I5-2500 stuck at 3.1Ghz

[grazed]

Hi, my (non k series) i5-2500 seems to be stuck at a x31 multiplier under stress such as Prime95. Sometimes for a brief moment it will clock at 3.3Ghz when I start the test, however a moment later it will shoot back down to 3.1Ghz. Both CPU-Z and CoreTemp are reporting the same multipliers.

I'm using a Biostar H61 board, single / dual threaded turbo works (3.6Ghz on 1 Prime95 thread) and this is what I've already tried:

- flashed BIOS
- disabled speedstep
- disabled turbo
- forced x33 multiplier in BIOS
- disabled C1E
- increased TDP to 300w (the locked 2500 never goes above 60w~, but just to be sure)
- disabled BIOS power saving
- disabled Window's power saving settings

Thermals never go above 55c during Prime. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Try reset settings in BIOS. Thats the only thing I can think of right now.

 

[Skurge]

I had the same issue after installing my 3570. a CMOS reset did the trick.

 

[grazed]

@ Shintai - I should have included that in OP, but I've already tried that.

@ Skurge - I'll be sure to try that. Seemingly missed an obvious one there after thinking I tried everything, thanks!

 

[grazed]

Cleared CMOS and it's still happening. Before I pick and choose a part to RMA, the motherboard is the more likely culprit here, right?

EDIT: Also removed a 4 pin power extension that I thought may be causing a loss of power, didn't work.

 

[AgentUnknown]

Will windows ever show the OC speed? Or is it only shown in CPUZ?

 

[Shmee]

did you try looking at the biostar bios update information? There may be some issues for your board that were fixed with an update.

 

[grazed]

I double checked the release notes. I went ahead and ran mPrime and coreburn in Linux a few hours ago and my clocks showed up correctly at 3.3Ghz.

So now I'm leaning more towards the problem being with Windows. I have all of the built in power savings stuff disabled, what in Windows could be causing this?

EDIT: Using Intel's "Extreme Tuning Utility", I ran a memory and burn test. Both maxed out around 60w which is expected, but my clocks stayed the same!

What could cause Prime95 and Intel Burn Test to downclock the multiplier, but not other memory blend tests?

 

[Ketchup]

What could cause Prime95 and Intel Burn Test to downclock the multiplier, but not other memory blend tests?

1. Extreme heat
2. Windows power options

 

[tweakboy]

Go to BIOS turn off auto OC turn off speedStep turn off any fancy mobo features

Looks like its OCing itself so turn that off in BIOS.

Then try again taking up multi but also take up your voltage too. gl