Gigabyte DS3/DS4/DQ6 Guide

Monstermunch · 7 Oct 2006 at 03:00

Thought i'd start this thread for all the people who own or are thinking of owning the Gigabyte DS3, DS4 or DQ6 boards......

The biggest issue with these boards is ram and booting problems. It is very common to have one of these boards that will simply cycle boot without posting and unable to reach bios or anything else for that matter. This is either a ram issue or a faulty board!

Ram issues
The first batch of boards were released with the F1 bios, which has issues with numerous ram types. The most common bios on boards being shipped currently is F2. The F2 bios cures a lot of the ram incompatibility but some ram like the Gskill for example still remains troublesome. See below for a list of compatible ram, but IMO the Geil ram is by far the least troublesome and the best option:

Corsair
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB)
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-5400C4 TwinX (2x1GB)

Geil
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB5300DC)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)

Adata
Adata 512mb Vitesta ddr2-800 (pc6400) Elpida modules cas5 5-5-15 1.8v

Elixir
Elixir PC2-5300U-5-5-5-12-D1

GSkill
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ) - with F3 bios

I would strongly reccommend that you download the latest bios here: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Default.aspx

Booting Issues
A percentage of these boards are still on the shelves that have a problem with fast ram and Core2Duo chips. The first board I recieved did't work and when I rma'd it the board was returned to me a few days later with a report claiming that it worked without problem. It was tested with a celeron and some PC5300 ram.

After rma'ing the board again and demanding that it was tested with a Core2Duo and 800mhz ram, they reported that there was some problem with the board running Core2 and that they would replace it.

With the first board after building the rig it would simply just cycle without posting and would just continue. The fans would spin up but no beeps or anything else! With the replacement board it worked first time proving my first instincts right, that the first board was knackered!

Other issues
There are some driver issues with the installation CD that comes with the board. After about a week you may find that your LAN connection dissappears and you are unable to connect to the internet. This is caused by a bad Marvell Yukon driver that degrades the registry to the point where the LAN port is disabled.

The solution to this problem is to download the updated Marvell Yukon drivers from Gigabytes website.... I would also reccommend that you keep the chipset drivers updated as often as possible. All updates available here: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Default.aspx

Clocking
1. Make sure that you have the latest chipset drivers and flash the board to the most recent bios version
2. On the main bios screen press Ctrl+F1 to open the advanced options within the menus
3. In the Advanced Bios Features Menu, Disable all of the following: CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E), CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2), CPU EIST Function
4. In the PC Health Status menu, set the FAN Speed Control Method to "Legacy" & FAN Speed Control Mode to "PWM" to maintain highest speed
5. Go into the MB Intelligent Tweaker (MIT) menu at the bottom of the page, set the System voltage control to "Manual"
6. These boards have a default VDIMM of 1.8v, set the VDIMM to co-ordinate with your ram. The Geil I have is specced as 2.1v so I have mine set to +0.3v
7. Set the MCH Voltage to +0.1v
8. Set the FSB Voltage to +0.1v
9. Set the VCORE to 1.45v - Please be aware that this will increase temps!
10. Set the CPU Host Clock Control to "Enable"
11. Set the System Memory Multiplier to "2x"
12. You're set to go, just increase the System bus Frequency to Overclock
13. I would reccommend that you use Intels TAT to monitor temps

Crossfire/Quad Core
You may have noticed that the DS4 & DQ6 boards have 2 x PCI-E x16 slots... Well Gigabyte have now released the updated bios to enable Crossfire and Quad Core compliance for these 2 boards. However the 2nd PCI-E slot maybe 16x physical but is apparently only 4x electronically enabled so it won't be fantastic, but a great free upgrade none the less.... Here:http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/News/Motherboard/News_List.aspx?NewsID=1295

Monstermunch · 7 Oct 2006 at 15:08

Abes33 said:
I've given everything under the 'Clocking' guide a go and my E6300 idle temps have immediatley risen by 16 degrees with the stock cooler. My mobo idle temps have also risen by around 11 degrees. I'm quite surprised to see such a big rise.

You will see a big rise when upping the voltage!

Monstermunch · 7 Oct 2006 at 15:33

AmaTeX said:
The latest DS3 bios is F6 and not F5

Monstermunch · 7 Oct 2006 at 16:22

Massive Attack said:
sneaky edit there monster

Yea, I know but not in the mood for an argument today! LOL

Monstermunch · 7 Oct 2006 at 17:05

VeNT said:
does the OCz ddr2 ram work with these?

Apparently not, according to a recent poll. Although most people complaining about the OCZ were running a DQ6.

Some of the slower OCZ ram works I believe but it can still be a little unpredictable. Get the Geil it seems to be the most compatible & least troublesome!

Monstermunch · 8 Oct 2006 at 11:36

VeNT said:
bugger, I do love OCz

So do I but trust me that the Geil is fantastic ram!

Monstermunch · 8 Oct 2006 at 14:56

Massive Attack said:
i have the geil and was wondering on your overclock of the 6600 are limited by the chips ability to overclock or is it the fsb or ram as i was hoping to get 3ghz out of my 6300 on the DQ6

No to all, i'm just limited by temps at the moment the DS4 will go t0 500mhz Sys bus or possibly more. The Geil will do 1000mhz as well. Most of the E6600 chips should be capable of 3.6ghz but some will do more than 4ghz

Monstermunch · 8 Oct 2006 at 14:57

easyrider said:
Will the DS4 allow me to clock to 3.8ghz with my E6600?

I would like 9x 425 is this achieavble?

I deally I want higher.What ar you getting FSB wise with the DS4?

Yea the DS4 will go to 500mhz or more

Monstermunch · 9 Oct 2006 at 20:02

dark4orz said:
Is any of you lot using a DQ6 Here with a 6600 ? How does it overclock ?

Why DQ6 any particular reason..... The DS4 is known to clock well and is cheaper.... Got mine @ 3.415ghz atm, really just limited by temps. The DS4 will do 500mhz fsb or more!

Monstermunch · 10 Oct 2006 at 09:53

dark4orz said:
1 ) DS6 has a 12 phase power design, 2) Comes quad core ready 3) Everything is Quad

One thing I think Gigabyte has not included is a option for cmos reloading like the lanparty's that would be useful, well its going to be a choice of DS4 or DQ6?

Quad core ready is a waste of time if you ask me, cos there will be much bigger and better mobo's around for quad core by the time it's released!

Monstermunch · 10 Oct 2006 at 16:11

Stelly said:
How do I enable CrossFire on the DS4??

Stelly

I'm trying to figure that out myself.... I think the announcement Gigabyte made was at the time they released the beta version hence why there is no driver or instructions on their website.

I think maybe it will be available with the next bios update....

Monstermunch · 10 Oct 2006 at 16:14

prism said:
There isn't a F6 for DQ6 for download too at that link.

The F6 bios for the DQ6 and the DS4 should be available in the next few weeks and also the F7 version for the DS3....

I'm thinking this will be the key to unlocking Xfire and also the Quad core stuff!

Monstermunch · 10 Oct 2006 at 19:11

prism said:
Right, kinda had that idea myself.
We'll see.

If the F6 only gives quad core and Cross Fire, I will stick too F5.
Not gonna use either of the two anyway.

F6 will bring other enhancements as well

Monstermunch · 11 Oct 2006 at 02:15

Stelly..... You on MSN?

Monstermunch · 11 Oct 2006 at 16:28

ilh said:
DS3 F7: http://tw.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2314
DS4 F6: http://tw.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2288
DQ6 F6: http://tw.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2295

OoooooooooooH!

Official new bios releases!

Monstermunch · 12 Oct 2006 at 22:35

Carol Steele said:
I've just updated to F6 - and I swear the fans on my system are running quieter now. Unfortunately I didn't check on fan speeds before updating - so if anybody is planning to update perhaps you would take a note of your fan speeds before and after.

I should add that this was for the 965P-DQ6 motherboard.

If you're talking about the CPU fan, then you can change the settings manually and make the fan spin at a std speed rather than speeding up and down all the time!

Monstermunch · 13 Oct 2006 at 18:02

Right i've just slapped the F6 bios on for my DS4 and it hasn't improved clocking at all.... The most I can get out of this setup seems to be 378 x 9 = 3.4ghz, I can't believe i'm limited by the CPU at 3.4ghz!

These are my current settings:

CPU Multi = x 9
CPU Host Freq = 378
CPU Spd = 3402mhz
Memory Multi = x 2
Mem Spd = 756mhz
Mem Latency = 4-4-4-12
Vdimm = 2.1v
Vcore = 1.5v
Vmch = +0.1v
Vfsb = +0.1v

Any ideas? Cos atm this seems to be the max... I have tried the Vcore all the way up to 1.55v, but even then I can't clock any further!

Monstermunch · 15 Oct 2006 at 09:38

Well i've now dropped my multi to 8x, which seems to have given me a little more play... now at 425 x 8

Will try more later!

Monstermunch · 17 Oct 2006 at 21:04

Massive Attack said:
Well im running the F3 bios and my max fsb is 450 but i cant seem to get it 100% stable as soon as i load both cores using the TAT tool it crashes so im running at 442 which gives me 3.1ghz which im well happy with also gives an 18 sec super pi

Nice..... Try using the F5 bios or higher which actuially has improved clocking for E6300 & E6400's!

Monstermunch · 19 Oct 2006 at 14:30

prism said:
Best thing, in my opinion, to do after every BIOS flash is too at least load the default settings. So make sure you have written down all settings you made
I think it will hold you settings, but should options have changed, then the old settings might screw things up. In the worst case scenario, so better to do a load default settings first, then safe and reboot and enter BIOS to set everything again.

Taking the battery out isn't nescaserilly(spelling).

I agree that resoring defaults to the current bios before flashing is a good idea, however once the bios is flashed I would reccommend completely re-setting the CMOS either by removing the battery or by bridging the jumper pins with a screwdriver...... This is mainly becuase the new bios version is better having a hard reset rather than via software... Just my opinion!