VI. Danger of using CPU-Z and SpeedFan, and similar software with Bad Axe

Many enthusiasts has become accustomed to using the said utilities, specially CPU-Z, to check the specifications of the processor. The CPU-Z, for example, is capable of identifying the FSB, multiplier, CPU steppings, cache, number of cores and many other details that makes this utility a very valuable one and a must-have. The SpeedFan is another utility that shows "PC Health" in terms of environmental measurements such as temperature, fan speeds, and voltage settings among others. Similar software that can do such exists and have made it to the enthusiasts slew of utilities for checking and knowing more about their machines. And these software are pretty much mature and have proven their compatibility and stability.

So what is the danger of using such software and utilities if they are stable and virtually, bug free? Well, for one, these software may be in conflict with Chipzilla's software. For example, environmental monitoring can also be done by Chipzilla's IDU, or Intel Desktop Utility, that is really very nice and a must have if you have a board that supports this software. This utility are tailor-made for Intel motherboard, and only specific models are supported so it can't be used on any other board, and even Intel-branded motherboard.

In the case of this motherboard, IDU/IDCC will fail to word correctly if CPU-Z and/or SpeedFan and/or similar software is executed. While you can remove IDU/IDCC to run during startup or Windows bootup, if you happen to run CPU-Z and/or similar software and decided to use IDU/IDCC later, IDU/IDCC will still fail. I don't exactly know why this is so, but I am guessing it's because of how IDU/IDCC makes use of SMBus to access these hardware sensors.

While it is annoying to have a crashing or hanging software, this is not really the danger of using such software. If this is just a simple case of compatibility, I will not really call it "danger" but just compatibility issue. The danger is actually with how such 3rd party i.e. non Chipzilla developed software and this motherboard reacts. Apparently, when using CPU-Z the vCore will always be set to the lowest that the CPU is capable of or the default VID.

So what is the danger, you may ask, if such software sets the vCore to default? Well, when running your system on stock, this is not an issue. However, once you overclock and change the vCore to make the system stable, then that's the time the danger becomes more apparent. Not only does stability becomes an issue, enthusiast might be led to believe that they aren't pumping enough voltage so they keep on adjusting it until it becomes frustratingly difficult to make the system stable.

And this default VID impact can not be easily corrected with a simple reboot or shutdown and then powering on. Like what I discussed in the previous page, in section V, a complete power off with no standby power must be made to set the voltage settings and kick it off in the BIOS. This can easily be duplicated, follow the simple steps outlined below:

1. Boot up and enter the BIOS by pressing F2 in the boot up screen
2. Go to "Advanced" -> "Hardware Monitoring"
3. Note and write the value you see on the Vccp
4. Now, go to "Advanced" -> "Chipset Configuration"
5. Go to "Default Configuration Override"
6. On "Do you wish to continue?" settings, just select "Yes"
7. On "Default CPU VID", change it to "Disable" (Note: Unless XE CPU is used, this is not available if hard modding is not made. See previous page for hard modding)
8. Record the current value on "CPU VID" before changing it, say, two notches lower or higher.
9. Save, and then power off and completely remove the power from the outlet.
10. Boot up, then go to "Advanced" -> "Hardware Monitoring"
11. Record the Vcc that you see here. It must be higher or lower depending on the settings you made on step 8.
12. Continue booting to Windows, and launch IDU. Record the Vcc value.
13. To crash the IDU, launch CPU-Z.
14. Now, go to IDU/IDCC and check the temperature and voltage settings and you'll see the hang issue.
15. Run MSConfig and uncheck the portion where it will autostart IDU(look for "iptray" key).
16. Restart Windows.
17. Upon the next boot to Windows, launch CPU-Z again. This will force default VID.
18. Run MSConfig and re-check the portion where it will autostart IDU/IDCC to ensure that IDU/IDCC will start the next time around.
19. Boot up, then go to "Advanced" -> "Hardware Monitoring"
20. Record the Vcc that you see here. You will notice that the vCore is now back to default, and is similar to what you recorded on step 3 and not the one you set on step 8.
21. Continue booting to Windows. IDU/IDCC will now kick in, and again, check the Vcc here and it will also reflect the default VID and not the one you made on step 8.

Again, this can easily be corrected by powering off and removing any source of power from the system and this board will set the proper voltage. However, easy as it may be to do the work around, my painful discovery took me long to isolate the issue and what could have been causing the instability. For example, I could do multiple Prime95 for extended period of hours, run 3D benchmarks, use other multimedia rendering software, and when I'm ready to take a snapshot using CPU-Z, the system will suddenly become unstable. And while I don't CPU-Z for such (why should I?), it is very important to take note of this warning in case you ran into such issue.

While I can't really say it's the same for all the boards out there, note that I have tested it several times in two boards and both have reacted similarly. It is not a general assumption that all boards will exhibit such, but just keep in mind that it may and it can happen. So before you try to pump in more voltage, check and double check, and most importantly, exhaust all the power from your system.