A waiting game on my Badaxe 2 mobo to die.

[MUff1N]

Well the other day I was going through my system doing my regular maint on it & doing some system's checks when I noticed something not right!

The vcore on my CPU that I had set to 1.41v (1.35 actual) was now sitting at 1.266v which is what default vcore is with Enhance Powerslope enabled.
I checked my bios setting & it was still set to this, but the vcore readout wasn't anymore.
I also checked it with a number of other utilities to verify it was in fact running at that voltage.
I also ran ORTHOS to see if it was a reading error but it immediately threw up a red flag saying it was unstable.

So I took in the possibility that it may have something to do with going to W7 7100 up from 7077 (very unlikely but worth a shot) as that was when it was working correctly on the 23d of last month.
(Screenshot of Blackbox utility on this forum)
So I restored to that date with W7 7077 but there was no change.
Next step is re-flash the bios...Done, no change.
Try different voltage settings, still default vcore.

It appears I no longer have any control over the vcore & I hope the voltage regulation is limited to just this one area otherwise it could kill a bunch of stuff if overvolted or undervolted all of a sudden. (I'm keeping a close eye on the voltages from now on)

Anyways now I can safely say that my mobo is on the way out & now it's a waiting game of just how long will it run like this.

As you know I have a warranty on this computer but, it doesn't cover OCing! So I can't report this.

With my luck it will continue to run like this for years now & being where it's at now I'm limited to 3.30GHz which is the highest stable clocks it will go with these settings which is still better than default.

If anyone has any ideas on this they are welcome, but I think now it's just a waiting game for this mobo to die (maybe this summer?) & hopefully that will be before the warranty expires so I get the replacement without money out of pocket.

On another note this says something for the stability of Windows 7 as I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until I looked at the vcore.
The system was running perfectly as far as I could see.

[PorPorMe]

You are creative, and you ain't dumb. Might there be something legit that some one with smarts would notice and start some checking and have a valid reason. Put your thinking cap on. There will be something-think of it or find it.

[MUff1N]

Yea PPM, I came up with a solution to my mobo vcore problem but it wasn't getting a new one, I just took another approach to it is all by fixing it...

Seems my brain kicked in faster than I thought it would on this being just one day of thinking but I managed to get it fixed & clocked it back up to 3.40GHz!

There was one other small detail I overlooked last time in my troubleshooting process, (not that it should effect the bios in this way) but I had C1E (Enhanced Halt State) disabled.
This is the only setting I didn't put back to default settings.
Guess what happened after I did this...you guessed it, the vcore once again was adjustable & worked like it was supposed too.

But the question still remains...Why did it do this as this is not normal operational behavior for this bios.
So I still think it's on it's way out, but it's the bios chip that's on the way out or it's defective & not the other components on the board like the very critical voltage regulators!
So at least I know now all my stuff isn't going to go up in a big ploom of smoke!

[PorPorMe]

Originally Posted by MUff1N

Yea PPM, I came up with a solution to my mobo vcore problem but it wasn't getting a new one, I just took another approach to it is all by fixing it...

Seems my brain kicked in faster than I thought it would on this being just one day of thinking but I managed to get it fixed & clocked it back up to 3.40GHz!

There was one other small detail I overlooked last time in my troubleshooting process, (not that it should effect the bios in this way) but I had C1E (Enhanced Halt State) disabled.
This is the only setting I didn't put back to default settings.
Guess what happened after I did this...you guessed it, the vcore once again was adjustable & worked like it was supposed too.

I had that one happen to me once. I must have spent hours trying to figure it out before I posted and then it was either Sam or ccp just replied "ck your CIE" with a smile. I fealt like an idjet!

But the question still remains...Why did it do this as this is not normal operational behavior for this bios.
So I still think it's on it's way out, but it's the bios chip that's on the way out or it's defective & not the other components on the board like the very critical voltage regulators!
So at least I know now all my stuff isn't going to go up in a big ploom of smoke!

When you happen to look up and see the Silver Lining, you don't ask how or why-you say a quiet thanks and get back to OC;ing!

[ThunderRd]

I think that's normal behavior for C1E-it's some kind of power-saving feature that we all disable by habit because it makes overclocking impossible. There are others on the same BIOS page, too(like speedstep and thermal throttling)-some will throttle the CPU multi down to save power when the box is idle.

Actually, I thought that C1E also throttles the CPU multi, but I could be wrong. In any case, it should be turned off. What you don't know is why the BIOS lost the setting; did you clear the CMOS or something?

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by PorPorMe

When you happen to look up and see the Silver Lining, you don't ask how or why-you say a quiet thanks and get back to OC;ing!

It's in my nature to ask "why" when something like this happens that's not supposed to. I have years of building maint in my passed...

Originally Posted by ThunderRd

I think that's normal behavior for C1E-it's some kind of power-saving feature that we all disable by habit because it makes overclocking impossible. There are others on the same BIOS page, too(like speedstep and thermal throttling)-some will throttle the CPU multi down to save power when the box is idle.

Actually, I thought that C1E also throttles the CPU multi, but I could be wrong. In any case, it should be turned off. What you don't know is why the BIOS lost the setting; did you clear the CMOS or something?

NO, I didn't change any of my settings at all, the vcore just decided to go back to default vcore on it's own.
I did have C1E & Speedstep both Disabled to begin with when this happened, it's when I re-enabled them that vcore settings worked again!
Yea...it is strange & this is what I'm talking about & questioning as to "Why"?

For now I'm leaving C1E & EIST enabled as my system is working fine like this & it does keep the heat & power usage down some
as it's getting warmer all the time in the house as summer comes on.

[MUff1N]

After setting everything to default, then flashing the bios, everything works exactly as it should so I got it set back up with C1E & EIST disabled @ 3.40GHz!
So once again the symptoms of a dieing board turn out to be false...

Anyways as I said my warranty doesn't cover OCing but there was NO WAY I was going to pay the crazy amount of money ABS wants to have a "Authorized" OC by them of only 20% (they call this their Extreme version...) or less!!!

I can OC my system to 24% at default system voltages...LMAO!!!
Check out the screen shot of their service & pricing...Woah...hold on there partner!

[PorPorMe]

Good job agian, my boy! It happens so offteen with me. a problem just keeps getting more frusrating untill I back of or just quit and come back at it another day. Lo and behold the answer might not be right there, the thought process is an I'm ablle to figure it out.
Good job. Cost less too!

[MUff1N]

Actually the whole point to my last post wasn't the fact that I fixed the bios issue with the vcore voltage, but the OCing service that ABS offered when I bought this computer! LOL!!!
Like I'm going to pay them that kind of money ($249) for a few seconds of bios settings for a measly 20% OC that you can get at default system voltages!
For just a few more bucks I could buy a Core i7 920 Nehalem or a new top of the line mobo!!!