i7-2600 Win7 (Boot Camp) BSODs
We have 3 new i7-2600, 3.4GHz, 8GB imacs--2 running Win7-64 under Fusion VMs, 1 running Win7-64 on a Boot Camp partition. It's the latter machine which is problematic. Win7 install runs perfectly, Boot Camp drivers appear to install perfectly. However, soon after, machine freezes or is snagged by BSOD, e.g., “a clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor within the allocated time interval” or the dreaded “IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL”.
When functioning, machine’s Device Manager displays 8 total cores. I don’t understand the i7’s 4/8 capabilities; however did find a suggestion to try limiting cores upon boot … by way of msconfig (‘advanced’ dialog). Set it to 4 cores. Machine has been stable for 2 days now—no freezes, no BSODs. I have not found any discussions specific to the iMac i7-2600 re: these symptoms or this apparent workaround. Would love some insight if it can be had.
Ps. I have wiped the Boot Camp partition and reinstalled--same exact results. I have tested for possible memory defects--no problems detected. (8GB memory was installed by Apple Store.)
iMac, Windows 7