Re: Problems w/ a Dual Core 6400+ ???

Sniper wrote:
> I hope this is not too much of a dumb Q, but is there a way to find out if
> BOTH cores of a CPU are working properly, correctly, or even @ all? I am
> running a Black Ed. 6400+ (NEVER clocked or any other 'teasings' done) w/ a
> AC Freezer 64 Pro sitting atop it. It is just my PC seems way to slow for
> what I built & I am just know kind of realizing it ... PC personally built
> back in March w/ ALL new hardware from Newegg & Crucial. =)
>
> Thank you for any direction someone may be able to point me in.
>
> Sniper
> NY (No, not the city)
>

If the OS is Windows, you can check the specifics with CPUZ.
Here is a 6400+ screen shot.

http://computermonger.com/wp-content.../cpuz_6400.png

CPUZ is here.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

If you disable Cool N' Quiet, that makes the processor use the
top multiplier all the time. The Black Edition is supposed to
have an unlocked multiplier (for easy overclocking), but you
should still check the BIOS to make sure the processor is
being properly recognized. Check that the motherboard BIOS
version is recent enough to recognize a 6400+ properly.

Cool N' Quiet works by reducing the FID and VID when the
computer is idle. When you're doing something compute
intensive, then it would use the x16 multiplier value.
When the computer is idle, the multiplier can be reprogrammed
to a lower value. That helps keep the processor cooler when
the power is not needed.

The VID (Vcore voltage) is adjusted around the same time
that the multiplier is changed. A lower voltage can be used
when the multiplier drops. They aren't exactly in lockstep,
because the multiplier would drop first, and then the
Vcore value is reduced a few microseconds afterwards.

When you have an Athlon64 on Windows, there are things
like the "CPU driver" to install. The exact recipe might
depend on the Service Pack level of the OS. This thread
was an attempt to gather the necessary info. I recommend
reading the posts at the end of the thread first, to
get some idea what is needed for SP3.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

For multiplier control while in Windows, I used CrystalCPUID
with my Core2. AFAIK it should work with the 6400+ as well.
I found it to be a bit easier to use.

http://crystaldew.info/category/software/crystalcpuid/
http://crystalmark.info/download/ ---> CrystalCPUID415.zip

RMClock is another tool that allows defining a power profile
and FID/VID settings. It is worth getting just for the
graphical display, even if you cannot figure out what to
do with the rest of it :-)

http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml

HTH,
Paul

On Sat, 6 Dec 2008 14:59:26 -0500, Sniper wrote:

>AMD 6400+ Black w/ Artic Colling's Freezer 64 Pro 92cm w/ Artic Silver 5
>Therm Paste
>
>Asus M2A-VM

The AMD 6400+ is not listed as supported on that motherboard:
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...l=M2A-VM&os=17

>BIOS = Pheonix Tech, Ltd. Some long alpha-numeric sequence ending in
>"Revision 1705" & Date = 03/28/2008
>*** IDK why, but I am scared to death to F w/ Flashing the BIOS to a newer
>version; that is if one is available, I should check, I know how to do
>that.***

Bios version 2201 is the latest for that board. Don't ASUS supply a utility for
updating the bios from within Windows? I'd be a bit wary though since the 6400+
is not listed and version 2101 has a fix for detecting the cache on the 6500+
there is always the chance that things will go loopy with an update. Check
that you can save the current Bios so that you can go back to it.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

Sniper wrote:
> CPU(z) ID Screens are nearly identical. So I feel good there.
>
> The CrystalCPUID website is a 'mess' ... I am @ a loss as to how navigate
> it., DL a prog, anything for that matter.
>
> I checked my BIOS. Cool n' Quiet is set to AUTO. The only other option is
> 'Disable'.
> I manually set the multiplier to x16 & everything booted nicely.
>
> My PC @ a glance ... parolly more info than anyone needs to know, but I'll
> try to KISS.
>
> AMD 6400+ Black w/ Artic Colling's Freezer 64 Pro 92cm w/ Artic Silver 5
> Therm Paste
>
> Asus M2A-VM
>
> BIOS = Pheonix Tech, Ltd. Some long alpha-numeric sequence ending in
> "Revision 1705" & Date = 03/28/2008
> *** IDK why, but I am scared to death to F w/ Flashing the BIOS to a newer
> version; that is if one is available, I should check, I know how to do
> that.***
>
> Crucial 2GB )2x1GB) Ballistix PC2-6400 DDR2-800
>
> Antec NEOPOWER 500W PS - modular
>
> 2x Samsung SH-223S (SATA)
>
> Main HDD = Hitachi Deskstar 300GB, 7200 (SATA)
>
> Secondary HDD - Seagate 'Cuda 500GB, 7200 (SATA) - BOTH HDDs are 3GB/s.
>
> Sapphire ATI HD 2600 Pro (graphics) 128MB 128-bit ...
>
> Creative Blaster Audigy SE 24k
>
> LogiSYS 10/100/1000 Ethernet PCI card ...
>
> Logitech G11 Keybord & MX510 Mousie
>
> Logitech 2.1 Z-4s
>
> GREAT ventilation systemw w/ a Cooler Mater Elite 330 case w/ additional
> high RPM intake & outtake fans (I LOVE this case)
>
> & I run Norton 360 to protect everything ... seems to work flawlessly for me
> ...
>
> Not much more I can think of ... Btw, might anyone think I pick't some
> decent parts? I will fully admit that Intel & Nvidia likely may have better
> parts, but I am an AMD & ATI Fanboy throught & through ...
>
> Ugh, I will stop here ...
>

I think I forgot to use the English button. The page
may be easier to read now. Click the exe link, and
the current release of the program will be fetched from
http://release.crystaldew.info/CrystalCPUID

http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html

CrystalCPUID

* exe [x86 Vista/2003/XP/2000/NT4/Me/98/95 en/ja]
* ...
* ...

Using that interface, you end up downloading the CrystalCPUID415.zip file.

http://release.crystaldew.info/index.php?dir=abcd/

Anyway, that program allows multiplier changes in Windows, but
it takes some screwing around to use it.

So if the processor core is running at 3200MHz, it should
be fast. Try SuperPI and see what you get.

http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/
http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/super_pi_mod-1.5.zip

You unzip and execute the EXE. Click "Calculate". Select
1 million digits from the menu.

On my Core2 (with a pretty slow motherboard), I get
24 seconds at 2.6GHz and 18 seconds or so at 3.46GHz.
Use SuperPI to see what kind of numbers you get.
While SuperPI is running, you can also observe the
graphical display in RMClock, to see if the frequency
or something else is changing. It might change if
Cool N' Quiet is completely enabled.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...n999/power.jpg

Paul

Rodney Pont wrote:
> On Sat, 6 Dec 2008 14:59:26 -0500, Sniper wrote:
>
>> AMD 6400+ Black w/ Artic Colling's Freezer 64 Pro 92cm w/ Artic Silver 5
>> Therm Paste
>>
>> Asus M2A-VM
>
> The AMD 6400+ is not listed as supported on that motherboard:
> http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...l=M2A-VM&os=17
>
>> BIOS = Pheonix Tech, Ltd. Some long alpha-numeric sequence ending in
>> "Revision 1705" & Date = 03/28/2008
>> *** IDK why, but I am scared to death to F w/ Flashing the BIOS to a newer
>> version; that is if one is available, I should check, I know how to do
>> that.***
>
> Bios version 2201 is the latest for that board. Don't ASUS supply a utility for
> updating the bios from within Windows? I'd be a bit wary though since the 6400+
> is not listed and version 2101 has a fix for detecting the cache on the 6500+
> there is always the chance that things will go loopy with an update. Check
> that you can save the current Bios so that you can go back to it.
>

That's a good point (I missed that). That CPUSupport list has nothing
that draws more than 95W. The 6400+ is a 125W processor. There is a
chance of blowing the Vcore regulator.

Using that same CPUSupport page, you can search for motherboards
that really support the 6400+. And Asus has a separate page,
where they show a generation of boards that corrects for
the mistakes they made previously. A number of manufacturers made
boards with weak Vcore regulators, and Anandtech featured a short
article, where they damaged some before checking out the
equivalent of the CPUSupport web page for the boards. The fact there
is nothing above 95W on the CPUSupport web page, is how you tell
the Vcore is weak.

http://event.asus.com/mb/140w/

Paul