XP 64 bit crashes (blue screen)

My computer keeps crashing to the blue screen of death alsmot randomly. first
the mouse stopd moving, then theres a delay then a horibly high pitched
painful sound from the soundcard, and then the blue screen comes up, with the
error "Machine Check Exception".

It was doing this with XP Pro installed, so i re-formated, and installed PRo
again, with no luck, and now I'm running XP Pro 64 bit edition, same problem.

I'm guessing this is hardware related, but have no idea how to figure out
which device is the culpit.

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks,

Nick

 

-----EDIT-----

My computer keeps crashing to the blue screen of death almost randomly.
First, the mouse stops moving, then there's a delay, then a horibly high
pitched
painful sound from the soundcard, and then the blue screen comes up, with the
error "Machine Check Exception".

It was doing this before, with XP Pro installed, so I re-formated, and
installed XP Pro again, with no luck, and now I'm running XP Pro 64 bit
edition, with the same problem.

I'm guessing this is hardware related, but have no idea how to figure out
which device is the culpit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

Nick

 

Since it happens in two different OSes, it definitely sounds like either a
heat related problem, or perhaps there is a short somewhere inside the case.

Bobby

 

Machine check exceptions are almost always hardware.
1.) disable any overclocking
2.) remove all cards except the minimum required while you're
troubleshooting
3.) Test your memory - that's the most likely culprit. For possible testers
and solutions, see my blog:
http://msmvps.com/xperts64/archive/2005/09/01/64999.aspx

 

Can't be a heat issue, both the exhaust and the ambient air inside the case
is cold, even after running for hours. how would i check for a short?

 

See my last answer to this thread. And I quote:
===
Machine check exceptions are almost always hardware.
1.) disable any overclocking
2.) remove all cards except the minimum required while you're
troubleshooting
3.) Test your memory - that's the most likely culprit. For possible testers
and solutions, see my blog:
http://msmvps.com/xperts64/archive/2005/09/01/64999.aspx

 

It's not the memory... I ran the MS test utility in advanced mode with no
problems.

This CPU isn't o/c either.

I pulled the graphics card out, and it has been stable since then... but its
only been a few hours, not long enough to be sure the issue has been fixed.