GA-EP45-DS4 new build

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Nice to see! I missed your post till now about GPU-z. That looks correct.

As for Hw monitor you should use CoreTemp to see your Core temps and that is all you need to worry about

The cores will always be different amount because they are always doing different work. And idle temps dont really matter so much unless they are really hot. It is your Core Temps at load that you have to worry about

[krishcanag]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Ya, that would have loaded them.

You can see your BIOS version from the BIOS MAIN page hit F9. Or you can see it in windows with CPU-z in the Mainboard tab.

I was pressing F9 when main BIOS page came up, nothing happens excpet it takes longer to start loading XP. I tried going into BIOS via DEL and then F8, which displayed q-flash and it is running I think SST 25VF080B, so is that F08?

why do you think cannot go into q-flash of main screen, it says at the bottom press F9 for q-flash!! as you said.

krishan

[krishcanag]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Oh I forgot to mention one thing, anyone buying an Antec P182 should be aware, if you buy a GPU as long as the 260gtx YOU CANNOT PUT HARD DISKS IN THE CENTRE CAGE!!. My hard disk is vertical in the lower cage, I don't know if this makes any difference to reliability of life span of a hard disk!!

Also the Antec P182 PWR LED is a 2 pin wire, so the blinking feature on the EP45-DS4 does not work. Apart form these case failing, its a good case, though I might also get an extention for the 8-pin CPU power connector which is streched to max to reach the connector via ext. cable routing.

One issue with the EP45-DS4 was that the cooler, artic freezer 7 pro FAN assembly at the left bottom (as you look towards the back of the MB) catches on the fins of the MB cooper as you try and install it.

krishan

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

You press F9 while you are IN the BIOS on the MAIN page. So, where you pressed F8, press F9 instead

F8 should be Qflash
F9 Should be system Information
F1 will show you what all keys will do

[krishcanag]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Ok, I think I misunderstood.
As for easytune crashing to desktop, its a microsoft / easytune issue. When I click memory it displays the famous microsoft pop-up and wanting to send info to microsoft. It says GUI MFC appliaction as encounterd a problem and ...

Maybe my XP needs updates, I haven't connected PC to internet onto to register XP till I transfer my KIS licence over.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Yes for sure, XP would need all updates. The ones you are likely needing for the app are the .Net frameworks.

So I would go ahead and get all updates/SP's and be sure you also update/install the optional .Net Frameworks as well before you start trying to find out why it is not working

Might as well be sure you have the latest as well (Version may change without a Version change noted) >>>
GIGABYTE - Support - Motherboard - Utility

[krishcanag]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Easytune works now
It did an auto update after XP updates and all is well.

Just for fun I used it to set CPU tuner to SPORTS and then ran 3DMARK06 unpaid at 1440 x 900. I got a score of 14900, which I think is quite good. The CPU max was 3.4GHz on that run.

No doubt I will post when I interested in overclocking and also when I feel I need to update my BIOS, it is F6, which is pretty old, maybe that might have something to do with why I cannot go into certain options or why it is grey'ed out in BIOS.

krishan

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Ahh, you may have some items for sure not there because of a older BIOS, but everything you see can be adjusted if you enabled the items.

Nice to see Updates got your ET working though

You should update the BIOS really, many good changes have been made since F6

[krishcanag]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

I think I will read a bit more and then get ready for the BIOS flashing, I still have a few questions about it and will use that q-flash thread.

I want to thank you for all your support in this my first build, One of the reasons I choose the gigabyte EP45-DS4 over the Asus P5Q-Deluxe was this forum and the technical support provided.

thanks again

krishan

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Thanks for your kind words! I am glad you choose Gigabyte, hopefully I can be of any help you may need!

Post back anytime if you do need some help with your BIOS flash, I would be happy to help you get it flashed

[krishcanag]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Hi

I seem to have one issue regarding X-recovery2. I loaded the gigabyte disk in then went into recovery, had 2 options, BACKUP and REBOOT. Choose backup, it sort of seem to do something, at least that what it said, but next time I found the same options, no RESTORE option, so checked the HDD, which I have attached, the un-allocated space is still there.

The only thing I did was orginally, I created 2 partitions, C: and D:, both I formatted. But what I realised what recovery2 uses the un-used space which was 8M and it said cannot backup, not enough space, so I deleted the partition D: which created the 24GB space on C: drive.

krishan

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

YOu have it correct now in that second image, however you may need ALOT more space to backup C as it is a 600+ Drive. It will backup all that is used in that space, and I am not sure about the compression rate of XpressRecovery but you will need at least 75% of the actual disk usage on C for the size of your backup partition.

This program is made to be used with system and drivers installed after you first get going, so you can roll back if something goes wrong. I am sure it would backup your whole system anytime but you likely would not want to use all that much space for backups as your C drive grows larger.

So what you should do is make C smaller so D can be about twice as much and see if that helps. If you really do have ALOT like 100GB or something like that on C I would think you would need 75GB or more for your backup partition

Let me know if you need some partition tools

[krishcanag]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

I also communicated with tech support and they did not say anything different other than increase the size of the un-allocated. Trouble is at the moment with a few programs added the used space on C; drive is only 21.1GB, so why should recovery2 fail when it has 24.7GB???

Now suppose I decide to go with their suggestion and reload XP, Can you tell me, do I do the following:

I have added a sound blaster X-Fi Xtreme audio sound card

1. Reboot after loading XP disk
2. Partition drive:
drive will be 715GB, so allocate 660GB for c: drive and creat no more partitions.

3. Put gigabyte disk in and reload all drivers on the gigabyte disk (Intel, audio, etc)

4. Reboot, enter recovery2 and follow procedure

Is the above correct, or do I not need to load drivers from giagbyte disk?

I am presently, running BIOS F9.

thanks

krishan

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Well, since you do only have 21GB on C maybe there is no or little compression used in the backups and possibly more room is needed for additional XpressRecovery Data/files as well.

Yes, that looks correct. You did say in step 3 you planned to load drivers from the disk, so ya you would still need to do that. But you should not use the "Install All" feature as you plan to install your own sound card. So install them one by one with the Manual install tab and leave out the realtek or Microsoft UUA sound drivers but install all the rest.

You really do not need to Re-Install XP to make your C drive smaller. Please see here for a program and "how-to" on partition re-sizing. It was not written for this purpose (It was written for making a 1GB partition for BIOS flashing), but you will get the program and the idea of how to resize your C partition >>>

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/two-questions-pertaining-my-ga-x38-dq6-motherboard-27407/index2.html

[krishcanag]

Re: GA-EP45-DS4 new build

Well I tried around 50GB, now I have it at 90GB and that's it, no more, still does not work. I did a bit of web searching and many people are also stumped and giveup and source some other method.

If you look closely at the manual, it shows a HDD where the unallocated space is bigger than the C:\ !!!, which is pointless.

So unless anyone has got it going can add any comment I will just move on from recovery2.

krishan