Question Why does my computer keep giving me a blue error screen and shutting off?

Jun 5, 2019
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My build:
Asus Z97-A ATX Motherboard
Intel 4690K
Hyper 212 EVO
2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 1600
2 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 1866
Geforce GTX 960 SSC 4GB
NZXT H440 Case
6 Corsair Case fans
Corsair CXM 750W 80+ Bronze PSU

When I first built this machine in 2015 I had no problem overclocking with the 5-Way Optimization Firmware. I haven't been able to access the optimization for about 3 years now but my computer has been running fine on default settings. Recently decided to overclock again using the BIOS Setup Wizard. The computer runs fine until I run something intensive like a video game. My CPU temp is always below 40C but I get a Blue ERROR screen that says 'something happened with your system memory and your computer needs to reset'. How do I overclock my CPU and RAM safely in this situation??
 
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DavidM012

Distinguished
What it says. Most probably because you have mismatched memory. Removing the 8gb dimm would probably clear the problem up entirely.

Surprising that your cpu is only 40c overclocked, you have a lot of fans running, but you could double check that by using several different monitoring software, like hwinfo64 & real temp, if it is really 40c, very good.
 

QwerkyPengwen

Splendid
Ambassador
As stated, remove the 8gb stick.
Mismatched memory is most likely the culprit.

Memory needs to match in both speeds and timings as well as size when overclocking a CPU, and simply getting another 16gb stick won't do.

You could attempt to buy the exact same 16gb stick, but even thenyour mileage will vary.

The only surefire way to have more memory than just the 16gb stick is to buy a new kit.

However, 16gb is more than enough for gaming.

I have 6700K and 1080 Ti both overclocked and I game on high to max settings in all games at 1440p and I have not once needed more than the 16gb I have right now.

But if you wanted to reap the benefits of dual channel, then buying a new kit of 2x8gb would be your best bet.

Otherwise you can stick with your current single stick just fine, but don't use the 16 and the 8 together.

Once you're running on the single 16gb stick, you can proceed to set it to xmp profile then start overclocking the CPU.

I suggest resetting bios to defaults first and starting fresh.
 
Jun 5, 2019
6
0
10
As stated, remove the 8gb stick.
Mismatched memory is most likely the culprit.

Memory needs to match in both speeds and timings as well as size when overclocking a CPU, and simply getting another 16gb stick won't do.

You could attempt to buy the exact same 16gb stick, but even thenyour mileage will vary.

The only surefire way to have more memory than just the 16gb stick is to buy a new kit.

However, 16gb is more than enough for gaming.

I have 6700K and 1080 Ti both overclocked and I game on high to max settings in all games at 1440p and I have not once needed more than the 16gb I have right now.

But if you wanted to reap the benefits of dual channel, then buying a new kit of 2x8gb would be your best bet.

Otherwise you can stick with your current single stick just fine, but don't use the 16 and the 8 together.

Once you're running on the single 16gb stick, you can proceed to set it to xmp profile then start overclocking the CPU.

I suggest resetting bios to defaults first and starting fresh.


No I have 2 4gb sticks of memory running at 1866GHZ and then I just upgraded and added another 2 8gb sticks of 1600GHZ. I'm running all 4 sticks at 1600GHZ and they have the same latency and timing. When I open properties of the computer its reading all 24gb of memory. I received the same error message before I put the 2 new 8gb sticks in
 
Jun 5, 2019
6
0
10
What it says. Most probably because you have mismatched memory. Removing the 8gb dimm would probably clear the problem up entirely.

Surprising that your cpu is only 40c overclocked, you have a lot of fans running, but you could double check that by using several different monitoring software, like hwinfo64 & real temp, if it is really 40c, very good.

Yeah I have run other software in the past and the most my CPU has ever gotten up to is 46C after I had been running a game for a while and I had overclocked it from the base 3.5Ghz to 4.2Ghz.
 
Jun 5, 2019
6
0
10
What it says. Most probably because you have mismatched memory. Removing the 8gb dimm would probably clear the problem up entirely.

Surprising that your cpu is only 40c overclocked, you have a lot of fans running, but you could double check that by using several different monitoring software, like hwinfo64 & real temp, if it is really 40c, very good.

My case is just very well cooled, my GPU has never even got above 55C and that's after running a game for several hours and having overclocked it to the max.
 
Jun 5, 2019
6
0
10
The reason I wanted to keep all 4 sticks was because just after booting and without running any programs my computer is for some reason taking up 4gb of Ram memory for applications but I have changed it to where no applications start with startup. Is it normal for a windows 7 ultimate edition to take up 4gb of memory space on its own?
 

DavidM012

Distinguished
The bsod problem occurred before you added the new memory? Maybe your vCore is a bit low for the overclock check out this thread. I have no hands on experience with 4690k. P'raps your memory will work together after all.

You need to identify your model of cpu. Use cpu-z.

You could try tuning up your windows install by following a service optimization guide, to free up memory, but basically probably around that. My win10 uses 5gb idle, probably some memory reserved from samsung rapid mode for my ssd with samsung magician, that all depends on what programs you load at startup and whatever you've installed, that runs as a service, besides windows services.

*If you decide to run a stress test such as Prime 95, make sure you use version 26.6 of prime 95 that doesn't utilize avx instructions that heat the cpu unnecessarily.

Sounds like you ran the overclock but simply didn't do any testing so you get some odd errors and you aren't sure why.
 
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Another possibility is that your motherboard capacitors could be wearing down. So it works properly when not taxed, but crashes when voltage becomes too erratic. Also, is your PSU dating back to when you built the system? You may want to replace it (same reason - worn capacitors).