P67A-UD5-B3 Voltage Discrepencies!!!

[HiroPro]

Hi Tweaktown!

I have a P67A-UD5-B3 board that I'm using with a i5-2500k. I have managed to overclock it to 4.2Ghz stable with the voltage set in BIOS F5 to 1.345v Thing is in the BIOS screen the voltage reads 1.308 (1.260 load) and same in CPUZ on the desktop. Also I can't seem to read the fan speeds properly on HWMonitor. I also read more voltage for RAM than what is set in the BIOS. Kinda scary when manual settings aren't reflected in desktop HW monitor software AND in the BIOS it's "PC Health Status"!!!

What ever setting in the BIOS you have for RAM voltage it's +0.02 HIGHER with monitoring software.
What ever setting in the BIOS you have for CPU voltage it's -0.06 LOWER with monitoring software. This is significant no!!!

This also includes the PC health status monitoring screens in the BIOS.

I'm using BIOS F5.

[Acebmxer]

Re: P67A-UD5-B3 Voltage Discrepencies!!!

This is the problem with hardware monitoring software. Not one software is 100% accurate. Even the Bios is not 100%. The only way to tell exactly what voltage is being used is with a Digital Volt Meeter (DVM).

So you might have better success with software if you using Gigabyte software Easy Tune 6 (ET6) that is designed to work with motherboard. If you use software make sure you are using the most update version along with the bios.

If you use a DVM you may find that some voltages are actually higher then what is reported by software. Also remember there is marge of error can get greater as voltage is increased.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: P67A-UD5-B3 Voltage Discrepencies!!!

The Vcore amount under load and at idle can be adjusted in the BIOS by testing an Load Line Calibration level and find one you like. If your board only has 2 still, I suggest using Level 1 as it should be pretty good.

But as mentioned above, software isn't always accurate, and voltage drops and droops are normal and part of Intel's intended design.

Easytune will read your fan speeds properly, and so will AIDA64, you can get the latest of either here

http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/30530-latest-overclocking-programs-system-info-benchmarking-stability-tools.html

[HiroPro]

Re: P67A-UD5-B3 Voltage Discrepencies!!!

Just as a followup... I've been using my P67A-UD5-B3 for some months now with ZERO issues. I'm using BIOS F5 but am curious about newer BIOSs. Should I update to the newer BIOS? does it offer me anything? I do duel boot linux and like the fact I'm using the older BIOS and not UEFI.

[Falkentyne]

Re: P67A-UD5-B3 Voltage Discrepencies!!!

#1:
Dram being 0.02v higher than default, is deliberate. This was actually a changelog in one of the f4 beta bioses. It was done to improve stability, as some 1.5v Ram would have problems completing POST on some configurations at exactly 1.5v, so the default was raised to 1.52v. I actually encountered that before on f3g, where the board would try to POST, but then fail after 10 seconds and shut off; removing 1 Ram stick stopped that, and setting voltage to 1.52v fixed it as well. Maybe a very slightly flaky stick, sure, but works perfectly, now with 4x4 GB Ram on F7 Bios.

Your vcore issue happens with *ALL* boards from ALL manufacturers, it's called vdroop and it's deliberate. Loadline calibration is needed to minimize or offset this, and different boards have different ways to offset this. IMO, Gigabyte's multi-step LLC is just piss poor, with erratic vcore swings at higher voltages, (while being very stable and reliable at 1.25v'ish), compared to the old LLC1/LLC2 system, which was fully stable and fully predictable even at 1.50v.

F7 has 22nm CPU support and some other fixes. Recommended to update, but if it isn't broke, don't fix it.