CPU Core Voltage Too Low -> Crash?

"Don Cohen" wrote in message
...

1. Is the difference between the apparent optimal range for Core Voltage
and
my actual Core Voltage enough to explain these very random crashes? (I can
go a few minutes, a few hours, a few days between crashes).

It's unlikely. Do the crashes occur when you run in Safe Mode? I'd bet on
a software issue
before you start troubleshooting hardware. Anything abnormal in the event
logs?



2. Is there any way to adjust this voltage? I have not yet found any BIOS
or motherboard jumper settings that might do this.

No.


3. If this is the source of the problem, do I replace the motherboard, or
the CPU? In other words, which hardware component is causing the low CPU
Core Voltage?


Most likely the power supply, if it turns out to be hardware in origin.

Hi,

This is a fresh thread based on what was learned in a separate thread
(Desperately Need Help - System Reboot/Crashes).

The tentative conclusion in the other thread is that my crashes are being
caused by hardware, and not software. In that regard, I have installed and
run AIDA32 Enterprise System Information. Here is the relevant information:

My primary problem is random, sporadic crashes to a BSOD, starting after
almost 2 years of relatively glitch-free running, and *not* following any
significant hardware or software changes:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
****STOP: 0x00000050 (0xB7874E5E, 0x00000000, 0xB7874E5E, 0x00000000)

Full details on this problem and prior trouble-shooting can be found in the
other thread.

Gateway 700XL, approximately 2 years old, XP Home, 1024 mb RAM
Intel Pentium 4A, 2.2 GHz (5.5x400), Northwood A80532 CPU chip
Intel D850MV (Maryville) Motherboard, i850 Chipset
Brand new Antec 430W TruPower PSU (replacing the prior Gateway 250W PSU, but
not fixing the crashes)

AIDA32 shows the actual CPU Core Voltage for my system varying between 1.43
and 1.45 Volts.
AIDA32 also has a section showing the CPU Physical Properties. Here it
indicates:
--Core Voltage 1.475V - 1.55V--

Someone experiencing similar (but not identical) crashes as me found his CPU
Core Voltage to be the source of his problem, indicating his opinion that
voltage differences as small as 0.025V can be quite significant. If true,
then my CPU Core Voltage is out of the normal range.

My questions:

1. Is the difference between the apparent optimal range for Core Voltage and
my actual Core Voltage enough to explain these very random crashes? (I can
go a few minutes, a few hours, a few days between crashes).

2. Is there any way to adjust this voltage? I have not yet found any BIOS
or motherboard jumper settings that might do this.

3. If this is the source of the problem, do I replace the motherboard, or
the CPU? In other words, which hardware component is causing the low CPU
Core Voltage?

Anybody that can offer some knowledgeable advice here? It will be very
greatly appreciated. I have been fighting this problem for several weeks
now, and consumed untold hours trouble-shooting.

Thanks!

Don

The next most likely hardware candidate would be the RAM - have you scanned
it with memtest86 (www.memtest86.com)?

Following that, the mainboard, the video card, and finally the CPU would be
candidates.



"Don Cohen" wrote in message
...
Hi Edward,

Thanks for the reply.

1. Is the difference between the apparent optimal range for Core
Voltage
and
my actual Core Voltage enough to explain these very random crashes? (I
can
go a few minutes, a few hours, a few days between crashes).

It's unlikely. Do the crashes occur when you run in Safe Mode? I'd bet
on
a software issue
before you start troubleshooting hardware. Anything abnormal in the
event
logs?

You can check the other thread for the long, gory details (this has been a
long, tortous process), but what is highly suggestive that it's hardware
is:

-the reboots *have* occurred in safe mode
-they also occurred when I booted directly from the XP CD in order to
access
the Windows Recovery Console. I got to the point where it lets you choose
the Windows partition (in my case, the only choice present is c:\winnt),
and
when I hit enter, it rebooted.

To me, and the others more knowledgeable than me, this was a fairly
definitive indication that it's a hardware issue, since no programs,
drivers, etc., from the OS on the hard drive were even loaded or running.

If you think otherwise, please let me know what your reasoning is.

3. If this is the source of the problem, do I replace the motherboard,
or
the CPU? In other words, which hardware component is causing the low
CPU
Core Voltage?


Most likely the power supply, if it turns out to be hardware in origin.

My initial suspicion when this whole thing started, based on the specific
stop message, was a bad PSU. I replaced the 250W original PSU that came
with the system, with an Antec 430W TruPower PSU. It ran fine for almost
3
days after I did this, but then the identical crash recurred.

So at this point, I strongly suspect motherboard and/or CPU. But I really
don't know anything for sure at this point.


Any additional thoughts greatly appreciated.

Don

Hi Edward,

Thanks for the reply.

1. Is the difference between the apparent optimal range for Core Voltage
and
my actual Core Voltage enough to explain these very random crashes? (I
can
go a few minutes, a few hours, a few days between crashes).

It's unlikely. Do the crashes occur when you run in Safe Mode? I'd bet
on
a software issue
before you start troubleshooting hardware. Anything abnormal in the event
logs?

You can check the other thread for the long, gory details (this has been a
long, tortous process), but what is highly suggestive that it's hardware is:

-the reboots *have* occurred in safe mode
-they also occurred when I booted directly from the XP CD in order to access
the Windows Recovery Console. I got to the point where it lets you choose
the Windows partition (in my case, the only choice present is c:\winnt), and
when I hit enter, it rebooted.

To me, and the others more knowledgeable than me, this was a fairly
definitive indication that it's a hardware issue, since no programs,
drivers, etc., from the OS on the hard drive were even loaded or running.

If you think otherwise, please let me know what your reasoning is.

3. If this is the source of the problem, do I replace the motherboard,
or
the CPU? In other words, which hardware component is causing the low
CPU
Core Voltage?


Most likely the power supply, if it turns out to be hardware in origin.

My initial suspicion when this whole thing started, based on the specific
stop message, was a bad PSU. I replaced the 250W original PSU that came
with the system, with an Antec 430W TruPower PSU. It ran fine for almost 3
days after I did this, but then the identical crash recurred.

So at this point, I strongly suspect motherboard and/or CPU. But I really
don't know anything for sure at this point.


Any additional thoughts greatly appreciated.

Don

Hi Don, this is really a long shot, but it recently happened to me on a
three year old system(non-Gateway).
I was getting random re-boots and corruptions. Even when trying to get to
the Recovery Console.
It turned out it was a faulty cd/dvd rom(Pioneer dvd-116). My only
indication of this was that CD's were getting hot when being used.
hth, Jack

"Don Cohen" wrote in message
...
Hi,

This is a fresh thread based on what was learned in a separate thread
(Desperately Need Help - System Reboot/Crashes).

The tentative conclusion in the other thread is that my crashes are being
caused by hardware, and not software. In that regard, I have installed
and
run AIDA32 Enterprise System Information. Here is the relevant
information:

My primary problem is random, sporadic crashes to a BSOD, starting after
almost 2 years of relatively glitch-free running, and *not* following any
significant hardware or software changes:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
****STOP: 0x00000050 (0xB7874E5E, 0x00000000, 0xB7874E5E, 0x00000000)

Full details on this problem and prior trouble-shooting can be found in
the
other thread.

Gateway 700XL, approximately 2 years old, XP Home, 1024 mb RAM
Intel Pentium 4A, 2.2 GHz (5.5x400), Northwood A80532 CPU chip
Intel D850MV (Maryville) Motherboard, i850 Chipset
Brand new Antec 430W TruPower PSU (replacing the prior Gateway 250W PSU,
but
not fixing the crashes)

AIDA32 shows the actual CPU Core Voltage for my system varying between
1.43
and 1.45 Volts.
AIDA32 also has a section showing the CPU Physical Properties. Here it
indicates:
--Core Voltage 1.475V - 1.55V--

Someone experiencing similar (but not identical) crashes as me found his
CPU
Core Voltage to be the source of his problem, indicating his opinion that
voltage differences as small as 0.025V can be quite significant. If true,
then my CPU Core Voltage is out of the normal range.

My questions:

1. Is the difference between the apparent optimal range for Core Voltage
and
my actual Core Voltage enough to explain these very random crashes? (I can
go a few minutes, a few hours, a few days between crashes).

2. Is there any way to adjust this voltage? I have not yet found any BIOS
or motherboard jumper settings that might do this.

3. If this is the source of the problem, do I replace the motherboard, or
the CPU? In other words, which hardware component is causing the low CPU
Core Voltage?

Anybody that can offer some knowledgeable advice here? It will be very
greatly appreciated. I have been fighting this problem for several weeks
now, and consumed untold hours trouble-shooting.

Thanks!

Don

Hi Edward,

The next most likely hardware candidate would be the RAM - have you
scanned
it with memtest86 (www.memtest86.com)?

First, did the information I provided also convince you that this is a
hardware, not a software, issue? Or do you still think it's still possibly
a software issue, and if so, why? I'd really like to understand all of
this.

And with reference to RAM, very early on in my trouble-shooting, I created a
Boot CD with memtest86 and ran it directly. It has run for over 13 hours,
with 7 full passes (all tests selected), and no errors were found.

But according to some, software testing like this may only detect 50% of
actual RAM defects. So I really don't know.

Following that, the mainboard, the video card, and finally the CPU would
be
candidates.

I was very suspicious of the videocard, and so we pulled the 64 mb ATI 8500
that came with it, put in a 128 mb ATI 9200, with the appropriate driver,
but it crashed within an hour or two, in similar fashion as before.

So I'm down to mainboard or CPU, as you suggest. With this CPU Core Voltage
reading apparently somewhat out of specs, this is somewhat reassuring.

But again my question is whether it's the mainboard or CPU (or both?) that
are causing this low CPU Core Voltage?

Thanks, Edward.

Don

Hi Jack,

Hi Don, this is really a long shot, but it recently happened to me on a
three year old system(non-Gateway).
I was getting random re-boots and corruptions. Even when trying to get to
the Recovery Console.
It turned out it was a faulty cd/dvd rom(Pioneer dvd-116). My only
indication of this was that CD's were getting hot when being used.

Interesting. At this point, anything's possible. I just wish there were
some specific hardware diagnostics that could be used to actually make a
diagnosis, rather than having to do a tedious and time-consuming trial and
error replacement.

Actually, I have been referred to a program called Tuff-Test-Pro, that is
supposed to do just this.

Does anybody here have any experience with this program?

Thanks

Don

Don, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that you have a corrupted driver. Make
sure you have all
updated drivers for your motherboard, sound card, video card and, if you
have on installed,
56K modem. I had the same peoblem with crashes and blue screens. I
upgraded my
motherboard drivers and all the others that I mentioned and I've been
running BSOD free
for the last 9 months. Hope that healps.

Thanks for the post and suggestions.

Ordiniarily, I would agree with you. But what makes this situation
different, and apparently much more suggestive of a hardware source is the
following:

--these crashes occurred from within Safe Mode
--they have also occurred when booting directly from the XP Boot CD, going
into Windows Recovery Console. Afaik, no hard drive based drivers or files
are in use in that circumstance.

If you think otherwise, I'm definitely interested in your thinking.

Thanks!

Don

P.S. How does one update one's motherboard drivers?

Do not overlook a static problem. In winter indoors with dry air almost
anythig will generate static.
"Don Cohen" wrote in message
...
Don, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that you have a corrupted driver. Make
sure you have all
updated drivers for your motherboard, sound card, video card and, if you
have on installed,
56K modem. I had the same peoblem with crashes and blue screens. I
upgraded my
motherboard drivers and all the others that I mentioned and I've been
running BSOD free
for the last 9 months. Hope that healps.

Thanks for the post and suggestions.

Ordiniarily, I would agree with you. But what makes this situation
different, and apparently much more suggestive of a hardware source is the
following:

--these crashes occurred from within Safe Mode
--they have also occurred when booting directly from the XP Boot CD, going
into Windows Recovery Console. Afaik, no hard drive based drivers or files
are in use in that circumstance.

If you think otherwise, I'm definitely interested in your thinking.

Thanks!

Don

P.S. How does one update one's motherboard drivers?

not for nothing, but it could be a hard drive issue. rec console accesses
the c drive I believe.

--


David MacLeod
Etna, Maine USA
P4 2.8 OC to 3.13
1 GB DDR 466
Radeon 9800 Pro 256 MB
2 Seagate 120 RAID 0

"Don Cohen" wrote in message
...
Hi Jack,

Hi Don, this is really a long shot, but it recently happened to me on a
three year old system(non-Gateway).
I was getting random re-boots and corruptions. Even when trying to get
to
the Recovery Console.
It turned out it was a faulty cd/dvd rom(Pioneer dvd-116). My only
indication of this was that CD's were getting hot when being used.

Interesting. At this point, anything's possible. I just wish there were
some specific hardware diagnostics that could be used to actually make a
diagnosis, rather than having to do a tedious and time-consuming trial and
error replacement.

Actually, I have been referred to a program called Tuff-Test-Pro, that is
supposed to do just this.

Does anybody here have any experience with this program?

Thanks

Don