'Overclocking' error on Cold Boot up

[furkan68k18]

Hi I have a problem with my pc. On a cold boot up it always goes into a boot loop after a couple of boot ups it seems to boot up normally but there is no signal with the monitor at all so I shut it down with the power button then start up again. Then it will boot up fine and give an error message "Overclocking has failed ...". then it would take me to the BIOS, and I would be able to continue to the Windows screen. It is not always the same, sometimes it gets stuck on boot screen or something but every time, I get the error message.

This is my specs:
MB: MS-7519
This is my motherboard:
https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/P43TC51.html
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
OS: Windows 10 (64 bit)
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series
RAM: 8Gb
8GB (4x2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 PC2-6400 Gaming Ram (CM2X2048-6400C5C)

So far I have only tried to disable 'Quick booting' at the boot menu which did not help
and also removed a second hard, which I read up that could be slowing down the boot up because it wasn't fast enough.

 

[Sedivy]

Ok so your overclock seems to have stability issues. Can you go into bios and set your cpu clock settings back to default and see if you still have the issue?

 

[furkan68k18]

Ok so your overclock seems to have stability issues. Can you go into bios and set your cpu clock settings back to default and see if you still have the issue?

Okay I will try this and see what happens the next time I cold boot

 

[furkan68k18]

Can you go into bios and set your cpu clock settings back to default and see if you still have the issue?

How do you do this?

 

[Sedivy]

Ok press Del on boot and get into your bios, then look for a screen like this:
https://obrazki.elektroda.pl/5899780000_1352119320.jpg
On the top make sure it says 2.66GHz
Where it says D.O.T. control, make sure it's disabled. If you want to know more about it read: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/msi_p35_platinum/5.html
Where it says intel eist it should be enabled by default but you can try and see if there are any changes when you disable it.
Oh and under memory heading, where it says xtreme memory profile, make sure it's set to disabled.

 

[furkan68k18]

Ok press Del on boot and get into your bios, then look for a screen like this:
https://obrazki.elektroda.pl/5899780000_1352119320.jpg
On the top make sure it says 2.66GHz
Where it says D.O.T. control, make sure it's disabled. If you want to know more about it read: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/msi_p35_platinum/5.html
Where it says intel eist it should be enabled by default but you can try and see if there are any changes when you disable it.
Oh and under memory heading, where it says xtreme memory profile, make sure it's set to disabled.

D.O.T was already disabled
I disabled intel eist
But for xrtreme memory profile there was no such option like that

When I cold boot my pc tomorrow i will see if this will helped

Thanks

 

[Sedivy]

If it still does it tomorrow, I can think of a couple of other things to do. Not sure if this is your boot manager or your windows itself that's glitching, but you could just try a fix on both, and see if it helps by getting your windows install cd, running it and then instead of install, going into troubleshooting->automatic repair and let it run, to see if it finds any issues. Afterwards, you can reboot, get the cd out and boot normally into windows to see if it helped at all.

Also... according to some posts, it might also be your ram or your bios might need updating:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264615-29-overclocking-failed-overclocking-system
Is your bios on its latest version?

 

[furkan68k18]

Disabling intel eist didn't help

Do you think doing this will help:
Unplug your PC from the power and open your case. Then clear the CMOS from the jumpers.
Consult your motherboards manual to see how to clear your CMOS. Most motherboard you have to change the jumper settings for a few seconds (From Pins 0 and 1 to 1 and 2) or some you need to add a jumper for a few seconds..
or better remove battery mobo and wait a minute .. put it back and plug power .. boot

When you have cleared the CMOS boot up your PC and enter the BIOS and load "Fail Safe" settings and save. Then left Windows load properly..
If windows loads successfully you can shutdown and go back into the BIOS and load "Default" settings and save and exit. If you like after that quick reboot you can start.

 

[Sedivy]

Clearing cmos will in essence set your bios back to default. Which is a good choice if you unknowingly overclocked and it shouldn't hurt anything.
But I think it's reporting as overclocked though you haven't done anything. I've seen a few issues like this long time ago. I'll have to look around a bit to check. In the meantime, sure, pull the battery, wait a bit, and then put it back in. Do this when the system is off and disconnected. Make sure to touch your hands to the metal of the case first before touching the mobo.

 

[furkan68k18]

In the meantime, sure, pull the battery, wait a bit, and then put it back in. Do this when the system is off and disconnected. Make sure to touch your hands to the metal of the case first before touching the mobo.

I did reset the cmos but it didn't help had the boot loop and error message again

But I think it's reporting as overclocked though you haven't done anything. I've seen a few issues like this long time ago. I'll have to look around a bit to check.

Did you by any chance find anything? I heard that a faulty RAM stick could be the problem. Should I unplug a RAM stick each day and see if the problem persists on a cold boot up? If you think I should how should I do this, do I need to take the same precautions that I did when clearing the cmos.

 

[Sedivy]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264615-29-overclocking-failed-overclocking-system
suggests it could be a lot of things, ram included. You can try shuffling ram around. Normally you have 4 slots, a1b1a2b2. So you can try a1/b1 instead of a2/b2 and vice versa (assuming you have 2x4Gb sticks). You can try taking out one stick and leaving a single and seeing if it still happens. If there's an xmp profile on the memory (if you're overclocking it), setting it back to default may help.
Yes when you do this, absolutely take all the precautions again to not shock your motherboard with a static charge on your hands. Any time you're near mobo do this.

It could also be your cmos battery is dying (https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/166260-previous-overclocking-has-failed-problem/). Might be worth replacing considering it's pretty cheap and easy to do.

 

[furkan68k18]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264615-29-overclocking-failed-overclocking-system
suggests it could be a lot of things, ram included. You can try shuffling ram around. Normally you have 4 slots, a1b1a2b2. So you can try a1/b1 instead of a2/b2 and vice versa (assuming you have 2x4Gb sticks). You can try taking out one stick and leaving a single and seeing if it still happens. If there's an xmp profile on the memory (if you're overclocking it), setting it back to default may help.
Yes when you do this, absolutely take all the precautions again to not shock your motherboard with a static charge on your hands. Any time you're near mobo do this.

It could also be your cmos battery is dying (https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/166260-previous-overclocking-has-failed-problem/). Might be worth replacing considering it's pretty cheap and easy to do.

I have 4 2gb rams. I took out 3 of them and left the one and will see if I will have the problem again. If it turns out that the ram is the problem and that leaving the one ram in worked could I test the other rams by plugging them in at the same time as the one already plugged that has been proven to be healthy. Im just saying this cos I dont want to test them one by one where I have to use my pc with only 2gb of ram.

 

[Sedivy]

No, you can leave the one plugged in, and add another stick in. Check. Then add the final two. I suspect it might not be any individual stick that's bad, but that's something in the ram configuration it doesn't like. Maybe it's the 4 sticks combo for that particular memory. Maybe it's the memory's xmp profile (if you're overclocking ram), so bringing it down a bit might make things more stable. Sometimes tinkering with voltage and timings help but I don't know enough about this to recommend you numbers to try.
I'll check if I can find anything about that memory's compatibility with that mobo. Sec...except I can't cause you haven't given the model for your ram.

 

[furkan68k18]

My rams are the exact same ones in this ebay ad: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8GB-4x2GB-Corsair-XMS2-DDR2-800-PC2-6400-Gaming-Ram-CM2X2048-6400C5C-240-pin/302499751279?hash=item466e63e56f:g:cRkAAOSwsBtZ71LU

This morning on cold boot up the computer was fine, I will do it a couple more times to be sure.

 

[furkan68k18]

By the way I just found that that I have an OC switch that can be used to overclock. The switch right now has the second switch on but the other 2 are up. Do you think this could be what could be making the pc overclock. After ram, do you think I should test this by switching the second switch off?

 

[Sedivy]

You can overclock a lot of things, cpu, memory, gpu. Just cause it has overclock switch doesn't mean it's for ram and so messing with it might make things worse.
If you're talking about bios when you say switch, look for the section that says memory and xmp. Xmp is extreme memory profile. In that one picture I linked you it was mentioned and it was disabled. It also had options for memory Z and advance dram configuration.
Memory-z according to msi is:
Memory-Z
Easily keep an eye on your memory settings with Memory-Z. Memory-Z displays your memory's SPD timing information in one easy overview. Helping you optimize your RAM settings for stability and overclocking.
And it's mentioned well in this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/298615-30-need-adjust-settings-bios-bsoding

The tech specs for your ram are here: http://www.corsair.com/en-us/cm2x2048-6400c5
One interesting thing is that it has a lifetime warranty so you might ask corsair to help you with the settings considering your system is getting unstable for whatever reason.
Another thought is that if this suddenly became unstable after years of being ok, it could be your PSU is dying and it's manifesting via memory instability first. I'm not sure.
Beyond bare basics I don't know enough about memory over or underclocking so I can't really guide you through a step by step on this. If you want to rule out your psu, get a voltmeter and check the voltages are within tolerances:
https://www.wikihow.com/Check-a-Power-Supply (part 2 is the relevant one)

 

[furkan68k18]

You can overclock a lot of things, cpu, memory, gpu. Just cause it has overclock switch doesn't mean it's for ram and so messing with it might make things worse.
If you're talking about bios when you say switch, look for the section that says memory and xmp. Xmp is extreme memory profile. In that one picture I linked you it was mentioned and it was disabled. It also had options for memory Z and advance dram configuration.
Memory-z according to msi is:
Memory-Z
Easily keep an eye on your memory settings with Memory-Z. Memory-Z displays your memory's SPD timing information in one easy overview. Helping you optimize your RAM settings for stability and overclocking.
And it's mentioned well in this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/298615-30-need-adjust-settings-bios-bsoding

The tech specs for your ram are here: http://www.corsair.com/en-us/cm2x2048-6400c5
One interesting thing is that it has a lifetime warranty so you might ask corsair to help you with the settings considering your system is getting unstable for whatever reason.
Another thought is that if this suddenly became unstable after years of being ok, it could be your PSU is dying and it's manifesting via memory instability first. I'm not sure.
Beyond bare basics I don't know enough about memory over or underclocking so I can't really guide you through a step by step on this. If you want to rule out your psu, get a voltmeter and check the voltages are within tolerances:
https://www.wikihow.com/Check-a-Power-Supply (part 2 is the relevant one)

After a couple of cold boots the pc did not seem to have any errors with the single ram plugged in, I have know plugged in the second ram and will see if this causes any problems. If I do have to buy new ram, will any DDR2 ram be suitable for my computer or I do I need to make sure of any other details, I was thinking of getting 2x 4gb DDR2 ram, do you think this is a good choice?

 

[Sedivy]

You have lifetime warranty on that ram. If it's not working, I'd just exchange the second stick. No need to buy new.
Otherwise if you really want to buy, then as I think this is your motherboard:
https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/P45_Neo#support-test
and according to its support page, this should be the compatible ram:
https://us.msi.com/file/test_report/TR10_1482.pdf

 

[furkan68k18]

You have lifetime warranty on that ram. If it's not working, I'd just exchange the second stick. No need to buy new.
Otherwise if you really want to buy, then as I think this is your motherboard:
https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/P45_Neo#support-test
and according to its support page, this should be the compatible ram:
https://us.msi.com/file/test_report/TR10_1482.pdf

This is my motherboard:
https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/P43TC51.html

If I want to buy ram would I have to chose from that list only, there doesnt seem to be 4gb rams listed there, I was thinking of buyin 2x 4gb ram would any ddr2 ram work?

 

[furkan68k18]

I understand that my ram sticks have warranty but if I was to buy new ram, would any ddr2 ram be compatible with my mobo or would I only be able to chose from the list in the link you gave me? By the way, with the second ram plugged in as well, so in total 2x 2gb ram, the pc had no problems, so now I will test with the other 2 sticks as well and see if it is a faulty ram or something with the settings that doesnt like 4 rams in at once. My pc was working with no problems over a month ago and the problem started out of no nowhere when I had not changed any of the settings so I think the problem is not to do with the settings but that one of the other 2 rams are faulty. Also I checked in by BIOS I have no such option as "xmp" and most of my settings are auto and some settings I cant even change, that lowers the chance of the problem being related with the settings.

 

[Sedivy]

I always recommend getting ram from mobo recommended list because those sticks have been tested with that mobo and are known to work fine. That does not mean no other ram will work with it but you have no guarantees that it will either.
As for ram, sure a stick of ram might have gone bad. Or your psu might slowly be dying. Could be an issue with mobo too, though if other memory works ok, it's more likely that it's ram.
In which case I'd still stick to the list that comes with the mobo you linked: https://us.msi.com/file/test_report/TR10_1839.pdf
As for how much, the mobo specs mention that max ram supported is 16gb technically https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/P43TC51/Specification
but trying to find sticks that will work with your mobo may be a trial. Whatever you can get that will work would be fine. Yes I would preferably go with 2x4 instead of 4X2 configuration. Test all 4 individually or in whatever combo helps you narrow down the problematic stick. If all are individually working ok, then it could be the 4x arrangement that's not working out. Or the psu, in which case going down in power from 4 to 2 sticks works, no matter which sticks, but sticking 4 causes issue cause of power draw. Or maybe it's one of the slots on mobo that you plug your ram into that died. Test that it's not any individual slot.

 

[furkan68k18]

I always recommend getting ram from mobo recommended list because those sticks have been tested with that mobo and are known to work fine. That does not mean no other ram will work with it but you have no guarantees that it will either.
As for ram, sure a stick of ram might have gone bad. Or your psu might slowly be dying. Could be an issue with mobo too, though if other memory works ok, it's more likely that it's ram.
In which case I'd still stick to the list that comes with the mobo you linked: https://us.msi.com/file/test_report/TR10_1839.pdf
As for how much, the mobo specs mention that max ram supported is 16gb technically https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/P43TC51/Specification
but trying to find sticks that will work with your mobo may be a trial. Whatever you can get that will work would be fine. Yes I would preferably go with 2x4 instead of 4X2 configuration. Test all 4 individually or in whatever combo helps you narrow down the problematic stick. If all are individually working ok, then it could be the 4x arrangement that's not working out. Or the psu, in which case going down in power from 4 to 2 sticks works, no matter which sticks, but sticking 4 causes issue cause of power draw. Or maybe it's one of the slots on mobo that you plug your ram into that died. Test that it's not any individual slot.

Ok thanks for the advice. Do you know how I will contact Corsair to get a replacement stick if the problem is a faulty ram.

 

[Sedivy]

Well..it is an old model so there are no guarantees. But they might be able to replace it with something equivalent to what you have, considering it's lifetime warranty. You lose nothing by trying. As to how, try this login:
https://sso.corsair.com/idp/AuthnEngine#/authn
followed by a support ticket to customer service.

 

[furkan68k18]

Well..it is an old model so there are no guarantees. But they might be able to replace it with something equivalent to what you have, considering it's lifetime warranty. You lose nothing by trying. As to how, try this login:
https://sso.corsair.com/idp/AuthnEngine#/authn
followed by a support ticket to customer service.

I think the problem is more than 2 ram sticks in at once because when I have 1 or 2 plugged in its fine but when I have 3 plugged I get the error sometimes and when I have 4 plugged in I always get the error. I think my only choice is to get 2x4gb ram or update my bios. But I don't know how to update my bios, I watched some tutorials but Im still reluctant on trying as I heard it can mess up the mobo if done wrongly and buying ram would cost me a lot and since I require ddr2 I don't have many options to chose from.

 

[Sedivy]

Well...if it's not any individual stick as in if you put in any two sticks it works, then it's not the ram itself that's the problem. In which case it's either the motherboard (is there any particular slot it doesn't work in, or any two slots will work, as long as it's 3 or 4), or, if there is no specificity in slots that aren't working, the PSU. You can test your psu if you've got a voltmeter: https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-manually-test-a-power-supply-with-a-multimeter-2626158 or you can take it into a repair shop for them to test the voltages and whether they're within tolerance levels for you.