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i7-3770K @4500. Hyperthreading is probably malfunctioning. The discrete cores seem to work just fine. Is this possible?

DKlat1
Beginner
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Hello there.

I own a i7-3770K @4500.

My System consits of: Win10¬Pro.¬ 16 GB RAM, AMD HD7970. Samsung 840 Evo SSD, MSI Z77a-GD65 Motherboard.

 

Haven’t used my pc for over a year and the latest win10 Updates/Upgrades failed to install. So i made a clean install. I installed no additional drivers but the latest from AMD. 

 

Then i tried to play Alien Isolation (steam). I played that game for 3 years with this exact pc but now it is crashing after a few minutes of gameplay.

 

First i thought maybe i need to install the inf-driver from my motherboard manufacturer (MSI) but that didn‘t help. Still crashing after a few minutes of gameplay. 

Next i tested the GPU with furmark. No problems here. RAM is also not the problem. I tested it with the WIN10 memory diagnostic tool.

Lately i tested my CPU with cinebench R15. And it seems to have a problem. I am Not sure if it is a driver-Problem or if the Hardware is broken.

When i use hyperthreading with 8 cores it always crashes. When i use only the 4 discrete cores it works just Fine. Also if i only use one core it works perfectly. 

Does anybody have an idea what’s wrong or how i should go on testing.

 

 

Kind regards.

 

Dennis

 

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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I would suspect that you have a bad/failing DIMM. Windows Memory Diagnostic is next to useless; test with MemTest86+ or similar tool - and run 24 hour test minimum.

H​ope this helps,

...S

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DKlat1
Beginner
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Thanks for the hint with the DIMM. I am running MemTest86+ for 12 hours yet. No problems so far. Will continue till tomorrow.

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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I do want to point out that this is not a panacea. In any memory transfer problem, there are three components that could be responsible: (1), the processor's memory controllers, (2) the motherboard's bus isolation and termination components and (3) the DIMM's themselves. In addition to bad data being stored or data being corrupted within the DRAM components themselves, noise on the data buses can also be responsible. All components generate some amount of noise. As they age, these components will generate even more noise. Noise can also come from surroundings. The important thing is that, if the amount or intensity of noise on the memory bus reaches levels where data cannot be distinguished from noise, transfer operations will fail. What I am saying is that it is not always the DIMMs' fault; these other components could be responsible.

 

First thing to try is different DIMM(s). Second thing to try is different processor. Third thing to try is different motherboard.

 

Yea, I know that this is tough. And worse, you could also be seeing problems caused by buggy drivers and the games themselves.

...S

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DKlat1
Beginner
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Here are the results with SMT deactivated in bios:

MemTest86+ showed no errors with a single core and RRB and seq after 36 hours. But with all cores simultaneously it always freezes after 3 minutes during Test#7 (Block move). I guess that is a general problem with memtest86+ and multicores. —> The RAM seems to be alright.

Prime95 showed no errors after 24 hours SmallFFTs testing with 4 discrete cores.

I don‘t know what’s wrong with hyperthreading but i just deactivated it and everything is fine again. I will leave it this way. Tank you for your time and advice.

 

 

 

 

 

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