Question Over clocking will not apply

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Mar 10, 2019
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Hi guys, I’m new to the forum but usually when I have computer issues, you guys usually have answers, unfortunately after hours of online searching trying to find a fix, nothing has worked that I’ve found that had worked for anyone else!

Simply put, my bios overclocks will not apply at all, I’ve tried just about everything. Power management, clearing cmos, defaults etc...

It all started technically yesterday at 11pm when I decided I finally wanted to push my overclock a little bit further from 4.4 to possibly 4.6 as I had some voltage wiggle room. Unfortunately it’s almost 7 am now. I had been running this overclock of 4.4 for over a year no problems.
I read a lot into bios options and what not and thought I’d just up then BCLK from 100 to 105, with a a slight .010 cpu voltage increase. I saved the profile as test and rebooted. The computer didn not want to start and kept cycling on and off and I couldn’t do anything about it. Fortunately on its fifth start the screen finally came up and said that the computer failed to boot too many times and sends me to the bios. So I reverted my settings back to my saved 4.4 overclock and the computer started up like normal. Until I opened up cpu z and core temp. Cpu z reads 3.8, as if it’s stock with intel boost kicking in an additional .2 but core temp reads 4.0. Task manager reads anywhere from 3.79 to 3.92, mostly 3.82. After that I went through hours of reads on fixes for this issue and trying them out. Nothing has worked. 7 hours of careful tinkering and zero results, no matter how I overclock it, even using default settings and just turning on the bios ez overclock. It does not apply, all bench marks and voltage readings the same, no matter how simple a overclock I put on it. 3.7 all the way to 4.6. Nothing happens. Bios says it’s set at what I’ve set it to, but everything else says it’s not. I’m at a loss here and am getting quite frustrated, and desperate just to get it back to the 4.4 I had perfectly tuned and hardly hitting over 50 Celsius.

Here’s my build:
Mobo: asrock fatality pro gaming i7 x99
Cpu: i7 6850k 3.6 stock
Ram: patriot viper 4 ddr4 2800 2x8gb
Gpu: evga 1080 ti ftw3

Anyone with ideas, insight, a shot in the dark I will try it. Thank you
 
Mar 10, 2019
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I found the manual for the motherboard, it has a bios 1 and bios 2. Says if motherboard bios gets buggy to use the secondary bios 2. Switch on mobo, when I get home I’ll have to see if it helps
 
Mar 10, 2019
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Thanks for the update. Very odd situation here. So booting at 4.0 instead of 4.5 has same result? I was curious if you had started low just to see what happens. Changing only CPU ratio, can you boot at 37, if so, 38 and so on to see if there is a point that you cannot POST. You really don't want to adjust BCLK in this generation more than a few Mhz. It's tied to the rest of the system unlike the old days of OC. Even a few Mhz high or low of 100 can cause all sorts of stability issues. There were BCLK straps for X99 though, 100 and 125 being two of them. This could allow for certain frequency RAM kits to work as some kits only like 100 strap whereas others work with 125. Yes, it does get complicated. I spent tons of time reading through all this from my own troubles back in 2014 at X99 launch. This was by far the most complicated setup to get my OC dialed in from 15 yrs or so at it.
Yeah I’m definitely not going to touch bclk again. I have booted it at 3.6 but it always runs 3.8 according to club and 4.0 according to core temp. Only when I use that intel utility to software oc it do they show identical numbers.
I have not tried anything below 4.0 because of that. When I get home I can try defaulting everything and disable the intel turbo boost and see if it runs 3.6 and the inch it up .1 at a time and see if it takes it
 
Mar 10, 2019
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Yeah I’m definitely not going to touch bclk again. I have booted it at 3.6 but it always runs 3.8 according to club and 4.0 according to core temp. Only when I use that intel utility to software oc it do they show identical numbers.
I have not tried anything below 4.0 because of that. When I get home I can try defaulting everything and disable the intel turbo boost and see if it runs 3.6 and the inch it up .1 at a time and see if it takes it.
Do you think I somehow ruined the motherboard by changing the bclk by 5? The vcore sometimes running 1.68 until reboot worries me a bit
 
For such a short duration, unlikely. However, motherboard readings aren't as accurate like a DMM, more ballpark. Still, anywhere near 1.68 actually is killzone for CPU definitely. The 5 adjust itself shouldn't damage anything, but cause instability, data corruption, ect. could occur from all the system buses. Some need to be at or very close to 100.
 
Mar 10, 2019
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Update: from default settings I tried base clock of 3.6, it runs at 3.8. Changed cpu ratio to 37 it runs at 3.7, 38 runs at 3.8, 39 runs at 39, according to core temp 38 according to cpuz. But here’s a catch, intel extreme tuning utility shows core 1 and 2 running 40 and 3 to 6 running 37. A median of 38. At a cpu ratio of 38 it shows core 1 and 2 at 40 and 3 to 6 running 38. Is this intel turbo boost? It seems it clocks 36 37 38 39 the first 2 cores run higher.
No settings changed everything default, auto pretty much everything except cpu ratio
And then I run into different discrepancies. Cpu ratio set to 40, cpuz says 3.8 and core temp says 4.0 and intel extreme utility shows 40 across the board, task manager shows 3.8.
So now we get to 4.1, I change the voltage to 1.280 with 0.050 offset, cache ratio to 37( doesn’t like going to 38, windows loading screen keeps spinning) cache voltage to 1.175 with offset of 0.050. First 2 cores according to are running at what it’s sayin is the default and active ratios, of 40, the last 4 cores show default 41 active 41 proposed 40 (meaning it’s set to 40, down scaled). So according to intel extreme utility there all running at 4.0 while cpuz shows 3.8, core temp shows 4.0 task manager shows 3.8.
Exact same results with cpu ratio set to 42, cache to 38, and cache voltage to 1.2 with offset of 0.050.
On to 4.3 ghz, exact same results. Intel extreme utility seems to recognize the bios wants to put it to whatever past 4.0 but it’s like somethings preventing it? I will post a pic of what I see on my screen.
 
Mar 10, 2019
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IMG-0503.jpg
IMG-0504.jpg
IMG-0506.jpg
IMG-0508.jpg
IMG-0509.jpg

Edit: Task manager shows 3.8 as well.
Link to gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/2r8e79h8k/
 
OK. So at 4Ghz now? It's normal behavior for cores to default to different speeds depending on the amount used. Usually this is seen in marketing. If they it boost to 4.0Ghz on the box, it usually means only when 1 core is in use. 2 may be 3.9ghz, and 3-6 may be 3.8 for example. With modern Intel, they no longer publish this information though some figure it out through 3rd party software. Are you settings proposed all core set to 4.4Ghz? Your power limits are set correctly from what I'm seeing in XTU? Is this from fresh install of OS?
 
Mar 10, 2019
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No, I got off work late and didn’t get home til almost 9 only had a couple hours to tinker so no windows reset yet. Power limits in bios are auto, I don’t know about whether or not the power limits in the utility are correct or not, just what it’s reading from bios defaults I guess? I manually ocd to 4.3 in bios, intel extreme is saying the default on core 1 and 2 is 40 and 3 to 6 is 43, yet its showing they’ve been proposed to 40. Without me touching the settings of the utility. Usually when I adjust a setting in there it will turn yellow like that, then I apply it and it will turn blue then it will show proposed in the current values like how I was overclocking it to 4.5 with it the other day. But for some reason they’re yellow which means changed but they are applied automatically without me lowering them.
Does that make sense?
 
Mar 10, 2019
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I just finished last night moving over all my game files and what not to my hdd with no os, going to do the windows reset tonight.
I know some cores migh not be all the same some times, but I know I do have it set to all cores 43,
And my overclock I had before I started this mess everything agreed I was running 4.4. Now it won’t go any higher then 4.0
 
Mar 10, 2019
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Well, I tried one called real temp, it showed the same as cpuz running 3.8 when oc was higher. So same result on that one. I’ll download that one right before I reset windows and I’ll let ya know
 
Mar 10, 2019
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So I tried the bios 2 option, cause the manual says, "This motherboard has two BIOS chips, a primary BIOS (BIOS_A) and a backup BIOS (BIOS_ B), which enhances the safety and stability of your system. Normally, the system will work on the primary BIOS. However, if the primary BIOS is corrupted or damaged, just flip the BIOS Selection Switch to “B”, then the backup BIOS will take over on the next system boot."
It looks like its on my prior version of 1.4, instead of the 1.7 I just recently updated a day or two ago, but still... same results.
 
Mar 10, 2019
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Sucks to say, but nothings fixed the issue. Asrock support tells me the cpu is the issue, but I can file a warranty claim if I want. Theyll probably want my board to test it and try to repair it or send me a new one, or throw it back at me and say nothings wrong with it.
I sent the tech support guy the info he wanted like my receipt and all that for the board and now I'm just waiting for his response to see how this process goes.
 
Sorry to hear the news, but was worth a shot. Hope they can get this taken care. You've tried about everything, and I'm about out of ideas on this. I didn't have anything like that on my X99 setup, though did have some other issues relating to RAM settings which took a long time to dial in.
 
Mar 10, 2019
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A little odd update:
So yesterday my MOBO was approved for a return to ASROCK for them to test the board and tell me whether or not I get a new one or nothings wrong with it, which will leave me without a computer for about 3 weeks or so.
I booted up my computer for the first time today, and to my surprise, all my monitors were showing all cores running at 4.4 ghz. In a bit of a shock, I rebooted to look at my bios settings and they were at my original 4.4 OC I had set, which I did change to a couple days ago.
Unfortunately upon booting it back up again with no changes to the bios, its back down to 3.8, not applying the OC again : /
 
Mar 10, 2019
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OK, thanks for the new update. Something definitely going on there, especially with no changes to BIOS. Hope they can get you taken care of and be somewhat quick about it.
Well, finally got my replacement motherboard today.
Unfortunately, still the issue remains. Only able to overclock using intel's extreme tuning utility, and it shows the same as before, 2 cores locked in at 40 and the other 4 at 40 and showing automatically being "proposed" to the 40, with a "active" and "default" at 44 as is in the BIOS. But the proposed is what it runs at. CPUZ shows 3.8, core temp shows 4.0. Intel extreme tuning utility shows 38 38 40 40 40 40. As if something won't allow the bios to override the clock speed, or the bios isn't sticking. I've tried pretty much everything.
So it sits only running 3.8 on 2 cores 4.0 on the other 4 as if its just running stock bios settings with the intel turbo boost, according to intel's extreme tuning utility, only if I overclock it over 40 does the first 2 "proposed" "default" and "active" go to 40 even though its set higher in BIOS. The other 4 show "default" "active" and "proposed" 40 on default settings, with a overclock over 41-44 they show the "default" and "active" 41-44 but its "proposed" down to 40.
If I set the BIOS to 40-45, and then change it to 40-45 in intel extreme tuning utility it runs 4.0-4.5 just fine, bench marks higher and the whole nine yards each bump.
 
Mar 10, 2019
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Is it possible the processor or even memory is damaged and so it’s trying to hold back or something? I’ve been able to get the memory to 2400, from 2133. Intel specs on the 6850k is 2133 / 2400. Cache ratio up to 36, any further it doesn’t like to start or requires some serious fine tuning. But that all takes.
Am I looking at taking this rig into a computer shop to test it and diagnose? I have watched some YouTube overclock guides on this CPU and I have noticed just a couple people reporting the same issue, core clock won’t go over 40 but only a 2 to 4 cores run at actual 40 even though they clock it higher. Just weird it’s doing it to me all of a sudden