I killed my PC.

[THERESONATOR]

So, never really did overclocking before. Heard all this talk about the wonders of it, making things go faster than they are "supposed" to, getting 4Ghz out of a 2.5Ghz processor. All that. I remembered why I bought my DFI LanParty SLI-DR Expert back in 2006 - overclocking! And yet, up til now, I had done none! Processor is AMD Athlon 64 3800+ X2. I managed to turn the 2Ghz I was getting into 2.5Ghz, and stable albeit slightly louder, following a guide I read on the Internet using the same processor. Cooling is all air - 4 Antec 120mm fans in an Antec P180 (I have no regard for noise, I have them all set to full). Stock CPU fan and stock GPU fan, no additional memory cooling.

This guide is here, on a site I have come to trust for its easy-to-follow reviews: Legit Reviews. Notice the mobo is nearly the same. Graphics I don't feel is that important, memory probably is where I screwed up though. I have a stick of single channel unbranded 1gb DDR400 and a samsung 256mb single channel DDR400. Cheap memory...

So anyway I follow the instructions on this site I used, and it says you can get 2.7Ghz stable if you make the voltage 1.44v (thats 100%x102.5% on my DFI). Being the extravagant sort I am, I had to do it. So I did, and the first few tries it would get past the memory test and then get to the saving of the CMOS and not boot the OS. So then I went back to BIOS, changed the memory settings from 2-3-2-7 to 2-3-3-2 and... WOOPS! PC = Dead. It restarts after saving BIOS settings and then I don't even get a memory test! Just a black screen.

I check my SLI-DR's debug lights, and all four remain lit when the power switch goes on and the screen stays black. The first light, once no longer lit means the CPU is detected. Is this a classic "your CPU is CLUCKED" scenario? This has never happened to me before!

I tried to reload the CMOS using the jumpers featured on board, but to no avail. Any help, or am I done for? I really wanted to sell this beast to my brother as well, need the extra £400 to go towards the new rig.

 

[angry hampster]

Well..now you're free to do anything!

 

[aigomorla]

its the ram.

Take out one stick and place one stick in the closest ram slot near the cpu.

And then try to boot up. The ram will sometimes need more voltage then default. That is why im guessing your system is stuck.

You need to use 1 stick of ram, and then reboot into cmos, and then bump your mem voltage to around 2.6, and then reboot with both sticks inside.

Hopefully that will fix it.

 

[mancunian]

Originally posted by: angry hampster
Well..now you're free to do anything!

Hmmmm, a response that'd be more at home in 'off topic' methinks. Oh well.

To the OP, I'd try some different memory if you have it, even just a 256mb stick to test.

I'd be more inclined to think that you'd fried the memory with you having tightened that last setting the way you have.

I could be wrong, but it's worth borrowing a stick of DDR or trying to boot with just one of your current memory modules installed.

I'd also remove the CMOS battery for an hour and see if that helps, changing jumpers doesn't always do it.

 

[myocardia]

You just need to learn how to reset a BIOS, man. BTW, if you want to learn how to overclock an Athlon 64, this is how it's done.

 

[nyker96]

My guess is nothing got damaged in this attempt just that your setting cannot be run stablly that's all. Just reset CMOS, then follow the OC guide for X2s read the guide through then overclock slowly since you are new to this. Don't worry your machine isn't dead, you are just using some setting that's not correct. simply reset CMOS and start over. No worries. BTW, what type of CPU cooling you are using? I'd be worried if you got stock CPU cooler and try to OC too much, that might be dangerous.

 

[THERESONATOR]

It is a stock CPU cooler as mentioned in OP! OT: As for "now you're free to do anything", well, not having a PC improves my life to some extent (in that I function more as a stage player as opposed to all-consuming highly unsociable parasite lol). /OT. Thanks for all advice, I will attempt.

Now, as mentioned I did reset the CMOS as I was instructed by the DFI manual. Its rather vague however and simply says to switch the jumper from 1+2 to 2+3 after unplugging from the mains and after 2-3 seconds jumping back to 1+2 and replugging, then go to BIOS(?). I followed this as much as I could, although GL trying to jump in 2-3 seconds, the thing's so tiny, with all the wires in the way you can't see anything so you just have to feel around! I'm not so sure I fried the memory, I think I set that at 1.4v as well, stock 1.2v. With the memory I tried to copy the LegitReviews guide as much as I could, so all voltages are probably the same as is listed in the very last section of it. You can see he says the 500mhz OC is "easy", but then mentions the extra 200mhz is more difficult and requires a fiddle with the memory. Thats the bit that stopped my PC working. Again, the link if you CBA to scroll: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/229/1/ .

 

[aigomorla]

okey from what i remember unless im confusing something.

Stock DDR1 voltage was around 2.2v - 2.8v in fact DDR1 had better stress points so it could take overclocking to extreme voltages as high as 3.0 for BH5 ram.

If your running 1.2v on your ram, thats your problem on why its not booting up.


I dont think you have hardware failure. The stock heatsink if i remember correctly uses heat pipes unless you got the old school one. That heat pipe cooler was tested to be near a XP-90, which is very good for a stock heat sink.


Im looking at your ram settings right now on why it wont boot.

 

[The-Noid]

2.6v is stock DDR1.

 

[aigomorla]

hey OP i hope your seriously not confusing DDR voltage with CPU voltage. That would be a very very bad thing to mix up.

CPU Voltage should be around 1.3-1.4 even for that Overclock.

DDR voltage or RAM voltage should be around 2.6-2.8V

 

[THERESONATOR]

Er... what do I do about it?

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: THERESONATOR
Er... what do I do about it?

1. pull out all power plugs on the Power supply.
2. Reset cmos switch and wait 30 sec.
3. put back cmas switch.
4. Take out one of your ram sticks and leave one in.
5. Try booting up.
6. Doesnt boot up... then your in major trouble. <long process in debuging>
7. Boots up... goto cmos and find where your ram voltage is
8. change ram voltage to 2.6-2.8V
9. Save CMOS and reboot on stock settings.
10. Run a stress program to see if something is borked, or if it was indeed your OC.
11. Wont pass Prime... come back.... Pass prime, start ocing all over again, and this time take it slowly.



Hope this helps.

 

[nyker96]

check the following guide out:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=overclocking+X2+guide

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: THERESONATOR
Er... what do I do about it?

1. pull out all power plugs on the Power supply.
2. Reset cmos switch and wait 30 sec.
3. put back cmas switch.
4. Take out one of your ram sticks and leave one in.
5. Try booting up.
6. Doesnt boot up... then your in major trouble. <long process in debuging>
7. Boots up... goto cmos and find where your ram voltage is
8. change ram voltage to 2.6-2.8V
9. Save CMOS and reboot on stock settings.
10. Run a stress program to see if something is borked, or if it was indeed your OC.
11. Wont pass Prime... come back.... Pass prime, start ocing all over again, and this time take it slowly.



Hope this helps.

QFT!

I'd add, you probably should pull the CMOS battery before you change the CLR RTC jumper. I'd also wait with it unplugged, and battery out, for about 5 mins.

Then put the jumper back, battery back, plug it back in. Try again!

 

[THERESONATOR]

Thanks a lot for all the responses. I will be trying this all out when I get home from work and will keep you all updated on my progress. Reset CMOS/Unplug DDR FTW ^-^!

 

[THERESONATOR]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: THERESONATOR
Er... what do I do about it?

1. pull out all power plugs on the Power supply.
2. Reset cmos switch and wait 30 sec.
3. put back cmas switch.
4. Take out one of your ram sticks and leave one in.
5. Try booting up.
6. Doesnt boot up... then your in major trouble. <long process in debuging>
7. Boots up... goto cmos and find where your ram voltage is
8. change ram voltage to 2.6-2.8V
9. Save CMOS and reboot on stock settings.
10. Run a stress program to see if something is borked, or if it was indeed your OC.
11. Wont pass Prime... come back.... Pass prime, start ocing all over again, and this time take it slowly.



Hope this helps.

I am in said "major trouble". I followed this advice up to step 6 and it didn't boot. Still black screen, nothing at all being displayed, all four red lights lit on the mobo. Btw I thought it important to also mention that there is no POST beep, I read in the manual there's two beeps you get for serious errors.

I swapped both ram sticks and tried each one. It didn't work. Also the manual suggests replacing the CMOS battery, but is that really necessary?

After rereading the overclock on LegitReviews, I am now quite sure what happened - I remember I followed it to the letter. I set the FSB to 270, multi to 10, Vcore to ~1.568 (using what was I believe 102.5% with the special modifier). I kept the memory voltage at default, set the divider to 5:6 and timings of 2-3-2-5. So this is the correct info from which the solution should be deduced.

Then fade to black.

 

[nerp]

I might be able to save your ass.

Move the CMOS jumper to reset.

Press power.

Count to 30.

Power off.

Move CMOS jumper back.

Try.

From my experience, moving the jumper and doing a rain dance isn't enough. You actually have to feed power through the BIOS chip and the board itself with the jumper on the reset position.

 

[THERESONATOR]

Yeah I kind of didn't really understand how it could know it had been reset when it isn't powered on anyway. Will be back with info on whether that worked quite shortly.

 

[Tempered81]

1.58 vcore sounds like a lot for 270x 10 ;(

 

[THERESONATOR]

Well how is that guy pulling it off on LegitReviews? Is he just part of some l33t overclockers club destined to OC better than ANYONE?!

 

[Quiksilver]

Usually when I reset my CMOS using that little jumper switch, I usually turn off the PSU and unplug it, move the jumper over to its required clear cmos pins, wait 30 seconds, press the button 5 times (just to be sure its all nicely discharged), move the jumper back, plug the psu back in, and flip the power switch back on and see if the rig works as normal.

Also to get said BIOS beeps you need the PC/Case speaker plugged into the motherboard headers, if they aren't plugged in or you don't have one you don't hear beeps. It's always nice to have an ATX Control Kit just for one of those types of situations.

If resetting the CMOS properly doesn't fix the problem and you don't have a nice pc/case speaker you really can't go too much farther into troubleshooting cause you would just be guessing at what the problem is, basically you need to BIOS beep codes to give you an indication of what the problem is.

In a realistic order of things likely to be dead in this case...

a) Killed memory
b) Killed processor
c) Killed motherboard
d) Killed a+b, or a+c, or b+c
e) all of the above (worst case scenario)

Well how is that guy pulling it off on LegitReviews? Is he just part of some l33t overclockers club destined to OC better than ANYONE?!

Ugh. A lot of things affect overclocking such as better binned chip, better motherboard, ambient room temperature, amount of thermal paste used, the thermal paste used, type of cooling, case clutter, and several hundreds other combinations of things.

In short, when overclocking it is always "results may vary"

 

[THERESONATOR]

I recall the beeps do function as I had some minor difficulty setting up this rig when I first got it. But I am receiving no such beeps atm.

 

[The-Noid]

Obviously your computer exploded. DUH!

In seriousesness, I don't know if you are really listening to any of the suggestions.

My guess is if you have followed these suggestions there is something seriously wrong that is:
a.) out of your realm of what you can fix
b.) broken
c.) see a.) and b.)

 

[THERESONATOR]

I am. It's just not working yet. I haven't tried everything, such as the more intense process suggested by Quiksilver

 

[THERESONATOR]

I'm printing out the advice and checking to see if it works now