BSOD while playing games and Rendering

Hi thanks for taking the time to help.

About a month or 2 back i noticed that whenever i played 'Dota 2' or 'The Witcher 3', my computer would freeze completely and then after 30 or so seconds a BSOD would appear with 'error code: Machine Check Exception'.

Running Core Temp i found that my cores are idle at 40-50 degrees celcius but rises to 70-80 degrees when playing games. i somewhat circumvented this by turning on the air con (it's summer in Australia).
However i am now alarmed as when i was trying to render a simple 3d model in maya, the core temps jumped to 90 degrees in a matter of seconds. then it'll freeze and give the same bsod.

What i've tried:
- i did a clean windows 10 install 2 weeks ago
- cleaned out the dust from the fans/filters with compressed air
- ran sfc scan now

From a hardware stand point; I would check the CPU cooler and make sure it was fully seated and not loose. Then check the power cable for the CPU cooler to make sure it's fully seated.

When was the last time you pulled the CPU cooler off?

it's been about 2 years since i've had this desktop. i guess i could try reapply thermo paste whilst double checking everything. the cpu fan is liquid cooled (corsair h55 i think) and it looks a bit intimidating for me so i never touched it haha.

Ahh....you have the H55i ..... it could be that your AIO CPU cooler is going bad. Do you hear any weird noises coming from the pump?

I don't hear any wierd noises. there was some water gurgling sounds after i cleaned the fans out but stopped when i let the computer run for an hour.
I'm thinking of buying a new liquid cooler because i'll need to work on some projects soon. Is there anything i can do to make sure that it's a problem with the water cooler? i just want to make sure before i spend money and have it go to waste.

Yes....you can replace your current AIO cooler with your stock cooler or any other aftermarket cooler you have laying around (air cooler) and check temps that way.

Personally, I don't buy into the hype of the AIO water coolers. When you see the benchmarks from respectable IT pro's and even regular users.....the temps difference is negligible at best ( 2 - 4 degrees). Then factor in the noise, as most of the AIO coolers are loud, compared to an air cooled cooler. This is just my opinion on the AIO's and for those reasons listed, I won't bother getting one.

Now if we switch our topic over to a water loop system, now that's a different story. The temps there would be more significant but the cost of such a system would have to be determined by the individual as each individuals systems are different. I for one don't wont to shell out that kind of money for water loop system....it's just not worth it to me.

so i picked up a corsair h80i v2. It did bring down the temps however my core temps still reached 90 degrees and then crash when under 100% load.

One of my friends recommended me to reset the bios because i may have magically overclocked it. so i did and a bunch of settings were set to [auto] and it worked!

i am now idling at 30 degrees, didn't crash when i was rendering, and ran prime95 for 20 minutes and the temps didn't go above 55 degrees.
i've never really opened the bios at all so it's wierd that it got changed. oh well at least everything is running smoothly now