Ever since I built my first PC 10 months ago I have been getting BSODs, growing more frequent as time passed. When the BSODs became too often for me I would format my entire computer and that would give me about a month of rare BSODs before they became too unbearably and I formatted my computer. Over the past 8 months I have made 5 different posts about the BSODs I had which ended up going nowhere and dying, hopefully this one will get something done, as of consequence however, this post is going to be rather long.
There are multiple possible causes for my BSODs that I have gotten from friends and my past forum posts, which are,
Faulty Graphics Card
Insufficient PSU
My Ram sticks being in slots 3 and 4 instead of 1 and 3
My first Monitor being a different res than my second
Overclocking/Underclocking
Heat
My connected PS3 Controller
I have also tried to fix all of these; I didn’t pay for a warranty on my graphics card, nor was my serial code ‘valid’ in the Gigabyte return system. My PSU is sufficient. I moved my RAM sticks to slots 1 and 3 which required me to reposition my GPU fan which caused my computer to overheat more and not fixing the problem. Unplugging one of my monitors for 3 days(couldn't live without it more than that), which solved nothing. Underclocking until I reached 60fps, and increasing my fan speed until my computer was 70c (which is really cold for my PC). And I had BSODs before I connected my PS3 controller though that may have increased the rate of BSODs.
My BSODs happen when I click too fast, open MSI afterburner (sometimes), randomly in games, randomly when fast forwarding on YouTube, and on my first attempt to make this post (.-.). I also get freezes sometimes where my screen is frozen yet the audio is still going. Also whenever my computer boots up I have a blank screen for about a minute before anything loads up, however I can still move my mouse around the empty void.
I could always just format my computer again but that is a major inconvenience and will just delay the inevitable position I am in right now for about another month. Help and suggestions would be appreciated.
My PC: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/ThePCNoob2/saved/s4bKHx
I found a number of people complaining about your Board or similar Assus Boards not playing well with the AI suit overclock & producing BSODS. Apparently a driver/management-soft conflict.
That doesn't explain why the BSODS are increasing over time, but that might just be secondary software that triggers the conflict more often.
My advice stop overclocking both cpu & ram, stop using the AI-suite or any other software that came with the board, just install the bare divers, also reset the UEFI to stock, only configure the RAM frequency (i.e. set it 1600 mhz)
Then test whether the BSODS are still returning.
I think you'll be able to get BSODS to be rare, but not go away completely, because neither windows nor over-bread gaming boards are designed for stability.
If you want 100% stability in windows you have to buy server or workstation board with registered ECC ram.
@fluffy I dont really know what you said i'm not that competent with computers, however I will take a picture of my next BSOD. I dont overclock my CPU or RAM, just my GPU, how to uninstall drivers, nor do I know how to change ram frequency.
Sorry for the long response times but my BSODs seem to also happen in bursts, I finally got 2 BSODs and took pictures of them. Sorry for my shitty photo taking skills but I was in a hurry to take them so I can restart my PC before any damage happens to it.
Bad_pool_header -> RAM probably bad or possibly overclocked to high
Run memtest86 or Windows Memory Diagnostic, if your ram fails the test, buy new ram. (or claim warranty) (run test for 12+ hours)
Stop 0x0000003B System_Service_Exception -> either corrupted systems files, or video drivers being tripped up by old bugs that it assumes are fixed.
-> update your system, don't install cracked software, those sometimes will install male-ware and hide it by manipulating system files.
-> bad memory could also cause corrupted system files, your 0x0...03B could be secondary symptoms
If your system is clean, your ram isn't bad and windows is updated, go pester your graphics card manufacturer for a driver fix. (anti-virus/male-ware software is very unreliable, don't assume that a crack is clean just because some software says so, they miss 50%)
I can't help but to install some cracked software, however this problem has gotten worse since I tried a legit software called motion joy and installed it's drivers for my PS3 controller, which is what causes a black screen where windows doesn't boot for about 30 seconds when my computer starts however I can move my mouse around during this time. Ill test the RAM while i'm asleep tonight, but you should know that I have my RAM in slots 3 and 4 instead of the recommended 1 and 3 due to my CPU fan blocking it. I've considered linux, but a lot of games I play are windows only.
I have to say that every BSOD I've seen lately had something to do with poor heat dissipation. Usually this was due to a bad seating of the CPU to it's heat sink or outright just a poor (stock) heat sink. Less frequently, it was due to poor placement of a video card(s) often due to a bad choice of case where the PSU was too close and didn't allow enough air flow. Other times there was even a chip set heat sink that was either missing or removed (the cheaper mobos don't even have heat sinks). And all of them had a rats nest of wires (necessary to the operation of the PC) acting like insulation!
My advice: Start over and strip it back down to individual parts (mobo, cpu, RAM, etc.) and a bare metal case. Then rebuild...
Remove the PSU, CPU and RAM and reinstall just the mobo making sure you're NOT mounting it in holes that it shouldn't use -- RTFM! Clean the CPU of it's old heat sink compound using rubbing alcohol to get it as clean as possible (I mount it in the socket to do this so I don't bend any pins and clean it like a cut finger or something). Get some good heat sink compound and don't use those horrible "pads" either. Reapply compound making sure to NOT use your finger since skin oil from your fingers/skin can prohibit the compound from working at it's best. (This does seem to be an arguing point with some people, but I say it's always best to err on the side of caution since the CPU is the heart of the system, so no skimping on cleanliness.) Be sure to NOT use too much compound too! You only want the compound to get in between the CPU surface and the surface of the heat sink. So spread it on with a clean razor or something in a fine thin layer for both the CPU and the heat sink where they meet. Think of it like gluing laminate if that helps. Finally, bring the two together making very sure that the CPU heat sink is seated correctly since this can be tricky and even fool you if you're not paying attention (I suspect this may be the actual culprit right now too).
Next, reinstall the PSU (don't plug it in to power just yet either). Try to route all the wires (from the PSU that run inside the case) to the side or under the mobo if you can. Then reinstall the RAM and video -- assuming you have a video card since some are embedded. Check case fans and their air flow direction making sure the front fan(s) has air going in while back fan(s) has air going out. Believe me, this has been a problem for more than a few system builders since the idea is to get air flowing through the case -- not necessarily into it. Pay close attention to any other wiring and try to keep it as neat as possible so that air flow isn't obstructed and that the wires themselves don't act like insulation or air even diverts. Finish it up with the rest of the components (HDD, SSD, 2nd Video, etc.) again, making very sure to keep wires neat and tidy. It not only looks good but good tidy wiring allows things to get better air flow and ultimately work better too.
If you have any other components like a cockeyed chip set heat sink fix that too. Find a bay where your HDD can get good air flow or at least not have stuff stacked on top of it. Reattach keyboard, mouse and monitor, plug it in and cross your fingers while you power it up. (I do hope you didn't do this on a rug while petting a cat or something since static discharge is like a death sentence when handling sensitive components like a CPU.) If all went well, you should hopefully be looking at a BIOS/EUFI option to configure your system.
One final note, 70C on idle does seem high -- for anything! A good idle temp should not get much hotter than 50C and really, 40C or less would be even better. Most new i7's are using 32nM technology though I would admit I could be wrong on that. Point is, i7's should not get that hot at idle since they are quite good with regard to power consumption.
70C was my graphics card idle temperature which is a radeon r9 290x with a stock cooler. However if heating was the reason for these BSODs wouldn't it mean that I would get them while running more graphically impressive games? I get about 3/5th of my BSODs on chrome. Though you are right my build actually is really compact in a small case I shouldn't have put it in and the wires are everywhere, I'm planning to buy another case in a few months and rebuild it.
I'm not going to tell you that piracy is immoral or wrong, because most software-companies are too evil to warrant any moral consideration, but please could you at least temporarily forego installing cracks, so we can accurately diagnose the source of your BSODS. Or are you cracking windows itself ? Might want to try a different crack ;)
I highly doubt that memory-slot-choice is a factor, at worst you'll loose dual channel.
You could try to run linux for a while to see whether you'll get kernel panics (linux BSODS) there too. That being said linux is ALOT more tolerant of flaky hardware than windows.
In case you install linux look at your graphics-card idle temperature there, because 70°C "idle" under windows sounds like you are running a stealthy coin-miner for a cracker. If one of your cracks installed a clever gpu-miner that only runs when you are not gaming, you would never notice. So if on linux your idle gpu temps are considerably lower, you'll know why ;)
(you can run an ubuntu live cd/usb-stick in a terminal type: sudo apt-get install psensor, press enter, when asked press y, then type psensor & press Enter. to check your temps under linux)
If your system runs hot, run it with an open case. I'm always doing this, i consider side panels as transport measure. I usually tape a fly-screen to the open side of the case to prevent dust.