New PC problems - BSOD every day...please help :( Minidumps attached

[TheRed]

Hello everyone,

First of all, I am new here to MSFN.org and was recommended by a friend to post my new PC problems here as there are lots of PC experts that could help me pinpoint the cause of the problem.

This new PC was built only 1 week ago, and everyday during the week, I've encountered at least 1 BSOD. There was even a day when there were constant and repetitive BSODs, and it was coincidently when I enabled "ATI LCD Overdrive" and until I disabled it, the problem seems to stop for the day--but continues for the next day, albeit only once and not constant/repetitive. I am not sure if its the video card, the ATI drivers, or something else.

Today, I noticed that even though I started up StarCraft II, my CPU load was only 1-3% and my GPU load was oddly 0%, even though it get to Bnet and Campaign screen. Then SCII crashes and reports corruption when loading campaign. Then 1 or 2 minutes after that, BSOD comes up. I used CPUID Hardware Monitor for the values--and load values from Windows for the CPU seems to compliment this. How come the values reporting was off? Could it be the Motherboard?

It was not just playing games that BSOD comes up, it was when doing basic browsing/email/office too--So I'm not sure if its entirely a problem that is related to gaming or a problem in general.

My PC Specs are:

Mainboard : BIOSTAR Group A770E3

Chipset : AMD RD770

Processor : AMD Athlon II X4 635 @ 2900MHz

Physical Memory : 4096MB (2 x 2048 DDR3-SDRAM )

Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series (5770)

Hard Disk : Western Digital WD10EALS-00Z8A0 ATA Device (1000GB)

DVD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4167B

Monitor Type : P244W - 24 inches

Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

Operating System : Windows 7 Ultimate Professional Media Center 6.01.7600 (64-bit)

DirectX : Version 11.00

Anyhow, the Minidumps is here: http://www.mediafire.com/?nmqxc8w21l6ka12

I have used WinDbg but they mostly says its caused by "ntfs.sys" or "ntoskrnl.exe", but I don't know how to analyze these Minidumps. I'd greatly appreciate if you could help me analyze these Minidumps and what could be the cause of these BSOD problems?

Thank you very much for your help!!

Edited September 12, 2010 by TheRed

[gamehead200]

Welcome to MSFN! We can definitely help you out. First off, the minidump won't be of much help, so I'd suggesting creating a full memory dump if the BSOD ever happens again (instructions here: ). This will help us further analyze the cause of the problem.

[puntoMX]

Welcome to the Forums.

Sounds like you have a not well cooled CPU or RAM that doesn't work as it should. How do you keep the CPU and other components cooled? Any pictures? RAM is easy to test with MEMtest x86 that you can download for free and install on a USB stick. But first, check the CPU cooler contact with the CPU.

[TheRed]

Welcome to MSFN! We can definitely help you out. First off, the minidump won't be of much help, so I'd suggesting creating a full memory dump if the BSOD ever happens again (instructions here: ). This will help us further analyze the cause of the problem.

Welcome to the Forums.

Sounds like you have a not well cooled CPU or RAM that doesn't work as it should. How do you keep the CPU and other components cooled? Any pictures? RAM is easy to test with MEMtest x86 that you can download for free and install on a USB stick. But first, check the CPU cooler contact with the CPU.

Hey, Thanks for the welcome!!

My CPU runs pretty cool--around 40-45*C when normal operation, and max 55*C when playing games and high demand stuff. I will try the Full Dump and the MEMtest as well. Will get back with results asap. But from the Minidumps, have you guys found out about anything or was the data too limited?

Another funny thing just happened--I shut down my computer into Hibernation last night, and in the morning after I go, it automatically turn on, and goes on to blue screen--even though power was completely off! It was on and freezes with no video output--just black screen--when I got home and after 12 hours freezing like that. What's going on ?

[engmod]

Don't use hibernation for the moment, wait till we have finished with the BSOD's.

[Tripredacus]

But from the Minidumps, have you guys found out about anything or was the data too limited?

Minidumps are typically useless for determining the root cause of an BSOD for troubleshooting purposes. This is why we always ask for the full dump. Minidumps are typically used for metrics and usually only have almost the same info you can find in Event Viewer.

[ryanbenjamin]

I think hibernation will remove the error.

[Zxian]

I was having similar troubles recently after waking my system from sleep or hibernation. Loading StarCraftII or World of Warcraft would usually result in a lockup, followed by a BSOD pointing at the ATI drivers. I'm not sure if ATI's latest drivers are playing nicely with that feature on the latest cards.

See if the trouble continues after you stop using sleep/hibernate for a while. Furthermore, run a CHKDSK on your system drive. If, for some reason, the system files became corrupt, it could cause instability like this.