BIOS resets OC on every system reset.

[Zerix01]

I have a Gigabyte 890FX-UD5 motherboard (the rest of the system specs are in my sig). I'm trying to push the oc on this thing. After changing the bus speed the system will boot up fine with the new clock speed. If I shut the system down and turn it back on it will boot with the same oc. But if I reset the computer (from Windows or Linux) when the system POST's the BIOS pops up a message saying the system is unstable and the default system speeds have been used. So I have to hop back into the BIOS and change the bus sped again (doesn't seem to be changing anything other than the fsb) and the system will boot up fine with the oc. I have run "stress" in Linux as well as folding@home (with -smp 6 to keep all cores busy) for days and there are no stability issues yet.

Any idea how to get the BIOS to leave me and my overclock alone?

 

[coonmanx]

Can you make a profile in the BIOS so if this happens you can just load the profile?

I have heard of this same problem more than once. Just don't recall the solution. Are you on the latest BIOS?

 

[SecrtAgentMan]

If your motherboard has the support for overclocking profiles you could just save a profile and boot it up from there.

No idea why your BIOS is doing that every time though.

 

[Zerix01]

Yes I'm on the latest BIOS patch.

I have multiple profiles and one is set to the default but it still drops my FSB speed back to default.

I was playing with some aggressive memory timings when I first set the profile and got the system to lock up on boot, eventually the BIOS reset itself. I wonder if this profile is permanently flagged as unstable.

Well I'll play around with that and report back.

 

[QuietIce]

Have you left anything important on Auto? vCore, cpuNB voltage and speed, and HT Link speed should all be set manually (even if using stock values) and the RAM speed, voltage, and at least four main timings should be set manually ...

 

[coonmanx]

Maybe do a CMOS reset first and then set everything to where you want it. After crashing my system too many times I had to do that.

 

[Zerix01]

Have you left anything important on Auto? vCore, cpuNB voltage and speed, and HT Link speed should all be set manually (even if using stock values) and the RAM speed, voltage, and at least four main timings should be set manually ...

Nope everything is on manual.

Maybe do a CMOS reset first and then set everything to where you want it. After crashing my system too many times I had to do that.

I just may do that and if that doesn't work I'll re-flash it.

I thought I had a profiles option but now I can't find it maybe that was on my last BIOS version, it was a beta so maybe it was a feature they were trying out and did not keep it.

 

[Zerix01]

Okay I found the profiles, it was labeled as "Load BIOS" and "Save BIOS". But anyway I selected load failsafe settings, rebooted the computer, then re-flashed the BIOS. I booted up once with the default settings after the flash, then I set everything to manual but left them at the default. Odd thing is my memory is set to 1066Mhz by default and when it boots up with everything set to manual, POST says the memory is at 1072MHz (no CPU speed display on POST). On a reboot it gives me the same failed to boot with this overclock error and sets the FSB to auto. If I leave it and reboot it will say the memory is 1066MHz. WTF?

 

[QuietIce]

On some boards, though I haven't seen it in awhile, the HTRef will deviate slightly from it's 200 MHz default, which is all it would take to change the RAM speed.

What PSU do you have ...?

 

[Zerix01]

What PSU do you have ...?

580 Watt AGI-U580UBbk

On some boards, though I haven't seen it in awhile, the HTRef will deviate slightly from it's 200 MHz default, which is all it would take to change the RAM speed.

Well that happened on my last board too but I would have thought that it would do the same when set to auto. But it really doesn't matter I guess, I have tested this RAM up to about 1450MHz with memtest86+ for hours on end and there were no issues. So the BIOS should not be claiming stability issues from a 1Mhz deviation.

 

[QuietIce]

No, I didn't mean to imply that the RAM frequency was related to the BIOS problem - I don't think it is. I was just offering a possible explanation of the RAM frequency behavior you were seeing.


Do you happen to have another PSU to swap? Or a multi-meter? If not, you can run OCCT to take a look at the power rail numbers it records. Not what I would recommend for a good test but it's better than nothing. If there is a problem OCCT might pick up on it but if OCCT doesn't see a problem it's not good enough to rule one out. Does that make any sense? I'd let it run an hour anyway, then take a look at the graphs it created. It can't hurt ...

 

[soulwatch5]

Okay I found the profiles, it was labeled as "Load BIOS" and "Save BIOS". But anyway I selected load failsafe settings, rebooted the computer, then re-flashed the BIOS. I booted up once with the default settings after the flash, then I set everything to manual but left them at the default. Odd thing is my memory is set to 1066Mhz by default and when it boots up with everything set to manual, POST says the memory is at 1072MHz (no CPU speed display on POST). On a reboot it gives me the same failed to boot with this overclock error and sets the FSB to auto. If I leave it and reboot it will say the memory is 1066MHz. WTF?

Well even though the HT ref is set to 200 or auto, it might it run at 200.9 or so. This happens on my board too. Why its failing to boot I'm not sure. I know you've tested your ram up to 1400Mhz but ram can go bad at times. Try one stick at a time and with different memory slots. See if that does anything. If not then do what Quietice was suggesting. Its probably not your ram but better to make sure.

 

[Zerix01]

Do you happen to have another PSU to swap? Or a multi-meter? If not, you can run OCCT to take a look at the power rail numbers it records. Not what I would recommend for a good test but it's better than nothing. If there is a problem OCCT might pick up on it but if OCCT doesn't see a problem it's not good enough to rule one out. Does that make any sense? I'd let it run an hour anyway, then take a look at the graphs it created. It can't hurt ...

I don't have another PSU that will handle this system. I do have a multi-meter though, but I have only messed around with the thing a few times, I don't have it for any professional reasons so I would need to be guided through what I am doing. I could try out OCCT but then I would have to boot into Windows .

Well even though the HT ref is set to 200 or auto, it might it run at 200.9 or so. This happens on my board too. Why its failing to boot I'm not sure.

Well that's the strange thing, when it is on Auto it holds a 200MHz HT ref and the memory reports 1066MHz. But on Manual with the HT ref still at 200 it ends up really being about 201MHz. But like I said I don't think that matters and it was just an observation more than a possible symptom of the reset issue.

I know you've tested your ram up to 1400Mhz but ram can go bad at times. Try one stick at a time and with different memory slots. See if that does anything. If not then do what Quietice was suggesting. Its probably not your ram but better to make sure.

Memtest86 is clean at clocks up to 1500MHz. So the RAM is good.

I put in a support ticket with Gigabyte for this but have not heard anything back.

 

[QuietIce]

Using the MM is pretty easy but I can't give specifics - the labeling on them changes from model to model. You unplug everything in your system from the PSU but leave one fan hooked up. From there your motherboard manual should have the pin-outs for the various plugs - just test the voltage coming off the PSU on each plug to make sure it's right (±5% if I remember correctly). If your manual doesn't have the pin-outs let me know - I'm sure I can find an on-line manual that shows them, since they're all the same.

I'm not sure that's your problem but I know low-voltage rails can really mess things up.


Any chance of getting a CPU-Z shot - or whatever you can find in Linux that has vCore, CPU, clock, HT Link, cpuNB speed, RAM speed/timings, RAM channel mode (i.e., dual unganged), etc ...?