Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

I use both of those, and I suggest them both as well. Others would be PCMark05, 3DMark06, Furmark, lightsmark The latter 3 are for GFX benchmarks mostly.

Furmark and lightsmark are free, the others have trial I believe but would likely not be so great in Trial format. Same with SiSandra and Everest Utlimate

[MrBlob]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Awesome - thank you so much!

Lsdmeasap =

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Anytime, let me know if you need some links for any of that

[MrBlob]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Nah, Google should be able to help me out on the linkage front.

Yesterday you wrote "1.5 MAX for 65NM CPU", regarding Vcore. Is that 1.5v in the BIOS, or 1.5v in a Windows-based voltage reading, such as from CPU-Z?

At the moment I'm running 1.5v in BIOS, but CPU-Z says 1.44v - can I keep pushing it up (assuming my temps stay below 65 - this is the max safe temp for Core 2 Duos, from memory) until CPU-Z says 1.5v?

Also, if I'm running the Orthos prime CPU test and it's failing, will increasing the CPU Vcore improve the stability? And is that the only way, besides reducing the FSB?

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

In windows at Idle in CPU-z. It is not so much a rule as a community based overall opinion for the 65NM CPU's. Intel spec max is 1.45ish. Your BIOS to windows voltage drop is called Vdrop, and the voltage drop from Idle to load is called Vdroop. Just so you know incase you ask someone about it sometime

Temps are what matter mainly though, I mean if you are on water and set 1.6 in the BIOS you can run it that way for a while if you like long as your temps are good.

Ya, you would want to stay below 65-70C core temps for a 65nm CPU, 70 would be getting pretty hot

Well Orthos has some different tests, which are you running? Blend, Small FFT, Large FFT?

If it is failing on blend (Default I think) it could be your ram or CPU, best to test only the CPU using small or large FFT's Then yes, if that fails you need more CPU Voltage likely

What CPU Freq are you running at with 1.44 in windows?

[MrBlob]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Yeah, sorry, I was talking about the Small FFTs test.

I'm running 3.36 GHz @ idle Vcore of 1.44 (as reported by CPU-Z).

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Well if it is Small FFT's you either are failing because of heat, or Not enough Vcore. If you dont think heat then bump the vcore up a notch and try again

How long will it run before it errors as it is now?

[MrBlob]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Before I ran it for 15 minutes, then I paused it to check what the Vdroop was, and when I started it up again it failed after a few minutes.

From past C2D OCing experiences, it seems I have to jack up the Vcore about 0.025v for every 40MHz CPU freq increase (5MHz FSB*8).

That was weird...I just increased the BIOS Vcore from 1.5125 to 1.525, and now the idle reading in CPU-Z is 1.213. When I start up Orthos Small FFTs it shows 1.44v...

Isn't it supposed to drop during load? And does that seem like a massive difference to you? Maybe CPU-Z is wrong?

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Ahh well the pause could have caused that maybe?

No need to pause it, you can use your system normally once it gets going (Sometimes when you first start it it will be sluggish, but should resume normal usage speed shortly after you get it running)

Well some voltage ranges vary at how much the drop is, and also in how it affects Vdro and Vdroop.... But yeah it should be the other way around

Like 1.525 set in BIOS, 1.45 idle in windows (Vdrop) and 1.41 at load (Vdroop) along those lines. I have never seen it go up at load though like you are saying, are you sure you noticed it right? HAHA

CPU-z is not wrong, but likely your board is compensating for the voltages needed. Vdrop and Vdroop is a VERY complicated Thing made by Intel for various reasons. Got some time? >>>
Intel Processor Power Delivery Design Guidelines and Specifications: Vdroop Explained - The Tech Repository Forums

And here is another fine writeup there >>>

http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=195

[MrBlob]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

OK, so I've got it stable at 3.36GHz and I figure I'll leave it there for a few days to make sure it's fine in standard operation.

I'll keep pushing up the FSB till something goes wrong (won't boot, doesn't pass Memtest or Orthos, temps get too high, idle Vcore in Windows goes above 1.5), but after that, I'm guessing the best thing I can do to improve the speeds is to tighten up the multitude of memory sub-timings, yeah? Are there any in particular that I should play with first?

And is it valid to use MemSet in conjunction with Orthos Blend (and then Memtest it every so often) to change the sub-timings and then check the stability of the memory?

BTW, I updated CPU-Z (from v1.40 to v1.47) and it turns out the Vcore readings were wrong - so for anyone reading this, make sure you have the latest version!

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Well it is a good starting point for a while. You may just need a better cooler to get higher

Well I would say get Static tRead as low as you can get it likely 6-8 (6 may hard fail so expect it) then start lowering the rest slowly one at a time from the top of subtimings.

Well anytime you raise your FSB or any other timings you can affect memory so best to always run memtest86+ when you make changes. Orthos is for when you are SURE your ram is pretty stable

I run test #2 & #5 mostly for a hour or so each if I think something may be unstable. Then if stable you can run overnight while you sleep if you want. Or see if orthos FFT tests pass for CPU tests. If so Then see how long Orthos Blend will run (Tests RAM And CPU)

[MrBlob]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Yeah, I always run Memtest86+ whenever I increase the FSB - ten minutes on #5 and then an hour on #2.

I tried for 3.4GHz,it booted fine and Memtested fine, but when it came to Orthos blending it failed after 26 minutes. I tried increasing the RAM Voltage and it failed after 1h 34m, then I increased the MCH voltage and it failed after 2h 10m. I'm guessing I'd have to lower the main memory timings to get it stable, which is disappointing because it's only running @ 1020MHz (2.4*425).

I figured I'd try the 400 FSB strap again, with 6-6-6-18 as you suggested and a 400MHz FSB with 2.66 as the SMM (1066MHz, which my memory is rated at), but it wouldn't boot. I dropped them again, just for the hell of it, to 7-7-7-21, and it really didn't like it - system started turning on and off, apparently indefinitely (called power-cycling, I think).

I tried upping the RAM and MCH voltage, and then increasing the FSB to 405, but none of that helped either. It's a little frustrating to have bought memory that's rated at 1066, 5-5-5-15 and not be able to run it at that, but maybe I'm still doing something wrong. Perhaps I should head over to the OCZ forums.

Thanks for the guidance about the sub-timings - I'll give that a shot soon :)

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Should do more on Test #5 as opposed to #2. If it is going to fail it will more then likely fail on 5 then 2.

And of course when you have time or change a few things it is always good to run a full test or more when you are not using your PC

Hmm, Orthos blend fails for you eh but memtest it fine? Well how long was this particular memtest, and did you do a full test as well? Without doing a long/and or full tests you will not be sure it is not your ram causing Orthos to fail. Once you are SURE your ram is fine but Orthos blend fails, then see if orthos will pass small and or large FFT's. If so then your ram may still need a few more changes. If orthos fails Small/LKarge FFT's then you need some work on your CPU setting

Well you should not be NEEDING to run 666 or 777 with your ram, so I would think from those thoughts you posted that you may need more CPU Vcore. And yes, please keep trying 405 or so instead of 400 it may be better a bit above 400. And did you try this same settings with everything else but keep 333 on MCH latch?

[rwsmith]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Hi All,

I have this board and Q-Flash can't see the BIOS file on my thumb drive (FAT32) to flash an upgrade. It sees the 8GB drive as a Floppy A but does not see the ep45ds3r.9f file when I drill down into the device. I have Legacy USB enabled. I do not have a floppy drive.

Any ideas? I need to upgrade for various issues but especially for a Sapphire 4850 video card... lots of blue screens with Vista x64 reporting that driver as the culprit. Others on the web w/the same config report stability after upgrading to F7 or above.

Thanks!

Randy

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Just Brought GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R

Have you moved/copied the DATA off the drive and tried reformatting it to FAT32 again? Do you have a smaller USB drive? If so try it out, some brands/type of USB drives do have issues.

If you still get no where, please see my Pinned guide about flashing and Qflash for some other methods you can use to flash with