PC freezes for ~20sec & restarts, noticed while browsing firefox

[Cheetah]

It happens randomly. It happened more when I browsed the web with Firefox, and now it happened the 1st time on Chrome too...
Already checked the RAM with MemTest for DOS overnight (OK)
Stress tested the GPU for 5 minutes at 100C with no artifacts (OK)
Had few bad blocks on my Seagate HDD but fixed it with the Seagate tools for dos (OK !? )
Tested the CPU with Prime95 (OK)
Everything inside the case is clean of dust and all cards have been re-seated after contacts cleaning.
I also formated and re-installed windows 7 and updated all the drivers.

Here is the error details according to WhoCrashed:

This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x4ADE0C)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8004BFA038, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

I'm also uploading the required ZIP file.
Any thoughts??

 

[x BlueRobot]

Please follow -

There seems to be a problem with your Windows installation. Please follow the http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-...ne-activation-issue-posting-instructions.html. Post the results in your next post; do not start a new thread.

 

[VistaKing]

Cheetah

Your Product key is from an OEM Asus while your Motherboard is a Retail version. You would need purchase a legit version of Windows .

 

[Cheetah]

That's weird.
I have a ligit copy from MSDN... Are you sure that this problem is because of this issue?

 

[VistaKing]

Are you an MSDN subscriber ? Those keys aren't for sale .

 

[Cheetah]

I'm registered to the MSDN through my faculty. so yes, i shouldn't buy a key. but now I see that maybe i installed the wrong version of windows.

 

[VistaKing]

You used an OEM key which doesn't come with MSDN subscription . slicha

 

[Cheetah]

I think i'll need to reinstall windows to the version I got from MSDN (professional) which I do have a key for.
Anyway, the error reports something involved with Processor Core, so is it a CPU problem after all?

 

[VistaKing]

Bsod 124 is hardware related. How log did you test your CPU using Prime ? Test your RAM as well using memtest86+

:ar: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html

 

[Cheetah]

I will run the prime95 again overnight.. i ran it for 10 passes only.

 

[VistaKing]

Memtest is another over night test . If you see any red lines on the bottom . Stop the test and test each ram one at a time on every DIMM slot . If you're using Dual Channel memory and still under warranty with the memory manufacture . RMA both of the sticks even if one of them turns out good . If your warranty expired on the memory sticks purchase a new Dual Channel Kit .

 

[Cheetah]

Well, after running the Prime95 overnight = no errors (OK).
I also ran from this morning till now (~8.5 hrs and 9 passes) memtest86+ v.4.2, again without errors (OK).
The Furmark gave me a constant temp of about 99-100C (leveled out) after around 3-5 minutes without any artifacts (OK).
My only thought right now is that maybe the HDD is the cause of all these crashes !? (because the seatools software found several bad blocks on the system partition and repaired them).

 

[VistaKing]

Try this Seagate for Dos

:ar: SeaTools for DOS | Seagate

:ar: How to burn an .iso image onto a CD

 

[Cheetah]

I will run this test again, although I already ran in a week ago.
After it fixed the errors it found, I ran another pass to verify everything is ok and it did turn out to be OK.
The only thing that can be bad in here is the mobo itself, but I can't really test it or replace it for the sake of a test...
So I don't really know what's the reason for these BSODs.

 

[Cheetah]

Well, Ran the Seatools DOS - Long Test.. Checked out OK.
Now what?? This is frustrating!

 

[VistaKing]

Try updating your BIOS from 2208 to 2209 then run Prime95 again.

 

[Cheetah]

Well, new BIOS updated, Prime95 checked OK.

 

[VistaKing]

Keep this thread opened if you get anymore blue screens upload the dmp file .

 

[Cheetah]

OK,
Installed new Samsung SSD and reinstalled windows (this time the right/legit PRO version.. )
For the time being, while using both the new SSD and the old faulty HDD, I encountered only one crash with the same characteristics (BSOD 124).
I disabled the old SYSTEM partition and left only the other two DATA partitions and my system is stable for now. I'll update this thread again after running this setup for a while.

 

[Cheetah]

Well, after couple of days I had the same "restart" with the BSOD 124.
Now I can no longer blame the HDD as it was disconnected.
so.. If indeed my:
CPU passed the Prime95 test
RAM passed the MemTest
GPU passed the Furmark test
New SSD with a new Legit copy of Win 7 Pro with all updates installed
.... Does it say I have a MOBO malfunction and should buy a new PC ??