CPU Overclock/undervolt causes long boot time

stevepoolstock · 11 Jun 2012

Hey all.

Recently I bought a new mobo (Asrock 970 Extreme4) to go along with my 955BE. I overclocked and undervolted my cpu to 3400mHz and 1.30 voltage and stress tested while checking temps aswell. Everything seemed fine. However, there was a small problem.

When I boot the system, it loads the Windows logo and then hangs at a black screen for about 45 seconds before showing the Windows login screen. But if I set the overclock settings to default (3200mHz, 1.35 voltage(?)), there is not a problem at all and the system boots without hanging before the login screen.

What am I doing wrong?

Solarstarshines · 11 Jun 2012

it's under voltaged you just said 1.30 for 3400mhz 1.35 for the 3200 if you go to default you probally have a higher stock voltage then what you are using

stevepoolstock · 11 Jun 2012

I undervolted on purpose, if that's what you mean? Sorry, but I don't fully understand what you are trying to say.

edwar · 11 Jun 2012

He is trying to say you may need to Over Volt the CPU to get it to run at the higher clock speed. At least run it at it's stock voltage.

If that is not possible because of heat problem then you aren't cooling it properly.

stevepoolstock · 11 Jun 2012

As I said, the system runs fine @ normal temps with the settings I mentioned. There only seems to be a delay during boot.

So there is no heat problem... I just don't understand why it doesn't like those settings, because they seem ideal to me.

Dwarf · 11 Jun 2012

Why did you reduce the voltage? Generally speaking, if you overclock, you will need to increase the voltage slightly (and vice-versa for underclocking). Note that Cool'n'Quiet does this automatically if enabled (although this is only applicable if running at stock settings).

The reviewer here EXTREME Overclocking - AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE & 945 AM3 Processors Review - Page: 15 - Tweaking PC Hardware To The Max has managed to overclock the CPU to 3.7GHz at the default voltage of 1.35V whilst maintaining stability and 3.8GHz with a slight voltage increase to 1.375V. Note that your mileage might vary, and that you may or may not be able to overclock to the same extent with your CPU.

edwar · 11 Jun 2012

RobinSchouten said:

As I said, the system runs fine @ normal temps with the settings I mentioned. There only seems to be a delay during boot.

So there is no heat problem... I just don't understand why it doesn't like those settings, because they seem ideal to me.

Well the delay in the boot times may be, really is, because of the under volting. But hey if it works for you that's great. You just have to wait for it to boot.

More then likely that is because with the under volt the BIOS is having a hard time seeing/initializing the CPU. But again if it's working for you.

stevepoolstock · 11 Jun 2012

Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate all the help you're giving me. I was not aware that this was caused by the voltage decrease, but it makes sense. The problem I experienced can be labeled as ''instability'', because I also noticed that Max Payne 3 runs way smoother since I returned to default settings.

Thanks all!