CPU at 2.9hz and should be at 4.2ghz...need help

[M0nst3r]

I have recently reformatted my computer , everything is running fine except from the CPU which is only running at 2.9ghz , i increased the Multiplier on BIOS to x21 which put it back up to 4.2ghz but? i feel this is incorrect , i bought my PC from overclockers as well about a year ago. Please can you help. From increasing my CPU hertz on the multiplier it has restarted a few times which insinuates to me i have done something wrong.

Please help guys i have:

motherboard: GIGABYTE - 78LMT-S2P

Processor: AMD FX Quad core 4.2ghz

Graphics card: Radeon HD series 6900 2gb

Ram: Kingston 8gb ram 1333mhz

Harddrive: 500gb

OS: Windows 7 64bit

 

[Geffen]

Have you checked it isn't Cool'n'Quiet down clocking your CPU. Just in case your not aware both Intel and AMD process slow down when they aren't being full used to save energy and reduce the amount of heat they produce. To check it not that run Prime 95 while looking at the CPU speed.

If it not Cool'n'Quiet then i would check the CPU not over heating in some way. If this happens again the CPU will slow itself down to stop damage occurring.

 

[M0nst3r]

yep check C n Q that is disabled and i have also put all the energy saving stuff to ON which was also recommended to help speed up processor.

my CPU still runs at what i set it at from the multiplier on BIOS menu , but when i put the multiplier on x21 which puts it on its original ghz it restarts every so often and windows detects a problem.

 

[M0nst3r]

Also it definitely isn't over heating because the processor temperature its going over 10degrees :/

 

[Durzel]

Wouldn't you put the energy saving stuff to OFF if you wanted a constant speed?

It sounds like it's unstable if it's restarting randomly, irrespective of Cool'n'Quiet or whatever.

 

[M0nst3r]

well everything is on ( recommended ) , yep that's what im thinking but not sure what. Im still dazzled why my CPU only recognizes only 2.9ghz , obviously when i changed my multiplier on BIOS it goes up , but is increasing the multiplier bad or ? if there another way.

 

[HecFam]

For my Phenom II x4 960T i've disabled anything remotely energy saving. If i wanted to save energy, I wouldn't overclock it. Im sure it would be recommended for chips at stock speeds.

Multiplier works fine on my board, so long as i raise the voltage too. Are you increasing it gradually? Going full whack to 4.2 may be a bit too much, try raising it bit by bit until you get it stable.

My chip only really gets to 3.9 and after that it blue screens a fair bit.

 

[M0nst3r]

ok thanks , ok maybe i should raise the voltage a little too , only reason i whacked it on 4.2ghz is because that the speed its ment to be normally...so technically i shouldnt be overclocking if you get me?

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What CPU do you have?? Is it an FX4170??

Make sure you are running the latest version of the BIOS. Also I would add some heatsinks to the VRMs and perhaps place a fan over them.

 

[DrBombcrater]

I think it's a BIOS bug. I had exactly the same issue with a Gigabyte 780T-D3L and an FX 4170 when building a system last week. The processor defaulted to 2.8GHz instead of 4.2 for no obvious reason.

Forcing the chip up to 4.2GHz by manually setting the multiplier worked fine for me, the system was completely stable, but CnQ doesn't work so it gets a bit toasty.