Problem with amd phenom2 x 3 720 BE with activated 4th core

[extremebadass]

currently running 4 cores @3.6 ghz very stable until i try and play a game. It becomes all jumpy and black jumpy squares appear on monitor and and i get a crackling sound thru the speakers.Some one told me it could be my power supply unit not being powerful enough. when 4th core de-activated it runs faultlessly.
I am running a Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P
Corsair XMS3 1600 ddr3 ram 2x2 sticks
Xigmatec cpu cooler
antec 900 case (with 3x12cm & 20 cm blue led antec fans)
Corsair TX520w power supply
Sapphire 4890 1gig ddr5 graphics card also oc'd
pioneer dvd burner
1 x hdd

 

[dragonsprayer]

Your problem is over heating of the cpu

remove and reinstall the cpu cooler, check the cpu cooler for complete pattern of contact such as gaps in the Thermal compound (HSTC).

You, 1) most likely used too little compound, 2) #1 and applied it wrong - see this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/250728-28-xigmateck-thermalright-120mm-plastic-forgot

your psu is too small

but... your system should crash and not give the type of indicators you have. Corsair rocks, and games only use 1 thread or 2 at most - so the psu is NOT THE PROBLEM - EVEN THOUGHT STICKS OUT LIKE A SORE THUMBE!

now it could be the psu, by turning off one core your using less power but its very small when just gaming


check the cpu first

always add a little voltage to ram - you never know!

PLEASE POST THE RESULTS, PLEASE FOLLOW UP WHEN YOU FIX IT. we our a community and I WELCOME YOU! PLEASE FOLLOW UP!

i post some of my latest photos so u know i know what i am doing!!!

ps: your system psu size is

150+80+250+80 = 560/(.6 to .8) = 900 w to 700

a good 650 will do

a 700-750 is optimal

if you want to add more cards and other stuff then 900w + nice 850w

silverstone 850w
antec 850
corsair 850
antec 650

 

[dragonsprayer]

i post photos so people can see what we build and ask me questions!!! ok fine, i like to show off my wares!!!!

thx THG for letting me show my stuff!!! THG rocks!! plus i give free tech support to all THG members!

fedex smashed this $5000+ baby!

specs:

4.3ghz max i7 920
runs 4.2ghz 67-74c each core with prime 95, and J V stesstest in 72-76 f room! any questions - my site is down it will be up - i got attacked!

 

[dragonsprayer]

ok

run prime 95
then game

if the system crashes gaming its the psu - i am wrong its not the cpu temps
check your cpu temps

its you psu

when you game, the power of the system goes up tremendously, your system running prime 95 is 250-325w. then game and your add 500-600w max

your psu is too small - sorry its 5:30am i been up for 19 hours we where building systems late last night!

 

[extremebadass]

cranked ram voltage up to 1.75
cpu voltage up to 1.5
ram is locked at 1066
Nb up .1v.
could please explain why u think the way i applied thermal paste is the problem? when i have only three cores activated it plays all games and dvd movies perfectly, no fault.Even if i activate 4th core @ stock clock speeds i still have the problem and when i play dvd movies it goes all spotty on the screen.I even replaced the gpu with a nvidia 9800gt and still had the same problem...remember its perfect on 3 cores..... would'nt it be still be playing up on 3 if the paste wasn't applied properly.Not trying to be a know it all.Just sick of pulling what little hair i have left out of my mellon

 

[extremebadass]

Cpu temp is between 33-38 degrees celcius.
I have an old Opteron dual core at 3.0 gig that runs in the 40's and it never gives me a problem

 

[dokk2]

Well !! You said it yourself "it runs fine on three cores".......????

 

[extremebadass]

Hi mate the psu i actually have is the Corsair HX520 not TX550
specs are as follows:
dc output +3.3 +5v +12v1 +12v2 +12v3 -12v +5Vsb
Max current 24V 24V 18A 18A 18A 0.8A 3A
Max Combined
Wattage 140W / 480W / 9.6W 15W
TOTAL POWER = 520w

 

[extremebadass]

go away u germ if u dont want to help then go and find your backbone somewhere in your back yard

 

[extremebadass]

Only when i play games and watch dvd's im having problems not under any other sress test.
Please explian what you think the problem is.It's only when i use 3d graphics,
If u dont have nothing constructive to write than don't waste everyones time

 

[loneninja]

If it's only a graphical problem shouldn't that lead you to believe it may be the graphics card? Possibly it doesn't get enough power because a Phenom II will consume more power with 4 cores than with 3 when under load.

 

[bfellow]

It's pretty obvious overclocking a core that was disabled is the reason your system is crashing. Go ahead and buy a new PSU and see if that fixes this but I think its the CPU. Not all X3 720s allow overclocking unlocked CPUs for large workloads.

 

[ac3144]

ok

run prime 95
then game

if the system crashes gaming its the psu - i am wrong its not the cpu temps
check your cpu temps

its you psu

when you game, the power of the system goes up tremendously, your system running prime 95 is 250-325w. then game and your add 500-600w max

your psu is too small - sorry its 5:30am i been up for 19 hours we where building systems late last night!

Dragonsprayer, that machine is SEXAMACACIOUS!!! Fab build, I salute you sir.
AC

P.S. Didn't quote the picture post incase it all repeated..you get my drift.

 

[TripGun]

If you leave it at stock speeds with the extra core enabled, does it crash? I think the PSU could be fine as long as the voltage is distributed evenly across the three rails, however it could possibly be a problem with undervolting the video card if its trying to pull all its juice from one rail, those 4890's are pretty taxing on th PSU.

 

[xaira]

forgive my language but "retards" if it runs fine with 3 cores then all it is, is that you got a cpu whrer the 4th core was actually faulty, not just disabled. if it runs 30-38 that would not affect a cpu rated to run at 73 and if its the psu it wouldnt run with just 3 cores either my advice is to turn off acc and enjoy 3 cores @3.6 also 1.5v for the core is a bit high.

cpu info 720 be
http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=522&f1=&f2=&f3=&f4=&f5=&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=&f10=&f11=

 

[Onus]

The PSU calculator shows 394W with your stated specs, although that's only counting 3 cores. I don't think the 4th core uses 130W all by itself, so your PSU is FINE, provided you don't have any one rail overloaded.
As bfellow pointed out, there's a reason that core was disabled. You may have experienced it first hand.

 

[TheDraac]

Remember, as others noted, you bought an X3 processor. If you can run the 3 cores at more than stock speed, good for you. After all, you didn't buy a faster processor.

If you can run the 4 cores at stock speed or any speed higher than that... reliably.... you got More than you paid for.

AMD disabled that 4th core for a reason. For some people that 4th core could be just slightly marginal and will run ok with the other 3. Some chips 4th core could be so bad, you can never use it.

With that said, I think you need to use (I think it's AMD's) OC tweak tool that will allow you to set the speed of each individual core. Then you can set the first 3 to your stable OC speed and set the 4th core to whatever speed it's will run reliably at.

 

[TheDraac]

If you haven't already read this..... good info....

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/unlock-phenom-ii,2273-3.html

 

[extremebadass]

Hi Guys Thanks so much for the info....Im going to enjoy the whole setup at stock settings.
So far the 4890 blows my 9800gt out of the sky.Soooo much quicker.Windows7 so far is also very impressive

 

[logainofhades]

The PSU calculator shows 394W with your stated specs, although that's only counting 3 cores. I don't think the 4th core uses 130W all by itself, so your PSU is FINE, provided you don't have any one rail overloaded.
As bfellow pointed out, there's a reason that core was disabled. You may have experienced it first hand.

Yea his PSU is plenty for his rig. Also iirc all corsair PSU's run on a single 12v regardless of what the modular ones claim.

 

[jitpublisher]

If you really wanted a quad, you should have bought a quad. For gaming though, enabling the 4th core, even it worked perfectly, isn't going to do anything for you anyway.

 

[extremebadass]

Im now running the cpu on 3 cores at 3.6 and i have oc'd the gpu.i am not going to bother with 4 cores i love my new pc .By the way i didn't buy a quad core amd because at the time of purchase the amd x4 940 ran only ddr2 It's really an am2 cpu not am3 get my drift.And if you open a corsair tx power supply as ive done, all the power cables are all soldered together on the board they come from one power source, thanks