BSOD -- It's not what you think!

[Coldblackice]

Well, at least I want to believe that it's not. IRQL less than equal and DRIVER IRQ BSODs up the wazoo.

Of course, this bad-boy is overclocked. BUT, it was running stable until a day or two ago when these IRQL less than BSODs started popping up. I thought it was the memory -- I tried upping/lowering voltages of the IMC and RAM, but still occurs. I realize I'm probably going to need to back the overclock down (even dropping it back to stock to analyze), but I'm wondering first if it's a driver issue?

I just recently updated a handful of drivers, which I think (and hope) are causing this issue. The biggest update I suspect may be the culprit is the video driver. I just barely updated to Catalyst 11.4 RC2 preview drivers. Along with these, I also updated the 2xNICs with a recently released driver. And finally, I also installed the latest Intel INF and the latest DirectX redistributable runtimes.

I know, a lot of mess to sort through. Can you guys see with your all-seeing eyes if these past 3-4 crashes are caused by a driver? I've run WhoCrashed (which seems to be the baby-food version of what you guys do), and all it shows me is that the conflicts were with ntoskrnl.exe, which doesn't really help me driver-wise.

Really appreciate your help, fellas. If there isn't any clear potential driver conflicts/crashes/issues, then I'm guessing it's likely the overclock and I'll have to drop it back?

Oh, speaking of that, here's some info/background on the overclock (and don't worry, I'm not looking for help to overclock this) -- I've OC'd an i7 930 to 4.2GHz. Memory is at 1600mhz with timings at auto (timings were -1 faster, so I thought that might be the BSOD issue. I put them back to stock/auto timings, and I still crash.) I've given more and also taken away voltage to the memory and Uncore.

-Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail (Installed a couple weeks ago)
-System hardware was all purchased in August 2010, with the G2 SSD purchased last month and the GSkill 12GB purchased a couple weeks ago (G2 firmware updated to latest; GSkill memory fully tested upon arrival with 8 passes in Memtest)


EDIT:

Oh, as for information about when it crashes. One or two times playing Starcraft, another time watching a youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3iFhLdWjqc) . And then it crashed late last night while I was asleep, after a couple hours of no use (with nothing downloading, no scanners scanning, or anything intensive initiating and running)

 

[zigzag3143]

Well, at least I want to believe that it's not. IRQL less than equal and DRIVER IRQ BSODs up the wazoo.

Of course, this bad-boy is overclocked. BUT, it was running stable until a day or two ago when these IRQL less than BSODs started popping up. I thought it was the memory -- I tried upping/lowering voltages of the IMC and RAM, but still occurs. I realize I'm probably going to need to back the overclock down (even dropping it back to stock to analyze), but I'm wondering first if it's a driver issue?

I just recently updated a handful of drivers, which I think (and hope) are causing this issue. The biggest update I suspect may be the culprit is the video driver. I just barely updated to Catalyst 11.4 RC2 preview drivers. Along with these, I also updated the 2xNICs with a recently released driver. And finally, I also installed the latest Intel INF and the latest DirectX redistributable runtimes.

I know, a lot of mess to sort through. Can you guys see with your all-seeing eyes if these past 3-4 crashes are caused by a driver? I've run WhoCrashed (which seems to be the baby-food version of what you guys do), and all it shows me is that the conflicts were with ntoskrnl.exe, which doesn't really help me driver-wise.

Really appreciate your help, fellas. If there isn't any clear potential driver conflicts/crashes/issues, then I'm guessing it's likely the overclock and I'll have to drop it back?

Oh, speaking of that, here's some info/background on the overclock (and don't worry, I'm not looking for help to overclock this) -- I've OC'd an i7 930 to 4.2GHz. Memory is at 1600mhz with timings at auto (timings were -1 faster, so I thought that might be the BSOD issue. I put them back to stock/auto timings, and I still crash.) I've given more and also taken away voltage to the memory and Uncore.

-Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail (Installed a couple weeks ago)
-System hardware was all purchased in August 2010, with the G2 SSD purchased last month and the GSkill 12GB purchased a couple weeks ago (G2 firmware updated to latest; GSkill memory fully tested upon arrival with 8 passes in Memtest)


EDIT:

Oh, as for information about when it crashes. One or two times playing Starcraft, another time watching a youtube video (YouTube - Cats Playing Patty-cake, what they were saying...) . And then it crashed late last night while I was asleep, after a couple hours of no use (with nothing downloading, no scanners scanning, or anything intensive initiating and running)

Well you have 9 different causes. When that occurs it is usually hardware, and yes OC plays into it.

I suggest the following

Your .dmp file shows a stop error of 0x124 which is a general hardware error .

A "stop 0x124" is fundamentally different to many other types of bluescreens because it stems from a hardware complaint.

Stop 0x124 minidumps contain very little practical information, and it is therefore necessary to approach the problem as a case of hardware in an unknown state of distress.

You can read more on this error and what to try here... Stop 0x124 - what it means and what to try http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/35349-stop-0x124-what-means-what-try.html


To try and identify if/which driver is the culprit I would run driver verifier.

I'd suggest that you first backup your stuff and then make sure you've got access to another computer so you can contact us if problems arise. Then make a System Restore point (so you can restore the system using the Vista/Win7 Startup Repair feature).

In Windows 7 you can make a Startup Repair disk by going to Start....All Programs...Maintenance...Create a System Repair Disc - with Windows Vista you'll have to use your installation disk or the "Repair your computer" option at the top of the Safe Mode menu .

Then, here's the procedure:
- Go to Start and type in "verifier" (without the quotes) and press Enter
- Select "Create custom settings (for code developers)" and click "Next"
- Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and click "Next"
- Select everything EXCEPT FOR "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next"
- Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next"
Then select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft and click "Next"
- Select "Finish" on the next page.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the Blue Screen. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out. If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 36 hours of continuous operation (an estimate on my part).

If you can't get into Windows because it crashes too soon, try it in Safe Mode.
If you can't get into Safe Mode, try using System Restore from your installation DVD to set the system back to the previous restore point that you created.

You have made so many changes if it were me I would put everything back to default and start from there.

You also have a driver from 2005 called ssport.sys that seriously needs an update or removal. There are also many non standard driver that may or may not contribute to the instability.

Ken