GIGABYTE DS3 FAQ by CrazyJohn /FAQ on 1st page/

[Hypertek]

quick question, is the S3 as good as the DS3?

[mitftw]

Anyone having problems hitting high FSBs with DS3 using an IDE hard drive?

[wolfman140]

OK...the only test I didn't conduct was putting a fan on the NB, I may do that yet but as of now here's the dealo:

A) I ran the Small FFT tests on my cpu (which hardly stresses RAM), it ran fine at 3.0Ghz...after that, it fails when trying to run the second instance. No matter what VCore I up it to or adding FSB/GMch voltage, it fails. I don't know how to explain that. I'm hoping maybe if I cool my NB chip better that will change?

B) I actually did have too much juice going to my RAM, I lowered it down to stock, and was damn close to stable at 3.0Ghz but not quite, so I upped it another .1v and its stable now. (Even though its not running at a rated 800Mhz)

C) I can't even begin to boot if I set the multiplier to 7 and up the FSB to 450 or so.

In conclusion, I fear that the wall I'm hitting is cause of my cpu and/or motherboard. I've still got some room to go up with my RAM so its not the RAM. I've got an AC unit very near to my comp so I fear that the NB isn't over heating either, as I DO NOT have any added GMch voltage. I'll just cross my fingers that Gigabyte will be releasing more BIOS revisions. For now, 3.0 Ghz from 2.13 Ghz will have to do. Scoring 19.5's in Super PI.

[Denithor]

Ok, I haven't even been able to get to overclocking yet on this thing. Here's the problem:

When I first set up DS3+e6400+OCZ Gold it would not boot. Used some low end Kingston to boot up, flashed to F4c, then would boot using OCZ ram and was able to install XP Pro without issues. Everything seemed good, until I found that it would crash within a few minutes of running any 3D game. By crash I mean either freeze solid, drop to Windows, or else just reboot itself (nothing like going from a fragfest to looking at your BIOS, is there?). Because this happened in games only, I presumed video card (and an older one didn't seem to have the problem) problems so I RMAd the card (earlier this week). Then this afternoon, I loaded a game using the old card and started playing. It suddenly froze up completely, so I powered it off. When I turned it back on, I get a No Signal Detected and my monitor shuts off. Nothing. Nada. No post, won't respond to clearing the BIOS, changing the memory to the cheap stuff again, nothing.

Anyone got any suggestions to try? I'm at my wit's end here...

[vintage_guitar]

Anyone having problems hitting high FSBs with DS3 using an IDE hard drive?

Yes, in fact. I was, my wall was under 400. i had to use like 1.6 vcore to hit 400fsb...... no thanks so i took my conroe/mobo right back to fry's where it will stay until this conroe crap is sorted out. It was a week 24 e6400. the next im gonna try to buy is 25+ or wait for kentsfield..or just use 975 chipset

[numbers]

Yes, in fact. I was, my wall was under 400. i had to use like 1.6 vcore to hit 400fsb...... no thanks so i took my conroe/mobo right back to fry's where it will stay until this conroe crap is sorted out. It was a week 24 e6400. the next im gonna try to buy is 25+ or wait for kentsfield..or just use 975 chipset

What bios are you guys using? I'm on F3 and i'm under 350 atm. Passive cooling, and stock volts though. Dont feel like pushing it yet, so maybe tommorow >_>

[wolfman140]

Yup, just spent 3 hours re-wiring my case for better cable management, and put an 80mm fan inside shooting up towards RAM and Northbridge in a very ghetto, twisty-tie style. After all that work, I only see a drop in temps maybe 2C and still can't OC any further (so maybe its not a hot NB after all). So that was a total waste of time, not to mention there is a fan twisty-tied onto power cables in there. Can't be good news.

Well...Whatever. In a couple months I'll just get a water-cooling system and get a NB and VGA waterblock. If I can over clock more from lower temps...awesome. If I can't, well I guess I just have a cooler running system.

Final Specs:
E6400 OC to 3.0 Ghz at 1.34 Vcore
2 gig of Corsair XMS2 DDR2 6400 at 2.10v (running 5-5-5-12 @ 730Mhz)
Leadtek 7900GT 560/760
Silverstone Zeus PSU
And an additional fan twisty-tied down inside the case..woo woo.

[faruquehabib]

quick question, is the S3 as good as the DS3?

i guess there are solid-state caps on the ds3 and not the s3. i just ordered an S3 because it was cheaper, but i prolly wont get as good an OC as with a ds3.