When an Overclocked Quad Core becomes a Dual core

[overshocked]

is Vdroop disabled ever a help in any situation?

BIOS UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have the latest bios update for my motherboard, don't worry about it

DOnt disable vdroop because you will have voltage spikes on load wich arnt good.

Enable it but do a voltage mod.

 

[TerminatorXT]

If you have the time, could you read over this forum

this guy is having the EXACT same problem as me
http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/463529-q6600-asus-striker-extreme.html

only difference he has a Striker Extreme, not the Striker II extreme
680i vs Ultra 790i
WOW

http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=94
This thread talks about a GTL REF Voltage

I'm thinking my problem lies there

 

[knightmirror]

Can you provide some bios pics of various tweaks and voltage? I suspect your NB voltage or fsb voltage could be suspect. Also, what are fsb limits on motherboard? I would try these following steps first though; Have you tried disabling operational cores to see if system boots? This could determine a bad CPU or not. Do you have a spare quadcore or a friend to borrow from? Have you tried speedfan while running prime95? The cpu dial in speedfan would indicate which core are not working while prime95 running small fft. Try multiple times to determine if same cores are failing each instance. You should easily get that CPU to 3.4. A cpuid pic would be ideal for more info.

Want to help, but need more info from you on specifics of set-up in bios. So, help me help you

 

[TerminatorXT]

I will be sure to do this tonight

unfortunately my friends don't have any Core2Quads
they only have Duos, AMD quads, or Core i7s
yes i'm left out 😛

I have a question for you though, most of my voltages are set to auto
shouldn't my motherboard overguess and make the system run, just hot..???

 

[overshocked]

Yeah, raise the gtl and unlink the memory (if u havnt already).

 

[TerminatorXT]

Motherboard = Asus Striker II Extreme Ultra 790i Chipset
PSU = Antec Quattro 1000W
CPU = Intel Q6600 B3 @ 3.1GHZ
RAM = Kingston HyperX PC3-11000, 1375MHZ CL7, 2X2GB DIMMS
HDD = Western Digital Caviar Blue 7200RPM, 640GB 16MB cache
VGA1 = BFG GTX 295
SPU ( Sound Card ) = Supreme FX
NorthBridge Cooling = Stock waterblock
SouthBridge Cooling = Stock waterblock
CPU Cooling = Corsair H50, w/ Arctic MX-2 Thermal Paste
RAM Cooling = Stock heatspreaders plus OCZ XTC V2
nFORCE Chipset Drivers Version = v20.08
ForceWare/GeForce Drivers Version = v190.18
Sound Card Drivers Version = came with cd
BIOS version 1203

Antec 1200 w/ side fan, Antec Spot cool on GTX 295

BIOS Settings
Extreme Tweaker
CPU Level Up = Auto
Memory Level Up = Auto
AI Overclock Tuner = Manual
CPU Multiplier = 9.0
FSB - Memory Clock Mode = Unlinked
FSB - Memory Ratio = Auto
FSB (QDR) MHz = 1380
MEM (DDR) MHz = 1380
LDT Frequency = 5x
PCIE Bus Slot 1 & 2 MHz = 100
PCIE Bus Slot 3 MHz = 100
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, MHz = Auto
SLI-Ready Memory = Disabled (can't enable it anyway)

Memory Timing Setting
P1 = Auto
P2 = Auto
tCL ( CAS Latency ) = 7
tRCD = 7
tRP = 7
tRAS = 20
Command Per Clock (CMD) = 1T
tRRD = 5
tRC = 25
tWR = 12
tWTR = 18
tFAW = 22
tRD = 9
tRTP = 6
tRFC = 75
tREF = 7.8uS

Over Voltage
CPU Voltage = Auto
Loadline Calibration = Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage = Auto
CPU VTT Voltage = Auto
Memory Voltage = Auto
NB Core Voltage = Auto
SB Core Voltage = Auto
CPU GTL REF0 Ratio = Auto
CPU GTL REF1 Ratio = Auto
CPU GTL REF2 Ratio = Auto
CPU GTL REF3 Ratio = Auto
NB GTL REF Ratio = Auto
DDR3 CHA1 Ref Volt = Auto
DDR3 CHB1 Ref Volt = Auto
DDR3 CHA2 Ref Volt = Auto
DDR3 CHB2 Ref Volt = Auto
( I know what you’re thinking…. Too many autos… I want to change that all to custom when I know how to work this motherboard, Any Ideas guys? )

CPU Configuration
CPU Internal Thermal Control = Auto
Limit CPUID MaxVal = Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E) = Enabled
Execute Disable Bit = Enabled
Virtualization Technology = Enabled
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(tm) Tech. = Enabled
CPU Core 2 = Enabled
CPU Core 3 = Enabled
CPU Core 4 = Enabled
( CPU 4 doesn’t exist when I overclock to 3.2ghz and 2&3 are Disabled and I can’t enable them )
(Prime95 can run 3 threads when that happens but not 4 )

Spread Spectrum Control
CPU Spread Spectrum = Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum = Auto
MCP PCIE Spread Spectrum = Auto
SATA Spread Spectrum = Auto
LDT Spread Spectrum = Auto

 

[freezed1]

Hi, ok here is the deal, in the past i encountered a similar problem. I was running a dual core that posted as a single core at any speed and voltage, every program i used showed that my processor had only 1 core, even windows device manager. The solution was to reinstall my windows, some how when i was installing windows, apparently it skipped some files that identified my processor as a dual core (there was an article abt it online). Reinstalling my windows fixed my problem. Your problem might be different, try adjusting your cpu fsb voltage and northbridge voltage. You do have a lot of autos maybe that is causing the problem. Did you update the bios of your motherboard?

 

[TerminatorXT]

Hi, ok here is the deal, in the past i encountered a similar problem. I was running a dual core that posted as a single core at any speed and voltage, every program i used showed that my processor had only 1 core, even windows device manager. The solution was to reinstall my windows, some how when i was installing windows, apparently it skipped some files that identified my processor as a dual core (there was an article abt it online). Reinstalling my windows fixed my problem. Your problem might be different, try adjusting your cpu fsb voltage and northbridge voltage. You do have a lot of autos maybe that is causing the problem. Did you update the bios of your motherboard?

doesn't eliminate the fact that my CPU cores were disabled in the BIOS

thanks for the input

for the voltages.... well I do want to set them myself ...
but....
I'm not so good at it...

 

[TerminatorXT]

Hi, ok here is the deal, in the past i encountered a similar problem. I was running a dual core that posted as a single core at any speed and voltage, every program i used showed that my processor had only 1 core, even windows device manager. The solution was to reinstall my windows, some how when i was installing windows, apparently it skipped some files that identified my processor as a dual core (there was an article abt it online). Reinstalling my windows fixed my problem. Your problem might be different, try adjusting your cpu fsb voltage and northbridge voltage. You do have a lot of autos maybe that is causing the problem. Did you update the bios of your motherboard?

You my friend are a genius.... I have Windows 7 installed on my 1TB hard drive
I booted up in it and Overclocked to 3.4 IT WORKED
then I tried 3.6 it wouldn't boot, which meant I need a 1.5V+ voltage
then I went back to 3.4 and it didn't work 🙁

either way I know what you said is right

 

[freezed1]

Hi, yes it is the windows problem sometimes, and it only happens when you do a fresh copy of windows (and a rare problem), its real weird but it happens. when it happend to me i thought my processor died but some sage i talked to about this told me that when you install windows it sometimes will not install the drivers required to make the other cores work. , but good to know that it helped you. Now just adjust your voltages properly and your pc will fly

gl

 

[TerminatorXT]

Hi, yes it is the windows problem sometimes, and it only happens when you do a fresh copy of windows (and a rare problem), its real weird but it happens. when it happend to me i thought my processor died but some sage i talked to about this told me that when you install windows it sometimes will not install the drivers required to make the other cores work. , but good to know that it helped you. Now just adjust your voltages properly and your pc will fly

gl

Cores need drivers???

 

[freezed1]

Cores need drivers???

lol hahaa, yeah apparently they do, i was real surprised too. or windows need drivers to recognize them properly.

 

[TerminatorXT]

lol hahaa, yeah apparently they do, i was real surprised too. or windows need drivers to recognize them properly.

:/ can I cheat this and just update CPU drivers
cause if they are drivers they can be updated

 

[freezed1]

:/ can I cheat this and just update CPU drivers
cause if they are drivers they can be updated

hi, think you can do that by repairing the windows but the easiest options i found was to reinstall. i tried looking every where for hours nothing helped, there is an article about this on the microsoft website but it doesn't help much, it tells you what it is but does not fix it lol.

 

[TerminatorXT]

I refuse to reinstall with windows 7 by the corner

thanks anyways

i'll just bench with my windows 7 partition

 

[freezed1]

hi ,yes its not a problem. i understand its a huge problem when you see your hardware is not performing the way it is supposed to , i cant sleep when that happens with me, lol, angers my wife a lot.

 

[TerminatorXT]

hi ,yes its not a problem. i understand its a huge problem when you see your hardware is not performing the way it is supposed to , i cant sleep when that happens with me, lol, angers my wife a lot.

Do you have any ways of getting around that problem?
I don't want to reinstall and I don't want to stay a low overclock of 3.1ghz
my goal was to get to 3.4ghz and a high would be 3.6ghz
I never thought about higher than that

 

[freezed1]

hi, other than a reinstall i dont think there is any other way to fix it. I am sorry to inform you, you might try to repair the windows via the windows cd but i have not tried that so i am not sure if that will work. One thing that does surprise me is @ 3.1 you see all cores but a little higher and you only see 2, this never happened to me.

 

[Snugglebunny]

I had the same thing happen and I used the windows xp disk and did a repair after I set the processor back to default values. it worked fine. Then I could overclock again. That way I did not have to reload all my drivers from disks.