'Overclocking failed'.. with no overclocking.

[Smajj]

Hey!

 

Specs as per Speccy (I wrote this on my phone, dont shame the camera picture rather than screenshot):

 

 

GPU: MSI GEFORCE GTX 1070

CPU: INTEL i7 6800k @ 3.40GHz

RAM: 12.0GV triple channel DDR4 @ 1223MHz (this does not seem right)

Motherboard: ASUS X99-A II (Socket 2011)

 

For the past few months or so, when booting up my computer I essentially need to boot the thing up a few times.

 

First Boot: it won't post but will automatically switch off and then back on

 

Second Boot (after automatic restart):

 

 

Overclocking Failed.

 

I then need to go into my BIOS, just press save and exit and it'll reboot again.

 

 

Third Boot: Absolutely fine.

 

Some history:

 

A couple of years ago, the PC wouldn't boot at all, my friends very kindly helped me diagnose the problem - the motherboard just was no longer accepting 4 sticks of ram, no matter what.

 

We also figured out that (and this is 100% on me), the power cord at the back of my computer was never in fully.

 

We removed one of the sticks and everything worked fine, up until a few months ago when I started getting the above issue.

 

It's worth noting that for the past couple of years, the fans have been running incredibly loudly, I have an iCUE case where none of the fans light up or connect to the the iCUE controller.

 

What I've done to try and fix things:

 

 - Tried to turn off XMP, same issue

 - Reset the BIOS in both version and settings, didn't work

 - Reset CMOS, nope

 - Reseated all components, nope

 - Clean booted windows, nope

 

I appreciate the PC is nearing 10 years old now, and it may be time, but with huge budget constraints and other priorities (who knew kids were expensive!), I'd like to get this thing working and somewhat fixed/upgraded as cheap as possible.

 

My running theories are the PSU is causing multiple components to give up the ghost due to it failing (due to what I mentioned above) or the whole thing is just so old it's dying a natural death.

 

Thanks guys. Hopefully all my screenshot attached correctly.

[PDifolco]

I don't think the PSU is the issue

Did you replace the CMOS battery ? It's certainly dead after 10 years

[Smajj]

2 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

I don't think the PSU is the issue

Did you replace the CMOS battery ? It's certainly dead after 10 years

That's something I haven't tried, no.

 

Guess that's first on the list!

[RONOTHAN##]

1 hour ago, Smajj said:

RAM: 12.0GV triple channel DDR4 @ 1223MHz (this does not seem right)

Because RAM is double data rate, the actual data rate (what's advertised) is twice the frequency, so the 1223MHz actually translates to 2446MT/s, which is about what I'd expect. 

 

1 hour ago, Smajj said:

- Tried to turn off XMP, same issue

At least in the screenshot, XMP is still on, and since XMP is an overclock and your RAM isn't making it to 2666MT/s, I'd say this is likely what the issue is in at least some small part. 

[Smajj]

6 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Because RAM is double data rate, the actual data rate (what's advertised) is twice the frequency, so the 1223MHz actually translates to 2446MT/s, which is about what I'd expect. 

 

At least in the screenshot, XMP is still on, and since XMP is an overclock and your RAM isn't making it to 2666MT/s, I'd say this is likely what the issue is in at least some small part. 

I should point out (or rather, should have pointed out) that I turned it back on a while ago due to it just not making a difference when it was switched off. 

[CaiPott]

Probably something is causing the system to fail/shutdown on POST so it says "Overclock failed" due to way the failure protection works.

 

I would start to try it with a different pair of RAM's. Might be your motherboard as you said it doesn't accept 4 sticks anymore, all of sudden tho.

[Sawa Takahashi]

1 hour ago, Smajj said:

Overclocking Failed.

This is a generic message that pops up when your computer crashed without warning during the boot sequence (like when you push an overclock too far). This error can even pop up when you turn off your computer with the power button soon after powering on.

When this error happens, the BIOS is often reset to default to clear any problematic overclock. XMP may still be activated but any other overclock settings are probably back to default (CPU voltage and frequency, memory timings, etc.)

1 hour ago, Smajj said:

My running theories are the PSU is causing multiple components to give up the ghost due to it failing (due to what I mentioned above).

Like other posters said, try replacing the CMOS battery first. This is a regular CR2032 and costs next to nothing in dollar stores.

The PSU is still a possibility. You can try using another PSU but be cautious in case ACER used a proprietary connector/cables.

1 hour ago, Smajj said:

or the whole thing is just so old it's dying a natural death.

That too is a possibility with any ACER system out there. I don't say that they programmed such death, but I have some doubts.

1 hour ago, Smajj said:

I'd like to get this thing working and somewhat fixed/upgraded as cheap as possible.

I don't think you can upgrade that system without changing all the internals. You got a decent CPU and GPU. Upgrading would mean changing the motherboard/CPU/RAM and possibly the GPU. None of them come cheap.

So your best bet if still fixing it.

 

Hope that helps

[Mark Kaine]

turn off ram overclocking,  no more overclocking errors... well, hopefully!  

 

 

1 hour ago, Smajj said:

Third Boot: Absolutely fine.

i mean CMOS battery is a possibility, or capacitors perhaps...

 

CMOS is very easy to replace,  capacitors are likely not worth the effort though.  

[Smajj]

Thanks for all this guys.

 

I'll replace the CMOS battery and turn off XMP again tomorrow and report back.

 

Wish me luck!

[Smajj]

Hey guys!

 

Sorry for the slow reply, life totally got in the way.

 

I updated the CMOS today, totally replaced it with a like for like and no dice. Same issue, 'overclocking failed' and takes 3 times to boot up.

 

At this point I'm convinced it's the RAM, but I don't know what could be pointing me in that direction.

[mk2000]

did you try reset your bios sitting? pull out the cmos motherboard battery then put it again

[Smajj]

Hey!

 

Figured it out.

 

Thanks

 

(Just kidding)

 

I put in a second cmos replacement battery and reseated the ram as I had reset the BIOS with the first replacement but still got the same issue. A second battery and reseating the 3 sticks of ram seemed to work.

 

Thanks guys!