Frequent BSOD for Dell XPS - bad motherboard?

[JohnF3]

I've been experiencing frequent blue screen reboots (windows 8.1 and now Windows 10) with my Dell XPS 8700. The error message varies, KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE, PAGE FAULT IN NONPAGED AREA, MEMORY MANAGEMENT, and IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL among others. I've run the Dell pre-boot hardware test from the BIOS and all the components pass (including the extended tests).

The one oddity that makes me suspect the motherboard is that when I do a restart, either via Windows update or any other new program installation that prompts for a restart, the PC will get stuck at the Dell BIOS splash screen. I can power it down (holding down power button for 10+ seconds) and then power it up again and that works fine, but a restart nearly always gets stuck.

Most recent memory dump file: https://tinyurl.com/q7wblhf


The system specs are as follows:

Processor: Intel Core i7-4770 3.4GHz (Turbo up to 3.9GHz)
8MB Cache
Processor Core: Quad-Core
Memory: 24GB DDR3
Memory Slots: 4
Graphics: AMD Radeon R9 270 2GB
Video Ports: HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI-D, DVI-I
Hard Drive: 2TB SATA HDD (7200rpm)
256GB SATA SSD
Optical Drive: BD-ROM
Sound: High Definition Audio
Network: 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
Wireless: 2x2 802.11ac Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Bluetooth: Yes

System purchased refurbished from Woot.

http://computers.woot.com/offers/dell-xps-intel-i7-radeon-r9-desktop-1

Any suggestions on what to try to solve the frequent BSOD's? Thanks!

 

[Kisianik]

Did it ever worked well? When you just purchased it? Looks like motherboard is dying.

 

[JohnF3]

Did it ever worked well? When you just purchased it? Looks like motherboard is dying.

I didn't have the frequent reboots initially, but it consistently got stuck at the BIOS screen on restarts almost from the first day I had the machine.

 

[Kisianik]

Woot stated that there is 1 year warranty from Dell, is it expired already? If not sure, PM me your Service Tag number, I will add to my devices and see if there any warranty left.

 

[JohnF3]

Woot stated that there is 1 year warranty from Dell, is it expired already? If not sure, PM me your Service Tag number, I will add to my devices and see if there any warranty left.

That's a whole different story.

I had to transfer ownership in order to get warranty service, and that took weeks as Woot didn't provide me with accurate information on the prior owner and Dell kept rejecting my transfer request. The transfer was approved but the warranty expired in the interim. I purchased it Aug 4 2014, but Dell showed it as July 15 and wouldn't budge on extending even though it took weeks to get the ownership transferred.

Woot said they will make good on any repair costs so I am pursuing it with Dell tech support as well but hoping that perhaps if it was not a hardware issue I could solve it here.

BTW, one takeaway is to make sure you transfer ownership ASAP for any refurbished Dell PC (or any other brand probably) as it will haunt you later if/when you have need for their tech support.

 

[Kisianik]

I would recommend, then, to register with dell community forums http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514 and copy and paste everything there, including your last post regarding warranty, it is not going to hurt.
Some Dell forum consultants like SpeedStep are very knowledgeable regarding motherboard issues, they might be able to shed a light on your problem.

Please post here a link to your post at Dell Forums, so we can observe and follow up.

 

[JohnF3]

I would recommend, then, to register with dell community forums http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514 and copy and paste everything there, including your last post regarding warranty, it is not going to hurt.
Some Dell forum consultants like SpeedStep are very knowledgeable regarding motherboard issues, they might be able to shed a light on your problem.

Please post here a link to your post at Dell Forums, so we can observe and follow up.

I posted to the Dell forums, we will see what that generates.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19646785

Yesterday I cleared the BIOS to default (using the motherboard jumpers). I also tested with just one pair and then the other pair of RAM sticks and the issue persists. The PC will fail to get past the BIOS splash screen 100% of the time that I select "Restart" from within Windows. It also fails to restart when I select "Restart" within the BIOS setup or within bootable USB utilities like MEMTEST86. So there must be something wrong with the motherboard at some basic level, it's not even getting to the O/S or drivers.

Thanks!

John

 

[Kisianik]

I asked SpeedStep to help you there, lets hope.

 

[JohnF3]

Dell replaced the motherboard, that solved the warmboot hangups but I still get a BSOD crashes several times a week. I started a new thread here.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2831215/recurring-bsod-windows-dell.html