Athlon II X4 640 and DDR2 800

[rawphd]

Can an Athlon II X4 640 run with DDR2 800, or does it require faster memory? My motherboard is the Asus M4A785-M with the AMD785g chipset.

I'm having trouble getting XP to recognize all four cores, and I'm wondering if the CPU/memory combination is the problem.

 

[rolli59]

If the board supports the CPU it should not be a problem. Do you have the required BIOS for that CPU? http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=ef0qgvMIwOUagAVl

 

[rawphd]

If the board supports the CPU it should not be a problem. Do you have the required BIOS for that CPU? http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=ef0qgvMIwOUagAVl

Thanks. I flashed to the latest BIOS (version 1006) without any luck. Maybe I should downgrade to the BIOS version they mention for the CPU, although you would think it would be supported in the latest version if it is supported at all.

 

[rolli59]

Latest BIOS includes all fixes from older so no need to go back. Did you install XP with that CPU?

 

[jb6684]

RAM type, size, or speed won't affect how many cores are seen.....

How do you know XP doesn't recognize all the cores? JUST hit CTRL-ALT-DEL; then start up the task manager and hit the Performance tab. There will be a separate graph for each CPU core under CPU Usage History....

OR, download & install CPU-Z and it will tell you how many "cores" on the CPU tab.....

 

[mdsiu]

Athlon II X4 has memory controller for DDR2 and DDR3. It will come down to motherboard support.

 

[rawphd]

Thanks for all the answers and suggestions. My overall problem is that when I install XP Pro SP3 with APIC enabled in BIOS, I always get a BSOD (No_More_IRP_Stack_Locations) after the first reboot. If I turn off APIC then XP will finish installation. However, no APIC means no multi-core and I get the Standard PC HAL (I've tried forcing the APCI Multiprocessor and even the MPS Multiprocessor HALS, but no luck). There is only one core present in Task Manager.

I don't think this is due to any faulty hardware. I can run Ubuntu from a LiveCD with no problems and with all 4 cores running. I've also done an overnight Memtest with no errors. There just seems to be a communication issue between XP and the BIOS. I've tried tweaking all kinds of BIOS settings (and I must have been through at least a dozen XP install attempts), but the only thing that gives me a successful install is with APIC disabled.

Dadiggle, I'll try the 1.8V settings on my RAM. I've saved tweaking the voltages for the last resort. I know it is pretty safe, but I'm always afraid I'm going to fry a component.

 

[rawphd]

I've got an old Sempron (I actually had it in this board briefly, so I know it works). Maybe I can do an end-run around the XP install. I'll install XP with the Sempron and get all my drivers installed. Then, I'll swap the Sempron with the Athlon II X4. If I cross my fingers, maybe XP will recognize the hardware change and give me the APCI Multiprocessor HAL.

Any thoughts on this approach?

 

[hella-d]

Yes, Just Check My Machine Specs, Im Running A Phenom II On An AM3 With 6GB DDR-2 CAS4

 

[freemenow18]

you mean AM2+ and not AM3.
FYI.

to let you know i had an m4a785-m asus board and it was AM3 with ddr2 any AM3 board should also hold an AM2+ processor weather ddr2 or ddr3