Problems with P4 3GHz after upgrading from 2.4GHz.

[mattdude]

Hi,

I got a new 3GHz processor to upgrade from 2.4GHz, and I get lots of unexplainable problems when it's installed that don't happen if I change back to my old processor. Among other things, random reboots occur frequently, windows crashes or shows strange error messages often, and once the processor even slowed down and started running at only 1.5GHz for a while (which I fixed by turning the computer off for a few minutes)! Also, Doom 3 crashes almost immediately with the 3GHz but runs fine if I put the 2.4 GHz back in.

Does anyone know what the problem could be? My motherboard is a QDI P4I865PEA and does support the processor (or is supposed to at least). My BIOS is the latest version. I thought it was the power supply, but I tried it with a cooler master 450watt supply (from my original 340 watt chieftec) and it made no difference. I've also reformated my harddrive and reinstalled everything (and that was hard to do because the installation program would sometimes give me a blue screen of death with this processor in it), to no avail. Any other ideas? Could the processor be faulty?

Thanks!

 

[TWC]

Sounds like maybe the HSF are not making good contact with the CPU.Also you might try increasing the voltage to your CPU just a little.

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[mattdude]

What is the HSF? Is this something that can be fixed?

About voltages, I'm a little afraid of playing around with these things since I've never done this before. I can set high and low voltages in the BIOS. Will increasing both give a higher overall voltage value? With increasing it a little, how much do you mean, maybe half a volt or so?

Thanks a lot.

 

[sparky853]

HSF is the Heat Sink Fan on the processor. If its not attached properly, you will get frrequent crashes as the processor heats up too much.

As far as voltage goes, you want to increase it in .1V increments.

What type of RAM are you running? I am assuming the CPU is a 800MHz FSB CPU? Is your RAM PC3200 (DDR400)? If not, your RAM could be causing problems.

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[mattdude]

Aaah I just checked my ram and it's PC2700!! Is this not good enough for 800MHz FSB (which is what I have, yes).

Do I need to get new ram now, or is there anything else that can be done to solve this? Thanks.

 

[mattdude]

Oh and about the fan, I think it's connected properly, but maybe it could be faulty or something? Would it be safe to use the fan that came with my 2.4GHz CPU (since I know that one at least works)? I don't know if there's a difference between the fans, maybe the 2.4 one wouldn't cool as much?

 

[sparky853]

For the fans, the one with the 3 GHz will be bigger and provide better cooling.

OK, Quick lesson. A 200MHz FSB is used in CPUs with an 800MHz FSB (Intel CPUs use 4x the FSB) and uses DDR400 (Double Data Rate: 200*2 = 400MHZ RAM)

Your PC2700 is only good for 333MHz, so you will need to upgrade. Its your RAM being overclocked that is causing your system stability problems.

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[mattdude]

Cool, problem solved then (I hope, once I get new ram). Thanks a lot!

 

[ChipDeath]

Before you spend some cash, there's a couple of settings you can change in the BIOS which might make it possible to run your RAM at 200Mhz.

I'll assume the QDI BIOS you have isn't incredibly limited - hopefully you'll have these options. I'm not familiar with it myself though

If you go into the BIOS on bootup (usually push DELETE while booting - it normally says what to press on the screen briefly), There should be a section called something like 'Advanced Chipset Options' or similar.

You should See some options for memory timings somewhere. They'll be labelled CAS, RAS, TRAS, etc. They'll probably be under a single setting called 'AUTO' or something, and you'll need to set that to 'Manual' or 'Expert' before it'll allow you to change them. If you increase these It might help. They're probably set to something like 2.5-3-3-6.. try setting them to 3-4-4-8 or so.

The other thing to try is to slightly increase the memory voltage. If there are no voltage options under that screen, there might be a 'Power options', or something off the main menu. Find the option labelled 'Memory Voltage' or 'VDIMM'. It'll probably be set to 2.5V or 2.6V. If you raise this to 2.7 or 2.8V it will help too.

Give those a go and see if it's happy. This would invalidate the warranty on the RAM, but technically speaking you've already done that by overclocking it - even though it wasn't deliberate .

---
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[xeenrecoil]

heya Matt;

More specifically the HSF used for the 3ghz is a copper core with split fins, it does a very good job, and is more then adequate, the HSF that came with your 2.4 isnt nearly enough and should be avoided, you also need to buy a pack of razor blades and some artic silver 5, gently clean the factory thermal material off of the heat sink with the razor blade being carefull not to scratch the copper, once you have removed the bulk of the material take a soft cloth and some rubbing alcohol and vigorously clean the copper surface, then replace it with Artic Silver 5, use a portion about the size of a dime. Pay close attention to how you mate the new HSF into the Heatsink Retention Mechanism, as it is a very tight fit, and you want to line it up perfectly or you can damage your HRM, and possibly your CPU.

As far as the Ram goes i recommend you buy 1GB (2x512MB) of Crucial PC3200, that will cost you about $210 with tax from <A HREF="http://www.crucial.com" target="_new"> Crucial </A>
Good luck with the rest of the upgrade.

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[wolverinero79]

I'm surprised that this board would support 400/533/800 Mhz FSB, and also 2100/2700/3200 DDR, but would not have a stable 4:5 timing ratio to support the 2700 @ 320 Mhz. What frequency does your BIOS say the RAM is running at?

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