System running too fast!!

[Guest]

I have a very strange problem:
My system is going nuts! It's running extremely (unusable) fast.
For example, the system / Win clock runs around 5x faster than realtime. Games go nuts (a 3min round of CS is over in about 25 seconds!)
What on earth could be causing this?
The only 'strange' thing is that the bios reports a CPU speed of 435mHz, when in fact I have a 1200 AMD Thunderbird.
Yes - I have verified all multiplier settings - it's all set (dipswitches) to 12x @ 100mhz, plus I have the bios auto-detecting the SDRAM bus speed.

I know we all hanker for 'more power' but beilieve it or not this is outright annoying!!

Please - anyone got any bright ideas?
MAny thanks.


AMD 1200 T-Bird
Soltek KAV MB / Award BIOS

 

[HonestJhon]

odd...i have never heard of someone getting too much performance out of their computer...but if the clock is running fast, and the bios is reporting the cpu as underclocked...then that is strange...
also, are you sure that you arent just drying in counterstrike?
hehe
j/k
have you tried reinstalling windows?
that might help..
also, try updating the bios on the motherboard...that might help with the system reporting an underclock...
this whole thing is strange...it is like your system is posessed...

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[khha4113]

Your mobo's RTC (Realtime clock) might be defective.

Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

 

[Boondock_Saint]

Yes, his real time clock is out of sync.

Only way to cause this: use program that alters it (known as SPEED CHEAT in Counterstrike)

Lets you set multipliers for speed boost, giving you speed boost (big time) over other players. Remedied with latest CS patch. Bad cheater you, BAD.

:tongue: Have you ever tried cooking an egg on your HSF? Tasty. :tongue:

 

[HonestJhon]

that screws with the speed detection in bios?
strange...


-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[Guest]

Hi again all,
Many thanks for your replies! However:

You all seem to be missing the fact that it's the system clock in general that is running wild..
i.e. when you dbl-clik the systray clock and bring up the analog picture, you see the second hand racing around at a ratio of about 5sec sys time to 1sec realtime.

It just so happens that the first time it was noticed was in a game of CS.
No cheater here sorry!!

Re-Installing Win won't help surely? It sounds more like a mobo/bios error?

If the mobo had a hairline fracture, or a card wasn't seated or something, perhaps weirdness like this would result? Yes/ No?

Is it dodgy RAM perhaps? Given that I have set the bios to take it's SPD settings automatically from the SDRAM chips them selves, if the chips were faulty they might mis-report themselves?
Mmmm.. maybe I shoud manually set the RAMBUS SPD to 133mhz..?

Any further thoughts? It's driving me nuts! I can't even connect to the net now as the system's speed renders most apps unusable..

*sigh*

 

[Guest]

Thanks man - this could indeed be it.
Now: How does one go about testing this?

 

[HonestJhon]

hmm..i dont think that letting the bios get speed from ram itself would cause this...
i think that this is probably, like stated before, a faulty real time clock...
that is really strange...
and if this thing is new, or bought recently (like half a year) then i would say contact the reseller or the manufacuter to see what they say...
they might give you a new board...
but i dont know if that is something that they consider a defective product, since someone said that you can use this to cheat at CS....
strange that things run really fast....maybe this is the key to making my system faster...hehe...j/k
really weird...

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[girish]

well, try flashing the BIOS, it might be setting the system clock too fast. this clock is responsible for most of the timing related stuff on the machine.

this counter/clock is supplied a frequency of approx 1.91 MHz, which it uses to operate a 16 bit down counter that triggers an interrupt each time it underflows.

by default, the clock is programmed to the max value of 65536 so at 1.91 MHz, this 16 bit counter underflows every 54 mS, that is approximately 18.2 per second. this frequency is taken as a reference for most timing purposes like screen refresh in games or clocks. many games reprogrammed this clock to get a faster time base, like 30 mS or 25 mS and reset to the default value when they exit.

maybe this clock is badly programmed.

even if the RTC is set bad, you might be able to correct it by a BIOS flash, use the latest one to rule out any other issues.

girish

<font color=red>No system is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>

 

[Boondock_Saint]

If anyone here remembers old 3D Mark 2000 or SiSoft benchmarks, not forged with an editor but they were astronomically high. I tested this theory by downloading the speed cheat, and it acts as a multiplier to your current clock; ex. (current clock time)*multiplier. This effectively increases "speed" in some apps. SiSoft will report bus speeds around 1000+ MHz and 14GHz+ CPU's. Quite funny to see. 3D Mark 2000 was same way for a while. You could get hundreds of thousands of points. The "speed cheat" itself just changes your system clock. All the symptoms you have described have been something akin to this: this does NOT mean you have used the speed cheat, but it does mean there is a problem with your real time clock. This is most likely not a hardware error.

:tongue: Have you ever tried cooking an egg on your HSF? Tasty. :tongue:

 

[HonestJhon]

hmm..would cpuid report 14 ghz??
lol
get a screen shot of that, and post it on one of those overclocking sites...
see what people say...btw, does the speed cheat thing make the cpu overheat at all?
or does it not even make extra heat?
just tell them that you have a really custom hydrogen cooling system...lol

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[Boondock_Saint]

No extra heat; it is all software. Your whole system is not technically running any faster, it is not giving you free MHz or anything. Software is just sped up.

Funny stuff to see though. I benched old 3D Mark and got like 300,000 pts.

:tongue: Have you ever tried cooking an egg on your HSF? Tasty. :tongue:

 

[HonestJhon]

lol

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[girish]

BIOS upgrade or reflashing should help. if it doesnt work, then maybe some other solution would. like taking the system apart and rebuilding, CMOS reset, testing it in DOS for various timing methods to ascertain exactly whats screwing up. maybe.


<font color=red>No system is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>