**Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 OC-Tips-Bios-Discussion Thread**

[Intratech]

my rams not passing memtest at 1600mhz, stock latency. its only bios version v2 do u think an upgrade will fix it? people have been having problems with corsiar ram on these boards, but its mostly at higher clocks...

BIOS F4 improves RAM compatibility so best to update and see what happens. What RAM do you have?

[Azzaparty]

yeah i just updated to f4, getting a lot less errors than before, i had thousands before and now after testing 100% on pass 1 i had only 249. is this acceptable or should i try eliminate all errors? remember im not a bencher the most i do with this rig is a couple of hours a night playing arma 2 and maybe 3 nights a week. those tests were at 4.2

ram is corsair dominator gt 1600 3x2gb 7-7-7-20

im doing a run now on stock to see if i have 0 errors, then i can rule out hardware fail which is unlikey but better to know.

when i tested with 4.6 is gave me more errors than at 4.2, why is that?
what do i need to tweak to stabilze ram when reaching for higher clocks?

[Sam_oslo]

You have to pass memtest without any error, otherwise you can get random BSOD anytime.

Use Vdimm=1.65v and VVT=1.32v or 1.34v and run memtest, if it doesn't help use loose timing until you pass the memtest.

[OC Nub]

Has anyone seen an actual fried/dead i7? I tried searching for it and couldn't find anything.

I'm about to install my NH-D14 and do a new round of overclocking... I think I'm going to go as far as under 1.5v vcore and under 100C will take me... ?

I dont think the vcore will hurt the chip at all, but 100c would make me nervous.

[phsinc1]

anyone is using DVID without problem?

I just upgraded my bios yesterday and I enabled DVID but today I waked up and I found PC is freeze just on the desktop and I have to reset it.

PC was running fine with F2 (no dvid in this bios) 24/7

[KorbenD]

Quick question, are you able to boot from the SATA 3.0 ports? I heard that on the x58a-UD5 you cant...

Yes, you can. Worked fine with a Seagate 7200.12 1GB drive.

[zalbard]

Has anyone seen an actual fried/dead i7? I tried searching for it and couldn't find anything.

I'm about to install my NH-D14 and do a new round of overclocking... I think I'm going to go as far as under 1.5v vcore and under 100C will take me... ?

Getting stable at temperatures higher than 85C will be very hard. Not to mention running the chip at 80C+ (under load) daily will kill it in a short while for sure.
Stick to 95C as absolute max for LinX imo, 90 if you want to play it safe and ensure your CPU's long life.

[Sam_oslo]

Quick question, are you able to boot from the SATA 3.0 ports? I heard that on the x58a-UD5 you cant...

Yes, you can. Worked fine with a Seagate 7200.12 1GB drive.

My Vertex boots fine on SATA3 port too, but I couldn't see any performance increase or any other benefits.

You can boot on SATA3 port, but you need a SSD with real SATA3-controller to take advantages of it.

[FeRaL]

My Vertex boots fine on SATA3 port too, but I couldn't see any performance increase or any other benefits.

You can boot on SATA3 port, but you need a SSD with real SATA3-controller to take advantages of it.

Awesome, I did a little research on the UD5 and it looks like they updated their manual to show that you need to make a driver floppy/flash drive to install the Marvell drivers for the OS installation.

Not sure which one I will get between the UD7 and UD5 but the $50 difference makes me lean towards the UD5 at this point. Not too keen on the whole NB cooler setup for the UD7.

Thanks for you replies guys!

[Sam_oslo]

I installed w7 on Vertex connected to SATA-port#1 (which is SATA2), and then installed the Marvell drivers from the CD/download.
Later, I moved the drive to SATA-port#7 (which is SATA3), and then W7 installed the driver for the port, and asked for a reboot. It worked just fine without the need for updating any file from floppy or USB.

[nyeah]

Awesome, I did a little research on the UD5 and it looks like they updated their manual to show that you need to make a driver floppy/flash drive to install the Marvell drivers for the OS installation.

Not sure which one I will get between the UD7 and UD5 but the $50 difference makes me lean towards the UD5 at this point. Not too keen on the whole NB cooler setup for the UD7.

Thanks for you replies guys!

well $50 not only for NB cooler, you know

[LarsMarkelson]

Getting stable at temperatures higher than 85C will be very hard. Not to mention running the chip at 80C+ (under load) daily will kill it in a short while for sure.
Stick to 95C as absolute max for LinX imo, 90 if you want to play it safe and ensure your CPU's long life.

I'm curious why you think this is true? Just general experience with other processors? Especially the part about running it at 80C+ under load daily = killing it soon?

[zalbard]

I'm curious why you think this is true? Just general experience with other processors? Especially the part about running it at 80C+ under load daily = killing it soon?

It's the same old silicon like in other CPUs and GPUs and degradation because of high temperatures is nothing new, a few people on these forums got their i7s killed already... Keeping the temps under 80C under load daily (LinX temps are usually higher) is recommended for most chips. I think Intel actually mentioned 65C as max temp for their i7 CPUs, but this is obviously a bit hard to achieve. ~75C sounds about right.
Besides, look at all 4600MHz+ overclocks. These people keep their temps under 70C, otherwise it gets unstable in 70-75C range. Getting the hint?

[LarsMarkelson]

Interesting. Never heard that people's 4.6g+ overclocks get unstable above 70C. Thanks for the info.

Do you think doing a 6 hour long test on Linx at 90C is dangerous? I've pretty much done it already... I never get anywhere near close to that in my daily use, never above 85C in daily use.

[OC Nub]

Interesting. Never heard that people's 4.6g+ overclocks get unstable above 70C. Thanks for the info.

Do you think doing a 6 hour long test on Linx at 90C is dangerous? I've pretty much done it already... I never get anywhere near close to that in my daily use, never above 85C in daily use.

On my q9650 I could pass 4500mhz at 1.392vcore, as long as cpu temp stayed around 70c or below, if the temps got much higher it would fail blend with the same voltages.

I would NOT run any 6hr stability test at 90c. If your temps are to high for blend or LinX, use other tests to get an idea of some stability such as hyper pi, and maybe run some Crysis benches.

[Sam_oslo]

I don't mind running long Prime at low vCore and low temp. I often use it to get a burn inn effect that can have a good effect on CPU too. But why push the system when it is running on the edge of the cooling ability? Specially LinX which is really brutal on CPU.

[zalbard]

Do you think doing a 6 hour long test on Linx at 90C is dangerous? I've pretty much done it already... I never get anywhere near close to that in my daily use, never above 85C in daily use.

Nah, it's fine. Just don't do that every day for weeks.
Real world temps are usually at least 10c lower than when LinX is running anyway.

[Azzaparty]

hey thanks for that, ive got the ram at 1600mhz 9-9-9-24 2t and it passed memtest (1pass) 100%.
u reckon i should leave it longer or does the test just repeat itself?
also with intel burn test it was stable with a 5 run but not with 10, with what i want the comp for should i worry bout this?
theres no way ill ever hit 100% load- maybe a lil over 50% for a couple hours at one given time but that would be max

[CryptiK]

Fresh new 10 run LinX. Some Optimization from last run, ended up with following for now:

VVT = Vcore = 1.34v
QPI PLL = IOH Core = ICH Core = 1.14v

W3520 @4.51GHZ(215x21) 1.34v
http://img.techpowerup.org/100107/Ca...0-20100107.jpg

Excellent result & CPU you have there Sam.

[SteveRo]

I am putting together UD7/W3520 with 3x2GB Corsair Dominator GT 2000 C7 (CMG6GX3M3A2000C7) this weekend.
Chilling with Apogee XT and 2xBoreas in series.
What is the recommended bios?
Please post the link for DL.
Wish me luck - I will post back results.
Thanks!

[Sam_oslo]

F4 would be your best bet .. download

Excellent result & CPU you have there Sam.

Thx, yeah getting there

[yenclas]

Hello !

I'm new owner of this motheboard and i7 920 D0 with GSKILL Trident 3x2Gb 2000.

Put vcore at 1,3v for 4,0Ghz (not triend down yet).

My temps at full load with a Megalhems Rev B and Nexus in RealTemp are

63, 61, 61, 57

Is this correct ? I see 7ºC difference between first and last core.

Is it possible to put this memory to 2000Mhz with this motheboard ?

Thank you very much and sorry by my bad English

[Intratech]

The temperature variations are normal but I've not seen that wide of a variation with either my 920 or w3520. Are you sure your TIM was distributed evenly and that the HSF assembly was correctly installed?

If your memory was rated to run at 2000MHz then I cannot see why it wouldn't run it on this motherboard.

[jacek]

Hello !

I'm new owner of this motheboard and i7 920 D0 with GSKILL Trident 3x2Gb 2000.
Is it possible to put this memory to 2000Mhz with this motheboard ?

Thank you very much and sorry by my bad English

yes, it is possible

[yenclas]

yes, it is possible

Thank you !

Can you post your bios template please ?