So I've ran into a couple issues...

[Toxic Dover]

Hey everyone -

Well, the case fan that recently took a crap on me gave me a good excuse to upgrade all the fans in my case and also replace my stock i5 cooler with a CM 212 Evo. I did all of that earlier today - installed the 212 with a fresh coat of Arctic Silver 5, and replaced my 4 case fans (120mm intake on front, 120mm intake on the side, 120mm exhaust in rear, 140mm exhaust on top, dual 120mm push/pull configured on the 212), and dusted / cleaned up some of my cables.

Well, after I had done all of that I powered the computer on, and as soon as the Windows load screen popped up, I got a BSoD due to a hardware failure error... Strange, so I reset and Windows booted right up without any issue. I check temperatures and take care of some stuff I had to do online, then an hour or so later I decide to fire up Prime95 to stress test for a bit just to see what the high flow fans and the 212 did to improve my case temps. I let it run for somewhere between 2 and 4 minutes, and I get a BSoD for the same issue...

Now, I have a couple theories but I don't think they would cause a BSoD necessarily... The old fans I had I was powering with your standard MOLEX connectors. These new 120mm fans are the three-pin connectors that plug into your motherboard's SYSFAN connections (there are 4 on my mobo). However, the 140mm is a 4-pin PWM style connectors and I only have 1 4-pin connection on my motherboard which is being used by 1 of the 2 fans on the 212. It should have come with a PWM to MOLEX adapter but it didn't... So to make due for the time being, I plugged it into one of the 3-pin SYSFAN connections (since the 4-pin PWN is keyed for a 3-pin connection, but with the off-set 4th pin) and the fan functions perfectly as far as I can see... They all are running great and my temps are good.

So... CPU cooler changed and my fans are running from the motherboard now instead of MOLEX connections. I don't see why that would cause any problems, but maybe? Any earthly idea what may be causing my BSoD issues? I certainly appreciate the help guys. After I get this mess straightened out, it's on to overclocking this beast!

 

[kyij]

Does windows give an error code to try and confirm what is causing this.

To make sure, do you have the new cpu cooler plugged in? Even if it is, can you confirm that they are working and not a possible dud..

Do you have the CPU OC'd? Maybe you should put it back to stock settings and replay until you find another stable setting.

 

[Toxic Dover]

Writing the code down should have been the first thing I did, but sadly I didn't catch it. I do know it says that Windows stopped due to an unrecoverable hardware error...

I did confirm that everything was plugged in and working properly... All fans are running well. The only one that concerns me is the PWM fan I have plugged into the 3-pin SYSFAN connector. It's running well, but I'm not sure the system knows that.

I played around with it some more last night and couldn't replicate the BSoD under stock settings, but when I get the OC up to 4.4, it gives the same unrecoverable hardware error BSoD, which leads me to believe the problem still exists... Unless too high of a clock will sometimes show as a hardware error...?

 

[EarthDog]

Unless too high of a clock will sometimes show as a hardware error...?

Certainly... have you stress tested this overclock successfully?

 

[kyij]

Certainly... have you stress tested this overclock successfully?

Yes, then it is your overclock. Try to lower setting or increase the voltage.. It is probably good that you BSOD rather then frying your cpu, board, etc.

 

[Toxic Dover]

Hmm, I'll check voltages... It's weird though, because right after I installed the fans and CPU cooler it wasn't overclocked at all. Maybe it was an isolated incident... I'll play with it for a bit and report back. Thanks guys

 

[kris2340k]

just overclock it but by bit until you get a bsod, then go back a step