HWMonitor Not Displaying All Cores

Title sums it up, HWMonitor and CPU-Z stopped detecting my processor correctly a long while ago only displaying a single core for the temperature while the Windows System and Resource Monitor detect all of the cores just fine.

Some preliminary research leads me to believe that perhaps a BIOS reset would fix the issue, so if you agree could you help me out with that? I couldn't find much info about it.

I'm running an MSI GT70 Dominator-894 with an i7-4800MQ. The motherboard model and BIOS version respectively are MS-1763 and E1763IMS.50R.

If you need any more info let me know! I've attached an image displaying all of the relevant data. Click then enlarge picture for full detail, I couldn't figure out how to truly "attach" a document to this post oddly enough.

 

Ok first off, for a bios reset, you can first press del when booting your computer and go into the bios and load the default settings. If that doesn't work,
1. Turn notebook OFF with button, hold 4 seconds.
2. Remove recharge plug
3. Remove battery
4. Leave it like this for about 5 minutes.
5. Put everything back and power the laptop again.

IF that doesn't work, you can attempt to update your bios to the latest version. http://www.msi.com/support/nb/GT70-2PC-Dominator.html#down-bios
I assume you have the 2pc model. Look at your part number/serial number and see if it says 2pc. If it does, then the link above will take you to your bios download page. Just be real careful doing so as it is really easy to screw it up if you update out of order or you install the wrong bios for AHCI when you have a raid array or vice versa. Hope that helps and let us know if that fixes your issue!

 

You are correct in regards to the 2PC model.

I have tried all of those steps with the exception of the BIOS update so far and HWMonitor is still only showing a Core 0. Does the second method work for laptops? Do these laptops not have a CMOS battery or do they use the laptop's main battery in place of a CMOS battery for the BIOS? I only ask because I'm a motherboard newbie and after following your steps all of my BIOS settings remained unchanged.

I've already had the 2 newer BIOS files saved and ready to go, just haven't done the update out of fear of bricking the system.

I downloaded the E1763IMS.50V and E1763IMS.51B files and it seems that they should be installed in that order, but ow do I know if I have AHCI? I'm pretty sure I do not have a RAID array since the system is stock for storage with 1 HDD and 1 SSD.

 

The laptops do not have a cmos battery. So you have to do an EC reset. Those are the steps to do that. Another thing you can do is after completing steps 1-4, hold down the power button for 10 seconds. This is effectively the same this as a CMOS reset. Some laptops have an EC reset button, but those are only on the built in battery model. The idea is that your laptop always has a battery attached to it and even though your battery may be dead, the 1-2 volts are enough to store you bios settings. So removing the battery and AC adapter and letting it sit for 5 drains the power from the bios. Sometimes holding the power button down after will help to drain any residual voltage that is still there, so try that.

As far as whether you are running AHCI or RA ID, it should be listed in your bios options. I forget which menu, but just look through all of them and you should be able to see whether you are AHCI or RAID. I assume you are correct as it is 1 ssd and 1 hdd that would be not be logical to be in a raid array.

You are correct that you must install them in order HOWEVER, you may want to check which bios version you have currently, prior to updating. You may already have 50V or 51B you want to check first. If you already have 50V, then you don't need to flash that one.

I am going to stop you here first....

Download Prime 95 or Intel burn test and run it on a standard setting. It will show a log with how many cores are active. If it is running the correct amount of cores, you do not need to update your bios. Just because HW info isn't showing all the cores doesn't mean that they aren't there and working. You can try other software as well, CPUID hwmonitor is another program that does the same thing. Really what you need to be concerned about is your package temp, which it is already showing.

Remember,
Every time you update your bios, you risk bricking your system. I was updating my bios one time and a power outage happened right in the middle and bricked my main board in my computer... just sayin...

EDIT: Oh I see you already listed your bios version...

 

After several attempts of running Prime95 and Intel Burn Test I failed to find the log that you spoke of. I do know that all of the cores were being stress tested as the entire CPU was registering at 100% on the resource monitor. It is possible that I didn't allow the tests to finish as I manually stopped both, but it didn't look like they were ever going to stop anyway, Prime95 made my system scream for a solid hour and a half before I called it quits.

I'm still tinkering with various settings to see if I can make a super short test of some type just to pull up a log for me to see but so far have been unsuccessful in producing anything relevant to the number of cores being used on either of the two programs.

 

I misspoke earlier. I meant the other screen that pops up when you run prime 95. If it show all cores active then you are good to go. Unless you see any serious performance issues or you need to update your bios I wouldnt. It's just a sensor issue and since the package temp differs from the core temp you should be fine. Now if the core And the package were consistently the same, I would worry. Because that would mean that all core temps are not being measured and only one core is generating the package temp. ThAt could mean that one core is good to go but other cores could be melting, but that's not the case with your system your core 0, which is the core that's used most often is lower than your package temp which indicates the that other stuff is going on in the background. Also fans usually run on package not single cores. I think your fine and it's nothing to worry about.


OH YEAH I JUST REMEMBERED!!! Did you try a chipset update?
EDIT:
Now if your Cpu temps exceed 90c then bring that to our attention straight away!

 

Well these are the pictures from Prime95, I'm not entirely sure of what I'm looking for to confirm all cores are detected, I've only ever used this for burn-ins.





I was updated to the latest chipset but just for the sake of trying, I reverted from chipset 10.0.20 to 9.4.0.1023 which is how it came from the factory and then re-installed chipset 10.0.20. Both chipsets failed to make a difference

On the positive side the temperatures never get that high. Even with that hour and a half burn in on prime95 keeping the CPU maxed out at 100% the ENTIRE time my temps stayed around 69-70 degrees C.

 

Yeah, your good to go. All your threads are working and you indicated no fails in your test, i.e. no workers stopped so your cores are functioning and your temps are normal. Your fine just keep an eye on your package temps every once and a while. Last resort, you can update your bios if you want to. It is relatively safer these days to do it, but there is always a chance to brick your system. Maybe call MSI support and explain the issue and let them know you want to update the bios and see what they say. If they give you the go ahead than give it a shot and if you brick the system, you have documentation that you contacted MSI support and they gave you the go ahead. I have also heard of some people sending their computers in to MSI and they update it free of charge, but you may have your lappy gone for a couple of weeks.

 

I'm going to go ahead and leave the computer alone since I'm not quite brave enough to undertake a BIOS update for only the chance that it would fix my little issue here. I just had a little more information for those who may end up viewing this thread at a later date.

I failed to mention that I retried the BIOS reset by removing the computer from power, taking the battery out, pressing and holding the power button multiple times, and putting chargeable items into the USB ports since I had the I-Charger function in the BIOS turned on and continued all of this over the course of several HOURS and the BIOS still did NOT reset. The only thing that ended up resetting was the SteelSeries keyboard color scheme which I found odd, I thought that was stored as a file in storage. All of my changed BIOS settings however, remained unchanged.

I suppose if we figure out what's going on here I'll attempt a BIOS reset again, the only thing I can think of though is going back to that CMOS battery... I just don't see how the computer is managing to do this without one.

 

Well I am getting conflicting info in my research on this issue some places say there is no cmos battery others say there is. You are welcome to tear your laptop down to look for it, but I would caution against that as your system is running fine. If it were me and I was looking for the cmos battery, I would open the back and look and if it wasn't easily accessible I wouldn't do it in your situation. But... It's your call!

 

I found this image... Don't know how legit it is, but here...

 

I'll tear it down and post pictures of my own, I just need to find my tool kit! It's been MIA for the past 4 months or so. Might just have to order another one. I'll report back with my findings.

Is that picture pointing to the fan plug? If that's the case then I can definitely already rule that out lol. I've torn this laptop down roughly 6 times or so and have ALWAYS taken the fan out, the BIOS has never reset out of any of those times haha.

 

There were like 5 pictures from different sites pointing to that same wire... Id pull that battery, the cover, unplug it, take that wire out for a half hour, press the power button about 10 times then see.

 

Hmm, maybe you're right, I found a couple of pictures myself which indicate the same thing.





once I track down a tool kit or a small screwdriver (hard to find them in a college dorm) I'll pick through the computer.

 

Alright, finally got a screwdriver back.



Turns out unplugging that wire does reset the BIOS, all of my settings (except for choosing not to load the manufacturer logo while rebooting) were reset. This unfortunately has not fixed my problems though.

Also I've noticed, (what could be completely unrelated) I've lost Bluetooth connectivity despite installing the most recent drivers from Killer Networking themselves.

On top of this, MSI's Live Update 6 continuously thinks my drivers are out of date when they are not.

 

Old thread, I know, but last night I finally got a solution for my problem. Even after updating my BIOS and firmware, I never got my cores back. However, last night after installing Windows 10 all of my cores came back! Super happy to see individual temperatures again! I guess the problem may have originally been in a Windows 8.1 update or something, I don't know, but if anyone else has the same problem, it could be solved by an OS change!