[aguayoassociates]

Oh mighty Geek Gods. This is either a real tough or real simple question. Either way, I come to you with hat in hand. My question: I have a peer-to-peer network. It is set up on XP pro. I want the server to be the best pc setup I can possibly configure to run XP pro. I had a Dell Optiplex G620 w/ Pentium D Duo Core. I just found out the CPU fried and I was told that this is common with these processors. Does anyone know what the best, and most reliable processor is that I can run XP pro on? Most run Vista now, but I don't want to run XP terminals on a Vista Server. Please help!!!

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Are you sure the processor's fried?
Usually the processor is the last thing to go.

[Neil Jones]

Are you sure the processor's fried?
Usually the processor is the last thing to go.

[aguayoassociates]

Hi Neil, that was real astute of you to make that distinction. I double checked with my tech and you were right. He told me 5 little transistors located near the cpu were fried. He checked out the Ram and the cpu after we talked and found them both to be OK after all. There is plenty of ventilation so it looks like I wasn't overheating. There was definitely the burning smell of plastic. The motherboard is in trouble though. But here's my dilemma. This computer is the server in a p2p setup. All the PC's with this kind of power run vista, and I know better than to have XP terminals networked with a Vista Server. Here's my question: Is there any type of CPU (Quad Core, or better) that I cannot run XP on? Ideally, I'd like to network a new Dell Optiplex 760 as the server running XP. But will the CPU reject it?

[Neil Jones]

XP arrived on the scene at a time when the concept of dual-core was still a while off, so the faster the processor is, the better XP works with it. There is no such thing as a processor that XP can't be used on, the only issue you would run into is XP Home can't use a dual-processor setup (as in two physical processors), it would only use the first processor.

[aguayoassociates]

Thx for the reply. I can't believe how much detail you know. So what you're saying is that Dual core, Quad Core, i7 core...no matter what CPU I'm running, XP will only run on the first processor. Is that correct? Does the architecture help at all in these systems over a simple P4? Does it matter that I'm running XP Pro and not XP Home?

One small thing: these CPU's seem to run relatively hot. Do I need to take any precautions or make any adjustments to prevent another disaster? I ask because something caused the transistors to cook. I'm trying to find out what caused thatso that I can avoid it from happening again. The repairs aren't so bad for me - it's the downtime and chaos that kills my production. what would you suggest? I really value your opinion on this.

[Neil Jones]

XP Home only supports one processor; this does not apply to XP Professional.
XP Home has no issues with dual-core processors either; they show up as two processors but in reality it's one processor with two cores on it.

As to the hotness of CPUs, it depends what you've using. Early Pentium 4's (particularly Pentium D's) do run hot. Modern Core 2 Duo's and AMDs are so cool now the ambient temperature is no more than about 7 degrees above room temperature.

As to what could have blown the be-jesus out of the system, typically power supplies do this.