yet another OC-related discussion thread

[dazinger92]

Hello,

So, I have the following system specs:

ASUS Maximus VI HERO
i5 4670k haswell CPU (OC to 4.2 GHz)
4x4GB Ripjaws X DDR3-1600 memory (no OC)
Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series (250GB, with Windows 8.1 installed on this SSD)
Samsung SSD 840 EVO (750GB)
1TB HDD from my old build
GTX 780 (no OC)

So here's the issue. I got this build overclocked in January. I had basically done your basic overclocking by stepping up the VCore in small increments until I got it stable. And it was stable for several months...

That is, until June 7th, when I got my first BSOD.

They were all MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION errors, so from looking online I figured that just mean I had to step up the VCore a little bit, right?

Wrong! Every once in a while, I would get this BSOD for CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT, but every time that BSOD occurred, usually the percentage bar stops before it hits 100% and the crash dump is never made. So, I stepped it up to a point where I ended up getting almost completely all CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT crashes.

So, I have my voltage set to 1.387v (it used to be like, 1.375v or so but it's stepped up a bit since then).

WhoCrashed is terrible for determining the exact cause of a BSOD, but it's great for summarizing it.

Spoiler

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Welcome to WhoCrashed (HOME EDITION) v 5.01
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This program checks for drivers which have been crashing your computer. If your computer has displayed a blue screen of death, suddenly rebooted or shut down then this program will help you find the root cause and possibly a solution.

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This program will analyze your crash dumps with the single click of a button. It will tell you what drivers are likely to be responsible for crashing your computer. It will report a conclusion which offers suggestions on how to proceed in any situation while the analysis report will display internet links which will help you further troubleshoot any detected problems.

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Just click the Analyze button for a comprehensible report ...



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System Information (local)
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computer name: TYLER-PC
windows version: Windows 8.1 , 6.2, build: 9200
windows dir: C:\WINDOWS
Hardware: All Series, ASUS, ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC., MAXIMUS VI HERO
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4670K CPU @ 3.40GHz Intel586, level: 6
4 logical processors, active mask: 15
RAM: 17113436160 total
VM: 2147352576, free: 1917808640




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Crash Dump Analysis
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Crash dump directory: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.

On Tue 7/1/2014 2:02:30 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: Unknown (0xFFFFD0002D378180)
Bugcheck code: 0x101 (0x30, 0x0, 0xFFFFD0002D378180, 0x2)
Error: CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT
Bug check description: This indicates that an expected clock interrupt on a secondary processor, in a multi-processor system, was not received within the allocated interval.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error.
Google query: CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT



On Mon 6/30/2014 5:22:25 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\063014-11796-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x37731)
Bugcheck code: 0x9C (0x0, 0xFFFFF80133DBCBA0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal machine check exception has occurred.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Sat 6/28/2014 5:15:59 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\062814-11343-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x37731)
Bugcheck code: 0x9C (0x0, 0xFFFFD001AFB81E60, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal machine check exception has occurred.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Mon 6/23/2014 11:00:51 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\062314-12375-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x37731)
Bugcheck code: 0x9C (0x0, 0xFFFFF80305DBCBA0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal machine check exception has occurred.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Tue 6/10/2014 5:32:15 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\061014-11640-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x37731)
Bugcheck code: 0x9C (0x0, 0xFFFFF801D6DB1BA0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal machine check exception has occurred.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Sat 6/7/2014 8:35:39 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\060714-11718-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x37731)
Bugcheck code: 0x9C (0x0, 0xFFFFF80348DBBBA0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal machine check exception has occurred.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Tue 5/13/2014 1:44:07 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\051314-13390-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x156E36)
Bugcheck code: 0x9F (0x4, 0x12C, 0xFFFFE00179C59040, 0xFFFFF803856B0950)
Error: DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
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 the driver is in an inconsistent or invalid power state.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.



On Sat 1/18/2014 8:28:43 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\011814-10921-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x36211)
Bugcheck code: 0x9C (0x0, 0xFFFFF8038CF48BA0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal machine check exception has occurred.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Sat 1/18/2014 8:19:53 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\011814-11906-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x35CDF)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFE00003197028, 0xBF800000, 0x124)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
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 a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Sat 1/18/2014 7:14:36 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\011814-10937-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x35CDF)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFE00001FDA028, 0xFF800000, 0x114)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
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 a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.




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Conclusion
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22 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. Only 10 are included in this report.
Read the topic general suggestions for troubleshooting system crashes for more information.

Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is actually responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further.

So, the ones in January are WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR, which are from not having enough voltage (from testing in prime95 and such). Anyways, the only reason I knew I was getting close to the right voltage was because after stepping it up for a while in January I got the MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION BSOD instead and I stepped up the voltage a little more and it stayed stable until this month.

The one from May, IIRC, is basically from accidentally going back in from sleep mode, and I think it was a separate thing that I must have fixed since there are no other BSODs in that month.

So, yeah. Basically I don't know what to do with my CPU. It's at 1.387v for now and I don't know if that will be stable. The only time it crashes is when I'm playing any games for a long period of time.

 

[dazinger92]

Oh, and here's the question I would like answered:

I haven't found out the "new sweet spot" for the voltage since it started going haywire this month. I have tried as high as 1.415v to no avail, and I feel like going higher than that would be bad and unnecessary.

Do you have to "tweak" your voltage every 5 or so months with an OC'ed build? Or is it meant to stay stable for years? I have no experience with Overclocking before this build, and I've had a plethora of problems on this build already from a crappy motherboard (sniper m5) and forgetting to get a new PSU with the new build (which are both fixed) and so I just really want this problem to go away.

I probably should have done a better job at figuring out what the voltage was before I started making tweaks and such. I tried 1.387v and it didn't work so I went down to 1.380v, and the only thing I can hope for is that I can get it back to a point where it doesn't BSOD in the middle of my games.

Thanks a bunch,
dazinger92

 

[tiny voices]

Moved to Overclocking sub-forum for better results.

 

[dazinger92]

Okay, I think I figured it out!

Nevermind all the issues with stability - I found out the problem I think and I'm pretty pleased to say that I have solved the mystery behind all the strange errors and symptoms. Literally all I had to do was increase the voltage above 1.4v which isn't all that bad actually.

However, I would still like to have one question answered. Do you *have* to tweak your voltage every once in a while? Or do you think it might have been that my voltage was "wrong" the entire time? Perhaps I could have use LLC to combat the problem beforehand?

 

[dazinger92]

Hey,

I know it's been almost three weeks since I posted this thread, but I do have an update for this thread. Basically, my 4.2 GHz overclock became unstable "again" after a while. Well, actually not necessary that; I played plenty of GTA IV for when I had gotten my OC stable, but then I bought CS:GO and gave it a whirl, but after a while I started getting those BSODs again. I am guessing that the game itself is a pretty CPU-intensive game, seeing as most of the time it would actually go to 70-100% load.

I got to the point where I couldn't increase my voltage any higher or else my CPU would throttle (ever so slightly, but still the same) and if I set it any lower, it would not be stable under stress testing. So, I turned it down to 4.1 GHz, then 4.0 GHz and at that point I found I am getting stable stress testing even at the 1.355v-1.4v range, which is ridiculous considering that was when my 4.2 GHz was before it started becoming unstable again.

I am not quite sure why, but it just seems rather strange. After just 6 months of using this computer, it feels like either my CPU is degrading rather fast.

This is my very first overclock that I have tried or done, so maybe someone else has a similar experience with their overclock and it is quite normal. My only take on it is that overclocking is like a gamble in that you are basically trying to get the most 'juice' out of your CPU whilst still getting the most time from it. Related to this incident, I would possibly think that I performed all the steps of overclocking correctly and there is nothing I could have done, but I do think that maybe if I had tried 4.0 GHz to begin with, I could have had a stable system for much longer.

EDIT: Okay, I decreased in .005v increments, think I got it stable at 1.3v (or 1.305v, about to find out.) Runs about 10-15c cooler than before. Seems to be pushing it to the max as of right now.

Also, apparently I like talking to myself when I am thinking deeply about something, and I find my computer to be the most expensive object in my room right now. Hopefully that doesn't make me look crazy