Replacement CPU died in 5 months, possible cause?

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
I built this machine back in late 2005 and it was rock solid until late July of 2007 when the CPU died. I did an RMA with AMD and about 3 weeks later had a replacement Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego. I stuck it in and it worked with no issues until today when the machine just shut itself off and is exhibiting the same symptoms as it did previously when the CPU died. It is a standard build, no overclocks or anything and is currently being used as a TV/DVR machine since the A7N8X I have been using for this purpose for years finally gave up the ghost with bad caps in November. Could there be something wrong either with the motherboard or power supply that would cause this with no prior warnings or am I just unlucky enough to have run into a couple of bad processors? Both times the machine has shown no signs of instability or problems whatsoever until it just suddenly quit working. The pickings are pretty slim for 939 processors these days but I can get a 3800X2 for $50.00-$60.00 which would be fine for what I am doing with the machine but I hesitate to toss another processor into it unless I can be reasonably certain that it won't die 4 months later due to some issue with the motherboard or PS. The current specs are:

A7N8X32-SLI
Athlon 64 4000+
2 GB Corsair XMS DDR (2x1GB) Twinx2048-3200c2
BFG 7800 GT OC
SeaSonic S12-500 500W Power Supply
Antec p180 case

 

A554SS1N

Senior member
May 17, 2005
804
0
0
The only things I can think of is that maybe your board has been supplying it the wrong vcore voltage (i.e. far too high) for a long time, or that it's been running far too hot due to poor airflow, but you'd have experience the odd crashes ages ago :/
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
20,905
3,292
126
bad board or PSU. Maybe your ram is going bad?

Wouldnt push your luck the third time. Also would test the ram out on a different board if possible.

But yeah, for me 2 for 2 usually means time to tos the entire gear out and redue it from part 1. Its more of a PITA to touble shoot with old and dying hardware, then it is to go out and get a cheap new setup.


But thats just my 2 cents. :T
 

455olds

Junior Member
Aug 22, 2001
22
0
0
I've had small static 'zapps' over time finally do me in on a couple of boards. I finally ended up going to a plastic case on that rig and ground strapping everything to a step mat. I still get a zap that will boot a system in another room sometimes, but not as often. Side Note: New shoes on a new laminate floor in dry climate, watch out, I've had it jump over and inch it's quite painful.
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
Originally posted by: aigomorla
bad board or PSU. Maybe your ram is going bad?

Wouldnt push your luck the third time. Also would test the ram out on a different board if possible.

But yeah, for me 2 for 2 usually means time to tos the entire gear out and redue it from part 1. Its more of a PITA to touble shoot with old and dying hardware, then it is to go out and get a cheap new setup.


But thats just my 2 cents. :T

The first time it went I moved the ram into a P4C800E-Deluxe for 3 weeks while waiting for the RMA process to complete and it worked with no problem. I am going to take the CPU to a local shop and see if they have a 939 system they can test it in just to make certain it is the CPU again.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
20,905
3,292
126
Originally posted by: Linflas
Originally posted by: aigomorla
bad board or PSU. Maybe your ram is going bad?

Wouldnt push your luck the third time. Also would test the ram out on a different board if possible.

But yeah, for me 2 for 2 usually means time to tos the entire gear out and redue it from part 1. Its more of a PITA to touble shoot with old and dying hardware, then it is to go out and get a cheap new setup.


But thats just my 2 cents. :T

The first time it went I moved the ram into a P4C800E-Deluxe for 3 weeks while waiting for the RMA process to complete and it worked with no problem. I am going to take the CPU to a local shop and see if they have a 939 system they can test it in just to make certain it is the CPU again.

Have them test the CPU out.

also run memtest on the ram. Make sure it does at least 4 passes.

Then if cpu and ram tests out, it limits the problem to either board + psu. That should make debugging the problem a lot easier.

The timeframe to test all the hardware out could take as much as 2-4 days. In that time you could be stress priming a new budget C2D for around ~200 dollars. [depending on the cpu] E2160 or E2180 would give any AMD a run for there money.


Need to evaluate which is more worthy of your time. The debuging, or building a new rig from the getgo.

But just to let you know, when something of mine failed more then twice... a third time always comes around... :\

Took me 4 RMA's to learn Crucial Tracers dont like voltage higher then 2.0V loaded 24/7. The manufactor says 2.2V tho.... man.. you should hear them when i phone in the RMA....
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
Originally posted by: aigomorla
Originally posted by: Linflas
Originally posted by: aigomorla
bad board or PSU. Maybe your ram is going bad?

Wouldnt push your luck the third time. Also would test the ram out on a different board if possible.

But yeah, for me 2 for 2 usually means time to tos the entire gear out and redue it from part 1. Its more of a PITA to touble shoot with old and dying hardware, then it is to go out and get a cheap new setup.


But thats just my 2 cents. :T

The first time it went I moved the ram into a P4C800E-Deluxe for 3 weeks while waiting for the RMA process to complete and it worked with no problem. I am going to take the CPU to a local shop and see if they have a 939 system they can test it in just to make certain it is the CPU again.

Have them test the CPU out.

also run memtest on the ram. Make sure it does at least 4 passes.

Then if cpu and ram tests out, it limits the problem to either board + psu. That should make debugging the problem a lot easier.

The timeframe to test all the hardware out could take as much as 2-4 days. In that time you could be stress priming a new budget C2D for around ~200 dollars. [depending on the cpu] E2160 or E2180 would give any AMD a run for there money.


Need to evaluate which is more worthy of your time. The debuging, or building a new rig from the getgo.

But just to let you know, when something of mine failed more then twice... a third time always comes around... :\

Took me 4 RMA's to learn Crucial Tracers dont like voltage higher then 2.0V loaded 24/7. The manufactor says 2.2V tho.... man.. you should hear them when i phone in the RMA....

I'm thinking now that I may just replace the MB and CPU with an e4500 and a Gigabyte MB. I bumped my new quad up to 8GB ram when the G.Skill was on sale before Christmas so I can take 2 sticks of that and stick it into the new machine and watch for another sale to snag some memory.