Pc Upgrade

[GuruG]

Im not sure abt their Price cus it says 2.13 E6400 is 24,450 but 2.4 E6600 is 15,350 both Core 2 Duo with 1066FSB, LGA775,, BUT E6600 has 4Mb Cache and Barcl*** site say it has 2MB so im not sure abt the E6600 they have, Original E6400 has 2Mb and E6600 has 4Mb

Yes Barc**ys is good, I'm dealin with them from 1998. Don't believe whats in da site....Not saying dat there lyin, simply that they forget to update or somtimes they price wron products. Its better to call them n ask.

Water cooling is good but still its expensive. Having a proper air-flow in a system is vital for its performance as well as duarability. Fans r more than enough unless ur Overclockin guy. Its always better to go with a good casing. Foxconn casings are good.. I have about 4 machine with em n they r pretty silent compared with others.

Do not go cheap with the casing mate n of course the PSU.

[The Don]

Let me know where u pick up ur stuff from. My CPU has shut off after a "Thermal Event". AKA overheated after idling for a couple of minutes and with the fans running! I'll pop it into the shop and see if reseating the heatsink will cure it, otherwise, I'll need a CPU myself.

Peri, intel CPU's have a heat protection circuit built in. As it overheats it will slow down to try to compensate and if all else fails shut down. Its likely your CPU is still intact. But you would need to investigate why it overheated in the first place. The usual problem is a failed fan, either on the heat stink or the casing. But whichever the reason is, if the CPU is intact, tell them to take the heat stink off, clean the CPU and the underside of the heat stink of thermal grease or whats left of the heat pad, re apply a thin layer of thermal grease and fit the heat stink on top again.

Sometimes CPU's overheat simply because the heat stink is not making contact properly ! so its best its taken out and fitted back in just to be on the safe side.

[Nilantha]

Today I bought

HP Compaq dx7400 Business PC

HP recommends Windows Vista™ Business PC system features

Chassis Micro tower

Operating system FREE DOS

Chipset Intel® 946GZ Express chipset

Processor* Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Processor

2.20-GHz, 2-MB L2 cache, 800-MHz FSB

Memory 1GB to 4-GB DDR2 DRAM PC5300 (667-MHz)

Hard drive(s) 160-GB Serial ATA 3.0-Gb/x Hard Drive (7200 rpm)

Removable SATA CD-RW/DVD Combo drive

Expansion bays 2 internal 3.5" bays 2 external 5.25" bays and 1 external 3.5" bay

Expansion slots 2 full-height PCI ,1 full-height PCI-E x1, and 1

Graphics Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000

Graphics memory is shared with system memory. Graphics memory usage can vary from 8 to 256 MB depending on the amount of system memory installed and system load

Audio Realtek Integrated High Definition 2-channel audio ALC

Communications Integrated Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet NIC

I/O ports and connectors Eight USB 2.0 ports (two in front, six in back), one serial with second optional, one parallel, one VGA port, two PS/2 ports (mouse and keyboard), one RJ-45 port, one VGA, audio in/out, front headphone and microphone jacks, Dual Color Diagnostic LEDs

Input device HP PS2 Standard keyboard and Standard 2-Button scroll mouse

Power 300-watt passive PFC Power Supply (user selectable 115V/230V)

Monitor 17” CRT Monitor

Warranty Three Years Comprehensive Warranty

66,000/=

[Pericles]

Peri, intel CPU's have a heat protection circuit built in. As it overheats it will slow down to try to compensate and if all else fails shut down. Its likely your CPU is still intact. But you would need to investigate why it overheated in the first place. The usual problem is a failed fan, either on the heat stink or the casing. But whichever the reason is, if the CPU is intact, tell them to take the heat stink off, clean the CPU and the underside of the heat stink of thermal grease or whats left of the heat pad, re apply a thin layer of thermal grease and fit the heat stink on top again.

Sometimes CPU's overheat simply because the heat stink is not making contact properly ! so its best its taken out and fitted back in just to be on the safe side.

Yup, yup. Hence my desire to reseat the heatsink and see And like I said the fans are still going. I normally have a prog monitoring the heat, but I was on the phone when the thing switched off so not sure if it was climbing.

[GihanFX]

Yes Barc**ys is good, I'm dealin with them from 1998. Don't believe whats in da site....Not saying dat there lyin, simply that they forget to update or somtimes they price wron products. Its better to call them n ask.

Water cooling is good but still its expensive. Having a proper air-flow in a system is vital for its performance as well as duarability. Fans r more than enough unless ur Overclockin guy. Its always better to go with a good casing. Foxconn casings are good.. I have about 4 machine with em n they r pretty silent compared with others.

Do not go cheap with the casing mate n of course the PSU.

I also know them from 1998 and know the onwers personally, and i think u know now they split in to two and Irfan having his own shop at MC, anyway the price in the site is wrong, but there are some shops in Unity Plaza with bit lower rates than Neat and Brac***

[AMG]

I normally have a prog monitoring the heat.....

Where I can get that prog machan?

[Pericles]

The one I use is called "Speedfan". Should be on download.com. Really small prog.

OK, on the news front, I managed to get the machine on and monitor the core temp thru the BIOS. Core temp held steady at 67 (normal operating temp on mine) for a couple of minutes before shutting down without warning. Weird. The temp is holding steady but its still shutting off. Any ideas?

[The Don]

The one I use is called "Speedfan". Should be on download.com. Really small prog.

OK, on the news front, I managed to get the machine on and monitor the core temp thru the BIOS. Core temp held steady at 67 (normal operating temp on mine) for a couple of minutes before shutting down without warning. Weird. The temp is holding steady but its still shutting off. Any ideas?

Difficult to diagnose Peri. In SL what we would have probably have done is to swap the processor and see what happens. This is unless there is equipment that could read mother board error codes.

This is most probably a processor or a mother board problem.

67C is a bit high in my opinion. Perhaps your system needs a bigger heat stink and fan.

Best take it in and let them sort it out.

Edited June 11, 2008 by The Don

[AMG]

Sorry a bit OT.

I have been having a strange problem in my PC for more than a year now. Just have a look at the following pictures, you can see a line across the picture and different color appears in the other side. Whenever I transfer the pictures from camera to the PC some of the pictures are becoming like this. Nothing wrong with the camera as the I store same pictures in my Note book also and don’t have any problem. This happens only for the pictures which have taken from compact digital cameras as I have hell of a lot pictures which have been taken from digital SLR and none of them are damaged.

1) I format the drive and reinstalled the windows, the problem is still there.

2) Replaced the display card, power supply and the HDD with brand new ones and the Problem is still there.

So the problem must really be in main board or processor or memory. This is also a main reason which I am going for a new PC.

This is really strange.

Any ideas?

For every picture the upper side of the line is the original one.

Edited June 11, 2008 by Bharath

[Pericles]

Difficult to diagnose Peri. In SL what we would have probably have done is to swap the processor and see what happens. This is unless there is equipment that could read mother board error codes.

This is most probably a processor or a mother board problem.

67C is a bit high in my opinion. Perhaps your system needs a bigger heat stink and fan.

Best take it in and let them sort it out.

Not really. My office PC maintains a constant 85, no matter the situ. And thats in an AC environment. My home one, temp rises when heavy usage happens, like games for example. Last time my case fan burned out and I ran NFS-MW, the CPU core temp was 82. No AC at home. Used to idle at 72 when I didn't have a case fan.

Anyway, point it, it safely runs at over 80 for extended periods, so I'm not sure whats going on. Might be a faulty temp sensor? Oh well, have to take it to the shop and see.

Sorry a bit OT.

I have been having a strange problem in my PC for more than a year now. Just have a look at the following pictures, you can see a line across the picture and different color appears in the other side. Whenever I transfer the pictures from camera to the PC some of the pictures are becoming like this. Nothing wrong with the camera as the I store same pictures in my Note book also and don’t have any problem. This happens only for the pictures which have taken from compact digital cameras as I have hell of a lot pictures which have been taken from digital SLR and none of them are damaged.

1) I format the drive and reinstalled the windows, the problem is still there.

2) Replaced the display card, power supply and the HDD with brand new ones and the Problem is still there.

So the problem must really be in main board or processor or memory. This is also a main reason which I am going for a new PC.

This is really strange.

Any ideas?

For every picture the upper side of the line is the original one.

Any chance the issue is in your image processing software? What are you using? Does it come in pictures taken with point and shoots that you download off the web?

Usually, I've seen that effect in cases where the file is partially corrupted, but unable to figure out what this is since its showing up a lot.

[AMG]

Any chance the issue is in your image processing software? What are you using? Does it come in pictures taken with point and shoots that you download off the web?

Usually, I've seen that effect in cases where the file is partially corrupted, but unable to figure out what this is since its showing up a lot.

I have photoshop CS but rarely I use it. I normally transfer the pictures via card reader and view them via Windows Pics and fax viewer. The problem is only with the newly added pictures from memory card from compact digi cams. Not for the pics which have been downloaded. Actually the files are being corrupted cos some of the file can't be opened in CS as CS says the file is corrupted and can't open, but still can be viewed in Win pic fax viewer. I think there is a ghost inside my cpu....

[GuruG]

Not really. My office PC maintains a constant 85, no matter the situ. And thats in an AC environment. My home one, temp rises when heavy usage happens, like games for example. Last time my case fan burned out and I ran NFS-MW, the CPU core temp was 82. No AC at home. Used to idle at 72 when I didn't have a case fan.

Anyway, point it, it safely runs at over 80 for extended periods, so I'm not sure whats going on. Might be a faulty temp sensor? Oh well, have to take it to the shop and see.

Any chance the issue is in your image processing software? What are you using? Does it come in pictures taken with point and shoots that you download off the web?

Usually, I've seen that effect in cases where the file is partially corrupted, but unable to figure out what this is since its showing up a lot.

I might b able 2 help u. What is precessor n MB?

[Pericles]

I have photoshop CS but rarely I use it. I normally transfer the pictures via card reader and view them via Windows Pics and fax viewer. The problem is only with the newly added pictures from memory card from compact digi cams. Not for the pics which have been downloaded. Actually the files are being corrupted cos some of the file can't be opened in CS as CS says the file is corrupted and can't open, but still can be viewed in Win pic fax viewer. I think there is a ghost inside my cpu....

Then there is some corruption going on in the transfer. Either your transfer software, or your card reader (If ur using a card reader rather than the usb interface). If you can dl the pics onto another comp (like the laptop) and then put it on a USB drive and transfer it to the PC (or burn it to a CD or summin), you might be able to narrow down your problem area. Also try taking the files on the PC that CS reports as damaged and transfer by other means onto laptop and see if you can open it there. (Might be easier if your networked in, for both)

You can view in Win Pics & fax coz that will decode as far as possible, rather than looking to pre-render the whole image. Thats why there is a loss of color from one point onwards, that data is missing.

[Pericles]

I might b able 2 help u. What is precessor n MB?

Intel PIV 2.8Mhz Dual core

Intel MB too, but I'll have to go home and check the model number and let you know tomorrow morn. 945 or summin from memory. Have to check.

[The Don]

Not really. My office PC maintains a constant 85, no matter the situ. And thats in an AC environment. My home one, temp rises when heavy usage happens, like games for example. Last time my case fan burned out and I ran NFS-MW, the CPU core temp was 82. No AC at home. Used to idle at 72 when I didn't have a case fan.

Anyway, point it, it safely runs at over 80 for extended periods, so I'm not sure whats going on. Might be a faulty temp sensor? Oh well, have to take it to the shop and see.

Any chance the issue is in your image processing software? What are you using? Does it come in pictures taken with point and shoots that you download off the web?

Well I've been out of the PC game for a while, but when I was heavily into these things the aim was to maintain temperatures around the 40-50 mark. As you might already know the cooler a cpu runs the better it performs.

Also damage to CPU due to heat occur gradually. It starts off as instability issues and proceeds to get worse. I most often noticed these problems with old AMD K7 CPU's and the first generation of pentium 3 socket 370 CPU's, mostly re-marked ones which did not come with intel coolers, the folks in unity plaza fitted coolers which were simply inadequate.

But its been a while since I've been into these things so my knowledge is a bit out of date.

There is a possibility that the temperature sensor is reporting an erroneous value. It could be that the protection circuit on the mother board is shutting the PC down to prevent damage to the CPU. Go to the Bios and check what temperature values have been set to warn or shut the computer down.

[AMG]

Then there is some corruption going on in the transfer. Either your transfer software, or your card reader (If ur using a card reader rather than the usb interface). If you can dl the pics onto another comp (like the laptop) and then put it on a USB drive and transfer it to the PC (or burn it to a CD or summin), you might be able to narrow down your problem area. Also try taking the files on the PC that CS reports as damaged and transfer by other means onto laptop and see if you can open it there. (Might be easier if your networked in, for both)

You can view in Win Pics & fax coz that will decode as far as possible, rather than looking to pre-render the whole image. Thats why there is a loss of color from one point onwards, that data is missing.

Peri, The problem is definitely not in the transfer software or card reader. Cos when I transfer the pics and view they are fine. And the damage is being done later on. You can't say when, it will happen anytime after the pics were loaded into the PC. Even if I transfer the pics from a Flash Memory the damage is there after that.

[Saturn]

Let me know where u pick up ur stuff from. My CPU has shut off after a "Thermal Event". AKA overheated after idling for a couple of minutes and with the fans running! I'll pop it into the shop and see if reseating the heatsink will cure it, otherwise, I'll need a CPU myself.

woah.. that sounds bad

check if the fan is running

dont try to remove/reseat the cpu unless you have original thermal pad

ask fuzzo for help in getting one

modern c2ds are quite cool. what temps do you get?

Edited June 11, 2008 by Saturn

[Saturn]

The one I use is called "Speedfan". Should be on download.com. Really small prog.

OK, on the news front, I managed to get the machine on and monitor the core temp thru the BIOS. Core temp held steady at 67 (normal operating temp on mine) for a couple of minutes before shutting down without warning. Weird. The temp is holding steady but its still shutting off. Any ideas?

AFAIK 67 is way way out of spec

you may be able to get it OK by reseating the heatsink. Make sure you get a thermal pad first as the p4 chip (and c2d's) need that

afaik 60+ triggers shutdowns as its over acceptable thermal range.

cheap thermal paste sold in sri lanka is useless, use original intel pad, or arctic silver (though, ive had better results with the original intel pad vs arctic silver)

Just like your car, you should never allow your CPU to overheat, it could lead to failure.

Your CPU is working, so best thing you can do is get a thermal pad, remove the cpu, and reseat it correctly

alternatively, you could get a cheap board and an allendale for about 15k or so. I recommend the allendale because it runs very cool, uses little electricity and has great performance.

BTW, the p4 should run at 40 - 50 idle, and 50 - 58 or so in SL without ac. anything more usually indicates heatsink/fan/ventilation probs.

cpus based on core/core2 architecture can easily run in the 40 -- 50 range..

Edited June 11, 2008 by Saturn

[GuruG]

Well I've been out of the PC game for a while, but when I was heavily into these things the aim was to maintain temperatures around the 40-50 mark. As you might already know the cooler a cpu runs the better it performs.

Also damage to CPU due to heat occur gradually. It starts off as instability issues and proceeds to get worse. I most often noticed these problems with old AMD K7 CPU's and the first generation of pentium 3 socket 370 CPU's, mostly re-marked ones which did not come with intel coolers, the folks in unity plaza fitted coolers which were simply inadequate.

But its been a while since I've been into these things so my knowledge is a bit out of date.

There is a possibility that the temperature sensor is reporting an erroneous value. It could be that the protection circuit on the mother board is shutting the PC down to prevent damage to the CPU. Go to the Bios and check what temperature values have been set to warn or shut the computer down.

Home Made Solution for AMD K7. Bought this on 2001. Since that day no failure what so ever. Same AMD K7 1.8 core runnin at 1.58, Same GA-7VR MB, Same 512 RAM, Same P.Fan. I'm in so love with this machine I even took it to Aus n used it for da 3yrs n brought back n still using to date as for downloadin n testin.

DIY Fan Mod for K7

Intel Dual core Temp. at start

Intel Dual core Temp. at use

Intel Active Monitor does not support all Intel MBs. U can download speed fan from http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php a 3rd party software thar does the job.

Edited June 12, 2008 by GuruG

[GuruG]

Peri, The problem is definitely not in the transfer software or card reader. Cos when I transfer the pics and view they are fine. And the damage is being done later on. You can't say when, it will happen anytime after the pics were loaded into the PC. Even if I transfer the pics from a Flash Memory the damage is there after that.

Download this n the plugin pack n check if it works

http://www.irfanview.com/

http://irfanview.tuwien.ac.at/plugins/irfa...s_410_setup.exe

[Pericles]

AFAIK 67 is way way out of spec

you may be able to get it OK by reseating the heatsink. Make sure you get a thermal pad first as the p4 chip (and c2d's) need that

afaik 60+ triggers shutdowns as its over acceptable thermal range.

cheap thermal paste sold in sri lanka is useless, use original intel pad, or arctic silver (though, ive had better results with the original intel pad vs arctic silver)

Just like your car, you should never allow your CPU to overheat, it could lead to failure.

Your CPU is working, so best thing you can do is get a thermal pad, remove the cpu, and reseat it correctly

alternatively, you could get a cheap board and an allendale for about 15k or so. I recommend the allendale because it runs very cool, uses little electricity and has great performance.

BTW, the p4 should run at 40 - 50 idle, and 50 - 58 or so in SL without ac. anything more usually indicates heatsink/fan/ventilation probs.

cpus based on core/core2 architecture can easily run in the 40 -- 50 range..

This isn't a c2d, its a dual core. These were released before core 2 duos came out. And its been running mid 60s since I bought it 2 years ago with no issues, even when it goes up past 80 for extended periods of heavy use. By which I mean 3-4 hours at a stretch. Tho actually, running it in an AC room has a big effect on the temp.

This two physical cores, so obviously, they generate a lotta heat. Luckily, still within warranty on the CPU, so handed it in this morning. Have to see what they say.

However, the P4 3.0mhz HT I use at work runs a constant 85-86 CPU temp, as noted.

Oh yeah, Guru, MB is a D945GNT.

[Pericles]

There is a possibility that the temperature sensor is reporting an erroneous value. It could be that the protection circuit on the mother board is shutting the PC down to prevent damage to the CPU. Go to the Bios and check what temperature values have been set to warn or shut the computer down.

Thought about that. But the value has been constant till it went off, and its the same value thats been working for years.

[Saturn]

This isn't a c2d, its a dual core. These were released before core 2 duos came out. And its been running mid 60s since I bought it 2 years ago with no issues, even when it goes up past 80 for extended periods of heavy use. By which I mean 3-4 hours at a stretch. Tho actually, running it in an AC room has a big effect on the temp.

This two physical cores, so obviously, they generate a lotta heat. Luckily, still within warranty on the CPU, so handed it in this morning. Have to see what they say.

However, the P4 3.0mhz HT I use at work runs a constant 85-86 CPU temp, as noted.

Oh yeah, Guru, MB is a D945GNT.

I had one of these machines, early first generation dual core based on prescott I think

they heat up like this when there isn't proper transfer from the IHS to the HS

if the cpu is working, do this

- clean the heatsink with a cloth till its shiny and no visible residue

- install the cpu, and clean its cover (IHS) with a cloth also

be careful of fingerprints on the surface as they could reduce conductivity

get an official intel thermal pad.. if I remember right E-sys systems or someone had them

you can ask fuzzo he will find it.

place the pad carefully on the (heatsink or cpu, cant remember which, do according to the instructions)

placing it is a bit complex as it has to be done carefully

and then place the hs correctly and push it down and latch the four latches

you have to do this with the board out of the case

tip - if you can't find a thermal pad, you can buy an intel original heatsink with pad from unity plaza

for about 1500 or so. this is the best idea IMHO. the heatsink has the pad correctly installed so

its a lot easier to fix. if you do this all you have to do is correctly fix it and make sure the four

corners firmly latch and pop out the other end of the board

properly installed, the temp should be around 45 idle - to 55 under load, under sri lankan

temperature conditions.

The high heat you experience is because the heatsink isnt properly transfering heat from IHS

I don't blame whoever installed it because it;s really hard, even seasoned tech's screw up

the process easily.

lastly, check that the case ventilation is good and moving air out swiftly.

UPDATE

found an old blog post I wrote about this!!

http://www.nsharp.org/21/dual-core-and-heat/

That machine is also a first generation dual core based on P4 architecture like yours!

company which had the thermal pads was E-sys, located somewhere in bambalapitiya i think

from what id written then, I was able to get the system down to 42 at idle, with a max of 60 at full load (both cores 100% load)

basically the recommended thermal specs for this cpu if i remember right maxed out at 60 so your machine running at 67 is not

a good idea

sorry about the long rambling post, let me try to summarize

1. get a thermal pad (free from e-sys), or an original heatsink (which includes the pad) about 1,500

2. remove board from machine

3. clean cpu cover (clean hs if you are using existing hs)

4. instal thermal pad (if you got the pad from esys)

5. install hs, push down properly till the four white nibs come out on back of board properly

6. lock the four black latches for hs

7. plug in fan

that should be it

if you get idles 45 - 50 it worked, otherwise make sure hs fully latched down

if it doesnt work out, let me know and Ill try to meet you somewhere and fix it

Edited June 12, 2008 by Saturn

[Pericles]

Thanks dude. Like I said, I gave it in this morning, so yet to hear what they have to say.If they replace the CPU under warranty, I'm not complaining As long as they don't screw with my data, all my photos are on that machine!

But if its still running hot after I get it back, I'll look into doing what you've said.

[The Don]

Peri, The problem is definitely not in the transfer software or card reader. Cos when I transfer the pics and view they are fine. And the damage is being done later on. You can't say when, it will happen anytime after the pics were loaded into the PC. Even if I transfer the pics from a Flash Memory the damage is there after that.

Bharath, this is a very strange problem you have. I have a few questions

1. Do they work fine as soon as you've copied them over ?

2. The files that get corrupted, do they only get corrupted on the hard disk and not the flash disc ?

Can I ask you to try a few things.

1. Can you email me a corrupt pic and a normal version of the same pic to abeetha [at] yahoo [dot] com so that I can have a look at the corrupt pic

2. Make sure your virus scan is up to date and run a virus scan. including on the flash cards

3. Turn off thumb nails on the folder with the pics

To be honest its very unlikely this is a hardware fault if the pics arrive fine in your PC and gets corrupted later on. It is most likely a software problem some where.