790i reference board volt mods (UNCONFIRMED mods) >> work in progress

[Delirious.]

if you know the resistance of the stock board resitor, you should be able just to buy a variable resistor in that range and just use the variable resistor instead. You may of botched your warranty, but it should be fixable

[71 (Bryan)]

why would you do that if you can do it in the bios?

[Vladmax]

Hey mates,

I need your help!

Yesterday I try to solder the VDroop mod but I got the worst case, I killed my board because I been not careful Enough and I desolder a SMD!!!

EVGA 790i - wicked board. I just swapped from Asus Striker II Formula to this EVGA board and I am loving it. My Q6600 couldn't break 3.0 on S2F board, on EVGA 790i my Q6600 goes straight to 3.6Ghz 24 hours prime stable (VCore - 1.5v REAL, RAM 1.9v), all other settings on auto. Easy overclock.

The only thing I am missing from ASUS is BIOS layout, LLC option (VDROOP control) in BIOS that worked like a charm on ASUS no voltage drop under load not even 0.001v and LCD poster, kinda handy little thing.

Though automatic reset to default settings on this board in the event of a failed overclock is the best, I didn't have to reset CMOS on this board even once, on ASUS it was a nightmare... had to clear CMOS almost every second time cause it didn't want to reset itself to default after failed overclock, this board is easy - just push reset button and off you go again.

No memory issues on this board either, my first set fired up nice and smooth, on ASUS board I had to try 3 different sets of ram before I found one that would be reasonably stable.

Well, all'n'all this EVGA 790i Ultra board is damn good.

P.S. tried penciling the VDROOP resistor, didn't have any luck

[Delirious.]

Do you think it possible that there is a bios VDROOP modification that can be made so that this can be accomplished on the 790i? A bios hack, maybe. I guess it would depend on the hardware being able to be controlled by the bios right? Anyone know?

[Delirious.]

has anyone had any problems as a result of their vdroop mods? It's gotten quiet around here.

[3oh6]

has anyone had any problems as a result of their vdroop mods? It's gotten quiet around here.

nope, board has been flawless and i have really been beating the pants off of it. i should have a memory review posted shortly using this board and i have updated my MB OC Report thread with 3D SLI and 3-way SLI runs (9800GTX action), CPU under phase. check out the thread if you haven't in a while...

http://www.ocxtreme.org/forumenus/showthread.php?t=3032

just got another E8400 and again topped out the FSB on air at 560MHz with P1/P2 enabled on air and am thinking it is time for a vNB volt mod soon. i haven't updated the thread with screenshots or info about the new processor but that should be up rather shortly.

[Smoicol]

Hello everyone,
I want to see if the resistance must necessarily weld or can mount them in a different way, I have a vdrop of 0.08 0.09 how can decrease without welds?

[3oh6]

vSPP done and done. still just getting started with testing though to see how much is needed to get past 560~565FSB benchable with P1/P2 enabled...but can confirm the mod Dinos posted works like a charm with 20K ohm VR. it will raise voltage from what is selected by 0.05v with a 20K ohm VR so just keep that in mind...

vSPP
Dinos post was again bang on and the soldering point was correct. Measured resistance of the circuit was 776 ohms so I went with a 20K ohm resistor. After the mod, resistance dropped to 745 ohms and voltage was 0.06v higher than selected according to the BIOS monitor. I still don't have a confirmed vSPP read point on the board so I am just going with the BIOS reading as it raises with lowered resistance. Very easy to solder to the IC leg and a perfect mounting point, as seen, alongside the I/O tower. Just did it so no testing on whether it will help FSB clocking past 575FSB with P1/P2 enabled.



all vmods that have been tested working can also be found in my MB OC Report.

[RLM]

Great report 3oh6, and nice results

Your soldering work's impressive, well to me anyway.

What sort of wattage soldering iron do you use? Do you just go in with a dab on the end of an iron, or do you use another method? Any tips you can share?

I've vmodded my GX2, but that vdroop mod looks pretty tricky.

RLM

[3oh6]

thanks man

as for my gear, for 95% of my mods i use a cheapo radio shack 9.99 special and an even cheaper tip. i primarily use a 15w iron and with a tip in good shape it is all you should need for any surface mount work. a 30w or more is a good idea for any through hole work like soldering to ground pins of a power connector.

for the IC lead like shown above, i will tin the tip of the wire so it has a tiny bit of solder. the solder is there more to help get the joint to flow and 'accept' the wire than anything. really, you could go in with a bare wire and no solder on the iron tip and it should flow the joint and accept the wire. there should be enough solder at the joint to make a nice solid connection, but i would recommend tinning the wire with a small amount of solder as it will help the whole process along and will ultimately require less heat to do the same job.

the other tip is the one i have been screaming in every solder thread i post in...some listen, some argue, some don't care. one word...flux. it is the best friend to re-flowing a joint. anytime you are doing volt mods you are likely re-flowing joints and adding a wire so flux is a great accessory to add to a soldering kit if you don't already have some. it cleans the joint and allows the solder to flow 100x better giving a nice smooth shiny joint as a result. this means it is a great connection. grainy lumpy joints mean a poor connection...and just don't look good

i use a water soluable liquid flux but flux paste is just as good...and a little bit neater.

the only other thing i can say is to practice soldering until your blue in the face. it is all about rythym. get your rythym down and it is all downhill from there. grab an old piece of dead hardware take out the circuit board and just practice re-flowing capacitor and IC lead joints. see how much flux you need and shoot for getting that perfectly smooth and shiny joint. see how much heat works and how much is too much. then start adding in tinned wires and un-tinned wires...see what the difference is. see how much solder you need to tin the wire with...see how much is too much that is causes bridges.

HTH

and the results post vSPP mod are starting to trickle in...CPU was under phase but could have easily been done on air with this monster new E8400 i got the other day...

Max FSB after vSPP mod w/E8400 (Single Stage Phase Change) - SPi 32M :: 575MHz @ 1.61v w/Noctua NC-U6
click for full size...


Performing the vSPP mod for higher north bridge voltage has definitely helped increase the legs of this motherboard. The only problem is that the temperature is holding back further gains with more voltage. Anything over 1.61v seems to overload the Noctua NC-U6 but with better cooling, I full expect to have much higher clocks at this level of stability.

[Gautam]

That's quite impressive, but TBH, I was half expecting to open that pic and see a sub 9.

Very strong looking combo tho.

I can't stand radioshack irons.

[3oh6]

That's quite impressive, but TBH, I was half expecting to open that pic and see a sub 9.

hahaha, sub 9 at 4900MHz...sorry, not with todays processors. i am working on sub 9 right now though, trying to stay below 5.1GHz...down to 9m 00.015 @ 5094, just gotta get that magic run there

[dinos22]

lol at the comment about 4900 sub 9m eek

nice work mate

i really need to get an NB pot i think now

p.s. but that run can be faster though..................

[RLM]

3oh6,

Great response man, thanks.

I've been using a 40w for the grounding connections and 18w for the ic's, so on the right track.

My soldering works, but isn't macro photography material by a long shot.

'Practice' that's one.

Sorry for going OT, and cheers again

RLM

[dinos22]

vSPP done and done. still just getting started with testing though to see how much is needed to get past 560~565FSB benchable with P1/P2 enabled...but can confirm the mod Dinos posted works like a charm with 20K ohm VR. it will raise voltage from what is selected by 0.05v with a 20K ohm VR so just keep that in mind...

Measured resistance of the circuit was 776 ohms so I went with a 20K ohm resistor.

Hey Jody

why not go with a 1K VR

[3oh6]

Hey Jody

why not go with a 1K VR

with a 20K, the voltage was already raised 0.05v above what was selected in BIOS. a 1K would put it through the roof. the resistance of the circuit was 776ohms...general rule of thumb for volt mods is resistance x 20. adjustments come right away after tuning down the VR and it is very nice for adjusting so definitely 20K

and about that 575FSB 32M time...just testing stability. here is the 575FSB balls out, top of my game time on the 9X multi

575MHz x 9 5175MHz / 1078MHz @ 8-7-6
click for full size...


and did you see the Everest (yeah i know, so what)...but still, 15K is just a short watercooled SPP away IMO.

[dinos22]

that's sooooo fast man wow

i didn't realise that there is a rule of thumb like that (about resistance and 20x rule you mentioned)

[3oh6]

that's sooooo fast man wow

i didn't realise that there is a rule of thumb like that (about resistance and 20x rule you mentioned)

yeah buddy, this board is just unreal once you get up this high with P1/P2 enabled. the best part is that once i get FSB pushed higher, if memory won't continue on this ratio, you can just turn down the ratio and basically keep the memory right around 1080MHz with no performance loss.

i can't thank you enough for your initial results post otherwise i would have completely dismissed the reference board and likely got stuck with another Asus turd. this EVGA is just so solid and easy to bench with at these frequencies despite being on the edge of its stability...it is an absolute treat.

as for the 20x rule, it is something you read about every now and then in the volt mod threads, thats where i saw it. it seems to hold true for the most part. in this case with the stock resistance of 776 ohms, multiplying it by 20 gives you about 15K ohms which would be a little low IMO giving about a 0.1v over volt from BIOS setting. so obviously it isn't concrete but generally gets you a good starting point to adjust from.

[zbogorgon]

about Vcore, XFX mobo here, P04 bios, I did the mod with 50k VR and OPV kicked in ASAP, I acctually expect that so I went with 200k and it works now

[dinos22]

about Vcore, XFX mobo here, P04 bios, I did the mod with 50k VR and OPV kicked in ASAP, I acctually expect that so I went with 200k and it works now

i'm confused here
why does one work and not the other

[zbogorgon]

FFS, cause with 50k VR resistance is so low, that resulting Vcore would be eg. 2.5V or sth. a few turns on 200k VR and I am +0.05V already

[3oh6]

FFS, cause with 50k VR resistance is so low, that resulting Vcore would be eg. 2.5V or sth. a few turns on 200k VR and I am +0.05V already

that just doesn't make any sense...i am definitely using just a 50K VR, you can see the VRs i am using in the pics clearly marked as 503.

do you happen to have a vcore read point as well or do you just use the BIOS reporting as well?

[dinos22]

FFS, cause with 50k VR resistance is so low, that resulting Vcore would be eg. 2.5V or sth. a few turns on 200k VR and I am +0.05V already

what's up with you man

[zbogorgon]

that just doesn't make any sense...i am definitely using just a 50K VR, you can see the VRs i am using in the pics clearly marked as 503.

do you happen to have a vcore read point as well or do you just use the BIOS reporting as well?

I don't know, but 50k is way to low for board I am using

[Navigator1]

Hello ;-)

...can someone show me in this pic: http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?i...dvdroopwq3.jpg

what i must do with the RED point???

Must i do a wire to a 50k potti and from potti to ground??? ...and where is a GROUNDPOINT near by this point???

Thx for answers...