Gigabyte EX58-UD5/Extreme Discussion Thread

[JWMc]

Edit: Had issues with multi setting in BIOS getting stuck with F4n so I went to F5e, stable with all the same settings across various OC targets so far:

Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 @ F5e
G.Skill F3-12800C8-2GBPI-B x 2 @ 1600mhz 2:8, 8-8-8-21-1T
Ci7-920 (3841A383 from Newegg)
TRUE 120 Extreme with push-pull Panaflo 120x38mm M1-BX fans @ 12v @ ~2100 rpm
4000mhz Cores, 3200mhz Uncore, 3600mhz QPI

Temps are from Real Temp 2.90
vCore is from CPU-Z 1.49
Stability tested with LinX x 20 and Prime Blend for 6 hours

Relevant BIOS settings:
Turbo: off
QPI link: x36
Uncore: x16
Load-Line Calibration: enabled
Everything else not mentioned: Auto/Default

4.0ghz (20x200) HT enabled @ 1.360v load, 1.376v idle
vCore: 1.40625v
vDIMM: 1.660v (1.65v in HW Monitor)
vQPI: 1.375v
LinX max temps: 83, 83, 81, 82

4.0ghz (20x200) Hyperthreading DISABLED @ 1.264v load, 1.280 idle
Timings: 8-8-8-21-1T
vCore: 1.30000
vDIMM: 1.660v (1.65v in HW Monitor)
vQPI: 1.335v
LinX max temps: 67 66 66 66 (edit: my temps increased with higher ambient)

Edit: Finally found stability with one more voltage step in BIOS:
3.8ghz (19x200 turbo off) @ 1.23125v bios, 1.184v load, 1.200v idle, with HT on, 1.275v QPI, 8-8-8-21-1T, 1.65v DRAM (1.66 BIOS), max LinX temp 65c. LinX x 20 and Prime blend 11 hours stable.

New: Same as above @ 3.8ghz but with all 3 x 2gig modules @ 8-8-8-21-2T.

Final stable air OC I'm going to try: 4.2ghz (21x200 turbo on) @ 1.45625v bios, 1.408v load, 1.424v idle, with HT on, 1.395v QPI, 9-9-9-24-2T, 1.68v DRAM, 6gigs, 89c max temp @ 18c ambient.
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=488873
http://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?i...6gblinxts1.jpg

Idle temps with HT on @ 1.376v: 37 35 38 37
Ambient temp: ~20C
I did all my early testing without the 3rd stick of RAM because my second fan gets in the way of the heatsink on the PI Black stick. To install the third module I moved the fan to blow through the ram sticks and at the lower portion of the CPU heatsink and am getting about the same temps.

I have the motherboard mounted to a removable motherboard tray laying flat on a table. My TRUE 120 extreme is not lapped and has a very uneven surface. I used a big blob of the paste that came with the TRUE 120 extreme in the middle of the IHS and screwed her down evenly.

Is this chip worthy of liquid cooling?

It seems to me that I'm ready to go for gaming at the moment with no cooling upgrades.

I'm sure the cooling will still be adequate for HT disabled even in a hot room with one less fan based on the LinX temps I am getting.