Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review

[supershanks]

yes think your probably right.

[supershanks]

RAM Stability

The biggest issue with this board is Ram stability. Testing with 3 sets of ram , with the exception of 4,320 10x432 @2.66D 1,152 5-5-5-20 Where I was able to use the 2.66 Divider obn the D Strap.
I haven't managed to get stability above the rated PC2 8500 Ddr2-1066Mhz.
In testing It's proven to be the Northbridge that has limited Ram speed.

As An Example:-
7.5x533@2.00B = 1066Mhz 5-5-5-14
All Fine & dandy


Bios Settings:-

Bios Settings

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R
[u]MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: turbo
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................:  7
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:. +0.5
CPU Frequency ...........................: 4,000Mhz
Clock Chip Control 
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled] 
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 533Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:103Mhz
C.I.A. 2......................................: Disabled
Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: 700mv
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: 800mv
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: 0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: 0ps
DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [Turbo]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....: [Disabled]
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2.00B
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 1,067Mhz
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]
Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time..........................: 5
tRCD ...........................................: 5
tRP..............................................:  5
tRAS............................................:  14
Advanced Timing Control [Press Enter]
tRRD...........................................:4
tWTR..........................................:4
tWR............................................:8
tRFC...........................................:50
tRTP...........................................:4
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:Auto

Channel A

Channel A Timings Settings [Press Enter] 
Static tRead Value.........................:10
tRD Phase0 Adjustmen...................:Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment..................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)...................:8 
Twr2wr(Different Rank)..................:8
Twr2rd(Different Rank)..................:7
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank).................:9
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control.............:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control.............:Auto  ps
DDR Write Training .....................: Enabled
Channel A Driving Settings [Press Enter] 
Driving Strength Profile...................:[1066]

Data Driving Pull-Up Level...............:Auto 
Cmd Driving Pull-Up Level................:Auto 
Ctrl Driving Pull-Up Level.................:Auto 
Clk Driving Pull-Up Level..................:Auto 

Data Driving Pull-Down Level...........:Auto 
Cmd Driving Pull-Down Level............:Auto 
Ctrl Driving Pull-Down Level.............:Auto 
Clk Driving Pull-Down Level..............:Auto 
Channel B

Channel B Timings Settings [Press Enter] 
Static tRead Value.........................: 10
tRD Phase0 Adjustmen....................:Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ..................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment...................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank).....................:8 
Twr2wr(Different Rank).....................:8
Twr2rd(Different Rank).....................:7
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)....................:9
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...................:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...................:Auto  ps
DDR Write Training .........................: Enabled
Channel B Driving Settings [Press Enter] 
Driving Strength Profile...................:[1066]

Data Driving Pull-Up Level.................:Auto 
Cmd Driving Pull-Up Level..................:Auto 
Ctrl Driving Pull-Up Level.................:Auto 
Clk Driving Pull-Up Level..................:Auto 

Data Driving Pull-Down Level...............:Auto 
Cmd Driving Pull-Down Level................:Auto 
Ctrl Driving Pull-Down Level...............:Auto 
Clk Driving Pull-Down Level................:Auto 


{U]Motherboard Voltage Control{/U]
Voltage Type.………... Normal 
CPU
Load Line Calibration......................: [Enabled] 
CPU Vcore...................................:1.39375v
CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*........:1.320v
CPU PLL...............1.500V*.............:1.57 v
CPU Reference.........0.755V*..........:0.836 v
MCH/ICH
MCH Core..............1.100V................: 1.42v
MCH Reference.........0.800V..............: 0.776v
MCH/DRAM Ref..........0.900V..............:Normal or 0.95v
ICH I/O.................1.50V...............: Auto
ICH Core............……1.100V...............:Auto
DRAM
DRAM Voltage..........1.800V...............: 2.12v
DRAM Termination......0.900V...............: Normal or 0.95v
Channel A Reference...0.900V...............:Normal or 0.95v
Channel B Reference...0.900V...............: Normal or 0.95v
[b]{U]Advanced Settings[b]{U]
Limit CPUID Max. to 3......................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect..................: [Disabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)....................: [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support.......................: [Disabled]
x C4/C4E State Support.....................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ................: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function..........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology..................: [Disabled]
Note: * refers to 45nm CPU

Now I tried raising the Multi to take the CPU to 4,264 Mhz 8x533@2.00B = 1066Mhz 5-5-5-14
Ran Prime:-



Failed on Large FFts , which usually mean a failure on the Ram rather than CPU. This was proven by running Prime with Small FFts, for an hour without issue.:-


I upped MCH Core from 1.42v to 1.44v and Bingo stable:-


The bottom line at least on this board appears then to be the Northbridge, I'm unsure whether I'm just unlucky and have got a poor quality chip or if it is a general feature of this board. I need to put on a lot more Voltage on than the Gigabyte GA-EP45-EXTREME where MCH Core 1.460 v got me to 4,387 -7.5x585@2.00B= 1,170 5-5-5-18 v2.28.
On the Extreme for the same clock MCH Core= 1.34V
I know from past experience that the B strap doesn't tend to run with to higher MCH Voltage so that may explain the difficulty to get ram higher >=1100 using the 2.00D Strap.

[Shiranui Gen-An]

What memory kits?

[supershanks]

Crucial Ballistix:-
Micron D9 Unknown sub class
CL11183.MW 79884 8500 (Double Sided)
CL1119H.DY 103654 8500 (Single Sided)
CellShock
DDR2 1150 5-5-5-18 2.3~2.4v CS2221650
Micron D9GKX

[Shiranui Gen-An]

Odd, must be something with the UD3R BIOS, as I've had nothing but success with my UD3P.

[supershanks]

I'm unsure whether I'm just unlucky and have got a poor quality chip

I mean P45 Chip. looking around on other threads the level of NB voltage used has seemed to be around the same level as the Extreme board.

[Shiranui Gen-An]

I have some CellShock CS2221440 and CS2221550 but I always wanted those "Red Devil" CS2221650, must be a nice kit to play with on the Gigabyte.

[supershanks]

I always wanted those "Red Devil" CS2221650, must be a nice kit to play with on the Gigabyte.

yes you'd have thought so Great on Extreme , doing bugger all on here. Hence my thinking it's a not such a good chip I have on the board. It does seem that the P boards are performing better ram wise.

[ACook]

Hoi

Mightily impressed with this thread, don't understand 3/4 of it...

I'm about to start building on this board with a Xigmatek HDT-S1283 on a Q8200 and
2x2GB kit of Kingston ValueRam KVR800D2N5K2/4G

I'm not looking for bigtime overclocks, but am looking for rock solid stability, at load, because I'll be doing alot of encoding, both SD mpg2->xvid and HD h264->x264.

Usually using the onboard automatic OC settings alot of the boards have these days I get a solid 5% and sometimes easy 10% OC, I may want to push it a bit further this time.

Are there any tips you can give where to start?
I'm prolly looking at the memory as the area where I'm a bit out of my depth, it's cheap stuff, and haven't been playing with any memory settings on a C2D system, so getting a bit overwhelmed by all the dividers, multipliers, voltage switching whatevers...


just to give you an idea what I'm thinking and hope I understand right:

the Q8200 is 2.333Mhz, has a FSB of 333MHz which means the DDR2 is double that, 667MHz, meaning my KVR800D2N5K2/4G sticks should be perfectly fine with any FSB up to 400MHz ?

(Yes, I probably have no clue)

My problem with may of the oc'ing guides available already assume you know so many things, or know what each setting does, and I'm not comfortable changing settings unless I understand them. And after reading a few terms I got no clue about, my eyes tend to glaze over.


longwinded first post, hope you can forgive me and help out a bit, thanks.

[supershanks]

Hi ACook,
Welcome to the forum , glad 1/4 has been useful to you

Easiest way to remember things is perhaps
CPU Speed = FSB x CPU Multiplier
on these boards that':-
FSB = CPU Host Frequency
CPU Multiplier = CPU Clock Ratio

The FSB provides the basis of the memory clock, as you've found out.
Memory speed is calculated from FSB x System Memory Multiplier (this is known as various terms, memory multi, memory divider or strap.)
Easiest way to try and imagine it is as a gear box on a car.
FSB is the engine speed. The mermory multi is the gearbox.

These are the memory ratios:-


The above are effectively the gear ratios.
This Chart shows the options:-

The Columns A~D Are based on the stock FSB of various Intel socket 775 CPUs.
As you said the latest 45nm yorkfield & wolfdale are based on 333 (ColumnB)
The most common previous CPU , the Q6600 was based on 267 (ColumnA)
A~D are known as straps.
The Dividers section has a number of rows, these are the different ratios that each strap supports.
So for example to run your ram at 800 at stock FSB :-
Use 3.00A (266x3) = 800Mhz for Q6600 perhaps
or
2.40B (333x2.4) = 800Mhz fror your CPU.

Gigabyte use the ratios shown, with the Strap Letter as a suffix which explains the options in the 2 bios shots above.

BUT when we overclock we change the FSB so you might move from 333 to 400 or 266 to 333.
So the base doesn't seem so important. Again the Gearbox example works, just as a motor racing team will use different sets of gears depending on conditions, the straps are not limited to specific CPUs , rather than how you want to run.

From:-
Bios - MB Intelligent Tweaker (MIT) 2of5 - Dram Performance Control

Voltage is used to help run the CPU/Memory andf Northbridge run at higher speeds.

I'd perhaps look at trying an FSB of 400 and running your ram at 2.00B or 2.00D which will run ram at Stock speed of 800.

For more info etc., have a look here Overclocling Guides Drop in a post here or in the guides if you need more info.

Let us know how you get on.