Athlon 64 X2 upgrade

[MiCm]

Hi Guys

Ive just upgraded my CPU from an Athlon 64 3700+ single core, to a 4600+ X2 dual core.

Everything ran fine at first, faster than before as expected, but during games the pc now crashes without warning and I have to reset. Any ideas what it could be?

(Its a HP t3245 pc, I checked HP's website and the PC definitely supports this CPU. I'm am also using the most recent bios update)

 

[nickslick74]

2 possibilites come to mind. One is that either your CPU or GPU is overheating. Did you use thermal paste or the thermal pad that came with the cpu?

Second is that your power supply may not be up to the task. Look at the stick on the bottom of the power supply and see what brand it is, the watts and how many amps on the 12+V line(s).

 

[MiCm]

the PSU is a seasonic 430w and has given me no trouble so far

the X2 CPU came boxed with its own heatsink and fan that had thermal paste pre-applied. (the paste was pre-applied to the heatsink only)

The GPU like the PSU, I have never had any trouble with which leads me to believe its the new processor thats causing the problems.

Also, the sound cuts out and instead a ringing noise comes out of the speakers when the system hangs.

thanks

 

[nickslick74]

Did you update your BIOS?

 

[MiCm]

yes the bios is the most recent version, obtained from HP's updates page for my particular pc.

unless theres a new bios i need for this processor?

 

[Didou]

Have you reinstalled your OS after the CPU change ? It shouldn't be mandatory but if your OS was a bit shaky before the CPU swap, things might have only gotten worse now.

For an Athlon64 X2 there are two utilities from AMD that you should install; one is the CPU driver (which allows you to use cool'n'quiet) & the other is the duam-core optimizer. Have you installed those already ?

& lastly, have you tried running a memtest to see how your new CPU handles your memory ?

 

[MiCm]

formatted and reinstalled windows. made no difference. still crashes. ive been running the amd drivers and the dual core optimiser and its still crashing

i'm going to try removing the extra 2 sticks of ram i put in a few months back (2x512) this will take me back to the original 2x512 ram.

failing that im not sure what else i can do?

 

[wolfram]

Did you run Memtest86 for at least 7-8 passes?

 

[MiCm]

been running memtest for the last day or so. Ran 3 times, crashed 3 times

1st time = managed 5 passes before crashing
2nd time = 2 passes
3rd time = 12 passes

I'm not sure overheatings the case now since the crashes seem to be random, ranging from under 2 hours wall time to over 7 hours. Bought it from scan so going to give them a ring i think see what they say.

cheers for the help so far guys

 

[agi_shi]

I believe your problem is that some games don't like 2 cores. As a simple solution, try running th game, alt-tabbing to the desktop, and then bring up the task manager (ctrl+alt+del). Find your game processor, right click, and Set Affinity. Check only one core out of the two (since the two are checked already).

 

[MiCm]

that might be true for games, but what about it crashing when running memtest which doesn't even use an operating system?

 

[agi_shi]

that might be true for games, but what about it crashing when running memtest which doesn't even use an operating system?

Well, then, your ram is the problem =).

 

[wolfram]

Yeah, it's probably faulty RAM

 

[MiCm]

I removed the extra 2 sticks of ram i put in a few months back but it made no difference.

I'll try leaving my new ram in and taking my old ram out this time. Do you think a new cpu could cause ram that was working fine before to suddenly start causing crashes then?

 

[MiCm]

OK, took out the original ram and moved the newer 2x512 sticks into the primary slots (so back down to 1gb).

Just ran 3dmark again, still crashed. Really thought it was going to work this time

How many retail boxed X2 processors do you hear having problems?

 

[agi_shi]

OK, took out the original ram and moved the newer 2x512 sticks into the primary slots (so back down to 1gb).

Just ran 3dmark again, still crashed. Really thought it was going to work this time

How many retail boxed X2 processors do you hear having problems?

0 problems of this type =(... What about you put in your own processor and run 3DMark or something. If it crashes, then you know it's not your new processor. If it does NOT crash, then you know your X2 is the problem so RMA it.

 

[MiCm]

Yea, I think thats the only thing left to do. Tried everything else. I left my single core athlon at home, going back on wednesday so I'll swap em over then.

Scan's right by where I live, so I'll just take it in and get them to test it if everything runs fine with my old CPU back in.

Keep you posted,

Cheers

 

[Didou]

Have you looked for a BIOS update for your motherboard ? It could be that the current BIOS doesn't properly support dual-core CPUs or maybe just doesn't support the CPU revision you're using.

 

[MiCm]

I'm using the most recent BIOS update off HP's update site, and since HP say that the motherboard supports upto 4800+ X2 processors I assumed the BIOS would incorporate that

(Link to motherboard spec)
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...=uk&lang=en&rule=37395&dlc=en&product=1154282

Do you think I may need another BIOS version then? If so, where would you recommend getting the BIOS from?

 

[MiCm]

Took the processor into scan today. They tested it at full capacity for about 20 minutes, no problems.

The guy who tested it reckoned it was my motherboard that was the trouble, some kind of fault, since the BIOS is the most recent release and the CPU was listed as supported.

So its looks like there's nothing left to do but sell the processor second hand. Put my original 3700+ back in, which is running fine. Anyone looking for a 1-week old S939 Athlon 64 X2 4600+?