# Need help with overclocked system (it has random restarts)



## ultimatemale420

Hey guys thank you for taking the time to view my thread. 

Your time spent here would be much appreciated. 

I would like to thank you in advance for your time. 

Now onto the main situation. 

I have had the current PC in my possession since late January. I believe since 28th Jan 2014. 

Up until about 3 days ago the PC would fun fine. (17th May) 

The issue I am having at hand is that my computer appears to have completely random restarts. There is like no telling of when its going to happen. 

Right now the only clue I have is that the summer has hit us and room temperature has risen up a bit. 

I would like help diagnosing the problem and help seeking solutions to this problem please. Thanx. 

My computer specs are as follows. 

CPU: Intel i7 3770k @ 4.5 gig hertz (at least I think its @ 4.5 gig hertz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro H50
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V Pro Bios: 2104
Ram: Corsair 16GB DDR3 Dominator Ram
GPU: Asus GTX 780 Direct CU 2 Overclocked edition
HDD: Curcial M4 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
PSU: Corsair 860AX Modular PSU
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate
Case: Corsair - something I cant remember


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## Panther063

Is there more fans in the case or just on the radiator?
What are the Temps in the BIOS?


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## ultimatemale420

Yes there is more fans in the case. 

Two on the left side panel. 1 big one in the front.
There is also 1 big on top on the roof of the case. 










I have no idea what the above details means. I will let you guys kindly elaborate. 
Hopefully though it is a pic of what you asked for at least.


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## greenbrucelee

please go into the BIOS to confirm those details.

What I must say is a few asus boards have a memory management problem where the system starts to boot then it will auto reboot before even getting to windows. This is resolved by increasing the VCCSA voltage in the BIOS.

But if you are getting this is at other times such as when you are in windows then you have another issue.

When you are in the BIOS please write down all the settings that are being used to overclock. These will usually include the multiplier, BCLK, CPU voltage, RAM voltage etc etc they will be found in the tweaker section of the BIOS


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## ultimatemale420

I'm actually worried as room temperature is not high at all at the moment and I just had a random restart. I believe cpu temp was 37*C at the time of the restart.

Edit: Just saw your post greenbrucelee I will go into bios and have a look now.


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## Panther063

I would rule out temperatures as the cause of the shut downs.
More than likely it is a result of the overclocking and voltages.


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## greenbrucelee

Panther063 said:


> I would rule out temperatures as the cause of the shut downs.
> More than likely it is a result of the overclocking and voltages.


me too.

Sometimes when overclocking the voltage needed in the summer can be totally different to the voltages needed in the winter. You can also find that temps will be a lot higher in the summer than the winter and can periodically spike to high levels for a short period of time.


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## ultimatemale420

OK I just spent a good 15 or mins in the bios writing down all the values and such to a PC of a4 paper I will write it down below. But I want to mention that I got a random restarts whilst in the bios. I had been in the bios about 10 mins before the restart occurred.


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## ultimatemale420

Mobo: P8z77 V pro

Bios version: 2104 x64
Build Date: 13th Aug 2013
EC Version MBE: - 277 0130
ME Version: 8.1.0.1248
South Bridge Stepping: C1

CPU Temp: 35*
Mobo Temp: 30*

Here is a list of all info in the AI tweaker Tab in the mobo bios.

Synchronizing Target CPU Turbo Mode Speed: 4500 Mhz (Yellow writing)
Target DRAM Speed: 1866 Mhz (yellow writing)

AI Overclock Tuner

X.M.P DDR3 - 1867 10-11-10-30-2N-1.50v-1.20v = Profile#1

BCLK/PEG Frequency = 100.0

Asus Multi Core Enhancement = Disabled

Turbo Mode = Manual
Ratio Synchronization Control = Enable
1 Core Ratio Limit = 45
2 Core Ratio Limit = 45
3 Core Ratio Limit = 45
4 Core Ratio Limit = 45

Internal PLL Overvoltage = Auto
CPU Bus Speed: DRAM speed Ratio mode: = Auto

Memory Frequency = DDR3 - 1866 Mhz
IGPU Max Frequency = Auto
EPU Power Saving mode = Disabled


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## ultimatemale420

Cpu Voltage = 1.268-1.272 = Manual Mode
CPU Manual Voltage = 1.250 (Red writing)

IGPU Voltage = Offset mode
IGPU Offset Voltage = Auto

DRAM Voltage: = 1.498- 1.507v = 1.50000
VCCSA Voltage = 0.925v = auto
CPU PLL Voltage = 1.813-1.816 = auto
PCH Voltage = 1.056-1.062v = auto

Dram Data REF Voltage on CHA = Auto
Dram CTRL REF voltage on CHA = auto

Dram DATA REF Voltage on CHB = Auto
Dram CTRL REF Voltage on CHB = Auto

CPU Spread Spectrum = auto

BCLK Recovery = Auto


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## Panther063

Typical vcore is 1.05v, a setting of 1.250 will bring it close to its limits for TDP.


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## ultimatemale420

TDP ?

What does that stand for ? 

May I ask. 

I am not the person who overclocked this system and overclocking is thus completely new to me.


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## ultimatemale420

Just had a restart and I remember the Case model now

its

Corsair 600T White edition case.

So what should I do. I asume when you say typical value of 1.05v That value is for stock clock of 3.5 gig hertz. ?

Or am I wrong ?


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## ultimatemale420

Intel Core i7 3770k Overclock 4.5 Ghz STABLE 24/7 (Guide) - YouTube

That is what my Bios Looks like. 

He has his volts set slightly higher then mine.


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## greenbrucelee

please go to the digi power control section of the BIOS and look at the load line calibration or LLC whatever setting its on please go to the the next highest one. so if its on high set it to very high


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## ultimatemale420

Thank You for your response I will restart my CPU now and do this. However in the mean time may I ask you to kindly explain why you have made that suggestion. 

and what Load Line Calibration is please. 

Thank you. 

I am increasingly worried that my hardware has become faulty since random restarts have become more consistent. 
I had about 4-6 restarts within the space of an hour.


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## ultimatemale420

Just went into the bios got yet another restart. Only this time when it tried to auto turn back on. It kinda failed. Then it waited a second. Then tried to auto turn on again and it failed, then it waited another second and tried to auto turn on again and failed again before successfully starting up.


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## ultimatemale420

OK I went into the bios had a look at the DIGI Power Control under AI Tweaker

This is a list of what I saw

CPU Load Line Calibration = Auto
CPU Voltage Frequency = Auto
VRM Spread Spectrum = Disabled
CPU Power phase control = Auto
CPU Power Duty Control = T.Probe
CPU Current capability - 140% (red writing)
CPU Power thermal Control = 130
CPU Power response control = auto
iGPU Load line calibration = auto
iGPU Current capability = 100% 
Dram current capability = 100%
Dram Voltage frequency = auto
Dram power phase control = auto
Dram power thermal control = 110


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## ultimatemale420

as you can see

CPU load line calibration is set to auto as a result I did not change it to next highest one just yet as I was a bit confused. I thought it would be best ask here and make sure before I change it. 

The next one up would be "regular"

Should I change it to regular ?


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## greenbrucelee

yes try regular if not try the one above which is probably high or extreme 

Basically LLC combats what is called VDROOP when VDROOP happens is when a drop in voltages happens even at load basically when VDROOP happens it can make a stable overclock unstable. This can happen when ambient temps are higher than normal.

LLC compensates for this but going too high can cause VBOOST which means the voltages rise too quickly.

When overclocking you only ever increase voltages and settings to the next available setting and never more than that.

So try regular if that does not work then try the next one, if that doesn't work set it back to auto and will come back with some suggestions on the xmp profile used with the RAM as I never use xmp because I believe it can cause issues but some people find it ok.


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## ultimatemale420

Once again thanx for your response 

I have now set the LLC to Regular

The next one up was medium. 

So how do we know that regular setting has done the job. (if it has done the job)
Do I run a stress test now ?

I have become increasingly worried over the last 48 hours that my hardware may have become faulty in some way. Do you think there is a chance that my hardware may have become faulty ?

I personally hope not. 

It was running fine for the past 3 months. 

I will report back if any hiccups occur on this "regular" LLC setting.


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## ultimatemale420

UPDATE!

Just had another restart on the "regular" setting. 

I have now set it to "medium"

The next one up is high, very high then finally extreme.


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## ultimatemale420

UPDATE!

Gotta a restart on the medium setting

Then tried High 

Got a restart within 15 seconds in windows. 
Its still on high as of writing this post but I'm getting weary of using the very high setting


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## Panther063

I'm wondering if this might be causing an issue: CPU Bus Speed: DRAM speed Ratio mode: = Auto.
Tying the bus frequency to the ram frequency will cause the Ram to increase as the CPU frequency is increased. Perhaps using manual settings for the Ram will help.
I'm no expert on RAM timings and settings so I won't attempt to suggest any settings.


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## greenbrucelee

Put the LLC back down to auto now.

Panther063 has a good idea I must have missed that, the RAM timmings should always be entered manually?

Who overclocked this system?

I also must reiterate that some Asus boars have issues like this when overclocking but it only happens at start up so there is an issue somewhere.

The settings for the 3770k in the BIOS should look like this 

I never use xmp as I stated because I think its unstable

Set overclocking or tweaker to manual
Set ratio sync to enabled if you have that option
Set core 1 to 45 and BCLK to 100
Set your memory frequency manually to 1866 if that is your ram speed
Set cpu voltage to 1.25
Set LLC to extreme
enter the ram timings and ram voltage manually

save and boot into windows, run prime 95 for 1 hour if its ok then go back into the bios and drop the cpu voltage to the one below 1.25 and then try to boot into windows and test on prime95 again. But I must say 1.25v is your starting voltage you may need to increase it to as high as 1.3v which is perfectly fine anything over 1.4 and you have a bad chip.


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## ultimatemale420

Once again thanx for your response. 

The LLC is currently set to high as of this writing. The computer has been running almost 2 hours now without a restart. I feel that a restart is nigh. I will change it back to auto soon. 

As for who overclocked this system. Well it definitely was not me. LOL!
It was the previous owner of the system. He built it himself and overclocked it himself primarily for gaming. 
I remember him telling me he was no expert over clocker and he was kinda learning the ropes when he did this system. he claimed to have this system for the most part of 2013. 

Greenbruceless you mentioned 3570k 

BUT! this processor is 3770K

You have mentioned XMP 2 to 3 times now but I have no clue what your talking about. Your dealing with practically a total noob here LOL!!

What is prime 95 ?


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## Panther063

XMP is a profile for your Ram, it stands for Xtreme Memory Profile.
Prime 95 is a downloadable stress test for the CPU and Ram.
Make sure you download the correct version for either 32 bit or 64 bit operating systems.


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## ultimatemale420

Thanx for your response. 

I just ran Prime95 b4bit version on current settings. It ran for about 13-14 minutes making my computer run constantly @ 4.5 gig hertz cpu temps rose up to 66*c

Then after The monitor went black "No Signal" and the Fans in the computer slowed down. The computer appeared to not respond. Was that part of the stress test ?
When that happened I restarted the computer. 

I still havent changed the settings according to brucelees most recent post. Ironically though most of the settings he suggested are already set like that in the bios.


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## greenbrucelee

66 degrees is nothing to worry about but the black screen is.

if you have the llc on high and are not getting reboots then this may have sorted it.

download cpu-z and post a screenshot of the main part and the the memory tab part.

If you get no reboots for the rest of the day, run prime 95 whilst running real temp along side it for 6 hours. Please note you dont have to stay in the room for 6 hours just let it run. Make sure you switch of any power saving options in windows like your monitor going to sleep etc in power options.

Or you could download intel burn test and run it on very high for 20 passes (which only takes an hour) but intel burn test is extremely intensive I have seen it screw systems up that are not overclocked at all.

20 passes on intel burn test is equivelant to 6 hours on prime 95


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## ultimatemale420

Thanx for your post 

LLC is on high at the moment but I am not 100% sure if the restart issue is resolved. 

LLC was on high most of the latter part of yesterday and I was getting restarts every 20 or so minutes. 

The only thing I can pinpoint right now is room temprature at the moment has been low but it is starting to increase as the sun gets stronger for the afternoon. 

The intel burn test you mentioned kinda scares I dont wanna risk frying my hardware. 
I will post a screenshot of CPU-z as you have requested in my next post to follow. 

Your suggesting to run prime95 again but I just did that as explained in my previous post and got a black screen after some minutes what do I do if I get a black screen again ?

Right now I have PCSX2 running in the background as my own mini stress test and my cpu frequency is bouncing between 1.6- 4.5 gig hertz current temps cpu = 44*C mobo = 33*c

OK CPU-z shots to follow shortly


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## ultimatemale420




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## greenbrucelee

up your cpu voltage to 1.3 and then test with prime 95 on the full on cpu stress test whilst monitoring the temps. If the temps go over 80 stop the test if it stays under 80 and you get no restarts then it should be ok.


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## Panther063

According to the Corsair site, your memory timings should be 9-10-9-27 latency as tested, or 9-9-9-24 by SPD.


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## greenbrucelee

Panther063 said:


> According to the Corsair site, your memory timings should be 9-10-9-27 latency as tested, or 9-9-9-24 by SPD.


thats were xmp screws up.

The timings need entered manually


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## Panther063

I run my Ram with XMP 1.3 and they report perfectly, the rest of my system is standard, I'd say the problem with his system is the overclocking.


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## ultimatemale420

Hey guys thanx for your responses 

But you have lost me when you talk about memory timings.

Still no restarts today as of yet besides the black screen in Prime 95


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## greenbrucelee

Panther063 said:


> I run my Ram with XMP 1.3 and they report perfectly, the rest of my system is standard, I'd say the problem with his system is the overclocking.


Some systems can be funny with it, sometimes you need to up the ram voltage to as high as 1.65 with xmp



ultimatemale420 said:


> Hey guys thanx for your responses
> 
> But you have lost me when you talk about memory timings.
> 
> Still no restarts today as of yet besides the black screen in Prime 95


go to the RAM timings part in the BIOS and enter them as in the post Panther had them down as.

leave any changes for now, if you get no restarts then try prime 95 again, if you get the black screen again then up the cpu voltage to 1.30 and try again.


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## ultimatemale420

STATUS UPDATE!

Alright guys I am kind of confused here. 

Since changing the LLC to high after a series of random restarts. 
The next day (which was yesterday) the restarts seemed to have stopped. For the time being at least. 

I am not entirely sure if the issue is now resolved. 

I know you guys have suggested to change the ram timings which I still have not done. 

Despite the current outcome of no restarts do you think I should still go ahead and and change the ram timings ? as suggested by Panther063

Thanx for your time and patience guys. 

I look forward to your responses.


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## greenbrucelee

yes you should always change the ram timings when overclocking.

Do not do anything else though. When LLC is changed amongst some other settings they do not take affect straight away and they can take time in settling your system down.

Leave it a few more days and see what happens and report back.


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## ultimatemale420

UPDATE!

Ok since last posting I Had about 2-3 restarts with the LLC on high

About 5 minutes ago as of this writing I attempted to change the Ram timings

I tried to change it to 9-10-9-27 as suggested by Panthor he claimed that is the corsair reccomendation. 

However the first two figures are stuck at 10-11 respectively trying to change them to 9-10 would simply revert them back to 10-11. 

So right now my timings look like this 10-11-9-27

I honestly dont know what any of these timings mean.


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## greenbrucelee

the timings are usually written on the side of the RAM or if you look up the complete model number of the RAM you will find out what they are.

Have you upped the cpu voltage to 1.3 as I said? if not do it.


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## greenbrucelee

if after upping the cpu voltage to 1.3 you still get restarts then I suggest you change the overclock back to stock and I will give you a complete walkthrough on how to do it properly.


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## Tyree

What are you attempting to accomplish OC'ing a 3.5GHz CPU? The Intel i7 3770k should handle almost any task(s) you require at stock speed.
OC'ing newer CPU's will only improve benchmark scores but do little to nothing for actual usage.


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## ultimatemale420

Hey guys thanx for your responses. 

I don't know the exact model number of my RAM Is there anyway to find out besides Unplugging the ram and looking on its side. 

I have not upped the voltage to 1.3v yet. 
Doesn't more volts > Lead to more heat ?

I thought I would try the ram timings before messing with the volts. I didnt want to risk frying anything after all I don't really know what I am doing here I'm just following instructions and trying to learn as much as possible from them. 

In regards top Tyree's question

I would like to achieve maximum gaming potential in frames per second as I enjoy consistently smooth framerates. 

Also I believe the overclocking helps in emulation performance of particularly the PS2 via the PCSX2 emulator and the NGC/Wii via the Dolphin emulator.


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## greenbrucelee

yes it does lead to more heat but your system isn't stable meaning it needs more volts.

YOu wont fry anything if you follow my advice. I have been overclocking since I was 16 and I am 37 now. I was overclocking when you had to fiddle with jumpers and switches on the motherboards to get an extra 5 Mhz (yes thats right megahertz not gigahertz)


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## ultimatemale420

LOL!

You been overclocking for 21 years. WOW is the concept even that old. I thought overclocking was about 10 years old at best. 

just for 5 meesely megaherz back in the days. I'm shocked. But it must of been big back in the day. 

If I remember correctly the first Nintendo the NES was 1.75 mherz

Alright I will up to 1.3 volts
But i was put off a bit by Panthor's earlier post when he said "1.05 is typical, 1.25 will bring it close to TDP"


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## greenbrucelee

my first pc was a 486dx 2 66MHz managed to overclock it to 79MHz. That was back in the day when 96MB of RAM was about the best you could have inside a pc and 96MB of RAM cost about the same as a 16GB pack in todays money.


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## ultimatemale420

WOW man just WOW

96mb of ram. Thats not enough memory to hold all of todays variables. 

I heard once that Bill gates said: "no one will ever need more then 64kb of ram" LOL!!


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## greenbrucelee

it was actually 640k and back in the day that was totally believable.

When PCs first came out there was no vision back then of these colourful displays with icons and stuff it was all text based.

Kind off like the internet was never meant for the public it was only ever meant for governments, the armed forces and education institutions to use.


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## ultimatemale420

I googled your computer that you mentioned

I found this

Fresh 486DX2 66 MHz takes on the world  AWE32 sound, HD - YouTube

Is that your computer "Resurrected"


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## greenbrucelee

lol I had nearly all of those games. The flight simulator which was Janes ATF fighter was one of my favorite all time games.

This is the pc I had


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## ultimatemale420

LOL! Good times eh Good times. Damn that computer looks old by todays standards lol

Makes you think a bit when you look back at how much things have changed. 

But back when you had that old computer I bet your younger self saw at it something extremely valuable. 

UPDATE!
Just had a random restart. 
I am going to shut down and change the volts from 1.25 to 1.3 as you originally suggested.


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## ultimatemale420

UPDATE!!!

I have changed the volts to 1.3v now hopefully it stabilizes

Anything else I should do ?

Run prime95 again ?


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## greenbrucelee

I have had nearly every console known to man including the neo geo where you could take your cartridge to an arcade and carry on playing the game where you left off if you wanted. The only thing was you had to pay when you were in the arcade. The games cost £100 - £250 each

I have had various computers like the atari st and the amiga along with the zx81 and zx spectrum.

Yeah up the voltage.


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## ultimatemale420

Thanx for your response bro 

I see so it sounds like your a hardcore gamer at heart like me and thats what triggered your love for computers ?

Am I correct ?

Voltage has been upped to 1.3 I will report back if restarts occur. 

You mentioned giving a guide to overclocking properly. 
I would love to hear it since it is a new practice for me.


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## Tyree

ultimatemale420 said:


> I would like to achieve maximum gaming potential in frames per second as I enjoy consistently smooth framerates.
> 
> Also I believe the overclocking helps in emulation performance of particularly the PS2 via the PCSX2 emulator and the NGC/Wii via the Dolphin emulator.


Graphics performance (gaming) is primarily GPU dependent. OC'ing a 3.5GHz CPU will have little to no effect on graphics performance and a 3.5GHz CPU should handle any games requirements with ease.
What OC'ing does do is raise temps, shorten component life and void warranties.
OC'ing needs to be done manually, in small increments, and each increment tested thoroughly for stability before proceeding to a higher level.


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## greenbrucelee

Tyree said:


> Graphics performance (gaming) is primarily GPU dependent. OC'ing a 3.5GHz CPU will have little to no effect on graphics performance and a 3.5GHz CPU should handle any games requirements with ease.
> What OC'ing does do is raise temps, shorten component life and void warranties.
> OC'ing needs to be done manually, in small increments, and each increment tested thoroughly for stability before proceeding to a higher level.


he bought the system pre overclocked from an inexperienced person.


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## Tyree

greenbrucelee said:


> he bought the system pre overclocked from an inexperienced person.


Then the simplest solution would be to remove any OC and run at stock speed. That should eliminate any problem and will certainly eliminate concerns.


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## ultimatemale420

I just got another random restart with the volts @ 1.3v this time.


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## greenbrucelee

right go into your BIOS and set it back to optimised defaults reboot and everything will be at stock.

BTW what cooler is on it?

run it at stock for 24 hours to see if you get any random restarts. If you dont and you want it overclocked, let me know and I will do a guide for you.


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## Panther063

CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro H50


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## greenbrucelee

ahh must have missed that.

whilst the H50 is a semi decent cooler its not good for big overclocks.

Check the cooler is actually working properly.


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## ultimatemale420

Hey guys thanx for your replies once again. 

UPDATE! I have had two restarts with the volts @ 1.3v The LLC is still set to high. As of this writing. 

I am using the Corsair Hydro H50
I'm surprised you call it a semi decent cooler. I think it does a excellent job. Then again thats probably because my previous computer sounded like a jet plane taking off and run at 69*c minimum and would stay at around 80*c on load

Speaking of the cooler how do I check that the cooler is working correctly ?
I mean I don't see any leaks and temps are at 33* on average which to my knowledge is pretty good. I maybe wrong however. Since I am new to all this stuff after all.


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## Panther063

I run a similar cooler (Intel) on my stock system and think it's great.
One issue is it only cools the CPU, not the VRM modules or surrounding area.
You have to ensure you have sufficient cooling from case fans to keep temps down elsewhere.


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## greenbrucelee

i would set your bios back to optimised defaults and we will start at the beginning.


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## ultimatemale420

Panther063 said:


> I run a similar cooler (Intel) on my stock system and think it's great.
> One issue is it only cools the CPU, not the VRM modules or surrounding area.
> You have to ensure you have sufficient cooling from case fans to keep temps down elsewhere.


Hey man very interesting response Thanx

Only I don't know what "VRM modules" are or where they are located or what they do for that matter. Thus it is difficult for me to understand what your talking about. 

*Laughs*

Apologies for my ignorance.


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## ultimatemale420

greenbrucelee said:


> i would set your bios back to optimised defaults and we will start at the beginning.



OK!

I will reset it all to stock and we can work from there. 

Thanx for your response.


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## ultimatemale420

Optimized defaults in bios have been loaded. 

I hope I dont get any restarts now. 

I am gonna be sweating with worry if I do. 

I look forward to that guide from greenbrucelee


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## greenbrucelee

keep it on defaults until Saturday. If you don't get any restarts I will post a guide on how to overclock it.


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## ultimatemale420

greenbrucelee said:


> keep it on defaults until Saturday. If you don't get any restarts I will post a guide on how to overclock it.



Thanx for your response

Its on defaults now

But "WHAT IF" It does get random restarts on default settings ?

What do I do then ?


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## greenbrucelee

then we will need to do some testing to find the culprit that is causing the issue, just let us know if it happens or doesn't.


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## ultimatemale420

UPDATE!!!

I'm afraid I have bad news. 

Saturday 4.30am I got a random restart. 

When the computer powered on again I was greeted with a Black Screen that said the following prior to windows booting up. 

American Megatrends (Huge red logo)
My comp specs listed

Followed by the following
"Power Supply Surges detected during the previous power on. Asus Anti Surge was triggered to protect system from unstable power supply unit.
Press F1 to run setup."

What do I make of this ????

I'm full of worries.


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## Panther063

If it is a faulty power supply, is it less than 7 years old?
According to Corsair, it has a seven year warranty
AX860 ATX Power Supply — 860 Watt 80 PLUS® Platinum Certified Fully-Modular PSU


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## ultimatemale420

I'm not entirely sure its faulty. 

I been googling asus anti surge and read reports that it can produce alot of false flag restarts.


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## greenbrucelee

disable anti surge in the BIOS if possible


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## greenbrucelee

I have been in touch with my friends at Asus.

You can't disable asus anti surge what is happening is either the voltage circutry isn't working properly or your psu has a fault.


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## ultimatemale420

greenbrucelee said:


> I have been in touch with my friends at Asus.
> 
> You can't disable asus anti surge what is happening is either the voltage circuitry isn't working properly or your psu has a fault.


How am I able to determine with a degree of certainty that it is either the PSU or the circuitry, when you refer to the circuity are you referring to the wiring in the psu. or the wiring of the motherboard.


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## T_Rex

Try your power supply in a known good working system, or try another power supply in your current system.


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## Tyree

Do you experience any issues with all OC'ing removed?


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## greenbrucelee

Tyree said:


> Do you experience any issues with all OC'ing removed?


he is getting the restarts with OC removed.


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## ultimatemale420

Hey guys thanx for your responses. Appologies for the delay in response. I only have this system in my possession. 

I am thus unable to test the PSU in another system. 

I could not respond last night as the restarts had become a bit too frequent like 6 in an hour at which point I called it quits for the night. 

Something is up with the PSU or the mobo is giving off false flag shut downs via Asus anti surge. 


I have unplugged all uncessery HDDs. ( I dont want them fried should a Power surge occur)

I Have gone into the system and taken a look at the PSU, there doesnt seem to be any burning smells comming from it. 

However there was a switch on it. That said Fan control: switch would switch between. HYbrid and Normal. The switch was originally set to hybrid. I have now switched it to normal. Hopefully this will resolve the idea. But I doubt it as I dont even know why the switch is there.


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## greenbrucelee

what are the voltages for the psu from the BIOS?


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## ultimatemale420

Hey man booted up my computer saw your post: GOt a restart. So I went into the Bios to read the volts:

They read as follows

CPU = 29*c
Mobo = 26*C

Voltage CPU: 1.022 would bounce up down highest was 1.028
3.3V ( I dont know what this is) = 3.360
5V ( I dont know what this is I assume the mobo) = 5.080v
12v ( I dont know what this is I assume the PSU) = 12.192v

I dont know if those are the figures you asked for Greenbruceless.


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## ultimatemale420

Switching the Fan controller from Hyrbrid to Normal Has not helped since I got a restart as mentioned earlier.


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## Panther063

Your CPU readings that you posted earlier from AI Tuner: Cpu Voltage = 1.268-1.272 = Manual Mode
CPU Manual Voltage = 1.250 (Red writing)
show they do not match up with the BIOS readings.
As I said earlier as well, your CPU voltage should be no higher than 1.25 in the BIOS.
If I was you I would return all settings in AI Tuner to default, then request help overclocking through the BIOS.


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## ultimatemale420

Bios settings in ai tweaker had been restored to defaults on Thursday night its now Monday morning. 
I am still getting randsom restarts with the overclocking disabled. 

The CPU is now running at 3.9 max as opposed to 4.5 max


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## Panther063

My mistake, I didn't read back through all the posts.
In that case the voltages seem fine, your 3.3v, 5v and 12v are normal.


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## ultimatemale420

No worries man it happens. 

But what are the 3.3v and 5v and 12 v specifically i mean where do those volts go...


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## greenbrucelee

the 12v is the main voltage for the high end stuff like the graphics cards and things like that, the 5v is for the mobo and drives, RAM etc, the 3.3 is for certain types of RAM and some low power pci cards and agp cards


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## Panther063

If I had of guessed what they are for I would have been wrong.


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## ultimatemale420

Hey guys thanx for your posts thanx greenbruce for telling me that. 

Well I am confused here. I do not know what to do. There is definitely a power surge issue. however How do I find out what is causing it. 

Could any settings on PSU/mobo resolve this. 

Its hard to belive something is faulty because when the computer runs it runs flawlessly. Just the Random restarts have become more frequent as of late. 

How do I become certain that it is a fault with the PSU and not asus anti surge is not false flagging.


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## greenbrucelee

use the psu in another computer or borrow a psu from a known working pc that has no issues.

Are there any certain times this restart happens?

If it is totally random try this quick trial fix. Go into your BIOS and set your ram voltage to 1.55 and set the vccsa voltage to 1.05. dont worry if anything goes red.

EDIT:when you set stuff in the BIOS the colours are warnings but dont actually mean your gonna do any damage i.e white is ok, yellow means you have upped the voltage, purple means its high and red means its very high.


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## ultimatemale420

The restarts are totally random. However once the first restart occurs they become more frequent. Until I give the comp a bit of a rest. 

I dont have any other PSU or other computers so I'm limited trial and error options.


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## greenbrucelee

do you not know anyone who could lend you their psu for a while?

if not try what I suggested.


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## ultimatemale420

greenbrucelee said:


> use the psu in another computer or borrow a psu from a known working pc that has no issues.
> 
> Are there any certain times this restart happens?
> 
> If it is totally random try this quick trial fix. Go into your BIOS and set your ram voltage to 1.55 and set the vccsa voltage to 1.05. dont worry if anything goes red.
> 
> EDIT:when you set stuff in the BIOS the colours are warnings but dont actually mean your gonna do any damage i.e white is ok, yellow means you have upped the voltage, purple means its high and red means its very high.




Hey greenbruce I tried what you mentioned. :
But everytime I change the ram volts or vcca volts its got automatically back to "auto"

Since restoring back to defaults my Ram is now at 1333mhz as opposed to 1866mhz 

What should I do ?

Additionally I have speculated a thoery
NOTE That this is speculation and I Maybe totally wrong. 
What I think is happening is the PSU has its own thermostat, when temps rise the PSU gives power surge, and anti surge is triggered thus triggering a restart.


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## greenbrucelee

That could be happening it is possible but ti shouldn't be doing it if the system is at stock unless the psu is faulty.

You need to change the ram to 1866 or whatever it is by finding the DRAM speed, just select the correct speed.

To change the VCCSA etc you may need to enter the overclocking tweaker.


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## ultimatemale420

UPDATE!

I have tried entering the Ram volts as you suggested but it just keeps getting put back the "auto"

I'm just so confused.


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## gcavan

I have to ask: Are you saving the new BIOS settings before exiting? (ie F10)


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## ultimatemale420

Yes I am saving before exiting but the reversion to auto is instant. 

So the second I change it instantly goes back to "auto"


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## greenbrucelee

are you entering it in the correct place? have you changed the ai tweaker to manual?


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## ultimatemale420

UPDATE! Over the past 72 hours I have encountered several black screens. 1 case the screen went black (no signal on monitor) but the computer appeared to be functioning but not displaying the image. 

Another time the same happened but the computer stopped responding totally moments after. 

If your wondering how I'm able to tell the difference (without actually seeing the screen) I could see internet traffic on my routers blinking light. 

I am working on or at least trying find another PSU to test the differences. I kindly ask you to bare with whilst I try to secure one.


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## greenbrucelee

this thread will be open, get back to us when you have the psu.


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## ultimatemale420

Hey guys I have been unable to secure a PSU replacement as of yet though I am still working on it. 

However I belive that the issue has something to do specifically with the 12v output

that is the one that Asus AI suite gives warnings about. I have seen it go red in the mobo bios page on startup. 

it goes down to about 10.50 I think or maybe lower. 

I dont know what to make of it but I thought I would share this information


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## ultimatemale420

View image: volts warning

Bottom right ^


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## Panther063

Bios readings are more accurate in regard to Voltages.
Boot into the BIOS and report those voltage figures here, also Temperatures if available.


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## greenbrucelee

yeah BIOS is more accurate, if your psu was at 10v your system wouldn't work at all but if it is dropping to that when the system is on then that would be the reason for the reboots.


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## ultimatemale420

I been in the bios right now its stable at 12.192 volts but in the bios I have seen it go down to 10 volts at times when it does it goes red. I assume when this happens the mobo requests more power and power supply sends a surge the mobo detects its and Asus anti surge triggers.

^ But that is just my two cents. 

So is this conclusive that the PSU is faulty or is there a way to fix it ?


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## ultimatemale420

Just been in the bios

it was bouncing between 10.3 to 11.2


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## greenbrucelee

you cant fix a faulty psu.


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## ultimatemale420

So it is definitely the PSU then ?


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## greenbrucelee

99% yep


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## Tyree

The Corsair AX860 comes with a 7 yr. warranty. Contact Corsair about an RMA.


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## ultimatemale420

Hi guys 

Been a while since I posted. But. after much argument with Corsair I got them to do RMA on the PSU. 

The random restarts have now gone. 

Only I really do miss my original overclock settings. Gaming performance has taken a hit since going back to stock settings due to the PSU issue. 

So would definitely appreciate help overclocking my computer as I have never over clocked before. 

Thanx guys. 

Regards.


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## greenbrucelee

Read my link about how to overclock an i2500k. Whilst you do not have the i2500k the procedure is really the same apart from the voltage.

keep your cpu voltage (vcore) at what it is, if its not stabe raise it until it is http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f273/how-to-overclock-an-i2500k-652418.html


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