Hey there! A few weeks back I posted in wanting some advise in how to build my i7 rig. Well a few things changed, and I don't have the i7. I got a few different parts here and there, and just finally put the rig together last night. But, I seem to have an endless amount of problems now, and I desperately need you help! Here are my Specs: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9750 3.2Ghz EVGA 750i Cheesecake 8GB Patriot Viper 800 BFG GTX 280 OC Western Digital Caviar Blue 320 GB Sata Ok, so first thing is first. My computer is saying my CPU is only 2.0Ghz! It states the name of the chip, but in the bios and benchmark test, it says it's only running at 2.0Ghz. What is the deal there? How does that even happen? Do I have a bad chip? Or is my chip somehow being under clocked? Now for the FUN stuff. Ever since I first booted my computer up, I've had COUNTLESS BSOD errors here and there. By the way I'm running Vista Ultimate. As well as the errors I've encountered I've been having some odd graphic errors too. After around 20 minutes of use, all the images on my screen get changed back into like 1000 color mode (instead of Millions of Colors) so everything looks just horrible. And things like clicking on the Start Menu give me only half the menu. I thought maybe it was the Card overheating, so I downloaded Riva Tunner and cranked the fan up to 100% to test it out, and I still get the same issues. Then I figured it was my drivers, since the ones that were on the CD were obviously old. So when I try to go to Nvidia's site and download the correct drivers, and install them, Windows says that the .EXE is corrupt. And that happens no matter what, no matter how many times I download the proper drivers. Now, for the good 'ol BSOD. I've gotten 8 different BSOD error messages so far, and have no idea what the hell they mean. These are the ones I've received : 0×0000001E: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED 0×0000000A: IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL 0×00000024: NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM 0×0000003B: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION 0×0000008E: KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED 0×0000001A: MEMORY_MANAGEMENT What on earth does that mean? Is there always this many issues when building a computer?
If you haven't set the CPU multiplier in the BIOS, it's still set at the stock, lowest possible. On non-Extreme Editions it's 6, don't know about EE's. Set it to 8 (8 x 400MHz = 3200MHz). Also check the memory timings, speed and voltage. If they are set wrong, it could be the cause to the instabilities you're having. Nope, there shouldn't be any.
Well I just check the timings and voltage for my RAM and those were WAY off. So will see if this will fix some of the issues. And you were correct, the Multiplier was set to the lowest. But, the way mine looks it's 333MHz x 8 so it's still not quite to stock clock speed. Would it be safe to set the multiplier to 9 or even 10? And to answer the PSU question, I'm running 650w.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors#.22Yorkfield_XE.22_.2845_nm.29 FSB should be 400MHz on a QX9770, and multiplier 8x. Set the FSB (and adjust memory multiplier accordingly) and set the CPU multiplier to 8.
Nothing to do with your BIOS FSB & multiplier settings, but you may notice your processor still looking slow in Windows if using a program like CPU-Z. Modern Intel processors automatically run slower (at a lower multiplier) when idle due to Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology (EIST).
What are your temperatures? What EVGA BIOS are you using? What 650W PSU exactly? Try it with 4GB of memory (2x2GB).
Well thanks for all the advise. All my BSOD problems went away. Evidentally my voltage and timing settings for the RAM were the culprit. But my CPU still seems to not be at the correct clock speed. I changed the Multiplier to x9 and the BIOS says I'm running at 3.00GHz, but CPU-Z says I'm still at 2.00GHz. Also, I'm not very BIOS savvy to say the least, so when you are referring to the FSB? Is that the same that corresponds with my RAM? If so, that FSB is set at 1333MHz. And to answer another question, I'm running the Pheonix BIOS. I'm pretty sure it's the most recent one, at least says the EVGA forums. But from what you guys are saying for my CPU, the Multiplier should read 9 x 400Mhz. But mine says 9 x 333Mhz. Is that a problem? It's been really hard to find anything revolving around the QX9750, I guess I can thank Intel for that. EDIT: And my temperatures are fine ( I think). CPU fluxuates from 39-41 degress Celsius. And my Motherboard is around 30-35 degress Celsius. And I'm running the Zues 650W PSU.
Are you sure the CPU is at the lower setting? Try running something intensive like Prime 95 when you have CPU-Z open. Your CPU may be throttling down to a lower speed whilst not in use to save energy.
that's speedstep dropping the freq to save power while it's idle. put some load on the processor and the speed will jump up to 3. you can turn off speedstep in the bios, but it's fine to leave it on, your CPU is still fast when you need it.
