Major Overclocking blunder - please help! Did I ruin my CPU or mobo???

[monduConstruct]

Hello,

This is my first post, and I am hoping that someone out there can help me with this frustrating problem. My system:

Foxconn C51XEM2AA mobo
AMD Athlon X2 4200+
4gbs Corsair 6400C4 (4-4-4-12) DDR2 800
WD 74gb Raptor
7900 GS Vid Card

I had the system overclocked to 2.5ghz for a while when I had 2gb RAM in there, I added another 2 gigs of the exact same stuff, and started having posting errors occasionally, and the system would clock itself down. So today I tried to adjust the clocks and accidentally set something wrong - the cpu voltage to be specific. It froze during post VERY badly, with lots of '%' signs everywhere, etc. After powering it off for 10 minutes I started it up again and was able to get in bios - and set everything back to mobo defaults.

BIOS said it was running at 2.2ghz, and CPU-Z (most current version .. 1.44) said it was 1.8ghz. So I overclocked it - using a guide I found online http://www.legitreviews.com/article/373/1/, and being very careful/conservative, and got the system up to 2.8 ghz, easily. BIOS says 2.8ghz, CPU Z and Windows System tab both say 2ghz (each core). I clocked the CPU down to 1.7ghz, and CPU-Z read it as 1.2ghz.

I noticed that in BIOS I set the CPU Core voltage to 1.45V, and it shows up as 1.33 volts in CPU-Z. If I set it to be 1.3 it goes down to 1.18 in CPU-Z, its always about 91% of whatever I set it to be. In BIOS system monitor it reads the voltages and core frequency as what I want it to be, then in CPU-Z everything is much slower - presumably from the voltage problems.

I do not have nTune installed. AMD Cool'n'Quiet is disabled.


Please anyone? Any ideas? Did I fry my CPU and it is only running at a % of the volts I set it to? Or did I fry the motherboard, as that is the component that actually controls the volts sent through the CPU?

Thank you!
mC

 

[cabose1227]

Did you take out the extra ram?

 

[Saihossoku]

Hello,

This is my first post, and I am hoping that someone out there can help me with this frustrating problem. My system:

Foxconn C51XEM2AA mobo
AMD Athlon X2 4200+
4gbs Corsair 6400C4 (4-4-4-12) DDR2 800
WD 74gb Raptor
7900 GS Vid Card

I had the system overclocked to 2.5ghz for a while when I had 2gb RAM in there, I added another 2 gigs of the exact same stuff, and started having posting errors occasionally, and the system would clock itself down. So today I tried to adjust the clocks and accidentally set something wrong - the cpu voltage to be specific. It froze during post VERY badly, with lots of '%' signs everywhere, etc. After powering it off for 10 minutes I started it up again and was able to get in bios - and set everything back to mobo defaults.

BIOS said it was running at 2.2ghz, and CPU-Z (most current version .. 1.44) said it was 1.8ghz. So I overclocked it - using a guide I found online http://www.legitreviews.com/article/373/1/, and being very careful/conservative, and got the system up to 2.8 ghz, easily. BIOS says 2.8ghz, CPU Z and Windows System tab both say 2ghz (each core). I clocked the CPU down to 1.7ghz, and CPU-Z read it as 1.2ghz.

I noticed that in BIOS I set the CPU Core voltage to 1.45V, and it shows up as 1.33 volts in CPU-Z. If I set it to be 1.3 it goes down to 1.18 in CPU-Z, its always about 91% of whatever I set it to be. In BIOS system monitor it reads the voltages and core frequency as what I want it to be, then in CPU-Z everything is much slower - presumably from the voltage problems.

I do not have nTune installed. AMD Cool'n'Quiet is disabled.


Please anyone? Any ideas? Did I fry my CPU and it is only running at a % of the volts I set it to? Or did I fry the motherboard, as that is the component that actually controls the volts sent through the CPU?

Thank you!
mC

V-droop most likely the cause of your voltage issue. As for the CPU posting different speeds from your BIOS to CPUZ that's odd to me, there's always a "slight" difference but nothing that substantial. I'm lost.

 

[monduConstruct]

IF this helps:

OC BIOS Settings:

Ref Clock (HTT), MHz = 260
CPU Multiplier = X11
HT Multiplier = 4
CPU Voltage = 1.45V
Memory Voltage = 2.2V
Memory Timings = 4-4-4-12

Everything else is set to auto, except SATA Spectrum Spread is off (though I've tried it on and it seems to have no effect).

With these settings BIOS says my core speed should be 2870 MHz.

CPU-Z Reads:

Core speed: 2033.9 MHz
Multiplier: 11X
Bus Speed: 184.8 MHz
HT Link: 739.2 MHz
Core Voltage: 1.32V
DRAM Freq: 338.8 MHz






If I set EVERYTHING in BIOS to be factory default, my 4200+ chip reads in CPU-Z as:

Core Speed: 1568.4 MHz
Multiplier: 11X
Bus Speed: 142.6 MHz
HT Link: 713 MHz
Core Voltage: 1.192V
DRAM Freq: 261.4 MHz
Timings: 5-5-5-18

 

[monduConstruct]

I've been writing back and forth with a guy who did some OC testing with this board for a website.

I think its the bus speed that is the issue. If I manually set it to 260 MHz in BIOS, it shows up at 184MHz in CPU-Z. What could cause this difference? could I have damaged the board's bus?

 

[Stazio]

Have you confirmed the CPU-Z data with another program? That would be the first step I would think... don't panic, yet.

Second.. I would take down the voltage on your mem. Corsair 6400c4 is rated at 2.1V max. I've got mine running at 930+ Mhz and it's set on Auto

 

[QuietIce]

to OCForums to both monduConstruct and Stazio!


Was CPU-Z reading everything correctly before your vCore error?

How high did you accidentally set the vCore? And is that the only voltage that got set too high? What were your other CPU settings when you set the vCore too high?

Did you reset the BIOS completely (clear CMOS)? If not, I'd do that first before fretting too much.


I wouldn't worry about the vDIMM setting of 2.2v. The 2.1v is "stock" voltage but in my experience Corsair will handle a little more w/out problems. I've currently got mine running 4-5-5-15 @ 945 MHz w/2.3 vDIMM. Even Corsair has test results for some boards showing a vDIMM of 2.2v so they must think it's OK ...