It's pretty amazing that the System ran at all.

I cannot even begin to tell you how utterly embarrassed i am. Right now a part of me is hoping that the Crashes continue so the reason for all of this was NOT just me being denser than... i don't know, something really frickin' dense. But i doubt it, this seems to obvious now.

I cannot thank you enough, both of you but especially Layback Bear for making me look at the connector thing again. I was close to just spending about 100 Bucks on a new PSU and just stop eating for a week just to get this problem solved.

I still feel embarrassed as heck. I think i will rename my PC to "Layback Arc" in honor of you two and so future generations can remember never to be as stupid as i was all this time...

Well, apparently, the 12v connector thing wasn't the cause after all. Crashes still occur.

I will try to switch the GPU, since i have the GTX 275 still around. Apart from that, i will continue to keep a look out for other spare parts to test it. First i will try to get my hands on a PSU and a CPU, because these 3 things seem to be the most likely candidates. Would actually be great if it is the CPU that's the cause, since that one is still new and still has warranty.

I will let you know if anything changes.

I am now sporting a pretty old GTX 275 with some very nice features, for example: 55°C Idle Temperature! Hooray.

Well, I will keep it in and try to find games that won't necessarily melt the rest of my PC (pretty sure melting is bad) and see if the crashes persist.

I also managed to get my hands on a old Quadcore CPU (I think it's an Athlon II x4, don't know which Model, though), which should work. So if the crashes persist with the GPU, I'll put the other GPU back in and switch out the CPU. If that doesn't solve it, only the PSU or the MB remain.

The best thing that it could be is the CPU or the MB. The CPU still has warranty, so i could get a new one. The MB would be the second best option because i was planning on upgrading it anyway. Although i would probably have waited a couple of months. If it is the GPU i will first hit myself for buying second hand without warranty to save 30 bucks and then I'm gonna look for a replacement.

PSU would be... meh, i don't know, it is pretty old and it may just be old age that is killing the PSU. It's about 5 or 6 years old now. Not sure how old that is for a PSU.

In any case, it feels good to finally try something out. I could have done without the moment where i thought i had solved the problem. Next time i will wait with the celebrations and make sure that i actually got the bad guy before popping the champagne.

Well, i aggressively tried to make my PC crash while playing games as much as i possibly could (i even called in sick on Wednesday, mostly because i really didn't feel like doing anything other than breathing that day, but the PC thing was a nice excuse. But if someone asks, i was dying that day) And no matter how much i play, it won't crash with the older GPU.

I gave the 7870 to a friend and asked him to see if it works for him, and so far, no crash there either. So i am assuming it is some kind of hardware conflict with something else in my PC.

It is still very soon and i will continue to watch out for crashes, but my gut was pointing the finger at the GPU for a while. I had some other BSOD issues, but the system began this whole BSOD torture circus somewhere around the time i got that GPU. Although i switched EVERYTHING except the memory since then, the crashes remained.

To end this, i ordered a GTX 960 (i read that a lot of people having trouble with AMD GPUs in general because the drivers are supposed to be very unstable). So i looked for a replacement from Nvidia which is comparable to the 7870 and costs around 200 bucks. The GTX is even quite a bit better, according to what i read about it. I paid 208 Euro for one from Gainward. This time directly from Amazon, because i won't make the same mistake twice.

Again, thank you guys for all the help. I'm rather confident that i found the bad guy this time. Although i will keep an eye out. (not that BSODs are easy to miss, anyway...)

Usually a crash occurs mere minutes after i made a new post saying i fixed the problem, but i hope this won't remain true this time. Wish me luck!