Upgraded CPU from Pentium D to Duel Core but computer is slower!

The multiplier is wrong. x6 should be x13.5.

the cpu is throttled to keep the cpu cool, if the heatsink is not in propper contact with the cpu, the cpu will underclock itself and the fan will spin up to try and keep the system cool, remoove the cooler and reaply thermal paste and do the whole process over

"but the fan is really noisy all of a sudden"

Just go into the bios and look for a "pc health" or "hardware monitor" section and turn down the rpms with the smartfan function. I use the calibration and then set the trigger temps higher with manual settings. 1500-2500 rpm is all you need unless you plan to overclock. If your board doesn't use smartfan, you may have to purchase a zalman fan mate one rpm adjuster. They cost about $7. You can try reinstalling the heatsink, but it may be fine. I always turn over the motherboard when installing it and check the position of the plastic inserts to see if they are all engaged into the holes the same length.

Refit the CPU. As bige420 says the processor is not running at its correct speed. Check for BIOS update.

steps to take in case you get confused.

What motherboard do you have? this is the first step

go to the CPU support page for that motherboard model and see if the E5400 is supported. my guess is that it is but it will require a specific BIOS version. If so, download that BIOS version and activate it over your current BIOS. This is the second step

turn off speedstep and C1E in the BIOS. this is the third step

monitor your temps with HWMonitor from the CPUID website, if they are too high, then your CPU is being throttled down to prevent it from frying, this is the fourth step

remove heatsink/fan, clean the heatsink & CPU of any excess thermal compound, reseat the CPU, apply a small amount of thermal compound (about half of a pea-size) to the heatsink, attach heatsink to the CPU. This is the fifth step.

start up machine and see if this helped.


you do not have to do all of the steps if you find the issue to be at a previous step.

Wow, this is a great forum Thanks so much for your responses guys, really appreciate it.

Well, I followed your advice and upgraded my BIOS (motherboard was Intel D946GZIS). That went well and it resulted in a quiet fan again.

Then I disabled EIST, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Vista WEI processor score was the same (lower than my Pentium D) and CPUID reported clock core speed still only 1.2 Ghz. Tried playing a game and it was noticeably slower than before too.

Downloaded HWMonitor and this is what it currently says (computer has been on for about 2 hours) :



What do you think? Still recommend reinstalling heat sink fan? (The only thing I think I could have done wrong is put too much thermal paste...)

Or, should I go back to BIOS settings and change the multiplier speed to x13.5, as some are suggesting? CPUID is still saying I'm running at x6.

That application isn't working, for some reason. Opening wprime.exe causes dialog box "unexpected error; quitting".

The Windows benchmark is not the best when it comes to CPU performance. In pretty much everything, the Pentium Dual Core E5400 will beat the Pentium D 935.

My suggestion is to try to run a game with both, record the FPS then see for yourself.

Ran PRIME, CPU temps normal but max speed still only 1.197MHz

I've disabled EIST, but nothing has changed. How can I manually increase the multiplier?

how did temps look while prime was running?

use the default setting in bios

Are you sure your motherboard actually supports 45nm processors?

What motherboard do you have?

I'm sorry, but your new cpu is not in the list of supported cpus:

http://processormatch.intel.com/Co [...] e=d946gzis
http://www.intel.com/support/mothe [...] 026620.htm

It seems that the 45 nanometers cpus are not supported.
Maybe if INTEL releases a new bios update ...The last one is from 18/4/2008: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Se [...] 946GZIS%22

Anyway I would try to update the bios and... cross the fingers...

Yep. Your mobo supports the 65nm PentiumDuals , not the 45nm PentiumDuals.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128372

$90 for a new motherboard that will work with the E5400.

Honestly, just wait. The E5400 is not a major upgrade for you. I'd sell the proc on EBay and wait to get a new PC next year (if that's what you were thinking). This time next year, you should be able to put together a nice i5 at a real bargain!

Good idea, I think I'll wait and get something better next year. Thanks again for all your advice guys. Twas a good learning experience for me.

Here goes one almost-new E5400 on ebay!