BSOD while playing various games

[Netami]

Its not really just BSOD I guess BSOD is a end result of the crashes I keep getting its the all too well known problem with : display driver xxx stopped responding and has recovered. I've been fighting with this problem ever since I got my new graphic card ( detailed specs later ) from time to time when I play a 3d game (doesnt have to be with really intensive graphics) the screen goes black for a couple of seconds then recovers ( unfortunately in some games it does not recover ) multiple flickers like this usually result in a BSOD. The worst thing is that its completely unpredictable and some of the newest graphic intensive games for example might not get the crash at all while others get it multiple times in a row same with some older titles ... Now theres a lot to say so I apologize for the quite chaotic post build Lets start with what Ive tried in order to fix or find out whats wrong:

- I tried many different NVIDIA drivers very old ones like 175 and the newest one currently 295 I think ? also many in between those 2 with no real results what sometimes seemed like a fix was just the randomness factor,

- I tried various different settings changes to the NVIDIA control panel which I found on the internet as theres tons of people having similar problem but theres just as many fixes,

- I bought a new PSU a 600W Thermaltake TR2 Bronze which supplies more than enough power,

- I tried different cords with no real result,

- I checked for viruses and I formatted and installed fresh system multiple times also with no result,

-I tried the registry edit thingy I think I saw it in one of the posts here which was supposed to help by making the black out time longer .. this actually had some effect but it wasnt a good one it just made the black outs much more common and increased the chance for a BSOD,

-I never overclocked this graphic card however it is stock overclocked so I tried underclocking with no result,

-I ran various benchmarks and stability tests ran Prime95 for over 12 hours with no errors ran FurMark benchmarks without any stability issues and temperature reaching a stable 77C on full load. Theres no overheating problems whatsoever GPU in idle is at about 37C and while playing doesnt go over 67C quite similar stats for CPU. Ran Memtest aswell without any errors,

Thats about it if Ill remember something later ill be sure to edit it in. Oh there were also some other slight fixes but it was nothing major and also had no effect. This started around October last year when I bought the graphic card at that time I figured out the PSU I had back then was insufficient for the new graphic card and I hoped that the purchase of new one would fix everything however as I did get new PSU few months back it did not solve anything. I thought also of testing the GPU on some other PC unfortunately everyone I know uses laptop =/ Im writing here as a last resort before sending the GPU away on warranty which I really really dont wanna do cause the only replacement I got is a very old GF8600 GTS that overheats 100C +. I refuse to accept it that the new graphic card I got was faulty from the start until all possibilities are exhausted. Hopefully someone here will have some bright idea whats going on, its either something really basic or extremely advanced and rare ...

As for my PC specs :

- Windows 7 Ultimate x64 quite fresh install around 1-2 months old I think

- hardware's age varies oldest HDD is about 8 years old most of the PC is 5-6 years old 1 x 2gb ram stick around 2 years old while graphics and PSU are only few months old

CPU : Inter Core 2 Quad 2.4ghz

RAM: 1 x 1gb Corsair ddr2 800 mhz and 1 x 2 gb Corsair ddr2 800 mhz

GPU: Asus ENGT440 GeForce GT 440 1GB DDR5 (128bit)

PSU : Thermaltake TR2 600W Bronze

Thats about it for the important parts I guess if I missed anything or any other information needed please tell, I also attached a .rar file with the System Health Report and BSOD dump. Im eagerly awaiting any responses =)

with regards,
Netami

 

[zigzag3143]

Stop 0x124 is a hardware error

If you are overclocking try resetting your processor to standard settings and see if that helps.

If you continue to get BSOD here are some more things you may want to consider.

This is usually heat related, defective hardware, memory or even processor though it is"possible" that it is driver related (rare).

Stop 0x124 - what it means and what to try
Synopsis:

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.


Generic "Stop 0x124" Troubleshooting Strategy:

1) Ensure that none of the hardware components are overclocked. Hardware that is driven beyond its design specifications - by overclocking - can malfunction in unpredictable ways.


2) Ensure that the machine is adequately cooled.
If there is any doubt, open up the side of the PC case (be mindful of any relevant warranty conditions!) and point a mains fan squarely at the motherboard. That will rule out most (lack of) cooling issues.


3) Update all hardware-related drivers: video, sound, RAID (if any), NIC... anything that interacts with a piece of hardware.
It is good practice to run the latest drivers anyway.


4) Update the motherboard BIOS according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Their website should provide detailed instructions as to the brand and model-specific procedure.


5) Rarely, bugs in the OS may cause "false positive" 0x124 events where the hardware wasn't complaining but Windows thought otherwise (because of the bug).
At the time of writing, Windows 7 is not known to suffer from any such defects, but it is nevertheless important to always keep Windows itself updated.

6) Attempt to (stress) test those hardware components which can be put through their paces artificially.
The most obvious examples are the RAM and HDD(s).
For the RAM, use the in-built memory diagnostics (run MDSCHED) or the 3rd-party memtest86 utility to run many hours worth of testing.
For hard drives, check whether CHKDSK /R finds any problems on the drive(s), notably "bad sectors".
Unreliable RAM, in particular, is deadly as far as software is concerned, and anything other than a 100% clear memory test result is cause for concern. Unfortunately, even a 100% clear result from the diagnostics utilities does not guarantee that the RAM is free from defects - only that none were encountered during the test passes.

7) As the last of the non-invasive troubleshooting steps, perform a "vanilla" reinstallation of Windows: just the OS itself without any additional applications, games, utilities, updates, or new drivers - NOTHING AT ALL that is not sourced from the Windows 7 disc.
Should that fail to mitigate the 0x124 problem, jump to the next steps.
If you run the "vanilla" installation long enough to convince yourself that not a single 0x124 crash has occurred, start installing updates and applications slowly, always pausing between successive additions long enough to get a feel for whether the machine is still free from 0x124 crashes.
Should the crashing resume, obviously the very last software addition(s) may be somehow linked to the root cause.
If stop 0x124 errors persist despite the steps above, and the harware is under warranty, consider returning it and requesting a replacement which does not suffer periodic MCE events.
Be aware that attempting the subsequent harware troubleshooting steps may, in some cases, void your warranty:

8) Clean and carefully remove any dust from the inside of the machine.
Reseat all connectors and memory modules.
Use a can of compressed air to clean out the RAM DIMM sockets as much as possible.

9) If all else fails, start removing items of hardware one-by-one in the hope that the culprit is something non-essential which can be removed.
Obviously, this type of testing is a lot easier if you've got access to equivalent components in order to perform swaps.

Should you find yourself in the situation of having performed all of the steps above without a resolution of the symptom, unfortunately the most likely reason is because the error message is literally correct - something is fundamentally wrong with the machine's hardware.

http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/35349-stop-0x124-what-means-what-try.html

 

[Netami]

Let me try answering to each of the points:

1) I said in my post that the only thing I tried was underclocking the graphic card other than that I did not move away from default values.

2) I tested multiple times multiple ways it does not overheat in any way.

3) I can update graphic drivers only all other components are old and there were no updates for ages .

4) My motherboard is also quite old and there was no new bios for quite some time but its updated to the latest one.

5) Windows Update list is pretty long im sure I did update some parts and its service pack 1 but beyond that im not sure ... ill try updating some things gonna see what happens.

6) I wrote in my post before that I stress tested my cpu gpu and ram and there are no bad sectors on my hdd's

7) Since the time I bought the new graphic card I made over 10 fresh installs it doesnt help and doesnt even change anything and whats the point to wait and see if I get a crash if it ONLY happens when playing 3d games games that dont use 3d whatsoever browsing watching movies does not cause this crash never ever =p

8) I clean my pc once a month atleast its quite dust free and the GPU got is dust proof barely anything gathers there =)

9) Unfortunately I cannot swap every part however as I stated in my post im pretty much sure its caused by the new graphic card cause it never happened with the old one.

Ehh seems like it really is a hardware problem... and because it started with the new GPU thats pretty much its fault I just didnt want to believe I could be 100% sure if there was another pc near where I could test the graphic card unfortunately there isnt. I really wanted to avoid sending it on warranty. Is there anything else I could do any other diagnostic tool that could shed some more light on the problem ? The stop 0x124 just means its a hardware error is there any way to pinpoint which part of the hardware it is ? I know I said im pretty sure its the graphic card its just I wanna be 100% sure before sending it away.

 

[writhziden]

I would say that swapping out the graphics card for the old one would be the only way to test, but if it overheats, that may not be viable. Since replacing the hardware, have you tried a clean install of Windows 7? It may be your old card's drivers are conflicting with the new card. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164

 

[Netami]

Ehhh... im back and yes with old graphic card i dont get the bsods however i just got back my graphic card from the warranty thingy and they said its okay i put it in play 10-15 min and crash ... so its obviously not the graphic card which leaves me with only one possibility too old motherboard. I fear thats the only reasonable explantion but I got nothing to back it up maybe anyone else knows if asus P5B-V mobo and gt 440 1gb work together or not according to specs and requirements it should but well you never know ... and lol no its not old cards drivers you know i said that the 'new' card is already like 8 months old and i changed drivers countless times many different version in that time.....
also no did few clean windows 7 installs and as i said before... it changes nothing and i cannot be bothered doing it again when the current install is quite fresh ~~

So once again its not the system its not the drivers its not the graphic card its not the PSU then WHAT IS IT ?! =( In my mind it seems only mobo can be at fault tho i pray not as i maybe could get new mobo but with that comes new cpu which i dont have money for...

 

[writhziden]

Given what you have ruled out, you are left with motherboard, cpu, or RAM. See no reason the motherboard would not work with that card unless the motherboard was faulty. To be sure, you could contact ASUS and see what their opinion is.

CPU can be tested with either

• Run http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100352-hardware-stress-test-prime95.html to determine any hardware problems. Run all three tests for a few hours each. If you get errors, stop the test and post back here (I see you ran Prime95 before, but if you did not follow these steps, they are recommended).
  
  
• Follow the steps for doing CPU stress test using IntelBurnTest

 

[Netami]

Ive ran both of those tests multiple times without any errors I wrote that already ~~

 

[writhziden]

You did not mention you had run IntelBurnTest. You also did not state how you ran Prime95, so I was not aware whether you had run all three tests. Before I suggest other things you have already done, what in the list in post #2 have you done?

 

[Netami]

Everything ? I already wrote what I did ... I know for sure theres nothing wrong with the graphic card but Im pretty much sure it causes some problem together with my motherboard cause I dont think its the drivers cause they worked fine with the old 8600 GTS ... What im thinking is that cause the gt440 doesnt take power via additional power cable but all from the PCI-E x16 slot could it be my motherboard model is too old to support enough power via PCI-E ? But if so someone would notice and told me thats its no good I even wrote what motherboard I use when i sent the gt440 for repair =(

 

[writhziden]

The only true way to tell whether it is the motherboard is to try the graphics card in another system with a different motherboard and power supply that can support it. The three most difficult pieces of hardware to debug are the motherboard, PSU, and CPU with the PSU and motherboard especially difficult since there are very few tests available for them. Unless you have an electrical background and know how to check traces on the motherboard and voltage/current on the PSU, the only method I know of to reliably test them is to swap them for another motherboard or PSU.

Do you know anyone with a desktop computer that can handle the gt440?

 

[Netami]

The only other pc I got is like 10 years old so it doesnt even have PCI-E x16 and all of my friends got laptops ... so no can do =( Ill keep trying and searching for some fixes ill post again if anything turns up thanks for all the help so far.

 

[writhziden]

No problem. Sorry we can't give a more definitive answer. 0x124 crashes are the most difficult to debug because they most often require having the system in front of us to check the hardware. We can only do so much through internet troubleshooting.

I would also hate to tell you it is one thing, have you go out and buy a new piece of hardware, and then find out it was not that piece of hardware at all.