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New build has terrible graphical performance

Well, my mobo is being returned from testing as OC found nothing wrong with it. They ran the Prime95 test just like I did and it picked up all cores just fine. Tested with 5 different CPUs. So looks like it's back to the drawing board.

It's gotta be driver or config issue now. There's nothing else it can be. I've tried all hardware variations. Trouble is i've reinstalled Windows more times than I can remember and it just makes no difference.
 
spengos said:
Well, my mobo is being returned from testing as OC found nothing wrong with it. They ran the Prime95 test just like I did and it picked up all cores just fine. Tested with 5 different CPUs. So looks like it's back to the drawing board.

It's gotta be driver or config issue now. There's nothing else it can be. I've tried all hardware variations. Trouble is i've reinstalled Windows more times than I can remember and it just makes no difference.
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PSU or RAM i think.
 
After reading this thread I was covinced that the motherboard was causing the problems. I would probably just get a new mobo.
 
spengos said:
Well, my mobo is being returned from testing as OC found nothing wrong with it. They ran the Prime95 test just like I did and it picked up all cores just fine. Tested with 5 different CPUs. So looks like it's back to the drawing board.

It's gotta be driver or config issue now. There's nothing else it can be. I've tried all hardware variations. Trouble is i've reinstalled Windows more times than I can remember and it just makes no difference.
Click to expand...

I would say at this point it might be Ram related cause ocuk would have used different RAM,your friends computer had different ram, Try using 1 stick of ram see what happens if it fails switch it for the other stick and try again if that fails try borrow some ram of someone if that fails then i have no idea what to try next. Maybe try a bare minimum run of prime 95 before installing any ati drivers etc etc . Just install windows don't connect to the internet so windows uses generic drivers from the disc put prime on a usb stick then run it from there just get the comp working with as little in way of chipset drivers etc as you can. Report back when you can, If you can get hold of a laptop or something i'd be happy to run some tests with you via messenger or something might help more if someone can take note as your installing windows etc etc and guide you through and see what we can come up with. It's a real PITA when things like this happen.
 
Its worth doing two things, my best guess would be your system is dropping under load a little more than theres is, one core on your cpu is dropping to a voltage that makes it unstable, but the rest are slightly better. THe most likely culprit would be the psu has a a weaker 12v rail than the PSU OCUK tested, or they put lower spec/less stuff on the system so the power draw ended up less and the 12v didn't drop on the mobo as far.

Ram isn't specific to a cpu core so its very unlikely specifically that, though its possible that more ram + higher spec gpu + more hdd's and fans etc pushed the mobo's 12v further down in voltage.

I'd make sure no fans are connected to headers on the mobo, I can't remember if you used an older lower power gpu, we're looking at power draw rather than speed, so a 280gtx would use more thana 5850 in terms of power.

Try as few of everything possible connected to the mobo and system in general so one hdd if possible, disconnect all fans but the cpu fan with case side off, it won't die in a few minutes like that.

See if it still happens, see what the 12v is reading in the bios and maybe ask OCUK exactly what their setup was in terms of things connected and psu.

If your friend wouldn't mind helping, maybe try his psu connected up to your mobo.

The other thing would be the settings in the bios, theres a cpu load line calibration setting(it might be two settings).

Theres also the occasional situation where a psu isn't compatible with a certain mobo though I doubt that specifically would result in what you've been seeing.

You could also RMA with asus direct, they'll probably just send a new one out the day they get the old one as plenty of places do that, then they'll test it, stick it in a pile to be sent out as rma replacements or try and fix it at a later date.
 
Ok, I got the mobo back from OCUK and have done another clean install of Win7. I installed absolutely nothing, no drivers, no software, and just ran Prime 95 from a USB stick... Well to be exact I copied it to the desktop from USB drive.

So anyway, fresh install, nothing installed, first boot of Win7. I run Prime95 and exactly the same problem. 4th core not working. Just stuck on Test 1 while the other 3 tick away.

I've tried going down to 1 stick of RAM and then tried alternating them, testing each stick. No joy.

I am completely baffled by this now. After all this testing I still have no idea what is causing the problem.

I've been thinking about installing WinXP to see what happens there. Is this worth it or will it make no difference?
 
I would underclock it to see if it works then, the power draw at the slower speed will be less so it may work better if it's a power supply problem.
 
You say you got the motherboard back from OcUK. Did they replace it or did it come back with no problems?
 
I tried to underclock the CPU. I reduced the voltage down to about 1.15v(down from 1.29v). I also brought down the clock frequency to around 2.8. Tried another test and no difference. I also tried unplugging the DVD rom, using 1 stick of ram, 1 hard drive, no fans apart from CPU fan. I'm using a 700w psu and still the 4th core isn't running.

At this point I'm tempted to stick the lot on eBay.
 
If the 4th core isnt running, wouldn't that just mean that your cpu is borked possibly? Have you tried running your cpu in someone elses machine?
 
^^

spengos said:
Well the results are in. Looks like a problem with the motherboard.

Tried my CPU in his system and it worked fine. Tried his CPU in my system and the 4th core wasn't working properly, just like it did with my CPU.
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Something strange happening here. how long have you had the hardware?? It may be worth RMA'ing the whole setup, its clearly faulty as a set.
 
Very strange issue, does your board have the latest BIOS version?

Jay85 said:
If the 4th core isnt running, wouldn't that just mean that your cpu is borked possibly? Have you tried running your cpu in someone elses machine?
Click to expand...

If you read the thread he has tried that.
 
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spengos said:
I tried to underclock the CPU. I reduced the voltage down to about 1.15v(down from 1.29v). I also brought down the clock frequency to around 2.8. Tried another test and no difference. I also tried unplugging the DVD rom, using 1 stick of ram, 1 hard drive, no fans apart from CPU fan. I'm using a 700w psu and still the 4th core isn't running.

At this point I'm tempted to stick the lot on eBay.
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Man don't give up, check that motherboard again also look at the solder and make sure none looks loose or dry. Try get hold of another stick of ram it's highly unlikely but worth a shot you could use your friends ram that you tried your cpu in. Failing all that ship the whole rig to me and i'll test it all with my AM3 set-up :D
 
@Jay85: I tried my CPU in a friends PC and it worked fine. I then tried his in my pc and it didn't work.

@KnightsWhoSayNi: Yeah, I've reset bios to defaults many times.

@Speed: Yep, latest bios update is on there. The issue was happening before I flashed the bios too.

@bigjimmyauk: I've just asked my mate if I can borrow his pc for a day so I can test every component. I should be able to test PSU, RAM and even the mobo properly so hopefully I can at least find out which component is causing the problem. Problem is asking this guy if I can borrow his pc is like asking if I can borrow his missus. He's quite attached to it shall we say ;) Hopefully I can persuade him to part with it for a few hours.

If this fails though then I may well take up your offer and send you the whole thing. If anyone can figure ou what's wrong with the bloody thing I'd be happy to pay for their time.

I'm starting to think this is maybe some weird compatibility problem between some of my components. Maybe they all work well individually but together they cause problems.
 
did you buy mobo and CPU from same retailer ? if so you could RMA as a combo ?

are there any other instances online of people only getting one core not running in Prime95 ? just sounds so odd to me - I would have expected Prime just to report a failure.

but that aside - I'd be amazed if it was the RAM or PSU - in my mind anyway - surely must be the mobo+cpu combo some-how. If it was RAM - why would it only affect one core ? why would the other cores continue without an issue ? and if it affected one core - why always the same core.

PSU - would be a very odd power issue - again to affect one core, and always same core ...

which only leaves mobo and CPU

you've RMA'd the mobo which was tested to be OK
you've tried the CPU in another machine - and was ok

mobo + CPU combo - no idea how - is a likely candidat for the problem

I feel your pain - genuinely - right pain when these things happen

good luck :)
 
Why the hell has no one said download Asus PC probe and have an indepth look at the temps/voltages :|?
Also, OP, increase your CPU Vcore to 1.4v, set LLC to enabled.
CPU NB Vcore to 1.2
 
This my greatest fear, when building a PC having something not work and not knowing what part, at least you found the problem now so can get sorted
 
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