UNOFFICIAL BIOSTAR TPower I45 M/B

[BababooeyHTJ]

hey man i dont care how well it performs I'm selling it! I dont really care for the crap ass voltage settings anyway i'm stable with less volts on my new boad mainly because there is an option for less, the voltage stepping sux ass on this board, good luck guys you'll need it.

Im loving my P5Q Deluxe. Which costs only $20 more than a tpower, btw. My chip is running stable at a much lower voltage which would not be stable without being able to fine tune the GTLs. My ram is also running much faster. Selling this board was a great decision. Ill never buy another Biostar product either. Their software support is just sad.

[Ace-a-Rue]

Hi guys, can anyone help me? Im having really really bad times with this board, actually, the worst experience ever with mothers. The thing is that, I cant even move 1 mhz up of my E8500 and the board will never boot up again, telling me the post screen with a really annoying 81 code, wich actually is a problem with keyboards but, I done several clear cmos, removing the battery, changing over 20 keyboards, I have no idea how to make it work up. The first day I make it work after doing the same things but, today I cant make it work, and I do the same things.

Obviusly Im sending it to the warranty, but I cant believe that this board will do me this, not even 1, yes 1 mhz for the cpu up that will start with problems... If someone have a good solution please tell me, I have been waiting for 2 months without my computer for the stupid vga, now again? Come on God, are you kidding me? So please, if you have a solution before I take this bunch of wasted money to the rma, please tell me :P

Thanks for all!

look at page 1 where i have images of the bios for E8500 and QX9650...it might help you to refine your settings...all boards, hardware are different so results will vary.

[Pekalion]

Actually I would love to do that Ace, but the problem is that the board wont boot up, is stuck in post code error 81, 64 or E1, wich actually I dont know what are the last two of them, only know that 81 is about keyboards issues but, I tryed changing several keyboards and nothing happend this time.

If you have any ideas to resurrect it, please tell me. Now is showing up the E1 on Post Screen.


Oh my freaking god, the freaking board boot up!!! Anyway, this friday is going to USA for the RMA, wich will take like 1 or 2 months, and when it arrives the new one, is going to be sell so I can buy a i7, if god stop my country economy inflation :P

Well, thank you guys for helping me(?) :P ... no more OCs for this baby.

[hokiealumnus]

Actually I would love to do that Ace, but the problem is that the board wont boot up, is stuck in post code error 81, 64 or E1, wich actually I dont know what are the last two of them, only know that 81 is about keyboards issues but, I tryed changing several keyboards and nothing happend this time.

If you have any ideas to resurrect it, please tell me. Now is showing up the E1 on Post Screen.


Oh my freaking god, the freaking board boot up!!! Anyway, this friday is going to USA for the RMA, wich will take like 1 or 2 months, and when it arrives the new one, is going to be sell so I can buy a i7, if god stop my country economy inflation :P

Well, thank you guys for helping me(?) :P ... no more OCs for this baby.

If you still have it and want to do some troubleshooting, perhaps with system specs we could be of some assistance. Let us know what you're working with.

[hokiealumnus]

On another note, I'm not sure what you all are complaining about. Can't speak to quads, but for duals this board is great. Not sure I'd want to pay $160 for it, but for $105 OB from Newegg, this is one of the best purchases I've made in the last year. With little to no effort, I've gotten stable results like these:

This is where I fold 24/7; temps don't breach 50c (absolutel love E0 stepping!)


This is as far as I've taken it for stability, only for lack of time.


For the heck of it and b/c I'm still wary of high Vcore on 45nm chips, I decided to see how high I could get (unstable) with 1.465Vcore (+.250 in BIOS) and came up with this.

Validation.

The lack of finer Vcore adjustments, especially for a board at the $160 price point is definitely a valid beef. I have hope they'll address that in a future BIOS. If not, thankfully, I'm as high as I want to be for 24/7 operation so it's not relevant to me. That's certainly an understandable concern however. Aside from that, I see no problems at all and truly can't understand the vitriol being spat by some in this thread. To top everything off, it even looks pretty; who can argue with that?.

[Pekalion]

Yeah right, I completly forgot to update the firm xD

CPU: E8500 BATCH Q814A161 SLAPK
MEMs: Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB PC2-8500 1066Mhz AA1065.16FD5
MOTHER: Biostar TPOWER I45 v5.1 last bios, I already check it.
VGA: Zogis 8600GT 512MB DDR2
PSU: PowerCooler 550W Type-R
HHDs: Hitachi Deskstar 160GB and WD AAJS 160GB both SATAII
CPU cooler: Sunbeamtech Core Contact Freezer

Running on Windows XP SP2

Now Im running the pc without problems, but I want to start benching and doing some OC but, the two times I tryed doing some OC, this wierd thing happend to me... That's my pc for now, but if problems keep showing up, I will send this mother to rma and never again will buy a biostar

[hokiealumnus]

What have you tried so far? That setup should OC decently. First, to start with the simple stuff, have you set your Vdimm to Crucial's recommended value? If not, do so. What DDR2 Rcomp Config are you using? #3 works the best for me, FWIW.

[Pekalion]

First I tryed the silly way, setting all voltages to Auto and trying to reach 3.5GHz with that, setting mems to dont pull over 1000Mhz, and problems started that, so I dont really know what to touch for dont having that problem.

[Logger]

I orginally posted on page 6 of this thread, I was Ready and Willing..
But apparently not quite Able

But I am back, with the TPower I45 and some excellant Redline Mushkin Ram and E8600 that is nothing special but it does boot.

I really have to thank Ace for his hardwork and the rest of the crew.
I like the board and the bios overall, except for the voltage settings, it is a little coarse, sorta of reminds me of double overproof shots of Rum, you just don't know what the hell is going to happen, but rest assured somenthing will.

I will post some sreenshots shots as soon as I figure out how to post some sreenshots.
I think the only real problem I had was my Sound Blaster Card, stopped working after I updated to SP3. So I dumped the Creative dr.s and started using the kX Audio Driver. I like the kX 's small footprint. It can be found here
http://download.kxproject.lugosoft.com/

Thanks for listening to my wobegone tale,
More to come.

Logger

[Shiranui Gen-An]

Why that RAM, I could go for the same speed for less, or surely go for something faster, like this?
http://www.memoryc.com/computermemor...reapercl5.html
?

The Cellshock has Micron D9GMH chips which should clock much higher than whatever it is OCZ is using these days. OCZ stopped using Micron since January of this year.

[DonNiger]

Has anybody tested the new (beta) bios? Any feedback?

[hokiealumnus]

Lvcoyote did, couldn't tell much of a difference besides adding the ability to turn off the IDE controller. I just haven't had time, but will when I get a chance.

[Ace-a-Rue]

Yeah right, I completly forgot to update the firm xD

CPU: E8500 BATCH Q814A161 SLAPK
MEMs: Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB PC2-8500 1066Mhz AA1065.16FD5
MOTHER: Biostar TPOWER I45 v5.1 last bios, I already check it.
VGA: Zogis 8600GT 512MB DDR2
PSU: PowerCooler 550W Type-R
HHDs: Hitachi Deskstar 160GB and WD AAJS 160GB both SATAII
CPU cooler: Sunbeamtech Core Contact Freezer

Running on Windows XP SP2

Now Im running the pc without problems, but I want to start benching and doing some OC but, the two times I tryed doing some OC, this wierd thing happend to me... That's my pc for now, but if problems keep showing up, I will send this mother to rma and never again will buy a biostar

have you tried other ram?...crucial can be real fussy with some boards.

[Pekalion]

Hi Im back and with really good news. Seems like having troubles only when I leave the voltage settings to auto, but when I pick them manually, no problems OCing Right now I have set like this for a 4.0Ghz but is not stable, I ran Prime with his last version and it throw me error after 5 minutes.

CPU V: +0.125
DDR V: +0.150
Chip V: +0.125
FSB V: +0.100
GTL 1: 0.63
GTL 2: 0.63
MCH: Auto
PLL: 1.6V

And the configuration was like this:
Ratio: x9.5
Count Retry: 3
FSB: 420
FSB Bsel: 1333
DRAM Freq: DDR2 1008Mhz
DDR2 Enhance: Auto

I havent touch any other settings atm, but I figure that I will increase some of chipset and fsb voltage and drop a little bit the multiplier and take up the FSB parameter.

If you have a good, not excesive config to reach a rock solid 4.0ghz 24/7 im all ears :P

[ghost_recon88]

I'm also having a hard time getting my E8600 ES P95 stable over 4.5GHz I've tried upping the vcore to 1.40 and above and it makes no difference.

450x10
CPU voltage: 1.360
NB/SB: 1.28
DDR voltage: 2.2
FSB voltage: 1.296
CPU PLL: 1.5
CPU core 1 and 2 GTL Ref Voltage: .67x
MCH GTL Ref Voltage: Auto
DRAM RCOMP Configuration: Configuration 2

I'm running with 2x1GB of Ballistix D9GMH BTW

[hokiealumnus]

Hi Im back and with really good news. Seems like having troubles only when I leave the voltage settings to auto, but when I pick them manually, no problems OCing Right now I have set like this for a 4.0Ghz but is not stable, I ran Prime with his last version and it throw me error after 5 minutes.

CPU V: +0.125
DDR V: +0.150
Chip V: +0.125
FSB V: +0.100
GTL 1: 0.63
GTL 2: 0.63
MCH: Auto
PLL: 1.6V

And the configuration was like this:
Ratio: x9.5
Count Retry: 3
FSB: 420
FSB Bsel: 1333
DRAM Freq: DDR2 1008Mhz
DDR2 Enhance: Auto

I havent touch any other settings atm, but I figure that I will increase some of chipset and fsb voltage and drop a little bit the multiplier and take up the FSB parameter.

If you have a good, not excesive config to reach a rock solid 4.0ghz 24/7 im all ears :P

Try leaving FSB voltage on Auto, that seems to work for me since I haven't had time to play with it and see what my OC's actually take. It's probably delivering more than is necessary; I'll work on reducing it one of these days.

You shouldn't need any extra PLL voltage at that OC, even with a C0 chip. Could be Vcore. My old E8500 C0 took 1.32v for 4Ghz stable, where my E8400 E0 only takes 1.27v (both figures after Vdroop).

You could also try adjusting your CPU clock skew up a little, say to 200ps (it's under Clock Gen Configuration).

[acileli]

Got up this morning to find out my PC doesnt want to boot up anymore. If anyone here has any advise I'd be much obliged. She powers on, fans spin up, led's on, post code first at 78 then gets stuck at 85 accompanied by a single beep. Monitor never wakes up and it doesnt sound like the hd's spin up. So far I've tried clearing CMOS several times, powering on with 1 stick of RAM, unplugging HD's and other peripherals with no luck. She was running non-oc'd with stock settings for the last couple weeks after I had to reinstall Windows. My gut feeling tells me the mobo is done for, but I'd be happy to try anyone's suggestions before buying a replacement.

Biostar I45
OCZ 4gb ddr2
EVGA 9800gx2
QX9650

[DoomSayer]

Try leaving FSB voltage on Auto, that seems to work for me since I haven't had time to play with it and see what my OC's actually take. It's probably delivering more than is necessary; I'll work on reducing it one of these days.

You shouldn't need any extra PLL voltage at that OC, even with a C0 chip. Could be Vcore. My old E8500 C0 took 1.32v for 4Ghz stable, where my E8400 E0 only takes 1.27v (both figures after Vdroop).

You could also try adjusting your CPU clock skew up a little, say to 200ps (it's under Clock Gen Configuration).

My oc only went stable after i upped the fsb voltage.
Just shows how different every system is i guess.

[Pekalion]

Okey guys, how you say when some one drop his orin on you? Pissed? Anyway, Im like that by a huge amounts of dinosaurs...

Take a look at this, it couldnt finish 15 minutes of Prime...

CPU V: +0.250
DDR V: +0.150
Chip V: +0.325
FSB V: +0.225
GTL 1: 0.63
GTL 2: 0.63
MCH: 0.59
PLL: 1.6V

CPU Clock Skew: 200ps
MCH Clock Skew: 300ps
CPU Clock Driving: 1000

RCOMP: C3
tRead: 10T
Timmings: 5-5-5-15-6-48-3-3-3-14-5-5-5-8-4-11
RC: 2600T

Multi: x9
FSB: 445
FSB Bsel: 1333
FSB Comp: Disable
DRAM Freq: DDR2 1068mhz
DDR2 Enhance: Auto

My E8500 vid is about 1.175, wich actually sucks. With that configuration, I cant pass throw 15 mins of Prime at Large FTT. I was lucky and finish a 3Dmark2001, but nothing more.

Can someone tell me what Im doing wrong? Because I cant believe that this micro cant reach a stable 4.0ghz... everyone seems to pull their 8x00 to 4.0ghz and let them rock solid but not me.

And, sorry for my horrible english =P

[PolRoger]

On another note, I'm not sure what you all are complaining about. Can't speak to quads, but for duals this board is great. Not sure I'd want to pay $160 for it, but for $105 OB from Newegg, this is one of the best purchases I've made in the last year. With little to no effort, I've gotten stable results like these:

This is where I fold 24/7; temps don't breach 50c (absolutel love E0 stepping!)


This is as far as I've taken it for stability, only for lack of time.


For the heck of it and b/c I'm still wary of high Vcore on 45nm chips, I decided to see how high I could get (unstable) with 1.465Vcore (+.250 in BIOS) and came up with this.

Validation.

The lack of finer Vcore adjustments, especially for a board at the $160 price point is definitely a valid beef. I have hope they'll address that in a future BIOS. If not, thankfully, I'm as high as I want to be for 24/7 operation so it's not relevant to me. That's certainly an understandable concern however. Aside from that, I see no problems at all and truly can't understand the vitriol being spat by some in this thread. To top everything off, it even looks pretty; who can argue with that?.

I agree with you this was my first P45 board and I still like it... and yes Biostar could improve things with a BIOS update... to include work on compatibilty with some brands of memory.

[PolRoger]

Okey guys, how you say when some one drop his orin on you? Pissed? Anyway, Im like that by a huge amounts of dinosaurs...

Take a look at this, it couldnt finish 15 minutes of Prime...

CPU V: +0.250
DDR V: +0.150
Chip V: +0.325
FSB V: +0.225
GTL 1: 0.63
GTL 2: 0.63
MCH: 0.59
PLL: 1.6V

CPU Clock Skew: 200ps
MCH Clock Skew: 300ps
CPU Clock Driving: 1000

RCOMP: C3
tRead: 10T
Timmings: 5-5-5-15-6-48-3-3-3-14-5-5-5-8-4-11
RC: 2600T

Multi: x9
FSB: 445
FSB Bsel: 1333
FSB Comp: Disable
DRAM Freq: DDR2 1068mhz
DDR2 Enhance: Auto

My E8500 vid is about 1.175, wich actually sucks. With that configuration, I cant pass throw 15 mins of Prime at Large FTT. I was lucky and finish a 3Dmark2001, but nothing more.

Can someone tell me what Im doing wrong? Because I cant believe that this micro cant reach a stable 4.0ghz... everyone seems to pull their 8x00 to 4.0ghz and let them rock solid but not me.

And, sorry for my horrible english =P

Try running a 1/1 memory ratio DDR2-890 to see if you can get it stabilized. I have some sticks of memory that don't like to run over 1000mhz on my TPower.

If it works you should be able to back off of some of those voltages and tighten up your tREAD. I don't think you need clock skew at 445fsb and the clock driving could be set to default.

I see you have tried RCOMP2 and RCOMP3... you should test all 4 to see which one works best with your memory especially for high fsb and or high memory speeds.

[hokiealumnus]

Ok, loaded the beta BIOS today at lunch. I was in a hurry and totally forgot to look at whether there are finer voltage increments. I'm very pleased to verify you can turn off the PATA controller and the stupid Marvell RAID message is gone. Additionally, I did note there are now five DDR2 Rcomp configurations. Anyway, here's a hastily cropped CPUz SS; build date is apparently 11/3/08, which is what it shows in the BIOS boot screen as well.

[Pekalion]

Okey, if I understood well what you told Pol, I get the mems to the lowest as possible and let the Clock Skew and the Clock Driving at Auto?

I will dress up and try! Damn, 32º of temp in my country, I think that I will test at the night or with the a/c on :P

[BababooeyHTJ]

Okey guys, how you say when some one drop his orin on you? Pissed? Anyway, Im like that by a huge amounts of dinosaurs...

Take a look at this, it couldnt finish 15 minutes of Prime...

CPU V: +0.250
DDR V: +0.150
Chip V: +0.325
FSB V: +0.225
GTL 1: 0.63
GTL 2: 0.63
MCH: 0.59
PLL: 1.6V

CPU Clock Skew: 200ps
MCH Clock Skew: 300ps
CPU Clock Driving: 1000

RCOMP: C3
tRead: 10T
Timmings: 5-5-5-15-6-48-3-3-3-14-5-5-5-8-4-11
RC: 2600T

Multi: x9
FSB: 445
FSB Bsel: 1333
FSB Comp: Disable
DRAM Freq: DDR2 1068mhz
DDR2 Enhance: Auto

My E8500 vid is about 1.175, wich actually sucks. With that configuration, I cant pass throw 15 mins of Prime at Large FTT. I was lucky and finish a 3Dmark2001, but nothing more.

Can someone tell me what Im doing wrong? Because I cant believe that this micro cant reach a stable 4.0ghz... everyone seems to pull their 8x00 to 4.0ghz and let them rock solid but not me.

And, sorry for my horrible english =P

Dont feel too bad my e8400 has a vid of 1.225 and is a pretty bad clocker. A 1.75 vid is really good actually. You might just have a poor performing chip. First of all leave your ram at a 1:1 ratio. You can try to overclock that later. You want to minimize what could be the issue and if your failing large fft that sounds more like a memory issue to me. Set your GTLs to auto. The MCH GTL typicly should be higher than the cpu gtls so that could also be part of your problem. Leave the clock skew and stuff like that alone for now. Most importantly read up on what all of your bios settings do and how a 775 chip works. Your probably throwing voltage at things that dont need it.Your NBv is really high you shouldnt need a 1.6 pll. Just do a little research and it will help you alot. Good luck

[PolRoger]

Okey, if I understood well what you told Pol, I get the mems to the lowest as possible and let the Clock Skew and the Clock Driving at Auto?

I will dress up and try! Damn, 32º of temp in my country, I think that I will test at the night or with the a/c on :P

On my Biostar TP45 HP with E8400-C0 which runs very much like my TPower I45 I'm running...

445x9

CPU: +.08750v (1.320v)
NB/MCH: +.125v (1.208v)
FSB/VTT: +.125v (1.224v)
DDR: auto (~2.016v)

Core1 GTL Ref: 63x
Core2 GTL Ref: 67x
MCH GTL Ref: auto
CPU PLL: 1.5

If I were running my E8600 I can do 445x9 with cpu vcore: ~1.250v