Hardware PC Error: a clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor

[AceWarhead]

Hello all-
Recently, my PC has been acting strangely. It would sometimes freeze while playing SCII, or sometimes just BSOD with the error: a clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor. I checked and WhoCrashed says that the error is being caused by: ntoskrnl.exe with the error code: CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT
Now, my Windows 7 copy is... er... not exactly legal... but it has been working flawlessly up until now. I Don't know what would be causing the error
But the other day, I tried to go into the BIOS and change something, and upon exiting... only a black screen. OS it may be the Motherboard? Please help! Anything is much appreciated
Specs:

 

[AceWarhead]

Anyone?

 

[Rydian]

Definitely some sort of hardware issue. I'd have it checked out by a local shop that can handle and test it physically.

 

[AceWarhead]

Thank you Rydian. Helpful as always!
Strangely, I just did a system restore and played SCII for about an hour, with no freezes this time, which is very strange.. as the error usually indicates a hardware issue like you stated. I will run some CPU stress tests and such and see the results.
The nearest trustworthy shop I have is Best Buy's GeekSquad. Would you recommend them?

 

[Rydian]

I'd recommend a BIOS update for the motherboard, but most of the other junk would be testing parts, like trying Prime95 to see if the CPU's stable and swapping it out and junk.

From everything I've read and seen, Best Buy's way too lazy to spend time doing those types of tests, and is likely to format it and tell you it's fixed, or tell you to buy a new one. Their employees generally don't have the time to run multi-hour tests on a single machine.

 

[AceWarhead]

I'd recommend a BIOS update for the motherboard, but most of the other junk would be testing parts, like trying Prime95 to see if the CPU's stable and swapping it out and junk.

From everything I've read and seen, Best Buy's way too lazy to spend time doing those types of tests, and is likely to format it and tell you it's fixed, or tell you to buy a new one. Their employees generally don't have the time to run multi-hour tests on a single machine.

Alright, so BestBuy's a no-no
I'll just do the "other junk" as you mentioned and do a BIOS update.
By the way, during a stress test, what temperature should the CPU peak at? I am afraid of overheating or meltdown during it.

 

[Rydian]

It depends on the CPU somewhat.
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-A8-Series A8-3870 AD3870WNZ43GX.html
According to that (in-depth) spec sheet, 72C should be the max safe.

 

[Coto]

what about you do a fresh system reinstall before buying a new cpu? A new bios update would be handy too, who knows, maybe a BIOS setting causing issues or simply some thread left unfinished because of busy CPU (ok checks should be at hw level, but who knows) or weird cpu drivers/config. motherboard drivers could help too. Or simply a busted CPU

 

[AceWarhead]

what about you do a fresh system reinstall before buying a new cpu? A new bios update would be handy too, who knows, maybe a BIOS setting causing issues or simply some thread left unfinished because of busy CPU (ok checks should be at hw level, but who knows) or weird cpu drivers/config. motherboard drivers could help too. Or simply a busted CPU

Hey, thanks for responding. Yes, I did a fresh re-install of Windows 7 when I rebuilt my computer, and I will probably do an update when I have free time. If It is a busted CPU, I can get a return from the manufacturer?

 

[Rydian]

If the CPU is faulty, then hopefully yes. Some parts rarely break (unless overclocked) and usually have a "lifetime" warranty, sometimes CPUs are included.

 

[raulpica]

IIRC the COP is now integrated into CPUs, so yeah, your CPU is probably "skipping" a clock. Getting a new CPU should fix it.

 

[AceWarhead]

If the CPU is faulty, then hopefully yes. Some parts rarely break (unless overclocked) and usually have a "lifetime" warranty, sometimes CPUs are included.

Ah, I looked on my CPu's manual, and it states that I have a 3year warranty on it, and can be replaced if I have not installed a new heatsink/fan or overclock it. So I am good to replace it !

IIRC the COP is now integrated into CPUs, so yeah, your CPU is probably "skipping" a clock. Getting a new CPU should fix it.

Sorry for being a noob, but what do you mean when the CPU is "skipping" and clock? Is it skipping a process cycle?

 

[AceWarhead]

Strangely enough, SCII is the only game that is crashing for this error. I have run several other games, and all work fine for hours. Could this be purely SCII's fault?
AMD has not responded for my warranty return yet.

 

[Rydian]

A usermode program wouldn't cause an issue like this. There's a problem with the computer and it's just that SCII's the only game triggering the right circumstances.

 

[Foxi4]

I bet million dollars that it's the motherboard. ASRock sucks so much that they should probably produce straws, not electronics.

 

[AceWarhead]

I bet million dollars that it's the motherboard. ASRock sucks so much that they should probably produce straws, not electronics.

Heh, probably true. the BIOS froze on me when I tried to boot off of another harddrive. Is their any way for me to test that it's the motherboard though?

 

[AceWarhead]

Hey all, I was wondering something
AMD said to just send the the processor, which is fine.
But what I am wondering is, will they send me a new fan/heatsink? Because the thermal paste will just dry up on the fan/heatsink...