Mem timing prob with GA-P35C-DS3R

Uber_sven

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Has anyone had memory timing problems with the above board?

I have 2 X 1024Mb sticks of GEIL DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 ram in this board.

However, the best timings I've been able to run the memory at (stable) is 5-5-5-18 running in dual channel mode.

CPU-Z states that this memory will only run at 4-4-4-12 timings when the FSB is set to 333Mhz.

Is this a problem with the memory or the board?

Memtest86 has not shown any siginficant errors with this ram.
 

rkl525

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Memory, and BIOS very finnicky with this board, be VERY careful. In the end you may end up RMA ing. Read all the other posts within this forum about the GA-P35C-DS3R, maybe it could help you in what to avoid.
 

Uber_sven

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thats my dilemma - should I RMA the board OR the ram OR both?

Its hard to figure our which one has the problem. Support at Geil say I should check the ram voltage and make sure my 12V rail is stable.

However, this board does not give a read-out of the ram voltage in the BIOS (only +/- and voltage OK).

Anyone know how to check ram voltage on this board? The manual says that default voltage is 1.8V, and my Geil ram says it needs to run at 2.1V, so I add +0.3V to ram in BIOS, but can't confirm that its running at 2.1V. Anyhow, this makes no difference to stability of system, it always crashs when i play my fav game BF2
 

dave_99

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Yes, this board is not stable, and I am doubting any bios will fix it. Voltage regulation is poor. With my board I use Everest Ultimate as it gives very accurate temperatures and voltages, and has an excellent stability testing module in the TOOLS menu that will run the CPU (all cores) and memory at max 100% load to verify stability..

I use Crucial Ballistix PC8500 memory (2.2v) and this board absolutely hates this memory. I have had headaches since day one. This is what I did to get it stable.

I know you have different memory but give these settings a try as it may help, as I ran the statbility test for over 30 hours with no problems using a Q6600 G0 and 4GBs of PC8500.

Load Bios F2. I know, but F4G stinks.

Use CTRL-F1 and go to the M.I.T. section Listed in order on the bios page:

Auto
8X
ENABLE
400
AUTO
DISABLE
2.5
1000
OPTION 1
EXTREME
MANUAL
5
6
6
18
3
3
6
42
AUTO
AUTO
AUTO
MANUAL
+0.3V
NORMAL
NORMAL
NORMAL
1.41250V
1.32500V

The bios sets default memory voltage around 1.8-1.9. The +0.3 brings the memory upto 2.27V (read this in Everest on the sensors page for the 2.5V reading. The voltage will drop to 2.21V under 100% load. This is poor voltage regulation.

The VCore volts, if set at 1.41250V, will give the CPU 1.37V (read this in Everest on the sensors page for the CPU Core reading. The voltage will drop to 1.31V under 100% load. This is poor voltage regulation.

My overall view of the board is it really is subpar and way overpriced. I would think 79-89US would be fair as it is not a quality product, has poor voltage regulation, and a lackluster bios (no viewable voltages is a poor design and a bad move by Gigabyte). I doubt the voltage drop issues can be addressed by a bios mod. And being at version F4G, and still all these issues, they can not fix the problems. How long do you have to wait for a good stable bios?

I was hestitant to change the memory voltages as you, because I was not sure where the voltages were defaulting to. Also bios F4G is no good for my Crucial PC8500, and finally got a stable system by reverting back to the final F2 bios, with the above M.I.T. settings.

Good luck
Dave
 

Uber_sven

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thanks heaps mate^^...will try your suggestions. I upped the voltage on the chipset by +0.3V last night and it seemed to run more stable, but have not done much testing so am not quite sure.

Yes I thought that a gigabyte board at this price would be very reliable. I have been burnt once before by a gigabyte board, so i don't think i will be coming back to this brand again. I was seduced by the ability to upgrade to DDR3 with this board. My last Asus 939 board was sooo nice, I miss it so much : (

When I up the memory voltage to +0.3V my Vcore2 reads 2.14V, and default Vcore is 1.25V.

Also I think I'm on F4G... I will take your advice and roll-back to F2.
 

chris57

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I've done exactly the same as you Uber switched from an ASUS A8N-Sli deluxe to this Gigabyte mobo seduced by DDR3/penryn upgradeability.

Yet to actually get the time to put all mine together but as ive never O/C yet and thought this board would be a good opportunity i'm dreading my first start as there are also problems with OCZ and D9Micron RAM. I bought my RAM to O/C its PC2 9200 1150mhz Reaper which is good RAM to O/C. Could all turn out to be one hell of a hassle. Anyone got a similar setup and would like to share some more BIOS settings?
 

Uber_sven

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I'm sick of this crap board...gonna buy an an ASUS P5N-E, stick with the brand I know and have had good expereinces with. Can't even be bothered RMAing this mobo, will prob have to wait a couple of weeks while some techs in taiwan decide there is nothing wrong with the board and send it back as is.
 

ks1721

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Hey dave_99, I am having the same stability issues with your exact same harware set up (ie. q6600, crucial bx 8500, p35c). I see this especially under load when I play C&C3, when using stock settings "safe defaults". I am a noob, so please bare with me here...I am not seeing all of the settings your are talking about. Yes I have F2 loaded.
Auto
8X
ENABLE
400
AUTO
DISABLE
2.5
1000
OPTION 1
EXTREME
MANUAL
5 <--- assuming you mean +.05 here?
6 <--- don't see any of these additional settings or they don't match in what I see in the MIT settings.
6
18
3
3
6
42
AUTO
AUTO
AUTO
MANUAL
+0.3V
NORMAL
NORMAL
NORMAL
1.41250V
1.32500V
I've got liquid cooling. So from a heat perspective, my system should be able to take a little overclocking it would seem. I purchased this setup with the intention of it being my first dive into overclocking. Seems that was a mistake. :) Anyways...can you please explain where I am going wrong with the settings and maybe give a good basic example of a solid set up with this mobo. I've had nothing but frustration so far and want a little oc'ing with stability. Do I really need to just ditch this board then? Very frustrating first experience with Gigabyte. I chose these guys because they are supposed to be known for their overclocking ability.
 

dave_99

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ks1721, make sure as soon as you enter the bios you press CRTL-F1, THEN go into the M.I.T section.

Auto
8X
ENABLE
400
AUTO
DISABLE
2.5
1000
OPTION 1
EXTREME
MANUAL <-------------DRAM TIMING SELECTABLE
5 <-------------CAS LATENCY TIMING
6 <-------------DRAM RAS# TO CAS# DELAY
6 <-------------DRAM RAS# PRECHARGE
18
3
3
6
42
AUTO
AUTO
AUTO
MANUAL <------------SYSTEM VOLTAGE CONTROL
+0.3V <------------DDR2/DDR3 OVERVOLTAGE CONTROL (This +0.3 gives me 2.24 volts)
NORMAL
NORMAL
NORMAL
1.41250V
1.32500V

You should be able to figure out the other setting names from what I entered here. I think you did not press CTRL-F1. If you wanted a good overclocking board you bought the wrong board (like me!). The F2 bios is the best out of the bunch available. The F4 bioses cause all kinds of stabilty issues ( I did not try the F4i version). I just hope I never get that constant restarting issue that many here seem to have.

Good luck, and hope things go well.

Dave
 

sycshk

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Auto
8X
ENABLE
400
AUTO (If this is PCI Express setting if i remember correctly, set to 100)
DISABLE
2.5
1000
OPTION 1 (dun understand why this is here anyway, have no idea of it's funtion)
EXTREME (set to standard for stability)
MANUAL <-------------DRAM TIMING SELECTABLE (set below to your needs, mine are 4, 4, 4, 12)
5 <-------------CAS LATENCY TIMING
6 <-------------DRAM RAS# TO CAS# DELAY
6 <-------------DRAM RAS# PRECHARGE
18
3
3
6
42
AUTO
AUTO
AUTO
MANUAL <------------SYSTEM VOLTAGE CONTROL
+0.3V <------------DDR2/DDR3 OVERVOLTAGE CONTROL (This +0.3 gives me 2.24 volts) 2.24 is very near top end, do not go past 2.4V!
NORMAL
NORMAL
NORMAL
1.41250V (set 1.4 which should be enough in most cases. 6750 I can go up to 3.7GHz with 1.4V and still stable, the higher this number the higher the heat!)
1.32500V