Overclocking Failed

[Emothius]

Alright, So about a year back I built my first computer, and I am no expert computer builder, I just YouTube How to build and I went from there. I have some knowledge of computers, a fair amount I would say when it comes to components and software but with this problem I am stumped.

My computer has the following:
AMD FX 6100 processor
Asus Sabertooth 990FX Mobo
Cosair TX 650 power supply
XFX Radeon HD 6950 Graphics card
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Cpu heatsink
Corsair Graphite Case
D-Link Xtreme N Desktop PCI Adapter

I have had my CPU overclocked 4.2 Ghz I believe for about a year, ran cool, no problems ever. Recently I have been getting blue screens and I have had to reset the bios on my mobo with MEM OK! button multiple times because at startup the computer will instantly read "Overclock Failed!" and monitors will shut off but computer will continue to run as if nothing were wrong. It sits there idle, I managed to get it to startup and usable by setting the cpu to the standard preset with 3.3GHz clock speed yet now it only reads that I have 8Gb of ram when there are definitely 16gb in there. From time to time It will read the 16gigs and have them available after ive started the computer but then the next day ill turn it on and it will read 8 gigs available. Using the Overclock preset that asus provides on the UEFI settings she wont boot. I can only run her in Default settings which makes no sense to me.
IF anyone has any thoughts comments or concerns as to maybe what I did wrong during installation or anything you can think of to help fix the problem, im willing to try just about anything. I just want to be able to have Roxy running smoothly again, yes, my computers name is Roxy.

 

[dannoddd]

Sounds like you've got failed RAM.
Use the RAM tester in Windows
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Diagnosing-memory-problems-on-your-computer

But if it will only see 8 of the 16, that's your problem.
To test the RAM specifically, remove all the ram and start testing 1 stick at a time to see if it works. Do this by plugging in one stick, booting up and running the diagnostic tool.

If a stick fails to power on, etc. then try a different slot. As you test you should go, Stick 1, Slot A, Slot B, Slot C, Slot D
Stick 2, Slot A, Slot B, Slot C, Slot D
Stick 3, Slot A, Slot B, Slot C, Slot D
Stick 4, Slot A, Slot B, Slot C, Slot D

If each stick is working properly, then it could be the Integrated Memory Controller on the CPU. The only way to test that is with a different CPU.

An oddball out of left field situation may be the BIOS. I have an Asus Crosshair IV with a 1090t and the new versions of the BIOS won't work with the RAM I have. It works with my wife's RAM just fine. So try updating the BIOS before you get a new CPU to test with.

 

[Emothius]

Alright so, I tested the Ram. I had 2 x 4gb sticks to start out with when I built the computer and upgraded later on to another 8 gigs. I thought I purchased the exact same model but it turns out I didnt and I didnt alternate the sticks to the correct slots. After doing so, it now reads 16gb of ram but im still having an overclocking problem. I went to Asus and did what I thought was installing the bios but honestly I am unsure if I did it correctly because I got no prompt to restart my computer nor any such prompt at all telling me of the success in updating my bios as one would get when they do so. Is there an installer guide for installing bios for dummies that I may need to know? maybe I missed something simple.

 

[socialfox]

Take a look at this, though make sure you get the bios file for YOUR motherboard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s0TrScwdoE

 

[dannoddd]

Go into the bios and look for the about section. It should say the version of the bios you have. It either did or didn't work. If it really "didn't work" you'd have a bricked motherboard and need to re-flash the original BIOS from the disk.