Going from 2 to 1 CPUs

[daveleau]

What would happen if I remove one of my processors for troubleshooting? Would the system boot? would it cause any hardware damage? Would the OS, installed with 2 processors in the system, hiccup when it only saw one processor?

System specs:
2 PIII 750 (both w/ Golden Orb cooling)
MSI 694D Pro V1.0
Win2K Pro, no SP

Thanks
Dave

[Mntsnow]

Dave your system shouldnt have any problems booting with the single proc. It might toss out a couple of warnings about a missing proc on boot in the bios but I honestly cant remember if it will. I have that same exact mobo in use with twin 850's but I havent had a proc out of it since I built it.

What does the system seem to be doing that would cause you to pull a chip?

[daveleau]

I have been plagued by computer issues recently. :(

My wife's duallie system had a 20GB WD fail. I had a hard time determining which drive was the problem. I narrowed it down to the correct drive and reformatted and reinstalled b/c of the fact that so many of her programs were on the failed drive, that it woudl be a nightmare to sort out. Now after a reinstallation,t he system is randomly rebooting. I had this problem in my other system and it was the processor that was the problem (all other hardware is now working fine w/ a new processor. So, I want to check and see if one of the processor might be going south in this system too.

I honestly don't know what is causing all of my issues recently. I've had a 60GB and a 20GB drive in 2 diff systems go bad, and a processor die. This is all within a month and a half.

Very strange.

Thanks
Dave

[daveleau]

I am really thinking this is a power issue in this apartment. I just shut down my main system, to see if things would be different, and my wife's system did not reboot and is not working well. Theya re hooked to a UPS, but it does not do line conditioning. Maybe a line conditioner would do the trick?

[daveleau]

Nope, it just rebooted again. :(

[a Bill]

Use better UPS's. I use APC Smart UPS's and have never had a hardware failure in the last 6 or 7 years. Yeah, they cost more initially but my systems are online 24/7 and I'm not replacing parts, just batteries every two years.

It's still possible that your problems are due to something else but with clean power one potential problem is eliminated.

edit: Oh yeah, most motherboards want the first CPU position (CPU0) filled at all times.

[NDC]

Also try another PSU if you have one available, Dave....

[Mntsnow]

Dave do you have access to a AC voltmeter to where you can check what your actual line voltage is at the outlet WHILE you have a load on it? (IE while the computers are running)

[daveleau]

No actually I don't have access to one. I wish I had one because I would love to set one up and watch it when the system randomly reboots. Is that possible to set it up and watch it over time?

I have another 250W PSU I will try. The one in the system is noname, I think.

[Mntsnow]

Oh yes you can "monitor" with many of them (some even have a buffer that is exportable to spreadsheets like excel).

[BBA]

Most of the times I had random reboots from an otherwise stable system it was a dying power supply.