Gig EP45-UD3p OC issues

How can I take control of this so I can OC it and make it stick all of the time? It must be some lame power saver or something. I want to run full bore all of the time.

Why on earth would you want to disable power saving features? Your computer will run hot all of the time and use quite a bit more power.

Disable C1E and EIST if you want, but it's dumb move.

brother, it just happens when your system is at idle state. So as to save power processor multipliers are lowered. You can disable hat option, but my friend jedimasterben said right, because it will be a stupid move.

I turn off SpeedStep, work out my OC settings, and stress test. Then after I have finalized my OC settings, I turn SpeedStep back on.

When idle, it loafs. It just loafs faster.

Just a side note i have the same board and proc and setted on 3.8 ghz just so ya know you have plenty of room. Stable 2 years now   huge cooler but oh so nice and speedy...

T

I understand the need for keeping on the automatic features but I can't seem to get it to OC beyond what the automatic features will push it to.

The auto features in the bios run 3321mhz - 415.2x8 - 1.168v 1660fsb temps never go over 50c

I would like to push it further but if I for instance set it at 420x8 it will never go that high. The auto takes over and does what I posted above. Any suggestions?

It does that when it is idle, not at load. Put a load onto it and it will go up to full speed.

I am aware of that. If I manually set it with the auto features on it always resets back to 333x8. Under load it runs at the stock 2.66.

I just tried using the Gigabyte EasyTune6 software set at the dummy setting of #2 3.44ghz and it seems to work fine. All of the bios settings were identical to what I tried manually though. Very odd.

Using 3dmark I get the full 3.44 on load now. I may try the #3 at 3.60 setting but I'm not sure I have the cooling for it. On #2 after an extensive test I reached 70*c.

Still a mystery as to why the settings revert to stock if I set them manually but the EasyTune6 software sets the settings exactly the same and it works. :shrug:

Thanks for all of the help.

Urgh, was trying to reply and my 'w' key stopped working. You never realize how many 'w's you use until you realize that there isn't any in the last paragraph you wrote!!

What settings do you do manually and what do you leave at auto?

I tried combination's of pretty much everything. I even found a guide for this same board and followed it but no luck. I used EasyTune and recorded the settings with it. I disabled EasyTune and went back and entered the exact same settings it used and after a restart they were right back to factory.

Firmware update maybe or just stick with EasyTune and forget it?

Always update the BIOS if you can. Check Gigabyte's site to see if any are available.

Bios update increased my boot speed considerably. 20 seconds from the point the bios is done doing it's thing. Thanks!


OH and I was able to push it to 3600mhz and it seems stable so far.

I just ran IntelBurnTest on high level and passed but temps spiked to 82c at times. Should I try the test again at the next highest level or is over 82c to risky?

I FINALLY figured out how to make this work manually. You have to hit f11 and save the profile before saving the bios settings. Going back in immediately to make sure they have stuck helps.

3400 stable and under 65c so far. That's at 425x8. I'm going to try to push it more. Will report back.

Sweet! Awesome that it worked! How many volts are you pushing?

1.35v vcore atm. Should I go further?

OH and what are MAX safe temps while stress testing/benchmarking?

I just tried 3700 with IntelBurn and the bios beeped at me. I have it set a 70c alarm.

Q9400 btw.

IntelBurn ran 5 passes and no failures but the bios beeped like it hated me.

around 100C is where things start to get bad fast. 80 is a good "don't touch this!" temp.

I do have on concern.

Yesterday when I used the AutoTune Gigabyte software and pushed 3400 I got a CPU score in 3d Mark Vantage of 29231 on the CPU.

Now that I have manually tuned it I am only at 13674.

Any ideas on what settings it might have done differently?

Sounds like a PhysX problem. With PhysX on, that's about the same score as I get with my Xeon i7.

(Vantage's CPU tests include nVidia GPU-accelerated PhysX, so the scores can jump massively when it's activated)

So Im ok then?

I failed to mention that I switched from a BFG 9800gt to dual GIGABYTE GV-R577UD-1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB running CrossFire.

Well 475x8 is too much. It hangs within the bios. Voltage too low?

I went back to 460x8 and raised the voltage to 1.45v. Temps went sky high. Can someone explain the relation?

Back down to 1.3v at 460x8 and temps are really low. I really don't understand all of this.

I'm gonna stay put with that until one of you experts can direct me.

Thanks,
Aaron

Even small increases in voltage can significantly increase temperatures. My Xeon's default voltage is 1.1, and to get to 3.8GHz I had to up it to 1.2, and after Prime95 runs at 3.8Ghz with both voltages. 1.2 is like 15C higher, but stable.

I run 475 for 2 years nor making the same setup you have 3.8 ghz I will have to check temps when I get home when I was messing with it I could have told you but now I just use it   and really 3.6 is awsome almost 1ghz overclock yay I tried for 4 for a long time still do from time to time never works just like that nice round 4.0   no love though. My volts are between 1.4 1nd 1.45 again will have to go look to see what I left them at.

T

What are your specs, thently?

I get some screen flicker running at 460x8 1.3v. Should I drop down or change something?

Never mind. I dropped the voltage down to 1.2v and the flicker is gone.
Thanks,
Aaron

Um ok weird. I went to 460x8 at 1.225v and ran the intelburn on maximum and it was stable. I jumped up to 470x8 at 1.225 and my vid drivers don't load in Windows.

Back down to 460x8 at 1.225v and everything is fine.

Any ideas on why?

Eh I guess I answered my own question. I pumped the vcore up to 1.25v and it's working at 470x8 now.

How does vcore have anything to do with gpu drivers loading. My gpus aren't OC'd at all yet.

BAHHHH All of these variables are driving me nuts. I thought I had the vcore vs core speed figured out and then the gpu crap comes into play!

I wonder how far I can take this thing. 470x8 1.25v 74c max temp with Intelburn on Maximum. Not sure I should go any further.

I'd probably stop around there. Somewhere you'll be hitting a wall where you will get diminishing returns with an increase in clock speed. That's one reason I kept my previous Xeon at 3.15GHz, as at 3.3 it required 1.4v, and 3.5Ghz required 1.5v, and the temps got way too high, and there wasn't too much of an increase over 3.15Ghz.

As for the GPU thing, a CPU failing to run at certain clock speeds can cause random errors like that.

I backed it down to 3.6 and everything seems smooth.

Unfortunately my game room is in an upstairs loft over my garage. Just this evening I noticed while playing Dragon Age Origins that the rooms has gone up 10 degrees F. I have the central thermostat at 66f. My central air doesn't get up here too well. I'd love to put a small AC unit in here but the window faces the street and would look like hell.

In my server room at work we have a small roll around AC unit that works great but needs venting. I might go that route and vent it into the attic.

Well I lost it when it hit 88*f in my computer room so I went and bought a portable AC unit at Lowes. AH!! SO much nicer!!

While playing Crysis tonight I had a system shutdown. I checked the PSU and noticed that the fans are no longer working. I will get a new PSU and see if things improve.
Thanks,
Aaron

My total system specs are same mobo same proc you have 8 gigs gskill 1066 fsb 475 gtx 260 and a 5 disk raid 0 with 160 gig drives very fast for level loads on fps games   24 inch 1080p monitor have not found anything i can't do yet   benches a little faster that a i7 930 so no complaints will do me proud for another year or so.

T

New power supply fixed my problem but I'm a bit peeved. I had a 3dmark cpu score of around 14.1k at 3.6ghz and now I can't get it above 13,825 even at nearly 3.8ghz. I wish I had saved that bios so I knew what I had done to get that 14k+.