Gigabyte P35-DS3P Question

pointy shadow · 2 Feb 2008 at 20:28

I purchased one of these yesterday and it arrived today and I currently have it setup with my new quad and memory.

I have purchased 1033mhz memory (OCUK Dual Channel Kit) and it is showing up as 800mhz in the BIOS - I take it I need a BIOS update to fix this?

If so, how do I update it?

In the manual it says that there is a NorthBridge fan connector but the NorthBridge heatsink is passive. Is it OK to not use a fan on it as I currently have several case fans pushing/sucking lots of air?

Thanks for any help

Cob · 2 Feb 2008 at 20:36

Yip it's fine not to use a northbridge fan.

You'll need to set the memory overvoltage to either +0.2v or +0.3v for that memory. Then you'll need to change the Memory Multiplier to +4.0 to set the mmeory to 1066mhz.

pointy shadow · 2 Feb 2008 at 21:12

WTF?

It doesnt just recognise it out of the box then?

Can you please describe how I change the above in the BIOS to get my RAM at its true speed please?

Also, when I am doing that can I up the fsb so I can get my chip speed up too?

Cob · 2 Feb 2008 at 22:15

No it doesn't recognise it out of the box. If it did set it to 1066mhz 5-5-5-15 then it wouldn't be able to boot, because the official DDR2 specs say that all motherboards should have their memory voltage set to 1.8v when they leave the factory.

But if you're going to up the FSB, then you'd be better leaving the memory as it is until you've finished overclocking the CPU.

pointy shadow · 2 Feb 2008 at 22:25

Hi there,

Im suprised really as I thought that the same speed of memory and CPU would be recognised by the motherboard.

Not to worry, after reading your post I have went into the BIOS and set up the memory voltage to +0.2v and the multi to 3.

I also set the fsb frequency to 344mhz x 9 multiplier according to Core Temp.

I am now sitting at 3.1Ghz with idle temps of 47C + 49C respectively.

One question - my old memory (in sig) runs at 800mhz. Can I just pop that in so I can use the full 4gb overclocked even though they are different modules than the ones I bought from ocuk this week?

Many thanks for your help Cob - done my first o/c for years tonight!

Cob · 2 Feb 2008 at 22:34

47C + 49C is a little hot for idle. I assume you're using the stock cooler?

You can try mixing the memory, but I wouldn't have a clue if they will work together. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But you'll almost certainly have to drop your memory multiplier to atleast x2.5, maybe even x2.4.

Also be aware that you need at x64 operating system to get to use more than ~3.25gb.

pointy shadow · 2 Feb 2008 at 22:38

Im using the Arctic Cooling 7 with AS5 compound.

Coming from a Prescott where 65C was a norm I am quite happy with the temps.

What, in the BIOS would reduce the temps? I take it I would have to resuce the fsb to something less or is there another way?

edit: the VID in Coretemp shows 1.2875v.

I take it that is the memory voltage that has added this on?

If I reduce the memory voltage back to normal again and keep the same fsb will that allow me to keep my 3.1Ghz speeds?

Cob · 3 Feb 2008 at 17:58

Leave the memory voltage on +0.2v.

What voltage reading does CPU-Z say? I can't remember if this board automatically raises the CPU voltage if you leave it on 'Normal' and start uping the FSB.

pointy shadow · 3 Feb 2008 at 18:45

Core Voltage is showing as 1.376v.
Bus Speed is showing as 335mhz
Rated FSB is showing as 1340.2mhz
Core Speed is showing as 3015mhz

All taken from CPU-Z

Cob · 3 Feb 2008 at 18:48

In that case it is raising the vcore (if it's 1.376v in Windows then it's probably over 1.4v in BIOS).

Go into the BIOS and set the CPU voltage to 1.35v. You shouldn't need much more than that for 3ghz.

pointy shadow · 3 Feb 2008 at 19:36

Hi Cob,

I kept the vcore to below what the BIOS says is stock and kept the memory multiplier at 2.5 and upped the fsb to 341.

I have attached a screeny of the the monitoring programs to let you see what I have done.

Does this look ok as the idle temps are down to 45C now.

Thanks

Cob · 3 Feb 2008 at 19:43

That looks ok, tho I'm not sure how stable it will be at such a low voltage.

If you're going to keep it there, then you can tighten your timings to 5-5-5-15 (you'll need to hit Ctrl and F1 together on the main BIOS screen to unlock them. they will then appear n the MIT menu0.

pointy shadow · 3 Feb 2008 at 20:04

What will changing the timings do?

BTW - the BIOS was showing vcore as 1.38 prior to my last post and I changed it to 1.25 but my screeny was showing it as 1.21.

Do you think that this overclock setup is "safe" or am I stretching the limits of my memory?
I am assuming that I am not doing any harm to the CPU as I am overclocking the fsb but reducing the vcore to 1.25. Is that right?

Cob · 3 Feb 2008 at 20:17

Changing the timings will make the memory run a little faster.

The overclock is safe, and your memory is still running a little slower than its advertised speed (511mhz vs 533mhz).

You won't do any damage from running the vcore lower, but your system might not be stable (ie- it might crash). Run Prime95 to stress test it.

pointy shadow · 3 Feb 2008 at 22:51

I have not done the timing of the RAM yet but I have been running Prime 95 and the temps are 61C & 57C on full load after a 60 minute run.

Windows hasnt froze or anything and most other running apps seem pretty responsive too.