GA-P55M-UD2 Randomized BSODs

[shadow_archmagi]

In the summer I built myself a computer, and ever since then I've  been getting the occasional BSOD. The frequency of the darn things is  variable, and at first I didn't really care. A crash every two or three  hours wasn't really noticable when I was busy being ecstatic about being  able to play tf2 with a framerate.

However, it's been going on and on, and I am just not sure what to do anymore. I've tried all kinds of things.

1. Tried reinstallation of windows. No help.
2. Ran memtest and windows diagnostics, no problems found.
3. Ran full antivirus scan, no help.
4. Reformatted hard drive just to be really sure. Still no help.
5. Tried increasing DRAM voltage from 1.5 to 1.6, no change.
6. Tried increasing QPI voltage by increments; system at first continued  to bluescreen but then only became more unstable and began freezing  without bluescreening. (Ultimate max voltage was well below the red)
7. Tried removing RAM. System was even more unstable with only one stick of RAM.
8. Tried disabling EIST, no change.

Bluescreens appear to be random and unrelated to computer activity; I  havn't gone as far as making a spreadsheet (yet) so I can't say for sure  that they're random but I certainly can't find a pattern. I've gotten  crashes while playing video games, while idling at the login menu, while  writing word documents, while plugged in or not plugged in to the  internet, even in safe mode. I've also had days where the computer  worked fine and days where it gave six crashes in an hour.

Also, it's recently (a month ago or so) decided it really hates starting  up. It'll either hang forever at the "Loading windows" screen or  bluescreen in the seconds between the loading windows and the login  screen. If it actually gets to the login screen, it works fine until the  next random crash. Usually it takes about three tries to boot, give or  take three. This started the day I had the president of the university  computer club configure my BIOS (He said it would help!) and since then  I've reset them all to default but the problem persists.

At around the same time it stopped booting correctly, it also started  behaving very oddly concerning the internet. Download speeds from Steam  look like a heart monitor, with it alternating between around 700 KBS  and 0. Downloading through firefox simply doesn't work; it either says  "Download starting" for all eternity, or starts the download and then  promptly stops. When it stops a download in progress, the readout stays  the same; Firefox continues to insist that it is downloading a  such-and-such a speed and will be done in 7 minutes or whatever. Tested  with internet explorer and got the same issue. Youtube videos will load  the first few seconds instantly and then refuse to download the rest.  Also, the Steam downloads invariably wind up with half the files corrupt  once I go to verify. Friend suggested it was probably the motherboard's netcard dying.

Here's my current system:

Caviar Hard Drive 1.5TB
DDR3-1333 RAM (CM3X2G1333C9)
GA-P55M-UD2 Gigabyte Motherboard
 i7 860 Processor 2.8GHz
GeForce GTX 470
Coolermaster 212 fan
Corsair 750W power supply

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte forum.

You don't say what WD hard drive you are running but if it is a Green that could be your problem.

How much memory have you got and when you ran Memtest did you follow the guide when doing it ?

What stop code does the BSOD display normally ?

[shadow_archmagi]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte forum.

You don't say what WD hard drive you are running but if it is a Green that could be your problem.

How much memory have you got and when you ran Memtest did you follow the guide when doing it ?

What stop code does the BSOD display normally ?

It is not a green.

This is the exact thing

Stop codes include things like IQRL not less or equal, APC list, attempt to write to read-only memory,  and bad pool header

[Dark Mantis]

Well I wouldn't think it is your drive then unless faulty.

The stop code is a number in the vein of STOP Error 0x00000121. It is the number that is most important.

[shadow_archmagi]

Oh, right. I havn't written them all down, but to-day I've enjoyed an 0x0A, 0x1E, and a 0x050.

[Dark Mantis]

If you are sure that the hardwareis not at fault, in other words you ar esure that you have tested properly with Memtest etc then the most likely cause is a Windows registry error. Probaly the best way to tackle this is to wipe the drive and do a fresh install. Backup any data that you want to keep and then do a clean install wiping all the old installation.

[shadow_archmagi]

If you are sure that the hardwareis not at fault, in other words you ar esure that you have tested properly with Memtest etc then the most likely cause is a Windows registry error. Probaly the best way to tackle this is to wipe the drive and do a fresh install. Backup any data that you want to keep and then do a clean install wiping all the old installation.

It has passed multiple MEMTEST tests, and linX, but reinstallation and reformatting has also failed to make an impact on it.

[Dark Mantis]

In that case you have some faulty hardware somewhere there.

I can only suggest stripping it back to basics and try from there. If the problem isn't there then you can move on to the next thing. If you want to follow this route I advise following these instructions.

The next thing is to remove the motherboard form the case and test it on the workbench.

Make sure that you observe anti-static precautions.

Lay some cardboard or use the motherboard box that is non-conductive on the worktop and remove the motherboard/CPU/heatsink/fan/buzzer/one stick of memory and PSU from the case and put it on the cardboard.

Add the keyboard and now I know you haven't got any graphics but try and boot.

The system should try and then fail emitting a series of beeps. Please post what sounds it makes.