Motherboard issue?

[andriejek]

Hi guys,

I've recently builded up a new computer and i have one really annoying issue. Win 7 x64 simply just freezes randomly. No matter if I left PC for night to download stuff, if i play for hour it will suddenly freeze. After PC freezes i hit restart button and then for a second i get BSOD with STOP 0x00000124 and PC powers down.

I've already tried everything:
- Did OCCT perestroika test for CPU, GPU and PSU it all went well;
- Did memory test and all went well;
- Bought new HDD and it doesn't have any errors;
- Upgraded both main and backup BIOS to latest possible version;

I really don't know what to do? Is the Mobo damaged?

__________________
My PC configuration is:
- CPU: i5 3570k (22nm ivy bridg) LGA 1155
- GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 470;
- PSU: Zalman ZM-600GT;
- RAM: 2x4098 DDR III Kingston Hyper X Predator Series XMP, Non-Ecc
- HDD: SEAGATE ST2000DM001 2TB;

 

[ajchavez91]

It'd help a lot if you tell us what motherboard you have first.

Have you checked temperatures? is the heatsink correctly installed? Maybe you put too much thermal paste? Maybe a bad driver? For how long did you do the OCCT test? Is your processor overclocked? maybe the OC is unstable and 'causing those issues. If it is OC'd, have you tried stock speeds and voltages and see if the issue happens again?

You should take a picture of the BSOD with a camera and upload it to imgur or any other place and post it here to see the complete error. It could hardware related as much as it can be driver related. Too many variables to consider with just the STOP 0x00000124 error code.

If you wanna check the temperatures, you can use software like RealTemp or HWinfo to monitor them while you're playing a game or while the pc is just downloading something. i have the non "k" version of your processor and the tjmax is 105C degrees.

 

[djosbun]

Have you looked in the Event Viewer, to see what messages are appearing? I bet there is something listed there that should steer you in the right direction.

And follow what ajchavez91 said above, too.

 

[andriejek]

I have a gigabyte-ga-z68ap-d3;

I've checked heatsink, thermal paste and stuff and it's ok.
temperatures are not bigger than 90 degrees both on cpu and gpu;

I haven't overclocked my pc, settings are fail-safe;

OCCT test was for 1,5 hour;

I don't think it's drivers issues cause it happend even on clean W7 x64 instalation;

 

[ajchavez91]

You still haven't given us the BSOD picture to check it. Have you experienced more freezes or BSOD's?

90 degrees on the cpu and gpu are not good... you get those temps while doing a stress test only or you get them (or close to them) also when gaming?

Even though, stability can't be exactly an issue 'cause you're at stock settings... it might be a faulty motherboard but that can be really hard to tell... i'd say you change the mobo and see what happens, make use of the guarantee if you still can.

 

[andriejek]

So much degrees is only when playing highest details in game.

I've noticed one thing i have moved my GPU into PCI-e 4x and pc was working very good for more than 24 hours, and when i've moved GPU back to PCI-e 16x (default config. from beginning) my pc freezed after an hour of working.

 

[ajchavez91]

hmmm, well, those temps are still a bit high even with highest details in games... Not even the most demanding emulated games make my processor get that high, you should consider an aftermarket cooler for the processor (a hyper 212 EVO would do the job).

anyway, that sounds like a faulty PCI-e 16x slot... if your motherboard still has guarantee, make use of it and change it for a new one. you CAN keep the card on that slot, but you shouldn't; the downside of having the graphics on the x4 slot is that the graphics card will not work at it's 100%, so you won't get the same performance if you keep it at that slot.

 

[andriejek]

Ok i'm gathering money for new cooler so this thing will have to wait a little.

Anyway i've read somewhere that one dude had same problem with my mobo. I mean that he tried same thing with switching GPU into pcie 4x and back to 16x pcie and it worked for him.

Solution was that he gave back his Radeon to shop and got a new one. New Radeon in pcie 16x was not making any errors. Should i consider GPU might be damaged as well?

 

[ajchavez91]

hmmm... i don't know about that... you could always try. It MIGHT be the card but it's really weird because it works fine on a pci-e x4 slot, but when it's put on a pci-e x16 slot, makes the system crash, that's weird.

Try getting a replacement, put it in the x16 slot and start testing or using the pc for gaming, browsing, downloading, etc. like normal. If it still crashes, then... wel... my best guess is that the culprit is the motherboard.

Good luck!