F5F Stay Refreshed Power Users Overclocking The computer is saying it's running at a high speed, but I just turned it down to normal settings.

The computer is saying it's running at a high speed, but I just turned it down to normal settings.

The computer is saying it's running at a high speed, but I just turned it down to normal settings.

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Jerryx01
Posting Freak
870
09-20-2026, 12:48 AM
#1
I promise I never really thought about making my CPU run faster, but it says I did try and shows me an error message (see the pictures below). It won't start up right, and when it finally starts, everything cuts off suddenly and the screen flickers weirdly. All I use is Excel, Word, and Firefox. When I check my computer's settings, it shows a normal speed of 3.5GHz for the CPU: Motherboard: gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2PT RAM: 4GB (1333MHz) OS: Windows 7 Pics: https://ibb.co/S3cjh5P https://ibb.co/gSJHz96 https://ibb.co/v1HSpb1 https://ibb.co/gmrP376 Please help, because I have an important interview coming up.
J
Jerryx01
09-20-2026, 12:48 AM #1

I promise I never really thought about making my CPU run faster, but it says I did try and shows me an error message (see the pictures below). It won't start up right, and when it finally starts, everything cuts off suddenly and the screen flickers weirdly. All I use is Excel, Word, and Firefox. When I check my computer's settings, it shows a normal speed of 3.5GHz for the CPU: Motherboard: gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2PT RAM: 4GB (1333MHz) OS: Windows 7 Pics: https://ibb.co/S3cjh5P https://ibb.co/gSJHz96 https://ibb.co/v1HSpb1 https://ibb.co/gmrP376 Please help, because I have an important interview coming up.

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Caribbean_Blue
Senior Member
609
09-20-2026, 07:14 AM
#2
It seems like your BIOS was turned on to make the CPU go faster, but this can cause issues when you first start up. Since your computer is older, I think the previous user tried to overclock it, so it ran okay until something went wrong. The BIOS then reset everything back to normal and will try boosting again if you don't stop it now. Your Windows index only shows what you haven't really got yet; you need a tool like CPUZ or another program to see how fast the CPU is actually running. It looks like your computer might be getting hotter than usual. You should buy an air can, blow it into your computer to clean out all dust, make sure the fans are spinning okay and the cooling fins aren't blocked up, too. Maybe check your monitor's temperature screen if you have one handy.
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Caribbean_Blue
09-20-2026, 07:14 AM #2

It seems like your BIOS was turned on to make the CPU go faster, but this can cause issues when you first start up. Since your computer is older, I think the previous user tried to overclock it, so it ran okay until something went wrong. The BIOS then reset everything back to normal and will try boosting again if you don't stop it now. Your Windows index only shows what you haven't really got yet; you need a tool like CPUZ or another program to see how fast the CPU is actually running. It looks like your computer might be getting hotter than usual. You should buy an air can, blow it into your computer to clean out all dust, make sure the fans are spinning okay and the cooling fins aren't blocked up, too. Maybe check your monitor's temperature screen if you have one handy.

C
choppa2002
Member
87
09-20-2026, 08:52 AM
#3
I turned off everything, and now the fans stay cool. Can you tell me how to slow them down instead of turning them completely off? When I tried to lower it, I see options like *4, *4.5, *5, etc. How do I use these to make it run at 3600 instead of the default 4100? I did this already. CPUZ shows the cores speeding up and slowing down between 1400Mhz and 3800Mhz before I turned them off. Now that they are off, they fluctuate between 1400Mhz and 3515Mhz. The computer is a bit slow but still works fine. Is it safe to just turn everything completely off? I'm worried because I am messing with the default settings here. Also, since the fans were so noisy a few years ago now they are pretty quiet.
C
choppa2002
09-20-2026, 08:52 AM #3

I turned off everything, and now the fans stay cool. Can you tell me how to slow them down instead of turning them completely off? When I tried to lower it, I see options like *4, *4.5, *5, etc. How do I use these to make it run at 3600 instead of the default 4100? I did this already. CPUZ shows the cores speeding up and slowing down between 1400Mhz and 3800Mhz before I turned them off. Now that they are off, they fluctuate between 1400Mhz and 3515Mhz. The computer is a bit slow but still works fine. Is it safe to just turn everything completely off? I'm worried because I am messing with the default settings here. Also, since the fans were so noisy a few years ago now they are pretty quiet.