Amd Phenom II X6 only running on 4 cores?

Jules1903

Jules1903

Member
Hi, when my pc starts up, on the bios screen it says the sytem is running on 4 cores.
I am thinking maybe that my motherboard cannot run a 6 core chip.
The motherbpoard is an Asus M4N98T EVO DDR3,2-Way SLI, SATA 3.0GB.
No real problem, the pc works perfectly.
If its the motherboard then i will upgrade in the future,like i say not a great problem just curious.
Other than that, the best Pc ever bought with the best service.Well Chuffed:D
 
Tom DWC

Tom DWC

Moderator
Moderator
As you brought the computer from PCS the X6 will definitely be compatible with this board - otherwise they wouldn't sell them togeather.

Here's your board which is still available for sale under the AMD with NVIDIA SLI section of the configurator:

http://uk.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=1g8o5Sh3csqM5M8u&content=specifications

Can you tell us exactly what message the BIOS displays? Also follow the advice relating to Device Manager as suggested above. :)
 
Jules1903

Jules1903

Member
Hi thanks for replies.
At the bios start up screen, down the bottom it says ******4 CORES ACTIVATED****** and a picture of a cpu with an arrow and a 4.
Had a look at device manger all 6 core are there and working.
On the asus support page it says if the version number is less than 1003 then download update if higher then no need.
My bios version is 1003.
I downloaded update but in asus ez flash it says no update module in file.
 
pengipete

pengipete

Rising Star
I found this on another forum - It's for another Asus motherboard and I can't say if it's accurate or whether you should follow the advice in it but it should give is a starting point to do some more research. It sounds rather like the way Intel CPU's throttle back to save power - a 3.0Gz CPU will appear to be less than half that speed - it ramps up when needed. (I haven't edited the post - just pasted it - so don't blame me for the spelling :))

It is the 'power saving' mode who is causing all the trouble!
Only when the computer decide it has an heavy load it will activate all the 6 cores.

When the 'power saving' mode is activated in the bios you can try what you want but more then 4 cores is not possible!!
It is in my humble opinion bad programming by Asus!

Disable OC Tuner Utility, AI overclock tuner, AMD tubo Core technology, CPU spread spentrum (an MUST if you are overclocking), PCIE spread spentrum (an MUST if you are overclocking), Cool 'n 'quit (the worst thing I ever has seen), C1E support ( even so, the worst thing I ever have seen), Asus core unlocker (you do not need it with 6 cores),
VERRY IMPORTANT: CPU core activation set MANUAL and activate all cores.

IN SHORT: DISABLE EVERY POWER SAVING SETTINGS IN THE BIOS YOU CAN FIND AND SET EVERYTHING MANUALLY AND NOT ON 'AUTO'!

ESPECIALLY WHEN OVERCLOCKING: SET EVERYTHING MANUALLY AND NOT ON 'AUTO'!

I looked through the manual for your motherboard but I could spot an option to activate all cores. I know from experience that Asus manuals are not alwys entirely accurate (plus features and options can sometimes change with BIOS revisions) so have a dig through your BIOS to see if there is anything that looks right. If you're worried about changing settings, post back with the exact name of the option and I'll have a dig around.

Otherwise, ignoring all of the "advice" in that post about disabling features for now, I'm thinking that it's worth running a test - using an app that runs the CPU at 100% to see if the other two cores kick in when required. This is the same sort of testing that overclockers do to check stability and temperatures - the important thing is that you monitor your temperatures as they will climb very quickly. On a CPU at stock settings and with a properly installed cooler, there's nothing to worry about and you should only need to run the test for a short amount of time - possibly just seconds - to see if the other cores are activated.

Download three apps - CoreTemp, Prime95 and CPU-Z - they don't need to be installed as they are "stand-alone". Chose 32 or 64 bit versions of Coretemp and Prime95 as required - CPU-Z works on either

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103 (link to 64 bit version is in a box halfway down the page)
Open CoreTemp and CPU-Z - move them to one side of the screen. CPU-Z will show the number of cores in the bottom left-hand corner. If it already shows six cores - it's probably just BIOS that's got it wrong and you can ignore the rest of this post. (Did you check in Device Manager yet? - also, open Task Manager - press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC - and go to the Performance tab. IF you only see one graph for the CPU, go to VIEW>CPU History in the menus and select "One graph per CPU" - if it shows six graphs, you are already using all six cores and BIOS is wrong.)

Open Prime95 and you'll see a large window and a smaller window - start the test by clicking on the button in the smaller window - it doesn't matter which of the tests you run. As soon as you've done that, go to the menus in the big window and select the "Test" menu and then select "Stop" - the test won't stop running, a window will open with a "Stop" button. I just want that there so that you can stop the test quickly if the temperatures do go too high. Regarding that, it appears that every temperature reading app is out by around 10C on those processors so I'd expect you to see readings of around 40-45C when Prime95 is running (as an Intel user, those Phenom temps are incredibly low - an Intel chips would be running nearer to 70C). If the temps move much above 40C, stop Prime95.

With Prime95 running, see if CPU-Z changes to show six cores. If it does, that post is right about the cores only kicking in when required.

Sorry I can't just give you a simple answer. I was hoping that someone familar with Phenoms would come up with more info - fingers crossed they still might.
 
Jules1903

Jules1903

Member
Thanks Pengi, all those apps show 6 cores working fine, and task manager has 6 graphs,so the bios is havin a laugh with me:stupid:
All they say about you is true,a superstar:clap:
 
pengipete

pengipete

Rising Star
Just glad everything's working properly.

I've got some homework to do - reading up on those Phenoms - so I'll at least have some idea what I'm talking about next time.
 
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