EP45-DS3L Stability Issue

[fnsmatt]

[mxcrowe]

Re: EP45-DS3L Stability Issue

First of all, I would definitely use F9 BIOS, as the earlier versions have an obvious problem instability coming back from S3, and who knows what else was fixed? Next, your CPU clock speed shows "disabled", so you definitely need to set that. I wouldn't set those advanced settings, like skew, until I tried to get the basics right. And I'd set the memory to use the 4.4.4.12 settings at 2.1v and let the system set the other parameters first. You need to look at the latch frequency and the multiplier to make sure you are setting those correctly. I went for 400Mhz and made the cpu-memory 1:1. This seemed to get things stable for me. I've never needed to set CPU Core voltage...just let the system change it as appropriate. That goes for reference voltages. Bumping MCH up a bit does seem to help in many cases (I think mines at 1.2v). In short, it looks like you are dithering with too many of the secondary settings and not getting the primary ones right first. I'm sure LSD will give you more detailed instructions, but hopefully this gets you moving in the right direction. Once those settings are right, the system will be rock solid.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: EP45-DS3L Stability Issue

Are you flashing properly? Meaning after you flash you go in the BIOS and load and APPLY optimized defaults and then save and reboot back to the BIOS to make all changes, including disk changes. If not you MUST flash this way, otherwise the new BIOS is not ever fully implemented nor is the old CMOS or DMI Pool cleared.

DO NOT USE @BIOS, here is my guide on flashing if you had not looked at it yet >>>

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/welcome-gigabyte-technical-support-24883/

As suggested above, if you do plan to use S3 sleep then you will HAVE to use the latest BIOS, if not then anyone that supports your CPU will be fine. And yes, newer is not always better. So maybe F7 or F8 if you did not like F9. But there will be missing settings if you go back to far in BIOS versions.

And yes, you will likely not need any MCH Skew until you are overclocking

Here is what I would suggest for you to start with with the above hardware at stock


MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Fast
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 9x
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:.0
CPU Frequency ...........................: 3.00 Ghz (333x9)


Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 333Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:100

C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]


Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: <<< 800 mV
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: <<< 900 mV
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: <<< 0pS
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: <<< 0pS


DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....: Disabled
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: 333 (also tried auto, 400) << When/If you change this you must also Have correct voltages applied, correct Static tread Values (See below). Set those things, and change this ONLY and reboot to make any other changes you need to. Thing is to change as little as you can when changing this setting. If you still get not joy, be sure twr and twtr are set high as well when trying to change this and then reboot.

I would suggest you use 333 for now, but you can use 400 (it may not perform as well)

System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2.40B
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 800
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................4
tRCD .........................................4
tRP'........................................... 4
tRAS.......................................... 12

Set all highest noted below and then lower later testing as you go.

Ohh, I see you do have them all pretty high, I guess you need some other adjustments. Sorry I reply as I read... Guess I should stop that sometime. HAHA

I will put tweaked ranges in ()'s for you for later
Advanced Timing Control
tRRD........................................... (3-5)6
tWTR.......................................... (3-6, Please benchmark last 9-11 as it may be better)14

tWR............................................ (4-6)16
tRFC........................................... (48-50 ~ 52-62)75
tRTP........................................... (2-5)7
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:2

Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ............................800-1066 ( I find a step above ram speed is best)

Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................: (6-8 MCH 333 Latch / 8-10 MCH Latch 400) 14
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.........................: (6-8 MCH 333 Latch / 8-10 MCH Latch 400) 14
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….……….........................: 1.225V << Auto or Normal if for stock. If you manually set this, and you are not overclocking it may be too little. As this board has about .6 or so vdrop to windows, and then even less at load. So 1.225 may only be 1.16 or so. Best to leave in Auto for now until you overclock. If you did manually set this, it could be part of your problem

CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*.......: <<< Leave
CPU PLL…………………....1.500V*.......: <<< Please set to what you see for stock, as Auto tends to use to much
CPU Referen.…………....0.755V*.......: <<< .64% Of Vtt (Termination above)
CPU Reference2………,,0.800V*.......:<<< .67% Of Vtt (Termination above)

MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….....1.100V...........: << 1.300V (also tried 1.260, 1.280v) << I would try 1.24 or so, and you may also want to try Less then stock. But I think you manually set your CPU voltage and it was too low is what may be your main issue as your other things look good enough to boot for sure
MCH Reference….…….0.800V...........; <<< Leave
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V...........: <<< Leave
ICH I/O……………….....1.550V............: <<< 1.55
ICH Core…………...……1.100V............: <<< 1.15-1.2

DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....1.800V............: 2.100V