Overclocking boot failure (Q8400) suspected voltage problem

[QuackLegion]

Hi there. I have never needed to post here before as someone has usually solved a problem already (great forum, thanks) but I imagine this is rather hardware specific.

The Problem

On cold startup my machine will turn on for a few seconds, switch off and boot back up. It will do this 2 or 3 times before finally booting into Windows but at the factory clock speed as according to CPU-Z.

When I go into the BIOS on advanced features, there is the standard boot failure hardware change message. If I go into the BIOS and save to CMOS and exit, it will sometimes boot with the overclock speed, usually after failing to boot again several times but will eventually post with the overclocked speed if do this enough.

I should also point out that I bought this PC already overclocked from a friend and it has run fine for about a year or so with no problems. I did not overclock it myself and am not really confident enough to fiddle around with voltages without a second opinion.


The Hardware

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66, overclocked to 3.19
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3P
2x2GB Kingston DDR2 400 Mhz (Not sure if overclocked; don't think so)
XFX Radeon HD 6870 1Gb
Coolermaster GX 750W PSU


The only significant hardware change was that I recently added another 1Gb stick of RAM to see if performance boost, but have since gone back to symmetrical 4Gb. The problem did roughly coincide with this but has persisted after reverting. I have not tinkered with any settings in the BIOS.

I have read of others just leaving their PC on after getting it to boot into the proper speed, but this is unfortunately not a possibility for me so any help is much appreciated as I would like to have a slightly faster CPU if I can.

Further details (voltages) and CPU-Z screenshots can be provided if needed.

Thankyou for reading.

Edit: Mistakenly stated 3.4 as the overclocked speed, it is actually 3.19

 

[Matt Dobe]

Could you take note of the overclock settings? Usually this will just be a clock multiplier set to a number (e.g. 22) and a core voltage. (1.2-1.5v) I would reset the bios to default stock settings and see if the problem goes away. If it does then read a few guides on here on how to tweak the overclock back up to 3.0ghz. It is quite simple really.

If you don't have any luck and the problem persists I would check your PSU and this could be a power issue.

 

[QuackLegion]

Hi, thanks for the response.

In the BIOS the multiplier (ratio?) is listed as x8, so am guessing this would make it 25.52?

The core voltage (vCore) is listed as:
Normal: 1.28750v
Current: 1.41250v

Here is a screeny of CPU-z at full load for further info