Freezes after upgrading LGA775 Core2Duo to Core2Quad

P

posten

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Dec 8, 2004
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hey [H]OCP'ers, thanks for reading.

I took in a core2quad system to part out and decided I'd upgrade my core2duo system to the CPU from the core2quad.

'board is a Gigabyte GA-N650SLI-DS4. 4gigs RAM, Sapphire 4650 1GB. Win7x64 SP1. system has been rock solid for year and a half. no crazy usb devices besides mouse.

Sunday morning I swapped out the core2duo CPU in favor of the core2quad CPU (Q9400) and it seemed to be running ok. a couple windows reboots to recognize the hardware change and throw in some drivers, ok.

sporadic hangs. could be 30m into playing BlackOps, 5m into a fresh reboot, or 2 hours into streaming episodes of Justified to my MTPC. I don't think it's any physical hardware issue. CPU idles around 40c. HSF is attached and running well. the screen basically just freezes on what was last on screen.

I'd like to reinstall the chipset drivers but not sure how to. the only driver downloads for win7x64 from gigabyte's support pages are for the sound card.

As I'm writing this it's been sitting in the BIOS, responsive, CPU temps ok, no problems. Windows logs are not helpful. just "previous shutdown at __:__ was unexpected. I'm about to reinstall video card drivers but would appreciate any help/opinions you guys had.

Thanks.

P
 
Since the only change is the CPU and the symptoms are not specific to any software, the best thing would be to check the CPU. I have no idea how to do that but some of the programs used to test OCs (like the Intel Burn In Test, OCCT, Prime etc.) will stress it to perhaps reproduce the problem.

If you still have the old CPU around, plug it back in to see if the problems go away.
 
Make sure that processor is supported on the approved list and the board has latest bios version.
 
MrsOldMX has the same suggestion as I do. It is on the support list but I would still update to the latest. Also if you have a spare hard drive try doing a test install ie install windows and your games on a separate hard drive and see if it does it there as well to rule out OS issues.
 
Make sure the heatsink is seated properly.

If you already checked, check again.
 
the GA-N650SLI-DS4 is a pretty old board, I would look into upgrading your bios,

I suspect that your core 2 duo is a 65nm cpu and your new quad is 45nm.

What are your CPU's?
 
Last edited:
original core2duo was e6600...65nm. 1066fsb
newer core2quad is q9400...45nm. 1333fsb
both are on official CPU support list.
Ram is KVR800D2K2/2GR

will reset bios to factory default tonight, failing that reinstall video card drivers.
Will check HSF again. (I did keep the quadcore mated to it's respective HSF).
removed old compound, put arctic silver 5 on it. it's seated well. plugged in. bios sees it.

P
 
I would also upgrade the BIOS to the latest release. They could have an update that fixes some weird bugs with certain chips. Worth a shot at least.
 
I meant to include this earlier. yep, it's up to date. most recent.

I thought about retrying to flash current on but didn't pursue.

honestly, I got tired of it and about half hour ago put my core2 back in.

I did try a fresh install on a spare HDD and had no problems which supports the theory that it's a software problem, not a hw problem.

maybe I'll save the quad for a fresh build.

Thanks everyone for the input.

P
 
Just curious -- did you happen to try to reset the BIOS back to factory defaults?
 
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