Faulty Q6600 CPU??? - please help!
 

UPDATE:

Okay it did it again, with all Mobo voltages set to their safe maximums (green setting). i took a picture of the error screen, it was slightly different this time though. Normally it is a CMOS checksum error. :confused: .

http://img.techpowerup.org/080712/DSC00449.jpg

I have tried reseating the CPU and cooler to see if it was that, only time will tell. But it looks like my dad will be downgrading back to a dual core when I get my q9450 in a couple of weeks. Unless anybody has any bright ideas?

Cheers.

_________________________________________________

ORIGINAL:

Okay we keep getting boot failures every now and then with my dad's rig. (see sig)
We have tried everything we can think of.

Different PSu (mine)
Different ram (mine)
Swap positions of graphics cards (so it boots from a different one)
new mobo (he had an XFX 680i LT before)

Only thing I can think of is a faulty CPU. We didnt have these problems on his previous processor (now mine. e6600)

But what gets me is that it ran with no faults OC'd to 3GHz on three hours of orthos. All settings are on stock except raid enabled and slightly adjusted CPU fan setings.

It can go several weeks or several hours. It only does it once or twice a month and then it can do it straight again on the next boot then be another few weeks before it does it again.

Its a lights on, no one is home scenario. Everything powers up, but no beeps no sounds of initialising drives/floppy and it just sits there with the monitor on standby mode. Yet the little bios code screen on the mobo pcb says FF, which is usually associated with a successful boot. :wtf:

this has been going on for nearly a year now and I have run out of ideas. have asked before on here (called "Problem with my Dad's PC0 and we sorted out getting a new mobo (the one he has now) and it is still doing it. I'm so :confused: and :banghead: right now, lol!

Any help is phenominally appreciated ( :p )

Cheers!!!

Does it show FF as soon as you hit the power button? or does it go through the normal sequence of codes and ends with FF?

Dont know. Case doesnt have a window. And I have found no way to get it to repeat when I want it to so I have never seen it show anything else. not to say it hasnt cus by the time I have the case side off it has already sat there for about 10secs.

give it some more voltage

How much more, I tried it on the old mobo set at 1.35v (according to box) with all power saving features off. Atm it is on auto. how much more should it need?

Contact Intel see if its coverd by any warrenty (CPU)

Have you checked out EVGA forums http://www.evga.com/forums/tt.asp?forumid=47

1.4V is fine as long as the temp doesnt rise too much. Can also try setting CPU PLL and CPU VTT up a bit.

it should still be under warranty. i would have thought if a cpu was faulty it would fail orthos or never boot at all. Or is it just that the chip isnt performing at the voltage specified??

i have been on evga forums. didnt get any help from it. :(

Pretty sure my username is the same if you find the convo.

i will try 1.4 if you dont think it is too high for 2.4 GHz. And I have no idea what to set for PLl and VTT. :confused:

So will 1.4v be okay for 2.4Ghz?? Could it be a "faulty" chip in the fact it is not performing at the intel rated specifications or with vdroop it needs 1.4v to boot??

okay its now running at 1.4v. temps have gone up about 4-5*C.

So does anyone know or have had experience with a faulty processor. i have always thought they are either DOA or fine. :confused:

Probably a weak psu.

What two power supplies doing it. (Well mine did it on the first time I tried powering it up. :confused: )

It was also doing this before we had 2 graphics cards. could it still be the PSU??

oh, didnt realise ud tested on 2 psu's. How hot does the chip get?

cpu temp about 35*c idle (was 30*C on stock voltage) and cores are 50-55*C while running windows rating tool on the cpu bit. My dad says if setting voltage at 1.4v he will upgrade the cooler. but I personally think we shouldnt have too.

i was under the impression people had G0 q6600 (which is what he has) upto 3ghz on stock voltage!

mine runs 3.85GHz at 1.6v. But thats with alot of work and changes to cpu vtt and pll and gtl settings etc.

Could be a bad mobo u know....its hard to tell.

hey i have the same cooler as your dad and the same chip but i have a b3 stepping

http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/details.php?id=622

http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/details.php?id=645

those are my overclocks: 3.6ghz & 3.7ghz thats a good cooler

From what I know nVidia mobos aren't the greatest for quads, maybe it has something to do with it? Any chance you could test it on an intel mobo?

Yes, this is true, so it seems a bit weird to need 1.4v for just 2.4GHz!

But we went for the 750 cus it wasnt supposed to have any of the probelms supporting quads that the x80 mobos have.

What two bad mobos??

no man my 680i lt sli has been amazing with my quad. i got it up to 3.7ghz on air!

pain is it could take another couple a weeks to find out if upping the vcore has helped. If it doesnt then my dad says he will have my e6600 when I upgrade. Then we will send the quad back to intel and probably be told that it is fine.

raise ram and northbridge voltage, not CPU.

When i went quad (before BIOS updates fixed it on my board) i had to raise ram and NB two notches each to work with the quad, and now i've got 4 sticks of ram i still need to use those settings for reliable booting.

do a memory test

Ram is fine, and it does it with two sets so highly unlikely.