Random Crashes on Win 7 64bit

[Dirtynator]

Greetings. Yesterday I bought a new system.

CPU: Intel I7 860
MB: Gigabyte P55A-UD4
GPU: PCI-EX Sapphire Vapor X 5770 1GB
RAM: 2x2GB Corsair TW3X4G1333C9A
HD: WD Caviar Black 1TB SATAII
PSU: ZALMAN ZM600-HP 600Watt

After installing Win 7 64bit the first thing I installed was drivers for the Ethernet adapter in order to get online and get the latest drivers for the rest of the system devices. However I checked for system updates first, in order to have windows find the rest of the devices and install the drivers automatically for them. During the installation of an update the system crashed and tried to reboot. The reboot failed and the system crashed again. On next reboot I tried logging in Safe Mode. No luck. The system crashed again. I run the memtest that is included in windows but no error was found. With no other option I logged in through the recovery console and restored the system to a previous restore point before the updates were installed. After that the system started normally. I installed the rest of the drivers, latest version of Direct X and everything seemed to be ok. Untill I started getting BSOD. Total of 3 times in about 4 hours of being on. There was no set pattern on them to suspect anything in particular. In all 3 cases a memory dump was created. Currently the only applications installed on this system are Vuze-Azureus, Mozilla Firefox, Zipgenius, ESET NOD32 AV and the Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP) for video rendering as well as the drivers and applications that come with the MB for the system and the GPU. No games or anything else. (Even WoW was started through an old folder without being installed.)
To avoid any misunderstandings I will say that both Windows 7 and the rest of the installed applications are original.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nickle]

Don't use windows update versions of drivers they may not be current. You should use the download center to get driver updates. Did you receive a disk with the drivers on?

 

[Dirtynator]

What you say is indeed true. Normally I am not using windows update for drivers. However after the first installation of Windows I prefer to have them install whatever certified drivers there are available in order to get a solid start and then I am trying to upgrade to the latest versions. The reason for that is that I can use a restore point at a fully operational state in case something gets really messy like it did here after the first crash. At least this is what I have always been doing after a format and a fresh OS installation.
Either way in this case I did use the disk that came with the MB after the first crash and unavoidable system restore. Still the BSOD did appear afterwards.

 

[nickle]

I would not use windows update for driver updates.

The proper way is to install the operating sytem. Once the operating system is installed run the driver update software from the disk. Then use the dowload center or the Gigabyte website to install the most current drivers and bios. Until you do this you are at risk of continuing bsods.

Drivers that are on the windows update site are not certified and are usually older versions which will bsod your system. Drivers on the Gigabyte site are the most current available.

Why cause yourself more problems than need be?

 

[Dirtynator]

Small update. I used memtest 86 to check memory dims. On first check 16 errors were reported... Thinking it was a memory module failure I remove one of them and run test again for 5 passes... no errors...
I replace it with the other module and run another 5 passes... no errors again...
So I put both of them again and run test. 14 errors on first pass....
Go figure....
Could it be something wrong with the MB/Bios or having insufficient power delivered to them? My PSU is supposed to be a good one and well above what the power calculators indicate as necessary. Also the system is brand new. It is not even a week in my hands.
I should probably add that I haven't tried anything related to overclocking. Everything is set at the default values in BIOS.

 

[nickle]

Sounds like you have a bad slot on the motherboard. You have 4 slots and two memory modules. Put the modules in the two slots that you were not using before.

Keep in mind that to take advantage of dual channel architecture, the modules must be in the slots of the same color (i.e. 1 and 3 or 2 and 4). If you were using 1 and 3 before than use 2 and 4 now or vice versa.

FWIW your dumps were showing driver errors not memory errors but it makes no sense to analyze the dump if you are not getting the drivers from the right place. Windows update is not the place to get the most current drivers for your system.

You should get all of the drivers from the manufacturer of the equipment. Do you think that Microsoft tests the drivers as much as the manufacturer does? I think not.

 

[rachit2588]

this might help http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/136779-help-random-freeze-my-win7-64bit.html

 

[Golden]

However after the first installation of Windows I prefer to have them install whatever certified drivers there are available in order to get a solid start and then I am trying to upgrade to the latest versions.

This is a perfectly acceptable practice to get started - certified Microsoft drivers receive far more research than we appreciate, and in my opinion very rarely do they result in BSOD's.

I recommend following this tutorial so someone can offer a more in depth analysis of your problem:

http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

Regards,
Golden