[Joe Schmoe]

Hi guys,

I have an issue with my Ausus P8Z77 V-Pro board that has me scratching my head. Every so often when powering up, the computer will no post and just shut off. Then turn itself back on and attempt to load into Windows 7. A good portion of the time it will lock up at the windows loading screen. I have a I5 2500K in there and it's overclocked to 4.6ghz stable (prime95 blend tested for 4hrs). PLL is also enable in bios. Is there anything else I'm missing?

 

[mark_thaddeus]

It's an unstable OC when that happens. Remember that 4 hours of Prime doesn't guarantee a stable OC, specially that you only ran the blend test. Have you tried running it in small FTT to see if the CPU is completely stable? Also did you check if your RAM is stable? Is it running stock? If it is then it's definitely an OC on the CPU that is unstable.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

How long should I run prime in small FTT to see if my PC is stable?

 

[mark_thaddeus]

You can run it in blend but need to manually set some parameters to ensure that it tests the CPU properly. If you just want straight up 1 click testing, small FTTs are the way to go. You have a Z77 Board and an Ivy so try to check out this thread:

CLICK HERE

Read the section "Overclocking" from top to bottom and that should give you a very good idea how to test if your OC is stable. This is a very detailed way to ensure your OC is stable.

If you want a quick and dirty way to find out if it's relatively stable, run small FTT for at least 4 hours and then see if your CPU crashes. Preferably people will tell you 12 hours at least with the 24 hour window the best.

Good Luck!

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark_thaddeus

You can run it in blend but need to manually set some parameters to ensure that it tests the CPU properly. If you just want straight up 1 click testing, small FTTs are the way to go. You have a Z77 Board and an Ivy so try to check out this thread:

CLICK HERE

Read the section "Overclocking" from top to bottom and that should give you a very good idea how to test if your OC is stable. This is a very detailed way to ensure your OC is stable.

If you want a quick and dirty way to find out if it's relatively stable, run small FTT for at least 4 hours and then see if your CPU crashes. Preferably people will tell you 12 hours at least with the 24 hour window the best.

Good Luck!

I followed the method described in the thread you referred me to and it seems my overclock should be fine. I didn't adjust a thing and ran prime with the setting they described and came out with no issues. I have since shut my computer down (gotta work ya know). Is there anything else I may be overlooking?

 

[mark_thaddeus]

I just re-read your OP and I noticed you mentioned that you have PLL overvoltage enabled. Have you tried disabling that and re-running the tests? Sometimes it really depends on the chip if you need it @ 4.6. Most often than not 4.7 and above you may need it but at 4.5-4.6Ghz it's really a grey area.

Try that first and re-run small FTTs then report back your results. To be even sure, I would run IBT (Intel Burn test) for 20 runs and then small FTTs which found errors compared to the blend test mentioned in that post, so try doing this and then report back.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I disabled PLL overvoltage and was promptly met with a hanging windows startup..I then restarted and was met yet again with a hang. Tried one more time, same result. I think It's safe to say i need PLL.

 

[mark_thaddeus]

Yup it seems your chip definitely needs PLL. Try to increase offset voltage just by 1 notch and leave the turbo as is, since it seems you're able to run for 4 hours in turbo without incident. Try to run the stability tests and give us feedback!

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Sorry... I have no idea what offset voltage is or where its located in my bios.

 

[mark_thaddeus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Schmoe

Sorry... I have no idea what offset voltage is or where its located in my bios.

Under AI Tweaker of your BIOS, look for CPU voltage, set to manual, then what voltage did you set?

When I say up the voltage 1 notch I mean up it by whatever the next voltage step is in the BIOS.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I was confused by the term "offset voltage" in your earlier post. I actually have been setting the voltage up slightly by .05 volts with each startup freeze and I think I finally found my computers happy place. Seems I have to give this thing 1.380 v. in order to keep my 4.6 ghz overclock. Though I'm not very happy with it requiring so much voltage for 4.6 ghz I guess I can live with that.

One more question though. I've read somewhere (don't remember where) that there's an option in bios that allows me to set my voltage to drop to a lower level when I'm not under load. Where would I find that?

 

[mark_thaddeus]

You have to set the C1E State in the BIOS to enable it, by default it should be set to enabled.

I think you can find it together where the C3 and C6 states are in BIOS. Try and check the manual to look for the C1E state which is also called the Intel Speed Step, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

You said I had to set something. I found the C1E and set in to enable (it was on auto). Whats my next step because my voltage is still the same in CPU-Z. BTW, from your experience, is 1.380 ok for a 4.6 ghz OC?

 

[mark_thaddeus]

That's very high in my book, why don't you try 4.5 and lower the voltage? I have mine at 4.5 and only at 1.266v at load which is ok but not the greatest.

I'm pretty sure your board has the OFFSET OC / voltage option. Try and the manual if it talks about offset voltage setting? That's what a lot of people who have IB prefer since it down clocks and doesn't run at full voltage except when at load.

Here's a great reference for you since you have an ASUS board -->> CLICK HERE

Try to go to the link - [Guide] Ivy Bridge Overclocking Guide ► Asus Motherboards in the very first post of the OP.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I thought i was doing OK at 1.380 volts. Go figure.... although you keep referring to my processor as an Ivy Bridge. It's actually a Sandy. Would that make a difference?

 

[mark_thaddeus]

Oh wow, world of difference if it's a Sandy Bridge! I apologize for not being more observant and checking out your sig rig!

That voltage is fine then! If I remember correctly SB has a TJmax of 98*C (make sure to check out the Sandy Bridge club for further details on TJmax and such) and a max VID of 1.52. Now for 24/7 I probably wouldn't want to use more than 1.45 volts on your chip. Some people have said that max voltage is 1.52v but I would even try and come any closer than 1.47v, and this is if I was on water cooling.

 

[Nethermir]

Joe, were you able to resolve your issue? I am really interested to see how you did it because this is something that have stumped me for a long time.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nethermir

Joe, were you able to resolve your issue? I am really interested to see how you did it because this is something that have stumped me for a long time.

So far, it seems fine. It's been a few days and I haven't had any strange powering off or start-up freezes. All I did was increase the voltage a little more. Seems that my chip got a little greedier over time and required some more "juice". Not a problem since it seems I'm still in safe territory where my voltage is concerned. Although I'm developing a little bit of an itch to push this chip some more after seeing your sig!

 

[Nethermir]

Hey, so long as the temps are good, why not push it a little further

If you were able to move past 4.5 Ghz with PLL Overvoltage off, congratulations lol. I have a second i5-2500k that exhibits similar symptoms like yours.With PLL overvoltage on, it can go as high as it can but will exhibit the same booting problems like yours, freezing at the Windows logo. But if I turn the overvoltage off, it will only go as high as 4.4 Ghz even if I feed it 1.40v+. So I guess it is really a chip issue.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Well I guess it's good to know I'm not the only one having these issues. From my understanding of what I read on this forum and a few others, there seems to be a point when you chip degrades somewhat and requires some more voltage to maintain it's overclock. I guess my I5 hit that point in the span of 2 months. I'm not sure if that's a bad omen of things to come or whether I was not so stable to begin with. Doesn't really matter right now. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and continue to mess around and see whats the most I can get out this thing while not setting my house on fire.