Grand Prix 2 and AMD K6-2 450

I welcome comments from anyone who has experiences with using Grand Prix 2 with an AMD K6-2/450. When I run the game it vanishes completely at a random moment, though usually in the first few minutes of the game, and sometimes happens when taken off pause. It is evident under both Win95 and Win98. Oddly enough the game runs fine at 400 MHZ. I returned the CPU to my supplier for checking, who returned it back to me saying that they had run various tests on it and they could not find anything wrong with it. The chip is marked up as an genuine 450. Is this a CPU incompatibility with GP2 or something else? Just for completeness, the rest of the hardware I use when reproducing this test is -FIC VA-503+ (recommended by AMD) -128MB PC100 RAM -S3 Savage 3D 8MB Video card. Thanks in advance of any comments. regards mart -- =======================================================================

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>I welcome comments from anyone who has experiences with using Grand Prix >2 with an AMD K6-2/450. >When I run the game it vanishes completely at a random moment, though >usually in the first few minutes of the game, and sometimes happens when >taken off pause. It is evident under both Win95 and Win98. Oddly >enough the game runs fine at 400 MHZ. I returned the CPU to my supplier >for checking, who returned it back to me saying that they had run >various tests on it and they could not find anything wrong with it. The >chip is marked up as an genuine 450. >Is this a CPU incompatibility with GP2 or something else? >Just for completeness, the rest of the hardware I use when reproducing >this test is >-FIC VA-503+ (recommended by AMD) >-128MB PC100 RAM >-S3 Savage 3D 8MB Video card. >Thanks in advance of any comments.

First of all check your cooling. K6-2 450MHz requires very good cooling, because it only accepts temperatures up to 60C (not 70C as slower chips). You have to use good cooler and thermal compound between it and CPU. Without thermal compound it wont work (AMD thermal specs require thermal compound). Regards Sebastian Kaliszewski -- "Never underestimate the power of human stupidity" - from Notebooks of L.L.

GP2 has problems with CPU's that are <G> too fast... check & see if they've posted a patch. -- Specialty Tech - Mainboard's, CPU's, Memory and More... Lake Forest, Calif (949) 951-7067 http://www.specialtytech.com >I welcome comments from anyone who has experiences with using Grand Prix >2 with an AMD K6-2/450. >When I run the game it vanishes completely at a random moment, though >usually in the first few minutes of the game, and sometimes happens when >taken off pause. It is evident under both Win95 and Win98. Oddly >enough the game runs fine at 400 MHZ. I returned the CPU to my supplier >for checking, who returned it back to me saying that they had run >various tests on it and they could not find anything wrong with it. The >chip is marked up as an genuine 450. >Is this a CPU incompatibility with GP2 or something else? >Just for completeness, the rest of the hardware I use when reproducing >this test is >-FIC VA-503+ (recommended by AMD) >-128MB PC100 RAM >-S3 Savage 3D 8MB Video card. >Thanks in advance of any comments. >regards >mart >-- >=======================================================================

Well. What makes you think its your AMD? I can tell you (for sure) the problem is not your CPU. If anything you've got trob with your video sub-system, keep in mind AFAIK the only 3D acceleration for GPL is 3dfx glide or Rendition Verite. gringo

ooops..... should have read a bit closer. let the flaming begin..

perfectly overclocked for very long periods of time

It looks like the secondary power supply (that makes 2.2-2.4V) is no good on your board. First, the K6-2 officially requires 2.4V for stable operation, and if your 503+ board is not revision "1.2 ECN 4503 or EO037 sticker", the 2.4 voltage may be not strong enough to supply peak currents for 450MHz operations. You could be lucky to make it work with good cooling, that is correct. You can also try to jack voltage up a little by installing an additional jumper on pins 7-8 (in addition to jumper 3-4), it will give you about 2.47V, still within max specifications. But if you never used a multimeter, do not try to do this, better go and buy a proper board from your dealer who will guarantee the MB/CPU combo compatibility.. Good luck. (speaking only for myself) =--------------------------------------

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> I welcome comments from anyone who has experiences with using Grand Prix > 2 with an AMD K6-2/450. > When I run the game it vanishes completely at a random moment, though > usually in the first few minutes of the game, and sometimes happens when > taken off pause. It is evident under both Win95 and Win98. Oddly > enough the game runs fine at 400 MHZ. I returned the CPU to my supplier > for checking, who returned it back to me saying that they had run > various tests on it and they could not find anything wrong with it. The > chip is marked up as an genuine 450. > Is this a CPU incompatibility with GP2 or something else? > Just for completeness, the rest of the hardware I use when reproducing > this test is > -FIC VA-503+ (recommended by AMD) > -128MB PC100 RAM > -S3 Savage 3D 8MB Video card. > Thanks in advance of any comments. > regards > mart > -- > =======================================================================

margin credit...

Just to report that I have absolutely no problem here running GP2 with a K6-2/380 (95Mhz busspeed, 64Mb PC100 SDRAM). My system was incredibly unstable under Win98. Blamed this on the AMD, but it turned out that the DIMM was bad... Good luck, JoH Please remove *anti-spam* from the email when replying. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= When everything else failed, we can still become im- mortal by making an enormous blunder.... John Kenneth Galbraith =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Thanks to all who replied, They are of much interest! regards, mart -- =======================================================================

Many thanks for a top tip. I squirted some heat transfer compound onto the CPU and refitted the CPU fan, and it has been rock steady ever since. Why don't suppliers mention these things! mart -- Mart Hugh Rogers

>Why don't suppliers mention these things! If one buys boxed CPUs one doesn't need to care about that, because CPU is already equipped with proper cooling. But if one buys OEM part, he is belived to be a system integrator and thus know how to do things properly. If someone buys on grey market then it's his responsibility to do things right. If he has problems he could however ask on the news and get answer/tip. Regards Sebastian Kaliszewski -- "Never underestimate the power of human stupidity" - from Notebooks of L.L.

>>Why don't suppliers mention these things! >If one buys boxed CPUs one doesn't need to care about that, because CPU is >already equipped with proper cooling. But if one buys OEM part, he is >belived to be a system integrator and thus know how to do things properly. I take your point. However it turned out that even my supplier was unaware of the requirment for heat transfer compound when running this chip - one reason why he didn't point it out I guess! mart -- Mart Hugh Rogers