- Joined
- Mar 7, 2004
- Location
- Phoenix, since 03/2014
Interesting Problem: power stability of MB+PSU when going from single to dual core
I want to give the whole story, but in the interest of readability I'll try to keep it short while still trying to have enough information to make sense.
Earlier this year I decided to upgrade my box from a socket A, to a socket 939. I went with an Abit AN8-SLI, A 3700+ San Diego, Fortron Sparkle 550w 24-pin PSU, and a 7800GT 256MB PCI-E; the rest was the same as before. I won't reiterate the problem I had (it was a memory issue that I eventually got sorted out, but unrelated to the current topic), but I switched from the Abit, to a Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe. After I got my memory issue fixed, I decided to overclock, so I did. I got my 3700+ to a stable 2.9GHz, including 36 straight hours of Prime95. Then a week or so ago, I decided to go dual core, as I multi task and encode videos (Auto GordianKnot comes with a threaded version of the Xvid encoder - it's fabulous). So I got a 4400+. Enter the problems.
From the time I upgraded to the socket 939 single core 3700+ setup early this year (February) up until now, my box has been rock solid and stable except for the memory issue I mentioned earlier, which got fixed. So I bought and dropped in the 4400+ last week, and after about a week of burning in, plus letting the AS5 settle, I thought I'd try to overclock. No dice. I couldn't do JACK basically above stock, because I'd error out of everything. So I thought I might have a bunk chip, but that thought quickly went away because others with this 4400+ stepping are getting fantastic results. Then suddenly my box started to randomly shutdown. At first it seemed to be under load, and overclocked. But I tried various settings and situations, and everything from stock idle, to overclocked load would occassionaly get a completely random shutdown. I'm not talking Windows shutdown. I'm talking the kind of shutdown where the computer just turns off, as if the power to your house went out.
I suspected motherboard at first, (too long to explain why). I briefly suspected PSU, but thought "Naaaah." I eventually hit google and did a lot of searching. After a couple of hours, I came by this thread. People with Asus motherboards and Antec power supplies seemed to be having the exact same random shutdown problem that I did. There is a legit Antec representative who posts on the forums and got involved in that thread. Between Antec and Asus, they did some talking and revising of products (PSU for Antec, MB for Asus), and seemed to have a large number of the problems fixed.
However, if you read the thread carefully, there are still people having problems with different motherboards (just about everything under the sun from Asus, including A8N32-SLI Deluxe, which I was this close --> | | <-- to ordering as a hoped fix) , including from other manufacturers. One might think it was an Antec issue then. But I don't think it is, at least not wholly, since I have a Fortron Sparkle PSU and I'm having the exact same problem (and I do have the rev. 1.02 board that supposedly fixed the problem, according to the AntecRep).
But I'm thinking it's not just a PSU/MB combo, but maybe something relating to single core power draw versus dual core power draw? Because I ran for 7 months with absolutely zilch power or other stability issues, both stock and overclocked, with my single core. It was only after I installed my dual core that the problem described in that thread (and elsewhere via Google) started happening.
Any thoughts? Ideas? Are there just really bizzare power delivery issues that need ironing out in various motherboard and PSU combinations with dual core processors? Maybe it's even an Nforce and dual core issue (both Nforce4 and the 5xx seemed to have the issue too)? Maybe it's MB? Maybe it's PSU? 4 phase power versus 8 phase power? Single 12v rail versus dual 12v rail? Maybe it's something else entirely?
I'm really hoping to find some solution to this, because it'll be a cold day in Hell before I give up my dual core and go back to single. Besides that, I just thought I'd share what's happening and what I've come across.....because this really sucks.
I want to give the whole story, but in the interest of readability I'll try to keep it short while still trying to have enough information to make sense.
Earlier this year I decided to upgrade my box from a socket A, to a socket 939. I went with an Abit AN8-SLI, A 3700+ San Diego, Fortron Sparkle 550w 24-pin PSU, and a 7800GT 256MB PCI-E; the rest was the same as before. I won't reiterate the problem I had (it was a memory issue that I eventually got sorted out, but unrelated to the current topic), but I switched from the Abit, to a Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe. After I got my memory issue fixed, I decided to overclock, so I did. I got my 3700+ to a stable 2.9GHz, including 36 straight hours of Prime95. Then a week or so ago, I decided to go dual core, as I multi task and encode videos (Auto GordianKnot comes with a threaded version of the Xvid encoder - it's fabulous). So I got a 4400+. Enter the problems.
From the time I upgraded to the socket 939 single core 3700+ setup early this year (February) up until now, my box has been rock solid and stable except for the memory issue I mentioned earlier, which got fixed. So I bought and dropped in the 4400+ last week, and after about a week of burning in, plus letting the AS5 settle, I thought I'd try to overclock. No dice. I couldn't do JACK basically above stock, because I'd error out of everything. So I thought I might have a bunk chip, but that thought quickly went away because others with this 4400+ stepping are getting fantastic results. Then suddenly my box started to randomly shutdown. At first it seemed to be under load, and overclocked. But I tried various settings and situations, and everything from stock idle, to overclocked load would occassionaly get a completely random shutdown. I'm not talking Windows shutdown. I'm talking the kind of shutdown where the computer just turns off, as if the power to your house went out.
I suspected motherboard at first, (too long to explain why). I briefly suspected PSU, but thought "Naaaah." I eventually hit google and did a lot of searching. After a couple of hours, I came by this thread. People with Asus motherboards and Antec power supplies seemed to be having the exact same random shutdown problem that I did. There is a legit Antec representative who posts on the forums and got involved in that thread. Between Antec and Asus, they did some talking and revising of products (PSU for Antec, MB for Asus), and seemed to have a large number of the problems fixed.
However, if you read the thread carefully, there are still people having problems with different motherboards (just about everything under the sun from Asus, including A8N32-SLI Deluxe, which I was this close --> | | <-- to ordering as a hoped fix) , including from other manufacturers. One might think it was an Antec issue then. But I don't think it is, at least not wholly, since I have a Fortron Sparkle PSU and I'm having the exact same problem (and I do have the rev. 1.02 board that supposedly fixed the problem, according to the AntecRep).
But I'm thinking it's not just a PSU/MB combo, but maybe something relating to single core power draw versus dual core power draw? Because I ran for 7 months with absolutely zilch power or other stability issues, both stock and overclocked, with my single core. It was only after I installed my dual core that the problem described in that thread (and elsewhere via Google) started happening.
Any thoughts? Ideas? Are there just really bizzare power delivery issues that need ironing out in various motherboard and PSU combinations with dual core processors? Maybe it's even an Nforce and dual core issue (both Nforce4 and the 5xx seemed to have the issue too)? Maybe it's MB? Maybe it's PSU? 4 phase power versus 8 phase power? Single 12v rail versus dual 12v rail? Maybe it's something else entirely?
I'm really hoping to find some solution to this, because it'll be a cold day in Hell before I give up my dual core and go back to single. Besides that, I just thought I'd share what's happening and what I've come across.....because this really sucks.
