I just finished building my own gaming PC the other day. And yesterday my computer BSODed while playing Just Cause 2, and today it did again while playing the same game. The Event Viewer says it's an Error 41 (Kernel-Power). I really have no idea what to do. All my drivers are up to date, my power supply is defiantly big enough, and all my hardware is more then enough to handle anything I'm doing. What should I do? EDIT: I should clarify that I know it's not a problem with overheating as well. My video card (Radeon 6950) has stayed under 60(c) the whole time, as well as my processor (AMD8150 8 core) staying under 40(c).

It is very rare for a game to be the root cause of a bsod. So if it happens to you on more than one game at all, then by odds alone we can rule out the problem being a specific game. That being said, your Steam install might be troublesome because as I said, every crash lately has been one of the cores of your processor refusing to process driver functions and it's hanging - the associated file has always been steam.exe or similar - whatever it's exact name is. I know Steam auto updates itself, but it can't hurt to check the website to see if there is any newer version to install. You should pull out the RAM for good measure than put back in. While putting in, of course be careful enough not to damage anything - but also be firm about it too. If you have a hair dryer or compressed air can, spray out the slots. (If hair dryer, use lowest heat and do quickly so not to overheat parts.) Make sure the arms lock down the memory firmly too. While there, inspect the motherboard capacitors. See if any are leaking brown electrolyte near the base or top. Also see if any are rounded at the top and not perfectly flat. If you find any leaking or rounded top capacitors on the motherboard, then that is the cause of the issues. You can touch them to feel if they are flat or raised. They are responsible for regulating the voltage to the cpu. If bad, the cpu will receive erratic voltage which would be responsible for the hang. Refer to this website (right side examples) if you aren't sure what you're looking at: http://www.badcaps.net/

Yes Dirt3 is a Steam game. I have quite a large library and all the games play just fine except for L.A. Noire and Portal 2, both of them cause crashes on start-up. I've done my best to make sure it wasn't the games (i.e. re-installing them and trying them in safe mode). That isn't the only time the blue screens happen, though. They occur randomly at least once every couple of days. The reason all the one's I've uploaded have been during steam use is because I found that was the easiest way to initiate a crash to see if what I've been doing has been working or not. I realize that it can't be foolproof since the games themselves can be the problem, do you have any suggestions for a test other than this?

Temps are good, if not, excellent. Not the problem. Is Dirt3 a steam game? Did it crash during, or not? (All of your watchdog timeouts have been during Steam use.)

I just had a pretty intense load on it playing Dirt 3 on ultra and it maxed at 51 degrees Celsius. Video card, if it's relevant, maxed around 62. I just updated BIOS to the most recent version, I think it already was the most recent one but I don't know for sure. You can never be to careful. And I updated the HD Audio codec. What would you recommend for a test to see if what I'm trying is working?

Computer keeps Blue Screening, can't figure out why

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Just FYI - sometimes lower level drivers (such as AMD Overdrive or Gigabyte EasyTune) can cause systems to act as if there is a hardware problem. So, we're still not certain if this is hardware or software - so please continue to run the diagnostics suggested previously.

AMD OverDrive (AODDriver2.sys) is either a stand-alone application, or a component of the AMD VISION Engine Control Center. This driver is known to cause BSOD's on some Win7 systems. If doesn't appear to be installed on your system, then it may be a part of the Gigabyte EasyTune6 program (another one that's known to cause BSOD's on Win7 systems).

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Please uninstall all AMD/ATI video stuff from Control Panel...Programs...Uninstall a program

Then, download and install a fresh copy of the ATI drivers from http://www.ati.com (in the upper right corner of the page)

Select the "Custom" installation option and don't let it install AMD OverDrive or the VISION Engine Control Center (if present)

Then use the ATI uninstall manager to uninstall the Catalyst Control Center (CCC). This is a separate issue and isn't required for the AMD OverDrive removal.

If the device (AODDriver or AODDriver4.01) remains a problem in perfmon /report, open Device Manager, select the "View" item.

Then select "Show hidden devices" and scroll down to the Non-Plug and Play Drivers section.

Locate the AODDriver entry, right click on it and select "Uninstall". Reboot for changes to take affect.

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Sometimes the driver remains and continues to cause BSOD's. If this is the case for you, post back and we'll give further instructions for safely removing it.

If overclocking, please stop. Remove the overclock and return the system to stock/standard values while we're troubleshooting. Once the system is stable again, feel free to resume the overclocking.

Also, please uninstall the Gigabyte Easy Saver - mobo power utility driver and the Gigabyte EasyTune6 program (it may contain the AMD Overdrive program). Both are known to cause BSOD's on some Win7 systems.

I am suspicious of the Applecharger program also, but have no firm evidence for it. Please just keep an eye on it for now.

If that doesn't stop the BSOD's, please run Driver Verifier according to these directions: http;//www.carrona.org/verifier.html

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BSOD BUGCHECK SUMMARY

Loading Dump File [C:\Users\FUBAR\jcgriff2_\dbug\_Kernel__\051912-22464-01.dmp]

Built by: 7600.16988.amd64fre.win7_gdr.120401-1505

Debug session time: Sat May 19 16:39:43.993 2012 (UTC - 4:00)

System Uptime: 0 days 0:31:58.600

BugCheck A, {6, 2, 0, fffff80003095a93}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for win32k.sys

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for win32k.sys

Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KiTimerWaitTest+e3 )

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR: 0xA

PROCESS_NAME: System

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0xA_nt!KiTimerWaitTest+e3

Bugcheck code 0000000A

Arguments 0000000000000006 0000000000000002 0000000000000000 fffff80003095a93

BiosVersion = F7

BiosReleaseDate = 10/13/2011

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``

Loading Dump File [C:\Users\FUBAR\jcgriff2_\dbug\_Kernel__\052012-25287-01.dmp]

Built by: 7601.17803.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.120330-1504

Debug session time: Mon May 21 00:00:30.836 2012 (UTC - 4:00)

System Uptime: 0 days 0:29:47.101

BugCheck 101, {19, 0, fffff8800316d180, 7}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for win32k.sys

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for win32k.sys

Probably caused by : Unknown_Image ( ANALYSIS_INCONCLUSIVE )

BUGCHECK_STR: CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT_8_PROC

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

PROCESS_NAME: System

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT_8_PROC_ANALYSIS_INCONCLUSIVE

Bugcheck code 00000101

Arguments 0000000000000019 0000000000000000 fffff8800316d180 0000000000000007

BiosVersion = F7

BiosReleaseDate = 10/13/2011

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``

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Computer keeps Blue Screening, can't figure out why

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