1 or 2 out of 4 cores work sometimes all 4

[captivate_87]

I have pieced my computer together over several weeks and sometimes it works fantasticly but most of the time I noticed that only 1 or 2 of the cores operate and it makes doing almost anything impossible. The only thing that is used in the computer is the processor being a little over 2 years old. When running normally my cpu is at and average of 73 degrees when the problem occurs it jumps to 90. Here are my system specs.
AMD Phenom II x4 945 3.0GHz
GIGABYTE mb 880GA-UD3H
EVGA GTS 450 1GB GDDR5
Corsair 8GB XMS3 dual channel DDR3
80gb intel solid state drive 320 series
corsair gaming series 700wt power supply gs700
corsiar h60 high performance hydro cpu cooler

Also I noticed this first started "again" after a windows update. I left my computer and when I woke it up it was acting normal.

 

[The_Prophecy]

Processing work is not spread evenly across all of the cores all the time. The temps above are definitely something to worry about though. Remove and re-apply your thermal paste as soon as you have a chance. That's way too hot.

 

[captivate_87]

I will definately do as you advise however isnt it odd that the cores that are operational run at 100% and are slow making booting or running the simplest program a process i would rather drive a screwdriver through my ear. be back soon running to radio shack for paste.

 

[captivate_87]

after looking at specific specs for my processor it is not running that hot as the maximum temperature for it is 143 degrees and it averages 74 when working correctly.

 

[Jay_83]

I would advise you to peruse the following:
http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=534
These specs clearly indicate your CPU is running WAY too hot. This would obviously cause thermal throttling, slowing your rig down to a crawl. This is assuming your reported temps are in degrees Celsius, not Fahrenheit; please let us know.
Good luck.

 

[garethj94]

Could it just be the fact that amd lock some of it cores in order to force you to spend more money?

 

[Jay_83]

Could it just be the fact that amd lock some of it cores in order to force you to spend more money?

You'd have to clarify...
The 945 is a quad core. It doesn't come with any locked cores.

 

[Geef]

I definatly agree with the temp problem you have. I'm running an Athlon X3 450 with all four cores turned on. I loaded Folding@Home a few mins ago to see how hot mine gets and its at AVG 53C and MAX 54C. I do have a extra large heatsink for my processor so that helps mine some.
You really need to re-setup your heatsink on your chip like an above poster was saying.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

Could it just be the fact that amd lock some of it cores in order to force you to spend more money?

No, you have no idea what your talking about. But Intel has a system like that which locks some cpu features but you can pay money to unlock them with certain CPU's.. It has just been stated to you plain and clear that your CPU is running way above its recommended temperature. There is something wrong with your CPU cooler.

 

[mouse24]

wait sorry, are you talking about Fahrenheit or Celsius?

i assume you mean fahrenheit since you mentioned 143 as the max temp

 

[captivate_87]

yes sorry for the confusion i indeed mean fahrenheit not celsius i am running 74 average F and 24C
I did a stress test using orthos for 20mins and there was no problem however 30mins after that 2 cores shut down like i mentioned above. and everything becomes a crawl.

 

[captivate_87]

i found this review buried but it is exactly what is happening to me:
Seeing 11 positive reviews, I ordered this motherboard (with latest bios), AMD Phenom II X4 955, Corsair DDR3 1333 8gig, and Corsair CX600 power supply. Once windows vista 64bit was installed, I noticed the processing of windows patches using Windows updates took a long time to complete. Viewed Easy Tuner 6 and found the cpu speed changing every 5 seconds from 800Ghz to 2000Ghz to 3200Ghz to 2400Ghz. It was jumping randomly and it wanted to be at 800Ghz. There were over 26 windows updates which total to 450mb to process. Under task manager, it looks like only 1 core was doing all the work at 800Ghz speed and the other 3 cores were idle. I can't understand how 450mb of data needed processing and only 1 core active. The other cores should have kicked in automatically. Called Gigabyte Tech Support and they weren't sure what is causing the cpu speed to jumped around. They recommended to me to rma and get replacement motherboard and cpu. Maybe I got a lemon.

 

[das_stig]

Nothing wrong with the CPU, using cool-n-quiet, it should drop as low as 800Mhz when not doing anywork and then increase its speed in stages until it is going flat out.

Have you check the water cooler is doing its job, have had a couple of these all in one jobs fail to pump water around, resulting in cpu throttling back.

 

[captivate_87]

How can I check that, my temps seem fine, and I think it is running but since it is sealed I cant be sure I guess. I dont notice any spike in temerature before this occurs.