How to spot a faulty/broken CPU?

[Knubje]

Hi Guys,

I have recently bought some parts from OcUK as I am slightly upgrading my 3+ year old PC and building a media server with the spare parts.

I initially bought a Q6600 G0 from a guy online with the intention of putting that in my current motherboard and using my old dual core for media server.

Upon putting the Q6600 in my existing PC it fires up, but it shuts down with anything from 5-60 seconds worth of use. If I put the old dual core in it's fine again.

I've read that my motherboard isn't the best for quads at the best of times and I also have the newest BIOS as of about 3 months ago. However, people recommend for my mobo to use older BIOS version. (Asus P5N-E SLI)

Anyway, I can see the POST and it does recognise Q6600 2.66ghz. I have also managed to boot into windows for a short period of time and it also registered the CPU there.

The issue is it completely powers down with no warning. As though you'd held the power button for 5 seconds to force it to cut out. Power remains to the Mobo as the standby light is on.

Does this sound to you guys like the CPU is on the fritz? I would have thought a broken CPU wouldn't work at all or cause problems from boot but it is random in the power off time.

I have a feeling it's a combination of my motherboard and CPU not liking each other. The PSU is Corsair 650W which should handle it all fine.

I have ordered a new Gigabyte UD3LR P45 board for my pc and the old one is going for media server. I'm hoping the new board will house the new CPU and it won't break.

Long story short, other than this final test I have, is there any way of knowing if the CPU is dead/dying/defective? Has this issue happened to anyone before at all?

Cheers for any responses!

 

[EVILCOSMOS]

have you tried running a cpu stress test outside of windows?

If not you could download ultimate boot cd on another computer and then boot from that and run some cpu tests.

 

[weird_dave]

I have the same mobo, it's awful. You might need to manually set volts for the CPU (1.3 to 1.4 with +100mV on) and NB (1.5xx) to get it to run correctly. Also, I'd just use the yellow memory slots for now.
It's probably the worst mobo I've ever bought.....

 

[Knubje]

Dear lord thanks for the info so far.

@ Evil: It can power down as soon as it is in POST/BIOS Screen. It's not dependent on Windows. It is very much hardware related. I don't think that CD will work.

@ Wierd Dave: I know the mobo is terrible for quads and OC'ing, it has been stable for me for ages with a dual. I did wonder about the newest BIOS changing the voltages and multipliers to something that doesn't work. Unfortunately I can't flash it now (POS BIOS). I've tried different RAM and in yellow only.

The other problem is I can't get it stable enough for me to get int the BIOS and change the settings without it powering down.

Would you guys suggest its the motherboard not coping and shutting down rather than an issue with the CPU?

 

[weird_dave]

It does seem strange that it actually powers down rather than sit there hung.
Might be worth getting a cheap 775 mobo and try that, I'd suggest you need one anyway....
I was toying with the idea of getting a quad instead of a new i5 setup but this has confirmed my worst fears with this mobo...
Plenty of people have managed it I seem to recall from the mobo thread some time ago.
Got anyone local with a 775 board? Or even a friendly shop?

 

[Knubje]

It does seem strange that it actually powers down rather than sit there hung.

Got anyone local with a 775 board? Or even a friendly shop?

Indeed. Complete power off suggests motherboard to me. A CPU problem I'd expect a hang or a freeze or just not to boot up. Could be wrong, hopefully not.

Not really mate, but as I said in my first post; I'm buying media server parts anyway and therefore have decided to use my old ASUS board as media server and bought myself This Gigabyte Board for my main PC.

Hopefully that new board will house the Q6600 no problems. If it does I'm not worried as the old chip/mobo is going in media server and all my worries are over.

I just hope the Quad works on the new motherboard as it doesn't seem to work on my old board. But that's not really surprising! Apparently it can be done but I just wonder with BIOS and versions and the age of the board if it's just not handling the QUAD properly and therefore is shutting down.

The whole system, my one as it is now, works fine with the motherboard and dual core and the RAM. It's only when the QUAD is involved will it start behaving like this. The last thing to test really is change the motherboard and see if the QUAD acts up on that...

 

[weird_dave]

That gigabyte board looks seriously good.
Keep us posted.

 

[Knubje]

Just an update for wierd_dave as he asked.

CPU appears to be fine in the new machine on the new motherboard. Significant upgrade, the old motherboard was a pile of rubbish but is now happily running in my media server!

Running it on a stock cooler probably until the end of Feb when I can buy a new one for overclocking. Seems to be doing around 40c idle and 60c load. Quite relieved tbh!

 

[WakkieRob]

you should smack off some of that past to much thermal paste actually increases the temp.
The best way is to put the finest layer on cpu and finest on heatsink wolla
this is the best way!

I found it out by mistake and a lot of people who have high temps have used tomuch paste or not seated the hs on properly.

GPU's overheat if to little is used and plastering it on works best for graphics GPU's. Unlike CPU's if to little is used bang game over I tried already cost me a gtx 250!

 

[weird_dave]

Glad you got it working. Well, that's my mind made up, I'm not getting a quad for this mobo