Hi all, Last night I (with my wife's help) built up the second PC shown in my signature (Wife's Gaming PC). Everything went smoothly bar the fiddle PSU installation and lack of cable management in the Lian Li case. Windows 7 installed fine as did all of the neccessary drivers required to get it up and running. As far as I could tell the system was ready to use. Now comes the "issue" or "quirk" depending on which way you look at it: On boot up and under Windows 7 system properties (Device manager) the processor shows as "AMD processor unknown". MSI core centre doesn't know what the processor is (all entries show blank) so I don't get any ability to tweak it through windows (only use the software for fan control anyway so this isn't a big issue). CPU-Z registers the CPU as a Phenom X6 1605T running at 3GHZ (all other boxes look correct for a Phenom II X4/X6). I presume that this is the name given to a unlocked X4 960T (just like an unlocked 555BE is called a X4 B55). Bios wise I can see and use all of the overclocking options, voltage options and most importantly core unlock options (all of which are enabled). Performance wise I have run it through the CPC benchmark and it scored 1279 stock (3GHz) and 1339 at 3.3Ghz. Looking at Bit's reviews a Phenom II X6 1100T (3.3Ghz) scores 135x, once I factor in the RAM timings - which I didn't tweak (so very slack), I am scoring basically the same as a X6 at the same clock speed. I also ran the processor through Intel Burn Test for 30 minutes (ran out of time last night as I wanted to benchmark it) and it passed. All of the benchmarks, bios features and key pieces of software point to processor being fully functional and fully unlocked. I should point out that the bios has been fully updated on the 870A-G54 MB. The one installed should be compatible with the 960T. My main question comes down to; Is the processor showing as "unknown" at boot a issue? Judging by the performance results and the fact the system seems to work fine I don't think it is an issue but I have never experienced this before.
How many cores is it showing as , sounds like you mobo made it's own mind up about unlocking and just done it. That said if all is as it should be then I cant see any probs with a slightly dodgy identification.
Thanks chaps! My wife is dead chuffed with how it turned out. The Lian Li case looks great. CPU-Z and Task Manager both show 6 cores working. My MB had decided to unlock them by itself which was interesting as I wasn't expecting that. It just seems really odd that it doesnt know what the processor is (or says it doesn't) but knows enough that it had cores to unlock. I suppose it just doesn't recognize the ID string but recognizes everything else. Bizarre. The build is pretty nice. All told it came about £450 if I factor in the original price of the components I already had. The parts to complete it cost just over £200 (CPU, Case, DVD drive and GPU). The only downside is the PSU, great as it is, doesn't have braided cables. Against the silver inside of the case it doesn't look that great. It works though so there is little point in "upgrading" it.
Sounds like the setting for core unlocking was already turned on so when you rebooted it just done it. But all's well that ends well as they say. Now stop fiddling and give it back to your misses so she can play some games on it....lol
I think you both might be right there actually. It was switched on as I used to have a 555BE unlocked. When it was stripped down I must have left the option enabled. AoE - could you possible confirm what your old 960T registered as in CPU-Z? Oh well it works I have to get Steam back up and running for her and her game backups reinstalled. I am also going to try and get her into BF3 - should be fun.
Ok oddity/quirk #2 has arisen. After a failed restart last night (fiddling with the HD4870) I hard reset the machine only to be greeted with the processer correctly recognized as a "Phenom II X4 960T". Windows recognizes it correctly and CPU-Z reads it as a 960T (4c/4T) as well. I have lost the ability to unlock the last two cores - both using MSI core unlocker and in the bios whilst performance in the CPC benchmark has dropped from being in line with a X6 1100T to roughly equal to a X4 955BE. Considering the performance drop I think its fair to say that it *was* running as a 6 core but now the MB has decided it isn't. I am left somewhat TBH. Ultimately I am not too dissapointed as core unlocking isn't guaranteed but it seems odd that the option has dissapeared entirely (not to mention that the CPU appeared stable as a 6 core anyway). I have also noticed some bizarre issues where the system will restart after windows update but refuses to boot properly (monitor goes into sleep mode). Hard resetting is successful and the system seems perfectly stable. Ultimately I may end up changing the board out for a nice Asus 990X Evo I have seen for under £100. The ability to unlock the last two cores (which appear stable) and OC a X6 is too tempting (damn it!). EDIT: One positive is that I have managed to shave 10-12 degrees off of the idle temperature of the HD4870 whilst keeping the Twin Turbo set to 7v (basically silent). For whatever reason the card doesn't clock down from 750/900 in idle mode. Voltage stays at 1.26v which given that I havn't fiddled with it can only presume is stock. Idle temperatures were pushing 55 degrees which seemed a tad high for me - although I am aware that the HD4870 does run hot. I have now created a profile in Afterburner which loads with windows and sets the clocks to 350/600 and the voltage to ~ 1.075v. This has had the effect of dropping idle temps to 40-42 degrees. A second profile has the stock clocks and stock voltage for gaming purposes. This isn't ideal but given what I paid for the card I am not too bothered.
