Frequent BSODs + successful forced BSOD

M3ezu88 · 23 Jan 2010

Hey!
Just updated parts of my computer -
CPU, Mobo, and Ram (Phenom II x2 550BE, MSI 785GM-E51, OCZ low voltage DD3 1333)
I have an old (&bad?) PSU with 300W peak and Old HD - 80gb maxtor, IDE and no discrete GPU yet.

Getting frequent BSODs under Windows 7. I have been trying to locate the reason but no success so far.
Yes, my cpu is unlocked (so a quad core) and overclocked (10% @ 3.4Ghz), but I'm pretty comfident that it is stable. (Ran prime 95 for an hour, (only :S), no errors under 100% load and ok temperatures)
Ran memtest 86+ for 2 passes, no errors.

Ran Furmark 1.7 BSOD in less than a minute x2. Didn't try more. First time at 1440x900 took like 2 secs, second time at 800x600 took me around 15secs to run into a BSOD.

So I figured that there might be an issue around the IGP, but I'm looking for more information from you gurus here.

EDIT1: Running Windows Memtest now. Hooray for the tards who made "Auto" settings for the mobo's bios. Got more errors then I could close to end the test the first 2 times. After setting factory standards for the DRAM, voltage&clocks, I have now ran the test for the first 10 mins without an error :) There is still hope...
EDIT2: Seems like the simple settings fixed my furmark as well :) The comp finally seems stable and I'm glad I didn't have faulty hardware.

usasma · 23 Jan 2010

So, have you had any further BSOD's since you posted EDIT2?

Overclocking with a 300watt PSU?

The first step troubleshooting BSOD's is to stop overclocking and return the system to default values.
Then, if it still BSOD's, you can adjust the default values (such as the memory settings) to see if you can stop the BSOD's.

M3ezu88 · 24 Jan 2010

Well, this morning I had BSODs when trying to get into windows... a lot of em...
They went away after turning off the PSU and turning it on again. Seems like I should get a new PSU. Probably going for something like a 400W corsair(where I know it's capable of the 400W, possibly even overload), no need for a bigger because the components are getting more energy efficient all the time.

My CPU is at stock speed now, tho unlocked so it causes a bit more stress to the PSU so I guess it's an issue during boot.
I had to manually set the memory timings from 7-7-7-16@1100ish ("auto" lolx) to 9-9-9-20@1333, but after I did all errors went away on that area.

So the comp is actually running like a charm at the moment, with the exception of PSU failure.

ickymay · 24 Jan 2010

M3ezu88 said:

Well, this morning I had BSODs when trying to get into windows... a lot of em...
They went away after turning off the PSU and turning it on again. Seems like I should get a new PSU. Probably going for something like a 400W corsair(where I know it's capable of the 400W, possibly even overload), no need for a bigger because the components are getting more energy efficient all the time.

My CPU is at stock speed now, tho unlocked so it causes a bit more stress to the PSU so I guess it's an issue during boot.
I had to manually set the memory timings from 7-7-7-16@1100ish ("auto" lolx) to 9-9-9-20@1333, but after I did all errors went away on that area.

So the comp is actually running like a charm at the moment, with the exception of PSU failure.

A new PSU is definately a good idea and when choosing I would try and take into account any upgrades likely as well as buying a quality make like Corsair, so at the moment you are likely only using 200w but add a graphics card and more ram and 2 or 3 usb devices and you will be going closer towards your 400w.

heres a good place to calculate your minimum requirements as a guide :)

you can also take the PSU with you into your next case