Overclock Screw-up

J

jonskijet

New Member
This morning I was messing around on my machine trying to optimize it so I could play a game I have, Counter-Strike: Source, more smoothly. I went in to the BIOS and went into the menu where you can adjust your processor settings. I increased what I think was the front side bus (FSB) from 101 MHz to 110 MHz. Windows loads normally and my CPU’s clock speed jumps from 2.1 GHz to 2.3 GHz. I decide to take it up another notch and repeat the process… this time increasing it to 120 MHz. After I save changes, the screen goes black, but my computer is still running. I manually reboot it and I didn’t hear the normal two beeps that usually sound when I start it. This time I only heard one. After the beeps, I never saw anything on the screen. I don’t know if the BIOS even loaded. What happened?

Possible problems:
- Fried processor: This is a concern I have heard about overclocking from the beginning. I have heard horror stories about them heating up and then melting. I am not sure if this is the case or not because it was only a split second after I saved my settings that the screen went black.
- Fried RAM – Tweaktown.com says, “Let me explain why, when you overclock the FSB, you are also, indirectly, overclocking your RAM. So, say for example you have PC100 memory and want to adjust the FSB from 100MHz to 112MHz you are in fact overclocking the PC100 memory to 112MHz… Now however, it is very important to buy branded, fast memory, which has been pre-tested to run a certain speeds… It could also be that your ram is well, crap (couldn’t have said it better myself Junkz). If you buy cheap, unbranded memory you will pay the price with not being able to overclock it much or in some cases not at all.” This would make sense because of the missing 2nd beep I receive when I start my computer.
- Graphic card problem – This could be the problem because my computer sounds like it is running normally (other than the second beep) when I turn it on. It would make sense that I wouldn’t see anything if overclocking affected my graphics card. Going back to the two magical beeps, I thought I should note that when I upgraded to a RADEON 9550 from some stock NVIDIA card, the beeps also changed. Whenever I start up my computer with my new card in, the two beeps were farther apart than before. Tweaktown.com says, “So, basically when you overclock the FSB you are also changing the AGP / PCI and ISA buses - some of these devices don’t like to be overclocked and will result in your system not booting or crashing.”

Possible Solutions:
- Replace my system RAM with some different RAM, and see if my computer boots.
- Flashing or zapping PRAM on my motherboard. I don’t know much about this but this is mentioned in my motherboard’s instruction booklet and a teacher also told me he had to do this when his computer would not boot.

HELLLPPPPP!!!!!!!
 
if you look on your motherboard, there should be a small round metal battery, take it out for 5 minutes and put it back in. this SHOULD fix your problem
 
Thank you very much you have no idea how much I appreciate this! I will try it when I get home. Just in case it doesn't work... does anyone have any other suggestions? All I need to do is just get to the BIOS so I can undo what I did! I am just a 16 year old kid... I don't have enough money to buy new parts!

PS: All of you who have jobs... don't complain. It's better than $5 a week for allowance!
 
lol, if you unplug the main power cable at the back of the computer you wont get a shock. when you take it out, im not entirely sure how to as ive never done it personally, but take your time and dont rush, and when you put it back in, make sure its the right way round. if you have a good memory then remember it, if not, take a picture or something else.
 
you will want to unplug the power cord from the back of the power supply, not only as a safety precaution, but alot of motherboards keep the BIOS settings by letting a slight amount of power through the PS as long as it has power to it...so unplug the power cord, then pop out the battery, using your hands, or a small flathead screwdriver, or whatever you can get in there without breaking something...another way to reset your BIOS would be to find out if you have a clear CMOS jumper somewhere on your motherboard, if you have documentation check it, or go online and check the manufacturers site there...its usually a 3 pin thing with a jumper on 2 pins, if you move it over to the other side and start the machine it clears the cmos settings, then power down and put it back in the old place...but its a matter of locating it.
 
it wotrked! thank you sooo much! back to playin counter-strike:source! now i just gotta figure out another way to boost my framerate... i have a P4 2.1 ghz with a radeon 9550 and 512 mb ram. i only get 45 fps when i turn the textures to high...and i want to keep that quality. i am convinced i must be getting a better framerate with my hardware! any suggesttions?
 
CS:S is a realatively new game and your hardware is on the older side, all things considered 45FPS isn't that bad
 
Turn down your in-game settings. That'll boost your performance but your graphics and stuff won't be as nice. Graphics probably wouldn't be really good on that graphics cards anyways.

You can try overclocking your video card. That'll help boost 3D performance.

Getting better parts for your computer is another thing you could do.
 
jonskijet said:
how would I go about overclocking my video card?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you use for ATI cards because I have an Nvidia card. Nvidia cards can use Coolbits, Rivatuner, and there was also the default one.

I did fine something called Powerstrip, I think you may be able to overclock your card with that tool. (Only overclock if you don't care about your warranty anymore, because I think most companies will void them)
 
You can OC video cards via their built in control panel thingy (if the card supports it) and via something like RivaTuner :)
 
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