Gigabyte 965P DS4

[WJA96]

Hi,

I've got a DS4 and I've had no issues with it whatsoever.

Probably the first thing to do is to reset the CMOS. This is clearly explained in the manual. Upgrading to the F6 BIOS is a good idea, if you haven't already done so.

The next thing to do, is to make sure you have a clean Windows install. ie. format the HDD and re-install Windows. The number one cause of system instability in my experience is when the user plugs in his old Windows XP install and then starts up the system. Usually it will boot, so the new drivers are then loaded, but the old drivers are still there too. It can be a real mess, so a clean install is what's wanted.

Once you get to that point, it should be quite stable and then we can talk overclocking.

 

[thefishdude]

what power supply you got for that ?

last time i had random crashes on a new pc it was a memory problem.

 

[esiemi]

i'd say its your memory, take one of the rams out and run the system with only 1gb see what happens, then try the same thing with the other ram. everytime i had problems like this its always been the ram.

 

[ns400r]

Hi its a 600W PSU, and the ram is as stated above. I shall have a bash, but will the ram cause the display problems upon first boot?(the corrupt display seems more GFX card oriented) like the systems too cold, and or theres not enough voltage.

Ill take a stick out tomorrow if i get a chance, just got alotta work to do on the system so, ill update tomorrow.

Thanks for the feedback

*UPDATE*

I just tried overclocking my ram to 800mhz, which it should be (for some reason bios sets it at 600 on auto) and it crashed within 3 mins of system boot, is my ram shagged!

And my timings dont go to what it says on the site, nor can i see anywhere to change em in my bios. Was i unlucky enough to get a FUBAR Set?

For the memory timing adjustments see:- http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17646892

 

[R3323]

Also make shure you have uped the voltage for the ram to 2.1 because the Ds4 only gives the ram 1.8 at stock iirc

 

[Stelly]

I belive it is, would that be whats causeing serious ballsup's even at below stock speeds?

Regards, and thanks for the help.

What slots do you have your RAM in??

Stelly

 

[trojan698]

I belive it is, would that be whats causeing serious ballsup's even at below stock speeds?

Regards, and thanks for the help.

Yup, make sure your vdimm is set to 2.1v (+0.3v in the bios)

 

[hyper_piper45]

At the £20 mark i would go for the arctic freezer 7 pro.

 

[VeNT]

manualy set your ram timings to what they should be and set the voltage to +4 (just incase) check if you can boot from a live linux cd

 

[L33]

There is an odd problem with the DS3/DS4 which causes system crashing/hanging etc when 'Detect legacy USB storage devices' is enabled in the BIOS. There is no definate pattern but it seems to affect nvidia gfx card users more than anyone else.
I had the same problem, and even setting + or - 1mhz fsb would randomly crash my system and sometimes not boot at all requiring a cmos reset, so I googled and eventually discovered this (will dig out the link). Anyway, I disabled said setting and can now have huge overclocks and 100% stability. (I use an nvidia 7900GTX btw)
Worth a try!

 

[L33]

I just hope it works for you!
Here is one link, but have a google and there are many on the same topic http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1030179942

EDIT: even though that thread is regarding 4 sticks of ram, it is the same for any ram configuration I think (I only use 2 sticks and it worked a treat for me)

 

[L33]

Well if its enabled upon "Optimised Defaults" then, that seriously could be my problem, is it an added feature from an updated version of the BIOS do you know?

Well if that and the voltage of my memory was the problem hopefully ill be giving it some clocking tonight Ill update later tonight when im home

I think it may be an added feature, or at least the buggy part of it only appears to be present in the later bios releases. As soon as I got the system installed I played a little with overclocking (which worked fine btw) then once I updated the BIOS to F6 (and I did clear cmos after) the system was unstable and 50% of the time would not even reach the end of the POST screen, if shown at all even if the FSB was set +/- 1mhz from standard.
As soon as I disabled Legacy USB storage detect, it was fine again. Look out as it does re-enable itself if you clear cmos or load optimised defaults!

Rather oddly, my ram is stable at higher clocks if I run at 2.0v (+0.20v in BIOS) as opposed to 2.1v so you may have play around a little to get the best results.

Its a shame because this could be an awesome board, there are just a few oddities that need to be ironed out really (why on earth does it randomly change which sata port is assigned to which channel after a cmos reset? Surely they should be 'fixed'?!?). I came from a DFI SLI-DR which was probably the best board I've ever used, and while I'm very impressed with the conroe CPU, this board is a bit of a let down considering all the raving about it

 

[L33]

BTW any thoughts on the coolers posted above, cos i wanna order asap! gosh! OC are chargin £8 for PNP on a CPU HS&FAN :S

I've been using the standard Intel HSF until I get around to reinstalling my watercooling setup. The stock HSF is brilliant IMO, its solid, very very quiet, does not block RAM/PCI slots like some of the monsterous heatpipe ones available and cools perfectly well enough @ 3.8GHz (cant go any futher until I can get some better RAM ).
Stock HSF's have obviously come a long way recently!

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Im using a Freezer 7 pro here, cracking cooler, and very quiet, fits on this board no problems.

Got exactly the same here, DS4, E6600, 2gb Geil Ultra Low Latency, but using an x1800 XT 512mb graphics card.

Btw welcome to the forums darudeuk , but your sig is to big, only 4x lines of text allowed as per the FAQ.

 

[LoadsaMoney]

The Vanessa doesn't seem bad at all, its been getting good reviews, theres one here

 

[L33]

Titan seems a good choice then, however my system wasnt stable @ that clockage, however it only crashed once last night upon running at 3000mhz and my ram clocked at 417.5 (835mhz).

When my ram voltage is set to 2.1 it changes purple in the BIOS voltage changing bit, is that usual? And if the ram is overclocked should i up the voltage to 2.2?

Thanks

Glad to see it is (nearly) working well for you!
A bit odd about the crash, but give these BIOS settings a try:
First and most important, have you added +0.10/+0.15v to the MCH and FSB voltages (found under 'Intelligent Motherboard Tweaker' after pushing ctrl+F1 for the advanced options)?

Set your 'System Memory Multiplier' to 2x. This will lower your RAM speed initially but should/will allow you to reach much higher FSB (and will bring your RAM speed back up as you increase your FSB)

Under 'Advanced BIOS options', diasable CPU EIST Function, CPU Enhanced Halt, CPU Thermal Monitor, Virtualization Technology & Memory Execute Protection or whatever they are called (sorry, at work and cant look!)

And personally, I would not increase the memory voltage just yet. Try everything else first as RAM is not like a CPU and will not shut down when it overheats, it will just give errors and eventually die. 2.1v should be enough for that Geil! (And yes, from +0.3v upwards, the options being highlighted in a purple/pinky colour is normal!)

Good luck let us know how it turns out!

 

[richardw]

There's an option somewhere for the gaphics card (I think its the bottom left menu) - you have auto, fast and turbo - I was having lock up's on my DS4 last night while playing games and going from auto to fast seemed to slove my problems.

Out of interest what PSU do you have?

 

[Cob]

Erm don't link to competitors dude.

 

[Cob]

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[richardw]

Just some 600w one from *competitor*;

"Sansun Black 600W PSU - 20/24pin SATA" brand new from ze stock cupboard at work

...

Should be suitable for my needs.

I've got those cheap PSU's before and I wouldn't trust anything much with them, you get what you pay They may claim 600w but i'd really think its closer to 400w but most likely even be less than that.

I'd look at getting a decent PSU and then seeing if your problems carry on, the least of things you should skimp on is the PSU (but at the same time, not pay seriously over the odds).