Hellllllp!

Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy KnobPflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
edited January 2006 in Hardware
I don't think I have ever posted in this category before and would appreciate all the help I can get. The "Main System" in my sig below that has been rock solid for months suddenly has become super unstable. It seems to coincide within days of removing my CPU to test another in my system. When I removed the heatsink I noticed the socket was empty and as soon as I thought to look on the bottom of the H/S it fell, bouncing off the edge of the table and hitting the floor 3 1/2 feet away! I looked at the 9 bent pins and prayed I could straighten them and that nothing else was wrong. After almost an hour I had all the pins straight and it went into the socket like new. It posted and booted into Windows just fine but then within days started to freeze, crash and do reboots which got worse with time. First I ran memtest for 12 hours overnight with 0 errors. I then logged my voltages as long as the system was running with folding running and it all was rock steady. I then tried to re-install Windows and kept getting random errors at different times and spots during the install. I ended up trying 2 different rom drives, 3 different XP disks, 3 different HD's and the results were always met with failure. I even tried running the system @ stock speeds prior to and during the re-install but it was worse with stock speeds and settings! After about 6 or more hours of this I was finally able to get Windows installed without a hitch and had it running stable for a short time. But after about 4 hours of folding it went back to total instability. This system has never run over 39C on any of the temps. While trying to re-install i saw more blue screens than I have seen in the past 3 years! After all this I was afraid to pull apart one of my other systems to borrow the CPU for testing as I was beginning to think I was jinxed! What are the chances my CPU was damaged during the fall to the floor and hitting the edge of the table on the way down?

So far I have:
  • run memtest for 12 hrs with no errors
  • logged voltages and they are rock solid well within specs
  • run HJT and found nothing
  • re-installed windows
  • tested the wall outlet voltage, even though i am running on "conditioned" power
  • tried 3 different HD's, different rom drives for install and 3 different Windows disks
  • scratched head and arse several times and even beat my head on the desk!

Comments

  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    Possible CPU damage or IHS bent and shorted something. I'm assuming you used AS5 or something when you stuck it back together, right??? And cleaned the crud off of (and any dust out of) the big HS before putting it back together???
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    Straight_Man wrote:
    Possible CPU damage or IHS bent and shorted something. I'm assuming you used AS5 or something when you stuck it back together, right??? And cleaned the crud off of (and any dust out of) the big HS before putting it back together???
    I always use AS5 and clean everything real good before putting it back together. I did put a straight edge across the top from corner to corner in both directions and it is very flat across the top. I may just go buy a new one today as I'm still not wanting to pull apart a working system at this point for test parts. I guess I can eventually make another system to add to the farm. ;)
  • hypermoodhypermood Smyrna, GA New
    edited January 2006
    Sounds like you've done everything.

    When you straightend the pins, it's possible that stress fractures formed. When temperature is just right, you've got a faulty connection. A little conductive paint could save you if this is the case.

    MB socket might be damaged too, although not as likely.

    As you just mentioned, resist the temptation to tear apart a working system :doh:
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    OK, I just got back from Fry's and they had X2 3800 on sale so I decided to get one. Wish me luck. ;)
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2006
    Good luck, buddy. Seeing as how the only thing that changed was the big question mark about the status of the CPU, I'm betting that'll get it fixed. :)
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    I put in the new CPU and it posts fine, except for saying it is a "Hammer family-unknown CPU". Then it gets to the Welcome screen and bsod's. I have the 3-10 bios and have been trying to flash it to the 6-23 but it just sits there at the DOS promt and won't let me enter the comands. My other board came with the same bios and went straight in when I tried an opty dual core. This has me stumped. Going to try putting the old CPU back in to flash. I thought I left all my nightmares in 2005! :rant:
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    Well it's fixed and the CPU was the culprut. I just finished re-installing XP and it all went the way it's supposed to. I will let this new CPU burn is for a bit then see what she's made of.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    cool deal! Try using that sp2004 to burn in larry it works really well.
    To get 2 instance just click on the icon twice. Leave one instance set to cpu0 and change the other to cpu1. Uncheck "no affinity" and select whether you want to stress your ram or your cpu or both a the same time.
    This thing heats up my cores hotter than any gromacs ever did and I feel confident that if I pass this after a few hours I will have no problems with f@h.
  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    soon as my WC kit gets here ( god knows when! ) ill beOcing the heck out of my 3800+ then ill send u my settings
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    Score:

    MtGoat - One fractured CPU ;D
    Leonardo - One fractured mobo northbridge ;D

    :sad2:

    Who's teh winnar? Sorry to hear about that.
    I just got back from Fry's and they had X2 3800 on sale
    I may have the beautiful views, wildlife, fishing, and skiing, but I sure don't have the shopping! That's outstanding.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    Leonardo wrote:
    Score:

    MtGoat - One fractured CPU ;D
    Leonardo - One fractured mobo northbridge ;D

    :sad2:

    Who's teh winnar? Sorry to hear about that.

    I may have the beautiful views, wildlife, fishing, and skiing, but I sure don't have the shopping! That's outstanding.
    ......and my wife has a .45 also! :sawed:

    So I say we are both screwed! :rolleyes:
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited January 2006
    Man, the luck both of you had really sucks, but I think you are leading, Larry. I know that replacement proc cost a lot more than Leo's mobo replacement.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2006
    Leonardo wrote:
    ...Leonardo - One fractured mobo northbridge ;D ...
    That's not the one you just replaced the HS on is it? :hair:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    That's not the one you just replaced the HS on is it?
    No, I didn't get that far. The replacement was in progress...until I crushed the NB core. :( Remembering the early Athlon days, I had installed felt bumpers on the corners of the heatsink in order to....in order to avoid crushing the core. But alas, in the final stages of fitting the heatsink, I removed the bumpers for a better feel for centering the sink. I hadn't realized I had crushed the core until the computer wouldn't boot immediately after the heatsink installation.

    Prof, I did though, install one of those heatsinks on No. 4's Quadro NVS280. I used Arctic Silver adhesive. It's now a passively cooled champ.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2006
    I was wondering how you were going to attach them.

    Sorry about your misfortune... :(
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    well how is the 3800X2 running? Im guessing pretty good! if it still says the hammer family go to ASUS and get the new CPU drivers or update the bios on your mobo :)
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    Well, see it this way. The cpu was unstable before the fall from the cliff.
    Before i knew the answer, i would have said PSU.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    MackanzOCZ wrote:
    Well, see it this way. The cpu was unstable before the fall from the cliff.
    Before i knew the answer, i would have said PSU.
    Hmmm, unstable CPU falls from cliff. Mtgoat heads high up the mountain for cover. :crazy: My PSU has been running 12.22V, 5.04V, 3.52V with almost never changing since the day I got it from EQ. Since finally getting the bios to flash (my stupidity of forgetting to plug in the keyboard :doh:) everything has been smooth sailing! After the flash it comes up correctly. :cheers: It has now been running 2 instances of foldingfor 24 hrs at stock speed. When I get the time I will crank it up a bit and see where I can get it for max stable.
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