Mobo is from a Compaq sr1710nx, Asus a8ae-le. A HP model uses same mobo for X2's. So this mobo is ok for X2's.

I'm not a specialist at all and haven't read all but you put this X2 on a MB you had. How old is your MB?

mmmmmh looks like it has only one channel like with the pentium HT. And are you sure you don't need DDR2 RAM with a X2?

I don't know the answer to this question. I "assume" not, but nothing I would bet on.

Anyone?

mmmmmh looks like it has only one channel like with the pentium HT. And are you sure you don't need DDR2 RAM with a X2?

No it's OK. I have checked and DDR 400 is OK. But you have two sticks (I'm not sure of the translation) of RAM?

Yes, originally I had four "sticks" of ram: three 512mb, and one 256mb.

Never had any problems with this memory configuration with the Sempron.

It was suggsted that X2 "might" have a problem because they were mixed, not all 512mb. So I removed the 256. Then I also removed one 512, so there was one pair of 512's remaining.

No difference.

I'm putting back in the 256 and 512.

Total of 1.75gb ram.

No it's OK. I have checked and DDR 400 is OK. But you have two sticks (I'm not sure of the translation) of RAM?

Think you suggested something via CPUz.

Prosessor 1 (grayed out): Cores 2, Threads 2.

I looked at CPUz "Memory" tab, and noticed that it said Frequency = 198MHz, and Dual Channel.

I "think" my memory is just plain Single Channel, pc3200 ddr 400, c3.

Does that ddr 400 imply that the frequency should be 400MHz instead of about 200MHz? Just a shot-in-the-dark.

But I still have trouble understanding, if the memeory is the problem, why didn't this problem exist with the Sempron, and only began with the X2?

I was about to suggest something, but a review of the thread shows you've already tried it. :( Good luck tracking this down!

what "Core Speed" does it show under "Clocks"? Can you post a screenshot (Pressing "ALT" and then "Print Screen", paste in word and save word as html and then uploading somewhere).

edit: Better go to the "About" tab and click on Validation and follow the necessary steps. That is what I got:

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=116620

Think you suggested something via CPUz.
I looked at CPUz "Memory" tab, and noticed that it said Frequency = 198MHz, and Dual Channel.

I "think" my memory is just plain Single Channel, pc3200 ddr 400, c3.

Does that ddr 400 imply that the frequency should be 400MHz instead of about 200MHz? Just a shot-in-the-dark.

I've got pc3200 ddr 400 ram on both of my Athlon 64s; and CPUz lists the bus frequency (200Mhz), not the dual data rate frequency (i.e. 400Mhz).

On CPUz's cpu tab, it should say that you've got a cpu core of 2000Mhz. Which means it's running full speed.

Having a Rosetta task getting more than 50% implies that windows is running as a single core, not in SMP mode. But running a single Rosetta task on a copy of windows in single core mode should give 100%. Running a single Rosetta task on a copy of windows in dual core mode should give a reading of 50% in Task Manager.

The values you're giving just don't make sense. And if you've reformatted the drive, setup windows cleanly, and then downloaded a new copy of Boinc and restarted Rosetta - whatever corrupted driver or windows component was causing grief - should have disappeared.

---

Core speed shows: 1987.7 MHz
Multiplier: x10.0
Bus Speed: 198.7MHz
HT Link: 994.3 MHz

Never done that before. Can easily do all but "upload somewhere". Wouldn't know where to put this image/html.

what "Core Speed" does it show under "Clocks"? Can you post a screenshot (Pressing "ALT" and then "Print Screen", paste in word and save word as html and then uploading somewhere).

Core speed shows: 1987.7 MHz
Multiplier: x10.0
Bus Speed: 198.7MHz
HT Link: 994.3 MHz

Never done that before. Can easily do all but "upload somewhere". Wouldn't know where to put this image/html.

what "Core Speed" does it show under "Clocks"? Can you post a screenshot (Pressing "ALT" and then "Print Screen", paste in word and save word as html and then uploading somewhere).

There is an easier way: Go to the "About" tab and click on Validation and follow the necessary steps. That is what I got:

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=116620

However all looks fine and I can't understand what's the problem. Win XP Home should support two cores, shouldn't it?

the power supply might be the problem - I'd have though it'd cause instability rather than not allowing the CPUs to throttle up under load though. You could try removing anything that will draw power such as CD drive, second HDs, card readers, and case fans and see if that makes a difference.

---

Core speed shows: 1987.7 MHz
Multiplier: x10.0
Bus Speed: 198.7MHz
HT Link: 994.3 MHz

Never done that before. Can easily do all but "upload somewhere". Wouldn't know where to put this image/html.

what "Core Speed" does it show under "Clocks"? Can you post a screenshot (Pressing "ALT" and then "Print Screen", paste in word and save word as html and then uploading somewhere).

There is an easier way: Go to the "About" tab and click on Validation and follow the necessary steps. That is what I got:

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=116620

However all looks fine and I can't understand what's the problem. Win XP Home should support two cores, shouldn't it?

Yes it does. I have a Pentium D running without problem with XP home.

This is why I'm knocking my head against the wall! Observations and results seem contradictory.

I'm no computer geek, but I was savy (brave?) enough to swap out cpu's and flash the bios, etc.

cpu does appear to be fine from a "speed" perspective.

but seems to fall short in benchmarking and Boinc perspective.

Trying again...

BOINC preferences set to 2 cpu's, 100%.

Rosetta ran benchmarks:
cpu's: 2
2098 Floating Point MIPS (Whetstone) per cpu
2725 Interger MIPS (Drystone) per cpu

Two instances of Rosetta running.

Per TaskManager, wu1 = 90%, wu2 = 10%.

Just doesn't add up...

[I've got pc3200 ddr 400 ram on both of my Athlon 64s; and CPUz lists the bus frequency (200Mhz), not the dual data rate frequency (i.e. 400Mhz).

On CPUz's cpu tab, it should say that you've got a cpu core of 2000Mhz. Which means it's running full speed.

Having a Rosetta task getting more than 50% implies that windows is running as a single core, not in SMP mode. But running a single Rosetta task on a copy of windows in single core mode should give 100%. Running a single Rosetta task on a copy of windows in dual core mode should give a reading of 50% in Task Manager.

The values you're giving just don't make sense. And if you've reformatted the drive, setup windows cleanly, and then downloaded a new copy of Boinc and restarted Rosetta - whatever corrupted driver or windows component was causing grief - should have disappeared.

This is worth pursuing...

Powersupply is Bestec, model atx-250-12, output 250 watts.

Nothing "extra" in the rig.

I guess I can remove power from the cd/dvd combo unit...

EDIT --> Is there any monitoring (utility software) I could use to either rule this in, or rule this out as a possible cause?

the power supply might be the problem - I'd have though it'd cause instability rather than not allowing the CPUs to throttle up under load though. You could try removing anything that will draw power such as CD drive, second HDs, card readers, and case fans and see if that makes a difference.

@the bad penquin, I've posted your troubles over at the NC board at seti, including a link to this thread. Don't know if anyone will show up or not.

tony

Thank-You Very Much. I still have 10+ hours to go on my first-ever SETI wu.

@the bad penquin, I've posted your troubles over at the NC board at seti, including a link to this thread. Don't know if anyone will show up or not.

tony

I'm betting it's the motherboard. . Windows thinks it has two cpu's, but when it tries to run two things at once it's hitting a wall and only able to run as if it was a single cpu (which would explain why one wu is at 90% and the other 10%).

What happens if you go into task manager, then processes, right click one of the rosetta tasks, and set affinity for cpu 0. . then do the same only to cpu 1 for the other?

Can you try the previous version of the bios? What chipset does the motherboard use. . perhaps downloading the newest drivers directly from them?

---

I don't know whether (all of) the following is true, but I believe it is.

First, assume XP is properly set up for multiprocessor/multithreading. If you see 'ACPI Multiprocessor PC' in Device Manager and can see two CPUs in Task Manager I'll assume it is properly set up.

For any single instance of Rosetta (or Seti, Einstein or whatever) you CAN see CPU utilization greater than 50% because the application makes calls to the Windows kernel and I/O system which is (also) multithreaded and can use either or both processors. Those calls can and do use the other available CPU resources and will add to the total CPU utilization recorded for that single instance of that application (the Rosetta app). This is of course more likely to happen when there is only one instance of Rosetta (or whatever) running.

You can (obviously) never have a total CPU utilization (in Task Manager) for all applications that exceeds 100%, or at least you shouldn't. So, when there are two Rosetta apps running you should see 45%..48% for each app allowing for a couple of percent used for background processes. At least that has been my experience.

Yes.

First, assume XP is properly set up for multiprocessor/multithreading. If you see 'ACPI Multiprocessor PC' in Device Manager and can see two CPUs in Task Manager I'll assume it is properly set up.

wu1 = 90%, wu2 = 10%. Yesterday, similar percentages resulted in two "6 hour wu's" taking about 11 hours to complete on a dual core. Credits also reflect about 12 hours of crunching. Results you'd expect from a single core, not a dual core.

For any single instance of Rosetta (or Seti, Einstein or whatever) you CAN see CPU utilization greater than 50% because the application makes calls to the Windows kernel and I/O system which is (also) multithreaded and can use either or both processors. Those calls can and do use the other available CPU resources and will add to the total CPU utilization recorded for that single instance of that application (the Rosetta app).

You can (obviously) never have a total CPU utilization (in Task Manager) for all applications that exceeds 100%, or at least you shouldn't. So, when there are two Rosetta apps running you should see 45%..48% for each app allowing for a couple of percent used for background processes. At least that has been my experience.

Here's what one user suggests

@ mmciastro.........

I don't have a Rosetta account but I read the thread about the Penguins X2 problems. I have a suggestion you could post there for him. Go to task manager and right click each instance of Rosetta. Click "Set Affinity" and ensure that both cores ( core0 and core1 ) are selected for each instance of Rosetta.

Hope this helps.

VERY INTERESTING!!!!!

Originally, both wu's had affinity set to both cpu0 and cpu1.

BUT...

Whichever of the two wu's affinity was set to cpu0 gets about 90%, and cpu1 gets 10%!

Switched the affinity back and forth between the wu's, and cpu0 seems to always get the ~90%, and cpu1 always gets ~ 10%.

Don't know what this means, but Very Interesting!

What happens if you go into task manager, then processes, right click one of the rosetta tasks, and set affinity for cpu 0. . then do the same only to cpu 1 for the other?