Dedicated Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 thread

[Richard Dower]

Realtek 889A codec specs online: http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/p...n=4&ProdID=173

[VRSpy]

here is some simple benchies result....not great but Good.
Done on Air using Ultima 91...

http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=300444

[Richard Dower]

Received my EP45-DQ6 today from www.dabs.ie

Not installed it, might not for a few weeks yet as time is tight...don't ask why, anywhoo....PCB looks lovely, nice design/layout...good to get a new mobo keeps things interesting.
TPM configuration manual added: http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Support/...ProductID=2831

F8 bios was pulled??

[VRSpy]

Received my EP45-DQ6 today from www.dabs.ie

Not installed it, might not for a few weeks yet as time is tight...don't ask why, anywhoo....PCB looks lovely, nice design/layout...good to get a new mobo keeps things interesting.
TPM configuration manual added: http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Support/...ProductID=2831

F8 bios was pulled??

F6 is still better for Fsb...F8 no go...

[Richard Dower]

F10a beta bios is now on the official web page: http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Support/...ProductID=2831
F8 was pulled and F9a beta is also available....someone load F10a and see if it's good?

[kagula323]

can you share some settings for o/c a 8400 to 4 ghz on this mobo? it's cooled by a true120 ... but i don't know what those settings like cpu ppl to what to change them

[Supershanks]

See Links 21~23 here Have included bios settings , bios is pretty similar.


luck

[Richard Dower]

The driver download page on the GB website has been updated, while most drivers are current enough i'd still snoop for the very latest. But have no fear!, i'll always keep this thread updated with the very latest driver releases as and when they appear! http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Support/...ProductID=2831

New versions of DES Advanced and ET6 released: http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Support/...ProductID=2831

[jooney]

Who the is testing ET6!
Same with 2008.07.01,clicking the arrows in the tab "voltage" nothing happens but frequency is ok.
But the worst of all are the steps from the VCore,for example 1,35625,the next step is 1,375
In my Extreme Bios comes:
1,35625
1,3625
1,36875 and then 1,375.

[Richard Dower]

New reviews: http://www.pro-clockers.com/reviews/?id=70

http://www.thinkcomputers.org/index....reviews&id=794

[Richard Dower]

Realtek 889A drivers version 1.99: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...&GetDown=false

[Dubz]

New reviews: http://www.pro-clockers.com/reviews/?id=70

This article will be edited a little as i am able to hit 600+ with the board now.

[Richard Dower]

This article will be edited a little as i am able to hit 600+ with the board now.

Cool! will you be trying it with F10a bios?

[Dubz]

Cool! will you be trying it with F10a bios?

yes after i am done playing with the stock bios.

[igm]

I have bought the board about 2 weeks ago. One reason for chosing the board was presence of 10 SATA channels onboard. This would suit my purpose: building linux-based home file server (raid6 etc).

However, I was disappointed quickly, having found no way to use the 4 SATA channels attached to GSATA independently. The Silicon Image 5723s -- used as 1-to-2 port multipliers on each of GSATA's (aka JMicron 363) SATA ports -- support a bunch of RAID modes (RAID1, RAID0, combination of the two, and JBOD) according to Silicon's website. I was planning to put them in JBOD mode, and let the linux raid functionality take care of the rest. However, this is not possible right now. Gigabyte has decided that RAID1 is that we all need, and hard-wired the 5723s into RAID1 mode.

I have had conversation with Gigabyte support techs regarding this, and their reply was quick and disappointial:

"(SiI5723 RAID chip) supports RAID 1 mode only. When you connnect four SATA HDDs, GSATA controller chip will able to connect them with RAID 0 mode."

Well, RAID0 consisting of 2 RAID1s was not what I was looking forward to when buying the board, although I understand there are users who find it useful.

I would venture into "un-hard-wiring" the 5723s to allow them to be used in any mode configurable with SteelVine Manager. This could probably be achieved by unsoldering some of 5723s' pins and reconfiguring the chips into soft-config mode. Unfortunately, so far I have not found which are the configuration pins. Apparently, obtaining the datasheet from Silicon Image would require an agreement to their NDA. I would appreciate any help in this field... [Update: I _have_ contacted Silicon Image for the datasheet, and indeed, I was asked to begin the NDA process. When it turned out that I am the single individual (end user) and not a manufacturer, I was politely but definitely informed that they disclose that kind of information only to manufacturers. Anyone out there being a manufacturer that would qualify?]

Conclusion: Unless you really want RAID1s, this board has effectively only 8 SATA channels.

[pjskeet]

I have bought the board about 2 weeks ago. One reason for chosing the board was presence of 10 SATA channels onboard. This would suit my purpose: building linux-based home file server (raid6 etc).

However, I was disappointed quickly, having found no way to use the 4 SATA channels attached to GSATA independently. The Silicon Image 5723s -- used as 1-to-2 port multipliers on each of GSATA's (aka JMicron 363) SATA ports -- support a bunch of RAID modes (RAID1, RAID0, combination of the two, and JBOD) according to Silicon's website. I was planning to put them in JBOD mode, and let the linux raid functionality take care of the rest. However, this is not possible right now. Gigabyte has decided that RAID1 is that we all need, and hard-wired the 5723s into RAID1 mode.

I have had conversation with Gigabyte support techs regarding this, and their reply was quick and disappointial:

"(SiI5723 RAID chip) supports RAID 1 mode only. When you connnect four SATA HDDs, GSATA controller chip will able to connect them with RAID 0 mode."

Well, RAID0 consisting of 2 RAID1s was not what I was looking forward to when buying the board, although I understand there are users who find it useful.

I would venture into "un-hard-wiring" the 5723s to allow them to be used in any mode configurable with SteelVine Manager. This could probably be achieved by unsoldering some of 5723s' pins and reconfiguring the chips into soft-config mode. Unfortunately, so far I have not found which are the configuration pins. Apparently, obtaining the datasheet from Silicon Image would require an agreement to their NDA. I would appreciate any help in this field... [Update: I _have_ contacted Silicon Image for the datasheet, and indeed, I was asked to begin the NDA process. When it turned out that I am the single individual (end user) and not a manufacturer, I was politely but definitely informed that they disclose that kind of information only to manufacturers. Anyone out there being a manufacturer that would qualify?]

Conclusion: Unless you really want RAID1s, this board has effectively only 8 SATA channels.

I originaly was going to use the Sil5723 slots for HDD's and optical drives. The Sil5723 chip does not support optical drives. O.K. I can reconfigure and use the Intel chip for the opticals and some HDD's. Fine, except the Sil5723's on this board are only useable as you indicated.

Using the Sata slots on this board has a very narrow appeal. RMA'd and going to another product. Thanks for the posting. Saved me a lot of time and trouble.

[Richard Dower]

CPU-Z 1.46.2: http://www.cpuid.com/download/beta/cpuz.zip

[Kristoferr]

HAve you guys tested bios 10a yet+
i just did 6*536FSBbootup with my E6850, with inbox cooling it.
All voltages on AUTO except Vram what needs some extra volt for 1064mhz.
Had no luck with putting voltages higher then AUTO... was ending up lower FSB than AUTO settings


I remember doing over 540bootup with my CPU. so i think something needs to be tweaked for bigger FSB...

[igm]

... The Sil5723 chip does not support optical drives. ...

http://www.sci-worx.com/docs/sii5723...L_11-28-06.pdf, Page 2, Device Interface Features: • Supports ATAPI & asynchronous notification

5723 itself should support it; its application in EP45-DQ6 does not.

[Richard Dower]

F10c beta is now available: http://www.jzelectronic.de/jz2/index.php

[Kristoferr]

Cant download it...

I really want to get my RAMs working on dualchannel with this board

[eva2000]

Cant download it...

I really want to get my RAMs working on dualchannel with this board

maybe more vdimm ?

the P45 chipset affords cpu's to reach high FSB's but not super high read, write and copy speeds.

i expect a 10K read speed from 500 FSB not 550 fsb.

yeah bandwidth kind of low even for EP45 Extreme.

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



More photos here

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
• Gigabyte GA-EP45 Extreme 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


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.

[Kristoferr]

eva2000, higher VDimm is not helping. It just refuses to show me any type of picture with ddr on dualchannel. This board does not like D9GMH at all. Specially OCZ productions.
All my 1GB sticks are working fine with my P35 board.
Im not the only one who has that problem, there are lot of us even in Estonia.

[Minnyboy]

Picked up an EP45-DS5 the other day.... Got home from work, installed it with new 9450/8500c5d/8800gtx & TT 850w PSU..

installed Windows & rebooted... Nothing. Everything left on auto in bios for OS install...

A few reboots later & I smell burnt PCB/Chip...

Unplug everything & do basic test... see smoke coming up...

Ok. strip everything down & check on mobo/ram/gpu... noticed 1 of the SMD powering the RAM has burnt out...

welcome to my EP45 experience...

Went out & picked up a temp EP45-DS3P to play with while sending board back for RMA...

One thing is, I can't do squat for OC with this newer board compared to my X38-DQ6..

Seems I have to "re-learn" everything about these new voltage settings.. tried to swap out the 9450 with my old q6600 as well as swap out the corsair ram for my trusty OCZ FlexXLC9200 & still no go..

On a diff note, I was able to OC the 9450 & corsair ram on my X38-dq6.. Must be really behind the times... Need to go look at some of the bios settings linked here... back later with more..

*tired fingers... too much typing*

[eva2000]

If you the EP45-DQ6 is like EP45 Extreme then on some dividers, static tread might be set too tight by default, try loosening it by +1 or +2 and see if it opens up some memory clocking at decent reasonable vdimm

As you can see with loose Static tRead value of 10, Everest bandwidth and latency is slow and Super Pi 32M time is ~15 to 20 seconds slower than what is should be but not bad for low MCH voltage of 1.42v





Full report http://i4memory.com/94120-post2.html