Computer fail

[Lalakai]

ASUS M4A87TD EVO motherboard
AMD Phenom II X2 550 3100 MHz CPU
SAPPHIRE 100282XTREME Radeon HD 5850 Xtreme 1GB video card
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 powersupply
WD Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
Win 7 Professional

The CPU can activate up to 4 cores; the motherboard automatically activated 4 initially, then approximately 1 month ago it dropped to 3 cores. The ram and vcard are all ran at stock speeds.

System is primarily used for light gaming. Last night we were playing WoW, shut down like normal. When I booted up today it locked at the ASUS screen page then said it couldn't find required devices and wouldn't go further. I was able to run a memory test and the ram is good. Tried to boot directly from the dvd and it loaded files then locked at the "Loading Windows" screen. Attempted to reload bios but was unable to. In CMOS the hd registers as does the cpu and ram. Any recommendations on possible fixes?? I haven't overclocked or modified any settings, letting the system use defaults. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[stinger608]

Have you tried to hit the f4 key........I think that is the right one, to revert back to running the chip as a dual core?

 

[Lalakai]

hmmm...first time i've heard of the F4 key doing that. but at this point i'll try anything. I do remember having issues with the muskin ram auto detecting; i'll get into cmos and manually set them. but if that was the issue it should have showed when i tested the memory

 

[stinger608]

hmmm...first time i've heard of the F4 key doing that.

No no, I don't remember if that is the correct key or not. Whey the system boots up it has a splash screen that states what key to hit to unlock a chip to a quad core. Once that key is hit it still shows that and if hit again it reverts back.
Does that make any sense? LOL

 

[denis280]

it is 4 to unlock 4 cores. but if you look in the bios chipset / cpu / cpu unlocker is auto just put disable.

 

[Steltek]

I'd run several extended memory tests to be sure - a borderline module might pass one test, then fail the next.

 

[Lalakai]

No no, I don't remember if that is the correct key or not. Whey the system boots up it has a splash screen that states what key to hit to unlock a chip to a quad core. Once that key is hit it still shows that and if hit again it reverts back.
Does that make any sense? LOL

lol yep I know what you are talking about. tried it but no luck.

denis280....haven't tried that one yet, but I'll get in and disable it. thanks.

Steltek...i'll ck first to make certain the voltage settings are correct in the bios, and if they are good there, then i'll do another mem ck....if I can. The system seems to be degrading; last time I tried, it took several attempts before I could even get into cmos. Never had inconsistencies like this before. Almost acts like a virus that is spreading. I've tried booting to the win7 disk for repair/reinstall, but it stalls out and won't continue.

 

[The Day Dreamer]

Try Resetting Bios.