EP45-DS3L POST loops, crashes, dead video

[Guvnah]

Hello everybody

I have been waiting for a couple days to hear back from Gigabyte regarding my issues, but apparently they haven't even read my message yet. This is frustrating. I have built a few boxes in my time, but I'm no expert and I have never had the headaches I am having with this mobo. I'm not trying to OC or go nuts, I just want a stable box.

The story so far: I bought a new collection of parts from NewEgg, and put together the box. I installed XP, went to the Windows update site and updated everything to SP3. So far so good.

I thought everything was OK, but then I downloaded one of the ATI demos to check out my new graphics card. Everything started fine, the demo ran fine, then poof- reboot. I got it back up and running and checked BIOS settings- I had everything set to default, and I noticed the memory voltage was lower than the specs on my RAM, and raised it to 2V. So far so good.

I started migrating all the crap (pictures, music, etc) from a portable USB HD. So far so good. But when I started to look at the picture folder (with thumbnail view enabled with a LOT of pictures) poof- reboot. Then I started to get frustrated.

I limped along like this for a couple days, hoping I could figure out what I did wrong, and I found that if I left the machine running, I would find it with the monitors black. I would still get system sounds, though. This required a few ugly power cycles. I checked to make sure the video drivers were up to date. At this stage I suspected energy save settings so I disabled sleep for everything. Then things started to get really bad.

I heard the POST beep from the next room, and thought "OK, that's it." So I shut the machine off, expecting to go back to it the next day. Only when the next day came, I couldn't boot up- it would start to load Windows then reboot. At this stage, I thought I had a power supply issue- that's the only thing I've ever seen cause issues like that, and that was the only thing I had skimped on (it was 500w, but it was the freebie that came with the case.) So I went out and bought a 700w monster, put it in, and had the same problems. It seemed to get worse over time- until it just rebooted without even finishing the POST.

So I thought that maybe Windows had corrupted- it had been rebooting a bit. So I reinstalled Windows SP2, but this time I left it default- no updates. And everything seemed fine. So far so good. I set all the BIOS pages to the F6 "failsafe" settings and started setting everything up again. This time, everything went to hell quickly. And the last time I tried to get it running, I couldn't even access the BIOS- the screen would give me the "Backup BIOS checksum error" message and it would just try to go through its paces, but it just did this in a loop.

So here I sit, with a jumper on the clear CMOS pins, looking for answers. I have a FAT usb flash drive with the F8 version of the BIOS ready to go for the QFlash. And I have read here that I should boot with just 1 ram stick in, then change the BIOS RAM settings. But I have to say I'm starting to get really frustrated and wonder if I got a bum mobo, or if I'm just not doing something right.

HELP ME PLEASE! Should I QFlash or not? And what BIOS settings should I use for a safe and stable box?

EP45 DS3L mobo
E7200 cpu with Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro fan
GSkill DDR2 1066 PC2-8500 1GBx2 (in slots 1 and 3)
ATI (Visiontek) HD 4850
Rocketfish 700w power supply
WD 640 GB HD 7200 RPM SATA

[auroa]

Re: EP45-DS3L POST loops, crashes, dead video

Flashing the bios is pretty much a crapshoot. But if your computer is already unstable and you've exhausted all other solutions then I guess you have nothing to lose.

You can see what another member and I are going through after updating the bios in another thread here: http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/ep43...-update-27623/

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: EP45-DS3L POST loops, crashes, dead video

Yes, you should Qflash to the latest NON beta or one below that that supports your CPU. You may use F4 -F8, but none below
GIGABYTE - Support - Motherboard - BIOS - GA-EP45-DS3L (rev. 1.0)

Then load optimized defaults and reboot back into the BIOS and make any disk changes you need to set again. Then load windows. Then reboot back into the BIOS and try the suggested settings I provide below.

Please look over my Flash guide if you are unsure about any aspect of Qflash >>>

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/bios-flashing-how-qflash-guide-27576/

I would suspect if you were using Auto for ram timings that Static tRead was set to low, or you left Performance Enhance on Turbo. And you may need some ICH voltage added for that GFX Card

Try this for stock settings for your CPU and ram set to 1066 >>>>

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: [AUTO]
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 9
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................: .5
CPU Frequency ...........................: 2.53GHZ (9.5 X 266 = 2.527)


Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 266Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:Set to 100


Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................:800mv
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: 900mv
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: <<<
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: <<<


DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....: Disabled
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [266 or 333] << Try 333 first, as 266 may not give a 4.0 ram multi below

System Memory Multiplier ..............: 4.00
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 1064MHz
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................5
tRCD .........................................5
tRP'...........................................5
tRAS..........................................15/18

Advanced Timing Control
tRRD...........................................3-4
tWTR..........................................3-6 (Also test 9-12)
tWR............................................3-6 (Also test 10-14)
tRFC...........................................38-42 for 2x1GB 52-62 for 2x2GB
tRTP...........................................3-6
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:2

Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................:7-10
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:<<< Leave for all below as well
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps

Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................:7-10
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:<<< Leave for all below as well
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps

Motherboard Voltage Control
Voltage Type.………... Manual
CPU
CPU Vcore….……….........................: Auto or Normal
CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*.......: <<< Leave
CPU PLL…………………....1.500V*.......: <<< Leave
CPU Referen.…………....0.755V*.......: <<< Leave
CPU Reference2………,,0.800V*.......:<<< Leave

MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….....1.100V...........: << 1.2V for stability 1.25-1.3 for 2x2GB
MCH Reference….…….0.800V...........; <<< Leave
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V...........: <<< Leave
ICH I/O……………….....1.550V............: <<< Leave
ICH Core…………...……1.100V............: <<< try 1.2-1.3 this is Southbridge, may need more voltage for your GFX card. MAX is 1.5

DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....1.800V............: 2.0-2.1V <<<Manually set to the spec on your ram sticker, likely 2.0-2.1V

DRAM Termination .…0.900V............: <<< Leave
Channel A Reference 0.900V............: <<< Leave
Channel B Reference 0.900V............: <<< Leave

Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support....................: [Disabled]
x C4/C4E State Support..................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: [Disabled]

[Guvnah]

Re: EP45-DS3L POST loops, crashes, dead video

Thanks for the input- I will try this after work. Fingers crossed!

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: EP45-DS3L POST loops, crashes, dead video

Good luck, Post back if you dont get things going.