New System: yay Blue Screen of Death: boo

Lefti

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Jul 15, 2008
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Hello all, I am experiencing problems with my new build.

OS: Windows Vista Business 64

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @Stock
MB: Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 @BIOS v. F4
RAM: OCZ Platinum DDR3 2 x 2GB
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD 4870X2 @Catalyst 8.8
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB
SOUND: Realtek Onboard audio

CPU Cooler: Zalman CPNS9700LED
Case: Lian-Li PC-A77

Things were working well for a little while. As far as i know I have the latest drivers for the MB and Graphics Card, but every so often i get the blue screen of death, sometimes just at the desktop, frequently when playing world of warcraft, not had any issues in the half life games yet, havent got to tyring more intensive games such as Crysis yet.

The Bluescreen errors generally result in restarts before i get much info from them

it always says something along the lines of "Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your hardware"

errors i have noticed so far are:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAN_EQUAL
SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION

Whats going wrong :( My CPU temps seem low enough, my GPU gets hot hot hot up to 86 degrees but thats normal with this card.

Any advice on how to resolve this issue would be very much appreciated
 

pbrigido

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The first thing I would do is reinstall the OS with only 2GB of ram installed. Once the installation is complete, pop the extra 2GB in.

What OS are you using? I am going to guess Vista 64bit by the sounds of the problem you are having.
 

Lefti

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Thanks for the replies guys, i forgot to post the PSU

PSU is a Zalman ZM-850HP 850w.

I am using Vista Business 64bit

I am reluctant to flash the bios, i did it once already and had issues. after updating the BIOS to F5 the system would not boot, in safe mode or normal, it just got to the windows load screen then bluescreened and restarted. I fixed this by resetting the BIOS to default and formatting the HDD then installing windows again. i might give it another go if it will solve the BSODs.

A driver issue seems more likely but being a new system i downloaded the most recent drivers for the graphics card, onboard sound, LAN controller and chipset. Did i miss something?

perhaps it is a memory issue? i downloaded memtest86 i will give that a try today.

What are the common causes of BSOD on a new system ?
 

andrewcc

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I had a similar issue when I got my new system. It worked fine until I replaced my monitor, then I started getting the IRQL-type errors. I futzed around with the whole blasted system for a week, and it turns out that all it wanted was for me to install the drivers that came with the new monitor (I didn't think they were serious when I got a software CD with the thing, Drivers? Monitor? WHY!?! *ignore*). I have no idea if it's applicable to your situation, but.....it's a thought, if you have a whole new setup.
 

Lefti

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Thanks for the help guys.

I left memtest86+ running overnight, came back it had stopped, "unexpected interrupt - halting". Sure enough there were errors, lots of red on screen.

I tested both modules at the same time, i guess the next step is to test them one at a time and then send one or both back to OCZ :(
 

pbrigido

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Argh, nothing like finding bad RAM. The good news is that just pull one out, RMA it, and run your system with a reducted amount of RAM. At least it isn't the mobo, HD, CPU, video card, or some other non-redundant part in your system that would make it inoperable until you got the replacement! :)