Phenom fourth core not stabil for photoshop

[flake]

Hello, I just bought a Phenom X2 555 BE and I have successfully unlocked the other two extra cores. So I now have four cores working. The only problem is the system getting unstable (BSOD) whenever I use Photoshop (CS4) and/or Lightroom 3. If I disable the fourth core and running only with Core 1, 2 and 3, the system is stable and I can use Photoshop and/or Lightroom without issues. So apparently the fourth core is kind of faulty. I know that the two extra cores are bonus because this is a dual-core product ... but wondering if I can do something to stabilize the fourth core? Also, why only Photoshop and Lightroom that affects this core? Thank you for your help.

 

[Scotteq]

Understand that the 2 and 3 core products from AMD which (might) be unlocked consist of silicon which does not completely pass testing for 4 core operation in some minor way. Just that rather than throw them out, AMD disable the offending area, then package and sell them as 3 or 2 core processors. It's a good deal for AMD, since they're able to make a little money on what they made instead of taking a write off. And it's a good deal for consumers because end users can get much of the best technology AMD put into their chips at a cut rate price.

Depending on what is "wrong", the locked core(s) may be unlocked and the end user might enjoy flawless operation. Or maybe not so much, as you have discovered...

Now - Since the problem exists in physical media, I seriously doubt there's a way to fix it. Short of buying a new Quad, anyhow.

 

[flake]

Thanks for your reply Scotteq. As Photoshop and Lightroom are the only softwares that caused BSOD so far, I set affinity for them to run on core 1,2 and 3. I will report back on how stable this can be.

 

[loneninja]

Is your system Prime95 stable?

 

[flake]

I have tried Prime95 but not quite sure how to use it ... I run it and it didn't seem to do anything.

 

[loneninja]

You need to run the torture test, if it doesn't automatically start it'll be under options. The program really doesn't appear to do much, but your cpu will be at 100% usage.

 

[flake]

I run Prime95 for few minutes and could see that all four CPUs were at 100% ... and it is stable ... is it strange that my is not stable for Photoshop while it is stable under torture test?

Btw, since I set Photoshop and Lightroom to run on cores 1, 2 and 3, it has never been crashed although I have not used it extensively.

 

[Scotteq]

I run Prime95 for few minutes and could see that all four CPUs were at 100% ... and it is stable ... is it strange that my is not stable for Photoshop while it is stable under torture test?

For the first part: It depends on the nature of the test. If the software you are using doesn't happen stress a weak area, then it's not going to find an error.

I'm sure there are many of us (me, with my current rig, AAMOF) who have had experiences like a new build passing Prime 95 Blend, only to fail using OCCT or Linpack. Or even more commonly, pass Prime 95 small FFT with ease.... only to fail Prime 95 Blend. These are all "Stress Tests". They just happen to deliver different loads to different aspects of your PC. (in this case, small FFT heavily stresses Floating Point operations & cache, and Blend tests everything - including memory)

For the second part: It's the usual practice to run Prime 95 for 8, 10, 12, and even 24 hours. 'A Few Minutes' is really only valuable to see if your cooling system is adequate.

Btw, since I set Photoshop and Lightroom to run on cores 1, 2 and 3, it has never been crashed although I have not used it extensively.

You know.... I didn't even think of that when I originally posted. Good Thinking!!