BSOD error: Not sure if it's hardware or software

masheleni

masheleni

New member
A friend of mine is experiencing frequent Blue Screen errors and we have been trying to diagnose the issue with no luck.

Here is the dump file View attachment 020113-25234-01.zip

BSOD ERROR 116

dxgkrnl.sys

Other drivers in stack causing this

atikmpag.sys
dxgmms1.sys
Click to expand...

PC usually goes BSOD while playing games, but sometimes freezes and
shows no display while using other apps in Windows 7/8.

Here is what was tried

Updating drivers
Memory stress test
Graphics stress test
Monitoring Temps
Changing PSU (to my 500W)
Changing memory latency
Disabling on board video
Updating BIOS
Changing graphics card
Installing Win 7 in place of Win 8

The first graphics card is a MSI HD 7770 OC (AMD/ATI card)
It has been replaced with another AMD card and the issue still persists.

What could the problem be?

I will try get details on other hardware such as memory and motherboard, but this is all the information I can provide for now.

The problem seems to be a graphics related one, but I am unsure how to rectify the issue.
 
masheleni said:
A friend of mine is experiencing frequent Blue Screen errors and we have been trying to diagnose the issue with no luck.

Here is the dump file View attachment 4346



PC usually goes BSOD while playing games, but sometimes freezes and
shows no display while using other apps in Windows 7/8.

Here is what was tried

Updating drivers
Memory stress test
Graphics stress test
Monitoring Temps
Changing PSU (to my 500W)
Changing memory latency
Disabling on board video
Updating BIOS
Changing graphics card
Installing Win 7 in place of Win 8

The first graphics card is a MSI HD 7770 OC (AMD/ATI card)
It has been replaced with another AMD card and the issue still persists.

What could the problem be?

I will try get details on other hardware such as memory and motherboard, but this is all the information I can provide for now.

The problem seems to be a graphics related one, but I am unsure how to rectify the issue.
Click to expand...

Does your system suddenly runs slower then shutdowns/restarts or freezes while working in windows.
How many HDD does he have and any idea how old they are.
 
Everywhere I have looked, they suggest updating drivers, increasing power or cooling the PC off.

I will find out about the hard drives, but will that give a BSOD 116 error?
 
masheleni said:
Everywhere I have looked, they suggest updating drivers, increasing power or cooling the PC off.

I will find out about the hard drives, but will that give a BSOD 116 error?
Click to expand...

Did you not say that is what your friend tried? Also it seems you did change the GPU and formatted as well so only a few things remain that's why asking about the HDD. If he did those test correctly you should have found the problem for BSOD 116

Increasing power to what?
Does your friend know what his computer temperatures are? Speedfan is one he can use to test.

Okay try this remove the gpu remove the drivers, see if it still give the problem(BSOD).
 
masheleni said:
A friend of mine is experiencing frequent Blue Screen errors and we have been trying to diagnose the issue with no luck.

dxgkrnl.sys

Other drivers in stack causing this

atikmpag.sys
dxgmms1.sys
Click to expand...

if you look at the drivers listed it is definately a graphics related issue that is causing the problem try reinstalling Direct X or rollback to the previous catalyst drivers

dxgkrnl.sys = Direct x graphics kernel (that says it all, im 95% sure its the ati catalyst drivers thats the problem)
 
My gf also has a 7770, and she gets random BSOD in photoshop all the time. I also suspect the catalyst drivers. Next thing I am going to try is uninstalling catalyst and seeing if I can just install a basic driver for graphics.
 
Let us know what hardware he has when you can.

500w sounds a bit touch-and-go if he has an i5 or i7 with a few drives/ fans etc.

If this person has an I-series CPU, take the VGA card out as stated above, then try gaming with only the Intel4000 graphics. See what happens. This could narrow it down to either GPU drivers or PSU.
 
You say "Updating drivers"

I've seen lots of times that people update to drives that are not from their manufacturer, IE. it's an MSI card, do you have MSI drives installed or the latist AMD drivers directly because there's a decernable difference, other times the manufacturer drivers are the ones at fault and maybe you should switch to the Designer(AMD's) direct drivers.

Plus it might sound stupid but sound drivers can casue graphic errors. . . seen it happen on my Machine, specifically i'd hear looping sound before the PC restarted/bluescreened.

Try those maybe?
 
It was found that 1 or 2 of the RAM modules on the motherboard are buggy, not to mention that the RAM was not inserted properly (I assume from tweaking with the hardware). And as you would know, the PC did overheat, so the RAM and PSU are getting replaced. I hope that this will solve the issue at last. Overheating would explain the BSOD 116 error.

So, more power and more fans.... I think I will stick to Intel Core i series. Looks like AMD overheats.....
A 500W PSU is still not enough it seems.

Will monitor it and see if the problem persists after the hardware is replaced.
 
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