(BSODs) BIOS 1.0, RAM-errors, BIOS 2.1 -> none?

[Xyxozz]

Hello there!

I've been having unpredictable BSOD's ever since I built this computer. They aren't very frequent, but since I've had two over 2 days, I want to track this problem down.

System specifications:
CPU: Intel Core2Quad 2.4
Motherboard: Gigabyte EP35C-DS3R
RAM: Corsair Dominator PC8500 1066 (2x1)
Harddrive: Seagate Barracuda 500gb
GFX: XFX 8800GT
PSU: Corsair 550W

The initial problem started just after I ran the computer. I had a BSOD, so I can Memtest to check for errors. I got heaps of them, so I updated the BIOS, and to my great surprise all the errors seeemed to have disappeared. Afterwards, I ran my computer and had few BSOD's a month.

Just yesterday I realized my RAM were running 2.1V, so I bumped them to 2.2V as recommended, but I got another BSOD today, which was only shown for 1 second and the computer restarted (compared to my usual ones being constant):

BugCheck 1000007F, {8, bab38d70, 0, 0}

Probably caused by : Unknown_Image ( ANALYSIS_INCONCLUSIVE )

Old ones being:

BugCheck 1000007E, {c0000005, bfc2f947, b2159bec, b21598e8}

Probably caused by : nv4_disp.dll ( nv4_disp+25c947 )

BugCheck 1000008E, {c0000005, 80615e3d, a469fca4, 0}

Probably caused by : ntkrpamp.exe ( nt!NtQueryPerformanceCounter+81 )

BugCheck 1000008E, {c0000005, 70003, b0fb69e0, 0}

Probably caused by : nv4_disp.dll ( nv4_disp+c57ab )

Now, some of them point at the Nvidia driver. After the first Nvidia BSOD I cleaned my drivers completely, even Driver Cleaner Pro, and updated to the newest drivers, so I don't think it's a faulty driver problem.

It's very easy to conclude that it can be the GFX, RAM, motherboard, CPU or PSU, but seeing I can't afford to replace all this, I need to find the exact culprit.

Thanks in advance - help is much appreciated.

 

[Xyxozz]

Update: Just today I noticed a faint "clicking" sound I believe is coming from the harddrive. It's probably just the usual sound of the harddrive, but it must've become louder since I can hear it.
Might a faulty harddrive be a part of it?

EDIT: For some reason this was only noticeable during the first 20-30 minutes of system uptime.

 

[luvhuffer]

The c000....5 bug check can be caused by bad ram faulty drivers, a bad update. You name it. Sometimes pushing RAM can corrupt a lot of software, and I notice yours seems to be changing around. Are you running at stock or pushing it. You may want to try raising your timings a bit higher. I just got off of a 3 week nightmare with similar situations. It ended up being a bad SATA cable on one drive and a bad drive on another. Run error checking on the clicking drive from the tools tab in the drive properties. Check both the boxes for scan and repair. If it's a big drive it may take a long time. Or download the diagnostics programs on the manufacturers web site and see if it is OK. Don't rely on the S.M.A.R.T. thing. It can still show everything is OK on a bad drive. Also disconnect your CD DVD ROMS one at a time. A bad drive can cause the same problem and it seems for me at least, the newer SATA ROMS don't last as long.