AMD Phenom X6- not running at 100% all the time

[nerdburg]

I recently built a cruncher for distributed computing. At 100% load the CPU runs 100% for about 45 seconds, then 50% for 15 seconds. If I OC the CPU it does the same, but the timing is different. Any suggestions on how to get it to run 100% all the time would be appreciated.


AMD Phenom X6 1055T

Temps upper 30s to low 40s

Mobo: Asus M4N68T-M, running most recent bios update.

Cool n' Quiet disabled in bios.

ASUS EPU not installed.

Win XP SP3 32Bit

Antec 500W PSU

Kingston Hyper X 4GB

BOINC is set to use 100% of the processor 100% of the time.

 

[Raidur]

It may be slowing down for another component to catch up, like the hard drive. Try disabling a couple cores for the program in task manager and see if it does the same thing.

Does your program read/write large files?

 

[FALC0N]

Need more info on exactly how its being used. Im not sure i understand the circumstances of is dropping to 50 percent load

 

[nerdburg]

No, there is hardly any HD activity.

I talked to AUSU and they claim the mobo supports the 1055T, but AMD says the mobo does not support the CPU.

Sigh.

 

[FALC0N]

The most recent bios update is dated only a week ago. And they usually put them up a couple of days after the bios date. Are you sure that it is the one you used? There was an update in late march as well.

I'm thinking you flashed what WAS the most recent bios (3/31/10) before they posted the new one (4/26/10). The 4/26 bios has the X6 support. Even if your sure, double check.

 

[roonj]

Did you turn off power savings in windows power scheme ?
C1e disabled in bios?

 

[nerdburg]

The most recent bios update is dated only a week ago. And they usually put them up a couple of days after the bios date. Are you sure that it is the one you used? There was an update in late march as well.

I'm thinking you flashed what WAS the most recent bios (3/31/10) before they posted the new one (4/26/10). The 4/26 bios has the X6 support. Even if your sure, double check.

Arrrrg! I spent so much time trying to get this working. You are right on the money -It was running bios version 0703 which is dated 3/19/2010. I used the Asus update utility to flash the bios. The Asus website says 0703 is the right version and Asus customer support said ".... we do have an internal list that does specify that the CPU model AMD 1055T 6X you are using is supported on this motherboard and you will need the BIOS version 0703 installed as well. "

Turns out you need version 0804 4/26/2010

I feel like a complete idiot that I missed that. Thanks for the help, it's working 100% now.

 

[nerdburg]

Best answer selected by nerdburg.