The stock processor in the HP EX470 is the paltry 1.8GHz AMD Sempron 3400+ which is a Socket AM2 (940) (AMD part # SDD3400IAA3CN) which is fine for schlepping files between hard drives. But we want real power so in this article as will be upgrading to an 2.6GHz AMD LE-1640 Orleans (45W). Those of you with at least a fifth grade education may have noticed that 2.6GHz is substantially greater than 1.8GHz (sixth graders know that it's 45% greater), but the LE-1640 also increases the processor's L2 cache to 1MB (from 256KB in the Sempron).
Before we proceed, a little fine print.
Replacing the processor will most definitely void your warranty. Although this operation worked for me and my particular computer, I can not guarantee and will not be held liable if it does not work for you or causes damage to your computer. It's also not for the faint of heart. You alone are responsible for your actions.
That out of the way, lets begin.
What you'll need (or Get out your Credit Card)
The processor we will be using is the 2.6GHz AMD LE-1640 Orleans (45w) which can be ordered from Amazon.com for the bargain basement price of only $51 (click here to order).
It appears as thought the LE-1640 had been discontinued on Newegg, but they now sell it again and for only $35. So you should probably check both Newegg and Amazon.com.
You will also need some thermal grease. Everyone that I know of who has ever built their own PC recommends Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound and NewEgg has conveniently placed it near the bottom on the screen as one of the "Essentials".
Normally I skip by all of these up-sell items, but this one you do really need. Just check the box and click "Add item with Selected" which will add both the processor and the thermal grease to your cart.
Installation Instructions
Before you begin, do yourself a favor and run out and get a #00 Phillips head screwdriver. I paid $2.49 for this one at my local hardware store.
- In my article "Upgrade the Memory in your HP EX470 or EX475", I've already explained how to disassemble the HP EX470 so I won't waste column inches here. First, follow steps 1-14 of that article to remove the motherboard and the memory.
- With the motherboard removed and on a work surface, unplug the power supply (the large 20 pin connector) and bend it out of the way. This will help when we remove/replace the heat sink. Note: Click on this and any subsequent picture to enlarge.
- Next we will need to remove the processor's heat sink. To do this, use a medium Phillips head screw driver to loosen the 4 spring loaded screws.
- Gently twist the heat sink back and forth a few times and then use a flat screwdriver to gently pry it upward. Be careful not to damage the motherboard, memory socket or the heat sink. The heat sink is bonded to the processor with thermal paste (which acts like, well, paste) so a little resistance can be expected.
- Now is a good time to thoroughly clean off the old thermal paste as we will be reusing the heat sink. It is recommended that you use isopropyl alcohol, but as I was fresh out, I settled for Vodka.
- Now lets remove the processor. Move the silver lever that locks in the processor, by pulling it outward, to clear the incredibly small white plastic tab holding it down, and then up. Move the lever until it snaps into place, so that it is perpendicular to the motherboard.
- You should now be able to easily remove the processor. Beware that the pins bend very easily, so you should lift straight out of the holes. Assuming that you will be saving this old processor, handle with care and set aside.
- Carefully open the new box containing our new processor. Again, as with removing the old processor, beware that the pins bend very easily if you are not careful. Before you even bring the processor near the socket, orient it correctly so that you can just pick it up and drop it in. The less handling time with this little brain, the better. How do you orient it? Note the key indication (a small triangle) on both the socket and processor. The triangle on the socket is faintly embossed on the white plastic, in the lower left hand corner (so faint it evades photography) while the triangle on the processor is copper (see photo). Pick up the processor (by the green corners or sides) so that it's triangle is in the lower left hand corner and now you may bring it to the socket, lining up the pins with the holes. Again, be nice to those pins. It should just drop in. Do not push, jam, force or otherwise cajole it. If it doesn't fall in, gently realign until it does.
- Lower the lever on the socket to lock the processor in place.
- This might be a good time to place the old processor in the new processor's packaging and put it away in case you ever need it again (like if you ever need to return the EX470 to HP for servicing).
- Apply a small drop of Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound to the new processor (about the size of 1 and 1/2 grains of rice). A good tutorial on best practices can be read here. As Arctic Silver recommends: "less is more".
- Place the heat sink back on the new processor. It should only fit on one way, but the trick here is to look for the serial number. It should be facing you. A printed manufacturer's date should face away from you (at least that's how mine is).
- Tighten the screws in this order: 1 upper-left, 2 lower-right, 3 upper-right, 4 lower-left (i.e. you are making an "X" pattern). Hold the heat sink down with your other hand firmly, so that it really stays put as you as you tighten the screws. But not so forcefully that you crush anything, big guy.
- Reattach the power supply connector that we removed in step 2 above.
- Reassemble the computer, reversing steps 14 - 1 from the "Upgrade the Memory in your HP EX470 or EX475" article.
- Power up the EX470 and you are back in business.
- Use the Vodka from step 5 above and pour yourself a celebration shot!
Oh, if you are just noticing that we didn't use the heat sink and fan that come with the processor, you didn't miss anything. Throw it away, recycle it, paint a face on it and play chess with it, but you don't need it here.
Before and After
Here is a series of before and after snapshots of tests of the system, showing that vital statistics (e.g. system temperature) stay basically the same while we gain roughly 40% in raw system performance over various parameters.
Hardware Status
Here is a look at my hardware status BEFORE the processor upgrade (left) and after (right). You get to this by going to the Hardware Status panel of the Windows Home Server Settings dialog. I have all 4 drive bays loaded with 500 and 750 GB drives and the system was idle and not balancing storage. At first the CPU (and thus the system) ran 3-4 degrees hotter than before. The next morning I was happy to see that it had settled down such that the CPU is now running the same (or 1 degree cooler) and the system temperature is actually 3 degrees cooler.
Resources
On the Resource panel of the Windows Home Server Settings dialog it shows the processor and amount of memory installed. The operating system can not determine the model name of the new processor for some reason, and is reported as "model unknown". This is normal and the likely cause is the BIOS.
CPU-Z Results
Here are the results from running CPU-Z both before and after (click to enlarge):
Both of these screen shots were taken when the processor was active, when idle the core speed would show 1000 and 1800 MHz respectively. This is because AMD CPUs have Cool'n'Quiet Technology which reduces the core speed during periods of low CPU utilization.
Again we see that the new processor is reported as "unknown model".
CPU Test
In the following test, I used PerformanceTest by Passmark Software to to evaluate the system performance before (graph in red) and after (shown in green) the processor upgrade. In this first set of tests, we measure the CPU performance. FYI, in the charts, a larger number is better, although I have no idea why the default report is a negative percent slower rather than a positive percent faster, but that is neither here nor there.
Memory Tests
In this next set of tests, we measure Memory access. Again, a larger "Result" number shows better performance.
Disk Tests
In this last test, we measure disk read and write performance. Here I wouldn't expect such dramatic performance increases as we are dealing with the same hard drive.
Overall Performance Marks
Overall, the new processor performed very well against it's 1.8 GHz predecessor. Making our $55 investment well worth the cost in my opinion.
I stand on the shoulders of giants
Sure I took the time to write out these instructions and did a little background digging and may have suggested that a processor upgrade should be possible in my article "Processor Upgrade for EX470", but I can't take all of the credit. I read over on the MSDN forums that someone by the name of rtsirois and a bunch of folks at mediasmartserver.net had first upgraded their EX470 with a processor that would work. Their work motivated me to turn it into a tutorial so congratulations and thanks for the find!
Will It Float?
Sure the new processor hold up under idle conditions, but how does it fare under full load stress test conditions? I put it to the test in my next article... "Heating Things Up".
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234 comments:
Great article!
How did you decide on the processor you chose to upgrade your server?
Are there other compatible processors? Do you intend to keep this current with other processors that will fit the bill from time to time?
@Dusty - Most definitely I will keep this updated. I started with the LE-1640 as I had heard of others having success with it plus it was priced at a modest $55. I'd love to see a dual core processor in the EX470, but didn't want to gamble buying a processor that I can't return if it doesn't work (and dual core Athlons aren't cheap)! I'm also afraid that anything more might be taxing this little beauty a little too much.
which memory upgrade would be better when used this server/board after upgrading the processor to LE-1640, the
- G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory, which is Cas Latency 4 (CL4)
or the
- Patriot 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory, which is Cas Latency 5 (CL5)
So you don't think that the dual core: AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor - Retail will work? Or you think it is to much for the system to handle?
Thanks
@jorge - I purchased the Patriot before I learned of the G.SKILL. If I had it t do all over again, I would go for the 4-4-4 G.SKILL.
@steve - That is exactly what I'm eyeing right now. I'd love to see if the
AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 2.3GHz might work. From my initial review of the specs, it looks like it might. It's only a matter of $99 to find out, I guess. :) If anyone DOES get this one installed, please let me know and I'll write up a review with new performance metrics.
Thanks Donavon, I don't actually have the Home Server yet. I was thinking I would get everything all at once, the server, the memory and the cpu. Upgrade everything at once when it came in. I'll check back here often. I may give it a try when I order my parts and order the dual core cpu. It would be nice to know if it would work or not before I ordered it .... It does look promising though ....
Thanks,
Steve
The LE-1640 is an odd part. Comparisons on AMD's site don't seem to find it (but do bring up the 1620 and 1600). This may be why the BIOS and other programs don't recognize it. This page does show it, but says it only has a 512KB cache...
The best dual-core part would likely be this 35W part, but it's apparently impossible to find.
I think I'll try out the BE-2400, but it will take me a week or so to get the part and install it. If no one else tries it out, I'll report on it then.
I'm a bit concerned that the BIOS may not support a dual core processor. You may want to hold off a bit or if you do order one, make sure that you can return it or use it elsewhere.
Wow. I just noticed the NewEgg is out of stock on the LE-1640! I guess a lot of people have been reading my article. :) Hopefully they will be in stock again soon.
Thanks for this great tutorial. I've blogged about my own experience doing this at http://www.reiertsen.com and also linked to your article. Hope this is okay!
@TomRay74 - Of course. I'm glad the articles helped.
OK. LE-1640's are back in stock at NewEgg. That didn't take long.
With the Applying the thermal paste step, did you spread out the paste or was the heatsink put straight on what you have in the picture?
@Mastiha - I did NOT spread out the paste. The heat sink will ooze the paste over the surface of the processor. I did, however, twist the heat sink back and forth to help it along.
:( The processor is no longer available at Newegg and they have pulled it entirely. Is there another processor that will work?
@Jack F - That's too bad. Fortunately you can use the LE-1600 or LE-1620 which are the same but run at 2.2 and 2.4 GHz respectively (vs. 2.6 GHz for the LE-1640).
Just a heads up I've posted some info regarding BE-2400 Compatibility over on the MediaSmart forums. In a nutshell: The hardware supports them, but getting WHS to take the change is going to take a little work.
@ymboc - Good luck with your BE-2400 hacking. I'll be monitoring your progress with anticipation. As soon as I fabricate a cable, I'd be happy to help the cause, but you defiantly have a heads up on those of us who are still "blind".
I performed the upgrade as the instructions posted here showed, and I did notice a performance increase.
But since upgrading, the server has occasionally spontaneously shutdown, (with no error in the event viewer to show why, other than an entry that the previous shutdown was unexpected).
Has anyone else had this happen to them?
@rhuss2 - sounds to me like you may have an issue with heat causing a thermal shutdown. Try monitoring the CPU temperature (Settings, Hardware Status from the Windows Home Server Console). Mine never got above 56C even under max load. If you do see the CPU getting hot, try cleaning and re-seating the heat sink. Even something as small as a human hair can cause bad heat transfer to the heat sink.
Just upgraded my proc/memory with the 2.6 and the Gskill repsectively. Everything appears to be working great, my only critique of the guide would be mentioning where the two screws that need to be removed from the mobo are... Removed the wrong two, not that it took more than a moment to correct.
My core temp appears to be a bit high, but system temp is low. Running in the 40s for the CPU but only 28 for the system with one drive installed, (waiting for the corruption bug to be fixed before installing more). I used the thermal grease as suggested in the guide and did about a grain of rice worth, but am not sure about how well it seated. I cleaned the surfaces with arctic cleaner prior to putting everything on, but according to the guide you recommend, could not get the back and forth seating recommended.
Were your temps immediate or did it take a while for the grease to fully seat/cure?
I installed both the memory and the processor at the same time. Absolutely no problems. One word of caution; as mentioned above, there may be an abnormal amount of thermal grease on the processor. As this was my first processor change I was very careful about prying the heat sink off. Despite being careful, the heat sink and the processor came out in one piece overriding that very small tab holding the processor into the socket. No damage, but be aware that this could happen. Thank you all again for your instructions and comments. What a difference.
I did the memory upgrade a few months ago and had no problems. My new CPU is on order and I just downloaded CPUZ and CPU-Burn-In to do so pre and post evaluations. However, I can't get CPUZ to run on my server. I copied the CPUZ to the shared Software folder then remote desktop into my server to run it and I keep getting an access error. Am I doing something wrong?
In addition to my previous questions about CPUZ and CPU Burn-In, I'm concerned about the following. I'm soon to be moving and my HP MSS may end up in a closet or laundry room. I'm concerned about heat, especially since I'm upgrading the CPU. Would you suggest I get some type of CPU cooling system?
I did this upgrade a week ago with my EX470. Still running strong, and I'm very pleased with the performance increase! Thanks for making this article!
Hello,
I finally got my CPU upgraded. However at idle the CPU Clock Speed is 1000, not 1800 as you previously stated. When I run CPU Burn-In, the clock speed jumps to 2600. The sys temp goes from 43 to 47 and the CPU temp goes from 47 to 58 in only 2 minutes. Prior to the upgrade, both my system and CPU temps hung arount 37 degrees. What do think?
What about upgrading the CPU to the newly released Athlon X2 4050e?
This is hot!
Unfortunately, my processor upgrade has failed with a thermal trip at 50C (system shuts down).
Currently awaiting RMA'd CPU from NewEgg as no one else has reported an issue with the LE-1640 in the EX470.
Hi,
I have finally given up on this upgrade. I bought a 1640 10 days ago, and despite numerous attempts to install, it kept shutting down due to heat, event log reporting cpu temp of -127c and shutting down. Re-installed sempron 3400+ and all well again Mem increased to 2 gidg, so wondering what to do next re cpu upgrade
Check this out for info about installing an AMD X2 processor. It also has information about why the new processor isn't being recognized.
It would have helped if I had remembered to put the link in my previous post. Doh!
http://mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1102&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30
Hello everybody,
Would the AM2 Athlon X2 processor be compatible with the HP e470 server? Tks
Does anyone know where you can buy the motherboard (alone) used in the HP 475 or something similar? Or who makes it?
I think I read somewhere it’s a mini-DTX board but could not find anywhere selling them (US).
thanks
Does anyone have any power consumption data to compare the before and after wattage of the box? I'm curious how much more power is drawn using the faster CPU. For a box that is supposed to be on 24/7 even a few watts can make a difference over a year.
Excellent, and easily done!
I was running the OEM on my own home made system, and actually became convinced that I wanted to buy the ex470, so ...
Picked up the home server for $400.00 - someone was selling it as they got it as a gift.
Bought a 2 gig stick of Kingston RMD2-667/2G for 34.95 + tax for a total of 38.98.
Bought a retail box AMD Athlon 1640 processor for 55.99 + tax and a tube of OCZ ultra 5+ Silver Thermal Paste for 7.50 + tax for a total of 71.74.
This all added up to MONEY WELL SPENT!
510.72 Canadian (I am in Ontario).
This walk through was so clear and perfect it is sickening, for those of you reading the posts prior to the upgrades, and listenining to people say how clear it is.. well, it is, nothing is left out...
Well, I will add that the purchase of a #00 phillips is worth the investment over the jewlers tools. Also, thanks to all those that stripped their screws ahead of me, it taught me to apply firm pressure and careful turning, went off without a hitch, but wow, can I see how they could strip.
Also, when pulling out the board, the power connector on the right side might just ever so barely get caught, and wiggling is suggested, don't panic, it is barely caught.
I could not muster the bravery to pull off that crazy tight power connector before removing the heat sink and cpu, but it was a little easier to pull off after, and replacing after the cpu and heat sink was replaced.
Thank you for an AMAZING DIY, once again, wow, detailed!
As I type this, I am burning in the silver paste, and am about to set my page file.
Did I say amazing post yet?
Hey everyone! I thought I would drop a little note here that I tried to install a dual core processor in my EX745. I installed the AMD X2 64 4050e ($60 @ newegg). The server would not boot. I have switched back to the LE-1600 I dropped in a few weeks ago and everything went back to normal. By the way, the 1620 is no longer available as an upgrade option.
I will try this again in the future as soon as I figure out how to get into the bios.
One thing to note: While people are complaining that PP1 has ruined there machines, I believe the issue is the underpowered server itself. By installing the LE-1600, My lags have gone away. Before the upgrade my processor would spike to 100% for 8-10 seconds every 20-30 seconds. The problem seems to be caused by HomeServerConsole.exe. Upgrading to a stronger processor with a larger cahce has helped this problem.
Really nice guide.
I wonder if anyone can tell me how much power "watt" the HP EX470 consume.
1. With standard cpu 1-4 hdd, both load and nor load.
2. With the new cpu, both load and not load.
The 1640 cpu has less TDP (45w) I wonder if it use less power?
Thanks guys.
The HP EX470/475 MediaSmart Server is a great little box at a great price. But this comes at the compromise of performance.
=====================================
WoW Gold
phillipa
Installed the processor upgrade last night, I did not note the temps before (stupid) but next morning my temps are not inline with the guides results.
System is 31C
CPU is 37C
Both temps are at idle.
Under load System stays at 31C but CPU jumps to 59C within a few minutes.
I've done literally hundreds of CPU installs over the past 15 years, did I miss something here?
Just a quick question: Has anyone tried installing a LE-1660, since that is still available from retailers?
Realy great work!!
RAM + Processor update took me less than 30 minutes.
And everything works very fine.
Temperature never got above 50C even under max load. Maybe because I used the Arctic Silver MX2 thermal compound?
Really love to see, if dual-core will work.
Greetings from germany
Mike
I just purchased an EX-470 with the GSkill 2GB Kit and the newer LE-1660 Cpu (Lima core) and wanted to let everyone know that it works! Cpu idles at around 38C though. I may try reseating and reapplying AS5 if I run into any thermal issues. So far so good.
Zippa.
The HP box with two drives uses about 60W on idle and another 8W for each additional drive. It's covered in the documentation.
http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01276565.pdf page 154.
See here for a comparison of the HP with a couple of other systems.
http://www.ademiller.com/blogs/tech/2008/09/building-a-green-windows-home-server-the-37-watt-server/
IMO HP haven't really done a good job on the power consumption side of things. There hardware uses more power than it should.
Ade
Would The MediaSmart Server EX475 support the AMD Dual Core? Specifically: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800+ Brisbane 3.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor
Newegg has the processor 2.6 recommended as a Deactivated Item.
Would love to know if a AMD dual-core would work?
Excellent tutorial! Thank you :)
My machine is actually running cooler, although I did install MSS fan control too.
I did run into one problem. Step 6 should include that if the processor comes off with the heatsink one should "twist" it off. I tried to pry it up and actually put a small nick in the heatsink. The amount of thermal paste that HP had on there was insane! The processor was literally glued on with paste squeezing out all four sides (I took pictures but haven't a clue where to post them).
The processor I used was the LE-1640, the box indicates it is a 2.6 GHZ 1 MB L2 cache but the description at the online site says it's "AMD Athlon 64 LE-1640 Single Core Processor 2.7GHZ Socket AM2 512KB L2 Cache 45W Retail Box" and there is a small sticker on the box that has those specs. It works :)
to everyone, I know tigerdirect is the backside of the industry but they have both the processor and the memory he used in this tutorial and both work fine.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3776582&CatId=2324
I've had my EX470 for about a month now and decided to do the CPU and memory upgrade using the G.Skill and the LE-1640. After only a day I had to pull the CPU out and put the stock one back in because of heat issues (shutting down and boot issues). The 1640 CPU was running at 41C when idle and was getting up to over 50C with a small load. I was even using the MSS Fan Control add-in to help cooling.
I think something is different with my EX470 because the article says the stock CPU was running at 28C but mine runs at 38C. It's strange because the temps for system and CPU are opposite of what was in the article. My system is 29C and my CPU is 38C (with stock CPU). In the article system was 41C and CPU was 28C. From the pictures it doesn't appear that the hardware is different.
Oh well, at least I get the memory boost. That helps a lot.
Anyone need a LE-1640 CPU? I'll sell it to you cheap.
I don't know if there are differents revision of motherboard, but I did the installation (2GB Transcend DDR2-800 & AMD-1640) and for overheat reason (I guess). My WHS worked fine the first 10 minutes then shutdown, then, boot-shutdown, boot-shutdown, boot-shutdown... After tests, I reinstalled the original CPU and work well for the next 3 days w/RAM upgrade. Is there any jumper setting or BIOS update needed before CPU installation?
Newegg's supply of LE Orleans processors seems to have dried up over the long hot summer. So I've modified my article to source the LE-1640 from Amazon.com.
@Frédérick - there are no jumper setting needed. Both mods are plug and play. I would re-check your heat paste making sure you have a thin layer without any debris that may cause air pockets.
Donavon,
From what I've been able to research on the internet, the Athlon LE-1640 exists in two versions.
The older one is based on on stepping F3 (frequency 2.6 GHz and 1 mb cache, based on the 90 nm core orleans) and the newer one on stepping G2 (2.7 GHz and 512 KB cache, based on 65 nm core lima).
If this is correct and given the choice between a LE-1640 with 512 L2 cache and a LE-1620 with 1MB L2 cache, which would be the better option?
I have a few AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core ( 6000+ Socket AM2 2 x 1152KB Cache operates @ 3000Mhz ) at work spare , would that be to much for the MediaSmart
I have the HP EX470, followed your suggestion and ordered the AMD LE 1640 and the G.Skill 2GB of memory. Both installed with no problems, but I now notice the CPU runs at a 100% all the time. The culprit seems to be wmccds.exe (Network Service) uses 80-100% of the CPU at all times. The CPU seem to stay at 59C , the fans hover around the 1800 RPM range. Any ideas on what’s up with that??
NEWEGG hast the processor again and the memory is on sale for 30.99
Hi and thanks for the great Hacks that you have shared with us. I wanted to know if this processor will work.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor
If it won't work can you let us know of any dual-core processors that will?
Regards,
Tony
Update to wmccds.exe causing the CPU to run at 100%. I found this posting http://social.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/whspowerpack1beta/thread/95aabdef-5764-455a-b202-e98d2fbd3c78
wmccds.exe has something to do with media sharing, once I turned off media sharing under setting on the WHS consol, the CPU dropped back to idle and the CPU temp went from 59C to 30C.
Trouble after upgrading CPU to AMD LE-1660 on EX-470
I have a EX-470 that I've added 3 x 1TB drives internally, a external RAID tower with 2 x 1 TB and 2 x 1.5TB drives, and added an external 1TB and 1.5TB usb drives. My total disk space is about 11 TB of which I'm using about 5TB so far.
Based on storage monitoring program I have, none of my data seems to be stored on the original WHS 500GB harddrive that came with the unit.
After reading all the articles about upgrading I already upgraded the memory to 2GB Corsair dual memory with 4-4-4-12 latency. This configuration has been working great for a couple months now.
Now the probleme, I just recently upgraded my cpu to AMD Atholon LE-1660 2.8GHz 45W processor. I had read the articles about upgrading to LE-1640 and saw a few posts that indicated that LE-1660 would work so after not finding a LE-1640, I bought a LE-1660 from newegg and the upgrade seemed to go well except for the following.
The processor temperature seems to run normal. When I get WHS Console to run it shows the CPU temp at 38C with the system temp about the same. I've even put a big fan in front of the unit that has been keeping it to about 32C.
Problem 1:
The system works but I'm having a problem with WHS Console and the fact that the unit locks up after a while.
It's weird because once I turn on the unit, it allows me to see and modify all my shared files on the unit and I can remote desktop on the server without a problem. However, if I try to log on to WHS Console from a remote computer or from within the remote desktop of the server it takes a little while and then once the WHS Console does come up it seems almost locked up. I can move my cursor all over the WHS Console selecting things without anything happening. If I wait about 10 mins or so, WHS Console finally starts to respond. When it does respond, it responds faster now than before I did the processor upgrade. Everytime, I reboot the server the same things happens.
Problem 2:
After a while, say about 30 to 40 minutes the server seems to lock up. It kicks me off any connections I have (i.e., it kicks me off remote desktop, WHS console, or losses connection with the shared files) and then it tells me that the server connection is not available. Additionally, when I look at the lights of my USB harddrives that are attached to the server, they seem to be lock also because they stop blinking or moving (which the always do under normal operation).
Proposed solution:
I am think of trying to reistall the OS on the WHS server. The problem is that I'm afraid that if I do it will wipe out my 5TB of data files.
Questions
Is there a way to re-install the OS without wipping out the data? Is it possible to remove all the drives except the original 500GB drive (the one that came with the unit when I bought it), re-install the operating system on the WHS server and then re-install the other drives and have them recognized by the WHS without trying to format the drives and losing all the data.
Any other ideas would be helpful.
Thanks.
frc-es, I too had a somewhat similar problem but not to your extreme, the lag was driving me insane tho'. I uninstalled the add-on: PV Connect Media Server and everything worked fine again.
In response to re-installing you WHS OS, I found this posting on the Microsoft forums.
http://social.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/whsfaq/thread/cdb387f1-9baa-4ae3-a74b-ff351dc1c0bf/
Greetings Donovan from Sweden,
I noticed that you wrote this article in late March of 2008. Things happen quickly and one drawback from being on the other shore of the great Atlantic is that models and brands might not be available at our mail order companies. You recommend the AmD processor LE-1640 in the processor upgrade. If I can't find THAT particular model what model would be compatible? Also you recommend G.skill 2 GB 240 pin memory module. That is a brand we definitely don't get here in Sweden som what else would you recommend? Any PC2 5300/Sdram DDR2 667 Mhz module at 2 GB?
Hey Donavon
Thanks for the Step by Step, simply Awesome..
Will the EX475 take a AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor Model ADH4850IAA5DO.
Heck its only 50 bucks
Thanks so much for the post. I had never done anything like this before. I had changed Ram in a notebook, but nothing like this. In an hour's time, which included 10 minutes of getting thermal paste off of my hands by washing them, taking it ridiculously slow and being utterly careful, and even changing my 15 month old's diaper for 15 minutes, I had installed new ram and the new processor. These instructions are blatantly clear and dummy proof. Wow. This makes a HUGE difference in performance.
By the way, the processor is at Newegg again...and another price drop..$42.99 w/ free shipping
I've just received my processor...bought from Amazon on 11/21. It came with a heat sink and attached fan. Also, the heat-sink already has thermal paste pre-applied in a very thin film.
I haven't yet disassembled the EX470 so I'm not sure if the heat sink/fan that came with it will actually fit but...
Does anyone know, or has anyone used, the heat sink/fan combo that comes with the processor purchase? I'd like to use it since there seems to be a few people with overheating issues.
Paul I have done both the ram and processor update on my server. There is no room to use the fan and heat sink that comes with the processor. You need to use the heat sink that came with your MSS 470.
Thanks Tony....I had a feeling after looking down in there that might be the case. I appreciate your quick reply. I'm off to get the paste.
I just performed the upgrade. 2GB GSkill RAM and 2.6GHz 1660 processor. First ever processor upgrade - too easy.
Everything works like a charm. Sys/CPU temps are 37/30 with fans running in the 1390 rpm range about an hour after install. Now for firing up Wiist and seeing about that sharepoint site...
Thanks a ton Donavan for your pics and instructions and Hello! from SoCal.
Paul...John Bick over at Media Smart Home suggested that I cure the thermal paste. His quote is
"Be sure to shut that unit down overnight (by now if not before) and let that thermal paste cure for a couple cycles. Your temperatures will likely drop another couple degrees.
A couple hours of "off" time should be fine. I generally recommend doing it twice, about 24-hours apart. "
I installed the LE-1640 2.6 GHz CPU. After curing the thermal paste and using the MSS Fan Control add on am running temps of 23 cpu and 25 system.
Good luck and thanks to everyone who shares their expertise on these websites. It sure kept me from "experimenting" on my MSS 470
Great article.
There seems to be limited options with the processor and memory. Did any one try replacing the motherboard?
If any one has tried please let me know. For about $100-120 There are plenty of options.
regards,
Srini.
Could use some help...
I just got a EX470 yesterday, took it out of the box, took it apart and upgraded to the LE-1640 following all instructions I've seen on several forums. Fired it up and ran fine for 2+ hours (enough time to do all the setup and load 4-5 Add-ins, browse around, etc.) While installing the last Add-in, My Movies, which installs SQL*Server, it simply shut off.
Started it back up and came up for about 5 minutes then shut down. After that, it would not come up; just sat there with blue flashing health light.
Let it sit for about an hour and it came back up for about 3 minutes continuing the SQL*Server install and shut down again. I had just enough time to make a screen shot of the hardware status. I'm trying to find out what the max temp can be before it shuts down -- or could it be something else?
My Confiuration:
- three 500GB drives
- original RAM (my 2GB stick hasn't gotten here yet)
- R3 BIOS
- very latest OS updates
Here are the values from the HW status page: (see image below)
Fans running at 1394 rpm
System Temp - 34 C
CPU Temp - 43 C
Voltage values look fine
I tried to install the Fan Control Add-in, but received error 1618. That's all I could see because it shutdown about 10 secs later.
Any help, comments, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated....
Thanks, Paul
Attachment:
CPU Upgrade Temp.jpg [ 410.24 KiB | Not viewed yet ]
@Paul, I'd take it apart again to see if something isn't quite right. Too much thermal grease maybe? Not enough? Those funky screws down too tight? Any chance something got disconnected when you put it back together? Another suggestion I've seen is to shut it down for 24 hours to let the thermal grease cure, then fire it back up and check your temps. From your system temp it seems it's not in a room that's too hot, but definitely has to do with only your cpu, is it working overtime? Good luck :)
@Kansas A
Thanks for your comments.
I just did finish taking it apart and the thermal grease spot looked terrific...covered about 95% of the CPU in a nice circle.
I recleaned, applied grease and put back together. Started it up, felt the lower fan air and it was just barely warm.
The system shutdown after about 5 minutes again.
I guess I'll let it "breathe" for a day and go from there.
@Paul, I applied only about the size of 1.5 grain of rice right in the center. The instructions I found were from the Arctic Silver company. Those instructions are in a pdf document located here at their site:
Arctic Silver
Too much can be as bad as not enough.
Small typo in the first paragraph - I quote:
upgrade the skinny 512k to a whopping 2GB
While it is a bit palty by today's server standards, the EX470 actually ships with 512 Meg of RAM, not 512K...
@KH -- Wow, what a contribution....
Hi,
I installed a le-1640 with 2gb of RAM and everything work great.
for those who have problems with they unit be sure to upgrade the RAM before upgrading the CPU.
leave the battery alone you dont need to toutch it!
or you will have to reset the time of your machine.
you can try the Zalman super thermal grease ( ZM-STG1)
BTW the LE-1640 is at 44$ at Fry's
and you can get the RAM 2gb DDR2 5300 for 23$ at Fry's
1Tb HD maxtor for 108$ still at Fry's
PS: I saw a lot of you who try to instal CPU's with a lot of watts
remember more Watts= more heat
more heat= less speed out of this machine...you are limited in air flow!!!
Comp: hp M9430F 8Gb RAM Gforce9600GT
EX470: LE-1640 (45W), 2gb DDR2 5300
4TB HD.
System: 29.C, 34.C High stress
CPU: 32.C, 38.C High stess
Router: Belkin Vision N1
Cheers
Alain
Newegg has the
AMD Athlon 64 LE-1640 Orleans 2.6GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W Single-Core Processor - Retail
in stock for $35.99. The link is below.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103239&nm_mc=TEMC-Function-PriceAlert&cm_mmc=TEMC-Function-PriceAlert-_-Content-_-text-_-N82E16819103239
I just performed the memory and cpu upgrades using parts purchased from newegg on a HP EX475. It is running a standard configuration with the exception that I also run Symantec Endpoint Protection Version 11.0 on this machine.
Prior to performing the upgrade I wrote a simple script to copy directory containing 42MB spread across 60 audio tracks varying in size from 176kb to 1mb. The script copied the entire directory to a laptop then back to the server. Before the upgrade the copy from the server took 31.968 seconds, to the server took 44.140 seconds. After the upgrades the same copies took 28.375 seconds (from) and 31.953 seconds (to).
The laptop used was a Dell Latitude D630 with 2Gb of ram. The network connection was a 54Mb wireless link to a Linksys WRV54G wireless router.
Great job on the tutorials!
great article, i just ordered a ex470 from hp.ca. i am in canada.
for all of you canadians, both parts referenced in this cpu and ram article are available at newegg.ca cheaper than the prices quoted here now.
the ram is 28.99 cdn, and cpu is 43.99 cdn. links below
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103239
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231119
cant wait to get the ex470 box and both upgrades, and put it all together. do the new seagate 1.5tb drives work in this box?
to speak in Ade Millers words, the HP EX470 needs too much power. Sure it`s a nice product, but compared to others it fires out too much watts for nothing!
http://www.ademiller.com/blogs/tech/2008/09/building-a-green-windows-home-server-the-37-watt-server/
so I would like to go in a different way as you folks did so far: More efficienty than stock with less consumption, lower temperatures and lower noice.
the magic word is "Lima" !!
pls check this article at Tom`s Hardware:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Atom-Athlon-Efficient,1997.html
here you can see the AMD Athlon 2000+ (Socket AM2=same as stock) will only need 8 Watts ..... WHICH IS BETTER THAN INTEL ATOM !!!!!
this one should be the actuall "Lima" Series with low power consumption so far:
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 65nm, 2.20GHz, tray (ADH3500IAA4DE)
this CPU should be also much faster than stock CPU, but you will never have overheating problems!
Beside this I am going to buy these Western Digital green drives WDC WD10EACS which lower speed from 7200 to 5400 when not needed. That will reduce heat, noice and watts too.
of course I will do the 2GB RAM mod also.
well, this is my plan so far after reading 2 days regarding HP EX470, before that I wrote a hole week to decide between different NAS. My favorite so far was QNAP, but now I am sure, I going to buy this nice HP EX470 which is nearly the only modable on market!
Greets to all from Austria,
Geri
I just received my EX470 and preread the instructions which state that when I set it up, it will immediately backup the computer I used to set it up. The issue is I have more than 500G worth of data on this computer - can I decline from the back up and set it up later when I receive my 1.5T drive?
First: I love the directions contained in this blog!!!!
Second: To answer the question of whether a 1.5 TB will work in the WHS...Yes. I have installed two and all of the memory shows up. No problems a week later.
Third: Question for the "Super Geeks," can I use Acronis to clone the system drive and replace with a larger one???
WOW, this totally sucks, both my memory and CPU upgrades failed. Ordered both, the GSKILL and 1640 from newegg, and neither work. I can revert back to the original CPU and memory no problem, but with either or both of the upgrade parts, I get poweroff, or flashing red/blue...
Thanks for all the info and comments on this site. I bought an EX475 and did both the 2 GB Corsair RAM and the Athlon LE-1640 CPU upgrade before ever turning it on. The RAM cost $22.99 and the CPU cost $40.00. I bought both at Fry's Electronics retail store and everything went perfectly.
Since I never had started the system before I have no way of making a comparison of performance, but it seems to be performing well.
I will monitor temperature and will report back.
WOW!!!
The Ram and Processor upgrade well worth it... great step by step.
I have my ex475 setup to do lots of things... it stores all my source code for projects and I even run VMs from the shares. It was doing ok stock, but man this is GREAT.
Thanks!!!
Followed the steps closely. Not new to building computers...
After installing everything yesterday, my internet went down. The system powered up fine. I did not access it, but all looked normal. Today in reseting my internet, I noticed that i could not get an IP address to my router until I unplugged the Homeserver. I powered it down, got internet and then powered back up. After the power up, all drive lights are solid red.
I took the server apart a number of time and reapply heat sink grease. No change. Reinstalled old CPu, no change. Installed new hard drive, no change, all four drive lights are red and the status light is purple.
Any thoughts??
Got a hold of HP. Looks like I was hit with a number of things that really does not make sense.
Hard Drive corruption and my 2 GB Ram chip would not work.
I was very careful, but installed the 512 and it is working again.
The red lights generally mean a RAM issue according to the tech. Did that and actually got some response back.
Will cross my fingers on the restore..
R
I upgraded RAM to 2G and it worked fine. Processor upgrade to 1640 wudn't work. EX470 boots up and after few mins shuts down by itself. Went back to stock processor and it works fine..
I would like to find out why some of these upgrades work and some do not.
I followed the steps outlined and except for using the G.Skill memory everything seemed to be in order. Now I did find out that my EX470 is one of the first manufactured which would lead me to believe there could be something with the bios.
Can we upgrade the BIOS and what should we have to make sure this is successful???
I have had the repeated shut downs as well and have been unsuccessful in doing this much desired upgrade.
EX470
Now 512 Stock Ram (god its slow)
Ordered the g.Skill 2gb Ram and the AMD 1640 processor (another one as a back up)
BIOS: 1.3.6.21622 R02 7-13-2007
Awesome work!!
RAM and Processor update took me less than 30 minutes.
And everything works very great.
System and CPU Temperature Stable at 30C 27C even under max load CPU Temperature nevers reaches 50C.
Thanks for the great tutorial.
After the G.Skill and 1640 upgrades, my system is faster, but also a little hotter. I am wondering if it is worth redoing the artic siver thermal paste. And if I do, should I get it as clean as I did the first time? The server is sitting in a room temperature of 26.7 °C [80.1 °F]. The temperature before the upgrades were System 30 °C and CPU 30 °C. After the upgrade I have 35 °C and CPU 37 °C. If that is reasonable, I should probably leave it alone. But is it reasonable?
I just did the CPU upgrade (having done the RAM upgrade when I got my EX470 two months ago.
I had some A. S. 'Arctic Alumina' around and I used it rather than order the regular A. S. paste. Something that surprised me was how 'ridged' the bottom of the heat sink was. I used more paste than is recommended given that the heat sink ridges seem to ask for more given all of the space between each ridge (relatively speaking).
All seems well. As a side note, both the WHS console and CPU-Z correctly identify the LE-1640 chip.
You recommend that paste over the other? Do you think that made a difference. I was very care to do the rice grain measurement. I even thought I did too much and backed off.
Thoughts???
Arctic Alumina was introduced years ago as a cheaper product that would still work well. For a high power CPU I'd go with the AS 5. I just had it around and figured it would work OK. (When it came out it performed like AS 2.)
I also spread it manually, as I wondered if the ridges on the heat sink would reduce the 'spreadability' - I just didn't trust the 'rice grain in the middle' approach in this case.
With the change, my system temp is usually about 28C, and the CPU ranges from 28C idle to 52C at 100%.
I should note that I replaced the system fans with Silenx fans, which are very quiet, but which are constant speed. Were I going to run ths system at 100% CPU I'd go with more powerful (adjustable) fans.
I did do one attempt at manually applying the grease, but I did it with a thin layer to the CPU not the heat sink.
You gave it a good covering? I will try that.
Also was there any addiitonal modifications you need to do with the fans?
Where did you purchase them from?
Thanks!
First off - GREAT post!
Shylock - did you get set up? Interested in hearing how your 1.5TB Seagate drive is working... some pretty negative reviews online.
I want to order a drive, ram and processor in one shot, but would like to hear from anyone who has put a Barracuda drive in their server.
Thanx all!
i did the ram and cpu upgrade.
my whs idles at 36c system and 50c cpu :(
not good
Mine did the same thing until i went under settings, media sharing and turned media sharing off.
mine is off :(
Well, I'm going to need a little help. I followed the instructions on here and upgraded my EX470 with the G.Skill 2GB and AMD 1640.
After I powered on, all the drive light turn red then shut and the health light turns solid red then blinks red before the light goes out. I then have no drive lights, no health light and the on/off and network lights are solid blue.
I can't access the server and the server seems to be doing nothing. After about 5 to 6 minutes, the server shuts off. The next time I turn it on, it does the same thing except the machine shuts after about 30 seconds from when the health light goes from blinking to off.
I tried going back to the original 512k and Sempron but the problem stayed. I don't know if it matters but I probably have one of the earliest EX470s built. Thanks for any help anyone can provide.
Thanks again for the great tutorial.
More than a week after the LE-1640 and g.skill upgrades, I noticed that I no longer have two different temperatures reported on Hardware Status under Windows Home Server Settings. I used to get bouth "System" and "CPU" temperatures reported, but now only see "CPU", and the value is shifted upwards to where the old "System" time label used to appear. Any ideas what is causing this? I would guess that for some reason, the software no longer has one of the temperature inputs. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks,
I found a post that indicates
"The System Temperature has been removed from the Hardware Status tab, presumably due to the numerous instances of incorrect readings that have been reported from the thermal sensor located on the backplane."
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2009/01/21/hp-releases-hpmss-13-r1-software-update/
I was jumping to the conclusion that I had broken something, and went back through and redid the heatsink grease; that may have been a waste of time, but (1) at least I have a reason for the disappearance of the system temperature display, and (2) I decided to put a little more artic silver this time, as one edge of the processor was evidently not covered the first time. I would estimate 80 to 85% coverage was what I had originally.
Hope this makes sense - sure would be unhappy to lose this great toy.
OK,
so I thought I would give it another shot with the memory and server upgrade. This time I followed David Rey’s comment,
“I also spread it manually, as I wondered if the ridges on the heat sink would reduce the 'spreadability' - I just didn't trust the 'rice grain in the middle' approach in this case”.
My CPU temperature started at 41°C to a high of 52°C while moving a large amount of files.
I then installed the MSS Fan Control add in and left the default settings in place with the exception of kicking the fans up about 50 RPM for each.
After a copy of days I am seeing a maximum temperature of about 44° when moving larger files. I am currently running 3.5tb. It has been three days and so far so good. Today I will run some media through the system and see what temps I reach.
Thanks for everyone’s input
Rod
well, after two self-shotdown and idle temp at 55c the whs is back to the originale cpu.
the upgrade was a waste of money. thats my opinion.
after the last self-boot the whs would not even start.
if anyone know wht this happends i would love to get som help :)
-e
got a 2GB gskill and a BE-2300, 8hrs later still running cool :D guess i'm lucky.
I have the same problem as Pauper. Pauper did you find a solution ??
Great Blog Donavon. Thanks!
My upgrade to the Athlon 64 LE-1640 failed.
My Confiuration:
- three 500GB drives
- 2GB GSkill RAM
- 1.3.8.25155 software version
- R02 BIOS
- Latest OS & MediaSmart updates
With LE-1640 installed, EX470 boots up and after few mins shuts down by itself. To make sure installation was good, re-cleaned, re-applied Arctic Silver 5 and put back together. Same result. At one point was able to get console session and temperature looked okay (30C).
Went back to stock processor, everything works fine.
Has anyone had successful upgrade with R02 BIOS? I've seen reference to R03 BIOS in posts. Is there a way to upgrade? Any other suggestions?
Thanks
Yet another satisfied customer here, as I just finished an LE-1640/G.Skill 2gb upgrade to my EX475. Slim application of AS5 and its idling at 28c and runs noticeably faster in all respects.
*Two thumbs up*
Processor on newegg.ca is now Deactivated or discontinued ...
Found this:
AMD Athlon 64 LE-1640 Single Core Processor 2.7GHZ Socket AM2 512KB L2 Cache 45W Retail Box
on NXIC.com for $49.45 ... will this processor work? It is 2.7GHz not 2.6GHz but the rest of the specs seem identical.
Ian
I believe the problem is a defective drive and not anything to do with the upgrade. I'm not sure what the chances are but it seems like one of my drives failed right before I shut it down to perform the upgrade.
Would this processor work? AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor They have it at newegg for around $50
Today I failed at upgrading my 470 processor with an Amd Athlon X2 5050e Box 45 W.
After installing the processor, I was not able to contact the server with the recovery disk.
But I will continue to working on a solution.
Successful upgrade to the LE-1640. FYI - CPU-Z reports my board as having BIOS R02.
Managed to get an OPEN BOX CPU from Newegg for $30 delivered after the main item deactivated. Was a little nervous about the returned item but upgrade went without a hitch.
Anyone know how to get rid the of the processor model unknown?
To the poster above, I'd bet that X2 is simply not supported.
Anyone had heat issues after upgrading the processor? i upgraded to the AMD 2.6 ghz processor as stated in the article. the server worked fine for about 10 minutes after which i started to move files around and it just shut down. i open the front panel, the heat sink was extremely hot. it seems as though if you are upgrading the processor the server have to be in a cool area at all time as the processor heat sink do not have a fan nor can one be installed to cook things down. especially under high stress.
I followed the instructions very carefully last weekend and upgrade my EX470 eith the AMD LE-1640. The upgrade went off without a hitch and I was very impressed with the increased performance. Unfortuantely about a day and a half later the server stopped running and attempts to bring it back up caused it to shut off after about 5 minutes (not long enough for me to bring the console window up). I re-read the notes carefully and found the discussion about the Artic Silver needing to "cure". So I did everything over again very carefully and I also used the 2 part cleaning solvent that I purchased with the Artic Silver. I then cycled the server for 2 and half days roughly 8 hours on and 8 hours off. On the 3rd day the server refused to stay up for more than 5 minutes (again not long enough for me to get the console up). I have to believe this is a thermal problem but I don't know how to view the logs. I'm assuming that I need to do this one more time and use mstsc.exe to access the system but I could realy use some help to find the correct log to view. I am very puzzled as to why I am not able to get this to stay working. I love the speed improvement and really don't want to go back to the old CPU.
Help!
Peter - I went thru a few tries on this upgrade and did the following 1) made sure to clean off all the old Artic Silver
2) I also cleaned the fans as best I could and vacuumed the vents since mine were rather clogged with dust
3) I left the server on for 24 hours but didn't use it much hoping this is good enough to cure the Artic Silver
I have a fully loaded system and it has been running for a couple of weeks now with no problems. I also don't see much rise in the cpu temperature.
Hi,
Pauper, thanks for the reply. I failed to mention that after both upgrades I observed that the CPU was running around 31C and it seemed to stay that way right up until it failed.
When you said that you left it on for 24hrs presumably you turned it off after 24hr period for 8 hours or so? and you only did this once? the Artic silver document mentioned a curing period of 400 hours...
Still would love to have a recommendion for where to look for the log file on the WHS.
EX470 Upgrade (BIOS R02, Software 1.3.8.25155):
Upgraded the memory successfully last weekend (DDR2 2GB PC5300 Crucial part #CT25664AA667 purchased at Fry's)
Upgraded the CPU tonight (AMD 1640 purchased from Newegg, Arctic Silver from Radio Shack)
So far so good. CPU temp holding between 37c and 42c (no activity). Copied a large set of files over and the temp never went above 56c (from the “Heating things up” article (link on this page after instructions) that looks just fine).
Just ran another large copy and the temp never exceeded 54 and stayed below 50 most of the time.
Thank you for such a great site, awesome instructions & pictures and great feedback from all.
Ok, I just re-did the 1640 for the 3rd time and we will see how long it goes before it shuts down again. I have found several posts where people seem to be having my same problem currently the server is back up and running again and the CPU temp is 30C. I connected using MSTSC.exe and looked at the Event Viewer Under the system tab I found several messages stating "the previous system shutdown at XX:XX:XX on 2/13/2009 was unexpected. For more information see Help and Support Center at ....
In the other discussions I found the suggestion seemed to be that I probably needed to send my LE-1640 back, that I have a bad one. But if so, I don't understand how it can run successufully for so many days...
BTW, I am running R02 BIOS dated Friday July 13, 2007 I have not been able to figure out how to upgrade to the R3 bios.
I do not have the fan control add-in but I'm thinking about the logfile add-in if it will give me a better a better way to watch the CPU temp, the box has been running 8 hours now and CPU temp is still 30C
I also have had the same issue with the server just cutting off after upgrading the processor with a LE-1640. some times it will run for days if idle but if transfering files it cuts off. I have reinstalled orginal cpu and issue has stopped. I will next try upgrading the bios and installing a AMD BE-2400 2.3Ghz Dual core. I will keep you all posted on the results.
BTW here is the link to upgrade your Bios for the BE-2400 Processor upgrade.. http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=10271&highlight=#p10271
I have done the Bios upgrade with no problems but have not received my new processor yet.
I went to the Crucial Web Site and the part #CT856439 was what they recommended for the memory replacement. I see different Crucial part #s above. What's Up?
Add me to the list of people with a WHS that shuts down randomly after the upgrade. Looks like I was running at about 48c shortly after bootup.
Also looks like I am getting some sort of drive failure, and my backup service stopped running. This could have been caused by the WHS shutting down during a backup. Tried to run repair and I am getting a file corruption message now....argghh.
Should I take things apart again and reapply AS5?
Wow....a revelation here.
I had so many problems after upgrading. Uncontrollable power downs, temps around 48c, data corruptions, drive failures, etc.
As a last attempt of resolving these issues, I used the Server Recovery disc and now all is working perfectly (only been a day though). In fact, both the system and CPU temps are showing now and they are at 28c and 30c respectively.
Be warned...I lost all my backups and data....which was not supposed to happen.
I received my Dual Core BE-2400 processor today and installed it.
The system stayed up for about 5 minutes and it was showing a temp of 48 as soon as I could logon to check it but then it just powered off. I rebooted 3 or 4 times and the same think.. just cuts off, so I am not sure what is going on. Guess I will just stick with the stock
I upgraded to the 1640 processor today at lunch. Everything went fine until I tried moving a 15GB file to a share, the server then just shutdown. I powered on, same thing after about 5 min.
I wound up going back to the stock CPU no issues since. Not sure what is going on, sure wish I knew though I'd love to use the 1640 processor.
Thank you very much for this procedure, hopefully someone will have some insight in resolving the spontaneous power-off.
Thanks to Peter and Pauper who were persistence in upgrading to 1640. After 2 months I
o Disabled My Movis and all CPU hogging apps
o Re-installed 1640 applied AS5 liberally. CUP temp varies from 28 - 34 C. I'm happy w/ the perf.
Wow, awesome post. Just what I was looking for. Thanks for making this super detailed and for providing photos, too. Now if only ALL tutorials were this informative...
tv antenna
After I re-installed 1640, over-night backup process probably resulted in WHS shut-down.
Next day, when I started EX470, it started and I quickly logged in using Remote Desktop and saw that Backup kicked off w/ 20% CPU utilization and after few mins WHS shutdown by itself. With his I'm concluding that backup process is causing high-CPU spike, which is the RC. I have disabled backup of Computers for now and will see how it behaves. Will re-post any update.
I wonder if the BIOS version makes any difference on the success of CPU upgrade. Seems like some posts have mentioned that some think BIOS 03 from May 2008 has more success, because some have had success using the LE-1640 and others have not. It would be useful if posters would say which version BIOS they have on their WHS. I have both the LE-1640 and LE-1660 and am a little hesitant to try the upgrade since a good number of failures. I wonder what the actual success rate is? Would be a good poll.
I have EX470 with BIOS R02:
Upgraded with LE-1640 45watts 90nm CPU, 2GB Kingston DDR-667 RAM and add 1TB WD Green HDD.
No issues with installation, much easier then actually reading this guide which is spot on. System has been running for 48hrs, stable CPU temp @30C idle and at 100% CPU reaches 46C but most tasks, CPU usage is 2-4%. No system temp as I applied all HPMS and WHS patches. I only use the thermal paste from the stock heatsink so AS5 would provide slight improvement.
Thanks Donavon for awesome hacks...
No-go for me as well on the LE-1640 upgrade in my EX470 with bios R02. Monitored temps while running CPU burn-in and the server shuts down when the CPU gets to 60*C. Went to the AMD website and compared the two processors (old and new). Seems the new processor (the LE-1640) has a higher power consumption and a lower thermal cut-off. Went back to the stock processor and everything's been fine for the last three days. Link to the processor comparisons at the AMD website:
http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUSideBySide.aspx?id=521&id=145
upgraded yesterday, memory worked fine, but I have the LE-1640 random shutdown problem.
I have noticed that there are two versions of the LE-1640, one based on the older Orleans Core(part no: ADH1640IAA5DH), and the other on the newer LIMA core(part no: ADH1640IAA5DP). Mine failed with the Lima core.
So I'm wondering - has anyone had a successful upgrade to the new LE-1640 Lima core?
Mine looks like Orleans core and I have the same prob. Shuts down every 5-7 days. I have disabled all the backup until it stops shutting down.
A sad day! :(
After 4 attempts to upgrade my CPU I have moved back to the stock processor. I was able to keep the system online for 5-15mins each time before it would shut down because of heat. I actually order my system the day their were released so all my hardware is rev A. I have followed homeserverhacks.com since it was launched. Pretty much put the 2gb ram in the first week I had it but had waited on the CPU upgrade just cause the pain of having to clean the heat sink and cpu. So I thought I would go dig the CPU out of my basement where it's been sitting for about 1 year. So for now moved back to stock processor. Not sure which direction I will go. Have thought about some of the newer 8 bay RM units from other vendors. Really the unit has preformed above and beyond my expectations over the last year and few months I've had it. As I have added capacity (currently @ 10TB soon to add another 6TB) performance has decreased.(I'm ripping all my dvds and cd's in case your wondering what I'm doing with the space...if you had kids you know they destroy dvds etc...I have 6 so you can guess:) )
Donavon keep up all your good work!
I wonder if MS realized WHS is actually one of their best products to date?
Also on another note if anyone has all the stay @ home server clips(w/ mark steele) let me know where I can find them...youtube only has 2 or 3 of them. :(
Well, It has been several weeks and I thought I would update everyone where I currently am WRT my LE-1640 upgrade. I have read a ton of posts and there certainly seems to be a lot of people out there that have not been successful with this upgrade. At the moment my EX470 has been running since yesterday. I have a realitvely older HP Media smart server with R02 bios but from what I have read there is no consensus that this is the problem.
Interestingly when I just checked the log file I see tons of "inHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service suspended operation." Event ID 12517 anyone know that this is??
While it is currently running (monitor shows processor temp at 30C) it does seem to shut down for no apparent reason. Several days ago when I attempted to power it back up after one of these times I couldn't keep it on for more than 5 minutes but now it is back to running without problems for who knows how long. I have re-installed the chip 3 times now. The most recent time (about 3 weeks ago) I really worked hard to make sure both surfaces were extreemly clean and that certainly seems to have helped a great deal. I have used the artic silver 5 every time a little more than a grain of rice. The odd thing is that when it does get into a mode where it won't stay up removing and re-installing the same CPU will make the problem go away. I have an RMA setup with AMD for the LE-1640 but I'm not sure whether it is really worth it to try a diffeerent LE-1640. Clearly there is something strange going on. I do not have the fan plug in running...
Anyway I just thought I would let everyone know where things are at the moment.
Wow! I was hesitant to perform this upgrade after reading all of the mixed reviews, but the prices were so low I had to try. Boy, I'm glad I did! I followed the instructions closely, as this is the first time I've ever replaced a processor. Before the upgrade my system idled at 33-36C idle and up to 49C under stress, I was constantly seeing errors in the logs and the most simple of tasks would take forever (my 3 other systems are dual & quad cores, lol). Post upgrade - 31-33C and I can't push it above 37C! Not a single error in my logs in two weeks! The process was very quick, I really appreciate the detailed photos and information. The console launches SO much quicker and general responsiveness in unbelievably better. Remote access is where I have enjoyed the most improvement. File lists and thumbnails load instantly and downloads are noticeably faster and more reliable. I purchased the AMD 1640 and the G.Skill 2gb memory from Newegg, great experience as always. Do yourself a favor and upgrade your MediaSmart CPU and RAM, it's the best $60 and 30 minutes I've ever spent!
Hallo Gyes.
Do you think it is possible to use this cpu.
Link.... http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=429&f1=&f2=&f3=&f4=&f5=&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=&f10=
Wow after reading a few recent postings it seems like its up and down in regards to this upgrade. I so hesitant now, although Newegg appears to have the cpu back in stock.
Does anyone know what core or model, previous owners are running that haven't had shutdown issues? or heat problems? Newegg's appears to be the Orleans core, model ADH1640DHBOX.
Phil I installed the AMD "Athlon" 1600 with no problems. I bought an AMD Athlon 1640 later and installed it with no problems at all. The server has be running since November with no problems. Good luck with your install.
Tony, yea I went ahead and got the LE-1640 from Newegg and everything seems to be working without a hitch! I'm happy. I didn't use the Artic Silver 5 thermal paste, but instead tried one that my friend recommended IC Diamond 7 Carat and my idle temps are from 31-35celcius. Thanks
I upgraded my processor to the LE-1640 and memory to 2GB today, and it seems to be fine, except for the fact that the chip is running 63 - 64C. The machine hasn't shut itself down or anything. My machine is an early EX470.
Hi all,
I got my ex470 in Nov. 2008 and right off the bat upgraded the CPU to the 1640 and the memory to 2GB.
It all worked fine for a few weeks I guess, but it kept turning off at midnight. The logs gave no reason.
Then I uninstalled an add-in app that lets you remotely shut down remote PC’s from remote access.
So the midnight turn off’s stopped. But now it turns off whenever. Also sometimes it’s turned on but no response. When turning the server back on it would take 4-6 tries to get it back on. Very very annoying.
I called tech support to find out why is this was happening. They wanted me to do a restore. I tired that for 2 days straight with vista ultimate 32 bit. Could not do it. Took server to my work and did it on an XP machine. It would have been nice for HP to tell me that it didn’t work on vista. So I finally got it back up and still it shuts off. I put the stock CPU back on just now and now more shut downs. HP also told me that if u have the sever plugged into a UPS that the server might not get the correct power and shut off or get dirty power. So he had me plug the server in the wall outlet. What a crap that is if it’s true. For a SERVER that is always on and you may get a power spike and then BAM! You can lose all your data. Then what was the point of the server?? No business will ever plug there servers with there company data in the wall outlet and not a UPS. Tech support is a joke. He then was saying it may be a bad hard drive. I said how does a bad hard drive make a PC just turn off. BSOD yea.. but never just turn it off. Plus the hard drive is 4 months old.. it boots and everything buy sometimes just turns off.. yea right tech guy…
So I hope this stock CPU will not let me down. I do notice that when I transfer files over to the server from my PC it is slower. From 90/mb’s to 40/mb’s over gigabyte network. that stinks.. Takes twice as long.
I am running bios r03. I heard of upgrading the bios to accommodate the CPU upgrade. It’s a bit of a process but it’s available. I am not gonna try it now. I will see how this stock CPU does in a week or so..
I did my upgrade yesterday, worse it got up to was 54 degrees, now settling in mid 30s, thermal compund said it takes upto 200 hours to cure properly. Processor max I think is 65, so it looks like it's holding it's own but will be interesting to see the summer temp (non a/c) impact on these numbers.
Excellent instructions and upgrade, well worth the limited effort and cost. Nice job on the write up and taking the experimental hit for all of us power/RAM starved MediaSmart owners.
Woot! Another satisfied customer here! I used the recommended G-Skill ram and AMD 1640 + Arctic Silver (total cost with shipping from NewEgg, 85$). Booted up first time and running all night no issue. Took <1hr.
Just thought I would add, I agreed with some posters above with the Heat Sink being ridged. I also noticed a good amout of paste on the HS squeezed out. So I put some on the heat sink first and ran a credit card across it (with the grooves) to makes a nice thin coverage and then added 1.5 rice full on the CPU. It took more than that on the heat sink to get an even coverage so I doubt 1.5 rice total is enough and may be the cause of some heat issues.
I've been monitoring it for a few hours and even during gigabytes of transfer while watching a HD movie on the Xbox, it never got over 40c, usually 37-38.
Thanks for all the info and making this an EASY upgrade!
Mine was recently placed into my closet and a few days ago it was 100deg fahrenheit outside temp, and my room is the hottest in the house. My server never went over 41deg celcius. I did use a different thermal paste that my friend recommended which was the IC 7 Carat Diamond. I did follow the steps posted here and did the CPU load test and the highest the temps went up to was 58celcius during 100% load.
Sorry to hear that some of you guys are having problems.=(
The 1 year warranty on my WHS (by HP) just ran out last month, so, I took the plunge and did the memory and processor upgrade this week. Very good instructions; saved me a lot of hassle of trying to figure out which screws to remove, and the sequence of parts removal, etc. Really appreciate the time and effort put into taking the pictures too.
I used the G-Skill memory as recommended. I could not get the processor recommended, but got the AMD Athlon 2.8 GHz 45W Socket AM2 processor from NewEgg:
CPU AMD|A64 LE1660 2.8G AM2 65N R - $48.99
MEM 2G|GSK F2-5300CL4S-2GBPQ R - 21.99
Both seem to be working fine. While doing the CPU burn in test, the temperature of the processor hit 60 degrees C, and stabilized. Base temperature is 26 - 28 degrees C. The only "problem" is that the box says 1 Mb of total L2 Cache, but CPU-Z reports the level 2 Cache of 512 Kbytes. Don't know why the discrepancy. Also noted the Core Voltage of 1.088 (while under the full strain of the CPU Burn-in test) and don't know what it means. Otherwise everything is working fine. I don't know if it has improved the speed of what WHS actually does, but definitely the Home Server Console is much snappier. Switching from tab to tab is faster, and the disk drive images come up faster too. Altogether very happy with the upgrade. Thanks again for the excellent instructions which made it a painless upgrade.
PS: I also had trouble removing the CPU. They use some very sticky thermal compound. The heat sink will slide around on the CPU, but would not let go. While using a screwdriver as shown in the picture, the motherboard was flexing a bit too much, so I just pulled and the heatsink and CPU pulled out together! The locking lever was still in the down position! Luckilly no pin damage, in case I had to put the CPU back in. I would reccomend slowly sliding the heat sink off, and then gently "peel" it off the CPU from one corner.
Where can I find the event viewer. I upgraded the processor and it seems to lock up after a couple days. I have to reboot and then im fine. Thanks
Just did the memory and processor. Two things that brought my temp back to 36 was make sure the paste is stored with the tip down. According to Arctic Silver's instructions, the paste must be stored as above, because gravity causes the paste to seperate, leaving the heavy particles sinking to the bottom. No telling how long, in the warehouse, the paste is stored improperly. Second, I'll bet a lot of failures, like me, left the case apart for easy access to replace old parts if necessary. I'm no expert, but I'll bet there is a great deal of engineering used to insure proper air flow in the case. Just my two cents. Stellar upgrade, keep up the great work.
I have just installed both the processor and memory upgrade. The unit worked fine for 15 minutes and then dropped its network connection, and the network connection of every other device; it appears to interrupt the router.
Does anyone know of a solution to this problem?
I just had this happen the other day. After ripping my hair out and resetting my router to factory settings nothing worked. In frustration I disconnected every cable on my router. I put all the cables back except for the server and everything was fine, as soon as I plugged in the server to my router my internet would go out. Turns out the server was doing a port forwarding check and screwing things up. I disabled that because I don't use remote access and everything's a charm now. I have no idea what happened because I hadn't done anything different.
Unfortunately, I had the same problem. The WHS would work well for 12 - 18 hours, and then the entire network, including internet access would stop. Thought it was a router issue, and so used this as an excuse to get a gigabit router and gigabit switches! No improvement. Tried tweaking settings on the router, WHS, client PC's; no use. Finally pulled out the new processor and put old one back, and everything has been working as before, now going on 36 hours. No info on the web about this problem, except here. When I have time, I will try the new processor again, but will try to re-install WHS operating system. Maybe the OS has to load specific "drivers" or "dll's" for each processor? Will need to find a way to backup all the data first.
For all those having network dropout issues, it is being caused by new processor overheating at system startup. I had the same issue as well after the processor upgrade and initially though it was the router. To clear this problem, simply ensure you do not have McAfee add-in installed and use fan control add-in on optimized settings. This will solve the overheating and network drop out issues.
I purchased the EX 475 December 08. I felt shot at the back when I learned about next generation, got pissed of and decided to upgrade what I have a week ago.
I purchased 1640 and a 2gb memory. Installed as described in this web site.
First power failure was 2 days after upgrade. I did a few google search and realized that problem is with heating. I monitored the CPU temperature, and noticed that heat was the actual problem.
I don't know if you guys ever noticed, but there is a CPU fan power socket on board, at the right hand corner 2 cm from main power sockets.
I removed the metal part that holds 3 LEDs and the fron USB port, plugged and hanged the CPU fan that came with the AMD 1640. Now CPU temp is 29 when idle, goes up to 39 during backup+virus scan.
I used to put together and sell PCs 10 years ago, so I have a a knowledge of how to deal with things, but my knowledge is old...
I wonder if a small enough fan is available somewhere that could be mounted to the side of the heat sink... By the looks of it, it should be 1" x 1"...
are there any cpu upgrades for the nes HP485 i just purchaced one 2 months age and do a lot of dvd encoding and would like a dual core
I also tried to do the upgrade using the LE-1640 chip and the unit would shutdown withing 5 minutes. I tried over 5 time to re-seat the CPU and heatsink using the AC 5 plus the two-part cleaning solution. I finally gave up and put the old CPU back in.
I am just hypothesising that the reason people are having mixed reslts must be from different Motherboard Revision or perhaps a combination of Motherboard Revision and BIOS Revisions. I am in the process of ordering the necessary parts to build me a VGA cable so I can use the VGA Cable and a USB Keyboard to gain access to the BIOS to verify that the CPU settings are being propery applied to the LE-1640. If the settings are not being correctly applied it could be the reason for the failures (Perhaps the CPU is being Over-Clocked and causing the rapid heat build-up.
For those that have access to a VGA Cable and have completed the upgrade I am wondering if you could post the proper settings (CPU Voltage, Bus Speed, FSB, ect..) I can see some of the settings from the CPU-Z picture listed above, but not all of the settings are revealed.
I just purchased the 1640 cpu to do the upgrade. I have been reading the posts where some upgrades work and some don't. I have noticed that the cpu I purchased has be model number ADH1640DPBOX and has a 512 l2 cache and is listed at 2.7 Ghz. There is also a 1640 with model number ADH1640DHBOX with a 1 mb cache and is listed at 2.6 Ghz. Can some of you that have had the upgrade fail and some that have had it work post the model number you used. Maybe that is the reason some are working and some not. The may be other differences in the cpus other than the Ghz and cache.
It's great to see this post still getting a lot of hits and activity after this long. I wish I had seen it earlier. I don't have my server yet, but I will soon. Keep in mind that anytime you are making some major changes, try to do them 1 at a time if possible to keep trouble shooting easy. I've seen posts where people have purchased a new server, and right away put in extra memory and a processor upgrade. I would advocate to do these things at least 24 to 48 hours apart. For example, unpack new server, run setup and start understanding the software. Most importantly, make sure it is stable and up and running with factory configuration out of the box. After a few days(okay 1), I would add new memory and see how that works. If everything is still going well, then I would tackle the processor. That may help to troubleshoot if difficulties occur because you know where to fall back.
The same guidance with BIOS upgrades, if everything is running smoothly and you have all the functionality you need, think twice about BIOS upgrades!
A follow-up to my previous post. I returned the LE-1640 processor with the model number ADH1640DPBOX and purchased one with model number ADH1640DHBOX. I did the upgrade today. Everything went well. The server booted fine and everything seems to be running fine. My CPU temp is staying constant at 33c. For some reason I am not getting a system temp in the stats. Anyone know why?
Can anyone confirm that the model number ADH1640DHBOX is the one that works fine? Or have had people had success with both models? I just bought a 1640 today at Fry's and I'm nervous to open it now, because it's a DPBOX, not DHBOX.
Hi Bill I used the "ADH1640DHBOX" processor and haven't had any problems.
Got a 1640 processor off of amazon.com. Apparently the one I have only has a 512KB cache even though the box says 640k. Got the artic silver and also put in a crucial 4GB stick of ram. So far everything is working good except last night during the backup it froze and I had to reboot. So today I am running the stress test and the temp is hovering around 58 C. So far its running without trouble. Not sure if the backup error was caused by my PC's vista so I am installing SP2 on that pc. Maybe the memory is causing the problem
I visited you site first time and find it very interesting.
Carrol spncr
One of the great things about in-game money and virtual economies is that they never went through this whole economic meltdown. So take that to all of those people who think the real world is better then computer games!
Buy WoW Gold
Brilliant - processor and memory upgrade today now warranty has expired. Same problem as Starship Trooper - no system temperature - but cpu running as 30 degrees. CPU-Z reports 1000Mhz and 5X Multiplier - help!
Thanks Donavon for this article.
I had tried several times unsuccessfully to upgrade the processor in my EX470 to the recommended Athlon chip. Each time I rebooted the server following the install, the machine would immediately cease and shut down. I thought I had made an error in the install and even asked a friend of mine (who is an IT Engineer) to perform the upgrade. He got the same results.
I was talking to a man in my local Fry's Electronics tonight and he mentioned that he was having the same issue - but, got the chip to install successfully following the service pack update that came out several months ago.
Since I had installed the update several months ago but had not tried again to change the processor - I decided to try again. The upgrade was successful!
I am not sure if the service pack really did make a difference or if I had just been making an error in my previous attempts - but in any event - it is now working...
I wanted to share my experience in the chance that there may be some other readers out there who are going through the same issues that I was.
If so - try again - you may be successful!
Thanks again for the great articles Donavon!
Ken
I Purchased the Patriot 2G PC2 5300 667MHz Model#PSD22G6672 and the AMD Athlon ADH1640DPBOX from AMAZON both worked perfectly on my HP EX470. No overheating problem but did install the MSS FAN CONTROL add-in and set it to Optimized Default. Yes the ADH1640DPBOX (CORE LIMA) works!
Robert McLaws at:
http://www.windows-now.com/blogs/robert/turn-your-home-server-into-a-powerhouse.aspx
mentions that he uses this Dual-Core CPU:
AMD Athlon X2 BE-2300 (1.9GHz) 1MB (2x512KB) Socket AM2 CPU
Would you recommend the dual core over the 2.6GHz AMD LE-1640 Orleans (45W)? What are the advantages?
Thanks for all your help,
ij_lg@hotmail.com
I've tried to purchase the ADH1640DHBOX 3 separate times now online, and from 3 separate vendors. Each has shipped me the ADH1640DPBOX, which has a different cache (and speed?).
Does the DPBOX work or not? I saw some people say it didn't. I've returned all 3 I bought, for refunds.
Does anyone know where to get the ADH1640DHBOX?
What other processors work in this system?
I believe that the system temperature feature was removed in Power Pack 2.
Ken
I finally had to give up and revert back to the original Semperon processor after installing the LE-1640 (tried both the Orleans and Lima cores)with no success.
The LE-1640 would be fine until the WHS backed up the computers in my network, or when an automatic virus scan started. The tempeture would go up and the server would go down.
I do have to thank Donovan for the excellent instructions, as well as the G-Skill memory upgrade, which still works fine with no problems. I have taken apart my home server several times now, and it took me just five minutes to to reinstall the original processor.
I assume that environmental issues drive success or failure in regards to the processor upgrade.
My $.02, I have had multiple problems with shutdowns, hard drive errors, network drops and all of these with 3 different EX470 MSSs. The one constant between the 3 servers was an AMD Athlon 64 LE-1640 ADH1640DHBOX bought from Newegg. Now WHEN the servers ran they ran great and much faster than stock but I believe this CPU is definitely the issue, and I'm going to have to go back to the stock CPU to get this MSS running again as now I can't even get it to do a factory reset successfully. If temps are the issue I wish there was some way to get a better CPU cooler on these things so I could keep this CPU.
For your information, On my EX 470 with the AMD Athlon 1640 (part number# ADH1640DPBOX), it works a dream, very snappy.
After taking out the ADH1640DHBOX and going back to the stock CPU, I had no issues at all with the restore but hate the loss in speed, is there another CPU that would be an upgrade and be pretty sure to work?
I put in 2GB of Kingston and everything seems to run faster especially logging on. Then I waited 2 weeks and put in a Athlon 1660 and it actually runs cooler! Sweet lord. All from Newegg of course, ADH1660DPBOX 2.8ghz
I added both the Memory and CPU. It runs great. After the upgrade, I started seeing my VCCP voltage jumpping around, sometimes as much as 1.4, causing the computer to lock up. Is the regulator on the mother board ot the power supply?
Did the processor upgrade and the hp update 2.5 on my EX745... wow. nice!! it's been running very nice and fast for a while now.
I did the memory upgrade a while ago too...
very happy with my "new" server :-)
I installed the LE-1640 and would have temp problems also. I noticed someone mentioned they installed the latest AMD CPU driver and that fixed the problem! Did anyone else install the AMD driver?? If so did it also fix the temperature problem??
I did install the LE-1640 and have not had any issues. did you clean the heat sink and processor and applied enough artic silver?
I installed the LE-1640 and the temperature oscillates between 39 to 43 with short peaks of 50. I wonder if this is fine? The Hardware status shows the CPU temp and not the SYSTEM one.
Did the processor upgrade last week. Temps spiked up to 41/42 initially, but settled down to 38 within an hour or so. Arctic Silver instructions talk about a 200-hour breakin period, which they say is even longer if you don't have a heatsink with a fan. They state clearly that your operating temps will come down as much as 5C during this period, if it is turned off occasionally. So I took care to run it for only a few hours at a time before shutting it down to cool to room temps.
Next day it came up and ran at 32C, which is what the original CPU ran at, so things are progressing. I did get a spontaneous shutdown, however.
Today, which is a full week after the upgrade, I have had a total of 2 spontaneous shutdowns, but the last one was 3 days ago. And my CPU temp at idle has settled down to 26! Skeptical at first, I'm now feeling better about this upgrade: it may work out after all.
I noticed events about VCCP threshholds being exceeded (never by much). I think the fluctuations are normal, and a result of the AMD "Cool 'n Quiet" technology. But given my cool-as-a-cucumber CPU temps, these are stronger suspects for the spontaneous shutdowns.
I'll update. Would be great to get updates from some other folks who had problems: did you go back to the original proc, or did things smooth out for you over time?
Jim
Have any of you checked the CPU temperature before the upgrade for long periods of time? I've had my server on for a while and my numbers show 53 deg C with NO UPGRADE!!!. The system also just shows 1 temperature... CPU. The fans are running at 1548 RPM for Upper and 1534 for Lower.
I added the CPU upgrade without memory upgrade... I am waiting for the memory. The results are the same as the article author. I actually see cooler temperatures and have never experienced a shut down. I've been running the unit in for 2 days now with intermittent shutdowns to let the unit cool to room temperature (about 2 hours run, shut down for 3 hours) I did also install the Fan Control applet and have reduced the temperature by reducing the thresholds. I also found that there is a header for a fan on the board near the front and was thinking of modifying the heatsink to take a fan if necessary,but the results show no need. Not sure why some of the people here are seeing problems. Only recommendation I have is to make sure that the thermal grease is applied correctly with a razor blade.
Over a month now and no more spontaneous shutdowns.
I have the EX470 upgraded to 2.6GHz AMD LE-1640 Orleans and 2GB RAM.
The BIOS (R02 07-13-2007) supports 2TB hard drives WD Caviar Green WD20EADS SATA-300?
Thanks
I went to Frys to buy the ADH1640DHBOX processor and all they had was ADH1640DPBOX. The specs are the same except it is a Lima instead or Orleans and the core stepping is G2 instead of F3. Will this work?
I installed the crucial 2gb ram and the 1640DPBOX on an original 475 machine with 4 drives.
The install was easy and basically cookbook per the two sets of instructions found here. The original CPU was way overloaded with paste but easy to clean off, no alcohol required.
The server booted up normally and is running cooler than before the install at around 33 or 34 degrees.
Response time as expected is much faster.
I have problem finding any LE-1640 CPUs (in Sweden). Anyone who knows if the newer Opteron CPU can be used? If so what frequency and variant are you using?
I have 475 that I added 2GB or ram with heat spreaders and a LE-1660 2.8Ghz 45W CPU. It was ordered on day one for reference. It has been running perfect for 5 months now but reciently I loose the remote connection to the computers on the network and I also loose the remote connection.
In the event viewer the only suspecious thing is the VCCP exceeding the upper threshold. V=1392.
Any idea's? Can I up the voltage? Mayby the power supply is going? I can change the warning threshold but I'm afraid there may be a bigger problem. My CPU temp have been about 7 degrees C cooler than before the upgrades!
http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=429
Also has anyon elooked into changing the power supply? Possibly using a better one that I assume is in the newer home servers.
@Chris
I just upgraded my 470 to the LE-1660 and I am now encountering VCCP exceeding the upper threshold errors. The server locks up, and to make matters worse it blocks network connection to other clients on the same switch. If I unplug the network cable from the back of the 470, the other computers can get a correct IP. If I plug it back in, they are immediately disconnected form the network. If I reboot the 470, everything works fine for 12 hours or so, then repeats the pattern.
Anyway, were you able to resolve your VCCP issues? Perhaps reapplying the heat sync with arctic silver? Maybe a BIOS update would help? I would really like to use the LE-1660!
Upgraded my EX470 finally after its warranty expired. Upgraded ti LE-1640 (ADH1640DHBOX). Been 1 week and only 1 restart during one of the machine backup.. but since then no reboots. Server temperature been around 33-39 during backup. been happy with the upgrade so far
thanks for this wonderful post
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