AMD Phenom X4 replaces X2 chip

[James]

I have an Asus M2A-VM HDMI motherboard in my home theater system. I just
upgraded the CPU (to X4) & BIOS (to 2302).

My initial problem after the upgrade was the BSOD in 32-bit Vista blaming
the file "amdlld.sys." I booted into safe mode and renamed the amdlld.sys
file. Now the machine boots up fine with no BSOD.

* My question is: is there any Microsoft Vista 32bit system files needed
for the new X4 that I need to install? *

(the AMD website only shows processor drivers for Windows XP and Server
2003. . .but nothing for Vista)

The reason I ask: while my system appears to be working fine. . .the Winrar
benchmarks do not reflect the scores of a typical AMD quad core CPU (about
1350). Instead, I am getting around 350. Something is missing here. But
what?

Thanks in advance,

James

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi James,

You have to reinstall to get the system files rebuilt around the new
processor. There is no alternative to this. As they are, they will not
recognize or use anything beyond the capabilities of the processor they were
install with.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
Vote for my shoe: http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Richard G. Harper]

Do yourself a favor - back up documents and reinstall Vista. This is the
best way to handle hardware upgrades.

 

[Tae Song]

I have an Asus M2A-VM HDMI motherboard in my home theater system. I just
upgraded the CPU (to X4) & BIOS (to 2302).

My initial problem after the upgrade was the BSOD in 32-bit Vista blaming
the file "amdlld.sys." I booted into safe mode and renamed the amdlld.sys
file. Now the machine boots up fine with no BSOD.

* My question is: is there any Microsoft Vista 32bit system files needed
for the new X4 that I need to install? *

(the AMD website only shows processor drivers for Windows XP and Server
2003. . .but nothing for Vista)

The reason I ask: while my system appears to be working fine. . .the
Winrar benchmarks do not reflect the scores of a typical AMD quad core CPU
(about 1350). Instead, I am getting around 350. Something is missing
here. But what?

Thanks in advance,

James

It seems like WinRAR is using only one processor. Is it being detected
properly, are all 4 processors active? Check Device Manager, maybe even
uninstall (but don't delete the drivers) and reboot to redetect.

 

[James]

It seems like WinRAR is using only one processor. Is it being detected
properly, are all 4 processors active? Check Device Manager, maybe even
uninstall (but don't delete the drivers) and reboot to redetect.

Yes, all four cores show up in the device manager. All CPU Meter (by
Addgadget.com) shows four cores. I have some other utility apps that also
acknowledge the presence of all the cores and their temps. They also show up
in Passmark 7.

Just the Winrar benchmark is the only sign that something isn't right. BTW,
the new CPU is a Phenom 9850 Black Edition. It replaced an X2 4400+

I will try your suggestion about uninstalling them in Device manager and let
you know. Thanks.

James

 

[James]

I tried your suggestion. Nothing changed. HOWEVER... Reinstalling Winrar 3.8
did the trick... Now I'm getting around 1350 on the Winrar benchmark. This
is interesting. I am assuming Winrar configures it's own engine depending
upon the current number of available cores/CPUs.

So everything appears fine now with the new X4 chip. Passmark scores are at
par now with other like machines. I'm glad. Because I really hated the idea
of reinstalling everything. What I hate most about that is all those darn
updates (nearly 1GB total) that have to be done between the OS and Office
2007 Pro. This is a bummer when you have a slow internet connection as I do.

Anyway, thanks again for everyone's help.

James

 

[nomore]

This could be your lucky day:
I have a comparable ASUS motherboard in one of my machines and I had the
opposite problem--the X2 processor would never perform as it should but as
soon as I dropped in a Phenom II quad core, a very good processor for the
price, everything worked as it should. What I saw is a not uncommon user
experience, judging from postings on the ASUS user boards. You should search
these as there is much useful info to be gained from the experience of
others.
Based on my real life experience with analogous hardware problems:
I would strongly recommend that you upgrade the BIOS and chipset drivers as
I suspect that something is amiss in the basic operation of the motherboard.
In my experience these ASUS AMD2/3 motherboards will run, albeit imperfectly
with results like what your are seeing if the BIOS is not properly installed
or has been corrupted, which can happen with misbehaving RAM sticks, among
other reasons. Fortunately it is very easy to upgrade the BIOS in these
machines through the set-up program using either a CD or a USB dongle. Read
and understand the instructions carefully before you upgrade the BIOS even
though there is a fall back routine if something goes amiss.
In my experience AMD2/3 ASUS motherboards, and the BIOS settings, are very
sensitive to malfunctioning RAM so you should probably first make sure that
your RAM sticks can pass the Microsoft Memory Test (or whatever you prefer)
booting from a CD/DVD--a clean boot in other words. If the RAM is defective
you will still need to reinstall/upgrade the BIOS.
It is more likely there is a problem with the BIOS/chipset drivers or your
RAM or both than the hardware of the motherboard itself but the latter may
be the problem.
When you update the BIOS you will be at the default settings: do not change
anything, apart from boot device order if you have to, until you also
download the latest chipset drivers from the website and reinstall these.
Sadly the ASUS download site is slow and can be hard to connect to but it is
worth the effort.
It may take a few reboots to get everything working.
If you can get the Phenom II running properly, and I think it is just a
BIOS/chipset driver problem, you should be very happy with its performance.
Reinstalling Vista in any form is utterly pointless as you will be
reinstalling out of date chipset drivers and other garf that makes Vista the
underperforming woof-woof that it is. You will then have to also go through
the multi-gigabyte Microsoft "upgrade" process, a form of torture that
should be outlawed by the Geneva conventions.