Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Discussion relating to Socket 7 hardware.
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spacemarine
Newbie K6'er
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:04 am
Location: Civis Romanus Sum

Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by spacemarine »

Hi there!

it's been a while since the last time i posted in this forum. Recently i came back on messing with my k6 retrogaming rig, and discovered something weird.

Actually, during the last period i used it (18 months ago) i noticed lot of crashes and general instability. I couldnt really figure out what was that, since i tested ram, hd.
The CPU, which used to run fine at 550 2.0v, now even at stock setting was unstable and crashing, locking up the pc.
This behavior made me forgetting about this PC for a while.

Yesterday, out of boredom, i started messing up with it again, and the instability was still there. I reseated the CPU, reapplied termal paste, even used a thunderbird stock cooler (much better then k6 one).

Temps looked ok in bios, both before and after tests, but it was still unstable (it would crash even copying 1gb of files from 1 hd to another).
Out of desperation, an idea came up to my mind:

Recently i have OCed my main rig, a phenom II, up to 3.8 ghz at 1.45v. While finding stability i noticed that this kind of crash (complete system lock up) is mostly a CPU problem (while blue screens are mostly RAM problems), which could usually be temp related or voltage related.

Since temps where fine i tried to up the voltage, and after a few tests, found that at 2.2v it was mostly stable (i say "mostly" cause i dont have any long test on win9x to use) both at 450 and 550 mhz

That's kinda strange, because it requires an overvolt even at default speed, but reality is reality, now is working ok, before it didn't.

Did anyone else here saw a behavior like that out of their setups?

I think it might be power supply related (age might have made it unable to keep the setting 2.0v at real 2.0v), or MB related (some voltage drop underload, im using a P5BV3+)
Btw i also noticed a strange thing on the CPU pins while reseating it and applying thermal paste: 4 or 5 pins on the outmost line of pins are partly "red" instead of gold.
I dunno if it's rust, it's normal, it's just some gold paint there going away and showing the copper under it or not, but maybe this thing is also related to the problem
Jim
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Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by Jim »

I'd try putting in another power supply. Could be that your power supply is no longer putting out the set voltage.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
spacemarine
Newbie K6'er
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:04 am
Location: Civis Romanus Sum

Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by spacemarine »

Just now i discovered another weird behaviour:

the floppy drive is not working, even if from time to time it makes some sound during boot.

So i swapped it with the one in my main pc (which i cant use anymore there cause the new mainboard has no longer floppy ports), and for sure this one should be working.
Problem is, when installed, it behaved exactly like the other one. So it might be for real a power supply problem (since this floppy problem might be caused by not enough current reaching it).

Now, my problem is that the case im using for this build is a baby AT case, and everything inside (temps, space) are really streched to the limit).
One of the main defects of this case is that the power supply is not only attached with screws to the back panel, but also sits completely on a flat metal panel just in between it and the mainboard which completely cover the power supply intake fan. So, by simply changing the power supply i might end up just destroying another one in a few weeks.

I know that an ATX case would be better in this area, but it would be also much bigger, while this baby at case cant really be seen much, and it's easier to store (especially considering i dont have much space here).

Are u using the k6 in an AT or ATX case?
Jim
K6'er Elite
Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by Jim »

I use AT Cases. Have 4 of them. Not using all of them right now, and I also have 2 unused, (Bought new), 300 Watt AT power supplys I am not using; - where do you live ?
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
spacemarine
Newbie K6'er
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:04 am
Location: Civis Romanus Sum

Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by spacemarine »

hehe Rome Italy, not really worth the shipment :D

Btw, space problem aside, my doubt is also if sticking with old cases for the sake of "hystoricity" is actually worth, cause ATX cases are so much easier to operate with, even the cheap ones.
Jim
K6'er Elite
Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by Jim »

Well, my AT cases have EVERYTHING except the CDROMS "Clipin", and by the way, one other thing worth checking, is does your mobo have any
"Bulging Capacitors" ? i.e. rounded at the top. If so that might be the problem. Cause "Bulging Caps" are shot caps.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
spacemarine
Newbie K6'er
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:04 am
Location: Civis Romanus Sum

Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by spacemarine »

I disassembled everything today, and also checked for gone caps, but didnt found any
James
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Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:51 am
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Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by James »

I would try a new power supply. I just bought a brand new 400 watt AT power supply on Amazon. I bought it as a backup, as they are getting hard to find. Power supply can be an issue, especially when you remove a known good component and all is well. Then you add it back and have issue, Remove a different component and all is well, etc. It never hurts to have a spare power supply.
spacemarine
Newbie K6'er
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:04 am
Location: Civis Romanus Sum

Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by spacemarine »

Should i go for ATX v1.3 or v2 power supplies?
Jim
K6'er Elite
Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by Jim »

If you can find one, I'd go with an AT supply rather than ATX.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
spacemarine
Newbie K6'er
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:04 am
Location: Civis Romanus Sum

Re: Strange behaviors of my k6 3+ 450acz

Post by spacemarine »

but my mainboard is baby AT only in form factor, it does support ATX powersupplies :D

also on the AT case im using the reset switch as power on and the turbo switch as reset
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