My awesome phenom 9500 experience

[nanaki333]

What an awesome processor. I put the machine together using an ECS board and an esata raid array, getting it ready for a vmware box. I turned everything on and it POST'd just fine. Got into the bios, checked the idle temps (idling at ~36C), everything seemed fine. I put the esx disc in and booted from it and I had to step away for a bit. So it was sitting at one of the setup screens waiting for me to select which driver to load. I came back after a few hours and saw a bunch of CPU debug code on the monitor and it was frozen. Couldn't cntrl alt del to reboot it. I power cycled it and it wouldn't POST. Left it sit off for about 10 minutes and power it back on, still no POST. Cleared the cmos, still nothing, so I turned it off and went home for the day. Tried again this morning, no POST. Put a brand new X2 4000 in, and bam! It posted. So now I get to RMA the phenom and get another great chip. I guess these chips are fantastic if alls you want to do is sit in the bios. The computer probably would have caught fire if I actually started installing.

 

[boomhower]

I think that vmware is about the last thing you would want to run on a Phenom. I am pretty sure that the errata in those chips is especially susceptible when running virutalization software. If that is the main use for the machine you would be much better of going with an Intel set-up.

 

[nanaki333]

yeah, i wasn't going to run it on a production server, i wanted to see first hand what it does. i was only going to asign 3 of the 4 cores, which should eliminate all 4 cores going to 100% and causing the freeze. i'm just a little angry because it couldn't even idle for 3 or 4 hours. i'm also running an aftermarket tuniq type fan on it.

 

[Arkaign]

That's horrible. See if you can contact AMD customer support and get them to give you a warranty replacement.

 

[nanaki333]

i've only had it for 2 weeks, so i'm just calling up newegg to get a new one. i went on vacation then had training, so i didn't get to it until yesterday.

 

[waffleironhead]

What motherboard? just curious....

 

[nanaki333]

ECS A770M-A

i just tried the phenom in another board i had which was an ASUS M3A, and it still didn't work.

 

[HannibalX]

What version of ESX? Hardware requirements are very stringent with ESX and it just won't run on most custom built rigs.

I know you said it ran fine on the 4000, just curious.

 

[nanaki333]

nono, read it very carefully. i didn't even try to install it, i just put the disc in and it was sitting at the setup waiting for my input. then i got error codes and the processor will not post in any motherboard now.

 

[HannibalX]

I DID read it, hence my last sentence.

 

[Sylvanas]

Why on earth would you think buying a Phenom and running VMware on it was a good idea? ...at least wait until B3.

 

[nanaki333]

i got it for shats 'n giggles. i got the 4000+ with it cause that was the intended processor for the box. i figured "what the hell, i wanna see what this TLB is all about". it's for a test server, nothing more. i just happen to nab a phenom

 

[Nessism]

I'm using a 9500/ECS A770M-A combo and it runs great. No issues at all. Main usage is for video coding and the quad core chip works great. Very happy so far. Only complaint is the SATA ports are directly behind the PCIE slot; a long video card could cause interference.

 

[nanaki333]

it may just be chip, but so far, it's leaving a nasty taste in my mouth, and the motherboard for that manner!