Gigabyte P965-P35 X38 overclocking and BIOS tweaking Guide

BillParrish

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Gigabyte overclocking Guide P965 P35 and X38

Edit July 17:
The Gigabyte P35 boards and X38 use a bios and chipset that is so identical to the P965 this guide is perfectly usable for the P35 and X38, you might find minor differences and a few extra high end tweaking options but it will not be anything critical.


A Guide to Gigabyte Overclocking and BIOS Tweaks

DRAFT


If you follow the steps of this guideline you can expect to:
  • Have a good set of tools installed to know exactly how fast and how hot your computer is running at all times.
  • Verify that even at stock speeds you are getting as much out of your machine as you can.
  • Get quite a bit of extra performance for free with no loss of reliability or stabiity with a minor or medium overclock. (with no major noise increase)
  • Obtain the most from your machine possible without compromising reliabiity or stability.
  • Some tips for making minor modifications to your board for maximum performance. If you have not built your machine yet, you should check that out first.
To do properly this will take some time, a lot actually, but it does not all have to be done at once.
And it is so easy a Cave...

I welcome constructive comments, suggestions for improvments and definitely let me know if you find any errors. I have a DQ6 it is very similar but its not a DS3 so a few things I have had to rely on others experiences.

This guide assumes you can get the board to boot at default "out of the box" settings and you can get into the BIOS without issues. It also assumes the OS is installed and the latest drivers video have been installed, Windows is completely updated and a working internet connection is available. This guide will also be helpful if you are experiencing random lockups or BSOD's (Blue Screen Of Death) as the first two sections will make sure your basic hardware settings are correct and tested.

We are going to reset your board to factory defaults and proceed in a methodical way that is assured to take you to the the non-bleeding edge of your boards performance. The manual is that little book that was in the box with the motherboard, go pull it out of the drawer, blow the dust off, and keep it handy please.

We are going to proceed in 4 phases:
  • Preperation
    • Collection of Software Tools, Utilities, Drivers etc. -post 1
    • Tool Installation - post 1
    • Update BIOS - post 1
  • Standard High Performance Setup With no Overclock - Recording the Baseline.
    • Memory Timings Example - post 2
    • Complete List of Recommended BIOS Settings - post 2
    • Settings to Record. - post 2
    • BIOS Clearing and Recovery Tricks.- post 3
  • Small or Medium Overclock for Increased Performance With no Loss of Reliability or Stability
  • High Performance Overclocking.
Preperation [H]
We are now going to gather some standard tools and information we need. You may have some of them already and can skip that tool. I do not have Vista installed (and will not until SP1 arrives ;) ) and there is a work around that works with the Coretemp utility and should work with the others so they will run under Vista. As a last resort Gigabyte provides a tool we can monitor temperatures with but in general it is a bloated resourse hog and should be avoided if possible.


Collection of Tools.
  • Make a new folder on your desktop and name it "OC Utils" or something like that.
  • Download the following into the new folder. Please do NOT install yet.
  • Visit Gigabytes web site, find the product page for your exact board and bookmark it.
    • Go here: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Default.aspx
    • In the "By Series" drop down box choose "GA-9xxxx "
    • In the "Model Name " drop down box find your exact MB and version.
    • CAREFULL! This is most likely NOT your board, see the "G" ? GA-965G-DS3
      This is the one with onboard graphics. Do Not use this unless this IS your board.​
    • Once you are postive you are on the correct product page for your board, please click the "Drivers" link on the upper right. Let the page load. I have noticed at my screen resolution it appears nothing happened but if I scroll down I find the new information.
    • Bookmark (Add to Favorites) this page please. You will be coming here often.
  • Make a new folder on your desktop and name it "Bios and Drivers" or something like that.
  • Double check that this page is for your exact board and version. Carefully look over the list of drivers and paying careful attention to the operating system each driver is intended for, get the latest copy of each driver and download into the folder you just created. Make a note of the driver version number in your notes, this is a MUST as you will notice the version number is not present in the driver file name. Later when you come back it will be difficult to remember if you have the latest driver and this will save you a lot of clicking in hardware manager. For the Realtek Audio driver notice that if you are running Windows 2000,Windows XP,Windows Sever 2003 you need the Microsoft UAA driver and it should be installed first (but not now). If you never intend to run a RAID array there is no need to grab those but you should anyway (Hmm that makes a lot of sense /shrug)
  • Please click the "BIOS" link on the upper right. Download the latest BIOS file for your board into the new folder. If you want some earlier ones grab them as well, some are reported to give better overclocking but for this guide we will leave that for your investigation after we do what we can with the latest version.
For reference only, in case we do get desperate, come back here and do this. But not now.
  • VISTA - If using Vista download the utility EasyTune 5 from Gigabytes webs site but do not install, its going to be saved for a last resort, I have found tips for making better tools work under Vista and we want to try them first, but grab it while we are here.
Tool Installation

Note: Most of these utilities have been updated for use with Vista and the procedures below are not needed. I leave them in place just in case.

In order for some of these tools to install and work with Vista the following procedure has to be done. XP people should skip this.
64-bit Vista needs steps 1 and 2
32-bit Vista needs just step 2 (but if it does not work, restart and do steps 1 and 2
Here is a web page that describes what must be done:
http://www.alcpu.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=211

In case the web page is not available.
Step 1:

Restart your system, and start hitting the F8 key until you get to the Windows boot menu.​
Select "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement"​
Hit the Enter key and Vista will continue to load.​
Step 2:
Go to your "OC utils" folder and right click on each program and select "Properties". In properties go to the "Compatibility" tab and check "Run this program as an Administrator".​
64-bit Vista users will have to do step 1 every time they start Vista and want to use these programs.
32-bit Vista users and step 2 for 64-bit Vista users, I am not sure, you will find out quick enough :mad:

OK, everyone install the programs, several just unzip so just let it expand in place creating an sub-folder and then move the compressed download package down into its folder for safe keeping or trash it. If the program did a "normal" install trash the download package. Find or make a shortcut for each of the actual programs and place it on your desktop. Start each one and take a look if you have not used them before.

Updating the BIOS

First we are going to update the bios to the latest version (skip if not needed).
This procedure uses the flash utility built into the BIOS and a floppy drive (you can use a usb drive or the HD see the manual - only FAT file systems are supported) . Other methods are available but NOT recommended. The internet and windows based utilities have killed many a board. Do NOT update the bios with the machine overclocked. Get into the bios and reset to factory defaults, reboot and then flash.

  • Prepare a floppy by doing a full format in the A: drive. If any bad sectors occur or any odd things happen, trash it and get another floppy disk. Use new ones if at all possible.
  • Go to your "Bios and Drivers" folder and find the bios file you want to use, it should be named something like " motherboard_bios_ga-965p-ds3_f10.exe". Notice the BIOS version is part of the file name.
  • Double click (or whatever) to run/execute the file.
  • A window should pop up with an "install to" data bar and a "browse" button. Use the "browse" button to indicate to the extraction program that the A:\ is the destination (or wherever). I will assume the A: drive, use what you use. Click the "install" button.
  • Open the A: drive in File Explorer and look at the file named like 965PDS3.F10, notice again the version is part of the file name, right click on it and look at the "Properties", It should be exactly 1MB (1,048,576 bytes) , If not ABORT, download again, and restart at the beginning of this section. do NOT proceed until this is resolved.
  • Save anything you were doing and shutdown the machine and restart
  • Start tapping the <Del> key like a crazed woodpecker and get into the BIOS main screen.
  • Open your manual GASP! and find the appendix concerning Q-Flash and follow the directions carefully. This is easy, do not panic. Ok. When finished the machine should reboot.
  • Make like a woodpecker again, and when in the main BIOS screen select "Load BIOS Fail-Safe Defaults" and press <Enter> when prompted. Select "Save and Exit" from the menu and respond "Y" and the machine will reboot. Let it boot to windows.

    STOP​

    A lot of people are having perceived issues with (mainly DS3's) and what is called the cold boot issue.

    This issue seems to consist of 2 issues as far as I can tell.

    Failure to boot, clear cmos does not work, board is boat anchor.

    Bios settings not retained on reboot.
    (Several users have found that legacy USB devices are the cause of this issue. Try removing all un-needed USB devices and see if the issue goes away).

    Actually the second problem is the classic "cold boot" as first reported.

    I recommend you read this.
    http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/..._explained.htm

    I highly recommend you install the Xpress Recovery2 untility with a small partition size. It appears the bios recovery utility is part of the Xpress Recovery progam and if the hidden partition exists, when flashing the bios a backup copy of the bios is put in the hidden partition. This might help avoid the issue of the board becoming unbootable. It is not clear if you are required to actually back up your HD data or not, I think not. However I cannot test this due to my hardware configuration. Note that the Xprerss Recovery will not work if your primary (boot) disk is a RAID. Here is some background.

    http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1031176834&posted=1#post1031176834




  • Guess what Woody ? Peck away again at <Del> and get the main BIOS screen but now we will have some fun.


Please go to the next thread in this post.​
 
Well, I lied about the "fun" part.

Standard high performance setup with no overclock - recording the baseline

You need to know your rams specified speed and voltage ! If you do not, go find out now.
It is almost always given as a series of four hyphenated numbers corresponding to the CAS latency, RAS-to-CAS delay, RAS precharge, and active-to-precharge delay, like 5-5-5-15, 4-4-4-12 etc.


The good news is that they are entered in the same order as typically given in specs.

Example
Assume memory with rating of 4 - 5 - 3 -15 using 2.1V, (programmed with SPD settings of 5 5 5 15), it will be used in this example and below in the bios settings listing as an example, you should of course find and use your memory timings and voltage as recommended by the manufacturer.

CAS latency (CL) &#8212; CAS latency refers to the delay between when a read operation is issued and when the data returned by that read is considered valid. ( 4 in our example)

RAS-to-CAS delay (tRCD) &#8212; The RAS-to-CAS delay occurs between the time a row is activated and when the first read or write operation is performed. (5 in our example)

RAS precharge (tRP) &#8212; The RAS precharge is the delay between when a precharge command is issued to close a row and when the next active command can be issued. (3 in our example)

Active-to-Precharge delay (tRAS) &#8212; This latency actually spans several steps in the memory access process. The active-to-precharge delay refers to the minimum number of cycles that must elapse between an active and precharge command. (15 in our example)

There are more, commonly called sub-timings but it will be a while before we get into that, leave them on [AUTO] as changes require some serious tweaking and testing and you can render your board un-bootable.

From the main BIOS screen press the <Ctrl> and <F1> function key (Ctrl+F1) at the same time to enable advanced settings under the M.I.T. sub menu.

Modify your BIOS settings per below.
Example BIOS Ver.: GA-965P-DS3, F10a (your menus may differ slightly but nothing you can not figure out)

The column of memory timings under SPD in the M.I.T screen is a recent addition, you might not see it on some BIOS versions. SPD is a chip on the memory stick with preprogrammed memory timings to help the computer first boot up. These timings are usually much looser than what the manuf advertises and what the memory can actually do, performance wise. That is why we change the memory timings settings to manual control and manually put in the manufacturers advertised high performance timings settings and voltage setting.

Red items are changes from default settings that directly affect overclocking or optimal operation.
Orange items are items you need to set based on your unique hardware
Green items are items that do not affect overclocking and seldom if ever need to be changed
No color used are items that may or may not, mostly not, need to be looked at. Check your manual if unsure.
References and notes about an options will be in Blue so that the Red items needing your attention stand out.

Any comments by me are either beside the item with an "<---" or directly below the item I am commenting on.


Standard CMOS Features
All you should need to do here is set the date and time, verify your drives are all there and if you have a floppy the correct type is shown, 1.44M, 3.5 has been the standard floppy for many years. Take a look and make sure the total memory shown agrees with what you have installed.


Advanced BIOS Features
Hard Disk Boot Priority [Press Enter]
First Boot Device__________ [CDROM] <-- use whatever device you have memtest created on.
Second Boot Device_________ [Hard Disk]
Third Boot Device__________ [Floppy] <-- if installed or CD if first is floppy, its not critical.
Password Check_____________ [Setup]
HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability__ [Disabled]
You can turn this on if you want I am not sure if OCing is affected or not. I would wait till we are all happy then turn it on later.
CPU Hyper-Threading________ [Disabled]
C2D's do not Hyper-Tread, two cores are really there.
Limit CPUID Max. to 3______ [Disabled]
For using new CPU's with old Operating Systems, not needed.
No-Execute Memory Protect__ [Disabled]
Security Feature -Prevents the execution of code in data-only memory, do not need just now .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NX_bit
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)____ [Disabled]
Disable for for now - Thermal management
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2)_ [Enable]
Per my understanding of data sheets this will only affect the CPU when it is way too hot. If it affects overclocking it is because the CPU cooling is inadequate so it is set to Enable for safety. If you have proper cooling it should have no effect on overclocking unless you are at extreme temps and we do not want to go there and MB temp alarm should go off first anyway
Enable for now - Thermal management
CPU EIST Function__________ [Disabled]
There is some discussion that EIST does not affect overclocking as the processor will run full speed when needed and slow down when idle reducing temps and in general being a well behaved nice thing. It does take some system memory. For now we will disable it until we have the machine characterized because the FSB jumping around will drive us nuts. It can be turned on later once we know what the machine will do and if we take notes as recommended you will immediately be able to see the results of enabling this, for now, disabled.
Virtualization Technology__ [Disabled]
If you need this, you know it.
http://www.intel.com/technology/virtualization/
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization_Technology
Full Screen LOGO Show______ [Disabled]
Logo thing is a personal preference If you like it, leave it enabled, I like to see whats going on.
Init Display First_________ [PEG]
Enable PCI-e Video card first.

Integrated Peripherals
SATA AHCI Mode__________ [AHCI] <-- see the link below, if you use AHCI make absolutely certain you drive is set up (jumpers, manuf config utility, etc.) for 3.0Gb/s operation
http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/cs-015988.htm
SATA Port0-3 Native Mode [Enabled] <-- if XP SP2 or newer otherwise [Disabled]
USB Controller__________ [Enabled]
USB 2.0 Controller______ [Enabled]
USB Keyboard Support____ [As your hardware requires]
USB Mouse Support_______ [As your hardware requires]
Legacy USB storage detect[As your hardware requires]
Unless you have a USB hard drive attached disable USB storage (will not affect thumb drives).
Azalia Codec____________ [Auto] <--- Disable if you have a sound card.
Onboard H/W LAN_________ [Enabled]
SMART LAN_______________ [Press Enter]
Onboard LAN Boot ROM____ [Disabled]
Onboard SATA/IDE Device_ [Enabled]
Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode [IDE]
IDE/RAID if running a raid on the jmicron controllers.
Onboard Serial Port 1___ [Disabled unless you have a need for it]
Onboard Parallel Port___ [Disabled unless you have a need for it]
Parallel Port Mode______ [SPP]


Power Management Setup
ACPI Suspend Type [S1(POS)]
Soft-Off by PWR-BTTN [Delay 4 Sec.]
Highly recommended, you MUST hold the power button in for 4 sec to turn off the machine, this allows time for disk drive buffers to flush. Short push should put computer into sleep mode or shutdown if Windows set up to allow it.
PME Event Wake Up_________ [Disabled]
Power On by Ring__________ [Disabled]
Resume by Alarm___________ [Disabled]
x Date (of Month) Alarm Everyday
x Time (hh:mm:ss) Alarm 0 : 0 : 0
HPET Support (Note)_______ [Enabled]
Supported on Vista operating system only. But no problems with it being enabled
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Precision_Event_Timer
http://www.intel.com/hardwaredesign/hpetspec_1.pdf
HPET Mode_________________ [32-bit mode] <-- 64-bit mode on 64 bit OS's
Power On By Mouse_________ [Double Click] <-- this is nice check it out:p (may not work with wireless or USB mice)
Power On By Keyboard______ [Disabled] <-- if you have a fancy Kb do it.
KB Power ON Password______ [Enter]
AC Back Function__________ [Soft-Off]


PnP/PCI Configurations
PCI1 IRQ Assignment [Auto]
PCI2 IRQ Assignment [Auto]
PCI3 IRQ Assignment [Auto]


PC Health Status
Reset Case Open Status [Disabled]
Case Opened No
Vcore OK
DDR18V OK
+3.3V OK
+12V OK
Current System Temperature 40oC <-- thermistor located near the end of the 16x PCI-3 slot.
Current CPU Temperature 47C <-- thermistor located in or near the cpu socket.
Current CPU FAN Speed 3375 RPM
Current SYSTEM FAN Speed 0 RPM
Current POWER FAN Speed 0 RPM
CPU Warning Temperature___ [80oC / 176oF] <--Never set above 80 (I use 70)
CPU FAN Fail Warning______ [Enabled] <--stock HS-fan or 3/4 wire HS-fan, otherwise disable if CPU fan has no rpm monitor lead (2 pin fan)
SYSTEM FAN Fail Warning___ [Enabled] <--Disable if no rpm monitor on fan
POWER FAN Fail Warning____ [Disabled] <---Use it if ya got it.
Smart FAN Control Method__ [Disable] <--Forces CPU fan to always run full speed.
Smart FAN Control Mode____ [Auto]
Once Method is disabled it does not matter what Mode is set to, fan should run 100% all the time. Later once you determine how the temps are running with your over clock you can come back and enable this and EIST as well to keep the fan noise under control.

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster___________ [Auto]
CPU Clock Ratio (Note)____________ [XX] <<<----CPU Multiplier
This should be set to your processors highest multiplier, for now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors
The option will display "Locked" and read only if the CPU ratio is not changeable.
CPU Host Clock Control_ [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (MHz)__________ [266] <<<----FSB Speed (Front Side Buss)
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [102]
C.I.A. 2__________________________ [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)____ [2.00]
This is a 1:1 divider, memory speed will be 2x FSB.
Memory Frequency (Mhz) 533
Your actual memory operating speed is always show above.
DRAM Timing Selectable_______ SPD __ [Manual]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_Presence_Detect
CAS Latency Time_____________ 5 ____ [4] <--use your rams values, (CL)
Dram RAS# to CAS# Delay______ 5 ____ [5] <--use your rams values (tRCD)
Dram RAS# Precharge Delay_____5 ____ [3] <--use your rams values (tRP)
Precharge Delay (tRAS)________15 ____[12] <--use your rams values (tRAS)
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_______4 _____[auto]
Rank Write to READ Delay______3 _____[auto]
Write to Precharge Delay______6 _____[auto]
Refresh to ACT Delay________42 ______[0]
Read to Precharge Delay_______4 _____[auto]
Memory Performance Enhance__________ [Normal]
This setting adjusts a major sytem memory performance timing known as tRD and has a great affect on
overall memory performance. Start out with "Normal" or the default while establishing your cpu overclock but once you
start tuning the memory subsystem and after putting in your high performance memory settings try very hard
to get a stable OC with the "Fast" or "Turbo" settings.
www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3239&p=1

High Speed DRAM DLL Settings________ [Option 1]

******** System Voltage NOT Optimized ******** <<---IGNORE This.
System Voltage Control____ [Manual]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.300V] <-- default is 1.8V, 1.8 + 0.3V = 2.1V set this to add up to your ram's voltage requirement.
PCI-E OverVoltage Control_ [+0.1V] <--- a little extra for stability
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.1V] <--- a little extra for stability
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.1V] <--- a little extra for stability
CPU Voltage Control_______ [Per chart below] <--- very mild overvoltage so we can start playing soon SEE WARNING BELOW !
DANGER - Intel spec for Vcore absolute maximum is 1.55V. The BIOS will let you set a ridiculous high voltage, be careful. !!
Normal CPU Vcore 1.3250V

CPU Voltage chart. (minor overvoltage for stability)
E4300 1.35
E6300 1.35
E6400 1.35
E6600 1.375
E6700 1.375
X6800 1.375
Q6600 1.38
QX6700 1.38

After making these changes press <Esc> to return to the main menu and STOP!
PRESS THE <F11> KEY
Type in "Baseline" (without the quote marks)
Press <Enter>
Save Changes and Exit CMOS.


Let the machine load windows.
  • Start CPU-z: make a note of Core Speed, Multiplier and Buss Speed. (Core Speed should be your Intel CPU stock speed)
  • Start coretemp: make a note of Core #1 temp and Core #2 temp they should not be above 40C typically.
  • Leave coretemp running and start Orthos, run the Blend test and watch your temps, remember anything over 65C (and at these almost stock settings you should not be anywhere near that) is cause for concern and you should shut the system down.
  • Let Orthos run for 5 minutes if temps seem reasonable and then record your load temps for both cores.


    I make a spreadsheet kinda thing on graph paper and record the critical values in columns, marking the one I change on the next test. I strongly suggest you do something similar. These are the critical settings we are going to be adjusting.

    CPU Speed
    CPU Voltage
    CPU Multi
    FSB
    Divider
    Mem Speed
    Mem Volts
    CAS
    RAS to CAS
    RAS Precharge
    Precharge Delay
    ACT to ACT
    Write to READ
    Write to Precharge
    Refresh to ACT
    Read to Precharge
    Memory Perf Enh
    High Speed DRAM
    DDR2 OverVoltage
    PCI-E OverVoltage
    FSB OverVoltage
    MCH OverVoltage
    Core 1 temp IDLE
    Core 2 temp IDLE
    Core 1 temp LOAD
    core 2 temp LOAD
    super PI 2M time.

    Hang in there ! Almost playtime :D


    Continued Next Post.​
 
Last edited:
Gigabytes Gone WILD !!!


In preparation for our little adventure we need to make sure we understand what happens when the board is "not happy". We will try to avoid "not happy" by being methodical but it is going to happen, a lot. The first thing is that when we change something important in the BIOS, the board will try very hard to use our settings and begin a cycle of powering off and attempting to reboot, after several cycles it will either find settings that work or reset the CPU back to stock speeds by disabling the "manual" settings for CPU frequency and PCI frequency and using the "safe" SPD memory timings. When it does this you will get the single "BEEP" indication the POST succeeded. Be ready to hit the "Del" key to get back in the BIOS and fix where we went to far. So get used to hitting Ctrl+F1 at the main BIOS screen. You will have to redo the three items below as well as address whatever it is we did to cause the problem. The good news is that no other settings should have changed. (Also see "Using Stored Profiles.." below, it eliminates the need to manually fix most things.)

Normally, under the M.I.T. sub-menu the settings below is all that needs to be checked and reentered/enabled.
(and fix whatever it is we did to make it un-happy)

CPU Host Clock Control____________ [Enabled]
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [102]
DRAM Timing Selectable_______ SPD _[Manual]

Now the bad news. Sometimes we can really freak it out and it will just keep cycling, no worries, I give it 5 cycle tries and with my finger on the power switch on the back of the power supply, catch it when it powers down and flip the switch off. We will be forced to clear the CMOS/BIOS and this will erase a lot of our settings back to factory defaults. :eek: You did take notes on all your setting changes, right ? Bah, I warned ya.

But here are a couple of tricks to make the recovery from insanity quicker and much less painful:

Clearing the CMOS/BIOS (Restoring the BIOS settings to factory defaults and a neat trick)​
Please check your manual for the procedure for Clearing the CMOS, pgs. 29 and 30 of the DS3/S3 manual I have, and usually in the Troubleshooting section. pg 82. also. OK, look on your board and find the jumper pins for clearing the CMOS. Now in your manual find the diagram that shows where the front panel switches and LEDs connect to the motherboard (pg 25) and take note of where the reset switch is plugged into the motherboard header, on current versions its on the bottom, closest to the edge of the board and the one to the right toward the front of the board. Yank it off ! Now connect it to the CLR_CMOS pins ! Huh ? Yep, we do not need reset, the computer tries to do that on its own and hitting reset from the front panel is hecka lot easier than messing with the battery etc. We will put it back when play time is over, although I do not have a good reason why we should even bother. So now, to clear the CMOS, just hold in the reset button and count to 10. This works great on my DQ6, as I mentioned I do not have a DS-3 but there is no reason it should not work.​
Saving Our Baseline BIOS Settings
Using Q-Flash to Save our Initial BIOS Setup
Read page 60 of the manual concerning Q-Flash, it will work with a floppy or USB drive formated with FAT32. I will talk about using a floppy, you do what you have to do. Find a new floppy, do a full format, if anything weird shows up, trash it and try another, and reboot, tapping the "End" key to get into Q-Flash immediately or "Del" to go into the BIOS main menu and then hit the "F8" key. From the menu select "Save BIOS to Drive" and when prompted give the file a name like baseline.f10 or overclock.f10. Please add the .XYY of the bios version just like the original BIOS file from Gigabyte so if you tell them apart if accumulate a lot of them. Since they are 1MB in size you can only get one BIOS file on a floppy. OK so now if everything goes south we can get back to our baseline. I have flashed my machine a lot with Q-Flash and a floppy but any BIOS flash is inherently dangerous (My DQ6 has a backup on board, really sweet). So I strongly suggest you take a look at the next section, it makes things sooo much easier.​
Using Stored Profiles is the Preferred Method
As there is some risk with the full flash method above, after you make a hard BIOS backup, see if your board supports this feature and use it. It will save a LOT of time. From the main BIOS screen, look at the bottom and see if there is an "F11: Save CMOS to BIOS", if so this is a great thing to use. Go ahead and hit F11, an 8 slot menu should pop up, you use your arrow keys to move up and down. Highlight one of the "Default" entries, and type in "Baseline" or something like that, space over any remaining letters of the "default" if they exist, and hit the enter key to close the menu. From the main BIOS screen hit "Exit and Save Settings", your are done. On reboot hit "del", get into the BIOS and change something easy to find. Now go back to main menu, hit "F12: Load CMOS to BIOS", select the entry you just made with your arrow keys and hit "Enter". Go look at what you changed a minute ago, its back to what it was! Neato. This is great for OC testing, I have a "TEST" profile I use and a "Stable OC" and a "Baseline" profile. This does NOT eliminate the need to write stuff down but you should get comfortable using this. Just every time you make a change, BEFORE "Exit and Save Changes" use F11 and save your stuff to the "TEST" or whatever you named it profile. Tip - don't mess with your "Baseline" profile, ever, make another one. With 8 slots you can figure out a method that works for you.​
----------- work in progress below here, use at own risk ---- There is nothing horribly wrong or incorrect in the following I have just, not finished, double checked the logical progression and am basically getting a first cut down and it needs to be gone through again simplified and triple checked for errors.



Instant Gratification
As a reward for wading through all this stuff, lets take a minute and "play toys". We are just going to do a "quickie" overclock try to boot and load into windows. As soon as you can get Coretemp fired up in windows and check you temp. If the heatsink is installed correctly you should not be over 55C even with stock heatsink. We have our baseline profile saved, right ? right!.

Find your CPU in the table below on the left and move right until you get to the column that is your memory.

The values listed are CPU clock ratio (multiplier) - Memory Divider - FSB (Host Clock Speed) and at the very end the speed your CPU will be running. For example if you have an E6400 and PC6400 memory set your multiplier to 8, your memory divider to 2.0 and and FSB to 333MHz in the M.I.T menu and after rebooting it should run at about 2.664GHz.


Example using E6400 and PC6400 settings from the table below:

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster___________ [Auto]
CPU Clock Ratio _________________ [8] <<<----CPU Multiplier from table for E6400 + PC6400
CPU Host Clock Control____________ [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (MHz)_________ [333] <<<----FSB Speed (Front Side Buss) from table for E6400 + PC6400
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [102]
C.I.A. 2__________________________ [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)_____ [2.00] <<--- Memory Divider from table for E6400 + PC6400


_________PC2-4200______ PC2-5300 ______ PC2-6400______ PC2-7200 ______ PC2-8000 _______ PC2-8500______aprox speed
E4300___ 9 - 2.0 - 266 ____ 9 - 2.5 - 266 ____ 9 - 3.0 - 266 ____ 9 - 3.3 - 266 ____ 9 - 3.3 - 266 _____ 9 - 4.0 - 266 ____ 2394
E6300___ xxxxxxxxx _____ 7 - 2.0 - 333 ____ 7 - 2.0 - 366 ____ 7 - 2.0 - 366 ____ 7 - 2.5 - 366 _____ 7 - 2.5 - 366 ____ 2664
E6400___ xxxxxxxxx _____ 8 - 2.0 - 333 ____ 8 - 2.0 - 333 ____ 8 - 2.5 - 333 ____ 8 - 3.0 - 333 _____ 8 - 3.0 - 333 ____ 2664
E6600___ xxxxxxxxx _____ 8 - 2.0 - 333 ____ 7 - 2.0 - 400 ____ 7 - 2.0 - 400 ____ 7 - 2.5 - 400 _____ 7 - 2.5 - 400 ____ 2800
E6700___ xxxxxxxxx _____ 9 - 2.0 - 333 ____ 8 - 2.0 - 375 ____ 8 - 2.0 - 375 ____ 8 - 2.5 - 375 _____ 9 - 2.5 - 375 ____ 2997
X6800___ xxxxxxxxx _____10 - 2.0 - 333 ____ 8 - 2.0 - 400 ____ 8 - 2.0 - 400 ____ 8 - 2.5 - 400 _____ 8 - 2.5 - 400 ____ 3200
Q6600___ xxxxxxxxx _____ 8 - 2.0 - 333 ____ 7 - 2.0 - 400 ____ 7 - 2.0 - 400 ____ 7 - 2.5 - 400 _____ 7 - 2.5 - 400 ____ 2800
QX6700__ xxxxxxxxx _____ 9 - 2.0 - 333 ____ 9 - 2.0 - 375 ____ 9 - 2.0 - 375 ____ 9 - 2.5 - 375 _____ 9 - 2.5 - 375 ____ 2997
Back out ot the main menu, F11- Save it in a new profile, Save and Exit and a short prayer during the power cycle and reboot cant hurt.

With a little luck you should now be running with a mild overclock. Grab your notebook and jot down the results of the following. Start cpu-z and record your CPU speed and FSB, Start coretemp and check your temps both at idle and with Orthos running for a couple of minutes. If under load you are at or over 65C shut it down. Click on the "memory" tab of cpu-z and jot down the information, it should correspond to the manufactures timings we manually placed into the BIOS settings. If your temps are good, play around some. Come back when you feel like it, I will go take a nap. No hurry.




Memory Characterization and Validation

The most critical aspect of overclocking your CPU is to determine just how far you can overclock you memory (and your board in general). Once we know exactly what our memory can do, it is no longer part of the variables. If you do not do this, you can never quite be sure what is limiting what and spend a lot of time changing random things and spinning in circles. With this board design the MCH (Memory Controller Hub) also becomes overclocked as FSB speeds increase and this actually tends to limit overclocking the entire system as well. There will be a more in-depth discussion in the extreme overclocking section. Regardless of the level of overclocking desired, all should go through the following steps and just quit when you are at your comfort level. First, a few words about what is normally limits the overclock on these boards.

Memory and MCH Heat Issues.
If you intend to do serious overclocking start the process now to get a fan on the MCH. Screw it on, hot melt glue, tye wraps, whatever. You must cool the MCH for reliable FSB's over 333. If you cpu has a multiplier of 9 or more its not quite as much an issue but you may find the super duper fast memory you bought was a waste of money. More on that later. During the next set of tests we need to employ the highly sensitve thermal probe located on the end of your hand. You have 10 of them so if one gets damaged its of no concern, to me :p. Each time you increment the FSB and establish a new "highest" FSB let memtest run for a few minutes and take your thermal probe (finger) and place it on a memory stick, either directly on a chip or if with heatspreaders place it in the middle of the spreader about 1/2 way down. If you can count to ten without removing your finger due to heat. you are good, if you hae to let go at 5 you are very warm and it could use some more air, how is up to you. If you cant make it to 3, you are killing your ram. You need to back off and get some air on it. We are still at stock voltage and extreme overclocking requires raising the memory voltage which produces a LOT more heat than we are creating now. So this is a serious problem if you are already running hot. Do the same thing for the MCH heatsink. It is the heatpipe/heatsink about in the middle of the board. It will probably be much hotter than a memory stick, dont damage your probe. Same deal, I think you will quickly find a fan is needed as we ramp up the FSB. Deal with it if you intend to OC. See the Hardware tweaks section for tips on putting a fan on the MCH. Repeatedly check the temp of these parts as you establish new FSB "records". The first and best thing you can do is tear off that ridiculous "bling" thin sheetmetal cover on the MCH so air can get to the fins. Flatten it back out and superglue it to your case for a "super sized" case badge, or not.

Memory/MCH Testing Strategy
Basic strategy, we will reduce the CPU multiplier to under clock the CPU and increase the Memory Mulitplier (for higher memory speeds) and raise the CPU Host Frequency (FSB) speed while we test the memory until we get errors. All of these settings are under the M.I.T. sub-menu in the BIOS. The first runs should be done at the manufactures recommended voltages. Take notes but it is probably not necessary to use the full listing I presented earlier, just keep track of CPU Host Frequency (FSB) speed, Memory Speed (FSB x 2.5) and Memory Voltage. We are going to test to find the following.

Max speed at auto timings and stock manuf specified voltage.
Max speed at auto timings and manuf highest recommended voltage.
Max speed at manual timings and stock manuf specified voltage
Max speed at manual timings and manuf highest recommended voltage.

For example my Corsar XMS is rated at 1.9V in the specifications as a stock voltage but Corsair recommends and warranties it up to 2.1V. As mentioned before, you need to know these values for your ram. Make a post in the memory forum if you have too but rely only on manufactures data sheets or the company representative. Advice from Ub3r_HzAxO8R and his buddies, etc. is to be avoided. If like me, you have more time than money, you can test each stick individually. Its not unheard of to stick a little piece of tape to the stick with the max OC info like "850FSB [email protected]".


The Memory TEST

Reboot if you have to and get into the BIOS.
From the main menu press the <F12> key and load your "Baseline" profile.
Now enter the "Advanced Chipset Options" sub-menu and check that the first boot device is set to the drive that can boot Memtest.
(Easier than trying to hit the Boot Menu key during restart, hitting <Del> in time is hard enough. )
Find your Memtest CD or floppy and place it in the drive

Go into the M.I.T sub menu and make ONLY the following changes:

CPU Clock Ratio __________________ [6] <<<----Set to 6, all CPU models, for testing
CPU Host Clock Control_____ [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (MHz)____________ [Per table below]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)____ __[Per table below]
DRAM Timing Selectable_______ SPD __ [Auto]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.1] <-- default is 1.8V, 1.8 + 0.1V = 1.9V set this to add up to your ram's manufacturers stock voltage requirement. This example shows my Corsair XMS at 1.9V stock.

Verify that:
Memory Performance Enhance__________ [Normal]


Values in this table will result in a 10% (aprox.)increase in memory speed over stock.

Rating (stock spd)_____ New FSB ___ Mem spd______ New CPU spd
PC2-4300 (533Mhz)_______ 234______( 585) _________ 1.40GHz __ use 2.5 multi
PC2-5300 (667Mhz)_______ 292______( 730) _________ 1.75GHz __ use 2.5 multi
PC2-5400 (675Mhz)_______ 292______( 730) _________ 1.75GHz __ use 2.5 multi
PC2-6000 (750Mhz)_______ 330______( 825) _________ 1.98GHz __ use 2.5 multi
PC2-6400 (800Mhz)_______ 293______( 880) _________ 1.76GHz __ use 3.0 multi
PC2-7200 (900Mhz)_______ 330______( 990) _________ 1.90GHz __ use 3.0 multi
PC2-8000 (1000Mhz)______ 275______(1100) _________ 1.65GHz __ use 4.0 multi
PC2-8500 (1066Mhz)______ 325______(1130) _________ 1.95GHz __ use 4.0 multi

<Esc> to the main BIOS menu after making the changes above.
From the main BIOS screen press <F11> to save your new settings
If a "Testing" profile exists, use your arrow keys and select/highlight it.
If a "Testing" profile does not exist create one by selecting a slot and type in "Testing"
Press <Enter> to save the baseline + the new settings to the "Testing" profile.
Select/highlight "Save and Exit CMOS", press <Enter> twice.

OK, I have spent days trying to come up with tables and procedures to step through what needs to be done. Its almost impossible (for me anyway) to come up with anything simple that can cover all situations so we will rely on your brain, as it is the most powerful computer we have available. As mentioned above the point is to find out where your memory starts to have issues at stock timings and voltages. We will then repeat the testing with other timings and voltages but we need to know it all. If you change boards, processors etc. this information is worth its weight in gold. The settings in the table above are agressive, do not become discouraged if you fail the first time.

What to do

Max speed at auto timings and stock manuf specified voltage.

You should have rebooted into memtest. If not, fix it. We are going to slowly raise the CPU Host Frequency (FSB) and each test we will boot into memtest and let it run just the first 3 tests. If memtest gives you no errors, reboot, get into the BIOS and raise the CPU Host Frequency by 3MHz , save and exit, reboot into memtest, and keep repeating this procedure until errors appear. Do NOT change anything else, just the CPU Host Frequency (FSB). Take note of the CPU Host Frequency. Write it down every time you change it because its almost certain the last try will require you to reset the CMOS and the value in the BIOS will be lost. Ok, at some point errors are going to show up. We now have memtest errors, reboot into the BIOS if you can, if not Clear CMOS, boot into the BIOS and load your "testing" profile. Go into the M.I.T menu and put in the last "Good" CPU Host Frequency. Save and exit, and let memtest run for at least one full testing pass. If you get no errors, circle that last "Good" CPU Host Frequency. If you get errors, go back in the bios and reduce the CPU Host Frequency by 2MHz and keep doing this with a memtest run until you get at least 1 full memtest pass with no errors. The CPU Host Frequency you end up with, times the CPU mulitplier from the table that you used for testing gives you the maximum actual speed your memory will pass this test at.




.





Continued Next Post
 
hey, just installed my DS3 3.3 this morning and been using this guide. Thanks for posting
 
More What to Do.

Max speed at auto timings and manuf highest recommended voltage.​

Load your "testing" profile and change ONLY:

DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.3] <-- default is 1.8V, 1.8 + 0.3V = 2.1V set this to add up to your ram's manufacturers maximum voltage. This example shows my Corsair XMS at 2.1V which is what Corsair recommends for my memory for overclocking.

Do the exact same procedure as we just did above. Hopefully you will come out with a higher CPU Host Frequency. Be sure to take note of this number and that it is for auto timings, OCing voltage. If you multiply this number times the value of the Memory Multiplier you used in the BIOS from the table, this number represents about the highest actual speed you are going to get out of that memory without going to extreme methods.


Max speed at manual timings and stock manuf specified voltage

Load your "testing" profile and change ONLY:

DRAM Timing Selectable_______ SPD __ [Manual]

Do the exact same procedure as we just did above. You should will come out with a lower CPU Host Frequency due to the tightened timings. Be sure to take note of this number and that it is for manual timings, stock voltage. If you multiply this number times the value of the Memory Multiplier you used in the BIOS from the table, this number represents about the highest actual speed you are going to get out of that memory if you go with a conservative OC.


Max speed at manual timings and manuf highest recommended voltage.

Load your "testing" profile and change ONLY:

DRAM Timing Selectable_______ SPD __ [Manual]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.3] <-- default is 1.8V, 1.8 + 0.3V = 2.1V set this to add up to your ram's manufacturers maximum voltage. This example shows my Corsair XMS at 2.1V which is what Corsair recommends for my memory for overclocking.

Do the exact same procedure as we just did above. You should will come out with a slightly higher CPU Host Frequency due to the increased voltage, but maybe not. Be sure to take note of this number and that it is for manual timings, OCing voltage. If you multiply this number times the value of the Memory Multiplier you used in the BIOS from the table, this number represents about the highest actual speed you are going to get out of that memory with tight timings without going to extreme methods.


You should now have four CPU Host Frequencies circled, mulitply them by the memory divider you used from the table and those numbers are pretty close to the speed limits of your ram:
Max speed at auto timings and stock manuf specified voltage. xxxxxxMHz
Max speed at auto timings and manuf highest recommended voltage. xxxxMHz
Max speed at manual timings and stock manuf specified voltage xxxxxxMHz
Max speed at manual timings and manuf highest recommended voltage. xxxxxMHz
With additional testing we can refine those numbers a little bit but it is not worth the time now. Hopefully you did not have to reset the cmos and your "testing" bios profile still contains the manual memory timings and the the recommended overclocking voltage. If you did have to clear it, load your "Baseline" profile and enter the setting just like you did above in the last memory testing run.
 
Thanks for this great work Bill. The time and effort that it takes to do this is much appreciated. :)

Note:

"PCI-E OverVoltage Control_ [+0.05V] <--- a little extra for stability
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.05V] <--- a little extra for stability
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.05] <--- a little extra for stability"

On the DS3, only increments of +0.1V are possible.
 
Reference Materials:


Intel:

http://download.intel.com/design/pro...x/31368502.pdf
Thermal and Mechanical Design Guidelines
&#8211; Supporting the Intel&#174; Core&#8482;2 Duo desktop processor E6000
and E4000 sequences and Intel&#174; Pentium&#174; 4 processor 651
January 2007

http://download.intel.com/design/processor/designex/31559402.pdf
Thermal and Mechanical Design Guidelines
&#8211; Supporting the Intel&#174; Core&#8482;2 Extreme quad-core processor
QX6700 &#916; and Intel&#174; Core&#8482;2 Quad Processor Q6600

http://download.intel.com/design/processor/applnots/31321402.pdf
Voltage Regulator-Down (VRD) 11.0
Processor Power Delivery Design Guidelines
&#8211; For Desktop LGA775 Socket

http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/P965/documentation.htm
All the P965 chipset docs


BIOS settings

Memory Performance Enhance
http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/products/specs/EPP_Specification_v01.pdf
Enhanced Performance Profiles, (EPP)


Thermal Considerations
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/cpu/intel-thermal-features-core2.html
 
Thanks for the tips - I stabilized my OC finally. Glad to see someone else with a DQ6 too!

BTW, does upping the PCI-express clock really make a difference?
 
I cannot swear to it, it was mainly a fix for earlier DS3's with bad stability issues. I believe its probably fixed in the bios by now. But several posts over at XS (they have a HUGE DS3 and some DQ6 thread BTW if you got a week to read it) indicated it helped quite a few people back when things were in bad shape. So I have taken the conservative approach as I have in the entire guide. Basic reasoning is, eliminate any concern the PCI lock might not be working by putting in something other than [auto] and give a a few MHz that any decent video card can handle just in case it helps with stability. Pretty poor answer I am afraid. When I get to the troubleshooting section I am going to revisit my list of forums and look again at if this is still a fix, as most people had to go like 110 or so for it to make a difference. Actually I would be inclined to think it was more an issue with the video card than the board but more investigation is needed before I can shoot my mouth off. I have not noticed that it as affected any stability or OC on my DQ6 I took it up to 110 that I can recall and much more and my ATI didn't like it. I have tried everything to get to 500 but it wont boot past 492 (and I know my ram will make it).

Obligatory pimp my rig linky.
http://mysite.verizon.net/ressdxka/id3.html
 
I see in your guide you mention saving BIOS settings to a floppy. There is actually a BIOS save within the BIOS (F11 to write and F12 to restore, or vice versa, I forget) that for me at least on my DS3 3.3, is persistent across CMOS resets.

You might want to check this out and add it to your guide if applicable.

One question - why the 2MHz OC on the PCIe bus?
 
Quick Facts and FAQ​

Fact: It is impossible to run the memory slower than the CPU FSB as there is no memory divider less than 1:1 (shown as 2.0 in the bios because with DDR true memory speed is twice the base clock speed). For example; If you set the CPU clock (FSB) at 333MHz the slowest you can run memory is 2 x 333MHz = 666MHz

Fact: If you do not cool the MCH/Northbridge you are going to have issues with anything over a mild OC.

Fact: Easytune 5 blows chunks for monitoring CPU temperatures (at least on my DQ6) see FAQ below.

Fact: I do not know everything, make mistakes all the time and cannot spell worth a damn.

Fact:With Speedfan - Vcore2 is actually vdimm.
Temp 2 is related to cpu temp, best quess is that it is a thermal probe/thermistor located under the cpu in the "well" in the middle of the socket. This is easy to verify as you can run some cpu stress testing software and it quickly raises temp 2. However it does not exactly correspond to the cpu core temps and reacts a bit slower, thus the conclusion its a thermister under the cpu.
Temp 1 is also a thermister on the board that is reading "system temp" and on DS3's it is located on the board near the end of the PCI-e 16x slot (video card slot) and rises no where near a quickly as the cpu related ones. It is more of a general "case temp" kinda thing.
Temp 3 is hooked to nothing and is completely "wacko" disregard it.





C2D specs. (CPU highest default multi, stock speed, cache, highest factory Vid, default FSB)
E4300 9X 1.800MHz 2MB 1.325V 200MHz
E4400 10x 2.000MHz 2MB 1.325V 200MHz
E6300 7X 1.866MHz 2MB 1.325V 266MHz
E6320 7x 1.866 MHz 4MB 1.325V 266MHz
E6400 8X 2.133MHz 2MB 1.325V 266MHz
E6420 8x 2.133MHz 4MB 1.325V 266MHz
E6600 9X 2.400MHz 4MB 1.3525V 266MHz
E6700 10X 2.667MHz 4MB 1.3525V 266MHz
X6800 11x 2.933MHz 4MB 1.3525V 266MHz
Q6600 9x 2.400MHz 4MB 1.372V 266MHz
QX6700 10X 2.667MHz 4MB 1.372V 266MHz

Memory default voltage is 1.8V

MCH default voltage is 1.25V
MCH max voltate per Intel spec P965 MCH - VCC 1.25 V Core Supply Voltage with respect to VSS - 1.375 V max (.15 deta default to max.)

E8200, 2.66GHz, 6MB shared L2 cache, 1333MHz FSB, maximum 8.0x multiplier
E8300, 2.83GHz, 6MB shared L2 cache, 1333MHz FSB, maximum 8.5x multiplier
E8400, 3.00GHz, 6MB shared L2 cache, 1333MHz FSB, maximum 9.0x multiplier
E8500, 3.16GHz, 6MB shared L2 cache, 1333MHz FSB, maximum 9.5x multiplier

What is the performance difference between 2MB and 4MB of cache?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2duo-e6420_3.html
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=4


On first boot everything powered up, it POSTed, but my CPU fan was not turning!
With all the thermal stuff enabled and the cpu fan on auto, the C2Ds at stock settings on a cold boot run so cool (and the HS is cold too) that it takes a few seconds to warm up enough (15-30 seconds) to signal that the fan needs to turn. Give it 30 sec and if it does not start by then you may need to look at your build. The bios guide has settings to force the fan to 100% from the word go. The CPU has internal temp trip that will prevent you from killing it no matter how hard you try.


Sometimes when I make changes in the BIOS the machine powers off , is this normal ?
Yes, it depends on what you changed but sometimes the board determines a need to power off and reboot, with other changes it just reboots. With a radical change it might even go through several cycles of powering down and rebooting, this usually means it is having trouble with your new settings. After the 3rd try it should reset basic items to defaults and reboot in basically a non-overclocked configuration. Occasionally it gets "stuck" in the power off, reboot cycle and all you can do is switch the power off and reset the CMOS.

Does upping the PCI-express clock really make a difference?
Absolutely maybe, but I am not sure. Here is my take on it from the reply to GPUCommando. I welcome comments. This was mainly a fix for earlier DS3's with bad stability issues. I believe it is probably fixed in the bios by now. But several posts over at XS (they have a HUGE DS3 and some DQ6 thread BTW if you got a week to read it) indicated anecdotally it helped quite a few people back when things were in really bad shape BIOS wise. So I have taken the same conservative approach as I have in the entire guide. Basic reasoning is, eliminate any concern the PCI lock might not be working by putting in something other than [auto] and give a a few MHz that any decent video card can handle just in case it helps with stability. Pretty poor answer I am afraid. I have never had an issue on my DQ6 and all I can say for sure is that on my board the only thing it does is freak out my ATI at about 112, no help on CPU overclock.

What software should I use for monitoring my temperatures ?
The temp readings in the bios should immediately be looked at the second your machine boots up for the first time. After that first use to make sure you didnt put the heatsink on upside down, its worthless. Once you have windows up and running there are several to pick from, I did a comparison for accuracy. Here is what I found on my DQ6:
http://mysite.verizon.net/ressdxka/id5.html
There are reports that EasyTune5 may be more accurate on DS-3s compared to what I found on my version 1.0 DQ6, I welcome input but need to know exactly what you compared (program version numbers) and your exact board model and version and bios. I recommend TAT for stress and temp readings while testing, Coretemp for constant monitoring because of the temp readings in the tray. Both read the internal CPU diode and are accurate. EasyTune reads something else and constantly reads lower temps. Be aware that TAT does not correctly support Quad core CPUs and perhaps some newer C2Ds, the issue is that the TCC (temp at which the core shutsdown to protect itself) has been raised on some cpus from the 85C that was standard to 100C.

My temps are very high, I am using the stock heatsink. Is it really that bad ?
No, it should be fine up to 2.8GHz maybe even 3.0GHz depending on your processor model. See the Hardware section.
(A common error with the Intel stock HS is that the push pins are not seated well, or after pushing were rotated/turned in error. The pins are rotated only to remove the heatsink. Correct procedure is to make sure they are in the insert/install position and pressing VERY hard, so hard it will hurt your thumb, until you hear a distinct click. Press them in with a "X" pattern, do NOT go around in order. So much pressure is required that I do not recommend doing this with the board mounted in the case because it flexes the board to an alarming degree. The heat sink should be firmly attached if done properly. If it moves with minor "wiggle" force, something may be wrong. )

VISTA
If your install is freezeing at some point or you are having random crashes during the Vista installation then try this.

Integrated Peripherals
SATA AHCI Mode__________ [Disabled]
SATA Port0-3 Native Mode [Disabled]
...
Onboard SATA/IDE Device_ [Enabled]
Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode [ACHI]

Connect your HDD to the jmicron/Onboard controller - Purple ports.
It should Installm afterwards you can move it to the yellow ports controlled by the Intel ICH if you like.
Regardless I strongly recommend you install the Jmicron F6 pre-install driver during OS install its hard to install it later.
ftp://driver.jmicron.com.tw/jmb36x/Win2k_xp_Vista/


HOW TO FLASH THE BIOS WITH A FLOPPY​

If you have a floppy drive (or a usb stick that can be formatted as a floppy, some can, some cant be) I highly recommend that method over any windows or on-line version. I have not seen a horror story lately but with a little care the floppy method is a lot safer. You can buy a floppy with a usb connection very cheaply and I highly recommend one even it just sets in a drawer for use with bios updates and XP raid driver pre-installs.

Easy Floppy method.
Download the File from Gigabyte.
(This is a self expanding file with a simple installer that will expand the flash utility, a bat file, and a bios file )
The actual bios file is named with your board model number and the extension is the version number. See below.
Execute the download file and when (if) asked tell it to install the files to your floppy drive.
Boot and go into the bios.
Look at the bottom F key listing, one of those keys typically F8 will be listed as the Q-Flash key. Press that key.
the rest is so simple a caveman could do it.

Make double damn sure you have download the bios for your EXACT model and version of board.
Make sure the floppy is good, if during formatting you hear any "grinding' sounds of the heads reworking over a floppy sector repeatedly get a new floppy. If the formatting summary indicates any bad sectors or the "Formatted Size" is less than maximum, get another floppy.
Using the F8 Q-Flash key all that is really needed on the floppy is the bios file, the flash utility and bat files are not needed so it is possible to run the downloaded exec file and tell it to expand into some convient folder/directory on your machine and then just copy the bios file to the floppy and delete the rest. This allows you to keep several bios versions handy on one floppy for testing or whatever. Note the bios version number is the file extension. Note the board name and model is part of the file name, note the bios files are a a very specific size and if the new one is not the same size as previous ones DO NOT FLASH until you know exactly why that is, it typically should not happen and the first thing to try is to delete it and download the package again.. The actual bios files (yours will be named differently and may have a different size unless you have a P965 DQ6) are in blue below, so you can see the differences in the download packages and all that is really needed.


Directory of C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\drivers etc\BIOS

01/30/2008 10:29 AM <DIR> .
01/30/2008 10:29 AM <DIR> ..
05/28/2007 10:54 AM 1,048,576 965PDQ6.F11
09/05/2006 01:21 PM 1,048,576 965pdq6.f4
09/20/2006 09:35 AM 1,048,576 965pdq6.f5
10/11/2006 02:14 PM 1,048,576 965pdq6.f6
10/06/2007 03:33 PM 608,768 965pdq6f12c.exe
10/05/2007 12:09 AM 1,908 bios change notes.txt
05/29/2007 03:10 PM 739,138 motherboard_bios_ga-965p-dq6_f10.exe
06/12/2007 05:15 PM 739,188 motherboard_bios_ga-965p-dq6_f11.exe
01/30/2008 10:29 AM 752,642 motherboard_bios_ga-965p-dq6_f12j_beta.exe
09/08/2006 12:33 PM 672,376 motherboard_bios_ga-965p-dq6_f4.exe
09/21/2006 08:29 PM 675,960 motherboard_bios_ga-965p-dq6_f5.exe
10/11/2006 03:18 PM 762,932 motherboard_bios_ga-965p-dq6_f6.exe
11/12/2006 09:34 AM 711,477 motherboard_bios_ga-965p-dq6_f7.exe
12/28/2006 12:11 PM 721,005 motherboard_bios_ga-965p-dq6_f8.exe
01/18/2007 04:42 PM 721,078 motherboard_bios_ga-965p-dq6_f9.exe








Advanced Software Tools
You can seriously fark your stuff up... stay away from it.
http://www13.plala.or.jp/setfsb/
 
THANK YOU !!!! I was unsure of this, are you talking about being able to save profiles in the bios itself, my DQ6 has this and its great, I did not see it in the DS3 manual so did not add it, If we are talking bout the same thing, you can hit F11 and like a 10 slot menu opens up and lets you save your bios/CMOS settings right then and there ? If so someone please confirm I have understood this correctly as it definitely needs to be in the guide (need version1 to confirm so I don't tell people that might not have it to use it.)

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I guarantee 100% this feature exists on the v3.3 board. On the other hand, I have no idea if it's in V1...at worst you could just put it in with a disclaimer that it might not be there on older boards.
 
Tagged for reference

I just got a DS3 rev3.3 setup with a Duo 6400, 2gb OCZ platinum RAM, and a stock-overclocked 8800GTS 320.

Im excited about tweaking out my MB! Thanks for the guide!!!

-logga
 
I have yet a processor and monitor, but all other parts I do have (including the DS3 3.3), and I will be using this guide exclusively. Thanks for your time!
 
Thanks for the guide, I just put my DS3/e6400 together and will be using this guide soon.
 
Hardware Modifications.​




(You will need regular hand tools and thermal paste before proceeding with most of these "improvements". Make sure your board has been booted and run at least overnight to ensure everything is OK before you try any of them, your warranty could be affected.)

Two primary considerations will limit your ability to overclock.

The CPU Heatsink.



The MCH (Memory Controller Hub) previously know as the Northbridge.
Put a fan on it, asap !
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1030455017&postcount=10

In short, the MCH is being just as OCed as your CPU and it needs the same or more attention to cooling as the CPU. See Heatpipe improvements.

.

Heatpipe improvements . (MCH is the major benefactor)
(this is a quickie, more detailed instructions soon, I hope, but its very easy to do, needle nose are nice for squeezing the pins on the backside and then the darn thing will fall right off. Take it easy on the push pins if you intend to reuse them. )
Rework the Heatpipe assembly by removing it, the little push-pins are easy to remove from the back of the board, and clean the heatsinks and the chips with alcohol and and apply good HS thermal compound to the chips. The chip is the square black or gray thing in the middle http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/p965/p965.jpg you do not want HS grease on any of the "little bits" just a thin layer on the large thing in the middle. I suggest replacing the push-pins with 4-40 nylon screws washers and nuts found at Lowe's in the specialty hardware drawers. Remove the thin sheet metal "bling" cover off of the MCH heatsink and hot melt glue a 40 or 50mm fan on. Cooling the NB is the critical key to stable OC's on this motherboard. This was discovered early on and its a problem now that the knowledge has been buried under all the posts about the board since. I think its the heart of most users frustrations with the board. Spend an hour and tweak that Heatpipe out and I think you will be very surprised and pleased with the results.

Case Airflow.
 
I had a question on the BIOS version.

I have a 965P-DS3 rev 3.3 and my current BIOS is F10, dated 01/12/07. However I noticed that on gigabyte's site, the latest bios version is F2, dated 01/02/07 ?

I also noticed that I have NO options to set my CAS timings on memory. I only have the multiplier for my memory. Should I give the F2 BIOS a whirl?

-logga
 
i have never overclocked my cpu, or anything else for that matter....

any how...i've had my new setup up and running for the last 5 days......

e6400..
DS3 rev.3.3
G.skill 2x1 Gb pc6400(ddrII-800)
....
with all the hype about the c2d and the DS3 overclocking, i decided to give it a shot...i set my fsb at 333, assuming that that would translate into 8x333 = 2664mhz........

the damn machine would not even boot.........and would just restart.....

obviously, i don't know what I'm doing since I'm not an overclocker..... but really, i see people over here posting about 400-500fsb, and i did not think that this kind of fsb bump will cause a serious problem.....

as a first time overclocker, what did i do wrong, and what happens to the memory when you do that (push the fsb to 333).....:confused:

thanks,
 
Before You Start

This guide is written for the complete novice, if you truly know what you are doing, please, by all means skip parts etc. etc. If you are new to computers I suggest you follow along exactly as this guide is written. If you do not understand something, make a reply to this post because that means I did not explain it well enough, that is my fault and I want to fix it.

Disclaimer: I accept no responsibility, for anything, anytime, anywhere. My beloved wife could not make me into a responsible person, you do not have a ghost of a chance.

There are only 3 things I am aware of that could even start to damage any of your computer components.

1) For reasons unknown Gigabyte allows the CPU voltage (commonly referred to as Vcore) to be set to ridiculous values. For Core 2 Duo chips the Absolute Maximum Voltage rating is 1.55 Volts (Intel datasheet). In this guide I will NEVER recommend going over 1.45 Volts. Some people set Vcore to very high levels, its your stuff and you do what you want but some friendly advice, you would be well advised to investigate the consequences. Electro-migration and "Transistor junction voltage stress" are two terms you should Google for starters. Oddly its NOT the heat, see #3.

2) It is possible to set your memory voltage at a level that with eventually damage your memory. We must rely on your memory manufacturers data for proper working voltages and you need to know/find this information. The manufacturers web site will have it. Most memory is lifetime warrantied and the reputable manufacturers make known for their high performance products what the standard working voltage is as well as "overclocking voltages" that will not void the warranty. If you cannot find this information a post in the memory forum will usually do the trick.

3) The CPU and several of the important chips on the motherboard have built in thermal sensors and the chips will just shut down to prevent damage if temperatures are too high. However heat is the true killer of all electronics and overclocking in a mini-tower case with only the power supply fan to provide airflow for the case is a death sentence. It will not die today, or even tomorrow, but by next year its a goner. In addition to the CPU, the MCH (Memory Controller Hub, previously known as the North bridge) generates considerable heat. It is one of the chips under the Heatpipe assembly. For moderate or high overclocking it requires a fan. See the Hardware Tips post for more information on heat mitigation/reduction measures.

The only other really bad thing that can happen is to corrupt your Windows installation. This is annoying as all getout. If it happens and you are using XP, try this, its a little faster than a reformat and full reinstall.
Boot with the windows CD
Tell it you want to do a New Install
It will come back and tell you there already is a Windows installation and ask if you want to repair it. (we hope).
Tell it yes.

Works most of the time and all your data should be intact. Er, hopefully since we are messing with the machine big time, you are not storing your lifes work on the boot drive. If so, get that onto CDs before you start OCing.

Absolutely CRITICAL for anything other than a small Overclock.​

This board was designed for a 266MHz FSB. The board manufactures have allowed us to overclock the the FSB to frequencies far above what the board was designed to do. A fact of the board design is that the MCH (Memory Controller Hub), a critical chip that is just as important as your CPU is also run/clocked from the FSB clock and there is no way to "unlink" this.

If you overclock your CPU by raising the FSB (and there is no other way to do it) YOU ALSO OVERCLOCK THE MCH. The MCH requires as much attention to cooling as your CPU.​
See the hardware section.


Enjoy
William "Bill" Parrish
B.S. EET


All trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
I reserve all rights to the original content of this material that is my own work.
(With the exception of the rights granted to [H]ocp by posting here, probably does not leave me with much :D )
Feel free to print it for you own use, do anything you want except copy it for use in making a profit.
 
i have never overclocked my cpu, or anything else for that matter....

any how...i've had my new setup up and running for the last 5 days......

e6400..
DS3 rev.3.3
G.skill 2x1 Gb pc6400(ddrII-800)
....
with all the hype about the c2d and the DS3 overclocking, i decided to give it a shot...i set my fsb at 333, assuming that that would translate into 8x333 = 2664mhz........

the damn machine would not even boot.........and would just restart.....

obviously, i don't know what I'm doing since I'm not an overclocker..... but really, i see people over here posting about 400-500fsb, and i did not think that this kind of fsb bump will cause a serious problem.....

as a first time overclocker, what did i do wrong, and what happens to the memory when you do that (push the fsb to 333).....:confused:

thanks,

It should have worked however you might need a touch more of voltage to the cpu.


(from the main menu hit Ctrl and the F1 key at the same time (Ctrl+F1) then go into the MIT sub menu and make sure this is set like shown :

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster___________ [Auto]
CPU Clock Ratio (Note)____________ [8] <<<----CPU Multiplier for E6400
This should be set to your processors highest multiplier, for now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...roproc essors
The option will display "Locked" and read only if the CPU ratio is not changeable.
CPU Host Clock Control_ [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (MHz)__________ [333] <<<----FSB Speed (Front Side Buss)
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [102]
C.I.A. 2__________________________ [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)____ [2.00]
This is a 1:1 divider, memory speed will be 2x FSB.
Memory Frequency (Mhz) 533
Your actual memory operating speed is always show above.
DRAM Timing Selectable_______ SPD __ [Manual]
CAS Latency Time_____________ 5 ____ [4] <--use your rams values, (CL)
Dram RAS# to CAS# Delay______ 5 ____ [5] <--use your rams values (tRCD)
Dram RAS# Precharge Delay_____5 ____ [3] <--use your rams values (tRP)
Precharge Delay (tRAS)________15 ____[12] <--use your rams values (tRAS)
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_______4 _____[auto]
Rank Write to READ Delay______3 _____[auto]
Write to Precharge Delay______6 _____[auto]
Refresh to ACT Delay_________42 ____[auto]
Read to Precharge Delay_______4 _____[auto]
Memory Performance Enhance__________ [Normal]
Leave at Normal for now, we will get back to it very shortly.
High Speed DRAM DLL Settings________ [Option 1]

******** System Voltage NOT Optimized ******** <<---IGNORE This.
System Voltage Control____ [Manual]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.300V] <-- default is 1.8V, 1.8 + 0.3V = 2.1V set this to add up to your ram's voltage requirement.
PCI-E OverVoltage Control_ [+0.1V] <--- a little extra for stability
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.1V] <--- a little extra for stability
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.1V] <--- a little extra for stability
CPU Voltage Control_______ [1.35000V] <--- very mild overvoltage so we can start playing soon SEE WARNING BELOW !
DANGER - Intel spec for Vcore absolute maximum is 1.55V. The BIOS will let you set a ridiculous high voltage, be careful. !!
Normal CPU Vcore 1.3250V


If that does not work post back with a link to your memory specs.
 
I had a question on the BIOS version.

I have a 965P-DS3 rev 3.3 and my current BIOS is F10, dated 01/12/07. However I noticed that on gigabyte's site, the latest bios version is F2, dated 01/02/07 ?

I also noticed that I have NO options to set my CAS timings on memory. I only have the multiplier for my memory. Should I give the F2 BIOS a whirl?

-logga

WoW the only thing I can figure out is that Gigabyte or your supplier flashed the wrong bios to the board, or it is one of the very first 3.3 versions and they had not finished a unique bios for it. If it seems to be working ok, I would not mess with it yet. I have heard version 2.0 and version 3.3 are so close they can use the same bios but I cannot recommend flashing until we dig deeper. really weird.


From the Main Bios Screen hit the Ctrl and the F1 keys at the same time. That should enable the advanced memory timing settings in the MIT sub menu. You have to do this from the Main menu before you go into MIT. If you do that and the memory stuff still does not show up, yes I would flash the bios if you are postive about the version number of your board. Somewhere on Gigabytes support page, I think were you actually send them a question, it tells you were to look on the board for the Version number which is on the board itself, not a sticker or anything.
 
Woohoo....with the minor voltage adjustments posted above I'm at 3gig 376fsb x8 on my DS3 r3.3 F10 BIOS/e6400/Gskill DDR2 800. I'm sure I could get higher, but on stock cooling I'm good for now. I don't think OCing anymore would matter much for me as I believe my X1900XT is bottlenecking me in games at the moment:) and gaming performance is the only thing I really care about anyway.
 
Woohoo....with the minor voltage adjustments posted above I'm at 3gig 376fsb x8 on my DS3 r3.3 F10 BIOS/e6400/Gskill DDR2 800. I'm sure I could get higher, but on stock cooling I'm good for now. I don't think OCing anymore would matter much for me as I believe my X1900XT is bottlenecking me in games at the moment:) and gaming performance is the only thing I really care about anyway.

Bah GRATZ but save a little gold and grab a better heatsink in a couple of months you should be able to do 8 x 400 3.2GHz , probally could now but it would be a little toasty so I think holding back a little is a smart move.

now grab find the overclocking in the catylist control panel and tweak up that Vid card.

Gratz again.

edit, oh, if in a heavy long gaming session it freezes on you, give it the next bump up in voltage and check your temps but the cpu can handle it.
 
Bah GRATZ but save a little gold and grab a better heatsink in a couple of months you should be able to do 8 x 400 3.2GHz , probally could now but it would be a little toasty so I think holding back a little is a smart move.

now grab find the overclocking in the catylist control panel and tweak up that Vid card.

Gratz again.

edit, oh, if in a heavy long gaming session it freezes on you, give it the next bump up in voltage and check your temps but the cpu can handle it.

I agree about holding back for now and I'll be getting an after market cooler when I see a good deal on one. My DDR2 800 is being underclocked until I hit 3.2gig :), so I might tighten up the timings a little, but I'll likely wait a week or 2 to make sure I'm stable. I'll be logging my temps while gaming for a while just to make sure I don't run too hot and If I have any problems/freezes, I'll up the voltage a tic. Thanks Bill :D
 
Bah GRATZ but save a little gold and grab a better heatsink in a couple of months you should be able to do 8 x 400 3.2GHz , probally could now but it would be a little toasty so I think holding back a little is a smart move.

now grab find the overclocking in the catylist control panel and tweak up that Vid card.

Gratz again.

edit, oh, if in a heavy long gaming session it freezes on you, give it the next bump up in voltage and check your temps but the cpu can handle it.

Just for reference,

My setup:
DS3 rev3.3
OCZ platinum 2x1gb sticks
e6400
8800gts OC

I got my core fsb to 400mhz = 3.2ghz like you mentioned. I had to up my voltage to 1.38 on the processor as prime95 was failing when it was at 1.35. My ratings on my RAM are 5-5-5-12. I played some games for awhile, ran prime95 for a while and the rebooted to check the pc health right on the MB and my cpu was only at 48 celsius!!! That is with stock cooling! Incredible! Oh, and only 1 x 120mm case fan!

Im certainly going to invest in some more cooling for my pc, I was just impressed with how far I could push the limit of that processor with little consequence to heat.
 
Just for reference,

My setup:
DS3 rev3.3
OCZ platinum 2x1gb sticks
e6400
8800gts OC

I got my core fsb to 400mhz = 3.2ghz like you mentioned. I had to up my voltage to 1.38 on the processor as prime95 was failing when it was at 1.35. My ratings on my RAM are 5-5-5-12. I played some games for awhile, ran prime95 for a while and the rebooted to check the pc health right on the MB and my cpu was only at 48 celsius!!! That is with stock cooling! Incredible! Oh, and only 1 x 120mm case fan!

Im certainly going to invest in some more cooling for my pc, I was just impressed with how far I could push the limit of that processor with little consequence to heat.

Your cpu had time to cool down when you rebooted and went into the bios. You need to monitor your temps when you're running prime95(use everest,tat or core temp)and or log your temps during games. Make sure you enable your temp warning in the bios so it will start beeping when it gets to hot. You don't want to fry your new e6400...Good Luck
 
Hey bill, with material this useful, you should set up a paypal donate button and get a site to host it... if you need a host, let me know.
 
Your cpu had time to cool down when you rebooted and went into the bios. You need to monitor your temps when you're running prime95(use everest,tat or core temp)and or log your temps during games. Make sure you enable your temp warning in the bios so it will start beeping when it gets to hot. You don't want to fry your new e6400...Good Luck

Right on! Will do. I didn't know I could do that with prime95. In prime95 i ran the large torture test.

I'll make sure my temps aren't going crazy high.

-logga
 
Right on! Will do. I didn't know I could do that with prime95. In prime95 i ran the large torture test.

I'll make sure my temps aren't going crazy high.

-logga

Run the "in-place large fft's" option with two instances of prime95 - while running the Gigabyte "Easytune" program to monitor your cpu temps.

I got about 63C @ load with the Intel Stock cooler with my e6300 @ 3.2ghz (1.38v).
 
Run the "in-place large fft's" option with two instances of prime95 - while running the Gigabyte "Easytune" program to monitor your cpu temps.

I got about 63C @ load with the Intel Stock cooler with my e6300 @ 3.2ghz (1.38v).

Alright I got prime95 running and watched cpu temps with both Easytune and Core Temp. However, the result were greatly varied? Which should I trust? Here is what thy both read:

Core Temp: 78 and 80 celsius for cores 1 and 2

Easytune: 63 celsius

The values are the max recorded and tended to hover there with both. Since Easytune is actually by Gigabyte, should I trust it over core temp?
 
Alright I got prime95 running and watched cpu temps with both Easytune and Core Temp. However, the result were greatly varied? Which should I trust? The values are the max recorded and tended to hover there with both. Since Easytune is actually by Gigabyte, should I trust it over core temp?

I asked the same question yesterday and started this thread about it.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1170683
 
Well, I lied about the "fun" part.

PC Health Status
Reset Case Open Status [Disabled]
Case Opened No
Vcore OK
DDR18V OK
+3.3V OK
+12V OK
Current System Temperature 40oC
Current CPU Temperature 47C
Current CPU FAN Speed 3375 RPM
Current SYSTEM FAN Speed 0 RPM
Current POWER FAN Speed 0 RPM
CPU Warning Temperature___ [80oC / 176oF] <--Never set above 80 (I use 70)
Its your board, but here is what I go by (pick an operating top temp and set warning to next highest available value but not over 80C:
85C internal core temp, CPU will thermal trip and shutdown (crash) to prevent damage.
75C is regarded as HOT. You don't want to be here for long.
70C considered top end of safe operation under full load both cores. OK if you want to really push it.
65C considered a conservative max core standard operating temp under full load both cores.
CPU FAN Fail Warning______ [Enabled] <--stock HS-fan or 3/4 wire HS-fan, otherwise disable if CPU fan has no rpm monitor lead (2 pin fan)
SYSTEM FAN Fail Warning___ [Enabled] <--Disable if no rpm monitor on fan
POWER FAN Fail Warning____ [Disabled] <---Use it if ya got it.
Smart FAN Control Method__ [Disable] <--Forces CPU fan to always run full speed.
Smart FAN Control Mode____ [Auto]
Once Method is disabled it does not matter what Mode is set to, fan should run 100% all the time.


Continued Next Post.​

Above for example, Bill sets his MB threshold to 70c, default is 80c. According to my bios I idle at around 45c and by watching Easytune in Windows (reading the motherboard's pc health status yeah?) goes up to around 63c. But Core Temp is reading 80c? If that 80c reading is correct then that makes the motherboard's safe threshold off by almost 20c? Should I be running a threshold of only 60c?

I guess the thing that Im torn with is if Core Temp is reading the true actual internal cpu temp and my MB for its threshold and temp is using an sms sensor, it kind of makes the built in thresholds and temps for the mb pointless? If a mb is reporting 20c under true temp then its thresholds can allow dangerous temps WAY before registering there is a heating problem?
 
Awesome thread cpl Questions. Which are the best BIOS to use for this board and do you need a floppy to intall the Bios? Or is there a cd flash or a way from windows?
 
I'm rather confused about all the settings, etc.. I haven't really had a lot of time to really mess with it. I didn't even know C2D's had unlocked multipliers until last night, haha. Right now what I don't understand is working the memory straps w/ the FSB & other settings, sometimes I drop down to 1.86GHz and I can't figure it out.. so I'll have to do some more research. I managed to get it to 3.0GHz on 3.75vcore just screwing around... but there is no where near where I want to be. Would anyone be nice enough to tell me what settings would be best for a 3.6GHz OC w/ ballistix DDR2-8000 mem?
 
Above for example, Bill sets his MB threshold to 70c, default is 80c. According to my bios I idle at around 45c and by watching Easytune in Windows (reading the motherboard's pc health status yeah?) goes up to around 63c. But Core Temp is reading 80c? If that 80c reading is correct then that makes the motherboard's safe threshold off by almost 20c? Should I be running a threshold of only 60c?

I guess the thing that Im torn with is if Core Temp is reading the true actual internal cpu temp and my MB for its threshold and temp is using an sms sensor, it kind of makes the built in thresholds and temps for the mb pointless? If a mb is reporting 20c under true temp then its thresholds can allow dangerous temps WAY before registering there is a heating problem?

The good news is that internal to the chip, with nothing else needing to be set as AFAIK (revisting the intel data sheet today) the chip will just shutdown if its internal temp reaches about 85C, I say about because the data sheet says each chip has its trip point adjusted at the factory. I am re-investigating the whole temp deal, for instance I have turned on TM2 as that susposedly does nothing until the chip gets too hot ( decided by what I dont know yet) then kicks in. I have so far only determined that TM2 does not affect the Overclocking ability or change my processor speed under normal usage, idle and load the speed and voltage stay the same. So I am thinking of recommending TM2 be put to [Enabled] in the bios, to start. Then once you find the top OCing settings users can play with truning it off or on as they see fit. Kinda reverting to the "better safe than sorry" stargety. It takes forever to find good technical data on this stuff and read thru it and then at least test it some, sorry about that, eventually will have every bios setting that is important backed up with intel data sheet link, comments, and if I can find it, good test data.

I kind agree with the MB temp setting may be kinda worthless, just depends on where you set it, I am treating it as just another alarm that temps are high.

Tough to test well, only have once cpu and with watercooling I cant just stop a fan to let temps rise and see what happens as the water in the loop will keep the chip cool for a long time.

Here is what intel has to say ( I am re-downloading EasyTune now to refresh my memory as to how it compares with coretemp and TAT and speedfan and will edit again when I finish. )

From this:
http://download.intel.com/design/processor/designex/31368502.pdf
Thermal and Mechanical Design Guidelines
&#8211; Supporting the Intel&#174; Core&#8482;2 Duo desktop processor E6000
and E4000 sequences and Intel&#174; Pentium&#174; 4 processor 651
January 2007

Section 4 is the interesting one. You have to read it carefully and also kind of read between the lines my understanding of it so far is that that there are 2 things going on.

Thermal Management 1
Required to be active by the motherboard builder, all built in to the cpu, must be enabled in the bios, if cpu gets too hot a signal will be sent (4.2.1) (the alarm) and automaticlly the processor will "skip" clock cycles to reduce temps. My understanding is that is all internal to the cpu and the only thing in the bios I can find that probally controls it is the CPU temp alarm. (another questionf for Gigabyte I guess, but it almost certainly is)
Thermal Management 2 TM2
Same deal but uses reduction of voltage and mulitplier to work. section 4.2.4

Point is, as far as I can tell, both of these system only kick in when things are way to hot, so I am looking hard at enabling them for safety.


EIST is the nasty one that will mess with you under normal and high load but decent temps, that one will drive you nuts as you overclock casue stuff is changing all the time. Definately off for overclockers and gamers. What would be cool is if someone could come up with a windows utily to turn it on for casual compter use and then manually switch it off for a big gaming session/whatever.

Still working on all of it and learning new stuff every day, mainly thanks you guys asking good questions. I will probally be all done the day after we all get new motherboards .



Use coretemp or TAT (they should agree to within 1 deg C ) to monitor temps for overclocking under load, they report higher temps because they are reading inside the chip directly and therefore will give about 5-10C higher temps. Cant go wrong with easytune as it is reporting higher and thats a kinda of a built in safety margin but you might have some extra overclock you are missing out. But the idea is to get the machine where your games or whatever is snappy and good, anything more is for bragging rights and thats cool too, . Anywho its all complicated and everyone has different goals and concerns. Use your good judgement its your stuff and this is just a guide.
 
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