Bad cores?

Marshmallow64 · Jul 6, 2009

I posted this in the PSU section but I am going to post here as well incase its a cpu problem.

I recently switched over to the antec 1200 which has an increase in fans compared to the antec 900.

I started playing around with overclocking again but I can not run anything stable. OCCT crashes in like 5-10 min and same with prime. Even when set at stock volts and speed. The error always says a bad core 1 or bad core 2. Or I get a BSOD. When I had my previous case I ran prime stable for hours and hours and everything was fine, now with the switch I am quite puzzled but need confirmation.

With the specs I have listed below I am wondering if my PSU is the culprit for now having enough power to run everything. My video card is not overclocked. I did a few PSU calculator things online, but they all seem a bit inaccurate and they give me different answers.

I have 7 120 mm fans and a 250 big boy up top.

disk11 · Jul 7, 2009

If you have a mulitmeter you could see what the voltages at the rails are and find the test points on the board.

Maybe try running the system out of the case and see if it still has problems.

BTW how do you like that board? There is a combo deal for the mobo and cpu you have on newegg.

Marshmallow64 · Jul 7, 2009

The board isnt so great, its the one thing I wish I just spent a bit more on lol. I would recommend getting the fx one for am3. I heard those have better overclocking potential. That combo deal is quite a good deal though and tempting =).

I'll probably try running it with all the fans off etc tomorrow, but I just wanted to see if anyone knew if a weak psu is the problem.

QuietIce · Jul 7, 2009

There's almost never any good way to know 100% what a computer problem is without being right there - it's all guesswork.

IMO - a 500W PSU is the absolute minimum for a Phenom OC'er. Keep in mind my rigs are table-top no-case crunching rigs with very cheap (read low-powered) video, one HDD, and two 120mm fans - one for the CPU HS and one for board cooling. Very, very simple rigs. Anything extra should be added to the 500W minimum. Your video is 150-200W? That puts you into 650-700W territory right there. Fans are usually minimal on power at maybe 3-4W each. That would be 21-28W for your 120mm fans plus a little for the 250mm, though oddly enough they don't run that much more power than their little brothers.

Look at it this way - if you're running a 620W PSU then you're running your main rig (not counting video or fans) off a 400W PSU ...

Marshmallow64 · Jul 7, 2009

From what you said I probably need at least a 650-700 W PSU at the bear minimum if I was to run everything smoothly.

My main question is when you run stuff like prime is it possible that I get a BSOD simply because I do not have enough psu power, or is it some other problem? My temps are all very low, usually below 40s on load.

DocClock aka MadClocker · Jul 7, 2009

Like QuietIce said, there is almost no way to know for sure what is the prob without being there, but when I'm having instability issues, the power sup is the 1st thing I suspect.
You can get bsod's from not having enough power to run your system porperly.
From what you describe, it very well could be a bad core or two. If it is still under warantee, then you might want to RMA before it gets worse. could also be a bad board....one bad capacitor can wreak havoc on a mobo and give you fits trying to figure why your system is not stable.
You should eliminate all suspects by removing all but the essential parts.
try running Memtest86+ to see if it is a mem issue.
If you cannot run Prime at stock settings then you do have a problem and you will need to isolate it.
I just got off work, so my brain is mush right now...after a cup of joe and a smoke I should be thinking a little clearer and maybe have some more suggestions.
till then, take care and be well.
Doc

Marshmallow64 · Jul 7, 2009

DocClock aka MadClocker said:
Like QuietIce said, there is almost no way to know for sure what is the prob without being there, but when I'm having instability issues, the power sup is the 1st thing I suspect.
You can get bsod's from not having enough power to run your system porperly.
From what you describe, it very well could be a bad core or two. If it is still under warantee, then you might want to RMA before it gets worse. could also be a bad board....one bad capacitor can wreak havoc on a mobo and give you fits trying to figure why your system is not stable.
You should eliminate all suspects by removing all but the essential parts.
try running Memtest86+ to see if it is a mem issue.
If you cannot run Prime at stock settings then you do have a problem and you will need to isolate it.
I just got off work, so my brain is mush right now...after a cup of joe and a smoke I should be thinking a little clearer and maybe have some more suggestions.
till then, take care and be well.
Doc

Yea I am taking some steps to isolate the problem, so far it is not the ram. It could be the motherboard since I have had a problem with it before. =( Thanks for all the replies!

QuietIce · Jul 8, 2009

You've got on-board graphics, right? Take your video card out and try using that instead. If it's a PSU problem that should solve it. 620W is more than enough to run the main board ...

Marshmallow64 · Jul 8, 2009

Well I tried OCCT and Prime again at stock settings, this time everything went fine. Which is strange, but I guess I will start slowly overclocking again and testing.

Marshmallow64 · Jul 8, 2009

Updated the bios, one of the revisions was improve system stability for overclocking....hmmmm. After that things seem to be perfect again =)

ChanceCoats123 · Jul 11, 2009

I was going to suggest more of a hardware/ bios problem. I know everyone said your psu couldn't handle it, but corsair makes great, solid and dependable psus. I was also going to suggest that maybe something might be plugged into the mobo weird, you may just need a bios reset or something stupid.

Bad cores?

Marshmallow64

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DocClock aka MadClocker

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