H55N-USB3

ok so i just ran prime blend for 9 hours without problems at 3.6GHz. i dont think im gonna get any higher. i just need to lower voltages now to see what i can get away with. max temp with h50 on full was about 73C i think and max temp with h50 slow enough that i cant hear it over my psu is 82C. not too shabby for silent. :D also should go down a little if i can lower the voltages.

im gonna go ahead and post my settings, at least one guy wants them. anyone know an easy way to save all my bios settings or do i have to manually write them all down?
 
i was asked via PM for my bios settings for 3.6GHz stable, so here they are. might be helpful to someone else too. this is all with the hardware in my sig. enjoy. :D

CPU Ratio:.....................................22x
>>Advanced CPU Features
.....................................................Enabled
.....................................................All
.....................................................Enabled
.....................................................Enabled
.....................................................Enabled
.....................................................Enabled
.....................................................Enabled
.....................................................Enabled
QPI Clock Ratio:.............................x32
BCLK Control:................................Enabled
BCLK:...........................................164
SPD:.............................................Auto
PCIe Frequency:.............................Auto
CPU Clock Drive:............................900mV
PCIe Clock Drive:............................900mV
CPU Clock Skew:...........................0ps
PCH Clock Skew:...........................0ps

System Memory Multiplier:..............Auto
Performance Enhance:....................Standard
DRAM Timing:................................Quick
(Set the rest as per your ram)

Load-Line Calibration:......................Disabled
CPU Vcore:....................................1.35V
QPI/VTT Voltage:............................1.31V
PCH Core:......................................1.2V
DRAM Voltage:...............................(set per your ram)

Isochronous Support:.......................Disabled
Virtualization Tech:..........................Disabled

this should be a good start. the voltages are all a bit high, so lower them and see how they affect your stability. also, i left all the power saving features, and hyperthreading enabled because i like them so they can be turned off for a little extra overclocking as well. also, i set the clock ratio to x32 but i dont know what it does so can someone tell me? otherwise ill just try x36 and see if anything is different overclocking-wise.
 
This is what I just found off other site
"Those numbers look fine to me. @4GHz (1.3125V) I get:
idle: 44C
load: 70C
ambient: 30C
case: 36C

@4.2GHz 74C load is good. You still have 25C leftover as overhead."

Of course yours and his/her setup are different including his/her CPU is 750 but checking 4GHz OC, it goes up to 70'c. That's 3'c difference even though you have 400MHz less than his/her OC. Might want to check how your H50 sits?(but then, I could be wrong. I'll try 3.6GHz when I finish install OS either tonight or tomorrow and let you know what temp I got)

I had little bit of time to cut and file H50 backplate and mount H50 along with RAM, HDD and video card in my old Q-Pack(one that I never got to finish :() I'll see if I can install OS and OC. But realistically, I only see myself doing memtest and install OS IF I can find time. :)

ekuest said:
ok so i just ran prime blend for 9 hours without problems at 3.6GHz. i dont think im gonna get any higher. i just need to lower voltages now to see what i can get away with. max temp with h50 on full was about 73C i think and max temp with h50 slow enough that i cant hear it over my psu is 82C. not too shabby for silent. :D also should go down a little if i can lower the voltages.

im gonna go ahead and post my settings, at least one guy wants them. anyone know an easy way to save all my bios settings or do i have to manually write them all down?
Click to expand...
 
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HaxEJxuK said:
1.050v is your vcore @4GHz? How long have you been running @4GHz?
Click to expand...

Oh no, that's my PCHB voltage. I think 4ghz was 1.3125 or so. I'm back to 3.8 for now. I'll go for 4 ghz again. I can post settings if anyone wants.

As for temps, I had no idea i7 cpus were that hot. My i5 at 4 ghz never broke 65C on load. That's air cooling BTW.
 
Please do post it. Your is basically same other than the multi.

How long have you been running @ 3.8GHz?

Synthetickiller said:
Oh no, that's my PCHB voltage. I think 4ghz was 1.3125 or so. I'm back to 3.8 for now. I'll go for 4 ghz again. I can post settings if anyone wants.

As for temps, I had no idea i7 cpus were that hot. My i5 at 4 ghz never broke 65C on load. That's air cooling BTW.
Click to expand...
 
Wouldn't Load-line Calibration better to be enabled? So you get no/minimal vDroop?

Also, PCIe Frequency:.............................Auto to 100?
ekuest said:
i was asked via PM for my bios settings for 3.6GHz stable, so here they are. might be helpful to someone else too. this is all with the hardware in my sig. enjoy. :D


Load-Line Calibration:......................Disabled
Click to expand...
 
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I wish I could get this board stable with a Xeon 3440.

Tried Overclocking with H70 once, got system freeze now this:
Using stock settings on everything, I cannot even load any OS or boot disk. Freezes up every time. checked out the ram and found out that one of the chips went bad. Replaced with new OCZ Low Voltage Ram DDR31600 and now it's doing the same.
F5 Bios.

If anyone can help, there are more details here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1549170

Thanks!
*sigh*
 
HaxEJxuK said:
Wouldn't Load-line Calibration better to be enabled? So you get no/minimal vDroop?

Also, PCIe Frequency:.............................Auto to 100?
Click to expand...

LLC is a preference thing. for example, lets say my board needs 1.3V to run stable. if i turn on LLC, then i can set the voltage to 1.3V and it will be ok. if i turn off LLC then i can set it to like 1.27V and it will be ok, but it will actually run at more like 1.3V because of vdroop. ive checked this extensively in cpuz and it really just means the board gets the same voltage either way, but with a higher or lower vcore.

Zyklon808 said:
I wish I could get this board stable with a Xeon 3440.

Tried Overclocking with H70 once, got system freeze now this:
Using stock settings on everything, I cannot even load any OS or boot disk. Freezes up every time. checked out the ram and found out that one of the chips went bad. Replaced with new OCZ Low Voltage Ram DDR31600 and now it's doing the same.
F5 Bios.

If anyone can help, there are more details here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1549170

Thanks!
*sigh*
Click to expand...

i replied in your thread. hope it helps.
 
So it doesn't vdroop much with this board then? Because I have mobo that vdroop(775 board) .2v so I had to pencil mod so it doesn't vdroop much. I don't oc with that board anymore but when I did with Q6600, if I didn't pencil mod(LLC) in order to achieve 1.35v, I had to actually set around 1.6v(or close to I think) since there's vdrop too.

No pencil mod(LLC enabled) BIOS set to 1.6v - .5v(vdrop) - .2(vdroop) = 1.35v

Pencil Mod(LLC enabled) BIOS set to 1.35v -.0v(no vdrop) - .0v(no vdroop) = 1.35v

So instead of running 1.55v while idleing, it was idling at 1.35v after pencil mod(LLC enabled)

I guess if there isn't much vdrop and vdroop with this board, it doesn't matter if LLC is disabled or enabled. I guess I'll check when I test mine. :)


Also, what about your PCIe speed? it's set to auto on yours and I always thought it's safer(for mobo and OC) to manaully set it to 100?

ekuest said:
LLC is a preference thing. for example, lets say my board needs 1.3V to run stable. if i turn on LLC, then i can set the voltage to 1.3V and it will be ok. if i turn off LLC then i can set it to like 1.27V and it will be ok, but it will actually run at more like 1.3V because of vdroop. ive checked this extensively in cpuz and it really just means the board gets the same voltage either way, but with a higher or lower vcore.



i replied in your thread. hope it helps.
Click to expand...
 
i have it set to auto. i can try 100 and see if it helps. for some reason my computer stopped booting last night. same settings as i posted, but bsod at windows loading screen. i think i was restarting it over and over and stuff was overheating. i left it off all night and havent powered it on today, so hopefully it will work now. :/
 
Heh, that's what mine was doing before it decided not to boot anything. Least you got a BSOD, I got hard locks.
 
so i just started it up again, booted into windows no problem. then i hit restart, and it BSOD'd after it said "shutting down..." anyone know why it would BSOD on powering off? i recall it was doing that last night too.

EDIT: wow. i think i had the bclk too high. it was set at 165, not 164. haha! wow this board is finicky. rock solid at 164, wont even restart properly at 165.
 
also wouldnt boot with the pcie voltage set to 100. on auto its prime stable. everything else the same. guess it doesnt help with overclocking on this board.
 
Gigabyte boards have always had troubles overclocking. I have used three of their boards over multiple generations and they all had some sort of irritating watchdog system that caused multiple reboots at moderate - high overclocking settings, that seemed to prevent you from pushing the system. miniITX may be to blame, but I would sooner blame the manufacturer.
 
hmmmmm but there are people out there who OCed to 4GHz and some even OCed 4.5GHz with quad.

Anyways, I ran Memtest 1 pass and it passed. Didn't really have time to run it for hours. Installed OS but no drivers or anything. Tried to OC 3.4GHz which I was able to with DFI but it failed to boot even with 1.3v vcore. I'll test out with all drivers installed and base other's BIOS settings and see if I can. Sucks. I guess 3.8GHz looks like dream for now. :mad: lol
 
hey hax can you link to somewhere where someone got to 4GHz with a quad on this board? i havent found anything helpful at all and i really wanna push my setup farther.
 
Check with Synthetickiller. I think he posts at xtremesystems too and I believe he has i5 760 and running 3.8GHz now but used to run 4GHz.

There are couple that I came across but I googles it and followed link so I can't remember them.

One of thread showed 4.5GHz too. :( and I can't even do 3.4GHz. I'll update BIOS to f5 and change some setting and hope for the best
 
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I'm an idiot! Last night,I didn't feel like working on mine after couple of failed attempt to OC 3.4GHz so I lay down on bed checking this thread with my iPad. Suddenly, it hits me that I might not have checked memory multi! I got up and powered my PC on and it surely was set to highest! I dropped it lowest multi and I was able to boot in to Windows just fine! :D Lack of sleep and couple of bottle of beer will do this to you. Make mistakes! :)

I'll try to put heat sinks on and try to OC more tonight if I can manage to find time. :)
 
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I would say I have the total opposite opinion on Gigabyte boards. Gigabyte I believe had one of the first boards to push the i7-920 to 4ghz and above.

I have had 775, 1366, and now 1156 Gigabyte boards and they have all overclocked very nicely.

I've been running the H55N-USB3 at 4GHZ for 2 months now, however, I did it the easy way. I have the unlocked 875k chip, so I just left the BLCK at 133 and kicked the multiplier to 30. I have not fully tested all the stability tools with it (Prime95/LINX). I just have not spent the time tweaking it as it runs perfectly fine for me.

However, as a lot of the individuals in this thread have tried, I know I cannot get the 4ghz speeds by moving the BLCK up too much.

sleepeeg3 said:
Gigabyte boards have always had troubles overclocking. I have used three of their boards over multiple generations and they all had some sort of irritating watchdog system that caused multiple reboots at moderate - high overclocking settings, that seemed to prevent you from pushing the system. miniITX may be to blame, but I would sooner blame the manufacturer.
Click to expand...
 
Little test I ran last night. I was able to boot in to Windows running 3.8GHz changing only vcore. It was set to 1.2v and I didn't have time to P95 or IBT. Tried 4GHz but BSoD shortly after booting in to Windows. I might just stick with 3.8GHz instead of 4GHz. Now, I just need to boot running 3.8GHz and run P95 and IBT and tweak settings. Of course after placing mosfet heatsinks first. :)
 
Sheesh you guys, I can barely make my X3440 to 2.85 on this board, regardless of voltage and ram timings. :(
 
Check your Memory multi. I couldn't OC at all and later found out I forgot to lower multi. I think it goes 6,7 and 8. When I tried to OC mine to 3.4GHz, since my memory multi was set to 8 by default it was set to more than it can handle. Later I lowered it to 6 and all were fine.

Zyklon808 said:
Sheesh you guys, I can barely make my X3440 to 2.85 on this board, regardless of voltage and ram timings. :(
Click to expand...
 
I'm I the only one that find that it takes forever to the board to make it to the Gigabyte logo? At least, more time than my DFI used to take. Also, is there any way to pass the AHCI detection test just before the OS loading message? It takes time too and I hate that. Also, I did not find any connector for the mobo speaker. I checked in the manual and there is nothing about it, just the front panel connectors but that's it.

Edit: I checked and it seems that the delay of AHCI detection was caused by a problem between the bios and my Vertez 2 FW (1.11). I installed the F6A bios and now the AHCI detection takes no time. But I'm still searching for the mobo speaker connection. Anyone?
 
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What cooler is good for this board that doeant block the PCI-E slot? and low profile for a SG07 case and is good for OCing?
 
dogbyte_13 said:
What cooler is good for this board that doeant block the PCI-E slot? and low profile for a SG07 case and is good for OCing?
Click to expand...

I want to know the same thing. All the low profile heatsinks dont seem to perform well enough so the H50/70 seems to be the best choice right now.
 
Anyone know of any compatible 8gb memory sets are compatible with this board?

The supported 4gbx2 modules listed on the QVL dont seem very good. And Gigabyte doesnt have an updated QVL for their BIOS updates.
 
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Check my ram in my signature. I think it dropped to $140 after I bought it too.

joebobsteve said:
Anyone know of any compatible 8gb memory sets are compatible with this board?

The supported 4gbx2 modules listed on the QVL dont seem very good. And Gigabyte doesnt have an updated QVL for their BIOS updates.
Click to expand...
 
HaxEJxuK said:
Check my ram in my signature. I think it dropped to $140 after I bought it too.
Click to expand...

Looks good but Im afraid to use it because its not listed in the QVL. I just asked Gigabyte to send me an updated QVL list if they have one.

Do you know if using memory that seems to work on a motherboard but isnt listed in the QVL a smart choice? Its not listed on Gigabytes QVL or Gskills QVL.

So in other words, if memory is "H55 qualified" according to the manufacturer, is it safe to assume it will work on an H55 board?
 
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Im going to follow your advice then. I never used to care/know about QVLs until I bought Dual Channel memory for a Triple Channel system. Ive gotten lucky every time.
 
Ummmmmm.... You know that you have same mobo as I do? And I have shown you ram that I'm using, right? It could only means that it works. :confused:

To be honest, I've never used QVL and I've built many.

joebobsteve said:
Looks good but Im afraid to use it because its not listed in the QVL. I just asked Gigabyte to send me an updated QVL list if they have one.

Do you know if using memory that seems to work on a motherboard but isnt listed in the QVL a smart choice? Its not listed on Gigabytes QVL or Gskills QVL.

So in other words, if memory is "H55 qualified" according to the manufacturer, is it safe to assume it will work on an H55 board?
Click to expand...
 
ddr3 and ddr2 are different. dont mix them. other than that, there are very few exceptions where a set wont work in a certain board. its seriously like 1% of combinations dont work. iirc the most incompatibilities ive seen have been OCZ ram, so i would suggest avoiding them if youre worried. any of the major manufacturers you should feel free to buy, and if it doesnt work then you just got really unlucky and you should send it back to newegg and get a different set. they will work with you if you get an incompatible set. youre much more likely to get a bad stick than to get incompatible ram, so its just one of those risks that you take when you buy computer parts.
 
HaxEJxuK said:
Ummmmmm.... You know that you have same mobo as I do? And I have shown you ram that I'm using, right? It could only means that it works. :confused:

To be honest, I've never used QVL and I've built many.
Click to expand...

Yes, I got your recommendation, but I try not to buy from Newegg because CA tax kills the price. Its $210 total and thats too much for me.

I found some 2x4gb OCZs for $175 total but the previous guy just said to avoid OCZ. The blue pill or the red pill?
 
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What??? They charge you $70 off of $140 for tax? What are they doing to you guys in CA? You can't be serious about 50% tax are you? I'm saying this because same ram I got is on sale right now for $140 with code and free shipping.


joebobsteve said:
Yes, I got your recommendation, but I try not to buy from Newegg because CA tax kills the price. Its $210 total and thats too much for me.

I found some 2x4gb OCZs for $175 total but the previous guy just said to avoid OCZ. The blue pill or the red pill?
Click to expand...
 
joebobsteve said:
Its $190 on Newegg + 10% tax ($20) = $210

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._-20231400&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=194a4

And Newegg is the only store that sells that model. Where are you seeing this $140 sale or code?
Click to expand...

heres the hot deals thread about it. code is in the original post. its 1333 cas9 instead of 1600 cas8, which is why its so reasonably priced. :/ and the colors dont match the H55n at all, unlike the ones you linked to. it depends on if you want to save $70, or get better ram.

EDIT: just looked, and i think the OCZ ram you saw was 1333 cas9 like the red ripjaws for $140+tax, so the ripjaws in the hot deals thread would be cheaper for same speed and timings. plus, the ocz had a rebate and the ripjaws dont.
 
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Hey HaxEJxuK are you talking about the red Ripjaws or the blue ones? I just clicked the Ripjaw link in your sig but I can see how it would link to the wrong one.

I assumed the red Ripjaw was the wrong one because it ran at 1.5v while every other memory set recommended by Gigabyte runs at 1.65v.
 
joebobsteve said:
Hey HaxEJxuK are you talking about the red Ripjaws or the blue ones? I just clicked the Ripjaw link in your sig but I can see how it would link to the wrong one.

I assumed the red Ripjaw was the wrong one because it ran at 1.5v while every other memory set recommended by Gigabyte runs at 1.65v.
Click to expand...

1.65 is fine. 1.5 is better. 1.35 is even better still! ram wattage doesnt matter for compatibility. as long as its below 1.8ish you should be fine, and the lower the better since it will use less power and put less stress on the mobo. (my dominators are rated for 1.6V, but my H55n automatically undervolts them to 1.5V.)
 
ekuest said:
1.65 is fine. 1.5 is better. 1.35 is even better still! ram wattage doesnt matter for compatibility. as long as its below 1.8ish you should be fine, and the lower the better since it will use less power and put less stress on the mobo. (my dominators are rated for 1.6V, but my H55n automatically undervolts them to 1.5V.)
Click to expand...

I always thought motherboards had specific voltage requirements, not just for maximum but also minimum. But this is good news. I wont be as limited.

I also have 4x1gb dual channel 1.5v Gskill memory sitting unused because they were incompatible with my triple channel 1366 board. I might be able to use those to flash the BIOS if the memory I purchase is not compatible with the Gigabyte.
 
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