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My friends computer has a Pentium 4 2.4GHz processor, except for some reason it is running at 1.2GHz. Ive already updated the motherboard drivers, and flashed and updated his bios. It still shows at 1.2GHz. I downloaded SiSandra Software to make sure it wasnt an error, and it indeed does show at 1.2GHz. Any idea whats wrong?
Hi theredyoshi,
I'd check to see what motherboard he has as it may not support the processor.
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread12995.htmlQuote:
Sorry Paddy, but that motherboard does not support 800FSB processors, which I'm guessing is what you have there.
A processor's frequency is determined by its multiplier and the front side bus (FSB). For a present-day 2.8Ghz P4, the FSB is 200Mhz (quad pumped to 800) and the multiplier is 14. 14 * 200 = 2800Mhz (2.8Ghz).
In your case, the motherboard has defaulted to a FSB of 100Mhz (quad pumped to 400), which results in 14 * 100 = 1400Mhz (1.4Ghz).
Your board supports up to 533FSB processors (133 quad pumped to 533), so the best you can stick in there would be a 3.06Ghz P4 (533FSB).
Processor problem
Eg ;)
He has an ASUS P4VP-MX motherboard. I dont think his processor is 800FSB though. I think its 400FSB.
Just read that link and I see the problem is basically a mismatching CPU/Motherboard. The board most likely has 266FSB, and his processor is 400FSB. The solution would be a new motherboard, correct? I dont think he'd want a slower CPU.
Well I thought I understood that the motherboard didnt support such a fast processor, but after looking at the motherboard specs I dont know what to think. It says it supports 400/533MHz FSB, and the processor that my friend has, has a 533MHz FSB. Im totally confused.
For reference,
The CPU is a Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz Socket 478 processor. I looked at newegg and only 2 processors of that type were actually on the market, both having 533MHz for a FSB.
The motherboard is an ASUS P4VP-MX motherboard. I looked at its specs, and it shows it can support 400/533 MHz processors, so I am now stuck and confused. Could someone please enlighten me.
Run CPU-Z on your friend's computer and tell us what it tells you about his computer. ( You can get CPU-Z @ http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php#download )
You can set it to produce a HTML report (on the About tab), and then format the results in [ code] [/ code] tags to copy/paste into a reply. It'll give us the information we need to know (Motherboard, Processor specifics, etc) to figure out why your processor is running at half the speed it should.
Cheers.
I would do that except I guess tonight after it working just fine, his computer crashed and doesnt want to work anymore. He cant even get logged in. These are the errors he was getting.
http://tmj.ath.cx/DSC00104.jpg
http://tmj.ath.cx/DSC00106.jpg
http://tmj.ath.cx/DSC00108.jpg
http://tmj.ath.cx/DSC00109.jpg
So what happens now?...........any lights and/or noises?
Has this machine ever worked normally?
What has he done recently..........new hardware? operating system?
OK:
1. Ground/earth yourself then remove
a] The memory, clean it with alcohol or a proprietary electronics cleaner then re-seat it. Clean the slots (compressed air) as well.
b] The video card and its slot.
2. Make sure that all the drives are firmly connected.
Can he:
1. Boot into set-up?
2. Boot into "safe mode"?
With a 2.4Mhz P4 I would say he has a 400/533..............this is a 2.26Mhz, and that is its spec.
If you can get into setup, set everything to "failsafe" or "factory default" and do not try to overclock
It sounds to me as if this machine has been messed around with by someone who did not really know what they were doing?
:eek:
Yes, his computer has been working fine all day, and for past months too. Im sure he gets both lights and noises. The only thing that has been done recently is that I updated the bios. It rebooted, and the computer worked just fine. I even checked the bios and sure enough it was updated and more options were availible.
Just checking, but grounding youtself is as simple as always holding on to a metal part of the case?
Could you explain how to clean it with alcohol? At first I thought you meant dipping it into alcohol but that doesnt make much sense to me. Also, I dont understand what you mean when you said remove the video card's slot.
I'll get back to you when he does this and tell you if he can get into setup or safe mode. I know he can get into bios.
Are you saying that the board for sure is a 266MHz FSB?
Nothing is overclocked.
Indeed he doesnt know a whole lot about computers.
Thanks for your help so far. :)
OK was it running at 1.2Mhz or 2.4 before you flashed the BIOS?
What operating system are you trying to boot?
Get some rubbing alcohol and a cloth and just wipe the contacts of the memory sticks and the video card. Blow out the slots they go into with compressed air. Methylated Spirits will also work, but wipe them with a clean cloth afterwards (it does leave a slight residue...........the stuff that's in there to stop you drinking it :D ) DON't use petrol (gasoline) or paraffin (kerosene) way too many impurities.
What are the specifications of the machine. I can put the speed thing down to the BIOS flash, but the non-booting sounds like a different issue. Maybe if we can get into safe mode we can do more. Other potential causes for a non-boot (apart from a corrupt OS or malware)
1. PSU
2. Memory
3. Video
4. HDD
5. MoBo
Please make sure that all fans are working when it powers up.
Yes just keep touching bare metal every now and then to make sure you are not building up static.
Incidentally, when you updated the BIOS did you get any messages?
:)
It was running at 1.2GHz before I flashed the bios. I was hoping that would fix it but it didnt. Windows XP is the OS.
I will tell my friend to do that exact procedure.
He says hes just going to have a pro look at it.
I have to agree with egaladeist and nihil here..I have a intel p4 motherboard(asrock ge pro m2) and it only supports up to 533fsb.My cpu is a 2.6 and runs at 1.3mhz.Like tim_axe says cpu-z does identify all u need, but the bad news I got was that my mobo has to be replaced with one that supports 800fsb..
My experience with all the fiddling with the host frequency, because my m/board doesn,t support my cpu caused my sytem to eventually crash..My host frequency i could push up but my multiplier was locked by the cpu..and by pushini t up now you must remember you in increase your ram bus speeds, your graphix etc..in proportion to that..so my suggestion would be to get a new mobo..
hope it helps
vanman
A new motherboard is definatly something I'll get him to look into. You guys suggest that this new mobo he should get should support 800MHz FSB, instead of 533MHz, just to play it safe?
The boot up problem doesn't seem like a hardware issue to me... When your start your computer and it does POST does it give off 1 beep? or does it give off a combination of beeps??
The boot up problem really sounds like a software issue to me, since you get to windows, but windows gives errors... If I were you I would try googling the error codes you get, and then I would try using the recovery console and doing a fixboot to fix your master boot record (you'd be amazed how many problems that fixes), just to see if that helps any... You can get to the recovery console by putting the widows installation cd in and selecting recovery console, it's a boot cd so it will boot up as long as bios is set to boot from the cd drive.
But google has never steered me wrong with error codes, and I'm sure it won't steer you wrong either :D.
He reinstalled Windows or is in the process of doing so and says its working good, and got rid of the errors or something. I know he will still have CPU problems. Am I right that when you put in a new motherboard into a system you have to reinstall windows?
no you just need to uninstall the old mobo drivers and install the new one...
Yeh I figured a reinstall would fix it all... I knew it was a software problem...
Duck you are of course referring to the windows errors, and not being able to login as the software problem, and not the slower CPU, right?
The board I plan to have him get is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130490
Thanks for your help.
Yes, of course. And I hope you saw my post about not having to reinstall the OS when installing a new mobo...
I like your mobo choice, I got an MSI in my gaming computer, and it's worked great.
He reformatted and reinstalled Windows, and says everything works fine. Now hes just got to get that mobo. Thanks everyone.
hi
on asus site looking specification for your motherboard states that it suport intel prescott cpu
http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/sock...x/overview.htm
maybe that has something to do with it sorry i dont know maybe the other guys will be able to say if that is problem or not.
by the way why on first picture with stated problam disk c show fat32 files?are they suppose to be ntfs on windows xp?
just curious?
hi
on asus site looking specification for your motherboard states that it suport intel prescott cpu
http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/sock...x/overview.htm
maybe that has something to do with it sorry i dont know maybe the other guys will be able to say if that is problem or not.
by the way why on first picture with stated problam disk c show fat32 files?are they suppose to be ntfs on windows xp?
just curious?
Yes I was curious as well... although windows xp supports both file systems, ntfs and fat32, the only reason I can think of for him using fat32 is maybe he is dual booting and using a 9x OS... if he is not, then I highly suggest reformating again and making sure he is formatting with ntfs, since it seems he is not losing any important data. You can see what file system he has by going into my computer and just clicking the C: drive once and looking at the left side where it says "details".
Im not sure about that. :o
I guess it was fat32 but he has reformated and it is now NTFS.