Resolved Constant freezing/stuttering in games

That should be at 2.83Ghz so, yes, you are underclocked.

Glad to hear the thermal paste did the trick, I recently replaced the paste on my heat sink and it caused a big drop in temperature.

 

Hm. Can I overclock it back? Would it be safe with a factory heatsink? I mean I'm not OVERclocking it, just want to get it back up to 2.83GHz. I actually had never OC'd anything either...

 

Can anyone give me an idea about whether I should/it is safe to overclock?
I don't know how to do so either since I've never done (but that's another thread I assume).
I'm only wondering whether I should give it a shot. And if anyone has any idea how it could end up underclocked. Im kind of curious about that, I wonder if I've been running a CPU with no speed increase than my previous one...

 

Hey guys.
I'm terribly sorry for not responding in forever - I got extremely busy and things just went crazy in my life for a couple of weeks and I completely forgot about this issue as it became not my primary concern. I also noticed I got some bad reputation here for keeping the thread open for so long - I apologize.

Anyway, I just checked with Coretemp - its 2.3 on idle and still 2.3 when I fired up probably the toughest game I have installed.

Also I've noticed that, sadly, my temps are now just above 50 on idle despite the new thermal paste - maybe it's the actual weather here since it's becoming warmer, but I don't know. Eh, it's livable though.

Regardless - I'm concerned about this underclock thing. I can't believe I've been running a 2.3 CPU for this whole time - no wonder it seemed to make little change compared to my old CPU, which was a 2.3 dual core.

Cheers

 

Hello? Anyone??

 

Nope, I don't have the right version.

I looked on the site and also went to MSI's website and downloaded the archive that I needed (7380v12). That one seems a bit confusing/manual, but the most questionable part is that it seems old and its' readme file mentions only Windows 98 and ME in the instructions, which is kind of odd.

It also has a huge warning in caps that I shouldn't flash if my system is running fine [which it is].

But then I downloaded MSI's little nifty tool called Live Update 5, and it basically scanned and found the drivers for me that I needed to update. It found the BIOS driver, one of the things it mentioned it would do was update CPU ID (yay!) but it also downloaded some kind of an installer for me, instead of an archive, that claims to be able to do everything by itself, and just tells me to shut all programs off.

What think you folks? Safe to go on with that installer? I've never reinstalled the bios before so I want to make sure I proceed safely. Also, the installer is labeled "MS-7380.exe" which seems normal as that's the same version as the archive. Although the archive has a v12 to it, I think Live Update said this one is version 1.4.

Thanks!

 

Alright.
So just to get some background info, what exactly is flashing the BIOS and what kind of effect it may have on a computer? Would it make any significant changes that would require updating other drives and such, would it perhaps damage anything? Are there any chance of risk?

I'm pretty picky when it comes to these things because I went through a couple of years of constant, intense computer failures and for some time now I've been running with almost no issues and that's why I always like to look and think 10 times before I do anything.

Thanks!

 

So, I guess I should just close all other programs and fire up the installer and get it over with? I actually need some extra speed for this weekend - so I'll probably going to do it soon. Kinda scary though.

Can anyone describe to me what happens during the process, when the installer is launched etc, so that I know what to expect?

 

Alright, fair enough. I'll try to look some stuff up on the MSI forums to make sure. Thanks very much for the advice so far, I'll probably do it tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Alright, BIOS updated and CPU running at 2.83 GHz now.

Thanks guys.

 

I haven't quite tested the performance just yet because I noticed in Core Temp that my CPU is idling at 60-70C.
Now I dont know if this only started when I updated the BIOS, I do remember seeing the temps and questionable numbers before also.

I just opened the window and turned on the ceiling fan and now its just a little around 60C. I have a feeling, however, that it's my silly GPU and stock cooler that are preventing my CPU from being cool enough - by GPU, GTX 260, produces a lot of heat lately (I'm going to switch it soon for an ATI) and I'm using a crappy stock cooler which I'm also planning to switch sometime soon.

I'll go actually play some games now and see what happens but this is kind of unsettling. I'm guessing not much I can do now though besides buy a new GPU and cooler, don't want to go down there messing with the paste again.

Edit: Oh, another thing, my computer is like a meter away from my heater. Which is on right now. And quite hot when I touch it.
So I'm trying to manipulate the room temperature here a bit, I wonder if it'll be better during the summer provided it's cool enough.

Edit: getting occasional momenterial freezes in crysis 2 (not like the ones before). Temps going up to 90C. I dont like this.

Edit: ****, this is really not good. The game just froze and eventually went black after I minimized and trying to go back in. The temps don't go much above 90C, but this is terribly worrying.

I'm thinking of going to check my thermal paste again, but I think I need to go buy a new cooler, like, NOW.

Edit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 - I'm thinking of buying this cooler, but I'm not even sure if it fits with my motherboard. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10894685/heatsink.jpg This is what it looks like. Do you think it'll fit?

I honestly don't understand how it could be this hot. I get up to 90C in Crysis 2, and the thing is underclocked to 2.33 GHz. Right now I opened the side of the case and it's idling at 42-45C.
I honestly have no idea what's going on out there. Either my stock cooler went completely bogus, or my thermal paste messed up, or both, but these temps are way too high. And now I'm not even sure if a new heatsink will fit.

Edit: I dont know how, but I guess somewhere in between opening the side of my case and scanning my PC for trojans I got the thing to refuse to go above 61C on full load. :v
This is on the 2.3 freq though. I assume for 2.8 I'm probably better off with a custom heatsink. Which comes back to my other issue with the mobo, where I can't fit it in. the CM 212 is pretty much the best budget cooler there, so it's a shame not to be able to use it... Argh

 

For some reason I can't update my post anymore, so I'll make a new one.

I got the CPU running at 2.83 GHz at plausible temperatures with my side of the case open. It actually doing fine even underload, not going over 68C even on the most processor-heavy game I have.

For those wondering about my original problem, if you're reading the post, thermal paste was a working fix for me. At this point I'm still looking to buy a new heatsink cooler, that should also bring down my temperatures a bit.

I'm marking this thread as solved, and thanks for all the help everyone.

Cheers,
-Litos