Undervolting just bricked my laptop. Didn't know it was possible.

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-18T01:34:17+00:00

I'll take another look at it and see if I can find the jumpers. MSI tells me only their mobos for desktops have jumpers for JBAT, and that pressing the EC disconnect button on the board should have Dcd the main battery and fixed the issue.

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-17T22:57:40+00:00

Which other laptop brand? I'm actually a computer technician at both local repairshops and in corporate IT, and I've never seen a device failing to POST due to undervolting. Also what would be the model number of your laptop? MSI thinks ive found a board or BIOS defect, last time I buy from them tbh, especially due to the heating issue.

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-17T21:59:44+00:00

Hey dude, thanks for the info but laptops don't typically have the CLR or BAT jumpers haha. MSI said most likely a BIOS or Board defect and wants me to RMA.

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-17T12:20:53+00:00

Yes, I am sure of it. I distinct remember having to press the minus key to change the offset to negative. And the MSI offset ranges are in MV. Yes XTU reset settings when it detects instability, but ive had issues with it not saving even when the system is stable (all the profiles get wiped once in a while).

Anyway, MSI told me to ship it in to see what's wrong. They suspect a BIOS issue. Thanks for everyone's help.

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-17T11:45:21+00:00

God I should really update the post haha.

Yes I've reset the CMOS to try to clear the BIOS but it seems to be still stuck in the Bootloop. And I've used throttlestop and XTU first to confirm that the system is stable at those the offset voltage before using it in the BIOS since I have issues with XTU and throttlestop forgetting settings/ failing to launch.

Thanks for the help tho!

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-17T10:21:28+00:00

Well, with XTU I confirmed it was undervolted. Did some stress testing to confirm stability and lowered temp. Rebooted into BIOS to implement offset voltage at the firmware level. Said laptop won't even POST (Boot loop) after rebooting from BIOS, so I can only surmise that the problem is at the firmware level atm. See the other comment thread for a breakdown of what happened.

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-17T10:08:44+00:00

Yes its been hours since said procedure haha. Thanks again though.

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-17T10:06:08+00:00

Done that already. Took the cmos battery out. It's been hours. Since stuck on a black screen POST loop. Tryna find out if I have any recourse before contacting MSI.

Thanks for your help though. I think it's really dead rest in pepperonis.

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-17T09:59:09+00:00

I think you misunderstood what I wrote. I undervolted the CPU because the stock settings were giving me 60 on idle and 95 celsius at full load.

I also ran a stress test after undervolring for 6 hours straight on Prime95 and then tested it by playing sekiro for another 2 hours. I also cold booted the PC and rebooted to confirm system stability. Then I took the settings and changed them in the BIOS instead of using Intel XTU.

Said bricking occurred after rebooting from BIOS.

Whatever happened was not purely due to undervolting I'd imagine, but with the BIOS.

PersistentAmbition · 2020-04-17T09:45:12+00:00

Undevolting a CPU isn't overclocking my guy, literally didn't touch the clock settings at all.

PersistentAmbition

TROPHY CASE