- May 19, 2011
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This is a bit of an odd one.
I built a computer back in 2010/2011 which had a CPU upgrade a few years ago, spec as follows:
AMD Phenom II X4 960T (which I had been using in my own PC previously, unlocked all six cores no trouble), 6 cores activated
4GB RAM
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3, BIOS 2101 (not the latest)
Onboard graphics, ATI HD 4290, UMA + Sideport
Seagate 500GB HDD
DVD drive
Corsair VX450W PSU
Windows 7, all updates installed
Symptoms:
Problem came on suddenly (Monday morning it refused to boot properly), the computer hasn't previously ever had any stability issues)
BSODs seemingly at random (PFN_LIST_CORRUPT, HAL_INITIALISATION_FAILED, MEMORY_MANAGEMENT)
Graphics corruptions (even at WIndows login screen)
When I started investigating, the first thing I saw was the BIOS saying "5 cores activated" rather than 6, making me think that it could be to do with core unlocking so I immediately switched that off. Then I felt as the randomness of the BSOD messages are a dead ringer for bad RAM I ran a couple of cycles with memtest 4.3, no errors found. However, Windows would soon flounder with the above symptoms. I wondered whether maybe onboard graphics / graphics RAM issues could maybe be playing a role so I tried a spare graphics card. Windows booted and then hung about 20 minutes in, then would BSOD (same messages) on startup. I ran another load of memory tests with memtest86+ 5.01, no errors found. I swapped out the RAM for a spare module, Windows still hung on startup, and would even hang on the F8 startup menu after up to 30 seconds. Very odd that memory apparently so faulty that Windows would routinely hang or BSOD didn't show up at all during testing, I would have though that either memtest would be flagging errors virtually immediately.
Somewhere along the way I tried reactivating the cores and running a memtest but it very quickly switched off the PC. Deactivate extra cores, try again, no problems with memtest.
Also, with the 960T in there, the system has hung a couple of times on the BIOS screen at 'initialising USB controllers' (only a trackball and keyboard wireless receiver plugged in).
While I'm never a big believer in "the CPU went wrong!", I felt that all the issues coincide with a dodgy CPU so I swapped it out for a spare X2 240, no problems since (though Windows didn't like me swapping back to the onboard graphics and stopped on the loading screen, I had to install the graphics driver in safe mode even after uninstalling the card's driver, then no problems since).
Other possibilities I've considered:
Faulty memory, seems unlikely given I swapped out the memory and the system still hung
PSU, seems unlikely given how specific the BSODs are, and that the system seemed more stable despite more load from an old graphics card, and why no instability during memtest?
Board, possibly but again given how specific the BSODs are, seems unlikely to me.
Windows, given the hangs outside of Windows and the hang on the F8 menu, I think I can rule this out.
Ideally I'd like a way to test the IMC thoroughly. I have a spare Phenom II X4 in another system which I could try, and I suppose I'll end up putting it in this system anyway to try and bring the spec as close to the 960T as it can be. That should also rule out the board if the system continues to play ball.
I built a computer back in 2010/2011 which had a CPU upgrade a few years ago, spec as follows:
AMD Phenom II X4 960T (which I had been using in my own PC previously, unlocked all six cores no trouble), 6 cores activated
4GB RAM
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3, BIOS 2101 (not the latest)
Onboard graphics, ATI HD 4290, UMA + Sideport
Seagate 500GB HDD
DVD drive
Corsair VX450W PSU
Windows 7, all updates installed
Symptoms:
Problem came on suddenly (Monday morning it refused to boot properly), the computer hasn't previously ever had any stability issues)
BSODs seemingly at random (PFN_LIST_CORRUPT, HAL_INITIALISATION_FAILED, MEMORY_MANAGEMENT)
Graphics corruptions (even at WIndows login screen)
When I started investigating, the first thing I saw was the BIOS saying "5 cores activated" rather than 6, making me think that it could be to do with core unlocking so I immediately switched that off. Then I felt as the randomness of the BSOD messages are a dead ringer for bad RAM I ran a couple of cycles with memtest 4.3, no errors found. However, Windows would soon flounder with the above symptoms. I wondered whether maybe onboard graphics / graphics RAM issues could maybe be playing a role so I tried a spare graphics card. Windows booted and then hung about 20 minutes in, then would BSOD (same messages) on startup. I ran another load of memory tests with memtest86+ 5.01, no errors found. I swapped out the RAM for a spare module, Windows still hung on startup, and would even hang on the F8 startup menu after up to 30 seconds. Very odd that memory apparently so faulty that Windows would routinely hang or BSOD didn't show up at all during testing, I would have though that either memtest would be flagging errors virtually immediately.
Somewhere along the way I tried reactivating the cores and running a memtest but it very quickly switched off the PC. Deactivate extra cores, try again, no problems with memtest.
Also, with the 960T in there, the system has hung a couple of times on the BIOS screen at 'initialising USB controllers' (only a trackball and keyboard wireless receiver plugged in).
While I'm never a big believer in "the CPU went wrong!", I felt that all the issues coincide with a dodgy CPU so I swapped it out for a spare X2 240, no problems since (though Windows didn't like me swapping back to the onboard graphics and stopped on the loading screen, I had to install the graphics driver in safe mode even after uninstalling the card's driver, then no problems since).
Other possibilities I've considered:
Faulty memory, seems unlikely given I swapped out the memory and the system still hung
PSU, seems unlikely given how specific the BSODs are, and that the system seemed more stable despite more load from an old graphics card, and why no instability during memtest?
Board, possibly but again given how specific the BSODs are, seems unlikely to me.
Windows, given the hangs outside of Windows and the hang on the F8 menu, I think I can rule this out.
Ideally I'd like a way to test the IMC thoroughly. I have a spare Phenom II X4 in another system which I could try, and I suppose I'll end up putting it in this system anyway to try and bring the spec as close to the 960T as it can be. That should also rule out the board if the system continues to play ball.