# Fatal Issue after overclock, need advice



## Smashed Badger (Apr 4, 2011)

Hey fellas, how's it going?

I need some advice, I broke my computer somehow after increasing the CPU voltage on the BIOS to a level which, to be honest, shouldn't be a problem, though logic tells me that this has caused a major problem now that the computer doesn't compute, it still has power, all fans are on, hard drives seem to spin and the cd drives are active but no one's home, nothing is sent from the graphics card and it doesn't load anything.

I've had this problem before but I honestly can't remember what I did, whether there was a reset of some kind, whether I just left it with the MOBO battery out or that I bought a new motherboard and CPU. (I have done all of these things that have fixed various scenarios, just can't match this one)

I'm not asking for miracles, just something definitive, I need to be able to whittle this down to one component rather than a group. I have my suspicions that I've blown and fused my CPU's innards outright by setting the voltage too high initially, my intention was to test out the new cooling system I'd installed.

The system I'm running is as below:

PSU: 720 Watts (Less than 1-year old)
Motherboard: GF8100VM-M5 (nVidia)
CPU: AMD Phenom X3 8450 (Triple Core)
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD4xxx
HDDs: (Master) 300GB SATA & (Slave) 1.5TB SATA
Operating System: Windows Vista Home 32-Bit

Recently installed a new CPU copper pipe tower heatsink/fan and new case fan.

Note: I can't say whether the MOBO is beeping at me or not, for a while before now the beeps haven't been beeping and I've been unable to figure out why, though if you can help with this I can give you more details regarding the symptoms.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

what is the make of power supply? (look at it on the label if you do not know). Some power supplies cant handle overclocking (just because lights and fans come on doesn't mean the psu is ok).

Try a cmos reset.

Switch off the pc at the wall but do not unplug.
Remove the battery
move the clr cmos jumper from 1 & 2 to 2 & 3 or short the pins
press power button
put battery back in
switch on at wall
power up

when prompted press f1 to boot

or if you have an antec 1200 case press the clr cmos reset button.


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## DBCooper (Jun 11, 2010)

Hi Smashed Badger,

Let's start by clearing the CMOS and removing the BIOS battery. Refer to your motherboard manual for the CMOS jumper location......normally located near the BIOS battery. Clear the CMOS and remove the BIOS battery for about 20mins. Then put the BIOS battery back onto the motherboard. Afterwards, turn on the computer and see if it shows signs of life. Nice system, hopefully everything will work out for you.


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## Smashed Badger (Apr 4, 2011)

Ok,

Here's the update, I have taken the motherboard out since this post to put in another backup (that doesn't work because I've not got any DDR400's)

Anyways, this means that I've inevitably taken it 'out of the wall' and had it sit in a box for a while without the battery in. Since reading the replies, I've put the mobo we're talking about back in to see if there are any changes and there are, there's no life at all, the power doesn't come on and I'm thinking this is a PSU problem, possibly the one overall ballache I've been experiencing and it's definitely made me remember what happened last time this happened:

Computer didn't run properly
I think it's CPU/Mobo
Checks and puts back together
Then no power at all

I bought a new power supply to fix this problem last time, but I'm still unsure, it could be the CPU as well but now I haven't a means to check.

The power supply currently in the machine is an 'Ace' brand and I got it wrong before, the model is 520W


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

Smashed Badger said:


> Ok,
> 
> Here's the update, I have taken the motherboard out since this post to put in another backup (that doesn't work because I've not got any DDR400's)
> 
> ...


most likely the ace power supply. That name is highly innacrurate because they are crap. If you are overclocking you have to have a good power supply made by a quality manufacturer. Generics don't like overclocking. you should be going for as quality brand from corsair,seasonic or xfx.

CPUs very rarely fail unless the thermal paste has worn out and its being exposed to high temperatures.


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## Smashed Badger (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks and Yea,

That's why I was a little confused to how the CPU could die under these circumstances, I'm looking into a far more flexible power supply now, though price-wise I'm finding it difficult because I need it to be more than 500 Watts and not blow up at any sign of higher voltage requirements, I'll have to do the maths but that's half the battle, if I'm gonna spend money on this I'd like it to be the closest to a one off as possible, especially as I'm considering upgrading again to a far more powerful system, whether it be AMD or Intel (the latter I'm leaning too).

Thanks for all your help though guys, it definitely helped, I was prepared to buy a replacement CPU for it which was proving difficult as no one's selling Phenom X3's on an AM2 socket, it's all AM3 now lol.

I'll take those PSU supply brands into consideration, if anyone else has any good recommendations, throw them out there, price isn't as much of an issue but keep it reasonable.

Thanks again!

You can regard this thread as solved


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Minimum 550W. SeaSonic-Corsair-XFX.


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