Question "The previous overclock settings have failed,..." Error

[hefese]

Hi,

My windows 11 desktop PC sometimes throws an error in the following:

I have been using MSI Center overclock software. I didn't do anything about overclocking except for XMP activation in BIOS. I gave this PC to a technical service to solve this rare error, but they couldn't find any problem in the hardware side. This error is rarely coming, not always. Why is this error coming? Do you have any idea?

My system:

CPU: Intel i9 9900K
CPU Cooler: NZXT x62 Kraken
Motherboard: MSI MEG Z390 ACE
RAM: 2 x GSkill F4-3600C16 8GB
SSD: Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB
Graphic Card: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3
PSU: Corsair HX1000i
Chassis: Corsair 500D RGB SE Mid-Tower
OS: Windows 11
Monitor: AOC Agon AG271QG

PSU Age: 8 years
BIOS Info:

SMBIOSBIOSVersion : 1.50
Manufacturer : American Megatrends Inc.
Name : 1.50
SerialNumber : Default string
Version : ALASKA - 1072009

 

[Lutfij]

I have been using MSI Center overclock software.
Overclock from with the BIOS. MSI's Center app is most hit or miss. If you're working with an AMD Ryzen platform, use Ryzen Master's Curve Optimizer.

My windows 11 desktop PC
On second thoughts, when posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

 

[hefese]

I have been using MSI Center overclock software.
Overclock from with the BIOS. MSI's Center app is most hit or miss. If you're working with an AMD Ryzen platform, use Ryzen Master's Curve Optimizer.

My windows 11 desktop PC
On second thoughts, when posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

Hi,

Thank you for your response. My system's full spec is in the following:

CPU: Intel i9 9900K
CPU Cooler: NZXT x62 Kraken
Motherboard: MSI MEG Z390 ACE
RAM: 2 x GSkill F4-3600C16 8GB
SSD: Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB
Graphic Card: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3
PSU: Corsair HX1000i
Chassis: Corsair 500D RGB SE Mid-Tower
OS: Windows 11
Monitor: AOC Agon AG271QG

PSU Age: 8 years
BIOS Info:

SMBIOSBIOSVersion : 1.50
Manufacturer : American Megatrends Inc.
Name : 1.50
SerialNumber : Default string
Version : ALASKA - 1072009

 

[Misgar]

I didn't do anything about overclocking except for XMP activation in BIOS.

What overclock speed did you set for the RAM?

RAM: 2 x GSkill F4-3600C16 8GB

If you set 3600MT/s, this might be too fast a memory overclock for your CPU's Integrated Memory Controllers.

CPU World gives the official spec for the 9900K as 2666MT/s. Anything faster is down to the Slicon Lottery.
https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i9/Intel-Core i9 i9-9900K.html

Memory controller

The number of controllers: 1 Memory channels (per controller): 2 Memory channels (total): 2 Supported memory: DDR4-2666

Try the RAM at 3000MT/s and run MemTest86. If it's stable, increase to 3200MT/s and restest. Any errors, reduce XMP speed.
https://www.memtest86.com/

Some people have overclocked this CPU to 5GHz, so some experimentation might help:
https://www.msi.com/blog/intel-9th-cpu-overclocking-5ghz-with-z390-motherboards

 

[hefese]

What overclock speed did you set for the RAM?


If you set 3600MT/s, this might be too fast a memory overclock for your CPU's Integrated Memory Controllers.

CPU World gives the official spec for the 9900K as 2666MT/s. Anything faster is down to the Slicon Lottery.
https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i9/Intel-Core i9 i9-9900K.html

Memory controller

The number of controllers: 1 Memory channels (per controller): 2 Memory channels (total): 2 Supported memory: DDR4-2666

Try the RAM at 3000MT/s and run MemTest86. If it's stable, increase to 3200MT/s and restest. Any errors, reduce XMP speed.
https://www.memtest86.com/

Some people have overclocked this CPU to 5GHz, so some experimentation might help:
https://www.msi.com/blog/intel-9th-cpu-overclocking-5ghz-with-z390-motherboards

Hi,

Thank you for your detailed answer.

When I open XMP setting in BIOS, my RAM speed becomes 3600Mhz. When I close XMP setting in BIOS, my RAM speed reduces to 2133Mhz.





So I did not adjust ram speed manually with a program. I just used motherboard's XMP feature of BIOS. It gives on and off setting and I used as on until now.

As for CPU speed, when I use MSI Center software with Extreme Performance profile, it increases to 5Ghz approximately.



As a result should I use XMP as off? But It too much lose of Mhz speed in RAM. Also should I don't use MSI Center?

I used memtest86, but didn't find any ram speed setting when I boot the usb.

 

[Misgar]

When I open XMP setting in BIOS, my RAM speed becomes 3600Mhz. When I close XMP setting in BIOS, my RAM speed reduces to 2133Mhz.

You can select different XMP speeds in some motherboard BIOS, but you'll probably have to find the 'Manual" option, as opposed to the 'Automatic' XMP setting which normally picks the fastest speed of your RAM.

If you check your RAM with programs like CPUID CPU-Z (I prefer Aida 64) you can see multiple different XMP timings and speeds, programmed into the SPD (Serial Presence Detect) chip on each DIMM.

Some SPD chips hold dozens of different Memory Timings, others only a few
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/trying-to-get-xmp-stable-on-am5-mobo.3814428/

N.B. Aida 64 displays the true memory clock frequency in MHz, as opposed the DDR (Double Data Rate) of MT/s (Mega Transfers per second) more commonly used by manufacturers when describing their RAM. In the example above a clock frequency of 2400MHz multiplied by 2 (for DDR) gives 4800MT/s (for DDR5 RAM in this example).

Your i9-9900K uses slower DDR4 RAM, so the frequencies indicated in Aida 64 will be lower than those for DDR5 RAM. If your GSkill F4-3600C16 RAM defaults to JEDEC DDR4-2400, Aida 64 will indicate 1200MHz (2 x 1200 =2400). At DDR4-3600, Aida 64 will indicate a memory clock frequency of 1800MHz (2 x 1800 = 3600).

The Intel spec shows the maximum supported memory speed for the i9-9900K is only DDR4-2666. This means that Intel doesn't guarantee your CPU will work at speeds higher than 2666MT/s. You should be able to achieve somewhat higher speeds, but DDR4-3600 might be too fast for your CPU and mobo. It's a question of luck, also known as the Silicon Lottery.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-16m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz/specifications.html

With a notional limit of DDR4-2666, you need to work out how to manually select XMP speeds lower than DDR4-3600. You should be able to find a stable setting somewhere between JEDEC default (DDR4-2400?) and the maximum speed of your RAM of DDR4-3600.

If you can find the Manual section in your BIOS for RAM timings, you may find a menu of XMP overclock options, such as XMP-2666, XMP-2800, XMP-3000, XMP-3200, XMP-3400, XMP-3600.

By selecting one of these pre-set speeds. you won't have to type in dozens of separate Primary, Secondary and Tertiary settings, which is more the province of professional overclockers, prepared to spend hours fine tuning the system.

If you can change the XMP speed manually, start at DDR4-2666, the official Intel speed for your CPU. The system should start up fine at this "mild" overclock. Run a short game benchmark, or a quick stress test for a few minutes, then shut down.

Restart the system, enter the BIOS, increase the XMP speed by one step, e,g. DDR4-2800 (orsimilar). Boot into Windows, check stability.

Shut down again. Set BIOS to XMP-3000. Check stability in Windows.

Try DDR4-3200, but spend a little longer checking stability.

If still seems OK, try DDR4-3400. By now you might be reaching the limits of stability and it's worth running a full MemTest86 scan lasting one to two hours.

You could go back up to DDR4-3600, but it may well be a step too far.

Even one error in MemTest86 means the XMP setting is not stable. Reduce your XMP speed by 200MT/s and run another full MemTest86.

If there are no errors and you feel happy with the setting, keep and eye on the system and consider running multiple passes of MemTest86 (preferably overnight).

There's probably no point running MemTest86 at speeds below DDR4-3000, but at DDR4-3200 and above, it's a good idea to run a full test at each new speed setting.

Also should I don't use MSI Center?

I've never used MSI Center. Many "experts" prefer to overclock using the BIOS, not some fancy utility in Windows, which can lead to instability. Learn how to use the BIOS.

I used memtest86, but didn't find any ram speed setting when I boot the usb.

There's no speed setting available in MemTest86. All it does when you boot from USB is indicate the current RAM speed set in the BIOS.

Adjust RAM speed in the BIOS, then boot MemTest86.

 

[hefese]

You can select different XMP speeds in some motherboard BIOS, but you'll probably have to find the 'Manual" option, as opposed to the 'Automatic' XMP setting which normally picks the fastest speed of your RAM.

If you check your RAM with programs like CPUID CPU-Z (I prefer Aida 64) you can see multiple different XMP timings and speeds, programmed into the SPD (Serial Presence Detect) chip on each DIMM.

Some SPD chips hold dozens of different Memory Timings, others only a few
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/trying-to-get-xmp-stable-on-am5-mobo.3814428/

N.B. Aida 64 displays the true memory clock frequency in MHz, as opposed the DDR (Double Data Rate) of MT/s (Mega Transfers per second) more commonly used by manufacturers when describing their RAM. In the example above a clock frequency of 2400MHz multiplied by 2 (for DDR) gives 4800MT/s (for DDR5 RAM in this example).

Your i9-9900K uses slower DDR4 RAM, so the frequencies indicated in Aida 64 will be lower than those for DDR5 RAM. If your GSkill F4-3600C16 RAM defaults to JEDEC DDR4-2400, Aida 64 will indicate 1200MHz (2 x 1200 =2400). At DDR4-3600, Aida 64 will indicate a memory clock frequency of 1800MHz (2 x 1800 = 3600).

The Intel spec shows the maximum supported memory speed for the i9-9900K is only DDR4-2666. This means that Intel doesn't guarantee your CPU will work at speeds higher than 2666MT/s. You should be able to achieve somewhat higher speeds, but DDR4-3600 might be too fast for your CPU and mobo. It's a question of luck, also known as the Silicon Lottery.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-16m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz/specifications.html

With a notional limit of DDR4-2666, you need to work out how to manually select XMP speeds lower than DDR4-3600. You should be able to find a stable setting somewhere between JEDEC default (DDR4-2400?) and the maximum speed of your RAM of DDR4-3600.

If you can find the Manual section in your BIOS for RAM timings, you may find a menu of XMP overclock options, such as XMP-2666, XMP-2800, XMP-3000, XMP-3200, XMP-3400, XMP-3600.

By selecting one of these pre-set speeds. you won't have to type in dozens of separate Primary, Secondary and Tertiary settings, which is more the province of professional overclockers, prepared to spend hours fine tuning the system.

If you can change the XMP speed manually, start at DDR4-2666, the official Intel speed for your CPU. The system should start up fine at this "mild" overclock. Run a short game benchmark, or a quick stress test for a few minutes, then shut down.

Restart the system, enter the BIOS, increase the XMP speed by one step, e,g. DDR4-2800 (orsimilar). Boot into Windows, check stability.

Shut down again. Set BIOS to XMP-3000. Check stability in Windows.

Try DDR4-3200, but spend a little longer checking stability.

If still seems OK, try DDR4-3400. By now you might be reaching the limits of stability and it's worth running a full MemTest86 scan lasting one to two hours.

You could go back up to DDR4-3600, but it may well be a step too far.

Even one error in MemTest86 means the XMP setting is not stable. Reduce your XMP speed by 200MT/s and run another full MemTest86.

If there are no errors and you feel happy with the setting, keep and eye on the system and consider running multiple passes of MemTest86 (preferably overnight).

There's probably no point running MemTest86 at speeds below DDR4-3000, but at DDR4-3200 and above, it's a good idea to run a full test at each new speed setting.


I've never used MSI Center. Many "experts" prefer to overclock using the BIOS, not some fancy utility in Windows, which can lead to instability. Learn how to use the BIOS.


There's no speed setting available in MemTest86. All it does when you boot from USB is indicate the current RAM speed set in the BIOS.

Adjust RAM speed in the BIOS, then boot MemTest86.

Thank you detailed explanation. I will try middle rate ram speed as you said in bios, then increase stage by stage and test it with benchmark in each step. I guess so the problem stems from XMP (fastest speed) for RAM as you specified. Another forum also says you said. Thank you again.

 

[MEMOFLEX]

Hi,

Thank you for your detailed answer.

When I open XMP setting in BIOS, my RAM speed becomes 3600Mhz. When I close XMP setting in BIOS, my RAM speed reduces to 2133Mhz.





So I did not adjust ram speed manually with a program. I just used motherboard's XMP feature of BIOS. It gives on and off setting and I used as on until now.

As for CPU speed, when I use MSI Center software with Extreme Performance profile, it increases to 5Ghz approximately.



As a result should I use XMP as off? But It too much lose of Mhz speed in RAM. Also should I don't use MSI Center?

I used memtest86, but didn't find any ram speed setting when I boot the usb.

The original post stated no overclocking was done apart from XMP but then it states that the extreme profile was selected in the MSI app. If you are having a failed overclock I would ensure that all of the MSI settings are returned to default as I feel this is much more likely the culprit than the memory. The software can be very flaky at times. I refuse to install the msi centre for any system I build anymore as more trouble than its worth at times.

It could be the memory controller on the cpu although having used a few 9900k's over the years with memory as fast as 4000 then the IMCs on these chips are pretty solid. The biggest challenges I have faced with them is utilising any preformed overclock profile as quite often they pump so much voltage through an already greedy chip that it presents in instability. Defo something to check

 

[hefese]

The original post stated no overclocking was done apart from XMP but then it states that the extreme profile was selected in the MSI app. If you are having a failed overclock I would ensure that all of the MSI settings are returned to default as I feel this is much more likely the culprit than the memory. The software can be very flaky at times. I refuse to install the msi centre for any system I build anymore as more trouble than its worth at times.

It could be the memory controller on the cpu although having used a few 9900k's over the years with memory as fast as 4000 then the IMCs on these chips are pretty solid. The biggest challenges I have faced with them is utilising any preformed overclock profile as quite often they pump so much voltage through an already greedy chip that it presents in instability. Defo something to check

I thought that MSI Center software was controlled & predefined overclocking instead of manuel overclocking (such as adjusting voltage settings etc.). I just mentioned XMP, because it is adjusted from BIOS screen.

Until now, I haven't experienced any overclock error in black screen. I decreased speed of RAM to 2666Mhz from BIOS XMP. But I should observe my computer a little more. Because this error was occuring really rarely.

Thank you for your opinions.

 

[MEMOFLEX]

I thought that MSI Center software was controlled & predefined overclocking instead of manuel overclocking (such as adjusting voltage settings etc.). I just mentioned XMP, because it is adjusted from BIOS screen.

Until now, I haven't experienced any overclock error in black screen. I decreased speed of RAM to 2666Mhz from BIOS XMP. But I should observe my computer a little more. Because this error was occuring really rarely.

Thank you for your opinions.

The issue with predefined overclocking is that not all chips are the same and different chips will behave differently as a consequence. I find that any predefined overclock always goes high on voltage to try and cover off the silicone differences. The motherboard would have similar options available.

My previous motherboard (Asus Z370 Maximus Hero) would put a high amount of voltage (1.4v+) through the chip if i put the extreme profile as default. If you are going to overclock a 9900k then I would recommend BIOS only for greater control. I would suggest just setting the cpu at its max all core turbo - 4.7ghz - and leaving it really. The extra .3 ghz offered minimal improvement. Initially though I would take it all back to stock whilst testing the memory. I would actually make sure all cpu overclocks are removed whilst testing the memory to ensure that you are testing in isolation and not going down any blind alleys.

Report back once you know more