CPU clock stuck at 1.4GHZ.. I've tried everything!

[Frostyness]

Wow, this has been driving me crazy for some time now, and I'm almost convinced it's the motherboard if I'm not just overlooking something small.. my problem you may ask? My CPU is stuck at x7 multiplier, no matter if it's at an idle or under loads. I'll list my system specs, then I will let you know what I have tried thus far.

CPU: AMD FX8350 Unlocked Black Edition
GPU: Gigabyte R9 390X
PSU: EVGA Supernova 850 G2
Mobo: MSI 970 Gaming
RAM: 16GB
Windows 7 Ultimate
Also tried with fresh install of Windows 10

Now, I've tried just about everything, and I've scoured the interwebs in search of answers and nothing has worked.. this is what I have done thus far
-Reinstalled windows.. 3 times
-Made sure everything is up to date, including BIOs
-Reseated my CPU, and making sure no pins were damaged
-Tried the CPU on my buddy's mobo, worked fine
-Tried my buddy's PSU on my rig, didn't fix nuffin
-Replaced RAM*
-Rest CMOS*
-Read somewheres about a little "slow mode" switch on my mobo would cause this, I got an erection from excitement thinking I finally found the solution.. didn't fix nuffin.

Crazy thing I noticed today, when I am in the BIOs it is showing 4.0ghz, then when I check with CPUz, Open Hardware, AMD, or any other program it says 1.4ghz (or 1400mhz) and it never changes no matter what load it's under.. when I am in Arma 3 I noticed the speed change every few seconds, but it's stuck between 1.4 and 1.5ghz.. I am baffled, MSI technical support is a joke, and they told me the mobo was fine.. any help is appreciated guys!

 

[Frostyness]

Then I would argue the board is faulty mate - I've seen this before when the board is stuck in slow mode no matter the switch orientation .

A replacement board worked fine, there are a couple of threads on these forums from ages back with exactly the same problem.

Yeah, that's kinda where me and @Themastererr ended up.. I wish MSI would stand behind their product instead of being jerks about this entire situation. I am completely done with MSI for good. You could have the best products available but with customer service like they have, and refusal to help in any way shape or form negates all that. #byefelicia #helloGIGABYTE

THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE HELP, and Themastererr for the research.. If any other ideas pop into mind please let me know, if this BIOs update doesnt work I'm throwing the towel in on this mobo

 

[madmatt30]

Not an MSI fan mate personally , they make shiny shiny stuff that looks nice & has fancy names but for the most part is mediocre quality.
Some of the top end stuff is decent but younoay over the odds compared to Asus & gigabyte.

Have you actually stripped the serial number ?? (from memory I thought it was between the pci-express slots)

A shame as that board is one of msi's better quality efforts really .
The slow mode is there to get you out of trouble if you mess up overclocking.

Gigabyte & Asus just use mirror bios's to solve that problem which I honestly prefer.

Just to be certain you do have the slow mode switch in the down position for off ??

Also do a CMOS reset .

I take it you have run prime for a 100% load & the clocks still at idle speeds?

 

[Frostyness]

Not an MSI fan mate personally , they make shiny shiny stuff that looks nice & has fancy names but for the most part is mediocre quality.
Some of the top end stuff is decent but younoay over the odds compared to Asus & gigabyte.

Have you actually stripped the serial number ?? (from memory I thought it was between the pci-express slots)

A shame as that board is one of msi's better quality efforts really .
The slow mode is there to get you out of trouble if you mess up overclocking.

Gigabyte & Asus just use mirror bios's to solve that problem which I honestly prefer.

Just to be certain you do have the slow mode switch in the down position for off ??

Also do a CMOS reset .

I take it you have run prime for a 100% load & the clocks still at idle speeds?

The serial number is on the mb power connector, right where my connectors clip rests.. so apparently when removing it a time or two ripped it off. GG msi
I've done the cmos reset a few times, i've played with the slow mode switch, i've ran prime 95, 3dmark and arma 3 walk around for loads,

 

[Frostyness]

WOW so check this out.. I went into MFLASH and installed that M.4 version and wouldn't you know.. running perfectly. Going to run a few tests, monitor the cpu and verify it's fixed for good, but as of now it's perfect. So makes me question.. if this is indeed what fixed my problem, wtf good is MSI live, I'll report back in a few

 

[CTurbo]

It pretty safe to say your board is faulty. You've troubleshooted it to death at this point.

 

[madmatt30]

^ lol 20 seconds after the problem appears fixed ;-)

To be fair it shouldn't have made a difference , people are running on m0 with no issues.

If it's working it's working though , still not an MSI fan though.

 

[Frostyness]

^ lol 20 seconds after the problem appears fixed ;-)

To be fair it shouldn't have made a difference , people are running on m0 with no issues.

If it's working it's working though , still not an MSI fan though.

What are you saying? If you read from the beginning, everything you recommended I've tried 100 times, and was even in my initial write up. gg

And "to be fair" I am back to being stuck at 1400MHz, it lasted probably 15 minutes and before I could even run a benchmark it throttled back down.

So that's my towel being tossed in, and to CTurbo and Themastererr thank you for your help and actually paying attention to what I tried/hadn't tried.

 

[madmatt30]

^ dude - that was just a little light hearted joke at cturbo's expense as he obviously was typing that reply while you were typing yours.

No animosity or p**s taking meant at all there.

Sorry it was only temporary (If you can even call it that) - what are your plans & budget board wise to replace it ??
I'd personally go gigabyte when it boils down to it if it were me.

 

[Frostyness]

No offense meant, none taken.. this whole situation has been frustrating for me but I really do appreciate all responses

Moving on, since you guys have been such a huge help and have put some effort into helping me out, I thought i'd ask you guys first before I pulled the trigger on one of these two MOBOs sitting in my cart right now.. I wanna stick with the red/black theme, I found these two, opinions? And yes, overclocking is where I'm heading, I want to get as close to 5-5.2 stable as possible, keep that in mind
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mC648d/gigabyte-motherboard-ga990fxgaming
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/jntWGX/asus-motherboard-970progamingaura

 

[madmatt30]

The pro aura looks lovely, good price , full of extra features.
On a straight performance level though , power phasing ,voltage regulation , overclocking etc the gigabyte 990 gaming will just leave it in the dust mate.
I know people running 9590's on the 990 gaming straight out of the box without a single issue - there's not many (any really) $120 boards that can do that.

 

[Themastererr]

I would go with the Gigabyte 990FX for sure.

I'm running 5Ghz on a 990FXA-UD3. Very stable board and I like the dual BIOS for overclocking. It replaced my ASUS ROG Crosshair-V that went up in smoke lol...

 

[Frostyness]

Awesome, I was leaning that way too.. I really like the RGB lighting on the asus but thats not all im looking for. You guys have been great, thanks for everything

 

[CTurbo]

The Gigabyte UD5 or UD7 are both excellent for sure. The UD3 is probably nearly as good.

 

[Frostyness]

Ordered the Gigabyte 990fx gaming. I'll try one more time to get MSI to stand by their product, if no I'm taking this board out and I'm gonna put some .223 into it, I'll post a video if it comes to that. THANKS AGAIN FOLKS

 

[Tibane]

Ordered the Gigabyte 990fx gaming. I'll try one more time to get MSI to stand by their product, if no I'm taking this board out and I'm gonna put some .223 into it, I'll post a video if it comes to that. THANKS AGAIN FOLKS

Having this exact issue with FX-8320e black edition on the same mobo. Was wondering how this ultimately ended.

 

[Frostyness]

Ordered the Gigabyte 990fx gaming. I'll try one more time to get MSI to stand by their product, if no I'm taking this board out and I'm gonna put some .223 into it, I'll post a video if it comes to that. THANKS AGAIN FOLKS

Having this exact issue with FX-8320e black edition on the same mobo. Was wondering how this ultimately ended.

New motherbaord. If you have an msi product, I'd recommend getting rid of it, worst customer service I've ever experienced. I'm the proud new owner of a Gigabyte 990FX and absolutely love it. Overclocking was a breeze, very friendly interface. Doesn't feel as cheap as the msi. Currently at 4.8GHz

 

[CTurbo]

Glad your solved your problem!

 

[Tibane]

Ordered the Gigabyte 990fx gaming. I'll try one more time to get MSI to stand by their product, if no I'm taking this board out and I'm gonna put some .223 into it, I'll post a video if it comes to that. THANKS AGAIN FOLKS

Having this exact issue with FX-8320e black edition on the same mobo. Was wondering how this ultimately ended.

New motherbaord. If you have an msi product, I'd recommend getting rid of it, worst customer service I've ever experienced. I'm the proud new owner of a Gigabyte 990FX and absolutely love it. Overclocking was a breeze, very friendly interface. Doesn't feel as cheap as the msi. Currently at 4.8GHz

Ok thanks for the prompt reply. Disappointing the Mobo has problems, I've been enjoying their gaming X aib cards.