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AC's Phenom Review and Techinical info

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Edit: I posted this more as a record of when things go wrong, further investigation as it looks like a RAM compatibility issue.

No Go :bang head :temper:

Installed windows, drivers etc. NO OC yet all looked good at first.
Ran some test programs then, SPI 1Meg = 1min WTF, of CPU clock at 900mhz.
CPU Z can't see ram but reports multi at 4.5X and 900+ mHZ.
Started a 2 core render, the speed seemed to be average and close to a 2.4 Windsor or stock E6400 Allendale.

Rebooted with CNQ off.
While installing SB drivers it locked up and BSOD, rebooted.
Lost the CDR could not load other drivers but sees the USB, so I break out flash drives.
Load SB drivers OK that's cool.
Reboot, crashes going into windows repeatedly.
Swap RAM, same thing.
Go into BIOS reset to Optimal rastart.
Ok all seems well, CDR is back.
Install Video drivers and now have all the drivers, lets roll.
Install OverDrive cool, fire it up.
Click on settings and set it to load stock speed (crash).
Reboot, Ok seems normal, lets run a new copy of CPUz and fire up coretemp (crash).

At this point the BIOS may be green, it's past midnight and I think I'm loosing the battle.

Have not located the CPU multi which seems to run on CNQ at 4.5.
Turn off CNQ and it locks up. I don't think there's a heat issue being at stock unless it's the northbridge.
Next I'll rule that out by just dropping HT to 2x. I can rule out the RAM, PSU and Video card.


PSU 650 watt, PC-PNC Server grade PSU.
RAM swapped sticks with another pair. Taken from my main when I upgraded. They folded forever.
Video Card, X850 I've been gaming on with no issues.

I'm going to do some testing to see is issues are with RAM first then try and move up the chain. Sorry for the delay, It's green hardware so we can expect issues. This sounds like a BIOS issue but I can't get a handle on it.
 
Last edited:
AlabamaCajun said:
No Go :bang head :temper:

Installed windows, drivers etc. NO OC yet all looked good at first.
Ran some test programs then, SPI 1Meg = 1min WTF, of CPU clock at 900mhz.
CPU Z can't see ram but reports multi at 4.5X and 900+ mHZ.
Started a 2 core render, the speed seemed to be average and close to a 2.4 Windsor or stock E6400 Allendale.

Rebooted with CNQ off.
While installing SB drivers it locked up and BSOD, rebooted.
Lost the CDR could not load other drivers but sees the USB, so I break out flash drives.
Load SB drivers OK that's cool.
Reboot, crashes going into windows repeatedly.
Swap RAM, same thing.
Go into BIOS reset to Optimal rastart.
Ok all seems well, CDR is back.
Install Video drivers and now have all the drivers, lets roll.
Install OverDrive cool, fire it up.
Click on settings and set it to load stock speed (crash).
Reboot, Ok seems normal, lets run a new copy of CPUz and fire up coretemp (crash).

At this point the BIOS may be green, it's past midnight and I think I'm loosing the battle.

Have not located the CPU multi which seems to run on CNQ at 4.5.
Turn off CNQ and it locks up. I don't think there's a heat issue being at stock unless it's the northbridge.
Next I'll rule that out by just dropping HT to 2x. I can rule out the RAM, PSU and Video card.


PSU 650 watt, PC-PNC Server grade PSU.
RAM swapped sticks with another pair. Taken from my main when I upgraded. They folded forever.
Video Card, X850 I've been gaming on with no issues.

I'm going to do some testing to see is issues are with RAM first then try and move up the chain. Sorry for the delay, It's green hardware so we can expect issues. This sounds like a BIOS issue but I can't get a handle on it.
Click to expand...


green hardware, that a nice term for chitty hardware???? :beer: cough cough amd :p naw jk... hope you figure it out!
 
Looks good. Hopefully you'll get it going. I want some overclocking :)

Was reading this article on the Inquirer; hopefully there will be a new BIOS out soon that may make things more stable.
 
Intel pWnZ0.... oops sorry! :D

Hope you get those problems fixed soon, mate. I'm really looking forward to this review. I envy you guys with quads, being in college I can't afford to build any sort of quad system at the moment.
 
Best wishes getting that rig going , OC !
We're all on the edge of our seats waiting for Benchies ....
I'm on the last 65 nm of my Folding Chair ! :D

BTW :drool:
 
Ram is at the top of my suspicion list as I just pulled this RAM from my main rig after some flakyness. I remember seeing problems like this with the early socket 775s and Conroe and thinking it was a chitty issue. I've got new RAM coming on Monday, G-Skill DDR2-1000 so I may be out of the wood. Green is the best way to describe new hardware and RAM can be a Biotch as I saw on the early 939s. Most bios updates have tags about supporting new RAM.
If Ram is not the issue then I need to pin down the hosed hardware for exchange, I'm not giving up. I love the board and the chip, when it stays running.
 
Thats why I will wait for a dfi board. Oskar will churn out beta bois by the bucket full until he gets it right.
Good luck AC, I can't wait to see what happens with new ram and a new bios.
 
AC, I'd suggest that you put the CPU through its paces by using a single stick of RAM. Post a few CPUz Screens for posterity so that people can actually quantify improvements when a new BIOS is released/the platform stabilizes...
 
I've been doing some searching and there is a BIOS release with RAM issues and Like I said before I have some trusty skills coming. If I don't post throughout the weekend then I was unable to get over the RAM issue. I rather be up front, this makes a good record so other people can diagnose their issues. Right now people are going to be critical of AMD until they see solid results from people. Those of us chunking down duckies for this new hardware are the pioneers that will encounter problems. My ECS boards are solid and OCed because I flashed and reflashed BIOS to get issues resolved. We all did it with the 939s so it should get better real quick as a lot is riding on this. I need this for testing render engine which I hoped to get started on next week.
 
Thanks for all your hard work AC. From watching things at Xtreme it seems like buggy bios to me too. Green is a great way to decsribe it.
 
akaBruno said:
Thanks for all your hard work AC. From watching things at Xtreme it seems like buggy bios to me too. Green is a great way to decsribe it.
Click to expand...

Ah, encouragement, If you have any info, share a link as there are a number of extreme sites :shrug: Thanks!

I've been looking at more and more info and it's pointing toward BIOS and some ram.

Phenoms at the Egg droped 20 bucks today :drool: :bang head "It was still worth it to have it to play with now" :santa:


Edit: Manual Ram timing and testing, so far so good. :thup:
Ran for over an hour with no issue on 2 cores 100%. I'll rebuild the program for four cores and restart the test.
Sandra scored 5300 on the RAM bandwidth so I'm still not running full out on RAM but I'm satisfied that the Phenom is Good!
 
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