Sound like an unstable overclock?

[Dave3000]

Yesterday I overclocked my i7-4930k to 4 GHz and set the CPU voltage to 1.2v. Twice today my PC would not shutdown when all I wanted to do was turn it off. First I clicked on shutdown in Windows 8.1 but instead of shutting down my PC restart. Then I pressed the power button but my PC restart again to my system password prompt. Then I pressed the power button again and my PC finally shutdown. Also I had the CPU load line calibration set manually to Regular. I also ran Prime 95's small fft test for 17 hours straight without issues and Intel Burn Test at very high memory setting and 100 runs without issues and I played Crysis 3 without issues so far at 4 GHz an 1.2v vcore. Does this sound like my CPU can't handle 4 GHz at 1.2v vcore or that it has something to do with the CPU's load line calibration that I set it to?

 

[Dave3000]

Also my core temps reach a max temp of 73 C during the 17 hours of running Prime 95 and 71 C during the 100-run Intel Burn Test with these overclocked settings.

 

[ClockHound]

Remember there are no unstable overclocks, only unstable overclockers. ;-)

Sure sounds like your overclock is solid, but something in Win 8.1 is not. The quick and no fun way to find out is to reset to stock clock and volts and see if windows still acts oddly.

 

[Dave3000]

Remember there are no unstable overclocks, only unstable overclockers. ;-)

Sure sounds like your overclock is solid, but something in Win 8.1 is not. The quick and no fun way to find out is to reset to stock clock and volts and see if windows still acts oddly.

It never did this at stock settings. It didn't just happen in Windows 8.1, it also happened when I tried to power down at the system password prompt which is not in Windows but a password I created from the BIOS.

 

[wtfcowisown]

Sounds like a software problem, not an overclocking problem.

 

[videogames101]

Not a typical sign of instability, but who knows?

 

[tential]

My Windows 8 installation is screwy like this too with no OC.

Shutting down is iffy (Sometimes it shuts down, other times it just hangs forever). I'd just reinstall Windows. I plan to, but I never shutdown so I really don't care about the issue. The only thing I need to do is exit high performance mode so I can save some power.

 

[Dave3000]

When I attempted to turn off my PC by pressing the power button (at the CMOS password prompt), it would turn off but 1 second later it turned back on. So it actually did turn off, but automatically turned back on. So it was not exactly a reset that time.

 

[ClockHound]

When I attempted to turn off my PC by pressing the power button (at the CMOS password prompt), it would turn off but 1 second later it turned back on. So it actually did turn off, but automatically turned back on. So it was not exactly a reset that time.

That's not a bug! That's a feature!

A BIOS feature. The NEW 'ALWAYS Ready' system.

Maybe try another version of the BIOS.

What happens when you put it to sleep? Is it an insomniac?

 

[ClockHound]

When I attempted to turn off my PC by pressing the power button (at the CMOS password prompt), it would turn off but 1 second later it turned back on. So it actually did turn off, but automatically turned back on. So it was not exactly a reset that time.

That's not a bug! That's a feature!

A BIOS feature. The NEW 'ALWAYS ON' system.

Maybe try another version of the BIOS.

What happens when you put it to sleep? Is it an insomniac?

 

[VirtualLarry]

It never did this at stock settings. It didn't just happen in Windows 8.1, it also happened when I tried to power down at the system password prompt which is not in Windows but a password I created from the BIOS.

Your mobo is damaged. That's been my observation every time I see reports that computers won't shut down, but always restart on their own.

 

[tolis626]

Well, I have a similar issue and it doesn't seem to be because of overclocking. When I try to shut my PC down, it will just hang there and I have to long-press the power button. It's not working, it just won't completely turn off. The screen turns off, my peripherals and external hard drive turn off, and my SSD doesn't show any kind of activity, but the damn thing stays on. The lights in the case and the fans continue working normally. At first it was really frustrating, but then I narrowed it down to Windows 8.1's hybrid shutdown mode. So I went to power options in the control panel and disabled it (In the tab that says something about the behaviour when pressing the power button) and it hasn't done it in the past few days, so fingers crossed because doing a reinstall of Windows would kill me. Maybe give this a try.

 

[Omar F1]

Try to remove any add-on cards if you have, like USB 3.0 or an old sound card.
I had an Audigy 2 PCI which caused a strange instability issue, until I figured it out that the card is old and causing problems.

 

[Dave3000]

About 5 days ago I added a sound card to my system. I didn't have this issue before I added the sound card but then again I didn't have this issue until 4 days after adding the sound card. Today I ran Intel Burn Test for 100 runs at Very High setting with my 4930k running at 4 GHz with 1.14v successfully. Earlier today I ran 100 runs with Intel Burn Test with my CPU at Auto voltage at 4 GHz which was around 1.19v and after it completed the 100th run (the end of the test) I got a pop up Critical Error message saying that Linpack has stopped working due to missing executables, software bug, or unstable system but all 100 results showed the same number. I had this message occur before at the end of the test on an i7 4820k at stock settings as well and I can make it happen everytime at the end of the test if I use a 16MB custom memory size for 20 runs, so it sounds like a software bug with Intel Burn Test?

 

[tolis626]

About 5 days ago I added a sound card to my system. I didn't have this issue before I added the sound card but then again I didn't have this issue until 4 days after adding the sound card. Today I ran Intel Burn Test for 100 runs at Very High setting with my 4930k running at 4 GHz with 1.14v successfully. Earlier today I ran 100 runs with Intel Burn Test with my CPU at Auto voltage at 4 GHz which was around 1.19v and after it completed the 100th run (the end of the test) I got a pop up Critical Error message saying that Linpack has stopped working due to missing executables, software bug, or unstable system but all 100 results showed the same number. I had this message occur before at the end of the test on an i7 4820k at stock settings as well and I can make it happen everytime at the end of the test if I use a 16MB custom memory size for 20 runs, so it sounds like a software bug with Intel Burn Test?

Well, I say don't use IBT or Prime95. They just cause your CPU to overheat like a mofo for no real benefit. Just use something more sane like Asus' RealBench or OCCT or Aida64. Your CPU will thank you.

Other than that, yeah, this sounds like more of a problem with IBT than with system stability. And you might be a little conservative on the core. You've got quite a lot more headroom there before you start increasing your voltages through the roof.

 

[Dave3000]

Ok with my i7 4930k overclocked to 4 GHz at 1.14v without load line calibration, I just finished running Prime 95 (Small FFT test) for 12 hours successfully. Core temps reached 69 C. If I leave the vcore on Auto, my motherboard (or CPU?) sets the vcore to around 1.19v without load line calibration. I think I might be at the edge of stability at 1.14v but I did not test a lower vcore as I don't want to continue tying up my PC for hours and hours of stress testing when I have to do other things on it. Since this is my only PC and I also use it for office work (office applications) besides gaming and internet browsing I think I'm going to back to stock CPU settings. Maybe I'll buy a cheap PC like a Dell with an i3 4130 for just office work and internet browsing then I might consider keeping this PC for just gaming and have it overclocked at 4 GHz with the vcore on Auto.

 

[john3850]

No way would I use prime for 17 hours.
I use IBT or Prime for a hour tops.
Next open 24 chrome tabs and game for a few days.
Cpu have a long life but MB degrade much faster.

 

[VirtualLarry]

No way would I use prime for 17 hours.
I use IBT or Prime for a hour tops.

Some of us in the DC community, run the equilvalent of Prime95 for literally months straight.

As long as you have quality components, sufficient cooling, and proper power, there's no harm in it.

If you are "afraid" of Prime95 harming your hardware, then you should buy better-quality hardware.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I just don't think it makes sense to run Intel Burn Test through 100 iterations. 30 should confirm stability.

 

[john3850]

Some of us in the DC community, run the equilvalent of Prime95 for literally months straight.

As long as you have quality components, sufficient cooling, and proper power, there's no harm in it.

If you are "afraid" of Prime95 harming your hardware, then you should buy better-quality hardware.

My highest oc always seemed to be with in the first six months or so of a new build after that my oc always went down slightly.
To surf the web and game I do use pretty cheap mb with good cooling.

 

[MongGrel]

Personally, I've has some weird things happen lately with the newer Windows updates.

See if they clear up.

 

[Dave3000]

So would it be a good idea to buy a cheap but good quality desktop ($500-$600) for work and internet since I don't want to do my work with an overclocked PC? I have some games that can really benefit from CPU speed.