Getting BSOD 0x124 error

[gamingmonkey]

Recently in the past few months (once in a month or two) I've been getting random BSOD's with the same code which is 0x124.

When I first got it, I did a bit of research, and it seems to be caused by heating issue as it seems to be from me OC-ing my CPU, which is what I recently did with my i5 2500K (OC-ed it to 4.5 GHz on air cooling with CM Hyper 212+), and so I listened to the suggestions and lowered (or increased , can't remember exactly) VCore and reduced the clock speeds and I thought my problem was gone.

A month or two later the same problem appeared out of nowhere, and that time I decided to clean my PC from all the dust and debris which gathered inside while resetting my CPU clock and VCore back to normal. A day or two after that no BSOD's appeared, so then I decided to OC my CPU again back to 4.5 GHz and stress test it to see if the problem will appear again. After doing all of that, no problem was appearing and the stress test was successful so I thought I was ok and that everything was normal.

Fast forward a month (and a half maybe?) today and the problem appeared for the third time out of nowhere, and I honestly have no idea what is causing this, so I came for help here if you folk would have any suggestions on what might cause this issue.

I'd like to mention that the first time the problem appeared, nothing was running in the background of my PC and I was only playing Witcher 3, a game which I'm pretty sure is more GPU intensive than CPU.

The second time it appeared, again nothing was running in the background and I was only watching a youtube video.

The third time that it appeared today, was out of my sight because I left my Origin to download my Battlefield 3 and when I came back from my friend, I saw my screen stuck on BSOD.

If anyone might know what causes this issue, please help.
If you guys wish any more information just ask,
also here is current statistic of my PC printed from CPUID HWMonitor:
http://i.imgur.com/3aeULDW.jpg

I'm sorry for the long post, but I thought that I should be as detailed as possible.

Thanks.

By the way, these are the only things I got from my dump report (using WhoCrashed)

Crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
Date/time: 8/9/2017 11:31:57 AM GMT
Uptime: 01:35:11
Machine: HOME-PC
Bug check name: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
Bug check code: 0x124
Bug check parm 1: 0x0
Bug check parm 2: 0xFFFFFA800758C028
Bug check parm 3: 0xBE200000
Bug check parm 4: 0x5110A
Probably caused by: Unknown
Driver description:
Driver product:
Driver company:
OS build: Built by: 7601.23807.amd64fre.win7sp1_ldr.170512-0600
Architecture: x64 (64 bit)
CPU count: 4
Page size: 4096

 

[DRDNA]

Please list all of your system specs so we can try and get our heads around this issue. Thank you.

 

[gamingmonkey]

Sure thing:

Motherboard
AsRock Z77 Extreme4

GPU
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti MSI Gaming 6GB Edition

RAM
Patriot 8GB(2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz

OS
Windows 7 x64

HDD
Samsung Spinpoint HD103SJ 1 TB

SDD
Samsung 850 EVO 256 GB (where my OS is)

PSU
SuperFlower (forgot which model) 650W

 

[sneekypeet]

First, if you believe it to be a heat issue, did you open any software during testing to see what the temperature was?
Second, 124 BSODs are usually related to not enough voltage in my findings.

 

[DRDNA]

I would start by testing the Ram with Memtest86
https://www.memtest86.com/

 

[gamingmonkey]

First, if you believe it to be a heat issue, did you open any software during testing to see what the temperature was?
Second, 124 BSODs are usually related to not enough voltage in my findings.

Didn't open any software to check the temps while stress testing before , but I usually did after OC with HWMonitor both when idling and on load, and the temps seem fine.

 

[sneekypeet]

Didn't open any software to check the temps while stress testing before , but I usually did with HWMonitor both when idling and on load, and the temps seem fine.

Then your gut should tell you heat is not causing the BSOD Processors will throttle when they get too hot, and do not usually cause a BSOD when this happens!

 

[gamingmonkey]

Hmm, I'll try increasing VCore then, but by what's the recommendation ? It's currently at 1.3V

 

[sneekypeet]

Hmm, I'll try increasing VCore then, but by what's the recommendation ? It's currently at 1.3V

If it were me, I would go by jumps of 0.0250V so next to say 1.325V and 1.35V if needed. If that does not help, it could also be VTT related, but lets try one thing at a time.

Just so we are square, this BSOD does not show up if the system is running stock, correct?

 

[gamingmonkey]

If it were me, I would go by jumps of 0.0250V so next to say 1.325V and 1.35V if needed. If that does not help, it could also be VTT related, but lets try one thing at a time.

Just so we are square, this BSOD does not show up if the system is running stock, correct?

Correct, and I can't reproduce it since it appears randomly.

 

[sneekypeet]

Correct, and I can't reproduce it since it appears randomly.

I would use AIDA64 system stability test, I do believe it runs in the free version (top bar....tools...system stability test). Leave settings to default in AIDA. Grab some other software (realtemp is handy) and read the temperatures while the test is going. My guess is that constant load for about 20 -30 minutes should provoke any instability into showing itself. Try this as-is, and we can go from there

 

[Regeneration]

Ignore what everone said here.

0x124 BSOD is usually related to VCCIO (VTT), run Prime95 version 26.6 with custom sizes of 512K to 640K with 50% of your memory for at least 8 hours.

If you get a 0x124 BSOD, increase VCCIO voltage by small steps, run Prime95 again until your stable.

If you pass Prime95 512K to 640K without a BSOD, then its Vcore too low. I'd suggest running IntelBurnTest with 80% of your memory to verify stability (8 to 12 hours).

Oh, and yeah, if this problem appeared all of the sudden, the reason is CPU degradation, you can prevent it by enabling C-States or adjust your overclock to use lower voltages.

 

[OneMoar]

0x124 can be anything from vcore to ringbuss

and the days of needing to run prime95/ibt for hours are dead gone and buried don't do this its not only potentially hazardous for the chip it doesn't do anything for stability testing a hour or two at medium to small data-sets are all you need
and c states don't prevent degradation either degradation is a function of voltage x current-draw @ temp

 

[gamingmonkey]

Apparently somehow my "CPU Core Voltage" value was for an unknown reason reverted to "Auto" in the BIOS settings, so I'm not sure was this causing the issue I had and I reverted it back to "Offset mode" with value "-0.010V", so I think that was what was causing my BSOD issue's. Thanks again for the help guys.

 

[EarthDog]

Yup... usually a Vcore thing, especially when its overclocked.

You will also want to put your system specs in the system specs like we have so its always there.

 

[gamingmonkey]

I'll bump the thread for the last time just to ask this.

So far I've been monitoring my CPU and GPU temps, and here are the results:

CPU - i5 2500K @ 4.5GHz:

Idle: 47-50°C

Load: 64-69°C

GPU - MSI GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G @ Stock:

Idle: 53°C (0% Fan speed)

Load: 80-83°C (Fan speed 82-86%)

Are any of these temps safe ? I want to try and fix anything and not cause the BSOD's appearing again.

 

[DRDNA]

Yes they are safe, but it seems the GPU under load is a little high but not really worth worrying over. What is the room temperature that the PC is in????

 

[gamingmonkey]

Yes they are safe, but it seems the GPU under load is a little high but not really worth worrying over. What is the room temperature that the PC is in????

Unfortunately, I've no idea since I don't have a thermometer in my house. But I know that outside is 35°C usually during the noon, so the room heats up a bit, I'll check the temps again once I start PC again in a cool room.

The GPU load is worrying me because I want to push it to 1450/3800.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I haven't cleaned my PC from dust maybe a full year, so I'll check the temps after doing it, thanks again everyone.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

You wouldnt get 0x124 from heat. Its vcore or memory. Ive had the issue before and bumping system agent voltage fixed it actually.

 

[EarthDog]

Ive never run into that being memory... never. Not saying it isn't possible, but I haven't run into that ever being memory related.

 

[Vya Domus]

It sounds pretty simple to me , fall back to stock clocks and voltages and gradually work your way up back to current OC and see when the issue pops up.

Keep in mind there is absolutely no program that can test stability 100%. You can never reproduce all possible instructions/data sets patterns and be certain it is fully stable. You can run prime95 24/7 but there is still a random chance that doing something basic will trigger a BSOD.

 

[DRDNA]

Unfortunately, I've no idea since I don't have a thermometer in my house. But I know that outside is 35°C usually during the noon, so the room heats up a bit, I'll check the temps again once I start PC again in a cool room.

The GPU load is worrying me because I want to push it to 1450/3800.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I haven't cleaned my PC from dust maybe a full year, so I'll check the temps after doing it, thanks again everyone.

Yes give her a good cleaning everything loves to be clean in a PC, but if its 35cels or 95 Fahrenheit out side then its probably really really warm in the PC room so then I can see loads getting near the temps you mentioned....let me know if it runs any cooler after you clean it up.

 

[gamingmonkey]

Yes give her a good cleaning everything loves to be clean in a PC, but if its 35cels or 95 Fahrenheit out side then its probably really really warm in the PC room so then I can see loads getting near the temps you mentioned....let me know if it runs any cooler after you clean it up.

Well I can definitely confirm that the temps dropped.

CPU temps:

Idle: 45° and circling (44,43,42)

Load:55-63° (It hit a few times 65 and 66 but for a second)

GPU temps:

Idle: 52° (0% Fan speed)

Load: Still 80-ish 80-82° (82% Fan speed)

All of this was tested in a slightly cool room, on Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor on everything maxed out (with HD Content installed) @ 1440p for around 5-10 minutes.

Also I forgot to mention but it seems MSI made it that the GPU overclocks to 1350/3500 while gaming so maybe that's why the temps increase, but still seeing other peoples temps on idle and load still makes me a bit worried.

But overall, I'm glad to see the temps drop for the CPU so much.

 

[EarthDog]

Normal for your card man....its called boost clocks.

 

[gamingmonkey]

Normal for your card man....its called boost clocks.

And the temps ? I'm worried about them since I want to manually OC it to 1450/3800 , also I don't know why but now the temp is 58°C while idling (fans still at 0%) and nothing running in the background except for Steam, Malwarebytes and Nvidia Geforce Experience.

EDIT: Some folk around the internet have said that the GPU temps will increase if you have a 144hz monitor which I do, is there any truth to this ?