Could my CPU actually be dying?

Vrazen · Nov 26, 2013

Hello, I have been struggling to diagnose an issue I have been having with my custom build computer. I am lead to believe that it is a CPU issue, however I know that 99% of the time it is not the cpu. I have not ruled out the GPU, however I do not know how to test one.

The problem symptoms are mainly apparent in online games and voip services. The symptoms are as follows:

Online Games:
"Lag" Spikes ranging from 3-10 seconds, once every 5-10 minutes. Im calling it lag but it is not an internet issue as far as I can tell. There is another computer on the same router that has no issues. SpeedTest, PingTest, and jitter testing is the exact same on both computers. At the end of the "lag" spike I will typically teleport somewhere, and I have received confirmation from others that I am teleporting within the game as well. During the "lag" spike, people/objects will continue to move and I will be unable to interact with anything. However after it is over, any actions I have made such as using abilities will be used as if there was no spike. The game reported ms does not change during this time.

Voip Services (Skype, Mumble, Ventrilo):
Words will hang for 3-5 seconds, occasionally my voice output will go to garbage, the quality will randomly become poor, occasionally speech will be slowed by "micro" pauses almost like super small buffering pauses.

In an attempt to fix these issues, I have reformatted my hard drive then reinstalled windows, changed motherboards, and switched from a netgear hardline kit to a wireless connection then to a wired connection.

I have ran MemTest for a total of 7 hours so far, which generated 0 errors. I monitor temperatures constantly. CPU peaks at 40c, gpu at 65c. I monitored voltage on the previous mobo, and there were no spikes or drops during normal operation. I have no monitored voltage on the new mobo.

System Specs are:
CPU: AMD FX 8350
MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 770
RAM: 4GB Gskill, 8GB Corsair Vengeance
PSU: Corsair CX750M
HDD: 1TB Western Digital
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

If anyone has any suggestions for testing or might know of a probable cause of such issues, please let me know.

jay2577 · Nov 26, 2013

I just had a thought that it could maybe have something to do with your phone line(if broadband) or cable. It's just a pure guess. Can your operator check for you?

Vrazen · Nov 26, 2013

jay2577 :

I have actually called comcast about it. There was nothing wrong with the cable lines, and the other computer on the same router/modem does not experience any issues.

I forgot to mention that this problem was a progressive problem. It started as minor spikes <1 second, then progressed to what I was calling jumping in video games, to what it is now. Jumping meaning 1 second normal, 1/4 second lag, 1 second normal, 1/4 second lag, repeating. The symptoms also seem to get worse with every computer restart.

JOOK-D · Nov 26, 2013

Check the software tools that came with that motherboard - if it has some form of internet prioritising turn it off. My Asus board did and it was nothing but trouble.

Also you could monitor network/cpu usage when you're using those programs to see if they spike at any point.

beyondlogic · Nov 26, 2013

Vrazen :

Hello, I have been struggling to diagnose an issue I have been having with my custom build computer. I am lead to believe that it is a CPU issue, however I know that 99% of the time it is not the cpu. I have not ruled out the GPU, however I do not know how to test one.

The problem symptoms are mainly apparent in online games and voip services. The symptoms are as follows:

Online Games:
"Lag" Spikes ranging from 3-10 seconds, once every 5-10 minutes. Im calling it lag but it is not an internet issue as far as I can tell. There is another computer on the same router that has no issues. SpeedTest, PingTest, and jitter testing is the exact same on both computers. At the end of the "lag" spike I will typically teleport somewhere, and I have received confirmation from others that I am teleporting within the game as well. During the "lag" spike, people/objects will continue to move and I will be unable to interact with anything. However after it is over, any actions I have made such as using abilities will be used as if there was no spike. The game reported ms does not change during this time.

Voip Services (Skype, Mumble, Ventrilo):
Words will hang for 3-5 seconds, occasionally my voice output will go to garbage, the quality will randomly become poor, occasionally speech will be slowed by "micro" pauses almost like super small buffering pauses.

In an attempt to fix these issues, I have reformatted my hard drive then reinstalled windows, changed motherboards, and switched from a netgear hardline kit to a wireless connection then to a wired connection.

I have ran MemTest for a total of 7 hours so far, which generated 0 errors. I monitor temperatures constantly. CPU peaks at 40c, gpu at 65c. I monitored voltage on the previous mobo, and there were no spikes or drops during normal operation. I have no monitored voltage on the new mobo.

System Specs are:
CPU: AMD FX 8350
MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 770
RAM: 4GB Gskill, 8GB Corsair Vengeance
PSU: Corsair CX750M
HDD: 1TB Western Digital
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

If anyone has any suggestions for testing or might know of a probable cause of such issues, please let me know.

did you check your bios and update it sometimes these motherboards come with older filmware ment for bulldozer make sure filmware is f10 bios

Vrazen · Nov 26, 2013

JOOK-D :

I have not noticed any true cpu usage spikes, but each core is really up and down. Typically only 5/8 are under load when gaming.

To be more specific, Core 1 and 2 averages are very close to the average across all cores, core 3 likes to stay above 50% and is always the most used core, core 4 is pretty much unused in games, core 5 likes to ride high and is typically the second highest on load, core 6 is pretty much ununsed in games, core 7 above average and core 8 is low to no load in games.

Vrazen · Nov 26, 2013

beyondlogic :

I tried a bios update on both this board and the old board.

JOOK-D · Nov 26, 2013

Did you check whether you have any software tools that came with the motherboard?

Vrazen · Nov 26, 2013

JOOK-D :

It came with a BIOS utility that never seems to connect to servers, and EasyTune 6. Nothing has been changes with EasyTune, its all default.

There is also no overclocking on this system.

beyondlogic · Nov 26, 2013

Vrazen :

this isnt uncommon windows 7 doesnt really understand what a module is so it doesnt actually work well if your up for it go to windows 8 as the actual modules work better on this i suffered the same problem with fx 8120 it had 1 2 3 5 spike quite a bit the rest were having a holiday

Vrazen · Nov 26, 2013

I just noticed a very interesting trend in the proccessor cores, when one of these spikes happen, the cores completely swap load. I have a screenshot of it.

http://imgur.com/ZQ6QmhJ

Ok so if you look at 7/8 you notice a couple places where core 8 dips and core 7 spikes, like the load is completely switching cores. These spikes in core 7 correlate exactly with a "lag" spike. This particular spike was right around 10 seconds and you can see that the timing between the spikes on core 7 was right at 10 seconds.

Seeing that this is likely the issue, would that be conclusive that it is a processor issue?

jay2577 · Nov 27, 2013

Can you turn off core 7 and 8 in the bios?
See if it helps

Vrazen · Nov 27, 2013

jay2577 :

Its not just core 7/8. Since I noticed that trend yesterday I have been keeping a close eye on cpu usage when i lag. All the cores are doing the exact same thing.

jay2577 · Nov 27, 2013

Have you tried 1 core per compute unit?
Again just a guess. It's a strange problem indeed.

Vrazen · Nov 27, 2013

jay2577 :

Im not sure what you mean.

jay2577 · Nov 27, 2013

Well your cpu has 4 compute units and 8 cores. 2 cores per compute unit.
In the bios somewhere you should have the option to choose 1 core per compute unit.
If not disable cores 2,4,6 and 8 and see if it makes a difference. It might help to diagnose the problem if it's the cpu

jay2577 · Nov 27, 2013

that way you will have 4 cores which won't be sharing any resources

Vrazen · Nov 27, 2013

jay2577 :

I changed it to 1 core per CU, went into a game, and still had the same issue. During the spike, cores 1 and 4 spiked from ~50% to ~80%.

Vrazen · Nov 27, 2013

Would anyone be able to make a conclusion as to what hardware is having the issues based on what I have posted?

Tradesman1 · Nov 28, 2013

What the model # of the DRAM, can find it in CPU-Z in the SPD tab under part # - also any OC on the CPU?

Vrazen · Nov 28, 2013

CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 in slot 1/2
F3-12800CL9-2GBNQ in slot 3/4

There is no OC

Tradesman1 · Nov 28, 2013

Ok, lets try the DRAM voltage at at 1.575 and take the CPU/NB voltage up to 1.26 and give that a whirl

Vrazen · Nov 28, 2013

Tradesman1 :

Just finished testing. It looks like there was no change with the new voltages. However as I mentioned in an earlier post, the issue gets slightly worse with every restart. I noticed this when I first recognizes that there was an issue. Reformatting and the new mobo did nothing to correct, halter, or slow the progressively worsening condition. Because I have been restarting so much for BIOS lately, the spikes are occuring much more frequently (occasionally back to back).

Looking at task manager performance, its nothing but massive peaks and valleys.

Tradesman1 · Nov 28, 2013

Next might be to check the CPU and socket, look for debris, thermal compound and bent/broken pins

Vrazen · Nov 28, 2013

Tradesman1 :

Checked, everything is clean and intact. No changes after reseating everything.

Could my CPU actually be dying?

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