Repeatedly BSOD on Vista Ultimate, error 0x07

[JohnCanoes]

Hi,

I'm experiencing a very annoying bsod repeatedly....
No specific HW was changed when this started occuring..

Ran memtest, SpeedFan, ....getting desperate..
Memtest reported everything OK
Speedfan: GPU not above 60 C (Geforce 8800 GT)
Speedfan: CPU's not above 50 C

Very hard to have a reproducable scenario, occurs sometimes after a few min's, sometimes after hours...

Attached minidump-files and hope that someone has the knowledge to give me a clue...
Latest 5 minidump-files (yes I know, some are quite old since I had given up hope on this pc)

Thanks in advance.

 

[JohnCanoes]

some additional info:
after crashing, the pc won't start up during an amount of time...

That made me assume it had something to do with temperature...but the measurements are not directly pointing into that direction.

Any clues what else could prevent me from booting the pc after the bsod ?

Thx.

 

[B00kWyrm]

Hello John
Generally best to not "double post"... instead use the "edit" function, and make additions or corrections.

The oldest two are BugCheck A,
Since these have not recurred for several months, I am going to assume for now that they are not relevant for your current situation.
These are typically due to driver issues, but sometimes may point to failing hardware.


Two of your recent errors are "BugCheck 7F, {8, ... }
(per MS) This problem occurs if one or more of the processors in the computer:

• Require a microcode update that is not applied by the computer's basic input/output system (BIOS).
• Are damaged or defective.
• Are operating outside their specified ranges for temperature, power, or other conditions.

The other recent error is BugCheck 50,
Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause Stop 0x50 messages.

Based on what I see so far, I think your initial guess, (temperatures) may be a good one.
I am going to suggest the following course of actions...
1. Rule out temperature problems.

• Get the specs on your processor, so you know what temps are outside of the envelope.
  This may be a starting point, but you may want to go to the source and get their spec sheet.
• (You may have done this, already) Get Speedfan or Everest in order to check operating temperatures.
  • Speedfan - https://www.techspot.com/downloads/547-speedfan.html
  • Everest - https://www.techspot.com/downloads/4864-everest-free-edition.html
  Each has its strengths. Speedfan is growing on me, though I still like Everest somewhat better.
• If Temps seem high, (or not), check your case... see if a careful vacuuming &/or compressed air may be in order.
• If there is no sign of accumulated dust, then you may have a fan failure, or the heatsink may have become unseated (in transport for example?)
• If you need to reseat your heatsink, please do so according to the specs of the maker of your cpu and/or heat sink. This will likely involve the use of a heat sink compound like artic silver, designed to maximize heat transfer (and minimize "hot spots") from the cpu to the heat sink itself, so that it can be disappated.

Many processors today will clock-down as their temps rise, providing a measure of protection, and have a thermal limiter causing shut down.
Until the heat disappates you would not be able to restart.

Returning to the initial Bugchecks...
the FAILURE_BUCKET_IDs
"X64_0xA_nt!KeSetAffinityProcess+23"
To me this is pointing to a failure in the cpu.
Is it a multicore processor?

and X64_0xA_nt!IopSynchronousServiceTail+13b
This (to me) looks like a driver issue, but since it is old, it may no longer be relevant,
unless it is more closely related to the other 0xA failure.

In short, my theory is, if you cannot sort out your heat issues, you may have a defective cpu.
Before doing anything drastic, rule out all possible causes of heat issues.
And lets see if one of the others (like Route44?) has further insight to offer.

 

[JohnCanoes]

Thanks for the response...

unfortunately...speedfan is not giving me more information...
temperature still seems acceptable...

but after the pc crashed again....I started feeling around in my pc..
and found 1 spot extremely hot...
Indicated as heatsink on my motherboard (Asus M2N-SLI)
Not sure if there are possibilities to cool down that spot..

I attached a pic of the motherboard and indicated the "heatsink" where I'm talking about...

 

[B00kWyrm]

That heatsink is for your board chipset (NVidia NF560-SLI) which manages your board's io functions.

Note
It may be a heat shield rather than a heatsink...
eg designed to block heat from the gpu affecting your mb functions.
rather than to draw heat up from the chipset.
or it may be dual function; I cannot tell for sure.

A few questions have occurred to me...
What is your graphics card setup? Single Geforce 8800 GT or SLI?
What is the primary purpose of your system? (gaming?)
Does your problem occur primarily while gaming?
Are you overclocking?
If so, try dropping back to a "stock" setting and see if stability results.
If so, then gradually step up your clock, until you find the level of overclocking you can manage without instability.

Looking at pictures of your card and your board layout,
it looks like the heat from your gpu is in such close proximity to this heatsink / heatshield on your board
that you may be getting heat transfer down to your board from your graphics card(s).

Do you have a large case, with lots of room for airflow?
Would there be any way to add a system fan to direct air at this heatsink on your mb?
(This may well be where your problem is located!)
If you could run, with your case open, and a fan directed in at this heatsink in some way, it might provide a test of the theory at least.
(I know... "Lots of luck", buried down under your gpu!)

Information...
If you look at page 2-27 of your motherboard manual you will find out about fan connectors for your board.
This may allow you to add a case fan (see below).
If you need a manual, they are available (free) on line in several places, including ASUS.


I have not been able to find an aftermarket "heatpipe" or other cooling solution for you.
You might keep looking.
Or you might pose the question in our modding forum.
Several of our participants are avid modders, and may know a solution.

Your manual (6-4) also says-

we recommend to install an additional chasis fan for better thermal environment