Fatal hardware error (I ******** give up......)

[Lanackse-Kanvae]

OK my machine just rebooted a few times and even hang during rebooting. Check around the event viewer and found this error (yes it said error and the icon is a red circle around a white exclamation mark so this isn't a minor hiccup):

Quote:

A fatal hardware error has occurred.

Component: AMD Northbridge
Error Source: Machine Check Exception
Error Type: HyperTransport Watchdog Timeout Error
Processor ID: 0

The details view of this entry contains further information.

Win 7 SP1 64 bit.
Not sure about the GPU now since Device Manager says one thing and AMD's own autodetect says another.

Any ideas on how I can stop this?

Update: Unless you have a serious solution and have read this entire post, any and all further posts will be considered spam and dealt with as such.

[Synapt]

Are you trying to overclock at all? That's kinda what comes into my mind first.

[Lanackse-Kanvae]

Synapt

Are you trying to overclock at all? That's kinda what comes into my mind first.

Nope. I'm no hardware expert but I know enough that OC-ing is a bad idea if you're not familiar enough with the hardware.

I did clean it earlier this year with a can of compressed air to the fans so it can't be dust bunnies already.

[bhnascar]

Hmm, what I've found from Googling is that other people who saw this error had hardware issues. If not problems with overclocking and voltage, then something like bad capacitors or heating issues...any chance you pointed that nozzle a little too close to the motherboard yesterday and damaged something?

[Lanackse-Kanvae]

bhnascar

Hmm, what I've found from Googling is that other people who saw this error had hardware issues. If not problems with overclocking and voltage, then something like bad capacitors or heating issues...any chance you pointed that nozzle a little too close to the motherboard yesterday and damaged something?

I know to hold it 6 inches from anything delicate if you use it there at all. I mostly concentrated the compressed air on the fans.

[bhnascar]

Lanackse-Kanvae

I know to hold it 6 inches from anything delicate if you use it there at all. I mostly concentrated the compressed air on the fans.

Whoops, my bad, somehow I thought you said yesterday instead of earlier this year. In that case I'm wondering if your computer is just getting old. Also, I think this more likely has something to do with the CPU than the GPU because the component in question is the northbridge, which is part of the front side bus.

[Lanackse-Kanvae]

bhnascar

Lanackse-Kanvae

I know to hold it 6 inches from anything delicate if you use it there at all. I mostly concentrated the compressed air on the fans.

Whoops, my bad, somehow I thought you said yesterday instead of earlier this year. In that case I'm wondering if your computer is just getting old. Also, I think this more likely has something to do with the CPU than the GPU because the component in question is the northbridge, which is part of the front side bus.

It's only 3 years old so not that old really considering that I've had computers running well into double digit years.

[Lanackse-Kanvae]

ok legal bump since this landed on the second page.

[name_is_taken]

the error you are getting is linked to the HyperTransport which is the link that AMDs CPUs use to communicate with the northbridge, the PCIe lanes and such. If the mobo has capacitors going bad and the voltage is not regulating properly it can cause crashes when trying to communicate with the video, memory or anything

so it links everything HDD, CD RAM the whole shebang maybe even the powersupply not giving the right voltage to the MoBo

it is very hard to even pinpoint what is wrong until it dies completely

probably you will need a new MoBo

[Lanackse-Kanvae]

name_is_taken

the error you are getting is linked to the HyperTransport which is the link that AMDs CPUs use to communicate with the northbridge, the PCIe lanes and such. If the mobo has capacitors going bad and the voltage is not regulating properly it can cause crashes when trying to communicate with the video, memory or anything

so it links everything HDD, CD RAM the whole shebang maybe even the powersupply not giving the right voltage to the MoBo

it is very hard to even pinpoint what is wrong until it dies completely

probably you will need a new MoBo

Would there be any way that I could get this repaired on warranty or would I be wasting my time?

[ebattleons_alt]

If it is still under warranty...yes you will be able to get it fixed.

Does the PC still boot?
Or do you get the error as soon as you boot?

[Lanackse-Kanvae]

ebattleons_alt

If it is still under warranty...yes you will be able to get it fixed.

Does the PC still boot?
Or do you get the error as soon as you boot?

It's 3 years old so doubted very much on the having warranty front. Most warranties are 12 months unless you're dumb enough to buy the extended warranties that have so many exclusions that the paper they're written on is only useful to wipe your arse.
It still boots into regular mode thank ********.
It only seems to happen if I push the computer a little. I did some research and apparently this is a common issue with AMD systems.

Might be worth issuing a ticket with the manufacturers and seeing what they say.

Edit, can't drop a ticket because no warranty and I don't fancy calling tech support because I've had enough guff from tech support before. I have actually made a tech support worker back down from "it's a virus" via a story of the last virus I got and how I "nuked it back to its mama crying all the way" and replace a dying HDD.

[ebattleons_alt]

Like Name is taken said it could be a lot of things...
But if you are able this is what I would do....
1) I would Run the machine with the case open while running a 1080p video. This is to see if all the Fans are working.
2) I would Re-seat the memory modules and the Video card (assuming you have a video card)
3) If you can access a another machine swap your memory modules across to that machine and see if the issue occurs there. If you have a video card do the same.
4) If you have power supply that you know is in good state, substitute into your machine.

My suspects are in order...
Power supply
Video card
Memory Modules
Motherboard

[Lanackse-Kanvae]

ebattleons_alt

Like Name is taken said it could be a lot of things...
But if you are able this is what I would do....
1) I would Run the machine with the case open while running a 1080p video. This is to see if all the Fans are working.
2) I would Re-seat the memory modules and the Video card (assuming you have a video card)
3) If you can access a another machine swap your memory modules across to that machine and see if the issue occurs there. If you have a video card do the same.
4) If you have power supply that you know is in good state, substitute into your machine.

My suspects are in order...
Power supply
Video card
Memory Modules
Motherboard

1. I hear those fans working without the case being taken off. It's like an airplane taking off. Even my mum commented on it before.

2. If that was the case, the thing would've flagged up on day 1. The RAM and GPU come up correctly on System Properties and the Device Manager. The GPU was mentioned in the original post as showing on Device Manager and if it was seated incorrectly, it wouldn't be showing. The RAM wouldn't be showing in System Properties if it wasn't seated either and I would have mentioned "where's my RAM? There's xGB missing"

3. No spare machine. CANNOT AFFORD UNTIL AT LEAST MID 2015 presuming no major unexpected expenses or some ******** writing off my car.

4. No spare PSU. CANNOT AFFORD UNTIL AT LEAST MID 2015.