[Team.AU] Gigabyte EP45 EXTREME motherboard on test bench

[dinos22]

Hi guys

Gigabyte sent over their new board yesterday for testing. This board is their EXTREME version of P45 chipset. We've worked with them on many aspects in terms of board design and bios design to improve the board for extreme overclocker and what better way to introduce an exclusive but to pop in here and show you guys what it's all about

What am i planning to do

First I will start with some photos........and in the following few days get into testing :up:

Second stage will be board bios and initial stock impressions (there is a fair bit more written on these board already from Gigabyte marketing material but i am not going to get into that...you can do some searches here and check those out. I will look at the actual final design board from user perspective)

Third > air overclocking

Forth > LN2 Insulation & overclocking :D



Components i am planning to test with:

Gigabyte EP45 EXTREME DDR2 Motherboard (rev1.0) STOCK BOARD NO MODS
Intel Core2 Duo E8400 Q807A414 (PCB **3001)
2GB DDR2 PC10000 CORSAIR DOMINATORS of course heheh
1GB Gigabyte 9800GX2
HX1000 > 1kW Corsair PSU
Thermaltake Big Typhoon with 100CFM fan (AIR)
kingpin F1 Extreme Edition Solid copper CPU LN2 Pot
Big mamma 35L LN2 Dewar
160GB PATA
Windows XP Pro 32bit & Vista Ultimate

Things i already like about the board (since i asked for some of these personally and i'm sure many of other beta testers have)

I LOVE THE COLOUR SCHEME >> this will get the haters revved up :rofl: :D:D:D:D:D

You will already notice some interesting inclusions with this board from hardware side of things. First of all they've changed the socket/PWM position from X48 range >> what does that mean to DICE/LN2 guys >> well in my experience you will have less condensation issues with socket design like this compared to their X48 range. Secondly i believe that this socket design provides a more stable power delivery as well which i will test in later stages

Gigabyte engineers have finally included hardware overvoltage control IC (upgrade from GPIO control) >>> basically much smoother power >> less swing and substantially smaller voltage control (20mV) >>> when you're pushing a hell of a lot of volts and trying to find a sweet spot you are going to have much better control of volts than you would have in the past...phew....the best part is also that they have used this on all major components including CPU/RAM/NB..... :D Great Success > Borat :D

You are getting an extreme board straight out of the box. No need for volt modding or any screwing around >> just insulate and way you go. What am i talking about >> Gigabyte engineers have removed OVP and gave us extremely good power delivery in small increments. We've got plenty of voltage options to kill any of these components instantly which is usually good enough for ppl that usually volt mod the board hahahahahaha :D

Extra capacitors on the back of the board >> i like :D

VERY GOOD cooling out of the box on NB :yepp:>> I really don't like messing around with NB all that much and i usually just use whatever cooling provided from board manufacturers. This board certainly has very good cooling. The waterblock included has 3/8" holes per my request

Power and reset buttons on the board (for 24/7 system also a reset button on the back of the board. There is also a debug LED >> i use a separate card and i find these inclusions will help troubleshooting which is what extreme cooling is all about

There are a few other things i like but everyone's already fallen asleep so let's move onto things i think need an improvement and some suggestions for future designs from initial impressions.

Bad battery placement. I raised this issue before and i was told by main engineer that battery placement was considered but lack of space on PCB with all these features they are including is forcing them to use this area for the battery >> now some will probably completely remove this heatsink for subzero so it won't matter but for others like me that will probably keep it there it may because a pain in the arse if there is a need to do a full cmos clear (I'll try to screw with the board and see if i can get away without usin the battery heheh >>> YOUNGPRO usually just takes the battery completely during benching hahahah so that's another thing you can do

This is more of a future improvement suggestion >> going digital PWM will improve clearance area and possible even better power delivery for extreme guys ......that will be a welcome feature for sure

PCI Express lanes >>> it's a real shame that this board is not a dual 16x PCI Express board so Xfire overclocking will take a small hit in points due to reduced bandwidth (i'm talking about marginal difference in scores on extreme overclocks....24/7 doesn't matter). How much of a hit it is? Well that needs to be tested (since i get no love from any ATI GFX card producers it won't be me doing that comparison heheheh.

Enjoy :D

p.s. this is the first time i've ever fired up my Photoshop elements so excuse my n00bness here :up:

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/6289/modelzt7.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=modelzt7.jpg)

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/3879/fullboardshotyw2.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fullboardshotyw2.jpg)
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/7210/fullboardangleshotol8.jpg (http://img176.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fullboardangleshotol8.jpg)
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/747/fullboardsideshotbq4.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fullboardsideshotbq4.jpg)
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/4559/fullboardshotwithheatsirl9.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fullboardshotwithheatsirl9.jpg)
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/9043/backoftheboardhc3.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=backoftheboardhc3.jpg)
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/6631/backcapacitorsev1.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=backcapacitorsev1.jpg)
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/5263/boardpowerandresetbuttomx5.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boardpowerandresetbuttomx5.jpg)
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/6851/boardpowerandresetbuttokk7.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boardpowerandresetbuttokk7.jpg)
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/3496/boardrevee4.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boardrevee4.jpg)
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/8690/chip1vf3.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chip1vf3.jpg)
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/4765/chip2zs9.jpg (http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chip2zs9.jpg)
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/5396/chip3aq4.jpg (http://img364.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chip3aq4.jpg)
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/4922/ramphasesla3.jpg (http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ramphasesla3.jpg)
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/4121/ramphases2bh4.jpg (http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ramphases2bh4.jpg)
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/7518/connectivitykc4.jpg (http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=connectivitykc4.jpg)
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3492/cpusocketxn3.jpg (http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpusocketxn3.jpg)
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/9575/heatsink1jp6.jpg (http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=heatsink1jp6.jpg)
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/7561/blockeh7.jpg (http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=blockeh7.jpg)
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/4232/nbblockma6.jpg (http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nbblockma6.jpg)


I killed my beloved E8500 on the weekend (drops a nerd tear) so i went and picked up a new CPU from the store >> i asked the guy for any Q807 chips and he pulls out this mother for me :D

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8943/cpueg2.jpg (http://img514.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpueg2.jpg)

[dinos22]

Reserve 2

[dinos22]

Reserve 3

[dinos22]

LAST Reserve:up:

[AriciU]

WTH is with that monster heatsink over there? :rofl::shocked:

[dinos22]

everything is extreme including the heatsink :ROTF::D

[T_M]

Dino, fix your first post, its waaaaaaaay too wide

[dinos22]

you mean photos?
they are set to sort images depending on the screen you have

[zanzabar]

dose that thing have 3 phase ram power, if so thats awesome

[Leeghoofd]

Nice piccies Dinos , better place them on top of eachother ( had to look at the neighbours monitor to see them all )

Is that NB real copper or some painted stuff like Asus always does... looks like a nice board, built to perform... you, George, Bill and T_M prolly will beat the crap out of it...

Good luck and looking forward to some mad results

[rockqc]

Looks like a nice board. Too bad about the colours :p:

The optional cooling for the northbridge just attaches with that top plate bolted on ? Does it make much difference when used ?

[dinos22]

Nice piccies Dinos , better place them on top of eachother ( had to look at the neighbours monitor to see them all )

Is that NB real copper or some painted stuff like Asus always does... looks like a nice board, built to perform... you, George, Bill and T_M prolly will beat the crap out of it...

Good luck and looking forward to some mad results

Gigabyte always uses real copper in their high end boards :up:

[dinos22]

Looks like a nice board. Too bad about the colours :p:

The optional cooling for the northbridge just attaches with that top plate bolted on ? Does it make much difference when used ?

yeah you get thermal paste as well

it's designed to take out the extra heat from NB but i don't know how effective it is

i have certainly seen some crazy designs on their products like passive GFX 9600GT and i can tell you something this kind of design should work really well actually but until tested hard to be certain ;)

[Benny Lodewijk]

looks delicious Dino..... can't wait for the result

[Nosfer@tu]

Nice piccies Dinos , better place them on top of eachother ( had to look at the neighbours monitor to see them all )

Is that NB real copper or some painted stuff like Asus always does... looks like a nice board, built to perform... you, George, Bill and T_M prolly will beat the crap out of it...

Good luck and looking forward to some mad results

I have no problems now on small 19" :)

yeah you get thermal paste as well

it's designed to take out the extra heat from NB but i don't know how effective it is

i have certainly seen some crazy designs on their products like passive GFX 9600GT and i can tell you something this kind of design should work really well actually but until tested hard to be certain ;)

Im pretty sure it will work great.
Havent seen any heat on it yet though.
But it is the same system DFI has been using...

Grats on the pic :D They look great :D

[dinos22]

i've tested two different bios files so far F4a and F4f and i cannot get the board stable at 500MHz FSB

ROFL :rolleyes:

[Nosfer@tu]

i've tested two different bios files so far F4a and F4f and i cannot get the board stable at 500MHz FSB

ROFL :rolleyes:

Try the F3a.
Use D2.66 devider.
Give only more Vdimm and Vcore.
Dont play with clock screw - Or we dident get anything out of it.

That should give you +600 fsb superpi stable.

[dinos22]

Try the F3a.
Use D2.66 devider.
Give only more Vdimm and Vcore.
Dont play with clock screw - Or we dident get anything out of it.

That should give you +600 fsb superpi stable.

DDR2 and DDR3 boards are a completely different cattle of fish
with a ddr3 board i'd be past 600 easy

[fireice2]

I wish gigabyte has a color scheme to differentiate its premium boards. :D Nevertheless its a great board.

[T_M]

Try the F3a.
Use D2.66 devider.
Give only more Vdimm and Vcore.
Dont play with clock screw - Or we dident get anything out of it.

That should give you +600 fsb superpi stable.

Actually, use 2.00D and try a slight skew of 50ps :yepp:
Thats if you are using the DDR3 board

[T_M]

cattle of fish

I believe the word you are looking for is kettle

[Alcibiades]

Coolermaster COSMOS S Case
Gigabyte GA-EP45-EXTREME
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3Ghz
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound 12g
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Scythe 120mm S-FLEX Fluid Dynamic Bearing Quiet Fan 1600rpm
OCZ 2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2 1200 FLEX XLC II C5 Edition (PC9600 - OCZ2FX12002GK)
Gainward nVidia Geforce 8800GT 1GB Golden Sample Factory Overclocked


Upgrading my friends PC, can't wait to see what this board/cpu/ram combo can do!

Aiming for as close as possible to 600fsb, 1:1 1200Mhz ddr2

:rofl: talk about optimistic, that's what I posted in another thread yesterday.

I'm real exited about this thread, exellent intro and photos dinos my man.
Should be here in a couple'a'days.:up:

Dinos, in your mind what did you imagine this board capable of?
I mean it's called EXTREME so it should really compete at the highest level right?
Just look at all that copper :shocked:
Do you think an e8400 can or should hit 600fsb on air with this board?

[dinos22]

if i don't hit 600 i will be disappointed put it that way

[[XC] gomeler]

If you don't hit 600FSB I'll be disappointed too :D

[Alcibiades]

I'll be disappointed 3

Sadly this email just arrived from my supplier... :(
Cosmos S due around 7-9 July. Gainward Video 3-5 July. Those will go to
you when they arrive
The rest has been sent today.
:down::down::down::down::down:

2 weeks! :shakes:

[Bad213Boy]

God, if I bought a board that came with a northbridge water block, I'd toss it and buy a new one that supports at least 1/2" tubing. Makes me think of cheapThermaltake crap.

[dinos22]

God, if I had a board that came with a northbridge water block, I'd toss it and buy a new one that supports at least 1/2" tubing. Makes me think of cheapThermaltake crap.

why do you need "at least 1/2" tubing"

you must have fallen asleep about 5 years ago in watercooling section and woke up a minute before you posted that

1/2" cooling no longer means what it used to....watercooling loops these days are designed differently so that wider tubing does NOT impact on performance

have a read of some of the watercooling threads.

[Omastar]

you must have fallen asleep about 5 years ago in watercooling section and woke up a minute before you posted that

:rofl: Oh Lordy.

[OBR]

http://pctuning.tyden.cz/ilustrace3/obermaier/Newsky/cerven_08/P1060515_mini.jpg

http://pctuning.tyden.cz/ilustrace3/obermaier/Newsky/cerven_08/P1060541.jpg

http://pctuning.tyden.cz/ilustrace3/obermaier/Newsky/cerven_08/P45extreme_1.PNG

http://pctuning.tyden.cz/ilustrace3/obermaier/Newsky/cerven_08/P45DQ6_5.PNG

Easy pretty rock stable at 600MHz with DualCore ...

[dinos22]

ok you got me stumped lol

how the heck did you do that hehehe

i'm having trouble posting at 500MHz let alone anything past that hahahah

[dinos22]

omg i need to find a good red faced smilie

i am just memtesting at 600*6
thanks OBR for extra motivation ;)

[[XC] gomeler]

Nicely done, what was the issue?

[dinos22]

the issue was that i am a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::b anana::banana: :ROTF::D

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=380702

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5921/clipboard01ih6.png

[Vivi2]

now im dieng to know how you couldnt do 500 but now 640 :o
was it just some tweak you forgot? last time i worked with gigabyte i never tweaked PLL cuase it was called something lame like "TurboDriveThingy". so i was limited to 555 fsb (x48)

[T_M]

Come on Dino, tell us what you forgot

[dinos22]

>>> basically the trick is to get all the CPU volts right (subvolts i am talking about)
CPU termination (vTT)
CPU PLL
CPU Reference
CPU Reference2

>>> and also MCH vcore

>>> also 333 strap is important here...i'm running 1:1 for obvious reasons

>>> DDR2 board doesn't automatically adjust CPU ref and CPU ref2 when you adjust vTT .........i bumped these ref volts and the board started to cooperate

DDR3 board i think probably has this tuned better as T_M and Benny didn't mentioned that they had to resort to this kind of tweaking

It also seems that you should not have higher vTT volts than NB volts or you will lose FSB OC

here are the volt settings that let me boot to windows at 620MHz FSB (single channel) ....haven't tried higher

CPU termination (vTT) 1.42
CPU PLL 1.72
CPU Reference 0.866
CPU Reference2 0.899

MCH core 1.38

now i hit another snag
i am getting memtest errors even at 575MHz fsb in dual channel
more testing needed to figure up what's up with that

[OBR]

I am stuck at 605Mhz because Harddisk, if is FSB higher then 605MHz my system didnot find disk and windows. i tested every PCI clocks, but no success.

[dinos22]

try IDE HDD

[Alcibiades]

640FSB woohoo yeah baby that's what I'm talking about :yepp:
wonder if the ocz pc9600 1200mhz sticks will do 1:1
with the fsb obviously at 600 and the multi @ 7 ?!?!?
that would be :cool:
cpu @4.2 fsb @600 ddr2 @ 1200 1:1 on air looks feasable and probable. :clap:
Ambient temp willing of course

Since I'm waiting on the CoolerMaster Cosmos S and the Gainward 8800GT 1GB GS
Should I upsize that to a 9800GTX 512MB ??
Bear in mind my friend doesn't game at all. But things could change.
I hope Gainward produce more Golden Sample casings like the 8800GT 'cause for me, best design ever.

[dinos22]

640FSB woohoo yeah baby that's what I'm talking about :yepp:
wonder if the ocz pc9600 1200mhz sticks will do 1:1
with the fsb obviously at 600 and the multi @ 7 ?!?!?
that would be :cool:
cpu @4.2 fsb @600 ddr2 @ 1200 1:1 on air looks feasable and probable. :clap:
Ambient temp willing of course

hi mate

yeah it's doing well

600 stable for 24/7 >> as things currently are i don't think so

for benching >> good chance heh

thing is my dual channel FPS drops a bit because i am at an extremely low vNB considering the FSB i am hitting here......if i can somehow convince the board to give me more

[Alcibiades]

600 stable for 24/7 >> as things currently are i don't think so

for benching >> good chance heh

Cool, But as things stand is early days yet, and from what I've seen here, I have faith this board soon or a few bios revs down the road will get the GOLD. :yepp:

vNB MOD anyone?

[dinos22]

Cool, But as things stand is early days yet, and from what I've seen here, I have faith this board soon or a few bios revs down the road will get the GOLD. :yepp:

vNB MOD anyone?

no mods necessary
this board has 1.8v available in bios

the thing is you should have a quick glance at the notes i made..........vNB and vFSB are in a bit of a relationship so it's hard to use one without the other

[Benny Lodewijk]

nice result Dinos22....i wonder why no CPU Reference and CPU Reference2 option in EP45T-Extreme F3A BIOS ?

[dinos22]

nice result Dinos22....i wonder why no CPU Reference and CPU Reference2 option in EP45T-Extreme F3A BIOS ?

ah interesting
have you tried using CTRL+F1 in case it's hidden

[dinos22]

wow very happy with intel RMA process
just got a replacement CPU in a couple of days
how good is that

it's a good stepping too lol

E8500 Q740A479 :up:

[Benny Lodewijk]

ah interesting
have you tried using CTRL+F1 in case it's hidden

sure i did try CTRL + F1

[dinos22]

send a request to include in the next update as it may help reach even higher clocks


btw i got an email with F5x bios so will give that a shot soon as well

:up:

[Leeghoofd]

Dinos possible to do Everest bandwith at 9 x 450FSB -1081Mhz ram check and 8 x 500FSB ram at 1000/1200 with the E8400...wanna know the PL's and how it compares to the competition

thx in advance

[dinos22]

i've only done some 585 or 590 benchmarks in 32M and i had to use PL11 :(

not very good at the moment because i cannot use high volts for NB to bring PL down..............................i've already communicated with engineers to see if they can do something anyways

[Alcibiades]

Motherboard arrived yesterday, still waiting on case and gpu,
but I just upsized the gainward 8800gt 1gb to a Ge Cube 4870 for $24 :shocked:
bypassing the 8800gts, 9800gtx and 4850! Good timing :up:
Now the long wait till July 10th :(

[dinos22]

wow dude
from initial reviews 4870 looks to be a killer card

[Alcibiades]

Yes I'm stoked, it was good fortune the gainward was on backorder
i'm gonna see if he wants my 8800gts 320 for $100 and I'll pay difference for 4870, if not i'll sell it to my brother and he can sli it, i'll get one for $330-$100=$230, a bargain, and i am so happy to see ati moving up the leader board, 'cause competition in the market means quality and lower prices for us.

p.s. my friend doesn't game at all, so $230 back in his pocket should be an easy sell, plus 8800gts 320 oc is no slouch.
There my conscience is clear.

[Telo]

I don't know if my comment has already been said or if it is old, but I had to post this the moment I saw the cooling system; someone is listening at Gigabyte, all copper heatsink/watercooling :up::up:. Nice design too.:up::up: I just wish the color scheme designer would get fired!:down::down:

[VRSpy]

any new bios better than F4 from gigabyte one ?
Can't get it past 530Fbs x6. :)

[jooney]

Anyone with OCZ Flex II on this Board?
With this one the board is not stable@stock settings!

On my P45-DQ6 no Problems with OCZ Flex II.
Have tested F4 Bios and also the new Beta F5d.
With Ballistix from my brother seems good.

[Alcibiades]

Anyone with OCZ Flex II on this Board?
With this one the board is not stable@stock settings!

On my P45-DQ6 no Problems with OCZ Flex II.
Have tested F4 Bios and also the new Beta F5d.
With Ballistix from my brother seems good.

I got flex II 9200 (2x1GB) and am getting flex II 9600 (2x1GB) in a few days
waiting on cosmos s case before I can build,
but I will try both sets then and report back.

[jooney]

I mean the 2x2GB Kit,sry my mistake.
This one http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_9200_flex_ii_4gb_series
Ordered 4GB Apogee GT 1066 Kit,hope they will come tomorrow.

[CTM Audi]

Anyone have this board with a Q9450? Im thinking of getting it, but want to know if 3.8 or more will be ok, cpu lapped under water.

EDIT: Just put the order in. Guess Ill find out :)

[jooney]

Thats what i have tested so far with the P45-DQ6,
1,5 hours Prime Custom in Place.
When i cant do it with the Extreme they must change the name :D

http://www.abload.de/img/x33504ghz1344-21024xikm.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=x33504ghz1344-21024xikm.jpg)

[terrornoize]

Anyone have this board with a quad, like a qx9650? :D

[Vivi2]

we had, it took it to a 500 fsb, we had it under ln2

[terrornoize]

12 power virtual phase? :confused:

are digital or analogic phase?

[Khaotic]

I've got a GA-EP45-DQ6 here that doens't seem to like me.
I've tried a simple 400Mhz FSB overclock with an E8400 that has been to 450Mhz stable. This board won't POST with a 400Mhz FSB and that CPU.
We need a BIOS template thread for this board i think.

[Alcibiades]

I see the F5 bios is out
any feedback on how the board is doin' guys?
I'll be building my friends system tomorrow

e8400
ep45-extreme
2x1gb ocz flex pc2-9600 1200mhz ddr2

any tips or warnings for me?

Aiming for 550-600fsb 3.6-4.2Ghz 1:1 ddr2

[X2beach]

Just got the Board f5 not working for me and my Q9550 I cannot change the FSB or Vcore for the cpu. what I ever I choose it always boots up to 333x8.5 and vcore for cpu doesnt change

[X2beach]

Well Turns out My Gskill F2-8800CL5D 4gig Ram Doesnt like this board and was causing all my issues, I got some Crapp Dell 1gig sticks in . Board working Great!

now to see how Gskill Handles RMA

[Leeghoofd]

Well there could be absolutely nothing wrong with ya Gskills, just a bios update required... have you tested them rams on another board ? I don't know the policy of RMA in your country but if I send so called defect rams and they are tested okay I have to pay for the shipment and get the same sticks back... because the sticks are okay...pretty logic... best things is to try to get a refund at ya local shop where you bought them or swap them for another kit...

[X2beach]

Leeghoofd, I am pass my return policy with newegg. I think the ram is ok. just not comptable with this board. It doesnt look like Gigabyte beta bioses get leaked.. Not sure what to do!

[bingo13]

Well Turns out My Gskill F2-8800CL5D 4gig Ram Doesnt like this board and was causing all my issues, I got some Crapp Dell 1gig sticks in . Board working Great!

now to see how Gskill Handles RMA

I am working with Gigabyte now on the 2x2GB kits, the board was tuned for benching with 2x1GB kits. Gigabyte, like others, was not necessarily worried about stability with 4GB kits as it turns out. It should be fixed shortly, the DS3R is working very well now with 4GB after the last BIOS update. ;)

[eva2000]

I am working with Gigabyte now on the 2x2GB kits, the board was tuned for benching with 2x1GB kits. Gigabyte, like others, was not necessarily worried about stability with 4GB kits as it turns out. It should be fixed shortly, the DS3R is working very well now with 4GB after the last BIOS update. ;)
Good to hear as I have this board coming soon and a stash of 2x2GB kits to test with :)

Appreciate your work Gary :D

[Supershanks]

any tips or warnings for me? change the gtlref ~ vtt indexing see Tuning Bios - GTLREF & DRAM Sub Voltages (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/24996-post36.html) saved me a lot of hassle once i sussed it.

Have got 8x533@2b 5-5-5-20 (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/25101-post43.htmll) occt so far 540 is ok but not that stable yet :)


luck:)

[dinos22]

one poster asked about virtual phases
this board uses analgue 6phases for CPU however they add extra chokes/capacitors etc to beef it up and make it virtual 12 heh

I am working with Gigabyte now on the 2x2GB kits, the board was tuned for benching with 2x1GB kits. Gigabyte, like others, was not necessarily worried about stability with 4GB kits as it turns out. It should be fixed shortly, the DS3R is working very well now with 4GB after the last BIOS update. ;)
thanks Gary :up:

i am a not having much luck with my board with 600+ FSB with dual channel so for me LN2 benching is out of the question until i can do this on air and reach decent efficiencies

i won't have time to test the board any more for the next bunch of weeks but hopefully when i get into it again we can get on top of this

[X2beach]

So This board doesnt like 4gig Ram Kits 2gx2 ? What Ram works in this board I need 4gigs

[Alcibiades]

Got this to run ... once
booted up with ddr2 set to extreme worked perfertly until reboot.
I love this board,
the Debug LED, clr cmos, reset and power switches are extremely useful and practical.
Now let's hope it delivers on the -EXTREME claim.
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m210/alcibiades_2006/500fsbeverest.jpg

[X2beach]

New Bios out. I am out to test it and see what it does

http://asia.giga-byte.com/FileList/BIOS/motherboard_bios_ga-ep45-extreme_f6a.exe

[bingo13]

So This board doesnt like 4gig Ram Kits 2gx2 ? What Ram works in this board I need 4gigs

They will work fine at lower FSB speeds along with some fine tuning on the skews and delays, just finding that right balance above 450FSB (9x450, DDR2-900 4-4-4-12 is my limit on some very good GSkill or OCZ 2x2GB kits) is hard right now but solvable with BIOS updates.

I am getting 7x550 at DDR2-1100 with 5-5-4-15 (GSkill 2x2GB 1100 kit, E8400/stock cooler) on the ASUS P5Q-E after the last BIOS update (would not post before), but tRD is so relaxed (13) for 24/7 operation that 9x427 (tRD 7) is actually faster and of course easier to do. :)

Most of the P45 boards have suffered from this but the suppliers are coming around now with proper 4/8GB support. I just think everyone got carried away with the single channel 600+FSB races instead of remembering what 95% of the owners will do with the boards. ;)

[truehighroller]

Motherboard arrived yesterday, still waiting on case and gpu,
but I just upsized the gainward 8800gt 1gb to a Ge Cube 4870 for $24 :shocked:
bypassing the 8800gts, 9800gtx and 4850! Good timing :up:
Now the long wait till July 10th :(

How did you pull that off? I want to do that with my 8800gts 512.

[X2beach]

bingo,

can u give me some skews to start out with and delays.. bios f6A did nothing here is what they fixxed "Improve energy saving for DES Advanced"

Got a link to a beta bios?

[Alcibiades]

How did you pull that off? I want to do that with my 8800gts 512.

The 8800gt was on backorder so I cancelled it and changed my order to the new 4870.

I never had the 8800gt to begin with.

[Alcibiades]

L2 Cache latency is terrible
does the same or lower than my Q6600 clocked @ 3.6 with 1100mhz ddr2
Anyone experiencing similar results? Also to the right DPC latency not good either.

Hope we don't wait 10 or more bios revisions to sort these and previously mentioned issues like they did with the x38 series.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m210/alcibiades_2006/cachemem.png http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m210/alcibiades_2006/dcplatep45-extremef5.jpg
p.s. seems solid at this setting, stressed for 30mins

[Alcibiades]

Finally got it stable at 575FSB 1:1 on F6a
What you put in the bios IS NOT what comes out in Windows!
I will put up my bios settings tomorrow to show you guys how the figures translated for me.
Just received my brothers upgrade parts:
Gigabyte EP45T-Extreme
Intel E8500
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1024mb) DDR3 2000 Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Edition PC16000
Start on that one tomorrow
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m210/alcibiades_2006/575stable2.jpg

[terrornoize]

Finally got it stable at 575FSB 1:1 on F6a


In dual channel? :)


What you put in the bios IS NOT what comes out in Windows!


:(

[Alcibiades]

In dual channel? :)

:yepp:

:up:

These bios entries gave me the ET6 settings I posted above

Keep in mind these settings are a guide only and might be particular to my hardware components and cpu batch#
But it's interesting to see just how out of wack these values are from bios (f6a) to ET6

CPU Vcore - 1.44375v affected by vdrop to 1.408v in ET6 and under load droops to 1.376v lowest
CPU Termination - this value changes correctly
CPU PLL - this value changes correctly
CPU Reference - 800 in bios shows 720 in ET6
CPU Reference2 - 876 in bios shows 800 in ET6
MCH Core - this value changes correctly
MCH Reference - 736 in bios shows 660 in ET6
MCH/DRAM Ref - 910 in bios shows 760 in ET6
ICH I/O - this value changes correctly
ICH Core - this value changes correctly
DRAM Voltage - this value changes correctly
DRAM Termination - 910 in bios shows 760 in ET6
Channel A Reference - 910 in bios shows 760 in ET6
Channel B Reference - 910 in bios shows 760 in ET6

I had vMCH at 1.380V but had to move it up a notch to 1.400V.
CPU CLock 900mV
PCI CLOck 900mV
CPU CLocK 50ps (100 works 2)
MCH cLOck 0ps

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m210/alcibiades_2006/DSC00137.jpg
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m210/alcibiades_2006/DSC00138.jpg
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m210/alcibiades_2006/Untitled-1-1.jpg

I've handed this PC off to my friend now so I'm back on my trusty X38-DQ6
oh wait I forgot I get to play with the EP45T-EXTREME tomorrow

[terrornoize]

:up:

Well, next week i try with my 9650... the last bios is f6a? :D

[DoObs]

@Alcibiades

I see your 32m PI you could have dropped the tRFC to 24 your pc should still should have been stable, and you PI time would have broken 11:50min.

Will post a pic of my time later

[Alcibiades]

@Alcibiades

I see your 32m PI you could have dropped the tRFC to 24 your pc should still should have been stable, and you PI time would have broken 11:50min.

Will post a pic of my time later

I've since handed this PC over to my friend, but I'll try it when I next visit him.

[terrornoize]

Some pics of this mobo from my flickr... http://www.flickr.com/photos/26845286@N04/sets/72157606350054090/ ;)

[jooney]

What about your NB Temps with using waterblock?Everest 1460 told me 42° in idle and 44° with prime after few minutes.
Did anyone put the Pipe off and looking for the paste?

[eva2000]

:yepp:

:up:

These bios entries gave me the ET6 settings I posted above

Keep in mind these settings are a guide only and might be particular to my hardware components and cpu batch#
But it's interesting to see just how out of wack these values are from bios (f6a) to ET6

CPU Vcore - 1.44375v affected by vdroop to 1.408v in ET6 and under load drops to 1.376v lowest
CPU Termination - this value changes correctly
CPU PLL - this value changes correctly
CPU Reference - 800 in bios shows 720 in ET6
CPU Reference2 - 876 in bios shows 800 in ET6
MCH Core - this value changes correctly
MCH Reference - 736 in bios shows 660 in ET6
MCH/DRAM Ref - 910 in bios shows 760 in ET6
ICH I/O - this value changes correctly
ICH Core - this value changes correctly
DRAM Voltage - this value changes correctly
DRAM Termination - 910 in bios shows 760 in ET6
Channel A Reference - 910 in bios shows 760 in ET6
Channel B Reference - 910 in bios shows 760 in ET6

I had vMCH at 1.380V but had to move it up a notch to 1.400V.
CPU CLock 900mV
PCI CLOck 900mV
CPU CLocK 50ps (100 works 2)
MCH cLOck 0ps
can confirm same ET6 misreports some values

First time with P45 chipset board, GA-EP45 Extreme !

http://i4memory.com/reviewimages/motherboards/gigabyte/p45/ga_ep45_extreme/board/content/bin/images/thumb/GA_EP45_Extreme_7.jpg (http://i4memory.com/reviewimages/motherboards/gigabyte/p45/ga_ep45_extreme/board/content/bin/images/large/GA_EP45_Extreme_7.jpg) http://i4memory.com/reviewimages/motherboards/gigabyte/p45/ga_ep45_extreme/board/content/bin/images/thumb/GA_EP45_Extreme_40.jpg (http://i4memory.com/reviewimages/motherboards/gigabyte/p45/ga_ep45_extreme/board/content/bin/images/large/GA_EP45_Extreme_40.jpg)

More photos here (http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=8339)

Managed Super Pi 1M bench run @7x564FSB 4-4-4-15 but needed PL10 and 2.48v to do it ! Not fully stable as only had EP45 Extreme setup less than 48hrs ago :)

System:

E8500 Q740A479T 2L7 / 1313
CPU Cooling: Dtek Fuzion Rad Tower Box (http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=5133)
Gigabyte GA-EP45 Extreme (http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=8339) rev 1.0 F6a bios
128MB Gainward FX5200 PCI
2x1GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 dual channel kit
Memory cooling: 120x25mm Thermaltake 81cfm fan
74GB Western Digital Raptor
Pioneer 215 DVD-RW
1200W Silverstone OP1200
WinXP Pro SP2 Nlite Fully Updated.


Super Pi 1M
http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/7x/2b/564-564_44415_4-6-8-42-4_trd10_1.325-1.34-1.5-853_868-823_2.48_turbo_1kmv1kmv300ps300ps/spi1m_11s672ms.png

Everest Bandwidth & Chipset
Seems that read memory bandwidth and latency are quite low for 564Mhz 4-4-4-15 memory clocks and timings but write and copy bandwidth look decent. Probably due to the loosened Static tRead (what DFI/Asus users would of known as tRD or performance level) of around 10. Gigabyte Easytune6 utility misreports, the values set in bios for CPU Reference, CPU Reference2 and MCH Reference. Easytune6 reports the default normal values instead they should be 0.853, 0.868 and 0.828 respectively.

http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/7x/2b/564-564_44415_4-6-8-42-4_trd10_1.325-1.34-1.5-853_868-823_2.48_turbo_1kmv1kmv300ps300ps/everest.png

http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/7x/2b/564-564_44415_4-6-8-42-4_trd10_1.325-1.34-1.5-853_868-823_2.48_turbo_1kmv1kmv300ps300ps/everest_chipset_memset.png

[Sauron_Vie]

it would be nice to see how a quad works on this board. the wolfdale´s and so on are clocking on every board very well. so lets c some action. :D

[Alcibiades]

can confirm same ET6 misreports some values

First time with P45 chipset board, GA-EP45 Extreme !

Managed Super Pi 1M bench run @7x564FSB 4-4-4-15 but needed PL10 and 2.48v to do it ! Not fully stable as only had EP45 Extreme setup less than 48hrs ago :)

Everest Bandwidth & Chipset
Gigabyte Easytune6 utility misreports, the values set in bios for CPU Reference, CPU Reference2 and MCH Reference. Easytune6 reports the default normal values instead they should be 0.853, 0.868 and 0.828 respectively.

I've been slightly paranoid about the build I handed over to my friend recently, with regards specifically to the cpu voltages and subvoltages.
Well the sub voltages are not bad but the vcore is a worry, or is it?
I've googled for answers and know 3 things for certain;
1) Max safe VID is 1.3625 with no degradation
2) The range 1.3625 - 1.45 represents the rising scale and rate of degradation.
3) Over 1.45v accelerated degradation and potential death.

So I put in 1.44375 in BIOS and it comes out drooped at 1.408 in ET6/CPU-Z
I should really only be worried about the latter number, right? anyone?

Anyway I really like your cpu voltages for vcore, PLL and VTT, waaay lower than mine, even though you have the e8500.
I only wish I had the system for another week of testing.

eva what's the vdroop and vdrop like on yours?
'Cause I couldn't get close to 4000Mhz do spi32m AND finish a round of Prime95 unless I stayed over 1.360 vcore when stress testing.
So droop and drop was bad for me, 1.44375 vdroops to 1.408 and vdrops to 1.3756,
bear in mind I cannibalised his old pc and the power supply is a noname 550w, Could this have something to do with it? anyone?

From the tests I did with the board, I found that the higher you go FSB wise,
you have to lower the MCHref (660 and lower for 550+fsb),
forums show people doing 600+ fsb with MCHref showing 600 or 620 in ET6.

Also keeping all DRAM voltages close to the standard bios defaults helped around 760.
These numbers are the ET6 numbers so the bios numbers will be higher. :shrug:

[terrornoize]

Do you know when a new bios goes out?
Have problems to keep ram to the standard frequencies (1066) just overclocking my cpu a little... My vdrop is of about 0.1v under stress on my qx9650.

Sorry for my bad english... :p:

[@rne]

You guys checked the dividers and strap: any problems?

[eva2000]

starting to tame this beast that is EP45 Extreme

7.5x533FSB 2.40B 640Mhz 5-5-5-15

http://valid.x86-secret.com/cache/banner/402201.png (http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=402201)

http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/7.5x/2.4b/534-640_55515_5-8-12-52-5_10_9_9_10_trd9_1.3-1.34-1.56_1.5-853_868-823_2.56_1.28_tur_800mv_250ps/cpuz_valid.png (http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=402201)

tRD 9
http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/7.5x/2.4b/534-640_55515_5-8-12-52-5_10_9_9_10_trd9_1.3-1.34-1.56_1.5-853_868-823_2.56_1.28_tur_800mv_250ps/everest_turbo_trd9.png

tRD 9 + Tweak 1
http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/7.5x/2.4b/534-640_55515_5-8-12-52-5_10_9_9_10_trd9_1.3-1.34-1.56_1.5-853_868-823_2.56_1.28_tur_800mv_250ps/everest_turbo_trd9_r460.png

tRD 9 + Tweak 1 + 2
http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/7.5x/2.4b/534-640_55515_5-8-12-52-5_10_9_9_10_trd9_1.3-1.34-1.56_1.5-853_868-823_2.56_1.28_tur_800mv_250ps/everest_turbo_trd9_r460_16383t.png

Super Pi 1M with Tweak 1 + 2
http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/7.5x/2.4b/534-640_55515_5-8-12-52-5_10_9_9_10_trd9_1.3-1.34-1.56_1.5-853_868-823_2.56_1.28_tur_800mv_250ps/spi1m_11s531ms_trd9_r460_16383t.png

Super Pi 32M with Tweak 1 + 2
http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/7.5x/2.4b/534-640_55515_5-8-12-52-5_10_9_9_10_trd9_1.3-1.34-1.56_1.5-853_868-823_2.56_1.28_tur_800mv_250ps/spi32m_11m29s531ms_r460_16383t.png

32M time still around 20-25 seconds slower than P35/X38/X48 but getting there :)

rest of it at http://i4memory.com/93994-post4.html

8x500FSB 2.40B (5:6) 600Mhz 5-5-5-15

http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/8x/2.4b/500-600_55515_4-6-10-42-4_trd9_1.3-1.3-1.5_1.5-853_868-823_2.3_tur_800mv_200ps/spi32m_11m34s563ms_r460_16383t.png

http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/8x/2.4b/500-600_55515_4-6-10-42-4_trd9_1.3-1.3-1.5_1.5-853_868-823_2.3_tur_800mv_200ps/everest_turbo_trd9_r460_16383t.png

Full report http://i4memory.com/93993-post3.html

[Supershanks]

Great stuff Eva:up:
How to drop Everest Latency by 10.6 (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/28873-post122.html)
Think this is one of the highest stable FSBs I've hit but SuperPi is disappointing.
4,310 7.5x575@2B 1,150 5-5-5-20 (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/28874-post123.html)

still progress :)

[eva2000]

thanks new F6c bios

http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/8x/2.0b/550-550_44412_5-8-14-42-5_88799_trd9_1.45-1.34-1.58_1.58-853_868-823_2.48_1.24_tur_800900mv_0ps/wprime_162_all.png

[Supershanks]

Thanks to Eva just got the F6C bios. :up:
Compared it to previous bench with some pretty decent results :)
Bios F6C - 4,310 7.5x575@2B 1,150 5-5-5-20 Revisited (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/29048-post129.html)

[eva2000]

Yup F6c bios (http://i4memory.com/reviewimages/motherboards/gigabyte/p45/ga_ep45_extreme/bios/EP45EX_F6C.zip) looking good

http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8500_q740a479t/crucial/ballistix/8500_3/8x/2.0b/550-550_55515_5-3-14-42-5_88799_trd10_1.45-1.3-1.58_1.48-826_843-828_2.28_1.14_tur_800900mv_200_0ps/spi32m_10m55s844ms.png

Still around 35-40 seconds slower than P35/X38/X48 I estimate but getting there.

[Supershanks]

Yup F6c bios looking good

Just got F6H BTA courtesy of Eva (http://i4memory.com/95051-post17.html):up:
Looking Better still :D new bios options as well :D
http://www.images.clunk.org.uk/reviews/ga-ep45-extreme/clocks/benchcomp-s.png (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/29739-post153.html)

[terrornoize]

Yeah!

[Alcibiades]

Just got F6H BTA courtesy of Eva (http://i4memory.com/95051-post17.html):up:
Looking Better still :D new bios options as well :D
http://www.images.clunk.org.uk/reviews/ga-ep45-extreme/clocks/benchcomp-s.png (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/29739-post153.html)

nice improvements on read and latency:up:

[Supershanks]

nice improvements on read and latency Thanks though in fairness it's just the maximum FSB , stable clock I already had.
585 is currently in progress, memory need to get stability >1150mhz

[terrornoize]

I always have the same problem, ram do not succeed be either with the default frequencies just overclock over 3000mhz. The last bios (f6h) does not improve the situation, he sets out for 1080 but the system is unstable under prime95 mt... :(

some advice?

Ps: sorry for my bad english... :p:

[Alcibiades]

I always have the same problem, ram do not succeed be either with the default frequencies just overclock over 3000mhz. The last bios (f6h) does not improve the situation, he sets out for 1080 but the system is unstable under prime95 mt... :(

some advice?

Ps: sorry for my bad english... :p:

Use the provided bios template and show us your settings.

Yesterday I revisited my friends EP45-Extreme with the F6h, the 575FSB 1:1 overclock I posted before, would not stay intermittently after cold boots.
So I flash to F6h, 600FSB 1:1 and use the o/c1200 drive strength setting on both modules.
Primed for 30 minutes:), ran 3dmark06 got 12005 on a 8800gts 320 (my old card:p:) SuperPi32M:), but he rings today saying the o/c is lost again after cold boot.:(

So who can help me out with these cold boot bugs and why they happen, or maybe a solution?:shrug:

cheers:up:

[Supershanks]

I've been running with pretty low Ram sub volts 0.82v compared to 0.90v (normal per bios) at 1.80v base so 45.50% of vdimm however > 1150Mhz you need to start cranking it up to around the 50% mark. found +100ps clock skew on channel A & -100ps on B seems to help a bit. Evas idea on Rank timings Setting the 4 subtimings listed here to the following also helped stablise memory clock at 640mhz 5-5-5-15 at 2.56v

* Trd2rd(Different Rank).: 10
* Twr2wr(Different Rank): 9
* Twr2rd(Different Rank): 9
* Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank): 10
from 5:6 Memory Divider (2.40B) + MCH Tweak Testing (http://i4memory.com/93994-post4.html)

[Supershanks]

Needed to mover up the eram sub volts running >1,150Mhz
4,387 -7.5x585@2.00B= 1,170 5-5-5-18 v2.28 (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/30521-post181.html)

[dinos22]

time to start getting into overclockin again and what better way than one of these boards :D

i bought a couple of E8600 chips and from what Rex over at PCManiacs says they are going to be A599 chips that eva2000 has so they should be reasonably good

will do some testing with newer bioses in the next few days

looking forward to a challenge :D

[Alcibiades]

I've been running with pretty low Ram sub volts 0.82v compared to 0.90v (normal per bios) at 1.80v base so 45.50% of vdimm however > 1150Mhz you need to start cranking it up to around the 50% mark. found +100ps clock skew on channel A & -100ps on B seems to help a bit. Evas idea on Rank timings from 5:6 Memory Divider (2.40B) + MCH Tweak Testing (http://i4memory.com/93994-post4.html)

Will give it a shot tomorrow ss thanks,

Looking forward to see what you do with those e86:shocked:'s dinos

[terrornoize]

f6k?

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=BIOS&FileID=13878

[Alcibiades]

f6k?

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=BIOS&FileID=13878

F6k 2008/08/22 Support DDR2 speed to 1333MHz and beyond by overclocking :cool:

[Supershanks]

Thnx terrornoize:up:
So did F6H (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3226853&postcount=99) :lol:

[dinos22]

i'm liking this Q820A599 E8600 i tested tonight

also this new bios is better....i was able to boot into memtest in dual channel dual core at 650MHz FSB.........

E8600@ 4800MHz

vcore was jumping between 1.44v and 1.42v

Air cooled >> TTBigTyphoon

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/1084/48ghz32msuperpi1421456vdw1.png

[eva2000]

F6k 2008/08/22 Support DDR2 speed to 1333MHz and beyond by overclocking :cool:not bad

@654Mhz 5-5-5-15 at 2.58v - Single & Dual Super Pi 32M stable

Single 32M
http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8600_q820a599_0464/team/10400c6/7.5x/2.4b/turbo/545-654_55515_5-5-13-52-5_trd10_1.275-1.36-1.5_1.6-866_881-841_2.58_a_800900mv100ps50ps/spi32m_11m17s875ms.png

Dual 32M via HyperPi
http://fileshosts.com/intel/Gigabyte/ep45_extreme_results/Dtekfuzion/e8600_q820a599_0464/team/10400c6/7.5x/2.4b/turbo/545-654_55515_5-5-13-52-5_trd10_1.275-1.36-1.5_1.6-866_881-841_2.58_a_800900mv100ps50ps/hyperpi_dual32m_full_av.png

i'm liking this Q820A599 E8600 i tested tonight

also this new bios is better....i was able to boot into memtest in dual channel dual core at 650MHz FSB.........

E8600@ 4800MHz

vcore was jumping between 1.44v and 1.42v

Air cooled >> TTBigTyphoon

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/1084/48ghz32msuperpi1421456vdw1.png wow much better than my EP45 Extreme around 600FSB max memtest bootable and dimm 2+4 seem broken any mem used = constant reboot, corsair 10000c5d also in dimm 1+3 same thing.

[dinos22]

i'm using PC10000 corsairs

the key is to get the right mix of VTT/VNB

i will post some settings when i get the hang of things and see how far past 600 i can get it stable for 2D/3D

i've been using memtest loop#7 to fast track FSB Overclocking

[Alcibiades]

Air cooled >> TTBigTyphoon:up:
I'm so glad your testing this mobo on AIR first dinos, everyone seems to go under H2O or LN2 straight away these days.

@eva2000 i've been watching your o/c's with great interest and i am very impressed with your e8600 voltages 4000mhz at 1.245v is unreal.:up:
Can you give me a rough idea of what voltages i should be using on a e8400 to get it stable at 4000mhz, i'm using vcore 1.4437 in bios which gives 1.408v in windows, but this seems a little high looking at your settings.:shrug:

[EDIT: ok i did some research over at this thread, i know der
and the avg vcore for 4Ghz for a 8400 is 1.30-1.35 so my settings are a tad high, even though i've seen 1 or 2 at 1.4v, what cpu volts and sub volts can someone recommend i try
keep in mind this is more a fly by the seat of your pants type o/c than a scientific one, 'cause i don't get much time to sit and tweak when i visit.]

At the moment i've scaled the o/c back to 8x500fsb and 2.4B 1200Mhz DDR2 using the stated vcore value above. This seems to have gotten rid of the cold boot bug i was experiencing at 7x575 2.0B 1200mhz DDR2.

[eva2000]

i'm using PC10000 corsairs

the key is to get the right mix of VTT/VNB

i will post some settings when i get the hang of things and see how far past 600 i can get it stable for 2D/3D

i've been using memtest loop#7 to fast track FSB Overclocking yup test #7 very good FSB indicator :) looking forward to your VTT/VNB tips.

Air cooled >> TTBigTyphoon:up:
I'm so glad your testing this mobo on AIR first dinos, everyone seems to go under H2O or LN2 straight away these days.

@eva2000 i've been watching your o/c's with great interest and i am very impressed with your e8600 voltages 4000mhz at 1.245v is unreal.:up:
Can you give me a rough idea of what voltages i should be using on a e8400 to get it stable at 4000mhz, i'm using vcore 1.4437 in bios which gives 1.408v in windows, but this seems a little high looking at your settings.:shrug:

. not sure for E8400, my E8500 need ~1.25-1.3v to hit 4000mhz prime95, my E8600s only need 1.152-1.184 with worse one of the 5x E8600 Q820A599 needing 1.20v for prime95 @4000Mhz.

[Alcibiades]

Well 3 days later and it's happened again, cold boot and overclock fails to boot, bios reverts to defaults,
So there is definately a problem with the settings, ah somewhere.
Funny 'cause we did about 5 cold reboots in a row with no probs when i was there, then pc shutdown overnight coldboots with o/c next day and day after, but today it cold boots and fails.:shrug:
Go into bios, F12 to load the profile, F10 save and exit, o/c boots no problems.
Anyone know what could be causing these cold boot blues?
I might try 2D instead of 2B divider and see how it likes it.
Hopefully I can reach 1333 DDR2 on the D strap with this board as I reached 1224mhz using the D strap on my trusty x38-dq6, plus mine where pc9200's, these are pc-9600's.

[dinos22]

revert back to stock and see if it still does it

and then try small OCs first

[Alcibiades]

A prize (or a curse) for the first person to get these settings stable.

666FSB x 6 = 3,996Mhz or x7 for 4,662Mhz
DDR2 2.0B x 666 = 1,333

Now there's an evil overclock for ya.
Be sure to have your system blessed before attempting this or you may need to find an exorcist in a hurry.

[Alcibiades]

revert back to stock and see if it still does it

and then try small OCs first
No problems at stock, it always boots first go on defaults but as this is an intermittent problem i have to blame the o/c settings as the ultimate 'cause
I have to spend at least 2-3 hours next time i go over
i have some ideas to try
1. lower cpu volts and play with gtlrefs and vtt and pll
2. change skews (currently 300 for each)
3. increase tras and trfc values
4. increase PL to 10 from 9
5. lower mch to 1.3

I just hope it's not his generic no-name 550W psu stuffing us around.
But definately not happy with cpu volts and subvolts as they are now.

[x2s3w4]

Hey guys, I just got the DDR3 version and I'm getting some weird issues.
First, I start booting up at 10X400 at 1.2 volts. Then I reboot to bump it to 10X 410 and everything has reverted to stock settings including C1E/EIST ect. So I re enter all my voltages and I go to 420 and 430 and when I was going to go to 440 again it reverted stock settings. I was using the F2 BIOS that I got with the board so after some searching I first found this (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_List.aspx?CPUType=Socket+775) site, but it only had the DDR2 version.
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg13/ngeorgepol/gyg-1.jpg
So after much searching I finally found it here (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2861) for the DDR3 version. So i update, but I'm still getting the same issue. I ran Orthos at 4.0 at a 1.224 vcore for 3 hours and when I rebooted it reverted to stock again. Sometimes when I reboot and enter the BIOS it says I got an overclocking failure when as far as I can tell I didn't have any issue. It happened when I was at 4.0 once and I'm almost positive nothing was wrong. Does it seem like I have a bad board? Has anyone else had any issues like this?
Also I'm having issues above 500FSB and I can't get anywhere near 5.0Ghz even at insane voltages like 1.8 and I'm on air. The vdrop and vdroop seem to be pretty big. I set it to 1.4 in BIOS @4.3 and it dropped down to 1.36 in CPUz and 1.328 under load. Does this seem excessive to you guys?

[stasio]

New bios F6
HERE (http://www.station-drivers.com/page/gigabyte/ga-ep45-extrem.htm)

[Supershanks]

hi x2s3w4,
shipping bios isn't good try F3 (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2861)

[x2s3w4]

hi x2s3w4,
shipping bios isn't good try F3 (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2861)


Actually that's what I was saying, I updated to F3. Can I use the DDR2 version? I didn't think I could.

[Supershanks]

Sorry missed post below pic:shrug:
the BIOS it says I got an overclocking failure when Then you have :lol:
sounds more like the usual thing your running with unstable ram , most likely to tight a tRD , especially if left on auto. what ddr3 voltage are you running ??

[x2s3w4]

Sorry missed post below pic:shrug:
Then you have :lol:
sounds more like the usual thing your running with unstable ram , most likely to tight a tRD , especially if left on auto. what ddr3 voltage are you running ??

I'll give you an example. I ran 4.0Ghz @1.224 for 4 hours, did a little surfing afterwards, left the computer on all night and then rebooted, went into the BIOS to start bumping it up a little more and it said I had an overclocking failure. It's completely random like that.
My OCZ platinum is rated 1.8v and that's what I run it at. I loosened the timings from 7-7-7720 to 9-9-9-24 to see if I could get any higher than 4.3. Might be the tRD is too tight, what do you think? It is on auto.
Also no one mentioned if they thought that my vdrop/vdroop is too much.BIOS is set to 1.4, CPU says 1.36 in Windows and 1.328 under load. Doesn't that seem like an awful lot?
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg13/ngeorgepol/mem-1.jpg

[stasio]

New bios EP45 EXTREME
F7 (http://www.jzelectronic.de/jz2/Bios/ep45exf7.exe)

[Alcibiades]

I'll give you an example. I ran 4.0Ghz @1.224 for 4 hours, did a little surfing afterwards, left the computer on all night and then rebooted, went into the BIOS to start bumping it up a little more and it said I had an overclocking failure. It's completely random like that.
My OCZ platinum is rated 1.8v and that's what I run it at. I loosened the timings from 7-7-7720 to 9-9-9-24 to see if I could get any higher than 4.3. Might be the tRD is too tight, what do you think? It is on auto.
Also no one mentioned if they thought that my vdrop/vdroop is too much.BIOS is set to 1.4, CPU says 1.36 in Windows and 1.328 under load. Doesn't that seem like an awful lot?


x2a3w4
m8 come on over to this thread, :welcome:
[Team.AU] Gigabyte GA-EP45T Extreme - P45 DDR3 Monster (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=192261)
there's too much difference between these two Extreme boards,

trfc does look low by the way, try 55 as your base
as for your vdrop/vdroop
hicookie has posted a vdroop mod (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3243120&postcount=201)for the P45T-Extreme, it's in the linked thread

[mikael1984]

Hi all!
I recently bought the EP45 Extreme along with the E8600 CPU. I have serious problems with my overclock.
I cannot get 500FSB x 10 mult. The highest I have gone is 4.7GHz (523*9) after that the computer almost does not start (I can see the system restart several times even before reahing the BIOS screen). Nothing over 523FSB works... I tried 523*10 but no luck...

I have tried increasing the FSB, lower it, change the multipel, Vcore, MCH core and some other voltage tweaks in BIOS.

My system: EP45 Extreme with water cooling.
F7 bios. 4GB PC8500 (1066MHz)
E8600 CPU. (water cooled)
Nvidia 8800GTS (512mb) - also tested with ATI 3850.

I appreciate any help and hints!

[dinos22]

i got a nice board on my hands here

just testing quick FSB and settings which were spotty on air cooling at 600+ FSB are flying on LN2

i am just doing 640MHz FSB dual core dual channel 8M Superpi
booted at 620>jumped to 630 and now 640

freaking sweet board this one

Dino

[dinos22]

i have a bad cold boot bug >>>> -76C so i have to boot at 6GHz with these temps hahahahahah........while loading windows i hammer a lot of ln2 so it reached colder temps by the time windows starts

just doing a quick 32M Superpi at 6GHz