AMD Processor Model Unknown -

[DarkSim905]

Neowin:

I have a Gateway DX4200-09 PC which had a AMD Phenom X4 9100e Quad Core Processor. I recently upgraded (5 minutes ago) to a AMD Phenom II X4 940 (from 1.8ghz to 3.0ghz)

I recently did a BIOS update. My machine seems to be running fine, Windows 7 64-bit. But it does not detect the model of the processor. Should I be worried at all? It detects all four cores; and my Windows Experience Index jumped from 6.5 to 7.3. Should I be worried? Does the detection of the model of processor really matter/affect anything? I have read on many other forums about this problem, and I thought a BIOS update would fix it. In short, it did not. What do I do now?

[Matt]

You have a computer service/consulting company and you're, seriously, asking this question? Come on man lol.

To answer your question, no, it will not affect anything. It's probably a confined issue with whatever motherboard Gateway decided to use with that model PC.

[DarkSim905]

Yeah, because even smart people need help. I've never ran into this issue and only wanted to know if it would affect anything else - I've seen on other forums that people had performance issues because of this, only reason I asked.

[Andre S. Veteran]

  On 20/10/2010 at 05:54, DarkSim905 said:

Yeah, because even smart people need help.

Well said.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

Have you tried burning in the system with something like Prime95 to verify there are no issues after the CPU upgrade?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[DarkSim905]

I started running it shortly after I made that post, around 1AM. It was still running stable, was able to browse these posts and do other things without any problem. Hasn't BSOD or anything. But that is only 6 hrs. Not really going to tell if there are any issues until the thermal paste cures. If I recall on AMD's page for this particular processor, the max temp is 62*C. SpeedFan reported around 145-147*F (63*C - using Google for these conversions). I hope those max temps are a little forgiving. Not sure if that is the same temperature that the BIOS is set to shutdown at. I haven't checked that yet. Will post results when it is all said and done.

[gunny2k6]

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Shared/4006272R/4006272Rnv.shtml

http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=MB64GATDX420009&eq=&Tp=

board is ment for Phenom AM2+, ur using Phenom II AM2+/AM3 hence the Unkown Model ... as the Code to corectly detect and display name and values isnt in the BIOS .... but thats the thing with AMD using same socket type still boots and works ;)

short answer your MOBO and its latest bios are out of date ;) 8/21/2008 versus a xx/xx/2009 processor

"Socket AM2+ versions of the Phenom II (920, 940) lack forward-compatibility with Socket AM3.[8] Socket AM3 versions of the Phenom II are backwards-compatible with Socket AM2+, though this is contingent on motherboard manufacturers supplying BIOS updates. In addition to the Phenom II's pin compatibility, the AM3 memory controller supports both DDR2 and DDR3 memory (up to DDR2-1066 and DDR3-1333), allowing existing AM2+ users to upgrade their CPU without changing the motherboard or memory. However, similar to the way the original Phenom handled DDR2-1066, current Phenom II platforms limit the usage of DDR3-1333 to one DIMM per channel; otherwise, the DIMMs are underclocked to DDR3-1066.[9] AMD claims that this behaviour is due to the BIOS, not the memory controller, and plans to address it with a BIOS update. The dual-spec memory controller also gives motherboard manufacturers and system builders the option of pairing AM3 with DDR2, as compared to competing chips from Intel, which even "require" DDR3."

(Your OLD CPU)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenom_(processor)

vs

(Your NEW CPU)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenom_II

[DarkSim905]

@goretsky: Survived 48 hrs of Prime95. Went slightly over the max temp listed on AMD's page for this processor, but it didn't BSOD or crash. Just hoping/praying I did not damage anything. Now time to get some virtual machines up and running/do some stuff. :)

Thanks for the replies everyone. :)

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

In about 45-60 days, you might want to just repeat the test, just to verify that the temperature has not gone up markedly. If it has, it might be time to consider replacing the thermal paste and heat sink with more efficient ones.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky