Question HP Pro 3010 MT Memory/CPU issue.

[yago.cascallar]

Hello everyone and thanks for reading.
A few months ago I bought an old HP Pro 3010 MT with the following specs.
MoBo: IPIEL-LA3
CPU: Pentium e5300 (775)
HDD : 320Gb
RAM: 4Gb DDR3 1066HZ
As soon as it arrived home I tried to replace the pentium with a CORE 2 DUO E8500 I had laying around, after all it was socket 775 as well and oficially listed as complatible by HP.
Once replaced, the computer started to beep (one short and one long) and does not do anything(no boot). A memory beep error seemed strange at least because I did not touch the memory at all, so I decided to throw back the pentium and mess with it a little bit, and while running with the pentium, the bastard admits every single memory stick I throw in. I ended up with a pair of 4Gb Corsair XMS 1333on it, and it ran smoothly.
However I came across some HP DDR3 sticks and decided to give it a try again, 1Gb modules, 2Gb modules and 4Gb modules.
If I throw in the Core 2 Duo E8500 and 1Gb sticks the computer works fine but any other memory that is not 1Gb(HP module) will make it beep and not boot. But! if I replace the Core 2 Duo with the Pentium the computer will work with any memory combination(any brand any size).
Would anyone know the reason for this nonsense? I mean the memory is recognized and used by the motherboard with one of the processors but not with the other one.
Thanks!

 

[SamirD]

Your e8500 is probably fake. Return it and get a genuine one. This is why cheap fakes suck a.....

 

[yago.cascallar]

Thanks for your answer Samir! I thought about it and decided to try out more processors. Got the same results with an E8400 and two E7300(one Malasia and one Costa Rica), but it worked with an older E2200. Strange.....

 

[SamirD]

Thanks for your answer Samir! I thought about it and decided to try out more processors. Got the same results with an E8400 and two E7300(one Malasia and one Costa Rica), but it worked with an older E2200. Strange.....

You can't tell fakes from what is on the processor cover as those will be identical--it's deep inside the processors that there are differences.

But that being said, it just sounds like you need a bios update. Put in the original processor and update the bios and then try the e8500, e8400, and 2x e7300 again. If it works, consider the e8600 as I've found its fast single thread performance great when you're limited to dual core:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compar...400-vs-Intel-Core2-Duo-E7300/957vs5vs955vs945

 

[yago.cascallar]

Thanks again!
Well it did not work either, I updated the motherboard as much as I could (v.5.07), and it seems it does not want to go any further. This may be a very HPish problem related I think I'll head over to their forums and ask over there to see if anyone knows about it.
If it ever gets solved, I'll post the solution right here.
Thanks!

 

[SamirD]

Definitely strange. I wonder if it has to do with the tdp of the processors, although yours are all 65w, so that really shouldn't be an issue. Definitely let us know the solution!

 

[Jon Jackson]

Hi there I've tried to install a q9550 and a q8300 on my hp pro 3010 mt and get the same issue as you've had. I've read somewhere that you have to get hp only ram for a cpu upgrade. Doesn't make any sense. So annoying.

 

[SamirD]

Hi there I've tried to install a q9550 and a q8300 on my hp pro 3010 mt and get the same issue as you've had. I've read somewhere that you have to get hp only ram for a cpu upgrade. Doesn't make any sense. So annoying.

I don't think it's an HP ram requirement, but there may be a requirement on the memory module design that we don't have access to. Hence certain modules will work while others will not.