CPU giving error on boot up...help!

Hello. This is my first post here so forgive me if it is in the wrong place.

My Problem:

I bought a new computer in march 2004. It was in parts and I built it. The system specs are below.

Thermaltake Damier Silver Case - With a total of 13 fans.
Intel P4 2.4 (800) overclocked @ 3.01 stock cooling
Abit IC7 Max-3
4x Maxtor 80BG SATA 150/ 8MB In RAID 0+1
1GB Kingston DDR 500 Dual Channel
ATI Radeon 9800XT 256MB
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
LG DVD Burner DVD+-RW, 3x DVD RAM
Antec True Blue 480W

Ok when I built it I overclocked it from 2.4 to 3.0. It was running stable for a good 8 months. About a month ago I booted up the computer and was greeted with beeping from inside the computer and a red messege across my monitor saying that my power cord to my video card was not connected(it was). So I shut down and fiddled around and booted up again. No messege but when It got to the screen where it goes through memory checks It stopped near the bottom of the monitor and displayed this: "CPU is unworkable or has been changed. Please check CPU Soft Menu"
Needless to say I havent a clue whats going on. Somtimes this messege appears and other times it doesnt.

Any advise on how to procede and what is happening will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Edit: Just to clairify, I have been able to use computer after these problems come up. It is pretty random when I cannot load windows. But it definetly is connected to a power issue with the video card.

Hi,
Your bios might be corrupt maybe a reflash will help.

Hi,
Your bios might be corrupt maybe a reflash will help

Click to expand...

Could that account for the video card error and cpu error? If so how do I reflash my bios? I have never done this.

Just to note: I run 4 sata hdd's in raid 0+1. This is controled through my bios. Will a reflash erase this info and make me have to reset everything?

I have seen this myself. My vid card gave me that error too. turned out I had a poor connection in the Molex plug(Try changing Molex plugs making sure the video card has its own plug). In any case this to me sounds like a power supply issue. I think with those 4 HDD's and 2 optical drives as well as that heavy hitter video card you are asking a lot from that 480 watt supply. You may well have to reset or reflash the BIOS. Try returning everything to stock, reset the BIOS to default setting, and test it for stability. Unless you ran the CPU voltage above 1.7v I doubt that you are suffering GNDS/SNDS.

Z


EDIT: I just saw that you have 13 fans. Make sure the Molex plug you are using for the video card doesnt have any fan adapters on that line. That was my EXACT problem when I got the video card error.

GNDS/SNDS

Click to expand...

Could someone just clairify what this means.

And by Molex plug I assume you mean the 4 pin power cords.

If that solves the video card problem why then would it arrise 7-9 months after I bought the computer? Just trying to make a solid conclusion here.

Also how can this be linked to my cpu problem?

Eichhorn18 said:

Could someone just clairify what this means.

And by Molex plug I assume you mean the 4 pin power cords.

If that solves the video card problem why then would it arrise 7-9 months after I bought the computer? Just trying to make a solid conclusion here.

Also how can this be linked to my cpu problem?

Click to expand...

GNDS - Gradual Northwood Degredation Syndrome
SNDS - Sudden Northwood Death/Degredation Syndrome

Both refer to your processor loosing its overclock or dying completely. The common things that seem to be causing this are vcore voltages over 1.65ish volts and high processor temperatures as well.

So the question becomes what vcore have you been running your processor at? Personally i wouldnt be supprised if it was indeed a power supply problem, but knowing what voltage you are running at would help us help you.

Oh, also Welcome to the Forums!

If your interested please join our Folding team.

Edit: Also the processor error is probably linked to the vid card error some how. In my experience i get the cpu unworkable error when ive pushed too far on my processor and suffered from a really hard reboot. While this doesnt seem to apply to your situation, i guess its just food for thought..

GNDS/SNDS is called Gradual(G) or Sudden(S) Northwood(N) Death(D) Symdrome(S). This is the act of a Northwood slowly dying or suddenly dying due to to high of voltage to the Vcore(above about 1.65-1.7 volts). The molex plug is the 4 pin power cable that plugs to your video card. Over time that connection if weak will develope sort of a resistance. The contacts dont make good connection so the video card doesnt get enough voltage. With 13 fans Im sure you have those inline power adapters. Those are cheaply made and often times the cause of weak voltages to components on their chain. Remeber that video card sucks a lot of juice. Fans really dont. A poor connection to a fan might make it spin a little slower but to the video card low voltages are unacceptable.



Z

So the question becomes what vcore have you been running your processor at? Personally i wouldnt be supprised if it was indeed a power supply problem, but knowing what voltage you are running at would help us help you.

Click to expand...

My core voltage when I had it overclocked at 3.01 was 2.520v. I never changed it from defaults. I didnt want my cpu to run over 3.0 GHz and I wanted a 1:1 ratio with my ram.

If your interested please join our Folding team.

Click to expand...

This sounds like a cool project. I will certainly do some reading on it.

Over time that connection if weak will develope sort of a resistance. The contacts dont make good connection so the video card doesnt get enough voltage.

Click to expand...

Is there any way of checking this volatage? You also mentioned that the voltage in the video card might be low. I know there are switched on my card. Does this have somthing to do with them?

Overall I get the idea that I shouldnt run my video card with lights or fans. I am going to rewire so there is a deticated line. Somone mentioned reflashing my bios. What does this involve and will it erase my SATA setup?

Thanks for all your input so far!

Eichhorn18 said:

My core voltage when I had it overclocked at 3.01 was 2.520v. I never changed it from defaults. I didnt want my cpu to run over 3.0 GHz and I wanted a 1:1 ratio with my ram.

Click to expand...

you must mean 1.525, 2volts is huge!! Just out of curiosity, what temps are you getting with your processor @ 3ghz?

This sounds like a cool project. I will certainly do some reading on it.

Click to expand...

Sweet, we would love to have you. We're 3rd right now, and have our sites set on 2nd place. Any help you could offer would be great. If you decide to join up theres tons of support to help get you up and running.

Is there any way of checking this volatage? You also mentioned that the voltage in the video card might be low. I know there are switched on my card. Does this have somthing to do with them?

Click to expand...

the only way to check for a faulty molex connector is to use a digital multimeter and do a continuity check...

Overall I get the idea that I shouldnt run my video card with lights or fans. I am going to rewire so there is a deticated line. Somone mentioned reflashing my bios. What does this involve and will it erase my SATA setup?

Click to expand...

Isolating your vidcard is a definatly a good place to start. As for flashing the bios, abit has a windows utility that will do it. Flashing your bios should have no affect on your pc other than the fact you will have to reset all your settings to regain your overclock.

Thanks for all your input so far!

Click to expand...

thats what we're here for, to spare some of our time and knowledge .

Regarding the whole soft fsb problem Sounds like an oc failure and all you should have to do is go into your bios and enter soft fsb and change it to 200mhz and then if that works slowly see if you can once again reach 3 ghz

you must mean 1.525, 2volts is huge!! Just out of curiosity, what temps are you getting with your processor @ 3ghz?

Click to expand...

My bad. yes it was 1.525. Running idle at 3.01GHz and stock cooling I was getting around 37-40 C's. Dont quote me on that cause I havent had it running at 3 for a while now.

Isolating your vidcard is a definatly a good place to start. As for flashing the bios, abit has a windows utility that will do it. Flashing your bios should have no affect on your pc other than the fact you will have to reset all your settings to regain your overclock.

Click to expand...

If I do a reflash am I going to loose my raid setup?

Update: I was mad at my computer today cause I turned it on and it still said cpu is unworkable so I went into bios and jacked it up to around 2.62GHz. Amazingly I am writing this post from my faulty computer so its working stably at 2.62. I had an idea why I might be getting the error. When I first got it I assumed my bios was corrupt or somthing in the overclock was messed up so I reset it to default. BUT I didnt reset my memory timings(I think thats what they are called)....they were still set at 3-8-3-3. I think. Anyways im going to try to raise it to 3.01. Any of you have any suggestions as to the core voltage I should be setting?

Thanks

Eichhorn18 said:

If I do a reflash am I going to loose my raid setup?

Click to expand...

Im pretty sure your raid setup is saved on a seperate rom and flashing your bios should have no affect on it.

Update: I was mad at my computer today cause I turned it on and it still said cpu is unworkable so I went into bios and jacked it up to around 2.62GHz. Amazingly I am writing this post from my faulty computer so its working stably at 2.62. I had an idea why I might be getting the error. When I first got it I assumed my bios was corrupt or somthing in the overclock was messed up so I reset it to default. BUT I didnt reset my memory timings(I think thats what they are called)....they were still set at 3-8-3-3. I think. Anyways im going to try to raise it to 3.01. Any of you have any suggestions as to the core voltage I should be setting?

Thanks

Click to expand...

The max that i personally use for long term overclocks is 1.6v in bios. Also, what voltage are you running your memory at? Try setting it up to 2.9 and see if that makes any difference. Oh, also crank your agp voltage up 1.65volts. It may really help things out as well and will have no adverse affect on your vid card. I ran over 1.9 volts (via a volt mod) on my 9800xt for over 8 months and it had no problems (agp really doesnt affect the vid card core or memory voltage, those are all controled on the vid card itself).

The max that i personally use for long term overclocks is 1.6v in bios. Also, what voltage are you running your memory at? Try setting it up to 2.9 and see if that makes any difference. Oh, also crank your agp voltage up 1.65volts. It may really help things out as well and will have no adverse affect on your vid card. I ran over 1.9 volts (via a volt mod) on my 9800xt for over 8 months and it had no problems (agp really doesnt affect the vid card core or memory voltage, those are all controled on the vid card itself).

Click to expand...

Is it safe to run my voltage at 1.6? I had it going at 3.01GHz with the default voltage. But if its a good idea to raise it what can I raise it to safly without being in risk of GNDS/SNDS?

Also I raised my speed again last night to 2.81GHz. I restarted the computer and it went into a loop of restarting. So I had to lower it back to 2.62GHz.

Can somone explain to me how to flash my bios.

Thanks

Eichhorn18 said:

Is it safe to run my voltage at 1.6? I had it going at 3.01GHz with the default voltage. But if its a good idea to raise it what can I raise it to safly without being in risk of GNDS/SNDS?

Click to expand...

1.65vcore is on the edge of what is safe to run for vcore, long term. 1.6 is my personal max that i am willing to run my pc @ 24/7

Also I raised my speed again last night to 2.81GHz. I restarted the computer and it went into a loop of restarting. So I had to lower it back to 2.62GHz.

Click to expand...

At this point it would be a good idea to do some thurough testing to isolate the cause of your problems. First download memtest86+ and use either a floppy disk or a the bootable cd from that site. Boot from either and then select test #5 in the options and let it loop. If your memory is causing errors then this test will detect it.

Having done that and if your memory does not show any errors with an hour of looping, switch to the 5:4 memory divider and put your processor up at 3ghz again, default vcore. With that divider your memory is run at 200 mhz and should eliminate it as a potential problem. If it boots and loads windows, then run two instances of prime95 torture test. If either fail within an hour then try bumping up your vcore one notch and test again.

Can somone explain to me how to flash my bios.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Use abits windows flash utility found here. It will guide you through the flashing process from within windows.

Divide and conqure, test one thing at a time and we'll find out what is causing your problems.

new cpu time !

__Game_Start__. . . . . I doubt the chip is bad. If a chip is bad the system wont POST.

I suggest upping the Vcore to about 1.55 or 1.575 Volts. LOCK the AGP/PCI @ 66/33mHz. This should stablize the system at 3.01 gHz. Dont go over 1.65 volts for everyday use. Use the flash utility from Abit's website to flash your motherboard. Do all FLASHING at STOCK speeds and voltages. After flashing reset all BIOS parameters to default and boot. After that is done you make make you BIOS changes as far as your overclock.

Z

Update: Well I'm up and running again at 3.01GHz. Strangle enough i didnt do alot. All I did was change my memory timings to 3-8-4-4. Yah figure that one out.