Looking at my opteron 170 box. Can I just install it?

[johnnq1]

can i just install the cpu and then download dual core fixes and drivers from there? or do i have to uninstall the one i've got now, and reinstall and already downloaded version?

are there any install guides to adapt a 120mm fan to this xp90 like heat sink? how can i clean up the thermal crap they put on the bottom of it? is the surface completely smooth under the goop?

lots of questions...lots of stuff i wasn't expecting. hopefully, dual core will be worth the effort!

what are the normal cpu tests? i forgot them all...prime 95...what else?

 

[996GT2]

You basically just need to install the new CPU, download the AMD dual core drivers and dual core optimizer, update to ACPI multiprocessor drivers in device manager, and you're good to go. To mount a 120mm fan, all you need to do is buy a fan adaptor from svc.com to install on the stock opteron heatinnk. You can clean the stock thermal paste with a clean cloth towel and some isopropyl alcohol. I recommend AC MX-1 thermal paste, as it performs a few degrees better than the Arctic Silver 5 that most people use. You can find that at svc.com also for less than $10 shipped.

For testing you should run ORTHOS overnight and maybe toss in dual instances of SuperPi 32M in there just to make sure your RAM is solid.

 

[johnnq1]

ok thanks. do you think this retail hs with a nexus fan (once i somehow get this stock fan off...grr!! help!) will outperform a zalman 7700alcu?

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: johnnq1
ok thanks. do you think this retail hs with a nexus fan (once i somehow get this stock fan off...grr!! help!) will outperform a zalman 7700alcu?

dunno, haven't seen tests of the stock cooler with a 120mm fan...but rest assured that it will be very good. if i were you i would just try it with the stock fan before going out and buying a fan and adapter; it might be good enough as is.

 

[johnnq1]

there's no chance of that...if i can't find an easy way to get this stock fan off, i'm going with my nice and quiet zalman. by the way, is cool n quiet automatically turned on? i don't remember how to go about turning that off in the bios... could anybody instant message me and help me a little bit through this process? it would be most appreciated!

 

[Puffnstuff]

You don't need to do anything to install the opty except to install it. I was running xp pro when I upgraded my 3500+ to an opty 175 and all I did was shut down, swap cpu's, reapply as5 and tighten down my scythe kamakira and restart. Windows automatically detected the new core and when I encountered a game that ran too fast I just adjusted the affinity on it.

 

[johnnq1]

what should i use to clean up the goop? alcohol? is there a better way than just putting a drop on and clamping it down? (every time i spread it it's uneven, takes forever, and i always use too much)

 

[johnnq1]

woohoo it's running! 37 C vs last time on the old 3200 40C. i guess i did a good job seating the 7700 this time. how long does it take for ceramique to set in? a few days?

time for all the driver updates and crap :\ windows sucks...

 

[996GT2]

you got PM

 

[johnnq1]

thanks a bunch! when i bought this opteron, newegg said denmark. cpu z says toledo. should i be upset? playing ut2k4 it goes up to 48 C :\ ok ok the ceramique hasn't set yet...but still. isn't that a little warm?

 

[996GT2]

Ceramique doesn't really have a burn-in time...your temps are about the same as those of my 2.6 GHz OC'd 3600+ X2 after playing some CSS (I get around 46C). If you are overclocked and have a bit of extra vCore fed to it, then that temperature is pretty normal.

About the CPU-Z...are you using the latest version? I remember that an older version of RM Clock reported my old AM2 3500+ Single Core as an FX-54 (which doesn not exist).

 

[johnnq1]

yea...i just downloaded 1.40. the post doesn't recognize the processor either. says unknown.

do i have to set specific programs to each core if i want to multitask? say i want to play a video game while doing a virus scan. everything will be done for me? i've done the hardforum's dual core gaming fixes 1-4
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=983781

ut2k4 is...laggy. not choppy, but very laggy. sometimes nothing happens for a full second... i guess i'll prime this cpu overnight. is 55 C or so the limit? how hot is too hot?

 

[johnnq1]

Test 1, 4000 Lucas-Lehmer iterations of M19922945 using 1024K FFT length.
FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4
Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.
Torture Test ran 1 minutes 13 seconds - 1 errors, 0 warnings.
Execution halted.

orthos:
uh oh.. what does that mean?

 

[996GT2]

that means your system is unstable...if you are overclocked, you probably need to tune down the HTT or give it more Vcore...

Basically...a stable computer will run ORTHOS stable for about a day with no errors...1 min 13 seconds is far from stable

 

[johnnq1]

i haven't even overclocked yet. i just plopped in the cpu...

 

[johnnq1]

uh oh...another problem?

 

[996GT2]

NOT CONVERGENT IN SQR05 is usually a RAM-related error...see if you're trying to run your RAM out of spec (too fast, too low timings, etc)

If you get NOT EXACT IN ROUND, then that likely means your CPU is unstable.

Once you get everything sorted out, try the 4M or 8M SuperPi test. If you can pass that, then you know you have at least some stability. Afterward, move on to about an hour of ORTHOS, followed by the full SuperPi 32M if it passes ORTHOS. If your computer can do these tests, it's relatively stable and you should then progress to the final test of overnight ORTHOS.

 

[johnnq1]

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Once you get everything sorted out

that's what i'm trying to do now. thanks for the help so far! i'm not sure what to do next. maybe i should memtest overnight to check my ram and make sure these errors are from the cpu alone. i know i have a faulty hard drive, but that can't be the issue. i'll try those 4m and 8m tests now.

and it's not a denmark...cpu z says toledo....


it seems that "NOT CONVERGENT IN SQR05" only happens when i try to run two instances of superpi (which still shouldn't cause any problems). again, no part of my system has or is overclocked (except my 7800gt...)

 

[996GT2]

Did you re-name one of the two instances? You are supposed to make a copy of your original SuperPi folder (say..."Super Pi_2") and re-name the .exe in that second folder (i.e. "Super Pi_2.exe")...then you need to run the original version and the renamed version to actually have 2 instances running properly

 

[johnnq1]

doh! i half-assed that part...now it's working (i feel stupid :\ ). 4m and 8m passed. i'm still concerned about the errors orthos gave me. i'll try memtest soon. my temps are still in the high 40s when stressing the cpu like this.

i bought super duper cheap ram (2x 1gb individually packed mushkin sticks) and it runs at 2t...i don't know what that means besides being worse than 1t. that won't affect my overclock because i will be using memory dividers (which i don't really understand...) correct?


cpu temps shot up to 55C after 5 minutes of orthos! my zalman 7700alcu was lukewarm. i guess i have to reset this thing...i used the foolproof method too 1 drop in the center and plop the hs on top. maybe i used too much ceramique....grrr i didn't expect this to be such a hassle!

heatsink went back in place...hopefully for one last time. i noticed that when i was cleaning the heatsink and opteron cpu, a lot of black stuff appeared on my coffee filter. i know i cleaned both surfaces thoroughly before. does this mean my ceramique could be going bad? it's almost 2 years old and i had never cleaned up my cpu, only to find black stuff on top...

 

[996GT2]

You shouldn't be getting 55C load with a stock processor...my 2.6 GHz 3600+ X2 only goes up to 52 or 53C during ORTHOS...it's on a lapped Freezer 64 with MX-1, which is better than a 7700 AlCU...but certainly not enough to give you higher load temps with a processor on stock vCore...def. check your mounting

2T shouldn't matter much (maybe 3-5% performance loss at most), so if you can't get it stable at 1T then 2T is fine. Also, fast DDR2 (beyond about 800 MHz) usually always run at 2T, unless it's the really high quality (aka Micron D9 ) stuff that can actually handle 1T with quick clocks.

Also, you might want to check your CPU's IHS for flatness...if it's not flat then that may contribute to your temperature issues. Don't worry about the black stuff coming off...as long as you clean your CPU with isopropyl alcohol beforehand it should be fine. Also, I would suggest using Arctic Cooling MX-1 thermal paste (basically Shin Etsu G751) instead of AS5 or Ceramique. It performs better by a few degrees and also is guaranteed to be good for 8 years with no reapplication. It's at svc.com for less than $10 shipped, and IMO it's worth every penny.

 

[johnnq1]

bump. i still have orthos errors only when i do the "blend" test. my cpu temps shoot all the way up to 55C when fully stressed. does ceramique get old? it's been sitting for 2 years...

 

[johnnq1]

now random shut downs

 

[996GT2]

Read my previous post about thermal pastes...it's got some helpful info in it

If you only get errors with "blend" and not "CPU only" then your RAM might be the culprit. Try declocking it or otherwise adjusting timings to see if that helps...

Random shut downs can either be caused by system instability or a bad PSU...what PSU are you running?

 

[johnnq1]

seasonic s12...but that's also faulty! lol half of my computer COULD be rma'd.

i think the random shut down was due to my temps shooting sky high while i was gaming (fan on highest setting...)

i'm quite satisfied with ceramique, it just may be old. reviews seem to lean towards shin etsu, i know, but it's more expensive than ceramique and as 5.

sorry for all these newb questions, but how do i adjust timings? just go to the bios and change the numbers? i'm running 3-3-3-8 says at 2t says cpu z. i thought that if i declock the ram, it screws with the fsb and it makes the computer unhappy.