Missing characters in /var/log/messages - hardware fault?

[Mark]

Hi,
I'm seeing missing characters in /var/log/messages after kernel panics on a
brand new box with a fresh install of 7.0-RELEASE.  Typical lines are:

May 30 0:14:53 odin2008 savecore: rebot after panic: age fault
May 3 10:14:3 odin2008 savecore: wrting core to vmcore.0

Does this imply a hardware fault?  Fsck is not showing any problems with the
disks.

Any help appreciated - I need to know whether I should just send the box
back or not!

Yours,
Mark