Pentium 4 (Yes Pentium 4) can't hit stock speed

[loloTHUNDAH]

Hey guys!

I got an old rig here, and funny thing is that my P4 (socket 478) can't hit 2.8 GHz (the stock speed. It won't boot or anything unless I put the frequency multiplier to 125 (which 130 is default) and Voltage to 1.450 (Which 1.5 is default)

Here are some of the other specs:

1gb DDR ram
FX 5500
80gb hard Drive
Asus P4 XTE motherboard.


It was like this even before I removed the stock cooler. I saw that the thermal paste has run dry and I thought that it won't do anything bad. The fan also makes load Whirrrrr noises and it's normal temps are around 46-53 Degree Celsius. I was thinking of buying new thermal paste and re-apply it on the cooler, but since I'm getting a new rig I left that Idea out.

Anyone knows why It can't hit the 2.8 mark?

Thanks!

 

[n-ster]

It's old, thermal paste is dry and fan is malfunctioning?

Try upping the voltage a little but replace the thermal paste. btw you are supposed to apply the thermal paste on the CPU except on certain circumstances. Usually, if you unmount the cooler, you should always replace the thermal paste

 

[hellrazor]

Reapply thermal paste, clean out and lube up your fans, vacuum out all the heatsinks, make sure everything is connected, and post back in the morning.

 

[loloTHUNDAH]

What you do mean be lubing your fans? I cleaned all the fans already, but not lubing them. How do you vacuum the heatsinks?

 

[itsakjt]

Vacuum meaning clean the heatsinks with compressed air or vacuum cleaner. Though your system should have been stable at those temps, I think your RAM is dying not functioning properly. As you reduce the base clock, RAM is also underclocked.
A rare chance may be the motherboard dying because of ageing chipset and VRM.

 

[Drone]

What you do mean be lubing your fans?

Try like here

 

[loloTHUNDAH]

Can I also do this to the CPU cooler? I only have one fan in the case, and it's the CPU cooler that's making all the noises.

How can I check if my RAM is dying? I haven't had any BSOD's and the likes because of RAM, But sometimes I get random shutdowns and abrupt restarts :\

 

[hat]

You can try Memtest86+ to check your memory.

http://www.memtest.org/

 

[eidairaman1]

wrong cpu cooler, cpu and motherboard fsb mismatch, mobo (Caps/resistors/chokes/VRMs/coils) or cpu failing, incorrect bios settings failing powersupply or ram, heck even case power switches being faulty, even shorting of board on case, or dust collection.

Honestly Id bench run the machine out of the chassis on a non conductive surface.