Yup -
know the Hitachis will work - looking at a twenty drive array for a server here, and even for a 'one-off', WDs get pretty 'pricey' - checked with Areca!
Assuming we can get one to run OK, 'cloning' is fairly easy - the GBs have a 'save CMOS parameters to BIOS' ( <F11> ), that will also work to save to a USB stick (usually), or a floppy (always!). Then you can just xfer 'em, easily and quickly - so you wanna be
really happy with the
first one, as going back & changing one item in nine others will amount to a major PITA! here's the scoop: do the <DEL> at the boot to enter the BIOS; notice, at the bottom, the <F11> "Save CMOS to BIOS" - hit this, and you should get a menu that will show a number (the count varies by BIOS) of empty 'slots', each of which will store an entire set of BIOS parameters, to be re-loaded from the corresponding <F12> "Load CMOS from BIOS"; this is a wonderful overclocker's feature. What I do with it, is to save my 'baseline' working parameters, so if I change something that 'irritates' the board, and forces a reset of all the parameters to defaults, or, even worse, get so screwed up I need to do a 'clear CMOS', I can get back to my starting point with no effort, and without having to remember 85 separate settings! Another thing it prevents is two hours' troubleshooting, having forgotten a change to a crucial parameter - like, "wait a minute - didn't I have the Trd at seven?!" It's pretty self-explanatory, and I alway urge people to start right away by taking the time to give the 'slots' names that mean something: in two hours, "Try2" and "Try3" will not be very helpful, but "450@+10MCH" and "450@+15MCH" will! Another use is for 'green' settings; overclocks, as a rule, do not 'play well' with green features, such as 'down-clocking' and 'down-volting'; with the storage slots, you can set up one profile, say "Green", with all the settings at 'stock' values, and all the 'green' features enabled; another, say "Balls2Wall" with a full overclock, and all the 'green' stuff turned off... Another neat feature of this 'slot' system is, for most BIOS, the mechanism itself will keep track of which ones have booted successfully, and how many times (up to, I believe, a max of five)!
Here's what I would do: [:isamuelson:8]
Pull off anything USB,
except kbd & rodent...
Take out all but one DIMM, in DDR3_3 ('middle' white slot)...
Power up; do a 'LoadOpt', then enable XMP...
Pencil & piece of paper (or a handy nearby system running Excel
); write down
all memory parameters - not just CAS-tRCD-tRP-tRAS, all of 'em...
Disable XMP...
"Advanced CPU Features" sub-page of "MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)" page of BIOS:
"CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)" to "Disabled"
"C3/C6/C7 State Support" to "Disabled"
"CPU Thermal Monitor" to "Enabled"
"CPU EIST Function" to "Disabled"
"Bi-Directional PROCHOT" to "Enabled"
"UnCore & QPI Features" sub-page of "MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)" page of BIOS:
"QPI Clock Ratio" ...don't know what this
is for a 930, just know that 'straightforward calculation' from frequency to GTs
isn't straightforward! Anyhow, reduce by one "notch'"...
"Uncore Clock Ratio" to "X21"
"Isochronous Support" to "Enabled"
"Advanced Clock Control" sub-page of "MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)" page of BIOS:
"Base Clock(BCLK) Control" to "Enabled"
"BCLK Frequency" to "160"
"PCI Express Frequency(Mhz)" to "100" (
not 'auto')
"Advanced DRAM Features" sub-page of "MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)" page of BIOS:
"Performance Enhance" to "Standard"
"System Memory Multiplier" to "X10"
"DRAM Timing Selectable" to "Expert"
...now set ALL the RAM timings you wrote down earlier when XMP was enabled...
" Advanced Voltage Control" sub-page of "MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)" page of BIOS:
"Load-Line Calibration" to "Standard"
"CPU Vcore" ...start around 1.225 - 1.250V, test there, will depend on performance vs thermals...
"QPI/Vtt Voltage" to "1.250V"
"DRAM Voltage" to "1.66V"
On the "Advanced BIOS Features" page:
"Quick Boot" to "Disabled"
On the "Integrated Peripherals" page:
"USB Storage Function" to "Disabled"
...disable
any hardware you're not using: 1394, eSATA controller, SATA3 controller...
...and that should do it!
...save your setup to an <F11> 'slot', <F10> save, exit reboot...
I should point out that getting two reboots in a row here is perfectly normal behavior; it seems that, when you change certain settings (and we don't exactly know which ones - the only sure one I know is Trd - if you change it, I think you get the 'twin' reboot) it boots once to 'see where it's at', recalculates its remaining 'auto' settings, saves them, and then boots again. Three reboots in a row, however, usually indicates that the board was 'given indigestion' by your settings, and is going back to defaults. This sometimes goes astray, and it doesn't get back into proper operation - for example, at this point, mine will sometimes 'lock' itself into 111MHz x a six multiplier - and take a week to do a whole boot - that's time to do a CMOS reset, and use your 'stored' <F12> profile to get back to where you were...
Power down, & add other two DIMMs - give 'er a try...