Howdy, folks!
I've had a nice IBM Intellistation M-Pro 6850 for a while, running a pair of Socket 603 Xeon 1.7GHz processors. It was stable, showed both processors in the BIOS and in the Windows XP Pro Task Manager.
As a present to myself, I purchased a matched pair of Socket 603 2.2GHz processors (400Hz FSB, 1.5v, 512K L2 cache). I swapped them out for the pair of older 1.7GHz Xeons already in the computer, and fired it up. The IBM's BIOS wouldn't show both processors until I enabled Hyperthreading. Windows XP Pro booted up and showed two processors in the Task Manager, but I had my suspicions.
Powering down the computer, I removed the #2 Xeon 2.2GHz processor, and booted the machine again. The BIOS still showed two processors, as long as hyperthreading was enabled. So did Windows XP Pro. That led me to believe that the uninstalled XEON was bad - so I swapped the other 2.2GHz processor into Socket #1, and rebooted. Again, the BIOS showed 2 processors, as long as hyperthreading was enabled. Windows booted fine, and the Task Manager showed 2 processors.
Replacing the newer 2.2GHz processors with the older 1.7GHz processors returned things to the old normal standard, with two processors seen in the BIOS, no Hyperthreading option in the BIOS, and two (real) processors seen in the Windows XP Pro Task Manager.
By way of explanation, I'm running Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 2. The Device Manager reports it as an ACPI multi-processor system, so I know I have the right Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) loaded. The only difference is the newer processors and the Hyperthreading. The BIOS was flashed to the most current 2004 version, which is supposed to provide compatibility for XEON processors up to 2.4GHz. Doing a fresh install of Windows XP Pro with Hyperthreading enabled in the BIOS did not help, either.
This leads me to several conclusions:
1. Both 2.2GHz XEON processors work just fine, as long as they're sitting by themselves in my IBM Intellistation's Processor Socket #1.
2. The BIOS and Windows XP Pro are only seeing the 2.2GHz XEON processor sitting in Socket #1, and with Hyperthreading enabled, it "tricks" the BIOS and Windows Task Manager into reporting two CPUs, one physical and one logical.
3. If both 2.2GHz XEON processors were identified by the BIOS and Windows XP Pro, I'd see 4 CPUs in the Task Manager, reflecting 2 physical + 2 logical processors. I'm not, and that's no fun.
4. I'm assuming Windows XP Pro isn't seeing the second CPU because the BIOS isn't seeing it and passing that information along.
5. I see no compatibility issues on the IBM support sites hinting at such a problem.
Short of giving IBM lots of money to troubleshoot an out-of-warranty system, are there any other options I have left to explore? I know there were Intellistation M-Pro systems that were delivered with two 2.2 or 2.4Ghz processors, so I'm really curious what I'm bumping into here.
In the meantime, I've re-installed the older 1.7 GHz XEONs, and they're working just fine. So my processor upgrade is on indefinite hold, pending a solution.
I've had a nice IBM Intellistation M-Pro 6850 for a while, running a pair of Socket 603 Xeon 1.7GHz processors. It was stable, showed both processors in the BIOS and in the Windows XP Pro Task Manager.
As a present to myself, I purchased a matched pair of Socket 603 2.2GHz processors (400Hz FSB, 1.5v, 512K L2 cache). I swapped them out for the pair of older 1.7GHz Xeons already in the computer, and fired it up. The IBM's BIOS wouldn't show both processors until I enabled Hyperthreading. Windows XP Pro booted up and showed two processors in the Task Manager, but I had my suspicions.
Powering down the computer, I removed the #2 Xeon 2.2GHz processor, and booted the machine again. The BIOS still showed two processors, as long as hyperthreading was enabled. So did Windows XP Pro. That led me to believe that the uninstalled XEON was bad - so I swapped the other 2.2GHz processor into Socket #1, and rebooted. Again, the BIOS showed 2 processors, as long as hyperthreading was enabled. Windows booted fine, and the Task Manager showed 2 processors.
Replacing the newer 2.2GHz processors with the older 1.7GHz processors returned things to the old normal standard, with two processors seen in the BIOS, no Hyperthreading option in the BIOS, and two (real) processors seen in the Windows XP Pro Task Manager.
By way of explanation, I'm running Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 2. The Device Manager reports it as an ACPI multi-processor system, so I know I have the right Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) loaded. The only difference is the newer processors and the Hyperthreading. The BIOS was flashed to the most current 2004 version, which is supposed to provide compatibility for XEON processors up to 2.4GHz. Doing a fresh install of Windows XP Pro with Hyperthreading enabled in the BIOS did not help, either.
This leads me to several conclusions:
1. Both 2.2GHz XEON processors work just fine, as long as they're sitting by themselves in my IBM Intellistation's Processor Socket #1.
2. The BIOS and Windows XP Pro are only seeing the 2.2GHz XEON processor sitting in Socket #1, and with Hyperthreading enabled, it "tricks" the BIOS and Windows Task Manager into reporting two CPUs, one physical and one logical.
3. If both 2.2GHz XEON processors were identified by the BIOS and Windows XP Pro, I'd see 4 CPUs in the Task Manager, reflecting 2 physical + 2 logical processors. I'm not, and that's no fun.
4. I'm assuming Windows XP Pro isn't seeing the second CPU because the BIOS isn't seeing it and passing that information along.
5. I see no compatibility issues on the IBM support sites hinting at such a problem.
Short of giving IBM lots of money to troubleshoot an out-of-warranty system, are there any other options I have left to explore? I know there were Intellistation M-Pro systems that were delivered with two 2.2 or 2.4Ghz processors, so I'm really curious what I'm bumping into here.
In the meantime, I've re-installed the older 1.7 GHz XEONs, and they're working just fine. So my processor upgrade is on indefinite hold, pending a solution.