Processor Problems: Fixing Processor (CPU) Problems

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PROCESSOR PROBLEMS

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1. - Articles on processor problems in the Microsoft Knowledge Base

2. - Will Product Activation in Windows Vista allow me to change my PC's processor/motherboard without having to reactivate?

3. - I bought a PC with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 6.5GHz processor and a 1GB ATI Radeon X1050 Core graphics card, but the Belarc Advisor says otherwise

4. - Can I upgrade the Intel Pentium D dual-core processor of my Dell Dimension E510 with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor?

5. - Can I upgrade my Socket 478 Pentium 4 processor?

6. - My Pentium 4 processor runs very slowly?

7. - Why is my CPU Usage always 100% in the Windows Task Manager and the system so slow?

8. - The type of power supply that supports AMD Athlon and Intel Pentium 4 processors

9. - I upgraded the processor, but the computer won't boot

10. - My AMD Athlon XP processor won't work with a power supply unit (PSU) designed for an Intel Pentium 4

11. - How carefully is it necessary to consider the power demand made on the motherboard by the fan used to cool the processor?

12. - Why can't my AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor run more than one module of double-sided DDR400 RAM at its full speed?

13. - The overheating alarm on my computer's motherboard goes off and, if left running, the computer crashes

14. - Why does the processor in my notebook (laptop) computer run at half speed?

15. - Why is 100% processor use showing under the Performance tab of Windows Task Manager when I have nothing running?

16. - Which is the best cooling solution between the processor and its heatsink and fan, thermal paste or thermal pads?

Articles on processor problems in the Microsoft Knowledge Base

Will Product Activation in Windows Vista allow me to change my PC's processor/motherboard without having to reactivate?

Question

I would like to upgrade my ageing system, which has an Intel Pentium D dual-core processor in a home-built PC, with an Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140 processor. I want to buy a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R motherboard with the intention of buying a faster processor for it when prices dropped a bit. Gigabyte's site says that these are the processors that the motherboard board supports: "Supports Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad-Core / Core™2 Duo / Intel® Pentium® Extreme/ Intel® Pentium® D processors". I want to install the new motherboard and then install Windows Vista Home Premium at the same time. However, I don't know if the Product Activation will force me to buy a new copy of Windows Vista after I change the processor to the Pentium Dual Core E2140 processor.

Answer

The Product Activation system in Windows Vista is similar to that of Windows XP. If you have a retail version of Vista Home Premium, either the full product or upgrade version, (the latter requires an earlier qualifying version of Windows to be installed), you can make as many changes as you like. If several changes of the hardware are made at the same time, including just replacing the motherboard, the Product Activation process will ask you to call a Microsoft support number to reactivate the software.

You won't be able to install that copy on more than one system, because a second installation will have to be activated online, and the snapshot that was taken of the first system it was installed on is in Microsoft's records for that copy's Product Key. When the second activation is attempted, it will fail because Microsoft has a record of that copy being installed on another PC, the hardware components of which have been recorded.

If you have an OEM version of Windows, where the certificate of authenticity mentions OEM or OEMACT, the licence covers only the system you purchased or installed it in. It cannot be installed on a new system. A new motherboard is interpreted as a new system by the activation process. That means that if you change the motherboard, you will have to buy a new licence for the OEM copy of Windows or buy a new copy.

In the case of an OEM licence, Microsoft defines the system by its motherboard. This means that changing the motherboard of a system is not allowed unless the original motherboard failed and an exact replacement (make/model) was not available. However, the processor does not define the system, so, if the same motherboard is used, changing it won't make reactivation necessary.

You can purchase an OEM copy if you are a self-builder (an "original equipment manufacturer"). Read the licence conditions of this example:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Windows-Vista-Premium-OEM/dp/B000MFDJ1A/ref=pd_sbs_sw_h__img_1/202-3664007-0232625

An OEM licence typically costs half or less of the price of the full retail product, which is why its rights are limited compared to the full product.

Enter oem + Windows + Vista + uk (as is) in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to find alternative local UK vendors.

I bought a PC with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 6.5GHz processor and a 1GB ATI Radeon X1050 graphics card, but the Belarc Advisor says otherwise

Question

I have purchased a desktop PC from a UK company via eBay. It was advertised as having a 6.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 dual-core processor, a 1GB ASus ATI Radeon X1050 graphics card, and 2GB DDR2 RAM memory. However, I downloaded and ran the free Belarc Advisor, and it said that the computer has that processor, but that it only runs at 2.33GHz, and the graphics card is described as a "HIS x1,050 hypermemory with 128MB DDR (64-bit)". The RAM memory appears to be as advertised. When I emailed the company, it said: "The way that Core 2 Duo works is 2 x 2.33GHz cores and, because they both run together, it is then 40% quicker than the actual speed, hence where the 6.5GHz comes from." Is this true or have I been ripped off?

Answer

The E6550 does not imply that the speed of the processor is 6.5GHz, it is just its model number, and it is far from being the fastest model in its range of Intel Core 2 Duo dual-core processors. The processor has a clock speed of 2.33GHz, but the speed of each core cannot just be doubled to derive its actual speed because of bottlenecks in scheduling tasks between the two cores. However, the second core, and other design improvements over previous Pentium 4 processors, adds about 40% to the performance when compared to a single core processor running at the same clock speed of 2.33GHz. There are other factors that affect performance, such as the amount of cache memory, how the processor makes use of RAM memory, and the number of clock cycles that each operation takes. The two cores of Core 2 Duo processors are based on a single Pentium M core, each of which can perform more operations per clock cycle than a Pentium 4 single-core processor.

The comparative speed of different makes/models of processors depends on the kind of operation each of them is performing. For example, one make/model may be better at performing certain operations, such as those required to run a demanding PC game. Your PC's processor, for instance, might outperform an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ dual-core processor playing games. Therefore, a vendor, such as the one you bought your PC from, could find a benchmark test in which your PC's processor is twice as fast as a 3.3GHz single-core processor, but that doesn't give that vendor the right to advertise it as a 6.5GHz processor, because such a processor does not yet exist. The fastest official (not overclocked) clock speed to date of a processor is that of the high-end Pentium 4 single-core processors, which run at 3800MHz (3.8GHz). Your PC has a Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 dual-core processor, each core of which runs at 2.33GHz, giving it up to 40% improvement in performance compared to a single core running at 2.33GHz.

The PC's video/graphics card does not have 1GB of its own dedicated graphics memory, as advertised. (Even PC manufacturers, such as Dell, have been guilty of this kind of false advertising.) A graphics card with 256MB of dedicated graphics memory, which is legitimately advertised as having a hypermemory feature, can make use of up to four times that amount of a PC's system RAM memory. If the system RAM is over 1GB (4 x 256MB), then a graphics card with hypermemory can behave in some ways as if it has 1GB of graphics memory. Your PC has 2GB of RAM, so, with such a graphics card, it could reserve 1GB for the use of the graphics card and use the remaining 1GB to run the system. However, the graphics card in your PC only has 128MB of graphics memory, which equates to only 512MB of hypermemory (4 x 128MB). Also note that the graphics card is actually made by HIS, not Asus, as advertised.

Visit the following two pages to view tables containing all of the technical specifications (clock speed, supported instruction sets, cache, etc.) and other information, such as the dates of release, of all of the processors made by AMD and Intel up to the present.

Desktop CPU Comparison Guide - AMD processors - http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=337&pgno=0

Desktop CPU Comparison Guide - Intel processors - http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=337&pgno=4

Visit the following pages of the above guide to view tables of all of the PCI, AGP, and PCI Express video/graphics cards made by ATI and nVidia, the two major manufacturers of graphics chips (that other graphics-card manufacturers use) and their own graphics cards.

Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide - nVidia cards - http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=3

Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide - ATI cards - http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=1

Whether or not you have been ripped off depends on the price you paid for the PC. Its specification, although not as advertised, is still fairly good. You can make use of the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to search for PCs with the real specifications to find out if they are cheaper or dearer than what you paid. If you think that you have been ripped off, you can make use of eBay's complaints' procedure. Moreover, if you paid by PayPal, you might be entitled to a refund.

Always check a seller's feedback carefully before making a purchase through eBay. You should click on the links in the feedback to find out what kind of merchandise the seller is selling, because some thieves and con artists build up good feedback by selling cheap goods that they deliver quickly.

Can I upgrade the Intel Pentium D dual-core processor of my Dell Dimension E510 with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor?

Question

I have a Dell Dimension E510 PC with an Intel Pentium D processor. Dell now uses the superior Core 2 Duo for its Dimension PCs. How easy would it be for me to upgrade the Pentium D for a Core 2 Duo?

Answer

The Pentium D and the Core 2 Duo processors use the same LGA775 socket, but the Dimension E510 motherboard's chipset - the circuitry that governs how the processor interacts with the rest of the PC, and the BIOS chip must be compatible with the Core 2 Duo processor. If the chipset isn't compatible with it, you'll have to upgrade the motherboard to one that has a compatible chipset. If the BIOS isn't compatible, flashing it with the latest update might put the matter right. The PC must also have adequate cooling to handle the new chip. Core 2 Duo processors tend to run cooler than Pentium Ds, especially if the D is an 800-series chip, so, providing adequate cooling shouldn't be a problem in this case.

You'll have to obtain the compatibility information from your motherboard manufacturer, which in this case is Dell's support, because Dell PCs have motherboards that are manufactured to the company's own specifications. Moreover, note that most Core 2 Duo processors have an effective front-side bus (FSB) of 1,066MHz with the system's RAM memory that will have to make do with the slightly slower effective 800MHz FSB that your PC's Pentium D motherboard was probably was designed to produce. Also note that if your PC is under warranty, you'll be rendering the warranty void if replacing the processor causes any irrecoverable damage to the motherboard.

Assuming that the motherboard is compatible and that BIOS can be made compatible with the upgrade, replacing the processor isn't difficult. With an LGA775 motherboard, you must first remove the processor's cooling unit from above the Pentium D processor. The Dimension PC's user manual probably provides illustrated information on how to install a cooling unit. If not, it shouldn't be too difficult to determine how to remove it. Once removed, put the cooling unit fan side down, because thermal-paste residue probably coats its bottom surface. Now disengage the locking lever that can be seen alongside the socket, lift the frame surrounding the processor, and remove the Pentium D processor. Next, place the Core 2 Duo processor on the socket's pin grid, matching the notches on the processor with the orienting arrows on the socket. Installing the new processor is now just a matter of reversing the way in which you removed the old processor. With the new processor installed, you should clean the old thermal paste off the cooling unit with a cloth. A tube of thermal paste should have come with the new processor. Apply a pea-sized dab of the paste to the top of Core 2 Duo processor, spreading it evenly with a card. After you've locked the cooling unit back into place, plug its power connector into the same header on motherboard that it was connected to previous to its removal and you're done.

Can I upgrade my Socket 478 Pentium 4 processor?

Question

My computer has a Socket 478 Asus P4GE-V motherboard that has an Intel 845GE chipset that itself has a 400/533MHz FSB. I have an Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz processor installed in the motherboard. I want to upgrade it to a 3.06GHz Pentium 4 processor that has a 533MHz FSB. However, I can't find one, but I can find a 3.0GHz model that has an 800MHz FSB. Would it work on a board with a 533MHz FSB? If possible, I want to upgrade the processor without upgrading the motherboard.

Answer

When supported FSB (Front Side Bus) speeds of 400/533/800MHz are mentioned that is really the effective speeds at which the DDR RAM memory runs on motherboard FSBs of 100/133/200 respectively. As you can see, the figures in 400/533/800MHz are four times those in 100/133/200.

Using a Pentium 4 (P4) with an effective 800MHz memory bus speed is not going to be of any use to you. A motherboard FSB of only 200MHz produces an effective memory speed of 800MHz. Moreover, every P4 processor, except the Extreme Edition model, has a fixed clock multiplier. A processor's speed is the motherboard's FSB multiplied by the figure that has been set for the clock multiplier. Click here! to go to information on this site that explains the relationship between the FSB, the clock multiplier setting, and the processor speed.

There is no easy way to change the clock multiplier setting in these P4 processors. However, some motherboards made by Abit have a way of changing the setting. In any case, you should know what you are doing before you mess around with these settings.

If you installed a 3.0GHz P4 that requires an effective memory speed of 800MHz on a motherboard that only supports an effective memory speed of 533MHz (a motherboard FSB of 133 multiplied by 4) it would only run at 2.0GHz. This is because a 3.0GHz processor should run on a motherboard with an FSB of 200MHz. The processor speed is the FSB multiplied by the clock multiplier setting, so, if the FSB is 200MHz, the fixed clock multiplier setting must be 15x (15 x 200 = 3000; 3.0GHz = 3000Mhz). A motherboard with an effective memory speed of 533MHz has an FSB of 133MHz. So, installing that 3.0GHz on it would make it run at 15 x 133 = 1995MHz, which is only 2.0GHz.

Your Asus P4GE-V motherboard allows you to overclock the 133MHz FSB to 200MHz in its BIOS, but the chipset is designed to run the memory at effective speeds of 533MHz and the performance might be unstable if the FSB is set to run at 200MHz.

My Pentium 4 processor runs very slowly?

You have a Pentium 4, 2.26GHz processor running on an Intel D850MV motherboard, but the reported frequency it runs at is 1.69GHz instead of the maximum of 2.26GHz, and the system bus is running at 396MHz instead of the 533MHz it is supposed to be able to utilise. So, you want to know why the processor's maximum frequency (maximum speed), and the maximum system bus frequency are running much lower than they should be?

Answer

Both frequencies are being correctly reported, because the Intel D850MV motherboard does not support a 533MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) speed.

The so-called 533MHz FSB speed of motherboards that support it is only the base FSB of 133MHz multiplied by 4 to express the effective FSB speed of the RAM, which is not a frequency. It is the effective speed (frequency) of the RAM using DDR RAM and DDR RAM operating in dual-channel mode. The RAM would be running at an effective speed/frequency of 133 X 2 = 266MHz using Double-Data-Rate (DDR) RAM, which functions at double the data rate of the FSB. Ordinary DDR RAM working in dual-channel mode, which must be supported by the motherboard (also the processor with the AMD Athlon 64 FX processors which have onboard memory controllers), effectively doubles the DDR speed, making an effective FSB in this mode of 133 X 4 = 533MHz.

Click here! to go directly to information on the second Motherboard page on this site that discusses the motherboard's FSB and other settings. And go to the RAM page on this site to find out about the single-channel and dual-channel modes of DDR RAM.

However, this particular Intel motherboard only uses a base FSB of 100MHz, and so cannot go any higher than an effective dual-channel DDR "FSB" of 400MHz (4 X 100). Therefore, with the RAM running at an effective speed of 400MHz, with a clock-multiplier setting of 17x, the 2.26GHz Pentium 4 processor runs at only 1.7GHz (17X100), because the maximum frequency is the product of the base FSB multiplied by the clock-multiplier setting.

The 533MHz "FSB" (133 X 4) has a base FSB of 133MHz, so multiply 133 by the 17x multiplier and you get the 2.26GHz of the Pentium 4 processor.

Before you purchase a processor upgrade, you must know exactly what base FSB and clock-multiplier settings the motherboard provides. Note that even if the motherboard provides the required settings to run a particular processor, it might require a BIOS reflash in order to be recognised by the BIOS, because the BIOS programmers might not have given the BIOS the ability to recognise that particular processor as it had not been issued when the BIOS was created.

The processors and motherboards that run RAM memory at an effective speed of 400MHz and 533MHz are of different architectures, so no BIOS update will make it possible to run this P4 processor at its full speed on your Intel D850MV motherboard.

If the motherboard provided the 26x clock-multiplier setting required, you could make a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 that operates at the 100/400MHz FSB speed run at full speed, but not a 133/533MHz model of the Pentium 4. However, the Intel D850MV motherboard doesn't provide a 26x setting, only a maximum setting of 17x, so 1.7GHz is the maximum frequency that the processor can run at on this motherboard.

In this case, being ignorant of the processor's requirements resulted in the purchase of the wrong model Pentium 4. If this was a case of being sold the wrong processor after specifically identifying which board was in use to the seller, then the fault obviously lies with the vendor company, as the salesperson should have been able to find out which Intel processors can run on that particular Intel motherboard.

Why is my CPU Usage always 100% in the Windows Task Manager and the system so slow

Problem

For some reason, my CPU Usage under the Performance tab in the Windows Task Manager (which I access by using the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination) is always at 100%. The whole system is sluggish. A few years ago, my computer had a virus that used up most of the processor's cycles. It had downloaded a few programs that were running constantly. I fixed that by checking the system with I have discovered that running the free online virus scanner provided by Trend Micro from http://housecall.trendmicro.com/, but my system checks out as virus free this time. I have attached an image of the Task Manager with the Processes tab open showing which programs are running.

Answer

Having looked at the processes running on your system, evntsvc.exe looked suspicious, so I looked it up by entering the name in Google. It's a file used by the Real Player. I would use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall the Real Player. If the problem disappears, then you know the cause. If you use the program, you can then try reinstalling it. If properly installed, the Real Player shouldn't do that. There must be something wrong with the evntsvc.exe file.

Read Why is 100% processor use showing under the Performance tab of Windows Task Manager when I have nothing running? on this page for more information on tracking down the causes of 100% CPU usage.

The type of power supply that supports AMD Athlon and Intel Pentium 4 processors

Questions

I know that Pentium 4 motherboards need a special ATX power supply (PSU) that has two extra power connectors. But do the Athlon XP motherboards need a special PSU? And is it possible to run both types of processor from a standard ATX PSU?

Answers

The extra 4-pin power connector is not needed on the PSU for AMD Athlon XP motherboards. But it is required for Athlon 64 processors.

Click here! to go to the second of Motherboards pages on this site for more information and an image of the additional power connector.

It is possible to run both types of processors with a standard ATX power supply with no Pentium 4 power connectors, either by fitting an adapter to the standard ATX power connector, or by using a motherboard that will allow the use of a standard ATX connector instead of the Pentium 4 connector.

Note that the new motherboards with the Intel Granite Bay chipset require a different Pentium 4 connector. Instead of the typical 4-pin Pentium 4 connector, it uses an 8-pin connector.

I upgraded the processor, but the computer won't boot

Problem

I have a Chaintech 7AJA2E motherboard running an 800MHz AMD Duron processor. Having looked at Chaintech's website, I have discovered that the motherboard can run AMD Duron or Athlon processors with speeds up to 1.4GHz. I then bought a 1.3GHz Duron processor. I downloaded the latest BIOS file from Chaintech's site, and reflashed the BIOS. However, when I installed the new processor, the computer would not boot past the Power-On-Self-Tests (POST tests) that all computers run at start-up. The processor is identified correctly, as is the amount of RAM installed, but the computer hangs when identifying the hard-disk and CD drives. When the original processor is reinstalled, the computer works normally. Chaintech's support personnel have assured me that the motherboard supports any AMD Athlon processor that runs up to a maximum speed/frequency of 1.4GHz, or a 1.3GHz Duron processor when set to use the 200MHz Front Side Bus (FSB). I have checked the processor settings in the BIOS and found them to be correctly set.

Answer

You should first have a look at what type of cooling unit (heatsink and fan) is being used. If it provides speed feedback to the motherboard, it should be plugged into the processor's fan header on the motherboard (according to the instructions in the motherboard's manual), not into another fan header on the motherboard, or into a plug from the power supply unit (PSU). A high-speed AMD processor will fry itself if used without a heatsink and fan unit installed over it, even if it's only for a few seconds, therefore many motherboards are set to refuse to power the fans and continue the start-up sequence if no fan speed feedback is being received. The fan speed feedback can only be provided if the fan is connected to the processor's fan header. Since all of this happens before the processor, RAM, etc., are powered up, no beep warning is issued if no fan speed feedback is detected.

If the processor's cooling unit is connected to its fan header on the motherboard, and the fan's speed feedback is being shown in the BIOS, then read on.

Motherboards are designed to run with processors that often aren't available when they were made and the user manuals were written. Problems may be discovered when these untested processors become available and are installed that require BIOS updates, or even revisions to such a motherboard's design.

Since Chaintech hasn't mentioned any known issues, and you have reflashed the BIOS so that it is running the latest BIOS file, you should make sure that the Power Supply Unit (PSU) is adequate by using only a unit that AMD recommends, which should guarantee a 300W power output.

If there is a heating problem, it won't usually build up fast enough to prevent the POST procedure taking place. In any case, this motherboard has built-in circuitry that should make it cut out automatically if the processor overheats. However, the cut-out circuitry could be faulty, so it won't hurt to check the temperature, which should be reported in the BIOS. A temperature much in excess of 50 degrees Celsius (50C) could be causing problems.

I would set the processor's alarm settings in the BIOS to issue a warning at 60C/140F and shutdown at 70C/158F. It is unlikely to happen, but you can always adjust these settings if they cause unnecessary problems.

The motherboard's user manual (downloadable from its site) contains information on BIOS settings, and the processor's website (usually amd.com or intel.com) will provide information on a particular processor's running temperature.

You could also have the case open so that you can remove the processor's cooling unit as soon as it fails to boot in order to feel how hot the processor is. If it's too hot to keep touching it, using better thermal compound between the cooling unit and the processor, or installing a better cooling unit might solve the problem.

Of course, the motherboard itself could be in the process of failing. Cheap PSUs can often cause capacitors on the motherboard to start failing. It's possible that one or several failing capacitors might be able to run the 800MHz Duron, but not be able to function when the new processor's higher power requirements need to be met.

If the problem has nothing to do with the settings for the motherboard and the new processor, the capacity of the PSU, or overheating of the processor, the only option left to you would be to try installing another motherboard.

My AMD Athlon XP processor won't work with a power supply unit (PSU) designed for an Intel Pentium 4 processor

Problem

I built a computer around an Epox EP-8RDA3 motherboard, but, having read the manual and double-checked all of the settings, nothing happened when I switched it on for the first time. The AMD Athlon XP 2600+ processor's fan worked, and the motherboard's onboard diagnostic LED showed the letters FF. There were no beeping noises and the LED lights on the front of the case didn't work. I noticed that the PSU in the case has "Designed for Pentium 4" printed on it. Your processor is an Athlon XP 2600+ model, so I need to know if installing the wrong motherboard and processor is the cause of the failure of the computer to boot.

Answer

Intel asked manufacturer's to add an extra four-pin connector to the PSUs used for its Pentium 4 processors in order to improve the stability when motherboards draw large amounts of power. Pentium-4-compatible PSUs are often known as ATX12V, because the extra connector supplies an additional 12V to the motherboard.

But, in every other respect, these PSUs comply fully with the ATX 2.0 specifications, and can be used with other makes of processor. The extra connector is not used with them, that's all.

You don't mention the make and model of the PSU, which is as important as the makes of the motherboard and RAM, because many cheap PSUs do not give an adequate supply of power on all of the output circuits. For instance, some cheap PSUs labelled as being 400W can provide lower combined outputs than quality 300W PSUs.

By studying the detailed specifications of the PSU (if you can find them), you can often discover that although the +12V and +5V circuits are adequate individually, the combined output of the two circuits often has an upper limit that is inadequate. That is why it's always best to make sure that the PSU is made by a well known manufacturer such as Antec, Enermax, Jeantech, and Sparkle - and that it is recommended for use with a particular processor.

Most inadequate PSUs will at least boot successfully. That is, they will complete the Power-On-Self-Test (POST) procedure, but will tend to cause system crashes when the system is running and stressed.

The motherboard's diagnostic LED is working and therefore indicates that the 5V supply is good, and the processor's fan is run by the 12V supply.

A floppy disk drive's ribbon cable connected the wrong way round can prevent a computer from booting, but RAM installed improperly will usually result in beeps being emitted if the case speaker is connected to the motherboard. The motherboard's diagnostic LED should also provide an indication of what's wrong. The translation of the codes will be provided in the motherboard's manual.

In case it's being shorted by something, you should remove the motherboard from the case. With the LED cables still connected, place it on a non-conductive material, such as the packet it came sealed in, and try powering it up with just the processor, RAM, and heatsink and fan unit installed. [Never power up a computer unless the cooling unit is properly fitted to the processor.] Don't connect the hard disk, CD/DVD, or floppy drives.

If taking the above actions don't show you what's wrong, you could try clearing the BIOS/CMOS memory. There is usually a jumper on the motherboard that you set to clear it. Click here! to go to relevant information about doing so on the BIOS page of this site.

If none of the above solves the problem, a home user can do further testing by installing the components in another computer one by one, or by swapping them with known good ones one by one, starting with the PSU. If you purchased all of the components from one supplier, you could ask for permission to send them all back so that the supplier can find out where the fault lies.

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Power supplies that support AMD Athlon and Intel Pentium 4 processors

Questions

I know that Pentium 4 motherboards need a special ATX power supply (PSU) that has two extra power connectors. But do the Athlon XP motherboards need a special PSU? And is it possible to run both types of processor from a standard ATX PSU?

Answers

The extra 4-pin power connector is not needed on the PSU for AMD Athlon XP motherboards. But it is required for Athlon 64 processors.

Click here! to go to the second of Motherboards pages on this site for more information and an image of the additional power connector.

It is possible to run both types of processors with a standard ATX power supply with no Pentium 4 power connectors, either by fitting an adapter to the standard ATX power connector, or by using a motherboard that will allow the use of a standard ATX connector instead of the Pentium 4 connector.

Note that the new motherboards with the Intel Granite Bay chipset require a different Pentium 4 connector. Instead of the typical 4-pin Pentium 4 connector, it uses an 8-pin connector.

The overheating alarm on my computer's motherboard goes off and, if left running, the computer crashes

Problem

My computer has an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ processor and runs Windows XP Home. If it has been switched on continuously for four or five hours, an alarm is triggered. The first time it went off, I wasn't aware of the cause, and the computer crashed after I left it running. The alarm must be triggered when the processor or some other hardware in the system overheats. This first started happening at the height of summer when the room temperature was around 30ºC. I checked to make sure that the processor's cooling unit was working and was properly fitted over the processor, so I need some advice on how to prevent this from happening.

Answer

A high room temperature can make the processor's cooler less effective, but a processor can tolerate a much higher temperature and still remain working than, say, a hard disk drive that is far more likely to cause a system failure if the temperature inside the case is hot.

The first action to take is to make sure that the case fan or fans are working properly. If there is more than one fan, make sure that they are working together effectively and not working against one another by expelling hot air at each other.

AMD specifies that an Athlon XP 3200+ processor (which has a Barton core), has a maximum temperature limit of 85ºC. With the room temperature at, say, 30ºC, the temperature inside the case would be in the region of about 50ºC, and the processor would probably be at about 70ºC. But the temperature sensor built into a motherboard doesn't measure the temperature at the top surface of the processor where the cooler makes contact with processor, it takes the temperature from the bottom of the processor and adds a bit to make up for an approximate difference in the temperatures between the top and bottom of the processor.

Unfortunately, different makes and models of motherboard - and even different version of the BIOS on the same make and model of motherboard - can estimate the reported temperature differently. The temperature that is set in the BIOS at which the alarm is triggered is usually between 60ºC and 70ºC, because, with an effective cooler and adequate cooling inside the case, the processor's temperature should be well below 60ºC, and should ideally be no higher than 50ºC.

Some types of BIOS allow an alarm to be set to be triggered for a range of reported processor temperatures. If so, you should open the BIOS at start-up by pressing the required key (usually the Del or F2 keys), and set the alarm temperature somewhere between the range given above. And it would be difficult to find a modern BIOS that didn't provide the ability to report processor (CPU Temp) and system temperatures, as are shown in the image taken of the hardware monitoring page in a BIOS provided below.

The temperatures reported by this particular BIOS are much too high, and would certainly set off the overheating alarm if one is provided by the BIOS.

The alarm temperatures are usually set on the same page of the BIOS on which the temperatures are reported.

Note that some systems also have a power supply unit (PSU) temperature sensor, which will also provide a reading.

If the BIOS can report system temperatures, it should be possible to run software that can provide temperature reports from within Windows. But, because hardware variations can cause such software to provide inaccurate reports, you should always make a note of the temperatures that the BIOS is reporting. The computer should have been running for long enough for it to have reached its maximum running temperatures before you restart the system and enter the BIOS. If the computer's motherboard manufacturer doesn't provide the monitoring software free from its site, there are shareware alternatives such as Hmonitor from http://www.hmonitor.com/.

Hmonitor provides motherboard and processor temperatures for two processors (for use on a motherboard that can support two processors), the temperatures of three hard disk drives, the processor temperatures for two processors, reports the system voltages, and can report the fan speed, graphics processing unit (GPU) and video RAM temperatures, and the voltages of the system's AGP video card.

If the case fans are keeping the inside of the case cool, but the processor temperature is high, you can try using thermal paste of good quality that is spread thinly (without leaving any gaps) over the processor so that the cooler fits tightly to it. The thermal paste that is regarded as the best is called Arctic Silver, but any thermal paste is better than the thermal pads that come with some cheap processor coolers. A processor such as the Athlon XP 3200+ needs a heavy-duty cooler of quality of the kind that can be obtained from a supplier such as http://www.overclockers.co.uk/.

Windows XP and Windows 2000 are supposed to be able to detect when the processor is idle and halt any unnecessary operations, but it's well known that using third-party software such as CPUIdle from http://www.cpuidle.de/ improves this kind of temperature control of the processor. It is shareware that can be used for a trial period, and it can be used on any system as long as it supports the motherboard's chipset. There is a list of supported motherboard's on the utility's Home page.

Note well that hard disk drives are mechanical not electronic devices and, as such, have to fail sooner or later due to wear and tear, so, no matter how adequate the cooling is, you should always employ an adequate back-up system if you don't want to lose valuable data.

Why does the processor in my notebook (laptop) computer run at half speed?

Problem

My HP Compaq NX9105 notebook computer, running Windows XP Home edition, has an Athlon XP M 3000+ processor that is supposed to run at 1,600MHz (1.6GHz). But when I right-click My Computer => Properties (as in Windows 98) and then click the Hardware tab to access the General tab of System Properties the processor is reported as running at only 797MHz. Half of what it should be! HP's support advised me to enter msconfig in the Start => Run box, and then disable the unnecessary start-up programs that Windows loads when it starts up. After I did this, lo and behold, System Properties showed that the processor was running at the full speed of 1,600MHz. Is my impression that the processor in any computer should run at full speed all the time mistaken?

Answer

The M in the processor's name stands for Mobile. It's a mobile version of the Athlon XP 3000+. Notebook computers have to run on batteries, so a mobile processor is designed to save power. If the processor was allowed to run at full speed all the time under battery power, the battery would run down very rapidly.

AMD calls its power-saving technology PowerNow! and Intel calls its technology SpeedStep.

Just after start-up, if you press the Ctrl + Alt + Del key combination to bring up the Task Manager and click on Performance, the processor use should be reported as low, because the computer isn't being used and the power management feature is reducing the speed of the processor to save power and reduce the amount of heat being generated. Desktop computers use powerful heatsink and fan units fitted over the processor, and large case fans, but this isn't possible within the narrow confines of a notebook computer, so heat dissipation is more problematic in notebook computers and has to be overcome by the low-power design of the processor and software controls. A user should therefore never disable the power management feature. Not even when the computer is using mains electricity.

AMD's PowerNow Dashboard software that can be downloaded from http://www.amd.com/ provides information about the speed of the processor and allows the user to tweak settings, but it shouldn't be necessary to use it if the power management feature is enabled.

HP and Compaq computers tend to have plenty of programs that load at start-up, most of which are unnecessary. The full list of these programs can be be accessed by entering msconfig in the Start => Run box. Unfortunately, they tend to have peculiar names that don't usually tell an inexperienced user what their purpose is. For example, SynTPEnh is the Synaptics touch pad tray icon that is required; ISLP2STA is related to a wireless network adapter, and won't be necessary unless you use one; and CCapp belongs to Norton Antivirus, which is necessary if you have that virus scanner running.

If you're unsure about whether or not it's all right to disable any of the start-up programs, a site that should be able to provide information on any start-up program has been given the grand name of PacMan's Windows Startup Online Repository, and it can be found here: http://www.windowsstartup.com/.

Why is 100% processor use showing under the Performance tab of Windows Task Manager when I have nothing running?

Problem

If I bring up the Windows Task Manager by pressing the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination and click on its Performance tab, the CPU Usage graphic (and the little green square that appears in the System Tray (Notification Area) when you have the mouse pointer over it ) frequently shows 100% use of the processor for long periods, even when I have nothing running on the computer. I also use SpeedUpMyPC, which shows the same information, but in a slightly different way. How can I determine what it is that is using the CPU cycles, because whatever it is really slows the computer down. If I could discover what is causing the problem, I could keep it shut down, or even find an alternative for it.

Answer

There is an easy way in Windows XP to find out what use is being made of the computer's processor by which processes, measured as a percentage for each process. Just press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys to bring up the Windows Task Manager, and click on the Performance tab. The CPU Usage graphic shows how many of the processor's available cycles are being used as a percentage by each of the listed processes (all of the listed file names with .exe extensions). The PF Usage refers to how much hard-drive space is being used by the virtual-memory swap file or page file that Windows uses instead of RAM. If the CPU usage is high, especially if it is close to 100% when a demanding program is not running, you should find out why, because spyware might have installed itself and is consuming processor cycles.

If you want to find out which of the listed programs (processes) are using the most processor cycles as a percentage of the total use, click on the Processes tab of the Windows Task Manager, maximise the window, and then click on the CPU heading. You may have to drag the window with your mouse to make it bigger in order to see the CPU heading. The programs that are using the processor are shown and will change as the percentage of the CPU usage of each program changes.

Alternatively, use the free Sysinternals Process Explorer. Sysinternals free TCPView allows the user to identify and locate which applications have open ports on a system. - Sysinternals was an independent organisation but it is now owned by Microsoft. Visit http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx for the great free utilities.

If the listed process or processes causing the problem are unfamiliar to you, enter a customised Google search on the name of the process in your browser while you're online in order to find out which software program runs the process.

E.g. - http://www.google.com/search?q=identify+xp+process - in which you would substitute the word process with the file name of the process.

The example link - http://www.google.com/search?q=identify+xp+process - provides links to sites that provide information on the processes that Windows XP can run.

Note well that it is best to run updated spyware removal tools in Safe Mode, which is accessed at startup by pressing the F8 key repeatedly before Windows starts to load. The reason being that the spyware won't be loaded with Windows, allowing for the successful removal of spyware that has two components the can restore each other if one of them is removed. Such spyware can restore itself in Windows, but not in Safe Mode.

If the computer is too unstable to run it in normal mode, try accessing the Processes/Performance tabs of the Windows Task Manager in Safe Mode, which can be accessed by pressing the F8 key repeatedly at startup before Windows starts to load.

Note well that brand-name software can also be responsible for chewing up processor cycles. Norton software, developed by Symantec, is a good example of such an offender.

If you can't locate the cause, try restoring a restore point in System Restore that predates the problem. System Restore is under Start => All Programs => Accessories => System Tools. If necessary, you can restore a restore point in Safe Mode.

However, as the above-mentioned forum thread shows, this can happen when you attempt doing that: 'In Safe Mode the CPU is still spiking whenever I open up a program, change windows, etc.. I've tried numerous restore points and keep getting a "restoration incomplete" message.'

Click here! to go to information on System Restore on this site.

Which is the best cooling solution between the processor and its heatsink and fan, thermal paste or thermal pads?

Question

I have just built a PC that uses an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor on an MSI Socket 939 motherboard, and runs Windows XP Home Edition. The MSI utility that measures processor's temperature reports that it is running at 48°C. The case currently has a temperature of 36°C and the room has a temperature of 20°C. As I understand it, the difference between the two temperatures should be around 12°C, not 16°C, so should I replace the Akasa Shin Etsu heat-transfer pad that is between the processor and heatsink and fan with premium thermal paste made by Antec in order to make the processor run cooler?

Answer

All of the temperatures that you report are reasonable, so you don't need to change anything.

However, you should know that AMD recommends that thermal pads should not be used with its Athlon 64 and Opteron processors, because they have a lid that covers the die of the processor, and an adhesive pad could stick fast and pull the lid off when the heatsink unit is removed to be cleaned.

That said, even the high-quality thermal pads, such as the Shin Etsu made by Akasa, are an inferior cooling solution compared to high-quality thermal paste made by manufacturers such as Arctic Silver and Antec. Cheap pads are inferior to cheap thermal paste, but I wouldn't use either of them. Quality thermal paste that is properly applied so that only a thin layer coats the contact area between the processor and the heatsink, is the most effective cooling solution.

The best thermal paste, such as Arctic Silver 5, contains silver. The premium thermal paste made by Antec that you want to use also contains silver. The Artctic Silver website provides instructions on how to apply thermal paste: http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm.

The amount of heat transferred away from the processor is proportional to the temperature difference between the processor's temperature and the air temperature inside the case. Your PC's case probably already has a case fan that draws air out of the case, and the power supply also has a fan that does that, so, if you want to reduce the temperature inside the case, you could install another case fan. Just make sure that they don't fight one another. For example, you might be able to install a fan in the front of the case so that it draws air into the case so that the existing fans can expel it. If the temperature inside the case is reduced by 5°C, it should reduce the temperature of the processor by about the same amount.

PC Buyer Beware! Copyright © Eric Legge 2004-2008. All rights reserved.