Overclock settings lost when unplugged?

[DED]

I was just told by the tech support at the company who built and overclocked my system that overclocking can sometimes turn off or "reset" to normal clock speed when the computer is unplugged.  Does this ring true for anyone here or was I fed a load of BS?

 

We had RAM errors, were told to turn off our overclocking, but that didn't solve the issue so we sent the system back to the manufacturer.  They were supposed to put in new RAM, re-overclock it to the original specs we ordered from them, and have the system with the new RAM tested at overclocked speed.  We got the system back, but the machine was not overclocked.  This tells me they never overclocked it and never ran the RAM tests with it overclocked.  I called them about this and they insisted that they had run the tests overclocked and that the machine might have reset itself when it was unplugged, which is why it wasn't overclocked when we got it back.  Well, we turned the overclocking back on and guess what...   memory errors again!  I feel like I'm being lied to!  Now they're telling me my RAM is ok, but that it's just a timing error that needs adjusting.  Could this be true?  See attached screengrab from Memtest86.

 

This is the second time our RAM has gone bad!

[wevsspot]

It is possible that an extended "no power" condition may have resulted in the system reverting back to BIOS default values.  However, in many situations the CMOS battery should have had enough power to preserve whatever settings they applied at the builder.  Does you particular BIOS have a BIOS profile option (where they might have saved the BIOS settings?).

 

From your story it appears that the builder was less than truthful with you.  You could ask them what testing they performed to qualify the memory, and based on their answer request a copy of the test report (if they keep them).

[Black64]

Short answer is CMOS battery is dead.

[DED]

Thanks for the reply guys.  I don't think the battery was dead as the overclocked BIOS profile was still in the system.  It just wasn't loaded.  If the battery was dead would that profile have been wiped?

 

Also, an update...  now they had me manually adjust the RAM timing.  Somehow this wasn't "saved" in the overclocked BIOS profile, which sounds fishy to me.  However, even after manually adjusting the timing I'm having RAM errors.  Sigh...

[wevsspot]

Probably best never to pay a company to build you an overclocked system  

 

Better to do it on your own and learn as you go.  That way when things start going wrong you're usually well equipped to trouble shoot and solve the issue on your own.  Give us your complete system specs;

 

Motherboard =

CPU =

Memory =

Power Supply =

 

Include model number and part numbers.