Alternatives to CPUz and HWMonitor (Win 8.1)

[AJTheGamer]

So after a lot of effort and playing around I finally found the problem of why I was unable to overclock my i7 975... At least, its the only thing I can find thats now causing an issue, after a new CPU cooler and a new PSU...

But it seems it was CPUz and HWMonitor, I read some stuff where people were having issues with these programs crashing/restarting Win 8 under different circumstances, for me, I could run them on their own, and run Prime95 on its own with no issues for over an hour, but with Prime95 running AND CPUz or HWMonitor, it only takes about 30 seconds to restart.

So are there any reliable temperature and system monitors I can use? I've got RealTemp, I'm just wondering what you guys use when/if you can't use what seems to be the recommended programs around here?

Or is this something worth reverting to windows 7 over?

 

[Mandrake4565]

AIDA 64 or Open Hwmonitor

 

[AJTheGamer]

Thanks Mandrake.. And these are I assume as reliable as HWMonitor? I don't wana go running stress tests with unreliable temp monitors and stats being shown

 

[Mandrake4565]

Thanks Mandrake.. And these are I assume as reliable as HWMonitor? I don't wana go running stress tests with unreliable temp monitors and stats being shown

Aida I have used, though you need to pay for it and it is reliable.
Open Hwmonitor I have also but it was a while back and on an AMD 955. It was giving me the same reading as HWmonitor as Cpuid so I assume it is relaible. Though, not sure if it will be on an older Intel setup such as yours.

 

[d1nky]

hwinfo.com is my favourite. The installer 64bit.

 

[papadan]

hwinfo.com is my favourite. The installer 64bit.

+1 HWInfo64 works good for me also. I'm running win 8.1 & haven't had any problems with any monitoring programs while running prime.

 

[RGone]

I am scratching my head. You still have win 8 and not upgraded to win 8.1? I thought M$ was not supporting Win 8 any longer and the download for upgrade to 8.1 was free?

I did google issues between win 8/8.1 and the dates are back in the year 2012 and an updated version of HWMonitor and the updated CPUz was the cure for problems.

 

[AJTheGamer]

Sorry yes I've updated to 8.1, but yes, this problem still seems to occur for me, I bought a new modular PSU and tested every single part in my PC individually, with everything working fine, and no issues with Prime running, and as I said, I got Prime to run for over an hour, several times actually, but everytime it was running on its own, or with RealTemp open, the moment I open CPUz or HWMonitor it shuts down, opening them before Prime does seem to let Prime run longer, but we're talking like 30 seconds maybe.

This occurred with nothing connected to the mobo, no fans of extra devices, and bare minimum RAM on stock BIOS settings, Prime ran fine, and then opening these programs causes the PC to shut down. Don't open them and Prime seems to be able to run with no errors, with as much or as little of the hardware connected.

 

[redduc900]

Instead of Prime, try running IBT w/ administrative privileges.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Sounds like you may need more bus termination voltage, especially if running other things with blend make Windows BSOD.

(Look in the event log for a bus/interconnect error)

 

[Blaylock]

What version of CPU-Z and HWMonitor?

 

[AJTheGamer]

I'm using HWMonitor version 1.25.0 and CPUz version 1.70.0.

I'll try a few combinations of the suggested programs out see if I get any restarts...

EDIT- I'll come edit after each test. I loaded optimized defaults in BIOS.

So on average with Prime + HWMonitor open I'll get about 30 seconds before restart, maybe a minute max.

TEST 1 - Right now I have RealTemp open, temps are staying below 55c, its been running for over 3 minutes now, once its run for 10 I'll stop and try another monitoring program. Tested for 10 minutes, max temp 62c no restart.

TEST 2 - HWInfo, with sensors open. Same result at HWMonitor, about 30 seconds and it restarts.

TEST 3 - OpenHWMonitor Same result... Restart in about 30 seconds... Weird.

TEST 4 - IBT w/ admin privs + HWMonitor also restarts in about 45 seconds. Only on standard stress test too.

Weird that its only restarting with these monitoring programs... RealTemp which only shows core temps doesn't seem to cause a problem, and the stress tests themselves can run without the monitors no problem...

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

I'm using HWMonitor version 1.25.0 and CPUz version 1.70.0.

I'll try a few combinations of the suggested programs out see if I get any restarts...

EDIT- I'll come edit after each test. I loaded optimized defaults in BIOS.

So on average with Prime + HWMonitor open I'll get about 30 seconds before restart, maybe a minute max.

TEST 1 - Right now I have RealTemp open, temps are staying below 55c, its been running for over 3 minutes now, once its run for 10 I'll stop and try another monitoring program. Tested for 10 minutes, max temp 62c no restart.

TEST 2 - HWInfo, with sensors open. Same result at HWMonitor, about 30 seconds and it restarts.

TEST 3 - OpenHWMonitor Same result... Restart in about 30 seconds... Weird.

TEST 4 - IBT w/ admin privs + HWMonitor also restarts in about 45 seconds. Only on standard stress test too.

Weird that its only restarting with these monitoring programs... RealTemp which only shows core temps doesn't seem to cause a problem, and the stress tests themselves can run without the monitors no problem...

Is it "STOP: 0x00000124" and does the event log have a bus/interconnect error?

 

[AJTheGamer]

I assume the log is the 'results' file that is create when I click the create log option.

----------------------------
IntelBurnTest v2.54
Created by AgentGOD
----------------------------

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 975 @ 3.33GHz
Clock Speed: 3.50 GHz
Active Physical Cores: 8
Total System Memory: 8190 MB

Stress Level: Standard (1024 MB)
Testing started on 25/08/2014 02:31:07 PM
Time (s) Speed (GFlops) Result

Thats the last one I ran.

 

[Pierre3400]

I use open hardware monitor on my machines. One, because it allows other software to pull information from it, and also i feel its better than HWmonitor.

As for CPUz, i doubt you will a replacement.

 

[redduc900]

RJARRRPCGP is referring to the Event Viewer logs in Windows (Start | Run | Type eventvwr.msc and hit Enter). Post what either Core Temp or Real Temp shows as the VID of your 975, and also the Vcore as shown by CPU-Z while running Prime, IBT, etc. Also boot to Memtest86+ installed to a thumb drive to check the RAM for stability at DDR3-1600. Also verify the timings as shown in Memtest86 match the rated timings of the modules at their rated speed.

 

[AJTheGamer]

RJARRRPCGP is referring to the Event Viewer logs in Windows (Start | Run | Type eventvwr.msc and hit Enter). Post what either Core Temp or Real Temp shows as the VID of your 975, and also the Vcore as shown by CPU-Z while running Prime, IBT, etc. Also boot to Memtest86+ installed to a thumb drive to check the RAM for stability at DDR3-1600. Also verify the timings as shown in Memtest86 match the rated timings of the modules at their rated speed.

Its not the RAM. I tested it multiple times and had it tested elsewhere, its perfectly fine, running on auto settings and on manual timings of the manufacturer.

I will post up the event logs when I'm on the PC again, I'm not sure how I would get a screen tho of CPU-Z with Prime considering it restarts in about 30 seconds, but I'll try and write down what its at next time I test it. Seems weird that it would be voltage since it runs with RealTemp fine... If it were lack of voltage wouldn't it restart EVERY time I run the stress test, not just with the monitoring programs open?

 

[papadan]

Just a thought but have you tried the newest version of prime 95? Version 28.5 says it helps out Intel processors.

 

[EarthDog]

Helps out... they now test all of the instruction sets for Haswell is part of what that upgrade is. If it is not working before, it shouldn't work again, under more stress.

 

[AJTheGamer]

Alright grabbed the event log from the event viewer, this is what was in the 'details' section of the last crash error.

- System

- Provider

[ Name] EventLog

- EventID 6008

[ Qualifiers] 32768

Level 2

Task 0

Keywords 0x80000000000000

- TimeCreated

[ SystemTime] 2014-08-26T15:47:48.000000000Z

EventRecordID 2626448

Channel System

Computer AJ-PC

Security


- EventData

01:31:48
‎27/‎08/‎2014


72411


DE07080003001B0001001F003000FD00DE07080002001A000F001F003000FD00600900003C000000010000006009000001000000B00400000100000000000000


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binary data:


In Words

0000: 000807DE 001B0003 001F0001 00FD0030
0010: 000807DE 001A0002 001F000F 00FD0030
0020: 00000960 0000003C 00000001 00000960
0030: 00000001 000004B0 00000001 00000000


In Bytes

0000: DE 07 08 00 03 00 1B 00 Þ.......
0008: 01 00 1F 00 30 00 FD 00 ....0.ý.
0010: DE 07 08 00 02 00 1A 00 Þ.......
0018: 0F 00 1F 00 30 00 FD 00 ....0.ý.
0020: 60 09 00 00 3C 00 00 00 `...<...
0028: 01 00 00 00 60 09 00 00 ....`...
0030: 01 00 00 00 B0 04 00 00 ....°...
0038: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........

I'll run Prime now with HWMonitor open try grab a screenshot.