Gigabyte EX58-UD5 suddenly stopped overclocking - C1 on LCD display

[Akael]

Hi, I have a problem with no solution and no cause, it seems I get at least one of these every year no matter how much I spend on PC equipment Anyway here we go:

I have been running an i7 920 @ 4Ghz stable for several months - not once in the past few months has it had an issue booting.

Today, Windows 7 RC was about to run out so I decided to get myself a new copy. Shut down PC and went to buy a copy from the shop.

Came back, went into Bios, changed boot order of devices so CD was first followed by HDD (so I could boot from Windows disc).

Suddenly, for the first time ever since I'd achieved a stable overclock, when I rebooted the PC got 'stuck' and the motherboard lcd panel read 'C1'.

Googled that - most people said C1 meant memory and to test each stick in each slot individually so I did. All were working at their appropriate speeds (1600 - 7,7,7,24,1 - 1.66v) when CPU was at normal clocks/voltage. No memory problems at all.

Tried other overclocks - I'm now running at 3.2Ghz with turbo enabled with no problems except the POST took a little longer than usual.

Temps have not changed, hardware was not altered, fans are not broken, CMOS has been reset, BIOS has been updated, cats have been sacrificed to PC Gods - nothing at all was touched except for changing the boot order of my devices. Now I suddenly seem to have a different PC that is behaving completely differently and all of this happened in the space of 1 hour!

Any ideas? Thanks!

[Akael]

Well as with all problems of this kind it has magically resolved itself, perhaps temporarily. My previous settings are working fine again so I'll see how it goes! Must be something wrong somewhere I'm sure.

[gilgamesh]

Well as with all problems of this kind it has magically resolved itself, perhaps temporarily. My previous settings are working fine again so I'll see how it goes! Must be something wrong somewhere I'm sure.

it is a weird one mate, let me think on this, it has to be a bios issue at first guess- but what specficially???

[Akael]

That's the thing - not a single thing had changed in the bios when I checked it, I tried resetting to default and then putting the overclock on again but it refused to boot, just got stuck POSTing. I go back a day later, return everything to previous settings and voila, it's sorted.

Sometimes I love computers, mostly I hate them.

[gilgamesh]

That's the thing - not a single thing had changed in the bios when I checked it, I tried resetting to default and then putting the overclock on again but it refused to boot, just got stuck POSTing. I go back a day later, return everything to previous settings and voila, it's sorted.

Sometimes I love computers, mostly I hate them.

I got an idea for you and it may be a long shot (grasping at straws)

Since C1 is defo assocaited with RAM

I am thinking it could be the CONTACT pins on the ram- ram sockets. give both a clean with Icypropol, and blow any dust out of the sockets.

another idea it is possible that their might be a duff joint on one the ram sockets itself

try the first option i know im grasping at straws but its the only idea that makes sense in this weird fault!

gilgamesh

[Akael]

Thanks for the input - so far it's been running fine since it's little temper tantrum but should it happen again I'll give the hardware a closer look.

[Akael]

Well I did the same thing again because I was cleaning my SSD and setting up to work with Windows 7 and I realised that when I reorder the boot devices so that the CD/DVD is first and HDD second, the system will not boot with my overclock. Perhaps the bios is expecting an installation to take place and therefore removing the possibility of errors caused by an overclock, I'm not sure. After installation setting it back to HDD first, CD second did not fix things. It seems the system needs to be powered off for an extended period (in my case I left it overnight on both occasions) before it will accept the overclock again. I'm not sure exactly how long it takes or why there is this arbitrary delay in overclocking capability but the switch of boot devices seems to trigger it.

[gilgamesh]

Well I did the same thing again because I was cleaning my SSD and setting up to work with Windows 7 and I realised that when I reorder the boot devices so that the CD/DVD is first and HDD second, the system will not boot with my overclock. Perhaps the bios is expecting an installation to take place and therefore removing the possibility of errors caused by an overclock, I'm not sure. After installation setting it back to HDD first, CD second did not fix things. It seems the system needs to be powered off for an extended period (in my case I left it overnight on both occasions) before it will accept the overclock again. I'm not sure exactly how long it takes or why there is this arbitrary delay in overclocking capability but the switch of boot devices seems to trigger it.

Strange, if you areswitching boot devices, then its possible (im not sure) but my guess is that tis putting a stran on the ICH (whihc controlls those devices) perhaps a littlre more volts through that ICH may sort the issue?

gilgamesh