DPC issues still present in Gigabyte EP45 boards?

Hello there!

I was considering a Gigabyte EP45 board for an upcoming build for my dad (there will be no overclocking involved) and silence and stock performance are really the only aims. The board will be paired with an E8400.

So, is the DPC latency issue from GA (E)P35 boards still present in the GA EP45 boards, or has it been fixed?

Any other serious weaknesses like this I should be aware of before buying?

Thanks!

~ Kris

What DPC Latency issue m8 ?
I had no problems with the EP35-DS4, neither now with the EP45T-DS5.

These are just a few threads on it (from other forums):
http://www.cubase.net/phpbb2/viewtop...23a14da8cd7e68
http://www.driverheaven.net/motherbo...-solution.html
http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.asp?m=1...&key=%EF%BF%BD
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/p35-...spiking-26456/
http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...readid=2182171
http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...pikes-rma.html

Since I'm somewhat into Cubase it would be a very tangible issue for me. Not sure how much of an issue it is for everyday computing though.

~ Kris

Tell me what you'd like to see tested and I'll check it out for you.

Run the DPC Latency Checker and post the results. :)

http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml


See if it looks anything like this:
http://dandamicomusic2.homestead.com...cy-Checker.jpg

That's a shot using a Gigabyte P35 board.

Here's a shot of me using my Asus nForce4 A8N-SLI Premium board (for comparison):
http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/2156/normalgn4.png

Hi Kris,

This is my current configuration and my results:

Gigabyte GA-EP45T-DS5
Core 2 Extreme QX9650 @ 333MHz x 8 ( motherboard insists :p: )
2GB Super Talent DDR3-1866
GeForce 9800GTX 512MB
Creative ( sucks ) X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS

Old and screwed Windows XP SP2 installation ( has been used with... 10+ mobos, including various chipsets from Intel and nVIDIA :p: )

http://i30.tinypic.com/2nv4i6t.jpg

Let me know if you need other tests, like Cubase project running, etc ( You'll have to provide me with a project to work with, I haven't used Cubase, Cakewalk, etc since 2004 :p: )

Sweet!

Looks to me like it's fixed. Of course it's gonna get worse if you play around in Cubase, but the spikes are what's interesting and you don't seem to have any. Great results!

Thanks a lot BenchZowner.

Just one sample though, so if anyone knows anything else about this, please, inform us!

~ Kris

I can test the GA-EP45-DS4 as well if you want ;)
If you're worried about Cubase showcasing huge spikes, I'll test it ;)

That would be great if you could! :)

Will do that in 3-6 hours ;)

This is the same configuration, just another mobo, the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS4:

DirectX 9 RHDRIBL loading the VGA, Winamp playing MP3s, and a msn conversation:

http://i31.tinypic.com/mlh9gz.jpg

Seems fixed. Nice!

Thanks again BenchZowner

You're welcome.
If you need more testing, just let me know ;)

Checked the same stuff on the latest Asus P5Q Dlx seems a bit worse then the Gigabyte's... no idea if it's that bad yes or no... screenshot with 8Gb of ram, WinXP64 Pro at idle

http://users.pandora.be/OAP/P5QDlx/P5QLC.JPG

Was there any HDD access m8 ?

Well don't know lol. As I don't have all the case leds hooked up (only power switch lol) Gimme 5 mins : I'll hook them up and check again sir Bill

To be continued : K back and hooked up : seems indeed the HD led is blinking each 5-8 secs... swapfile maybe ... no idea how to reduce this access...

It's been ages since I've played with Windows XP x64 seriously, and I can't recall if they have the Indexing Service enabled by default with the latest service pack, so the services management console and the "Indexing Service" would be your first check point :D

Killed the indexing service, yet the HD Led still blinks each 5 secs or so... might go back to XP Pro, though all my games seem to run smoother on the XP64.... bummer

Thx for the tip mr BenchZowner...

The test is done with the computer in iddle?

Here's my latency on a Gigabyte x48-DQ6. This is running under Vista 64. Sure looks like it hasn't been fixed to me. Pretty consistent with what other users have been seeing for pretty much every 38 board. :(

http://skeetersspot.smugmug.com/phot...77_Zt3qb-M.jpg