z68-G45 B3 bios stuck at entering setup

[Bags]

So just change the multiplier to like 40 and the cpu core coltage to 1.3 and play around those settings until I get the highest clock with the lowest voltage that runs a stress test for hours without crashing?

[Goku]

Yeah get that sorted. Just be sure to keep the voltage below 1.45 V max. I wouldn't go above 1.4 V though. All that other stuff is extreme fine tuning. If you get really bored you can do that afterwards.

[Ieyasu]

what do you have cooling your cpu?

I wouldnt recommend going over 1.4v as I have a hard time keeping my temps down on my 2500k @ 4.8ghz with 1.4v under a megahelm megashadow.

if youre new to overclocking I wouldnt go above 1.35v on the cpu, provided you have adequate cooling, and then just up the multiplier as has been previously suggested.

I like to use coretemp to check my temps and then run prime95 to check cpu stability.

[Bags]

Originally Posted by Ieyasu

what do you have cooling your cpu?

I wouldnt recommend going over 1.4v as I have a hard time keeping my temps down on my 2500k @ 4.8ghz with 1.4v under a megahelm megashadow.

if youre new to overclocking I wouldnt go above 1.35v on the cpu, provided you have adequate cooling, and then just up the multiplier as has been previously suggested.

I like to use coretemp to check my temps and then run prime95 to check cpu stability.

Yeah I have an aftermarket cooler, not expecting more than like 4.3-4.5 ghz. What voltage should I start at?


and is CPU core voltage the same as CPU voltage?

[Ieyasu]

provided you didnt get a cpu from a bad batch Im sure 4.3 with 1.35v or less should be relatively easy to pull off.

yes the core voltage is the same as cpu voltage.

[Ieyasu]

also not sure how MSI does it, but lately Ive been doing alot of builds using Gigabyte Motherboards and they do not enable XMP Profiles for your memory if your memory should happen to use them. I have some G.Skill memory with 9-9-9-24 timings @ 1600mhz, but default to 11-11-11-26 @ 1600 until I go in and enable the xmp profile in the bios manually.

can usually check with cpu-z if you have xmp profiles and what your memorys timings are set to. if you recently reset your bios it might not be a bad idea to see what they are currently set at. The peformance difference is negligable but might as well get what you pay for.


also btw since I dont believe it has been mentioned before I would leave your memory at stock clocks and simply up the multi on your cpu. the days of getting huge gains from memory overclocks are pretty much over.

[Bags]

Yeagh, my ram is supposed to be 9-9-9-24 and it's showing as 11-11-11-28. I've known this since day one (my original mobo of this build was bad), but I thought the ram being set to the proper speeds might have caused the issues, so I left it alone.

Forgot to make them right...

[Ieyasu]

Originally Posted by Bags

Yeagh, my ram is supposed to be 9-9-9-24 and it's showing as 11-11-11-28. I've known this since day one (my original mobo of this build was bad), but I thought the ram being set to the proper speeds might have caused the issues, so I left it alone.

Forgot to make them right...

check and see if there isnt just a "enable xmp" or something along those lines in the memory section in your bios.

should be able to boot in fine. if not simply reset your bios and leave them @ the 11 for now. Id be willing to wager if you could enable xmp in bios they would boot without any problem. You can test your memory and memory controllers stability with programs like memtest86.

[Bags]

Okay, changed the ratio to 4.3 and voltage to 1.35, booted, turned on cpuz and prime 95.

CPUZ says my 2500k @ 3.30 ghz, and the highest multiplier it goes to with prime 95 running is x 34.

Also, enabling xmp didn't do anything.

[Rbstr]

You should be able to set the number manually in bios.

but meh, ram timing hardly matters anyway.

[Bags]

Originally Posted by Rbstr

You should be able to set the number manually in bios.

but meh, ram timing hardly matters anyway.

Yeah, I've done so in the past. Still odd that my OC didn't do anything.

[Bags]

There are some drivers that are newer than when I built my pc: http://eu.msi.com/product/mb/Z68A-G4...r&os=Win7%2064

Intel Management Engine Driver
Intel SandyBridge Chipset Driver
Realtek High Definition Audio Driver

Maybe this is why my OC isn't working?

[Ieyasu]

Originally Posted by Bags

There are some drivers that are newer than when I built my pc: http://eu.msi.com/product/mb/Z68A-G4...r&os=Win7%2064

Intel Management Engine Driver
Intel SandyBridge Chipset Driver
Realtek High Definition Audio Driver

Maybe this is why my OC isn't working?

those are drivers that help within windows. your overclocks should be done via bios and be independant upon drivers (unless youre using program like clockgen to overclock which I dont think is the case).

when you click on cpuz, under the memory tab what do you see for your DRAM Frequency and FSBRAM ratio?

Im not familiar with MSI Motherboards, but on ASUS and Gigabyte if you attempt to boot and fail during bios post it will simply reset the motherboard with factory (failsafe) defaults upon its next startup. this can sometimes happen rather quickly and seem like the pc just booted normally with the clocks you entered in the bios.

You want to leave your fsb and memory ratio alone and simply adjust the cpus multiplier inside the bios and if needed add some voltage for stability. Your basic goal is to overclock the cpu while leaving the rest of the sytem at stock clocks. In the past you would have to raise the fsb to overclock a cpu as it had set multipliers and as a result would sometimes need to adjust your memory ratio to keep your ram running within specs or at least within the limts of a stable overclock.

also when running prime you might want to run coretemp and just see what your max temps under a full load look like. I try to keep mine under 70c under full load.

Im about to head out the door, but Ill check into your model mother boards bios when I get back here in a bit and then I can be more help with just what the various settings are called for your particular mobo.

[Bags]

Originally Posted by Ieyasu

when you click on cpuz, under the memory tab what do you see for your DRAM Frequency and FSBRAM ratio?

798.2mhz and 1:6

Originally Posted by Ieyasu

Im not familiar with MSI Motherboards, but on ASUS and Gigabyte if you attempt to boot and fail during bios post it will simply reset the motherboard with factory (failsafe) defaults upon its next startup. this can sometimes happen rather quickly and seem like the pc just booted normally with the clocks you entered in the bios.

I noticed nothing out of the ordinary when I hit "Save and reboot" in bios.

Originally Posted by Ieyasu

You want to leave your fsb and memory ratio alone and simply adjust the cpus multiplier inside the bios and if needed add some voltage for stability. Your basic goal is to overclock the cpu while leaving the rest of the sytem at stock clocks. In the past you would have to raise the fsb to overclock a cpu as it had set multipliers and as a result would sometimes need to adjust your memory ratio to keep your ram running within specs or at least within the limts of a stable overclock.

Yeah, I changed voltage to 1.35v and the ratio to x43.

Originally Posted by Ieyasu

Im about to head out the door, but Ill check into your model mother boards bios when I get back here in a bit and then I can be more help with just what the various settings are called for your particular mobo.

Thanks.

Note: the only way I can get in bios at the moment is to reset cmos by shorting the battery with a screw driver as per MSI's manual for my mobo. Is this a problem? I shorted CMOS, booted up, loaded bios, made the changes, saved and restarted, and then I load up and no OC.

[Ieyasu]

Im not able to find any screens of the uei bios that board uses, but if you simply up the multiplier and give it a little more juice that should be all that the cpu needs to run at higher clocks. Sounds like youve found those settings already so we just need to find out why your mobo isnt keeping the new settings through a reboot.

when youre first booting up do you see a post screen or MSI logo of any kind? Most motherboards let you see a post screen by pressing tab while their company logo is being displayed or you can just spam del while first booting and will usually get you into bios most times. of course most mobos Ive worked with also have a dedicated clear cmos jumper that I cant seem to find when looking at pics of your particular board.

is your full model the z68a-g45 b3? just want to make sure its the full sized atx board and not the micro version.