BSOD STOP 0xF4...

[dukee123]

I know there are a lot of 0xF4 discussions out there but i'm not finding anything that's helping...

Motherboard: Abit IP-35 Pro
CPU: C2Q Q6600 2.4Ghz
RAM: G-SKILL DDR2 2x2GB
System Disk: Crucial M4 SSD
HDDs: WD 2TB x 3
Graphics: EVGA GeForce 8600 GTS
Sound: HT Omega Claro
PSU: Antec 1000W
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
...

So, this is my HTPC and has been working just fine for months. Only surf internet and watch movies. After our power went out a few weeks ago (i think...), the computer has been having occasional BSODs. First, it was having an error:
0x116 (0x873o2510, 0x8CB3A6D2, 0x0, 0x2)

Then, went away...

Now, after the system has been on for an hour to several hours, it will freeze -- able to move the mouse, just cannot click on anything, all programs with spinning circles, cannot enter task manager, cannot access windows menu. Have to hard restart or wait a long time (over an hour) for it to BSOD with the following error:
0xF4 (0x3, 0x888BDD40, 0x888BDEAC, 0x81E61E10)

After restarting, it does not recognize my SSD on port 1 and therefore does not boot (boot disk failure...). A hard restart, and the system boots up fine. Then repeats over the course of the day.

I had a new set up RAM sticks around so i replaced the RAM, no difference. I'm getting a different graphics card to try out as the initial BSOD error related to graphics... I'm also going to try to update the SSD firmware as it is not recognized immediately after the BSOD restart...

Any thoughts? I'm pretty much a noobie, so be gentle and dumb things down a little, please

 

[cball1311]

After doing some research, I came across several occasions where the CMOS battery was the culprit to this stop error. I would try replacing this first, as it would be the least expensive fix.

 

[dukee123]

Thanks for the research...

Replaced battery, froze after about an hour.

Replaced the video card with a cheapo from a dell at work, froze about an hour later.

Any other thoughts at this point? It's turning this HTPC into a POS... very infuriating when trying to watch a movie! Thanks!

 

[cball1311]

It's hard to determine. You changed the RAM. You could try to use just one stick of RAM (very limited though with just 2GB) and then the other and see. It could also be an HDD drive failure. It's hard to tell without a memory dump of the BSOD. The memory dump will tell you exactly what the 4 parameters are in the 0xF4 error.