UPDATE - July 28, 2016
Yesterday I bit the bullet and went out and bought a shiny new PSU - eVGA 750 Watt G2
Installed it last night and things were looking good - no crashes for several hours.
However, it was not to be...
I started getting BSoD crashes and freezes after watching several YouTube videos.
Ironically, it crashed just as I opened up this page a few minutes ago...
New Crash Report:
System Information (local)
Computer name: JIM-PC Windows version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, 6.1, build: 7601 Windows dir: C:\Windows Hardware: P5K Premium, , ASUSTeK Computer INC. CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz Intel586, level: 6 4 logical processors, active mask: 15 RAM: 3488735232 bytes total
Crash Dump Analysis
Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump Crash dumps are enabled on your computer. On Thu 28/07/2016 10:25:13 PM GMT your computer crashed crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072816-56331-01.dmp This was probably caused by the following module: (hal+0xEFCD) Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFFFF86D7301C, 0xFFFFFFFFB2000040, 0x800) Error: Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA). This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might also be caused because of overheating (thermal issue). A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: hal.sys . Google query:
On Thu 28/07/2016 10:25:13 PM GMT your computer crashed crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp This was probably caused by the following module: (hal!HalBugCheckSystem+0xAB) Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFFFF86D7301C, 0xFFFFFFFFB2000040, 0x800) Error: Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA). This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might also be caused because of overheating (thermal issue). A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: hal.sys . Google query:
Conclusion
2 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. A third party driver has been identified to be causing system crashes on your computer. It is strongly suggested that you check for updates for these drivers on their company websites. Click on the links below to search with Google for updates for these drivers:
If no updates for these drivers are available, try searching with Google on the names of these drivers in combination with the errors that have been reported for these drivers. Include the brand and model name of your computer as well in the query. This often yields interesting results from discussions on the web by users who have been experiencing similar problems.
Read the topic for more information.
Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strangely, the crashes take several forms. Most common is a simple screen freeze where the mouse pointer freezes and the computer will not take any input - including a Cntl-Alt-Del attempt at reset.Sometimes I can wait it out and after a couple of minutes it begins working again. Most times I have to hit the Reset Button on the computer and reboot. Another one is a quick freeze, then a BSoD with a countdown and automatic reboot.I generally leave my computer powered up all the time. Sometimes I come back to find the computer has rebooted itself and I get a message like this: --------------------------------
Problem signature: Problem Event Name: BlueScreen OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1 Locale ID: 4105 Additional information about the problem: BCCode: 124 BCP1: 00000000 BCP2: 8688C01C BCP3: B2000040 BCP4: 00000800 OS Version: 6_1_7601 Service Pack: 1_0 Product: 256_1
Files that help describe the problem: C:\Windows\Minidump\072816-42463-01.dmp C:\Users\Jim\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-157280-0.sysdata.xml
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Very often, I get a Video Driver Crash which will last for anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes while the screen images come back from black or white. Sometimes it won't come back and I have to reboot.
Prior to installing the new PSU, I removed all my extra hard drives to lower the power consumption to see if that had an effect - it didn't. Now, with the new PSU, I have to conclude that the old PSU was not the problem.
So, the question is: Is it the eVGA GT620 video card? Or is it something else?
At this point, I'm really tempted to send the video card back to eVGA for replacement with some other model.
Thanks in advance for all your help!
Sushihunter