A slight disappointment with Intel

[kitchenshark]

Old system:
AMD 3800+ 939 single core stock 2.4Ghz
Epox MB
2Gb Patriot CAS2
GeForce 7600GT PCI-e
Raptor 36Gb

New system:
Intel E4300 @2.97Ghz
Gigabyte DS3
2Gb Corsair Value Select DDR2667 @ 1:1 DDR2660
GeForce 7900GT
Raptor 74Gb

First, the Intel system doesn't suck, quite the opposite, it DOMINATES my old system in video and audio encoding. In multitasking though Intel seems to leave a bit to be desired. I've run the following on both systems concurrently (at the same time, yes, I have a moderate need for them to be all open at once!): Second Life, Ragnarok Online, Half Life2 Deathmatch, and some game server software where a couple people played. The Intel runs everything at the same time faster...but it still crashes as much as my AMD single core.

There, I've said it. Why in the WORLD would a dual core crash as much while running all my stuff as my single core AMD??? Maybe XP is the one causing all the program errors?

 

[orangegator]

Well, if your system crashes, then your overclock is very likely not stable.

 

[kitchenshark]

No, the system doesn't crash, just the programs. The OS stays fine.

 

[turpit]

Then its most likely not the CPU, but program compatability. Try running several (but not all) programs in differnt combinations to se if you can find the problem
ie.
where A B C and D are the progs your using, run
ABC
ABD
ACD
BCD
etc
see if the apps crash like that. Then you can identify the offender

 

[htoonthura]

Old system:
AMD 3800+ 939 single core stock 2.4Ghz
Epox MB
2Gb Patriot CAS2
GeForce 7600GT PCI-e
Raptor 36Gb

New system:
Intel E4300 @2.97Ghz
Gigabyte DS3
2Gb Corsair Value Select DDR2667 @ 1:1 DDR2660
GeForce 7900GT
Raptor 74Gb

First, the Intel system doesn't suck, quite the opposite, it DOMINATES my old system in video and audio encoding. In multitasking though Intel seems to leave a bit to be desired. I've run the following on both systems concurrently (at the same time, yes, I have a moderate need for them to be all open at once!): Second Life, Ragnarok Online, Half Life2 Deathmatch, and some game server software where a couple people played. The Intel runs everything at the same time faster...but it still crashes as much as my AMD single core.

There, I've said it. Why in the WORLD would a dual core crash as much while running all my stuff as my single core AMD??? Maybe XP is the one causing all the program errors?

Add more ram and run again. You are running multiple applications with 2 gb. Also make sure you have got stable oc.

 

[n19htmare]

No, the system doesn't crash, just the programs. The OS stays fine.

Duh thats what happens when your overclock is not stable. System doesn't crash your programs crash due to computation errors.

When your system is unstable, does Super Pi crash or the system? Does Orthos stop or the system?

2 things are happening.

1)Your system is unstable.

or

2) you are running out of ram so your programs end.

 

[fredgiblet]

There, I've said it. Why in the WORLD would a dual core crash as much while running all my stuff as my single core AMD???

More power != more stability. There is no reason to expect a correlation between the two. Get rid of your overclock, flash your BIOS and update your drivers, if the problem doesn't go away then the problem is not with your hardware.

 

[kg4icg]

You guys don't get the obvious. The games are making calls to the same dx files that are being used by each game and when one comes up to call while it's being used by another you get a software crash. He's running 4 games at the same time on 1 machione is going to cause a crash.

R COllins

 

[kitchenshark]

Duh thats what happens when your overclock is not stable. System doesn't crash your programs crash due to computation errors.

When your system is unstable, does Super Pi crash or the system? Does Orthos stop or the system?

2 things are happening.

1)Your system is unstable.

or

2) you are running out of ram so your programs end.

6Hrs MemTest no errors
8Hrs Orthos no errors
6Hrs Dual Prime 95 no errors

 

[kitchenshark]

this post is great in so many ways, displaying intelligence it ain't. man, you are almost as bad as me at trouble shooting problems and that saying something.

Thanks for kicking me when I'm down...

I guess you don't have any ideas why then? Give me some credit, I've done bits of this and that trouble shooting but this was just a general query for any ideas about it.

 

[kitchenshark]

More power != more stability. There is no reason to expect a correlation between the two. Get rid of your overclock, flash your BIOS and update your drivers, if the problem doesn't go away then the problem is not with your hardware.

Yes, I'm leaning towards that it's a software problem too. I've got the F10 BIOS, the most recent drivers, ect already.

 

[morerevs]

This may be the obvious question, but why do you NEED to run 3 online games simultaneously and on top of that several other programs? Some programs work together, some don't. I can imagine running several CPU heavy programs at once, but games that use so many different resources running at the same time is asking for trouble.
There are certain settings you can apply like setting separate mem space for games,or core affinity and I guess you could try those to see if things improve , if not you're going to have to make some concessions my friend.

GL.

 

[djgandy]

This is more likely due to DX / Opengl. I doubt they were designed for the guy running 6 games at once. This is not a cpu problem.

 

[kitchenshark]

You guys don't get the obvious. The games are making calls to the same dx files that are being used by each game and when one comes up to call while it's being used by another you get a software crash. He's running 4 games at the same time on 1 machione is going to cause a crash.

R COllins

This may very well be my problem because it does seem to crash games when I alt tab between them.

I'm sorry all for troubling you so much. With all the buzz about multi-tasking I was only *slightly* let down by this problem. Because it happened on my AMD system I was hoping it would happen less with my Intel, that it would handle the workload better, but from what I'm seeing in the posts it could be more software related.

Thank you all for your time.

 

[djgandy]

Didn't see this. Pretty much. It's DX too, I guarantee it. DX sucks bad compared to opengl. You can launch opengl apps all day long.

 

[kitchenshark]

This may be the obvious question, but why do you NEED to run 3 online games simultaneously and on top of that several other programs? Some programs work together, some don't. I can imagine running several CPU heavy programs at once, but games that use so many different resources running at the same time is asking for trouble.
There are certain settings you can apply like setting separate mem space for games,or core affinity and I guess you could try those to see if things improve , if not you're going to have to make some concessions my friend.

GL.

The obvious question isn't easily answered. There are some personal reasons involved. Believe me, if there wasn't the need to run these particular sets of programs from time to time I wouldn't be. I don't run them all the time, only when needed, which actually has been declining somewhat as of late.

 

[kitchenshark]

Didn't see this. Pretty much. It's DX too, I guarantee it. DX sucks bad compared to opengl. You can launch opengl apps all day long.

Thank you for your kind replies, along with the others who posted constructively.

Thank you for your input as well. If DX just isn't able to handle the strain, then so be it, I'll live with it. Maybe they'll make DX more multi game friendly in the future or...heh...have to lol at my own question. Who in their right mind runs more than one game at once? Oh well.

Thank you again. Sorry for the rambling reply, whatever I've got is really throwing me for a loop right now, haven't been feeling well today.

 

[kitchenshark]

this post is great in so many ways, displaying intelligence it ain't. man, you are almost as bad as me at trouble shooting problems and that saying something.

I tried to edit my first reply but it won't let me for some reason...

I apologize for my harsh reply, I re-read your post and maybe you don't mean it like I'm interpeting it. I've had a pretty cruddy second half of the day and I'm feeling as sick as a dog and not thinking too clearly.

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

Yes. I'm having issues too with Intel processors. I've got a Pentium III that I've got OCed to 6ghz on stock air, all the stuff keeps crashing.

Seriously: You need to go back a few steps on that impressive overclock. A bad overclock doesn't always equate to OS crashes.

 

[kitchenshark]

Good grief! What's with the belittling? The forums have become a bit less friendly, what gives? I didn't post anything pro-AMD or anti-Intel. I do like my E4300. I was having a frustrating problem and some feel compelled to post like this? Technology Coordinator, I didn't expect this behavior. Have I done something to offend that I'm unaware of?

Besides, if you took the time to read the thread, people have already pointed out that the culprit most likely is DirectX; which seem reasonable with the programs I'm running. I've accepted that, and can live with the problem now that I have some kind of idea what might be happening.

 

[turboflame]

Good grief! What's with the belittling? The forums have become a bit less friendly, what gives? I didn't post anything pro-AMD or anti-Intel. I do like my E4300. I was having a frustrating problem and some feel compelled to post like this? Technology Coordinator, I didn't expect this behavior. Have I done something to offend that I'm unaware of?

Besides, if you took the time to read the thread, people have already pointed out that the culprit most likely is DirectX; which seem reasonable with the programs I'm running. I've accepted that, and can live with the problem now that I have some kind of idea what might be happening.

Not all E4300s can stand that kind of OC, if you at least turn it down a notch and try doing the same thing that would help us rule out an unstable OC. It's worth a try anyway. Though could be something up with directx.

 

[djgandy]

His single core athlon crashed too. It's software.