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power supply undersupplying or screwed northwood? Update: Cpu checks fine!!!

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Duvie

Elite Member
Ever since I got an error this weekend when I changed the priority of an application in winxp I have had some serious issues with my stability....I recovered then just reformatted and reinstalled...still same issues...

I was stable at 2.5ghz with 1.775v....now even at 1.8ghz (default) no matter the vcore voltage I get cpu sandra scores below it supposed rated speed or fluctuate....At 2.4ghz I can run between 1.6v to 1.75v and get same fluctuations in scores along with 3.8-4 percent fluctuations in vcore voltage at time of benchmarking....

prime95 doesn't get usual rounding errors it usually just shuts the program done with illegal operation in win98 or BSOD in winxp....ONly one restart and that was on sunday with 2.5ghz at 1.775v in prime95 after 1 hour....

I checked temps but the above activities are occuring with cpu idle temps of 32.5c at 1.8ghz and 34.5c at 2.4ghz...no temp has recorded higher then 41c...



Update: I did more testing...Unplugged all but harddrives...used asus ez-plug...actully get more fluctuation with ez plug...scores are same as above...Fan speed has increased 200rpm...


I am running this on:

Asus p4s333 with 1004c bios
(2) 256MB PC2700 KINGMAX....I have ran memory at 4:3 ratio so that it was well below rated speed...no difference...


I am going to order new enermax to see if that is the issue...give me your thoughts, please


Update: I have just finished encoding a dvd to divx movie, 2pass on 2 hours movie...highest temp was 45c and vcore bumped around a bit...Program finished with no errors or crashes...

The time to complete was within a minute of my previous test for this exact movie about 2 weeks ago...so cpu seems to be fine...

Likely I pushed it to far and caused a corruption of the registry and kernel...new install of win98 is running fine (with new ndis.vxd file)...
 
Although I doubt it's the memory, you should test it using Memtest86. I'd run the full, 11 test setup. I've had bad Kingmax RAM twice now. At least testing it would eliminate the RAM from the equation.
 
I will do that, but I don't think it explains the fluctuating alu in cpu sandra.....It only seems to happen on alu not the fpu or multimedia mark....I wonder why...

The ram could explain the errors in winxp and win98 when loading the dll files...

I guess I will run it, better get out the old floppy drive...


Fluctuations at 2.4ghz can be almost 1000pts....In winxp I get more responsiveness in waiting and then running again and having score shoot back up....

Unless my temperature reading is wrong in the bios and asus probe I assume it is reading temps right and they are low...hsf is barely warm at the touch...


Could it be the PS is no longer delivering 10amps on the 12v rail....dll errors and illegal operatio are not usually what I have seen with prime95...usually get rounding off errors which is a sign the cpu can't handle this...
 
i think you have overclocked too far and screwed the pooch. (winxp)

i corrupted my Win98 the same way.
all of a sudden (after a lockup) i was getting all sorts errors on bootup.
i was running 100% stable at the time at 141fsb - i went back to 137fsb and reloaded. no problems since.

P4As are great chips. they really like to overclock. even if you go too far they will run ok for awhile, but eventually will error or corrupt.
 
If you want to find out if it is the power supply, go to a local store and pick one up. After the test, return the power supply. Heard the Antec 400x is better than the enermax and cheaper.
 
That is a possibility I am looking at....

Please read my file in hardware forum....It appears winxp is the main culprit as I am not getting errors or stability issues in win98 unless I am using files winxp got a hold of or downloaded....

I ran pcmark2002 for many times while winxp said it couldn't even load it....


I did order a new PS anyways and see if some of my issues are power fluctuations....

I also need to test the memory with memtest...at 350mhz ddr it shouldn't have been much of a push for the pc2700 ram....

Likely I wil boot back down to 2.4ghz where I have ran the majority of the time flwalessly going back to my old MSI Ultra ARU board....
 
removed program sandra and reinstalled se version and I get no such fluctuations....

ran pcmark2002 6 times...no score changes and no errors or crashes...it taxes the cpu hard as I watched a vcoe voltage go from 1.744v idle to 1.648v load in 2 seconds...

I am going to reinstall win98 again over the top and see if that will repair any other registry issues...in win98 that is...


I will reinstall winxp using fat32 file system and set all speeds to low for safety...

Power supply is in route as my backup...
 
It's about time to start poking around with a voltmeter. Don't rely too much on on-board diagnostic. It's too subjective IMO.


Jam the test leads into top of each of the connector.

The main ATX: black lead to any black. With the black in place, poke around to yellow, red and orange. You should see 12V, 5V and 3.3V within 5%.
If you suspect certain line is sagging under load, keep the meter connected and place a load so you can observe the voltage in real time.
 
If your board supports it, are you running the memory voltage at +.2? I found this to be the best setting for overclocking. I just changed my cheapo elixyr pc2100 to a 4/5 ratio, and it's running fine at 173 fsb with the cpu set at 138 fsb. My settings are 3T, 6T, 2T, and case 2.5. sandra memory score is 1300. Good luck. I'm using the epox 4sda+.
 
Yeah I may get voltmeter from work or just wait until tomorrow when my new antec atx12v arrives....

I am sure it is power supply now....If I am running something that is intensive I can move around and do anything fine...fire up the harddrive or cd-rom and I may reboot...I let asus probe record and I go back and find the vcore dropping to 5.9% below idle...also fan rpm drops 150rpm from average...temps were at 41c, so no heat issue...in win98 so errors usually just close program or bsod...

the sparkle I have is a top notch amd drive as it is strong on the 3.3v and 5v rails but only offers 10amps at 12v rail for total of 120watts...add 4 drives and 2 case fans and a 2.4ghz cpu at 1.675v (1.712v actual) and I think the recipe is for problems...
 
I have been sure that my AMD overclock was very dependant on heat for highest overclock. I really feel (at least in the ASUS boards) that its going to voltage that will determine stability. I really need to find out what voltage regulator chip they are using and see if any mod can be done to stabilize it. I think the feedback circuit causes too much fluctuation based on fluctuations in the 12v rail. With it converting the voltage to 1.5v from 12v, it shouldn't be so dependant on voltage. It is possible that these fluctuations are from current starvation (which would be causing the droop in the 12v rail), that is why I was going to get the 400W Antec with 18A (6A more than my current Enermax) on the 12v rail to see if it made a difference. I sent it back because it was drooping worse than my Enermax (I assume it came with the pot not set for the current draw of a Pentium 4, but was unwilling to chance that it was just bad and ruin my warranty by adjusting those pots.) Well the RMA went bad (they ran out of stock), so after some discussion with Newegg (who handled this in a very professional manner), I am buying a bigger Enermax (430watt), which left today from Newegg.

If this powersupply doesn't fix my drooping 12v rail, then I am going to sit and figure a mod to stabilize the fluctuation. (I almost want to make my own add-in voltage regulator daughter board, that is not dependent on feedback from the 12V).
 
Was just going to comment that my friends system that we just built was using an Antec 400watt, and with the stock heatsink it would run fine in Windows at 150fsb on a P4S333. It would fail Prime95 and I am pretty sure that was heat related because he was hitting 50C in bios and I am sure it was much higher while running Prime95 in windows (was wanting to ask if you ever figured out a way to monitor temps in windows with this board?) I haven't flashed it to 1005 yet, but have heard that it doesn't fix the sensors. But his 12v rails were rock steady at 150fsb in bios even at 155fsb. It drooped from 12.35v at default to 12.08v at 155fsb (wouldn't make it all the way into windows with this setting).

He is going to get a better cooler. Is the AVC cooler good enough? He also needs to add some case ventilation, because he has little or none. I have him backed down to 2.2ghz right now and the heat stays manageable and Prime95 runs fine.
 
WarCon-
asus pcprobe does work - but its minimum temp is stuck on 40C.
heatup the system and youll see it goes up once it actually passes 40C.
make sure you have the latest version 2.16.

my max temp is 46C during hours of heavy gaming.
 
Thanks man. I only tried it for a brief time since I noticed it was not moving past 40C CPU / 28C System. I figured it to be broke........🙂 I only checked it when we had the fsb at 133 and the voltage at 1.525, so I guess it was cooling well enough there that I didn't get to see it move.
 
Anyone tried the Thermaltake DRAGON 478. It looks nice, but does it work? Or is the AVC the best one to get?
 
the AVC should be fine if youre using ArcticSilver2 or 3 with it.
im only using the regular ThermalTake P4V w/AS2 and it cools just fine.
case ventilation is prolly more of a priority then a new cooler.
 
Methinks case ventilation will help me aswell, using that forementioned Dragon 478 & it works fine, abit better than stock cooling & a CoolerMaster I had on previously. Since switching over from a KT266A/XP 1800+ setup, & removing all my case fans from a AOpen HX08 after hearing about the remarkably cool P4's, I think i'll put them all back in & see what happens. Currently running a 1.8A at 2.4GHz, maxed to 51C running Prime95 for 30 mins.
 
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