Getting blue screen for unknown reason - tried everything I can

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Helpplease0

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Mar 2, 2015
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I believe the problem I have lies with one of the components so have posted it here, if you think it would be better suited to a different section then I apologise, but please let me know.

I have a home built PC running windows 7 (full specs listed at the end) which is about 2.5 years old. Recently I have had a problem that I get the blue screen of death on a reasonably regular basis. Typically it crashes when loading a new tab or while streaming, first the tab has trouble loading, the circle spins for a while, then the browser says not responding before everything I have open crashes and my PC freezes before it goes to a blue screen. The blue screen says it is writing a crash dump, but when I run WhoCrashed afterwards it says that nothing is there. This is not the only way it crashes but just the most common reason, it also does the same when playing a game for example.

There seems to be no particular trigger for the problem and sometimes it doesn't happen at all in a session, for example if I'm playing a game it has happened within 5 minutes, after several hours, and not at all. Additionally sometimes it recovers from a freeze and functions normally for a while, but when this happens another freeze and normally a blue screen follows not to long after. This isn't a problem that has been slowly building, it has happened suddenly and I had no issues beforehand.

I have tried most fixes I have found but they haven't helped. I have done a full virus scan, checked for updated drivers, reinstalled windows, done a full dskchk and done the windows memory test (the one that checks for problems with RAM).

Any help or advice would be really appreciated, this problem is really frustrating as I don't know exactly where the problem lies.

PC specs:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965
GPU: 1GB XFX Radeon HD 7770 DD Core
RAM: 8GB Corsair DDR3
Hard drive: 1TB Seagate ST1000DM003
Power supply: 700W Storm Silent LPK19-35
Motherboard: Asus M5A97
OS: windows 7 64
 
Solution
G
I suggest you try a better PSU. With a 4 pin +12V and only one 6 pin Pci-e, that PSU certainly can't deliver 700W. The fact it can be bought for £16.52 including VAT is a clear indication it's poor quality.
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Helpplease0

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Mar 2, 2015
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Thank you very much for the advice. What should I be looking for in a replacement PSU, are there any you could recommend based on my other components? Or if not then perhaps a price range I should be looking at. I had a look at the PSU tier list on this forum but I'm not sure what would be a useful one to settle on based on my other components (I'm guessing tier 3 would be suitable).

Also, is changing the PSU likely to specifically fix my problem or was it just something you recommended as something I needed to change regardless of my problem? (not that I won't replace it, but just wondering if I should still be looking for how to fix the problem).

Finally, are there any other of my components that look particularly poor quality compared to the others?

Apologies for bombarding you with further questions, answers to any of my questions would be really appreciated.
 
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GhislainG

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Jul 16, 2008
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Where will you buy a new PSU? The PSU is the most important component in your system; a poor quality PSU can lead to lots of issues and blown components if it fails.

I can't tell you that replacing the PSU definitely will resolve the issue, but that would be my first step simply because it's the only crappy component in that system. The PSU list is good, but not all Tier three PSUs are equal in quality and a better PSU can often be bought at the same price.

What is the bugcheck error?
 
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Helpplease0

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Mar 2, 2015
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I would be buying it from scan probably. I would be looking to spend around £60, and preferably less, but obviously that depends on what would be a suitable purchase (I've heard good things about the XFX pro 550W, do you think this sort of PSU would be suitable for me?)

Where there is normally the code at the top of the blue screen it says "a process or thread crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exited or been terminated". At the bottom it says STOP: 0x000000F4 followed by a few longer codes in brackets.

The more I read about faulty PSUs causing problems the more I see the same problems I have, so it seems likely this is the issue.

 
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johnbl

Polypheme
Nov 4, 2012
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if you are getting a bugcheck 0xf4
run malwarebytes,
run cmd.exe as an admin, run sfc.exe /scannow
confirm no files are corrupted and not fixed

I would focus on why you are not getting a memory dump:

----------------
- if you have not done so yet, update the chipset drivers from your motherboard vendor site. Update any SATA controller driver. (raid driver if you are using raid)

google "how to force a memory dump with a keyboard" set the registry keys and make a memory dump.
This will confirm your system is set correctly to make one.

If you can make a memory dump via the keyboard but not when the system buchecks. It will mean that the failure is in the disk subsystem. Many things can cause this: check the cable connection from the hard drive to the power supply, check the data cable from the motherboard to the hard drive. Sometimes you can have a poor connection that will connect and disconnect several times a second with thermal contraction of the connection.

-if your system has two SATA controllers, move the data connection to the primary controller or update the drivers for both the CPU chipset and any secondary SATA controllers.

- if your system has a BIOS setting for the SATA port that allows hotswap, turn it on. If the drive disconnects for any reason, th hotswap will allow it to reconnect.
 
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