Member Avatar for YTI-Jeremy

Recently bought the AMD 6400+ x2 cpu on the GIGABYTE GA-MA790FX-DS5 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard. Was blazing while it lasted. After a week and a half started having random lock ups which eventually lead into lock ups during bios load. Finally wouldn't boot at all. Machine was still fully powered up lights fans hard drives video card etc. Tested the Video card on another machine was fine.
Returned both to New Egg and recieved a replacement chip and tried the MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard. This board reacted very strange. Once again didn't boot at all no picture to the monitor. After a few trys did boot with an error message. "1 AMD North Bridge, Rev F3" then in red "Warning!!! The previous performance of overclocking is failed, and the system is Restored to the default setting Press any key except "Del" to enter setup. The keyboard wouldn't respond. Powered down and it wouldn't power up once again. Talked to MSI Tech support. He had me reset the jumpers. The machine did boot up all the way to windows. Even picked up my dual boot. Keyboard and Mouse were non responsive. Boxed it up and sent it back to New Egg. Which so far they've been very understanding and good about the returns.
I have read of some issues with 125 watt cpu's in the new quad core motherboards. I did check with ATI before puchasing the board and they assured me it had been tested for the 6400+ which is actually a "6000+ manufacture overclocked to 3.2ghz". I sent my power supply and memory back to New Egg as well as i'm actually at a loss for once. I'm considering just switching to Intel's 3.0ghz Core duo because its only a 65 watt chip.
Anybody have any clue as to what exactly was wrong, and why would I get an overclocking warning on a brand new motherboard. I don't know how to OC and wouldn't even if I could. The MSI tech offended me with his comments on the subject won't be buying from them again.

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reported progressive lockups that ended with a no‑POST condition and a motherboard message about a failed overclock restore; suggested switching platforms. Those symptoms commonly point to a small set of root causes rather than an inherent defect in one vendor: power delivery or PSU instability, firmware/BIOS incompatibility or corrupted settings, memory/CPU/socket faults, or thermal/VRM stress from high current draw.

Recommended bench procedure (minimal, logical order):

  • Clear CMOS (jumper or remove battery) and power down long enough to fully discharge caps.
  • Boot with the absolute minimum: CPU, single known‑good DIMM in the manufacturer’s primary slot, onboard video or a verified working GPU, no drives or front‑panel USB devices.
  • Use a rear port or a PS/2 keyboard (if available) and attach a chassis speaker for POST beeps or watch the board’s debug LEDs.
  • If BIOS comes up, load optimized defaults, disable any automatic “OC/profile” features, set memory to SPD, save and reboot.
  • Run memtest86+ from a USB stick for several passes; if available, stress the CPU later (Prime95/OCCT) while monitoring voltages and temps.
  • If it still won’t POST in minimal config, swap in a known‑good PSU or test the suspect PSU in another system.

Notes and cautions: the “overclock failed / restored defaults” message is usually the board’s safety reaction to a failed POST, not proof that manual overclocking occurred. An unresponsive keyboard/mouse during POST often means USB initialization or a dead USB controller — PS/2 or rear USB 2.0 ports often work where front ports don’t. Inspect the CPU and socket for bent pins and confirm the heatsink/backplate is seated correctly; intermittent shorts from bent pins or mounting hardware can cause exactly the symptoms described. If the same CPU fails across different motherboards after these isolations, escalate the CPU/PSU for RMA testing rather than changing platforms as a first fix.

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Member Avatar for YTI-Jeremy

Just to add I did try the Video Card in my back up computer ran just fine. First time in 6 years i've ever had to deal with dead or injured hardware. I am a CSS student at a private technical school nobody there really had an answer either except to say trade in for an Intel.

Member Avatar for caperjack

in this part of you post you mention overclocking from the manufacture ,then ask how could i get over clocking message on a new board ,maybe you board is also pre -overclocked ,i don't like amd never have ,i would switch to Intel if i were you .just my opinion !!also i have read of many problems with the newer x2 chips and boards .

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