P5K-Dlx OC settings not taking effect

I just noticed while booting up today that my overclock settings aren't taking effect on a Asus P5K Deluxe Wifi with an E6420.

I set the computer up about 5 weeks ago, and finally settled on 400 FSB (3.2 GHz) and 1:1 on the RAM – DDR2-800. Was running 0311 Bios.

I usually get home and boot up while changing out of work clothes, but happened to see the splash screen this time and it showed my default CPU speed of 2.14.

I remember when I was setting it up that that portion would show the actual (i.e. OC’d) speed, so I was surprised to not see it flash 3.21 or whatever I’m used to seeing. Once I got my stable settings, I stopped paying attention, so I have no idea how long this has been like this.

Inside Windows, I ran CPU-Z and it shows 2.133x8.0 at 266.7 Bus Speed. Shows memory running at 266.7, too.

When I adjust the RAM speed settings in the BIOS, the flash screen will show this adjusted rate – for example, with FSB still at 400, I set it to 4:5, and it would still show the higher 1000 or so RAM speed, though when logging into Windows, CPU-Z shows RAM back to 266.7.

I reverted back to the default settings in the BIOS and re-set things manually – no change. I even flashed BIOS to 0501, but it still only loads up at default CPU frequency, regardless of what I manually input for FSB, etc.

I have the vcore set at 1.40, and DRAM voltage at 2.2, as I saw another post about a Gigabyte board resetting it’s Bios settings.

The BIOS isn’t resetting or not saving – everything is still in BIOS like I adjusted it…it’s just not taking effect when windows loads.

Oh – and all the “Advanced CPU Settings” are disabled, so it’s not Speedstep or anything taking effect.

Could a loose power cable do something like this? Like the 8-pin at the top of the board that’s used for dual-core processors? It’s kind of hidden up there so I can’t see if some of it isn’t connected right.

My next step is to pull the video card out and reset the CMOS.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

I don't think it's the 8-pin power connector; it shouldn't post with it unplug.

Clearing the CMOS is the first thing I would do. Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Hmm...check that comment on the RAM settings resetting back to default.

I must have misread something in earlier testing. I just re-ran BIOS setup and set RAM to 5:6-DDR2-960 and the flash screen shows that speed AND it's showing up in CPU-Z at that speed (320 MHz) - I also threw in a small test - moved RAS# Activate to Precharge from 12 to 15 and that's also showing accurately in CPU-Z.

In addition, the vcore settings I put in show up as changing in CPU-Z when I adjust them manually.

So it looks like only thing NOT being set properly by the BIOS is the FSB/speed. No matter what I set it at, it still shows up as 266 FSB with 2133 core speed.

I also verified this information with Sandra, so it's not just CPU-Z inaccurately displaying it.

Thoughts?

Could the CMOS battery be dead, or loose? I'd think it'd retain the settings w/ a dead battery as long as it's still plugged into the wall, but I don't know for sure. Are you turning off your power strip or anything?

Edit: Are you getting an OC failed message?

No failure messages. I do have the fan settings disabled, so I don't get the fan error message every time, but I'm not aware of a setting I could have accidentally changed that would suppress the OC fail message.

I did one more test on last reboot - I manually set FSB to 250 down from default 266. I put RAM at 1:1 and kept the Active-Precharge setting at 15. The flash screen showed the expected 2.13 GHz, and showed the RAM setting at DDR2-500.

CPU-Z shows the default FSB/speed -266/2.13 GHz. It also shows the default RAM speed of 266.

It looks like the system somehow isn't getting the message from the BIOS that the FSB is supposed to be set to anything other than 266/default.

I know the BIOS is passing SOME of the information on, because it's relaying the RAM ratio properly - in this last case, 1:1 in BIOS shows as DDR2-500, but since the FSB underclock of 250 isn't taking effect, CPU-Z is showing the "right" RAM speed as 266 at the manually-set 1:1 ratio - it's consistent when using 5:6 - the RAM speed just adjusts strictly off the 266 Ghz base. It's also properly reporting the Active-Precharge manual setting of 15 and showing the manually-input Vcores.

Not sure about the battery - I haven't unplugged this in a while I suppose - I'll test that first before CMOS and see if it wipes.

Odd that the only thing that's not transferring from BIOS to windows is the FSB.

Time to reset the CMOS and see what happens!

Just another data point:

I wanted to test 1:2 RAM setting. Again, flash screen properly showed DDR2-1066. CPU-Z is showing the expected 533 MHz speed.

I know the RAM is rated at that speed, but I'm still surprised it loaded anyway, even at 2.2v - with all 4 DIMMS populated and tight timings of 4-4-4-12.

Just adding more data to show that that FSB setting seems to be the only thing NOT taking effect from the BIOS settings.

Well, went to test your idea re: the battery and unplugged it for about 10 minutes to see if BIOS would reset.

Well, it didn't reset, but it did boot up with the proper FSB setting being applied, so it looks like it's fixed.

Based on the similar Gigabyte thread, I bumped the vcore up a bit from where it was before, so if having it too low led to something getting corrupted, maybe that'll prevent it from happening again.

Thanks for the input.

Glad you got it sorted out!