Hardware Is the Blue Screen of Death really that bad?

[Attacker3]

Hello people of GBAtemp! This is my first post here so I thought I should make it about the mystical and equally horrifying thing called the Blue Screen of Death. My computer that I built myself has been having this problem sometimes, uncommon but constant. I noticed it only happened when I did something in a program or game, such as oausing the game, or closing the program. So, my question is: Is the BSOD really has bad as it's cracked up to be? A BSOD only occurs when windows has an error and it can't recover from it, sort of like a plane, recovering from a steep dive. You don't really notice anything when it actually rights itself, but people freak out when it crashes. Is a BSOD really that bad for your computer?

 

[GamerzHell9137]

Well ur PC shouldn't BSOD when playing games/using programs and i guess its bad if that happens(?). BSOD issues are connected with faulty/not correctly plugged RAMs. Unplug and plug it back in and see if it fixes it. Other things that can make BSOD is the mobo(if its faulty) and incorrect BIOS settings. (I'm not sure if you're asking on how to fix it but there you have it)

 

[Ritsuki]

Well ur PC shouldn't BSOD when playing games/using programs and i guess its bad if that happens(?). BSOD issues are connected with faulty/not correctly plugged RAMs. Unplug and plug it back in and see if it fixes it. Other things that can make BSOD is the mobo(if its faulty) and incorrect BIOS settings. (I'm not sure if you're asking on how to fix it but there you have it)

To be more general, a BSOD is a problem when the software (OS or program) doesn't communicate properly with the hardware. They come principally from bad drivers, faulty or incorrectly plugged hardware, errors in writing or reading RAM,... It's normally always hardware related. You should take a picture of the BSOD, normally it tells you where the problem comes from

 

[GamerzHell9137]

To be more general, a BSOD is a problem when the software (OS or program) doesn't communicate properly with the hardware. They come principally from bad drivers, faulty or incorrectly plugged hardware. You should take a picture of the BSOD, normally it tells you where the problem comes from

Mhm, i remember Nvidia drivers gave me them too. And iirc Windows makes a log in the Event Viewer so you could check it there.

 

[sarkwalvein]

It could be many, many things... My experience tells me that it is 90% of the time bad RAM.
Run memtest86 and look for problems, you will probably need to replace some RAM module if this is the case.

EDIT: Also, if you have bad RAM, you will end up with a very corrupted file system and massive data loss SOON™, so better check it ASAP.

 

[migles]

Well ur PC shouldn't BSOD when playing games/using programs and i guess its bad if that happens(?). BSOD issues are connected with faulty/not correctly plugged RAMs. Unplug and plug it back in and see if it fixes it. Other things that can make BSOD is the mobo(if its faulty) and incorrect BIOS settings. (I'm not sure if you're asking on how to fix it but there you have it)

you forgot one of the greatest cause that is faulty hdd, or bad software (or a crappy windows instalation because he used a copy downloaded somewhere) crappy\bad drivers...

can also be: cpu heat, or weak power supply

Attacker3

do a ram test... create a bootable mem test (memtest86 iirc) pe drive (or burn it into a cd) or just download hirens boot cd (it includes this tool)

let it work for 1 hour or more and see if the pc crashes...

 

[GamerzHell9137]

you forgot one of the greatest cause that is faulty hdd, or bad software (or a crappy windows instalation because he used a copy downloaded somewhere).

can also be: cpu heat, or weak power suply

@attack

do a ram test... create a bootable mem test (memtest86 iirc) pe drive (or burn it into a cd) or just download hirens boot cd (it includes this tool)

let it work for 1 hour or more and see if the pc crashes...

It could be everything but most of the times its RAM or drivers, no?

 

[Ritsuki]

Mhm, i remember Nvidia drivers gave me them too. And iirc Windows makes a log in the Event Viewer so you could check it there.

Yes, I completely forgot about the Event Manager. I also had problems with a wireless card driver that was causing random BSOD once, but the solution is quite easy when it's driver related : install a proper version of the driver

 

[gudenau]

Sometimes a BSOD can signal a bad error that could mean the end of your computer if not taken care of, always check what caused the BSOD.

 

[Attacker3]

Wow, thanks everyone :-) I shall run memtest86 when i get back to my computer. You guys sre great for replying so quickly. Thanks.

Yikes, it happened again... Good thing I have backups??? Aw who am I kidding, my computer is screwed. I did notice like over 100 windows updates that should fix issues, so maybe that will help

 

[TecXero]

I don't think I've seen a BSOD since early Windows XP. I've screwed up various Ubuntu installs while becoming familiar with Linux, but other than that I haven't had any of those problems in a long time. Customers' computers I don't really count.

 

[migles]

Yikes, it happened again... Good thing I have backups??? Aw who am I kidding, my computer is screwed. I did notice like over 100 windows updates that should fix issues, so maybe that will help

i actually seen some updates starting to give me BSOD a few days later after install..

also, i don't belive they will fix this, do as what i told, run mem test 86 (under a usb\cd boot) and let it run for a few hours, if no crash happens, then the issue is either the hdd\software (like drivers) or the weak power unit..

i would also say, check CPU\GPU temperature...

btw, tell us your computer specs (parts)?
and when did you noticed the BSOD appearing? as early as you built the pc or after installing loads of stuff?

 

[Jayro]

Bad drivers, faulty/miss-seated memory, overclocking/over-volting too far, failing harddrive, can all give you a BSOD. You just gotta read the error message it gives you, look up the code, and try to solve the problem.

 

[Attacker3]

I now realise that I don't own any USB drives.

Specs:
CPU: AMD FX-6300
GPU: AMD R7 260x
RAM: Decent Corsair 8GB (2x4GB)
HDD: Western Digital 1TB
SSD: Samsung SSD (Not a new one, but not old either)
Case: I keep the computer in my stomach

I have no clue where I will get a USB drive. The Windows Updates seem to have helped for now, but I don't know how long that will last. My PSU is way more than I need, as it's 500 watts, too much for my needs. My mobo is a Gigabyte higher end budget motherboard. Man, I hope this doesn't get any worse.

Also, the votes on the top of the post aren't too far apart. Now I feel conflicted

 

[RandomUser]

I now realise that I don't own any USB drives.

Specs:
CPU: AMD FX-6300
GPU: AMD R7 260x
RAM: Decent Corsair 8GB (2x4GB)
HDD: Western Digital 1TB
SSD: Samsung SSD (Not a new one, but not old either)
Case: I keep the computer in my stomach

I have no clue where I will get a USB drive. The Windows Updates seem to have helped for now, but I don't know how long that will last. My PSU is way more than I need, as it's 500 watts, too much for my needs. My mobo is a Gigabyte higher end budget motherboard. Man, I hope this doesn't get any worse.

That power supply is probably the culprit on your BSOD, it does not have enough oomph to provide the needed wattage for your GPU. According to Newegg.com, the GPU needs 500 watts minimum, thus leaving nothing for your CPU, RAM, and other hardwares. If it is actually the PSU, then the you are permanently damaging your hardware. So yes, in this case, this BSOD is bad.
Also if you want, you can disable automatic restart to be able to get the error codes, from the BSOD.

 

[Attacker3]

That power supply is probably the culprit on your BSOD, it does not have enough oomph to provide the needed wattage for your GPU. According to Newegg.com, the GPU needs 500 watts minimum, thus leaving nothing for your CPU, RAM, and other hardwares. If it is actually the PSU, then the you are permanently damaging your hardware. So yes, in this case, this BSOD is bad.
Also if you want, you can disable automatic restart to be able to get the error codes, from the BSOD.

The PSU is much too big for my needs, in a matter of fact. I could run an Intel i5 processor and an R9 280 on this hardware
Manufacturers always overestimate the wattage by a lot

 

[Kioku]

A 500w psu is more than enough for that GPU+Hardware. The minimum 500 is a recommendation not a requirement.

 

[RandomOddness]

A BSOD is rarely going to be due to catastrophic failure or imminent doom, more often than not it's simply driver related, what you should always be looking for is the error code, if the error code doesn't change between BSODs it's nearly always driver related or due to corrupt files, which could also point to a faulty HDD/SSD but not as likely, if it changes at each BSOD it is more likely to point towards faulty hardware. Clearly you have an intermittent fault, I'd recommend using bluescreenview to view the past mini-dumps and work out the cause from there. Memtest is a great tool for testing RAM but you haven't mentioned whether or not you've overclocked your CPU, you also mention that you have a 500W PSU but haven't stated the brand, oddly enough if you use a bad enough brand, even if 500W is adequate it could be that the brand you have doesn't give enough power to the 12V Rail which can cause BSODs when the GPU is active. Hopefully your troubles are now fixed with the latest updates.

 

[DinohScene]

I.....
I haven't had a BSOD on me lappy, only when I updated to beta drivers of the GFX card, it BSOD on me.
Other then that, never experienced one.

On me UMPC I used to get them with the sherry drivers, reverting back to the original drivers fixed this problem for me.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

An occasional bsod doesn't bother me that much.
When it BSODs on boot though, it's rage inducing and honestly makes me want to break stuff sometimes.
I went through a full day of installing a driver, rebooting my laptop, BSOD, into safe mode to remove the driver, reboot again, try another driver, rinse and repeat.
And it took me a few hours into the next day before I finally found a driver that worked.
I raged so hard, all that was just because I wanted to play a game and it crashed a lot so I figured updating my GPU driver would solve the problem.
BSODs are the spawn of Satan, sent to create hell on earth by torturing innocent PC users.