Random gaming BSOD

[Reaper101]

Hey, I'm having these random blue screens and I can't find the cause. They seem to happen when I'm gaming. I've had 4 so far in a time span of a week and a half, most of them during a game, but the others occur after the first BSOD directly after logging onto windows. Directly after the BSOD I struggle to log on again as I barely get past the BIOS screen then I get a message telling me that the Bootmgr is corrupt and that it can't start the system. After a couple restarts and loading the optimized defaults in the BIOS I can finally log on. I didn't have this problem when I was using windows 7 professional 64-bit, only after a clean install of ultimate. The games it gives me trouble in are GTA4:Episodes of liberty City and Lord of the rings online, other games seem fine. Another thing to add is that I use the MSI graphics card utility "Afterburner" on system startup, but I don't apply any overclocking to my system, not the utility nor the onboard overclocking switch.

Attached are the dump files. Please help.

 

[Route44]

Your issue is with memory corruption. Therefore you’ll need to run memtest on your RAM.

See the link below and follow the instructions. There is a newer version than what is listed; use the newer. If you need to see what the Memtest screen looks like go to reply #21. The third screen is the Memtest screen.

Step1 - Let it run for a LONG time. The rule is a minimum of 7 Passes; the more Passes after 7 so much the better. The only exception is if you start getting errors before 7 Passes then you can skip to Step 2.

There are 8 individual tests per Pass. Many people will start this test before going to bed and check it the next day.

If you have errors you have corrupted memory and it needs to be replaced.

Step 2 – Because of errors you need to run this test per stick of RAM. Take out one and run the test. Then take that one out and put the other in and run the test. If you start getting errors before 7 Passes you know that stick is corrupted and you don’t need to run the test any further on that stick.


Link: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html

There is also the possibility that it is your video RAM causing the issue.

* I am away for the Thanksgiving Holiday so I won't be able to read anymore minidumps for the next three days but I'll check in to see your results and take it from there.

 

[Reaper101]

The more I think about it the more i suspect that it might be the video RAM, I was at a lan a few weeks back; and when the bsod's began and I checked my case I found that one of the two molex connectors of the graphics card was unlplugged, I don't know if this would cause damage to the video memory, but the first bsod came when I was gaming, I remeber a fan in my case got really loud and then the bsod hit, it might have been the graphics card. When I logged in again the gpu temperature was round about 70*C, which is what I normally get when stressing the card so I thought nothing of it. Is it possible that this incident could have damaged the card? If this is the case I don't know if my warranty will cover something like this. Will post an update after I run memtest on the RAM.

 

[Reaper101]

I Ran the memtest on each stick of RAM individually for 8 passes. Both sticks are error free. But I did notice something when running memtest on a stick that is placed in slot 3, from the left. When memtest is running it identifies the stick of RAM and shows its information such as the make and size etc. But both sticks, when placed in slot 3, are identified as DDR2; and the partner slot(slot 1) identifies both sticks as DDR3. Now I am really confused because my motherboard doesn't support DDR2, only DDR3.Might this be the cause of my problems? Another thing I noticed is that when I only have one stick of RAM placed in either of my slots(1 or 3) that there are no problems, no hang on startup, nothing. But the moment I place sticks in slot 1 and 3 for Dual Channel, then I get hang at startup and all sorts of related issues. My question is this, is it possible that slot 3( the one which identifies my RAM as DDR2) is the one giving problems when running dual channel? I currently have my RAM placed in slots 2 and 4, also in Dual channel, so far no problems. Whilest running dual channel(slot 1 and 3) I did get more bsod's, attached are the minidump files. Please Someone Help, I am wondering if I should contact my supplier and have the motherboard replaced as it is still under warranty. Also attached is an image of the motherboard with the problematic RAM slot encircled.

 

[Route44]

Two errors are 0x3B: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.

As per Microsoft the following actions might prevent an error like this from happening again:

Download and install updates and device drivers for your computer from Windows Update.

Scan your computer for computer viruses.

Check your hard disk for errors.

Cause
This error has been linked to excessive paged pool usage and may occur due to user-mode graphics drivers crossing over and passing bad data to the kernel code.

One dump simply cited hardware the other specifically cited memory corruption.


The third error is 0x50: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Requested data was not in memory. An invalid system memory address was referenced. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause this Stop message, as may other hardware problems (e.g., incorrect SCSI termination or a flawed PCI card).

Nothing definitive was cited.


* You have been suspicious of your video card and that might be your issue but as to why your motherboard cited your memory stick as DDR2 is unknown. However, it may not have liked it sitting alone in DIMM 3.

 

[Reaper101]

As to the graphics card, that problem I can still endure because it was bought with the intention of only being very temporary, as I'll be buying a DX11 card later next year. I will also be updating windows and will check the HDD for errors. I don't know if the RAM is also contributing to the memory errors but according to memtest it is error free as far as 8 passes go. Another thing I have noticed is that when I have RAM sticks placed in slots 1 and 3, that the restart problem happens( system keeps on restarting after a few seconds) and that I get the "previous overclocking has failed" message. I have moved my RAM to slots 2 and 4, until now I haven't experienced any problems. I must also add that I notice minor game lag in games such as Call of Duty 4 and Lord of The Rings Online, the lag is basic, such as split-second stand stills, nothing more than a nuisense at times. This could also implicate the graphics card. I'll be having the motherboard examined for faults next week sometime. Thanks for the help so far.