i7 920 Stuck at 12x multiplier

[RAD]

I know this is an old CPU but I am trying my best to limp it along rather than taking it out back and shooting it. However, I am running into a problem and I am so confused right now, really can't figure out what is going on with this thing.

OK, so I have been looking at upgrading my computer lately. Some folks over in the GPU section (other than offering some good advice regarding upgrade paths on gpus and whatnot) recommended I try out switching to a X5650 instead of this old i7 920. Seems affordable and I might yet still do that.

Before doing that though, I thought I would take another swing at overclocking my old i7 920 cpu. I am using a Gigabyte Ud4p mobo on the newest non beta bios (f13) running Windows 10.

When I started to try to dig into things getting ready to overclock I discovered something strange. According to CPU-Z My multiplier seems to be stuck at 12x, no matter what power settings or bios settings I tinker with. This means my core speed is sitting at 1.60 instead of 2.66 even at stock. This would go a long ways to explaining why my computer has felt like such a turd lately but I have no idea how long this has been going on, other than knowing that when I first put this thing together it was definitely not doing this.

In order to start from a clean slate I went into my bios and reverted to default. Even running under default I am still having the same problem. Multiplier SHOULD be at 20, is according to the bios, but doesn't seem to be there according to CPU-Z, even under load.

Power plan for "high performance".

Hitting my computer with Prime 95, CPU-Z still reporting the multiplier stuck at 12. Screenshot below:

In the bios I have tried disabling or enabling the following, with no success on fixing this problem:
C1E
C3/C6/C7
CPU Thermal Monitor
EIST

Anyone out there have any advice? Anyone still using 8 year old technology (i7 920 on a Gigabyte UD4P)? If so have you run into this problem or found a fix to it?

Thanks for your time folks.

 

[Reefa_Madness]

In order to start from a clean slate I went into my bios and reverted to default.

Did you clear your CMOS first, or just select the Optimized Defaults, or similar? If you didn't clear CMOS, I would suggest that you do a full blown, turn off power supply and remove battery clearing of the CMOS and see if that doesn't help.

From the Gigabyte forums:

To clear the CMOS first you need to unplug the computer from the power socket. Then check:
1) If your motherboard is equipped with Clear CMOS button then press it.
2) If your motherboard has CLR_CMOS (Clearing CMOS) jumper then place a jumper cap on the two pins to temporarily short them or use a metal object like a screwdriver to short these pins for 5 seconds. Put the jumper back in it's default position (open).
3) If above methods fail then you need to remove the CMOS battery (small silver disk) and then use method 2) and additionally wait for 10 minutes. Instead of waiting you can use a metal object like a screwdriver to touch the positive and negative terminals of the battery holder (NOT the battery!), making them short for 5 seconds. Replace the battery.

The CMOS is now cleared. Now you can plug the PC into the power socket, boot up into the BIOS, Load Optimized Defaults, save and exit.

https://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=2286.0

 

[Deleted member 133315]

Reset bios and remove battery as per above and see what that does, also it could be that you have overclocking software installed on your pc, the type that comes with the motherboard cd, maybe that is overriding what you set in the bios ?

So check for overclocking software, i know gigabyte sometimes install it automatically when you use the mobo cd.

If its not mobo related or software related then it could be that the cpu is damaged and it has cut the multi to try and protect it, maybe from overheating or from outright death ?

But I would reset everything first and test again.

Looks like your psu is out of whack, 9v for +12v rail ? And 16v of -12v rail.

I would try and find a better monitoring app than speedfan as I have never found it to be reliable for alot of things.

 

[Simplyfun]

boot with a windows live CD/USB and see if the multiplier is still the same to rule out OS or app interference

 

[RAD]

Reset bios and remove battery as per above and see what that does, also it could be that you have overclocking software installed on your pc, the type that comes with the motherboard cd, maybe that is overriding what you set in the bios ?

So check for overclocking software, i know gigabyte sometimes install it automatically when you use the mobo cd.

If its not mobo related or software related then it could be that the cpu is damaged and it has cut the multi to try and protect it, maybe from overheating or from outright death ?

But I would reset everything first and test again.

Looks like your psu is out of whack, 9v for +12v rail ? And 16v of -12v rail.

I would try and find a better monitoring app than speedfan as I have never found it to be reliable for alot of things.

Thanks for the thoughts. I will work on some of this and report back. What do you recommend to replace speedfan, Realtemp?

Re: the bios reset I have not yet done a hard reset. I am wiped out tonight but first thing tomorrow I will pull the battery on the mobo and force a hard reset and see if that helps.

I really hope the cpu hasn't picked up damage along the way but all the more reason to change CPUs to x5650 if it has I guess. The other option that I've read about with others having stuck multipliers on this generation of hardware is that the mobo has gone bad and that I think would almost be a bigger pain than just the cpu being shot.

 

[RAD]

Well, I did the hard reset of the CMOS (pull the battery out for 10+ minutes) and it unfortunately did not solve the problem. Multiplier still doesn't want to move beyond 12x regardless of load, bios settings, or windows power settings. Without having a second system to test components in, is there a way to isolate the problem to whether it is the CPU, Windows, or the Motherboard? If it is just the CPU I might as well just buy a X5650 or x5670 to drop in since that the end of the upgrade line for this platform anyway and they are super cheap off ebay or amazon. If it is the motherboard I have to start shopping parts to build a new computer I guess.

I also checked to make sure Gigabyte's "Easytune" overclocking app wasn't installed.

 

[Simplyfun]

Well, I did the hard reset of the CMOS (pull the battery out for 10+ minutes) and it unfortunately did not solve the problem. Multiplier still doesn't want to move beyond 12x regardless of load, bios settings, or windows power settings. Without having a second system to test components in, is there a way to isolate the problem to whether it is the CPU, Windows, or the Motherboard? .

Are you sure it's even being reported right? It's not like CPUID hasn't sported a glitch before. But yes, rule out the OS with a USB boot featuring mini XP such as Hiren Boot CD or the others using mini XP.

Unmount your CPU and check the socket for damaged pins as well if you get no satisfaction there.

One trick that sometimes works is DOWNGRADING your BIOS to the earliest edition that supports your specific CPU.

 

[Deleted member 133315]

Run cpuz in safemode and see what it says then.

Also, in your bios is the multi stuck at 12 there or is it showing the correct settings ?

I still dont like your voltages.

Also your cpu voltage is too low 1.0, to me it seems as though some energy saving setting is enabled, either in bios, by some application or windows profile is set to be a hardcore energy saver.

Edit.

We meet again Simplyfun

Edit 2,

Try an older version of cpuz if your bios is showing the correct settings for the multi etc.

 

[RAD]

What would you recommend instead of Speedfan? Per CPU-Z the core voltage seems to be moving around, the more recent screenshot I just took was sitting at idle with that voltage. Under Prime95 it fluxuates between 1.264 and 1.280.


In the BIOS the multiplier is showing 20x.

 

[Reefa_Madness]

So BIOS shows the multi at 20x?

As suggested above, try a different CPU-Z version. You could also try running SPi, or some other benchmark, and see if the results are what you would expect for a 920 running a multi of 12x, or one running at 20x.

 

[Deleted member 133315]

What would you recommend instead of Speedfan? Per CPU-Z the core voltage seems to be moving around, the more recent screenshot I just took was sitting at idle with that voltage. Under Prime95 it fluxuates between 1.264 and 1.280.


In the BIOS the multiplier is showing 20x.

I use aida64 but you have to buy it, although you may get a free 30 day trial, if you do try that as it gives you voltages, cpu settings, ram settings, all your hardware thats connected to your pc etc.

Excellent piece of software.

Their is also Open Hardware Monitor, its similar to aida and will show what your cpu cores are running at in mhz, so you can work out for yourself if its stuck at 12 or not.

Now you have told us the bios shows the correct settings, then its either a case of cpuz is bugged in that version for your setup and an older version might show the correct settings or your energy saving settings in windows are doingnit, if so goto windows control panel and fix it from there.

Just a thought, your cpu cooling is working properly is it ? If it isnt or if your heatsink or fan or whatever is clogged with hairs or dust then your cpu could be throttling itself to a lower speed to save the cpu from burning up.

If you have done everything software wise and are still seeing a 12 multi then maybe reseat the heatsink and fan and give them a good clean, if using water cooling, you might have a small blockage in one of the pipes or an overgrowth of gunky bacteria. All in one watercoolers dont and are not meant to last for years.

The above is just some shit that came into my head as i was typing up this post.

 

[RAD]

I am embarrassed to say that we are starting to bump up to the edges of my technical savvy. I really appreciate the time you all are taking to give me some advice and will do my best to keep up.

When I run CPU-Z in safe mode I get an error (1084) during initialization of the app and it does not show many of the cpu readings. Screenshot:

Here are a few pics of the BIOS (this is after the CMOS reset then set to "Optimized Defaults")

Windows Power Options are for "High Performance" with advanced settings processor power management - maximum processor state set to 100%.

 

[RAD]

I am starting to wonder if it isn't as you guys said and CPU-Z is the problem. Task Manager while Prime95 is firing indicates the multiplier kicking in and bumping to 2.77 ghz rather than throttling at 1.66 ghz. Have I literally been lead on a wild goose chase for a perfectly normally performing CPU because CPU-Z is being dumb?

 

[Reefa_Madness]

Just try a different version of CPU-Z and eliminate that from the equation.

 

[RAD]

Just try a different version of CPU-Z and eliminate that from the equation.

So I went back to one of the first Windows 10 versions (1.73) and... drumroll... My multipliers are now being reported properly in CPU-Z. I cannot BELIEVE how much time I spent in the last 24 hours fighting with a ghost problem. I put a very mild overclock on the chip to test (21x multiplier, 150 bclk) and it is reporting perfectly fine.

Thanks Reefa_Madness and Evil-Scotsman for the suggestion to look to an older version of CPU-Z, sorry it took me a little while to get to that option.

I really appreciate all of you helping me troubleshoot this and all of your ideas. Thanks for your patience and help.

 

[Deleted member 133315]

Glad you figured it out.

If I was you,

I would disable turbo boost, cpu enhanced halt c1E and cpu eist function.

Those mess with multipliers and dont keep them at what you set them for in the bios.

Turbo boost is useless as it only ever boost one core by 200mhz leaving the others untouched and if I recall in some cases it might even disable a core or lower the speeds of the other ones.

and enhanced halt and eist is basically intel speedstep energy saving functions which auto downclocks your cpu when idle

If you want your cpu to always run at 20? X multi then thats what I would do. If overclocking turbomode and the others really do need to be disabled.

 

[Reefa_Madness]

Glad to hear that you got it sorted out and that it didn't require that you go out and purchase hardware...then again, maybe that's not a good thing and instead a missed opportunity. New toys are almost always fun.

 

[RAD]

Glad to hear that you got it sorted out and that it didn't require that you go out and purchase hardware...then again, maybe that's not a good thing and instead a missed opportunity. New toys are almost always fun.

Hah no kidding. I had already started shopping for an x5650 or x5670 to drop into the system. It is amazing how cheap they have gotten. I will see if I can control the itch for a while more, it doesn't feel necessary... yet.

 

[Reefa_Madness]

I would agree that a hex-core X5670 is a heck of a bang for the buck...just took a peek and found some for under $30. For anyone that still has an LGA 1366 board, you just can't go wrong with that.