Power Cut resetting the BIOS?

Zeebedy · 10 Dec 2022 at 16:05

hey guys,

I just happened to check my RAM speed in the task manager, and it was defaulted to 2133Mhz?

So I rebooted into the BIOS, and was greeted with a message that said the CMOS had been reset (cleared)?

I have had a couple of power cuts around 10-14 days ago (was not on PC at the times)..and the PC has been running fine, not noticed any performance issues (hence why I never checked the RAM speed before).

So, my question, can the power cuts cause this issue??? As everything seeems fine now, AND then, so im not sure??

Cheers.

Zeebedy · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:09

Just turned off the PC to watch the last half hour of the World Cup Game, and now just fired up the PC and all settings are still active? So I dont think it can be the battery with issue?

Hawk Tuah · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:10

Is the CMOS battery flat? When you say turned off, do you mean full off, at the mains?

Dg834man · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:10

Some motherboards do it if the system crashes, yeah the CMOS battery might be flat

Nemiyen · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:12

Zeebedy said:
Just turned off the PC to watch the last half hour of the World Cup Game, and now just fired up the PC and all settings are still active? So I dont think it can be the battery with issue?

Did you completely pull the plug or switch off at the wall? If not it would have kept power to the BIOS.

As someone else said, if you're over clocking and the pc crashes or detects an issue, it could reset the Bios settings as a precaution. Mine definitely does this and it's a pain!

For a couple of quid it might be worth replacing the cmos battery if it's over 4 years old or so.

Zeebedy · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:14

hmm..could be the CMOS battery then, its only a month old the motherboard though..

Zeebedy · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:17

also, before I changed my GPU (when I had the 6700XT) the GPU / software did cause some crashes.

Zeebedy · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:35

in the meantime until i get a new battery, if it does lose power and resets the CMOS battery, and I go in to changing back my BIOS settings, that isnt going to damage or affect the board by any chance??

Also if someone can confirm the battery I need, that would be great, think I know, but wanna make sure!

Tetras · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:38

Zeebedy said:
in the meantime until i get a new battery, if it does lose power and resets the CMOS battery, and I go in to changing back my BIOS settings, that isnt going to damage or affect the board by any chance??

No, for the board it's no different to turning the power off and overclockers might change the settings numerous times a day.

Zeebedy · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:46

Tetras said:
No, for the board it's no different to turning the power off and overclockers might change the settings numerous times a day.

great. thanks Tetras.

Zeebedy · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:50

Can I link a website for the batteries? Im assuming its ok here on OCUK?

Tetras · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:53

Zeebedy said:
Just turned off the PC to watch the last half hour of the World Cup Game, and now just fired up the PC and all settings are still active? So I dont think it can be the battery with issue?

As suggested above, it was probably the automatic overclocking thingy that kicked in and did a reset because it thought you had unstable settings. It doesn't do anything if you power off yourself.

Zeebedy · 10 Dec 2022 at 17:59

Tetras said:
As suggested above, it was probably the automatic overclocking thingy that kicked in and did a reset because it thought you had unstable settings. It doesn't do anything if you power off yourself.

its gonna be a massive pain to remove this GPU, my CPU cooler is so big, it hampers the access to the GPU locking clip, and I worry about movement on the CPU cooler..

So I was thinking of keeping an eye on it, see how it goes before change? And like you said if it doesnt damage it, takes 45 seconds to configure the couple of BIOS settings, and it IS the battery, and its not often the power is interrupted (not like I get power cuts every day!), then leave as is??

Or if its defiantly recommended to change the battery, I will do it.

Tetras · 10 Dec 2022 at 18:54

Yeah, I agree, I'd leave the battery and just keep an eye on it. If it keeps going, then you can look at your settings & the battery again.

Grimley · 10 Dec 2022 at 20:03

Zeebedy said:
Can I link a website for the batteries? Im assuming its ok here on OCUK?

Its usually a CR2032 battery, that powers car remotes, watches. I've got one in my small digital scale. You can buy these almost anywhere that sells batteries.

rumple9 · 10 Dec 2022 at 21:19

Mine has a bios setting that resets cmos on power loss so maybe change that in your bios if you have it

ANDARIAL · 10 Dec 2022 at 21:29

Does your mobo have a dual bios?
Might be switching over to second bios after power cut?maybe?

Zeebedy · 10 Dec 2022 at 21:37

Tetras said:
Yeah, I agree, I'd leave the battery and just keep an eye on it. If it keeps going, then you can look at your settings & the battery again.

cheers mate.

Grimley said:
Its usually a CR2032 battery, that powers car remotes, watches. I've got one in my small digital scale. You can buy these almost anywhere that sells batteries.

awesome, will get them in case I change down the line.

rumple9 said:
Mine has a bios setting that resets cmos on power loss so maybe change that in your bios if you have it

will look at that mate thanks.

ANDARIAL said:
Does your mobo have a dual bios?
Might be switching over to second bios after power cut?maybe?

i dont think so dude, its "basicish" motherboard, im sure thats not on there.

Zeebedy · 19 Dec 2022 at 17:07

well came, home, believe I had a minor power cut / trip as my internet lost connection for a few minutes, and when I came through to turn on the PC, the amp for my speakers was on (green) which happens when the power is restored. When I turn off it stays off (red).

And I checked Task Manager and my RAM etc is still at 3200Mhz, so the BIOS battery must be all good, quite possibly a BIOS reset as "precaution".