I recently invested about $250 in an attempt to upgrade my kids' Dell Dimension C521. Based on recommendations I read in forums and other places, the best successful CPU upgrade I read about was the AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+. After upgrading several components (one at a time, benchmarking and burn-in testing after each component), I discovered I'm having problems with the processor.
Upgrades performed:
■ 2GB RAM -----> 4GB RAM (all PC6400 DDR2 running at 800MHz)
■ CD-R/DVD ROM -----> LG iHAS222 CD/DVD±R/RW DL w/LightScribe
■ on-board 10/100 Ethernet -----> PCI 10/100/1000 Ethernet
■ on-board GeForce 6150 LE graphics -----> PCIe PNY GeForce 8600GT 512MB
■ 80GB SATA-II HD -----> 640GB SATA-II HD w/16MB cache
■ AMD Athlon 64 3200+ -----> AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+ Brisbane
■ single boot to XP MCE SP3 -----> tri-boot to XP/Vista/Ubuntu
I had already upgraded the BIOS to the latest version, 1.1.11, and the BIOS and OS's all detect the processor just fine. Temperatures on the cores between idle and stressed were acceptable, 35°C and 60°C, with the stock cooler and fresh thermal grease. I was concerned about the anemic 280W power supply, so I removed the 8600GT for continued testing for now. (I REALLY wish I could find a beefier power supply that would fit this small case -- the stock one is 125x100x135mm -- and I don't want to go external.)
Simple symptom: PC hangs when idle. I don't know when or why, but I walk away and come back and the mouse and keyboard are completely hung with the screen still up. Absolutely no response from anything (peripherals, USB/disk insertion, power button tap). Dead. The on-screen temperatures and CPU usage are low/idle. This occurs in XP MCE SP3, Vista Ultimate SP1, and Ubuntu 8.10 -- oddly enough, all with the same symptoms: complete freeze-up with normal display. The clock is hung, nothing is updating, no longer responds to pings, animations stop -- hung.
And when I switch back to the original CPU, this doesn't happen. So, it is definitely the CPU. When it's not hung, the PC runs nice and quick, scores well with benchmarks, and passes burn-in tests. Yes, I have all the latest drivers installed from nVidia for the system board and AMD for the processor. Yes, the thermal grease is of decent quality and is properly cleaned and applied each CPU switch-out. Yes, I'm monitoring temperatures and running at stock voltages/clocks. No, I'm not a newbie (although I'm frustrated that I must be missing something... ).
I just need some other experts' opinions before I RMA it back to TigerDirect as "incompatible" and get my $70 returned. (Then I need another recommended CPU upgrade.)
I spent over 2 hours Googling and reading the various forums here before I decided to register and post. So, any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for the verbose description, but I thought I'd save a couple of simple responses of obvious suggestions.
Thanks in advance!
Mike
Upgrades performed:
■ 2GB RAM -----> 4GB RAM (all PC6400 DDR2 running at 800MHz)
■ CD-R/DVD ROM -----> LG iHAS222 CD/DVD±R/RW DL w/LightScribe
■ on-board 10/100 Ethernet -----> PCI 10/100/1000 Ethernet
■ on-board GeForce 6150 LE graphics -----> PCIe PNY GeForce 8600GT 512MB
■ 80GB SATA-II HD -----> 640GB SATA-II HD w/16MB cache
■ AMD Athlon 64 3200+ -----> AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+ Brisbane
■ single boot to XP MCE SP3 -----> tri-boot to XP/Vista/Ubuntu
I had already upgraded the BIOS to the latest version, 1.1.11, and the BIOS and OS's all detect the processor just fine. Temperatures on the cores between idle and stressed were acceptable, 35°C and 60°C, with the stock cooler and fresh thermal grease. I was concerned about the anemic 280W power supply, so I removed the 8600GT for continued testing for now. (I REALLY wish I could find a beefier power supply that would fit this small case -- the stock one is 125x100x135mm -- and I don't want to go external.)
Simple symptom: PC hangs when idle. I don't know when or why, but I walk away and come back and the mouse and keyboard are completely hung with the screen still up. Absolutely no response from anything (peripherals, USB/disk insertion, power button tap). Dead. The on-screen temperatures and CPU usage are low/idle. This occurs in XP MCE SP3, Vista Ultimate SP1, and Ubuntu 8.10 -- oddly enough, all with the same symptoms: complete freeze-up with normal display. The clock is hung, nothing is updating, no longer responds to pings, animations stop -- hung.
And when I switch back to the original CPU, this doesn't happen. So, it is definitely the CPU. When it's not hung, the PC runs nice and quick, scores well with benchmarks, and passes burn-in tests. Yes, I have all the latest drivers installed from nVidia for the system board and AMD for the processor. Yes, the thermal grease is of decent quality and is properly cleaned and applied each CPU switch-out. Yes, I'm monitoring temperatures and running at stock voltages/clocks. No, I'm not a newbie (although I'm frustrated that I must be missing something... ).
I just need some other experts' opinions before I RMA it back to TigerDirect as "incompatible" and get my $70 returned. (Then I need another recommended CPU upgrade.)
I spent over 2 hours Googling and reading the various forums here before I decided to register and post. So, any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for the verbose description, but I thought I'd save a couple of simple responses of obvious suggestions.
Thanks in advance!
Mike