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Intel Prescott 3.0ghz PROBLEM!

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EmptyFlame

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 22, 2005
Messages
122
My friend is having a very peculiar computer problem. I've exhausted my knowledge, so I thought I would turn to the [H] for help.

He's currently running the current system:




Here is the problem. On a random day this week, without installing any new software or anything, his System process in task manager begins using up to 15-20% of his CPU constantly. We checked the system temperature and found his processor idling at around 65 degrees. He noticed it when he was suddenly getting 10fps in BF2 with longer than ususal load times (800x600, low settings).



Now, the system process is back to normal taking up less than 1% of clock cycles and about 250k of memory. The temperatures idle around 55 degrees, but his fps have not improved at all. In fact, it's gotten worse. He now gets about 2-5 fps in BF2.

He has ran 3 different types of spyware removal tools (M$, Spybot, and HijackThis) as well as antivirus software. He's also running ZA and is behind a router, so we're pretty sure that's not the issue. He's running all the lastest drivers for his hardware.

I will say that this has happened before with the system. We completely reformatted and reinstalled everything to no avail. We applied new thermal grease and reseated the CPU and it seemed to clear everything up (about 9 months ago). Now, it seems to be doing it again, so I'm afraid that it was just a temporary fix and there may be something wrong with the hardware. If we reseat the processor AGAIN, that will be 3 applications of arctic silver in a year.

He's a poor graduate student who just got married, so he can't really buy new hardware rigth now. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance.

[EDIT]: If this needs to go into a different forum heading, then feel free to move it, mods. [/EDIT]
 
have you tried an os reload? y is he using a ram divider? is he overclocked? (i dont know much about how intel chips clock) what speed ram is he using?
 
The previous time this occured, he did a complete reformat with O/S reinstall and it didn't fix anything. That's when we reseated the CPU with new thermal paste and it seemed to be a temporary fix.

He's not overclocked at all. Stock Intel P4 Prescott at 3.06ghz.

The 2x256MB of RAM are at PC2700 and the 1x512MB is at PC2100.
 
Sorry to state the obvious, but if reseating worked for 9 months last time, why not try it again? Very bizarre problem though, some kind of CPU degrading going on?
 
He's throttling, thats why performance goes down. Time for a new heatsink.

Thermalright site says xp-90 doesn't fit, but it does. (see sig) Is he using the stock cooler? Look for install error. Mine would get up to 63 on the stock cooler.

How is airflow? Add fans and tidy up the wires.

Get a matched pair of 2x512 pc3200 and ditch the 3:2 divider... he'll notice a huge difference. The voltage to the chip in the first pic is low... mine defaults @ 1.370... Is his PSU a POS?

We have identical systems, but mine is OCed and runs cooler. Definitely check the heatsink install and improve airflow. Use AS5 if you can for the thermal paste.... and USE THE DIRECTIONS DIRECTLY FROM THE ARCTIC SILVER SITE... nothing else.
 
Matrices said:
Sorry to state the obvious, but if reseating worked for 9 months last time, why not try it again? Very bizarre problem though, some kind of CPU degrading going on?
Click to expand...

Oh, that's definitely on the "to-do" list this week. We've got to pick up a new tube of AS and try to reseat it. What worries me is that it's a temporary fix to a hardware problem that we're missing, yanno? And I really hope it's not CPU degradation ....

mdameron said:
He's throttling, thats why performance goes down. Time for a new heatsink.

Thermalright site says xp-90 doesn't fit, but it does. (see sig) Is he using the stock cooler? Look for install error. Mine would get up to 63 on the stock cooler.

How is airflow? Add fans and tidy up the wires.

Get a matched pair of 2x512 pc3200 and ditch the 3:2 divider... he'll notice a huge difference. The voltage to the chip in the first pic is low... mine defaults @ 1.370... Is his PSU a POS?

We have identical systems, but mine is OCed and runs cooler. Definitely check the heatsink install and improve airflow. Use AS5 if you can for the thermal paste.... and USE THE DIRECTIONS DIRECTLY FROM THE ARCTIC SILVER SITE... nothing else.
Click to expand...

Not sure if it's the same thing, but I have thermal throttling turned off in the BIOS to see if that would fix it. No dice. I've talked to him about getting a new heatsink, and that may be a possible step when we pick up some AS.

I think the motherboard automatically sets that divider because he's running two different speeds of RAM, but I may be wrong (2x256MB is PC2700 and 1x512MB is PC2100).

Wires and airflow are fine. He's got a 120mm Vantec Stealth pushing air in and an Antec 120mm pushing it out the back. I did the wiring myself with some zipties, so he doesn't have any obstructed airflows. The PSU is the stock that came with the case. Antec 350w Smart Power.

What really bothers me is that I don't understand how the overheating of a CPU can cause the O/S software (System process) to use 20% of his clockcycles? Errors maybe?
 
Oh that poor underused CPU! Its trying to shove 800 MHz of FSB goodness into a set of RAM sticks that are just too slow to take it. :D

I think the processor is a little hot, but not throttling. Can you try running Throttlewatch to see if it actually is?

Also, posting specs instead of just screens of CPU-Z will help in troubleshooting. The screens do help though.
 
1. The Intel HSF is very good and I really doubt he needs a new one.IMO, the problem is with how you applied the AS5.For example I get 42 idle and 58 full on a 3.2@3.73 Ghz Prescott using the stock HSF with original TIM close to a year now.

Clean the HS and the cooler pad carrefully with alcohol and apply a very thin pure flat layer of paste.Mount the HSF carrefully and avoid and circular motion.


2.Mixing such different sticks of RAM isn't very smart.Secondly his running in single channel mode thus his performance is extremly poor.
Dunno how his memory is arranged but use DIMM 1 for the 512MB stick and 3,4 for the 2 256MB sticks so you can activate dual channel mode.Set a conservative CAS setting like 3-3-3-8/9 and run the RAM 1:1 with the FSB at 400Mhz.

3.You can't deactivate thermal throttling.It's a bult-in CPU feature.Once the CPU exceeds 67C it starts to throttle , inserting idle instructions in the pipeline => performance drops.
 
I dont know if someone said this earlier but them voltages are well well too low for a precott 3ghz. When i had mine at stock volts it was 1.36 i think
 
Just wanted to thank you guy for your input so far. We're going to try getting another tube of AS5 and reinstalling the heatsink (possibly a new one). If that doesn't seem to fix it, I'll let you guys know.

savantu said:
2.Mixing such different sticks of RAM isn't very smart.Secondly his running in single channel mode thus his performance is extremly poor.
Dunno how his memory is arranged but use DIMM 1 for the 512MB stick and 3,4 for the 2 256MB sticks so you can activate dual channel mode.Set a conservative CAS setting like 3-3-3-8/9 and run the RAM 1:1 with the FSB at 400Mhz.
Click to expand...

I'll talk to him about that and see if we can atleast get him going in dual channel mode.

I'm still curious, though. Do any of you know why an overheating processor would affect the System process in task manager? Seems like it would be two seperate things, but they are definitely connected.
 
coolkishan said:
I dont know if someone said this earlier but them voltages are well well too low for a precott 3ghz. When i had mine at stock volts it was 1.36 i think
Click to expand...

i noticed that too. It should be about a full volt higher :eek: What are the specs on that PSU? Running a demanding game may just be pushing the hardware harder than the PSU is able to push.
 
Oh and definately run your ram 1:1 to cpu i dont know why you put it on a divder its on stock speed:confused:
 
coolkishan said:
Oh and definately run your ram 1:1 to cpu i dont know why you put it on a divder its on stock speed:confused:
Click to expand...


because he has both DDR 266 and DDR 333 running together.
 
Yeah, so he's in single channel, AND running his RAM at way slower speeds than default. He'll give you a big hug after you set him up with 2x512 pc3200 in dual channel...
 
The PSU is an Antec Smartpower 350w that came with the Antec 3700BQE case he has.

If the cpu needs more voltage, wouldn't that make the temps even that much higher?
 
Indeed.Leave it on auto , Prescott has a microcontroller which tells the mobo how much power it needs , it has a variable voltage , not a fixed one like other cpus.
 
EmptyFlame said:
The PSU is an Antec Smartpower 350w that came with the Antec 3700BQE case he has.

If the cpu needs more voltage, wouldn't that make the temps even that much higher?
Click to expand...

Ask him what the BIOS is showing him for Vcore. Also, how is the system's stability as far as crashing or stalling?
 
pigpen said:
Ask him what the BIOS is showing him for Vcore. Also, how is the system's stability as far as crashing or stalling?
Click to expand...

Nothing as far as lockups, BSODs, or anything goes. He's got some video artifacting, but I think it might just be his 9800pro giving up the ghost.

Never fails to boot and hasn't had any crashes, so it's pretty stable. Just the CPU is slow for some reason.

We bought some AS today and applied it as instructed by their website. It's going through some hours of Prime95 and letting the AS cure a bit. I'll give you an update in a day or so to see if that helped at all.
 
Just as an update, we added some AS to the proc and it dropped the temps to around 50c. Not great, but it dropped it enough to stop throttling, so he's happy for now. Got a feeling it's the heatsink not making good contact and pulling off of it over time....
 
50C idle is perfectly safe and fine for that chip. I idle at 48 and get up to 58. He's in range :D
 
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