[SOLVED] CPU is overclocking even at idle, need help.

[Pallafurious]

This issue has only occurred yesterday after i updated my Drivers with Aorus. I also installed two extra ram sticks.

The CPU is running at 3800-3900MHz. Its stock frequency is 3400MHz is that being overclocked?
If so i want to stop that from happening.

Games have crashed to Desktop and now refuse to load.
I am using CAM to monitor the speeds but they are inaccurate, as it is registering fan speed at 1900RPM for the GPU,
yet i can see through my PC case as it has a glass cover that neither of the 2 fans on the GC are spinning.
When i run Aorus Engine, CAM immediately sets the speed to 0rpm, as it should be.

I've read on multiple forums that CAM is not very reliable, so I uninstalled it and restarted my PC, updated windows. However games would crash to Desktop.
I reinstalled CAM, however the issue persists as before. Both Task Manager and CAM show the same readouts for the Load on the CPU and Clock Speed.
I just don't get why after the Update the Clock Speed has gone past the Stock Frequency even at idle, literally doing nothing at all, no programs running.


Mobo - x470 Aorus Ultra Gaming
CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six Core, 3400MHz
Ram - 32gigs
System - x64

 

[drea.drechsler]

This issue has only occurred yesterday after i updated my Drivers with Aorus. I also installed two extra ram sticks.

The CPU is running at 3800-3900MHz. Its stock frequency is 3400MHz is that being overclocked?
If so i want to stop that from happening.

Games have crashed to Desktop and now refuse to load.
I am using CAM to monitor the speeds but they are inaccurate, as it is registering fan speed at 1900RPM for the GPU,
yet i can see through my PC case as it has a glass cover that neither of the 2 fans on the GC are spinning.
When i run Aorus Engine, CAM immediately sets the speed to 0rpm, as it should be.

I've read on multiple forums that CAM is not very reliable, so I uninstalled it and restarted my PC, updated windows. However games would crash to Desktop.
I reinstalled CAM, however the issue persists as before. Both Task Manager and CAM show the same readouts for the Load on the CPU and Clock Speed.
I just don't get why after the Update the Clock Speed has gone past the Stock Frequency even at idle, literally doing nothing at all, no programs running.


Mobo - x470 Aorus Ultra Gaming
CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six Core, 3400MHz
Ram - 32gigs
System - x64

Boosting with AMD, and Ryzen in particular, works different from Intel. In particular, 3400 isn't the processor's 'stock' clock frequency, it is it's BASE clock frequency.

By design it boosts to it's max boost of 3900Mhz when there is power and thermal headroom and with the right kind of processing loads, usually pretty light with only one one or two cores. It will drop to base clock, or even lower, when it's doing exactly nothing (which is pretty rare in Windows) to save power. Normally it will operate with clocks fluctuating between 3.5-3.9Ghz on moderate to heavy workloads, depending on what kind of processing it's doing. Finally, it lowers it's operating clock to base clock (3.4Ghz) if it's getting really really hot in a very heavy processing load although you can prevent that with improved cooling. With poor or inadequate cooling it may drop even lower than base clock to protect the processor.

With really good cooling (better than the stock heatsink/fan) you can keep the processor at fairly high clocks even in heavy workloads...maybe right around the 3800Mhz you're seeing. With PBO and really good cooling it's not uncommon to see Ryzen 2000 processors boost even above the rated boost clocks. Technically, that would be overclocking.

 

[Pallafurious]

It will drop to base clock, or even lower, when it's doing exactly nothing (which is pretty rare in Windows) to save power. It will also lower it's operating clock to base clock (3.4Ghz) if it's getting really really hot in a very heavy processing load although you can prevent that with improved cooling. With poor or inadequate cooling it may drop even lower than base clock to protect the processor.

So are you saying that this is normal and that when the clock speed gets lower is when its being over loaded?
I'm not sure what would cause my game to crash, I haven't yet tested other games I play.
The one that crashed and keeps crashing is Minecraft with over 400 mods, this requires about 7-9gigs of ram.
But it could be just a corrupt save.

It only began to crash after i updated the Aorus Engine with latest update. However There are no other issues that I'm concerned about except how the clocking works. I never really looked into it, I have built three PCs in the past but I'm still learning a lot.

 

[drea.drechsler]

So are you saying that this is normal and that when the clock speed gets lower is when its being over loaded?
I'm not sure what would cause my game to crash, I haven't yet tested other games I play.
The one that crashed and keeps crashing is Minecraft with over 400 mods, this requires about 7-9gigs of ram.
But it could be just a corrupt save.

It only began to crash after i updated the Aorus Engine with latest update. However There are no other issues that I'm concerned about except how the clocking works. I never really looked into it, I have built three PCs in the past but I'm still learning a lot.

Yes, it's normal.

I'm not sure exactly what Aorus Engine is, but I've never had luck with any of the utilities provided by any motherboard manufacturer. I think most people share these problems and end up uninstalling them. Memory stability could also be the problem depending on how you set it up and your BIOS rev level.

What clock speed are you running your memory at? Did you set it up with XMP? And what BIOS rev do you have right now?

 

[Nemesia]

You installed 2 extra RAM sticks? So you're mixing RAM? There is no guarantee that mixing RAM and not using RAM from only 1 kit will be stable together. Remove the extra ram and test the system.

 

[Pallafurious]

You installed 2 extra RAM sticks? So you're mixing RAM? There is no guarantee that mixing RAM and not using RAM from only 1 kit will be stable together. Remove the extra ram and test the system.

Negative, I insured that the Ram stick i got were the exact same as the ones already installed. Timing, Hz, brand and size. Even though they were discontinued i managed to find a pair on Amazon and checked everything before installation.

 

[Nemesia]

Negative, I insured that the Ram stick i got were the exact same as the ones already installed. Timing, Hz, brand and size. Even though they were discontinued i managed to find a pair on Amazon and checked everything before installation.

Doesn't matter if the RAM are the exact same brand and model. They are not from the same KIT. The RAM from a kit are guaranteed to work together because they have been produced in the same batch and tested.

 

[Pallafurious]

Yes, it's normal.

I'm not sure exactly what Aorus Engine is, but I've never had luck with any of the utilities provided by any motherboard manufacturer. I think most people share these problems and end up uninstalling them. Memory stability could also be the problem depending on how you set it up and your BIOS rev level.

What clock speed are you running your memory at? and what BIOS rev do you have right now?

That will have to be the next step.
Test done so far;

1. Remove old Ram from slots 2 and 4 and replace with new ram sticks. Result - Positive.
2. Place New Ram sticks in Slots 1 and 3, 2 and 4 and test. - Result - Positive.
3. Repeat with old ram sticks. - Result - Positive.
4. Install all 4 ram sticks. Result - Positive.

I will have to just run it in BIOS and check the rev level and set it so that it is stable. The issue i have is how would i know what would be the stable level. They are 8gig 2400Mhz/16. That is if you would have the know how. Maybe?

 

[drea.drechsler]

...They are 8gig 2400Mhz/16. That is if you would have the know how. Maybe?

Running 4 DIMM's is sometimes very sketch if trying for higher clocks. Running 4 at 2400, which is fairly low, is probably OK though.

Even so, I'd run a memory diagnostic to be sure. You can get MemTest or just type Memory Diagnostic in Cortana search box and Windows will reboot into a memory test routine. Let it run through at least twice, it will take a long time with 32Gb.

 

[Pallafurious]

Doesn't matter if the RAM are the exact same brand and model. They are not from the same KIT. The RAM from a kit are guaranteed to work together because they have been produced in the same batch and tested.

As i mentioned to drea.drechsler i have done the tests as follows;

1. Remove old Ram from slots 2 and 4 and replace with new ram sticks. Result - Positive.
2. Place New Ram sticks in Slots 1 and 3, 2 and 4 and test. - Result - Positive.
3. Repeat with old ram sticks. - Result - Positive.
4. Install all 4 ram sticks. Result - Positive.

The Ram is fine, however, could this still cause issues? OR as drea.drechsler mentioned that i should check BIOS to stabilize the revs?

 

[Pallafurious]

Running 4 DIMM's is sometimes very sketch if trying for higher clocks. Running 4 at 2400, which is fairly low, is probably OK though.

Even so, I'd run a memory diagnostic to be sure. You can get MemTest or just type Memory Diagnostic in Cortana search box and Windows will reboot into a memory test routine. Let it run through at least twice, it will take a long time with 32Gb.

I've run the test before but i shall do so again. First time i ran the test it didn't give me a log as it said it would. Hopefully through cortana it may be different. And I didn't set up the ram through anything, just switched off the PC, undid the power cord and then installed the ram sticks.

 

[drea.drechsler]

... BIOS to stabilize the revs?

Just check first...no good reason to do any updates before we know it's adviseable.

I've run the test before but i shall do so again. First time i ran the test it didn't give me a log as it said it would. Hopefully through cortana it may be different. And I didn't set up the ram through anything, just switched off the PC, undid the power cord and then installed the ram sticks.

The log is located in one of the Windows log folders. It kinda sucks finding it...you can also check the Windows Event Log (Type Event Viewer in Cortana) as it will throw errors in there if it found them.

You have to DL it and set up the test well, but MemTest is nice because it's 'realtime'. So when it starts throwing errors you can stop it and make changes without waiting for 32G to run through twice. That's a LONG time...horrible long I can imagine!

 

[Pallafurious]

Just check first...no good reason to do any updates before we know it's adviseable.

The log is located in one of the Windows log folders. It kinda sucks finding it...you can also check the Windows Event Log (Type Event Viewer in Cortana) as it will throw errors in there if it found them.

It's getting Late here, I am off to bed. Tomorrow ill run the tests and find the log and past them back here. Thanks for helping out.

 

[drea.drechsler]

It's getting Late here, I am off to bed. Tomorrow ill run the tests and find the log and past them back here. Thanks for helping out.

Might have missed this i added:

You have to DL it and set up the test well, but MemTest is nice because it's 'realtime'. So when it starts throwing errors you can stop it and make changes without waiting for 32G to run through twice. That's a LONG time...horrible long I can imagine!

 

[Pallafurious]

Might have missed this i added:

You have to DL it and set up the test well, but MemTest is nice because it's 'realtime'. So when it starts throwing errors you can stop it and make changes without waiting for 32G to run through twice. That's a LONG time...horrible long I can imagine!

So been in the process of running tests with MemTest, the first test was a failure, I ran it with all 4 sticks, it passed the first phase with 1450+ errors. And terminated in phase 2 about 40% of the way with 10001 errors.

I’ve removed the new Ram sticks and placed the old ones into slots 2/4. The test is so far good in phase 2 with 0 errors so far.

I will return with the results once I’ve done this test and after I’ve tested the new ram sticks. Please stand by.

 

[Pallafurious]

-redacted to avoid confusion-

Okay, so i conducted 3 tests with MemTest and the results were good but also a disappointment. It did take from about 10:00am - 10:00pm. WOW!
Test;

1. Tested 4 Ram sticks MemTest aborted after 10001 Errors in Pass 2
2. Tested 2 Ram sticks Old in Slots 2-4 - No Errors also tested games and no crashes.
3. Tested 2 Ram sticks New in Slots 1-3 - No Errors and also tested games and no crashes.

So in conclusion it appears that the Mobo doesn't like both Separate kits being installed together.I did save each log at the end of the test, where would i find these logs?

 

[drea.drechsler]

Okay, so i conducted 3 tests with MemTest and the results were good but also a disappointment. It did take from about 10:00am - 10:00pm. WOW!
Test;

1. Tested 4 Ram sticks MemTest aborted after 10001 Errors in Pass 2
2. Tested 2 Ram sticks Old in Slots 2-4 - No Errors also tested games and no crashes.
3. Tested 2 Ram sticks New in Slots 1-3 - No Errors and also tested games and no crashes.

So in conclusion it appears that the Mobo doesn't like both Separate kits being installed together.I did save each log at the end of the test, where would i find these logs?

I'm not sure MemTest saves logs...but if it does they will probably be in the folder where it's installed. It's probably not very informative, just knowing it threw errors is enough to know anyway. Beyond just knowing that it failed, the Windows Memory Diag logs aren't very informative either. So just look in the Event Log for errors there.

You might try to run the test with memory at 2133 instead of 2400 with all 4 DIMM's in place. I don't think it's the motherboard, but the CPU MMU that's the limiter. The motherboard memory layout can help but if used, a layout that helps with 4 dimms hurts 2 dimm performance and that is the most popular configuration.

 

[Pallafurious]

I'm not sure MemTest saves logs...but if it does they will probably be in the folder where it's installed. It's probably not very informative, just knowing it threw errors is enough to know anyway. Beyond just knowing that it failed, the Windows Memory Diag logs aren't very informative either. So just look in the Event Log for errors there.

You might try to run the test with memory at 2133 instead of 2400 with all 4 DIMM's in place. I don't think it's the motherboard, but the CPU MMU that's the limiter. The motherboard memory layout can help but if used, a layout that helps with 4 dimms hurts 2 dimm performance and that is the most popular configuration.

Okay, and would it be recommended to look up tutorials on how to edit the MHz speeds for the ram.
And of course i should install all 4 and then Boot into BIOS and alter them there?

 

[drea.drechsler]

Okay, and would it be recommended to look up tutorials on how to edit the MHz speeds for the ram.
And of course i should install all 4 and then Boot into BIOS and alter them there?

Yes, install and then boot into BIOS.

Did you not set XMP in BIOS for your memory? If not, try that. That will use timings the DIMM manufacture think are optimal for them. Then just use that and try to see if it will pass Memtest, since you apparently did not set XMP previously.

If it doesn't pass then look for a DRAM Multiplier setting or DRAM CLOCK or something like that. That should be on AUTO...click on it and LOWER it to 2133. That's the LOWEST default DDR4 clock speed, usually anything will operate there. This is pretty basic, it should be covered in your motherboard manual.

And BTW...i think you said you have two different 2-stick memory kits? But they are identical, from same mfr with same part no and ratings? Even being 'identical' they weren't matched so keep them segregated because you should experiment with trying the same kit in the same channel, or the same kit in different channels. That could affect how it well it works.

There other things to try, getting 4 DIMM's working is possible but can take tweaking. Increasing DRAM voltage to 1.35V may help, or setting some other parameters may help. I'm sure there is guidance available if you want to google for it.

 

[Pallafurious]

And BTW...i think you said you have two different 2-stick memory kits? But they are identical, from same mfr with same part no and ratings? Even being 'identical' they weren't matched so keep them segregated because you should experiment with trying the same kit in the same channel, or the same kit in different channels. That could affect how it well it works.

So in regards to that, do you mean I should keep new kit in slots separate to the old kit
Example:

slot 1-Old
slot 2-New
slot 3-Old
slot 4-New

or

slot 1-Old
slot 2-Old
slot 3-New
slot 4-New

because originally I had the PC built in store and I picked it up and the old ram was in slots 2-4. So I figured it must be keeping them in seperate channels.
Also I turned on XMP, however I was unable to change MHz on the memory multiplier from Auto to 2133MHz

 

[Pallafurious]

Yes, install and then boot into BIOS.

Did you not set XMP in BIOS for your memory? If not, try that. That will use timings the DIMM manufacture think are optimal for them. Then just use that and try to see if it will pass Memtest, since you apparently did not set XMP previously.

If it doesn't pass then look for a DRAM Multiplier setting or DRAM CLOCK or something like that. That should be on AUTO...click on it and LOWER it to 2133. That's the LOWEST default DDR4 clock speed, usually anything will operate there. This is pretty basic, it should be covered in your motherboard manual.

And BTW...i think you said you have two different 2-stick memory kits? But they are identical, from same mfr with same part no and ratings? Even being 'identical' they weren't matched so keep them segregated because you should experiment with trying the same kit in the same channel, or the same kit in different channels. That could affect how it well it works.

There other things to try, getting 4 DIMM's working is possible but can take tweaking. Increasing DRAM voltage to 1.35V may help, or setting some other parameters may help. I'm sure there is guidance available if you want to google for it.

After the restart and activating XMP, i tested games and they have no crashed, so far everything runs fine.
As far as i know the issue is resolved, i appreciate your time and help!

 

[drea.drechsler]

After the restart and activating XMP, i tested games and they have no crashed, so far everything runs fine.
As far as i know the issue is resolved, i appreciate your time and help!

Hey! that's sounding better already, but I'd still suggest running through MemTest before declaring victory.

I'd also suggest the first choice for memory configuration...so 'old-new-old-new'...as the way to start. But I admit I lack a lot of experience with setting up 4 DIMM's. It's mainly a try it and use what works affair. That's why running MemTest is so important too.

 

[Pallafurious]

Hey! that's sounding better already, but I'd still suggest running through MemTest before declaring victory.

I'd also suggest the first choice for memory configuration...so 'old-new-old-new'...as the way to start. But I admit I lack a lot of experience with setting up 4 DIMM's. It's mainly a try it and use what works affair. That's why running MemTest is so important too.

I will definitely do another test tomorrow, its getting late again now. And see what the result is. And the Config is New-Old-New-Old, i think the XMP is doing its thing. I forgot to test that the first time round. But so far I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel. 😀