Overclocking My rig arises! Now to get it working...

So, the rig in my sig finally lives again. I have named it Lazarus.

I have run into a couple of weird problems though, so a little help would be much appreciated.

First off, I have 2x1GB OCZ DDR2 800Mhz Gold, and 2x1GB DDR2 Kingston ValueRAM 800Mhz in the system. Everything seems stable, but the BIOS only seems to recognise 3GB of RAM. Tried all the sticks in every combination I can think of. I have another pair of 1GB OCZ sticks that match, but apparently they make whatever rig they are in Bluescreen. So yeah. Thoughts on that?

Also, the Q9400 shows up a weird temperature setup in HWMonitor. Core #0 seems to run at 34-35C idle, Core #1 runs at 33C, Cores #2 and #3 run at 47C. The Freezer 7 Pro seems to be mounted level, however. Buggered temp sensors, maybe? It's at stock right now. Not gonna OC until I know everything is stable.

Thoughts?

 

Apologies for asking but you'd never know: You have a 64-bit OS, right?


Now, it sounds to me that it could be a failed ram stick or failed RAM slot on the mobo. Have you tried testing the RAM one by one?

Try running memtest? You can download memtest86 for a lot more info.

 

Yeah, 64-bit Windows 7.

Okay, a little more info. I did a whole lot of RAM switching, but no matter what combination, the BIOS won't address more than 3072MB. This is at odds with Win 7, which shows in the system properties that 4GB is installed, but only 3GB is usable. In CPU-Z, it shows all 4 sticks with appropriate info. However, when starting up, or examining the hardware info in the BIOS, it only shows 3GB system memory. I tried a fully functional stick in each slot, and all the slots work. I tried removing them one at a time and replacing with a couple of spare sticks, to no avail. Really confused.

I'll try memtest next.

 

Have you defined a maximum memory amount in the advanced option section of the msconfig tool? if so clear it.

 

I get similar core temps, one core is always 4-10 degrees hotter than the rest...

 

Ahh, so that's to be expected? I'm safe to try and OC it a little? I'm sure I could hit 3GHz fairly safely.

 

Only one way to find out...

You wont kill the chip, probably just a dodgy core, so it kicks out more heat. Maybe worth just double checking your thermal paste though, just in case it's that

 

Well. A dodgy two cores. I'm pretty sure the thermal paste is even. I'm fairly anal about that. I'll give it a check when I next pop the case open. I'll check load temps too.

 

There might be a bios setting limiting you to 3072MB. My bios certainly has this setting.

 

The plot thickens. I don't have the manual for this mobo. It's an Asus P5B Deluxe WiFI-AP Edition. Anyone know where such a setting may be found?

 

Wont take you long to look through all the bios settings, on my board which is also an asus it is referred to as "remapping 4gb to 3072mb" enabled or disabled.

 

No cpre are made the same though. I'd ignore the one at 33, it's common. Mine currently are at 39,36,38,35, but I know if I load it the one at 39 will be way higher than the rest. I've had no issues with mine.

Also don't forget if your running 7 then one core is nearly always in use, at about 2-7%, just as windows background services

 

Alrighty. When I get this DiRT 2 update installed, I'll dig around in the BIOS for that option, and then I'll load the CPU to see what sort of load temps I get. Currently at 35, 33, 47 and 47.

 

Those last 2 do seem very off. What are you pulling the temps with?

 

HW Monitor and Coretemp show the exact same temps. They haven't fluctuated from 47 at any point.

 

I use realtemp. Either those cores were made badly or your thermalpaste has got issues...

 

Okay, did the sensor calibration in Realtemp, and hit up the small test in Prime 95. The temps levelled off fairly quickly. Here's a picture. Coretemp's temperatures are listed in the CPU meter top right, HWMonitor is obvious, as is Realtemp.

Thoughts?



Also: Could not find that RAM option anywhere in the BIOS. :/

Edit: Didn't even see the heat up phase. Still running :3

 

From this, I think, we can take away the fact that the temperature sensors in this CPU are well and truly buggered.

Core #0 seems to be the only one that reports anything like a decent temperature range. Core #1 seems to top out at 47, core #2 caps at 48, but starts at 47, and core #3 starts at 47 and caps at 52!

 

Oh yay Did you get the chip second hand?

 

Yeah. The mobo, chip and 2GB of the RAM are straight from a friend. It's better than my old AM2 gear by a long shot, buggered temp sensors or not. At least I know I'm pretty far from Tjunction even on full load.