Overclock Stability Problem

[TorwaK]

Hi folks,

 

I have weird problem and need your help / ideas.

 

I have overclocked my 2600K to 5Ghz and made Prime 95 blend test (CPU+RAM) for 2,5 hours and I didn't get any stabbility issue etc.

 

However, when computer becomes idle (surfing on net, or reading something) it gives BSOD with 0x00000124 and reboot occasionaly. I disabled all power saving options in the BIOS however I still continue to get BSOD.

 

Do you have any idea where to look at BIOS or etc?

 

Thanks.

[dihartnell]

 

 

However, when computer becomes idle (surfing on net, or reading something) it gives BSOD with 0x00000124 and reboot occasionaly. I disabled all power saving options in the BIOS however I still continue to get BSOD.

 

Thanks.

 

Stop 124 means not enough vcore for the cpu and your OC is unstable. I've had that before. Under load the Vcore goes up but when at idle drops just a shade too low and becomes unstable. Bump the vcore up one notch.

Edited October 14, 2011 by dihartnell

[El_Capitan]

Not sure what your motherboard is, but early BIOS versions had issues with idle stability. Increasing your Vcore will help, but latest BIOS versions will as well.

[cirro]

make sure that you also have checked for thermal throttling options, they aren't always in the same area as speedstep and other CPU direct functions

[cirro]

Stop 124 means not enough vcore for the cpu and your OC is unstable. I've had that before. Under load the Vcore goes up but when at idle drops just a shade too low and becomes unstable. Bump the vcore up one notch.

 

ehhhh stop errors are a lil more vague than that, moreso relating to hardware errors.

stops don't collect information (dump) about the error like BSOD's so determining what exactly it is, is harder.

 

i've seen this error from someone having a pci-e videocard gently seated improperly in the slot cause this.

 

Generic "Stop 0x124" Troubleshooting Strategy:

1) Ensure that none of the hardware components are overclocked. Hardware that is driven beyond its design specifications - by overclocking - can malfunction in unpredictable ways.

 

2) Ensure that the machine is adequately cooled. If there is any doubt, open up the side of the PC case (be mindful of any relevant warranty conditions!) and point a mains fan squarely at the motherboard. That will rule out most (lack of) cooling issues.

 

3) Update all hardware-related drivers: video, sound, RAID (if any), NIC... anything that interacts with a piece of hardware. It is good practice to run the latest drivers anyway.

 

4) Update the motherboard BIOS according to the manufacturer's instructions. Their website should provide detailed instructions as to the brand and model-specific procedure.

 

5) Rarely, bugs in the OS may cause "false positive" 0x124 events where the hardware wasn't complaining but Windows thought otherwise (because of the bug). At the time of writing, Windows 7 is not known to suffer from any such defects, but it is nevertheless important to always keep Windows itself updated.

 

6) Attempt to (stress) test those hardware components which can be put through their paces artificially. The most obvious examples are the RAM and HDD(s). For the RAM, use the in-built memory diagnostics (run MDSCHED) or the 3rd-party memtest86 utility to run many hours worth of testing. For hard drives, check whether CHKDSK /R finds any problems on the drive(s), notably "bad sectors". Unreliable RAM, in particular, is deadly as far as software is concerned, and anything other than a 100% clear memory test result is cause for concern. Unfortunately, even a 100% clear result from the diagnostics utilities does not guarantee that the RAM is free from defects - only that none were encountered during the test passes.

 

7) As the last of the non-invasive troubleshooting steps, perform a "vanilla" reinstallation of Windows: just the OS itself without any additional applications, games, utilities, updates, or new drivers - NOTHING AT ALL that is not sourced from the Windows 7 disc. Should that fail to mitigate the 0x124 problem, jump to the next steps. Otherwise, if you run the "vanilla" installation long enough to convince yourself that not a single 0x124 crash has occurred, start installing updates and applications slowly, always pausing between successive additions long enough to get a feel for whether the machine is still free from 0x124 crashes. Should the crashing resume, obviously the very last software addition(s) may be somehow linked to the root cause.