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My CPU will not run at Stock Speed

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I recently purchased an AMD Phenom ii X4 965 Black Edition and was eager to do some overclocking. I overclocked it from 3.4Ghz to 3.5Ghz within a half-hour of its installation and then my PC would no longer boot. When it finally did, my CPU speed was lowered to 800Mhz and I could never figure out why. Turns out my Motherboard, after 3 boot failures, sets the CPU Multiplier to x4 and the CPU Voltage to 1.05.
I slowly cranked the multiplier and Voltage back up to original levels and the system would no longer boot, again! It got reset once more.
Then I hastily cranked up the Multiplier to x16.5 and everything was good and stable. I cranked it up to x17 and it wouldn't boot on the first attempt, it did on the second however. I thought everything was fine but the next morning, I had 3 boot failures and I was sent right back to square one.

So just what is the problem here? Why won't my CPU run at its Stock Speed? I've disabled Cool 'n' Quiet, C1E, CPU Thermal Throttle, Quiet Fan, hell, I even tried raising the CPU Voltage to 1.45V because perhaps Stock Voltage was insufficient and my PC seems to struggle booting up when my CPU is at its Stock Speed and this makes no sense. I've actually had to underclock it to get things to work as they should. Any ideas fellows?

CPU: AMD Phenom ii X4 965 Black Edition
Motherboard: Asrock N68C-S UCC
RAM: 8GB DDR3 with DRAM Frequency clocked at 667Mhz
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce GTX 260

The only idea I can think of is that the PSU doesn't have enough power but it outputs 700W, that's enough for a second GTX 260! I'm truly, truly stumped.

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WR2 said:
Does it run at stock speed when you're playing a game?


Although, I just want to add that my memory's a little fuzzy. I can't really remember if I ran any games at Stock Speed. I'm sure I did but nonetheless, there's a bit of doubt in my mind. If I do, by some stroke of luck manage to get this thing running at Stock Speed again, should I try running a game?

WR2 said:
Just start up a game and see what speed the CPU runs at.


I ran a game the CPU during less intensive scenes would go up to 3315.4xMhz and during more intensive scenes, would drop to 3314.4xMhz.

WR2 said:
That's pretty much stock performance.
Reset your BIOS default settings.


But this processor is meant to be running at 3.4Ghz. It's at 3.3Ghz. I know 100Mhz isn't much but nonetheless, it's underperforming. I was really hoping to push this processor to 3.8Ghz or so but it can't even manage the speed it's supposed to have.

Also, how do I reset my BIOS default settings? Also, why is it that I can't seem to push this processor any further, otherwise it simply won't boot? It's meant to be perfectly fine with OC'ing!

WR2 said:
Reset BIOS to default settings.


But I can already do that in the BIOS itself. There's a command which lets you load up the default settings. Is that what you mean?

WR2 said:
When you get that done run another gaming session and see how the CPU performs while the game is in progress.


I loaded up my Motherboard's default settings and I've been plunged back into this speed of 800Mhz. Well, I ran a game and there was very little variation this time. There was one brief instant where I recall seeing 803.70Mhz but overall, it usually stayed in the 803.4xMhz range.

WR2 said:
I'm not seeing any of the 125W CPUs on the CPU support list for that motherboard.

Specifically, no Phenom II X4 965, as a supported CPU.

Asrock N68C-S UCC web page - CPU support list.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=N68C-S%20UCC


Oh, I see. I thought any Motherboard can support any Processor as long as the Socket is correct. My Motherboard doesn't seem to support 140W CPUs. Does this mean I'll just need to buy a new Motherboard in order to reach those higher speeds? If so, is there one that you would recommend?
CPUs Expert

The Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 is a good buy for a 970 chipset. It won't be a very good overclocker but it'll allow your phenom to run at stock speed. Basically look for anything with a decent chipset from a decent brand with MOSFET heatsinks ( the heatsinks around the CPU socket)

WR2 said:
Are you OK with moving up to an AM3 board that will need DDR3 RAM upgrade as well?

I've already bought the AM3 board and I already have DDR3 RAM as well. It's all good. How do I class this thread as "Solved" by the way? I wouldn't want people wasting their time, looking through here.
CPUs Master

Don't worry about it. It will drop off the first couple of pages pretty fast.

Since you opened a Discussion topic instead of a Question topic you don't have a Best Answer/Solved option that the Question topics have.
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