Can overclocking cause this?

Yes, overclocking is one of the most common causes. Reset BIOS to defaults as a first troubleshooting step.

How do I find which hardware failed?

Check Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System for WHEA-Logger events. They contain detailed hardware error source information.

Windows BSOD WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (0x00000124) — Hardware Failure

Criticalbsod

Overview

WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR is a critical BSOD caused by hardware failures including overheating CPU, faulty RAM, or failing storage drives that Windows cannot correct.

Key Details

Stop code 0x00000124 — Windows Hardware Error Architecture detected an uncorrectable fault
WHEA logs detailed hardware error records in Event Viewer
Most commonly caused by CPU overheating, bad RAM, or SSD/HDD failures
Overclocking is one of the most frequent triggers for this BSOD
Parameter 1 indicates error source: 0=processor, 1=PCI Express, 2=NMI

Common Causes

CPU overheating due to dried thermal paste or blocked heatsink
Unstable CPU or RAM overclock settings
Failing RAM modules with uncorrectable bit errors
SSD or HDD with bad sectors or firmware bugs
Power supply delivering unstable voltage to components

Steps

1Check CPU temperatures with HWMonitor or Core Temp — sustained temps above 90°C are dangerous
2Reset BIOS to default settings to remove any overclocking
3Run Windows Memory Diagnostic (mdsched.exe) and MemTest86 for thorough RAM testing
4Check drive health with CrystalDiskInfo — look for reallocated sectors and pending sectors
5Reseat RAM sticks and test one at a time to isolate a faulty module