Random power downs - A fatal hardware error has occurred

Hi

Looking for any advise on this one please. For some time now my pc has been having random power offs when gaming, watching videos, logging into windows. Happened when checking email and loading safe mode once. Sometimes lasts for weeks before a power off. Its like a power cut, all power is gone, no rebooting, no BSOD and no warning. After the reboots I just get a windows has recovered from an unexpected shutdown, if it logs in without a power off. Event viewer has four entries of A fatal hardware error has occurred see below and attached minidump for today. I have found this weird temporary fix of reseating the GPU card and all PSU connectors may work for a short time. Then randomly it happens again. I am willing to provide any information you may want.

Things tried:
1a) ripped out all software 'nvidia' and reinstalled only latest drivers version 307.74
1b) ran prime95 for a few hours - ok
1) recently reinstalled windows 7 32bit on different HDD, - Rebooted on test windows index score before SP1 was installed, had not even gone online!
2) swapped PSU with known working one - no change.
3) reseated RAM and graphics card
4) Reset BIOS to factory
5) Ran with sides of case off and temperatures not showing abnormal - sometimes powers off on logon on a cold boot
6) have swapped the GPU for a low spec AGP card - all ok for 2 months now but cant do any gaming or intense video. And getting display driver stopped responding and has recovered messages but no power loss etc.

Spec:
Software: OS Windows 7 32bit
CPU: AMD Athlon FX53 (940)
RAM: 4GB in 1GB sticks all identical - Corsair 1GB DDR400 PC3200
GPU: Gainward BLISS 7800GS+ 512MB AGP
DVD: LG IDE DVDRW GSA-H42N
HDD: Maxtor Diamond Max 11 500gb SATA II
MB: MSI K8T Master 2 FAR MB AMD socket 940
PSU: Corsair TX850 850W

Thoughts:
I suspect the GPU card but with the event log stating AMD Northbridge I am not sure what it is. If the MB is on the way out I will buy a new system but if its just the GPU then happy to just get a new card. Any help very welcome.

Event viewer:

A fatal hardware error has occurred.

Reported by component: Processor Core

Error Source: Machine Check Exception

Error Type: Unknown Error

Processor ID: 0

The details view of this entry contains further information
- System
-
Provider
[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger
[ Guid] {C26C4F3C-3F66-4E99-8F8A-39405CFED220}
EventID 18
Version 0
Level 2
Task 0
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000000000000000
- TimeCreated
[ SystemTime] 2015-09-08T19:11:52.201171800Z
EventRecordID 27059831
- Correlation
[ ActivityID] {6BA66A9D-375F-4234-8D50-D0CCD9E7D442}
- Execution
[ ProcessID] 1788
[ ThreadID] 3908
Channel System
Computer SUPERPOWER53
- Security
[ UserID] S-1-5-19
- EventData
ErrorSource
3
ApicId 0
MCABank 0
MciStat 0xf65fe10000010388
MciAddr 0xa096bbaa8
MciMisc 0x0
ErrorType 256
TransactionType 256
Participation 256
RequestType 256
MemorIO 256
MemHierarchyLvl 256
Timeout 256
OperationType 256
Channel 256
Length 864
RawData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

2nd error:

A fatal hardware error has occurred.

Reported by component: Processor Core

Error Source: Machine Check Exception

Error Type: Unknown Error

Processor ID: 0

The details view of this entry contains further information

- System
-
Provider
[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger
[ Guid] {C26C4F3C-3F66-4E99-8F8A-39405CFED220}
EventID 18
Version 0
Level 2
Task 0
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000000000000000
- TimeCreated
[ SystemTime] 2015-09-08T19:11:55.168945300Z
EventRecordID 27059832
- Correlation
[ ActivityID] {118E889D-EF3E-478F-BA56-655203A3EB3B}
- Execution
[ ProcessID] 1788
[ ThreadID] 1800
Channel System
Computer SUPERPOWER53
- Security
[ UserID] S-1-5-19
- EventData
ErrorSource
3
ApicId 0
MCABank 1
MciStat 0xff75ffd34fe0dbd1
MciAddr 0x3dfffdcd2410cc07
MciMisc 0x0
ErrorType 256
TransactionType 256
Participation 256
RequestType 256
MemorIO 256
MemHierarchyLvl 256
Timeout 256
OperationType 256
Channel 256
Length 864
RawData 435045521002FFFFFFFF0300010000000200000060030000310A130008090F140000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000BDC407CF89B7184EB3C41F732CB57131FE6FF5E89C91C54CBA8865ABE14913BBC6ED3D0C6AEAD00102000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000058010000C00000000102000001000000ADCC7698B447DB4BB65E16F193C4F3DB0000000000000000000000000000000001000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000018020000400000000102000000000000B0A03EDC44A19747B95B53FA242B6E1D0000000000000000000000000000000001000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000058020000080100000102000000000000011D1E8AF94257459C33565E5CC3F7E800000000000000000000000000000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000570100000000000000000000000000005A0F000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000030000000000000000000000000000005A0F00000008000000000000FFFB8B0700000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000100000002000000F07AA1126AEAD001000000000000000000000000000000000000000001000000D1DBE04FD3FF75FF07CC1024CDFDFF3D00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

3rd error:

A fatal hardware error has occurred.

Reported by component: Processor Core

Error Source: Machine Check Exception

Error Type: Unknown Error

Processor ID: 0

The details view of this entry contains further information.
- System
-
Provider
[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger
[ Guid] {C26C4F3C-3F66-4E99-8F8A-39405CFED220}
EventID 18
Version 0
Level 2
Task 0
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000000000000000
- TimeCreated
[ SystemTime] 2015-09-08T19:11:56.794921800Z
EventRecordID 27059834
- Correlation
[ ActivityID] {455617D7-EDFB-41F8-AD56-74C94876A1C2}
- Execution
[ ProcessID] 1788
[ ThreadID] 3684
Channel System
Computer SUPERPOWER53
- Security
[ UserID] S-1-5-19
- EventData
ErrorSource
3
ApicId 0
MCABank 3
MciStat 0xf60000000000729f
MciAddr 0xffd87fffff
MciMisc 0x0
ErrorType 256
TransactionType 256
Participation 256
RequestType 256
MemorIO 256
MemHierarchyLvl 256
Timeout 256
OperationType 256
Channel 256
Length 864
RawData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

4th error:

A fatal hardware error has occurred.

Component: AMD Northbridge

Error Source: Machine Check Exception

Error Type: HyperTransport Watchdog Timeout Error

Processor ID: 0

The details view of this entry contains further information.
- System
-
Provider
[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger
[ Guid] {C26C4F3C-3F66-4E99-8F8A-39405CFED220}
EventID 20
Version 0
Level 2
Task 0
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000000000000000
- TimeCreated
[ SystemTime] 2015-09-08T19:11:56.802734300Z
EventRecordID 27059835
- Correlation
[ ActivityID] {6CDD69EE-F60C-41E1-BB07-F4744B4CFB0D}
- Execution
[ ProcessID] 1788
[ ThreadID] 2256
Channel System
Computer SUPERPOWER53
- Security
[ UserID] S-1-5-19
- EventData
ErrorSource
3
ApicId 0
MCABank 4
MciStat 0xf611203148070c63
MciAddr 0x78400838
MciMisc 0x0
ErrorType 7
Length 928
RawData 435045521002FFFFFFFF03000100000002000000A0030000310A130008090F140000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000BDC407CF89B7184EB3C41F732CB57131FE6FF5E89C91C54CBA8865ABE14913BBC9ED3D0C6AEAD00102000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000058010000C00000000102000001000000ADCC7698B447DB4BB65E16F193C4F3DB0000000000000000000000000000000001000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000018020000800000000102000000000000B0A03EDC44A19747B95B53FA242B6E1D0000000000000000000000000000000001000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000098020000080100000102000000000000011D1E8AF94257459C33565E5CC3F7E8000000000000000000000000000000000100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000007F0100000000000000000400000300005A0F000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000070000000000000000000000000000005A0F00000008000000000000FFFB8B070000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000B3F8F31CB1C5A249AA595EEF92FFA63C03000000000000009E07D8A60000000038084078000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000100000002000000F07AA1126AEAD001000000000000000000000000000000000000000004000000630C0748312011F6380840780000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
 

Attachments

  • 090815-35437-01.zip
    11.6 KB · Views: 1
"AMD Northbridge" is a chip (Integrated) on the motherboard. The minidump points to nothing specific. You can try cleaning off the old CPU thermal paste and apply new paste. I imagine that this PC is getting a bit old now
 
Thank you for your reply, I had over looked this. Really appreciate your reply.

Out of coincidence I recently arcticsilvered the graphics card and the temperatures dropped by 10 degrees! When it happens next I am doing the cpu and northbridge.
 
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