P4 Prescott not working as stock. Confused

[Derick]

Ok, so my brother got a free P4 3.2 form a guy his girlfriend knows. I guess Intel gives processors to their employees or something. Anyway, I was putting a system together for him. There was no intention of overclocking and he wanted to keep the price down so I chose the inexpensive ECS PF1 865PE board.

It was supposed to work up to a 3.4GHz Prescott but wouldn't post at 3.2. Instead it posted as 2.8GHz (14x200). Tech support had me use a BIOS that was for a newer PCB version than what I had. It posted as 3.2GHz (16x200) but wouldn't load windows. Then one night I came home and I had left the windows open so it was nice and cool. I turned on the machine and it loaded windows at 3.2GHz. So I thought it was a heat issue. I was unfamiliar with P4's but I was sure that 40C was not a high temp. For some reason it won't load if the CPU temp is over 40C. If it is over 40C it will freeze or reset or BSOD while trying to load windows. Then it will revert back to 2.8GHz and load no problem.

I opened up the windows, opened the case, and put a bigger fan on to get the temp down. Idle was in the mid 30's but when I would run something like PCMark04 it would freeze or when I would run 3DMark05 (free) it would make it a ways then freeze (never past the third test). But when I would check the temp in the BIOS after the crash it was only 40-42C. When running 3DMark05 I would make not of the temp between tests and when it would finish the third test I would see that it was only 40C then it would freeze before loading the next test. When the system is running at 2.8GHz I've seen it all the way up to 48C (windows closed, case, closed, smaller fan) after completing 3DMark05.

Any ideas what's going on here?

 

[stevty2889]

Sounds like it's an engineering sample..they say Intel Confidential on them for a reason, they aren't supposed to be given out to just anyone...what are the exact markings on the chip, the recent socket 478 engineering samples were 3.2ghz chips, but might have had unlocked multipliers. What are you using for memory, what power supply and what heatsink..if ECS tech support had you use a bios for a different revision of the motherboard..it's probably because your revision isn't compatible with prescotts..so that could be a part of the problem as well..

 

[JohnAn2112]

Hmm...it sounds like an engineering sample CPU. See if you can change the multiplier to 16 in the BIOS. Also, 40C is definitley not high for a Prescott CPU. If you're getting crashes, try running Memtest and see if maybe your memory is bad. Another thing, is this a fresh install of Windows? Do you have all the motherboard drivers installed?

 

[superkdogg]

I can tell you for sure that 48C isn't the problem. Look @ ram or maybe video card. Does the system lock up during non-3D benchmarks like SuperPi or Prime95?

 

[Derick]

Well the guy who works there isn't in a technical position of any kind so who knows.

the PS is an Enermax EG365P-VE FMA 350W 32A@3.3V 32A@5V 26A@12V
Memory is Corsair ValueSelect DDR400 512MB x 2 pack.
HSF is Thermaltake TR2-M12. Copper 80mm 32.4 CFM. Its supposed to be good up to Prescott 3.6GHz. I switched the fan to a more powerful one that was my roomates. He said that at full speed it was 70CFM.

According to the ESC website the revision is supposed to support this processor.

The actual markings on the CPU are.
INTEL(m)(c)'03
PENTIUM(R)4
3.20GHZ/1M/800
SL7B8 PHILIPPINES
7403A814

6408B850
079L

I don't know how many times I reinstalled windows but it was a lot. I have all the most recent motherboard drivers. The memory ran memtest86 for 14hrs with no errors. I also tried different memory (though it wasn't ddr400) and tried this memory in another computer (though it couldn't run at a full 200MHz) and I tried a different video card, though it was when I was still trying to get into windows.

I haven't tried SuperPi or Prime95 but I did try PCMark04 and it won't get past the first test at 3.2GHz (but has no problem at 2.8).

Doing things like surfing the net isn't a problem.

 

[stevty2889]

Well it's a 3.2ghz chip, but if the multies are unlocked it's definatly an engineering sample. Does your bios allow you to adjust the Vcore? It's possible it may need a slight upping of Vcore to stay stable. Thats definatly a good enough PSU, had my 2.8 prescott at 3.5ghz with a 6800GT and 2x36 gig raptors on that same model of Enermax, and using one of them now with my 3.06ghz northwood @3.45ghz. Your temperatures look pretty good. Thats the problem with engineering samples, they were chips used for testing revisions, proccess changes, speed increases, not meant for retail..