Gigabyte GA-EP45-EXTREME Living Review

[Ace-a-Rue]

you guys are working with the wrong motherboard.

should mention the biostar board is a DDR2 board...for some reason MemSet reads that incorrectly.

[supershanks]

Originally Posted by Ace

you guys are working with the wrong motherboard:

good going Ace
Have been chasing FSB to be honest , which in turn means higher tRD, see your at 9 there , I've been clocking at 10. Certainly looks good though

Originally Posted by Eva

bit confused there, you keep mention P45T in this thread when you post your results - you using the DDR3 or non-T DDR2 board ?

Have bought the EP45T for myself, had set it up & did a few benches which I'll get round to posting soon. It was looking at the settings there that have given me a clue how to improve things a bit on the ddr2 board.

Originally Posted by Eva

more results - starting to get somewhere

Yes got a bit of progress myself.

I've got the ddr2 back on water & have just benched 7.5x575@2b 1150mhz 5-5-5-20. The benches were pretty awful.

I'd used the default
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto 8
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto 8
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto 7
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto 9

I mentioned earlier(post#115 about changing these to:-
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................: 9
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................: 7
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................: 8
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................: 8
but hadn't got it stable. I've now cracked it , I raised ram sub voltages a notch so they are now 45.5% of vdimm. (previously was running at 0.99v with 2.22v 44.6% vdimm) Also dropped TRFc to 50. Though it shows little difference in SuperPi there is a decent impact in Everest results.


I think that the above Timings are the equivalent to

Read to Write Delay (tRDWR): AUTO
Ranks Write to Write (tWRWR): AUTO
Ranks Read to Read (tRDRD): AUTO
Ranks Write to Read (tWRRD): AUTO

In the DFI X48 Boards, may be interesting to experiment there,

[supershanks]

4,310 7.5x575@2B 1,150 5-5-5-20


Benches


Stabilty



Bios Settings
Key changes Sub Timings & increased Vdimm Sub voltages

GIGABYTE GA-EP45_EXTREME
[u]MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Turbo
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................:  7
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:.+0.5
CPU Frequency ...........................: 4,310Mhz
Clock Chip Control 
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled] 
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............:575Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:103Mhz
C.I.A. 2.......................................: [Disabled]
Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: 700mv
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: 700mv
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) ..............: 1,150Mhz
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual] 
Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................: 5
tRCD .........................................: 5
tRP'...........................................:  5
tRAS..........................................:  20
Advanced Timing Control [Press Enter]
tRRD...........................................: 4
tWTR..........................................: 4
tWR............................................: 4
tRFC...........................................:50
tRTP...........................................: 4
Command Rate (CMD) ....................: [Auto]
Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................:Auto 10
 tRD Phase0 Adjustmen...................:Auto 0
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto 0
 tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto 0
 tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto 0
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................: 9
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................: 7 
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................: 8 
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................: 8
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps

Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................:Auto 10
 tRD Phase0 Adjustmen...................:Auto 0
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto 0
 tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto 0
 tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto 0
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................: 9
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................: 7 
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................: 8 
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................: 8
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps

{U]Motherboard Voltage Control{/U]
Voltage Type.………... Normal 
CPU
CPU Vcore….……….........................:1.4437v+  Can probably run lower, will rerun later + 
CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*.......: 1.34v
CPU PLL…………………....1.500V*.......: 1.64v +
CPU Reference.…….....0.755V*.......: 0.813v
CPU Reference2………,,0.800V*........:0.848v
MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….....1.100V...........: 1.44v
MCH Reference….…….0.800V...........; 0.768v
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V...........: 1.010v
ICH I/O……………….....1.550V............: 1.54v
ICH Core…………...……1.100V............: 1.10v
DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....1.800V............: 2.220v
DRAM Termination .…0.900V............: 1.010v
Channel A Reference 0.900V............: 1.010v
Channel B Reference 0.900V............: 1.010v
[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

[Ace-a-Rue]

Originally Posted by supershanks

good going Ace
Have been chasing FSB to be honest , which in turn means higher tRD, see your at 9 there , I've been clocking at 10. Certainly looks good though

your giga p45 board looks awful sluggish...kind of makes you scratch your head to say how could giga make it that slow with the same chipset that is on the Biostar board!

[rhansme]

Hey there SS is there any dealer on your side of the Atlantic that ships to the US? I have been waiting for Gigabyte to sell the EP45-DS5 here in the states, but I have been informed that will not happen. I might as well get the DQ6 I suppose, but do not need all the lan ports... I imagine shipping costs would make the purchase moot.

[supershanks]

Originally Posted by Ace

MemSet reads that incorrectly.

Yes it's not too clever on P45 at the minute, half the time I have either tRD or something missing. Looks like you've got a good stand in for the abit p45

Originally Posted by rhansme

Hey there SS is there any dealer on your side of the Atlantic that ships to the US?

Scan Might or HPM.De The last are a good source for hard to get boards , I use them quiet a lot, so at least I know they ship from germany to the Uk

I imagine shipping costs would make the purchase moot.

yes pretty much so, mighr end up being cheaper to put up with the surplus lan ports. Is there anything that the EP45-DS5 has which the DQ6 doesn't ??

[eva2000]

Originally Posted by Ace-a-Rue

you guys are working with the wrong motherboard.

should mention the biostar board is a DDR2 board...for some reason MemSet reads that incorrectly.

https://home.comcast.net/~captain-is-retired/biostar/bestsuperpi.jpg[/img]

the EP45 Extreme is getting better - just received F6c bios and my max FSB with E8500 jumped from 560FSB to 600FSB so far with not many changes in bios

Also at 4.4ghz your 32M time is around 90-110 seconds slower than normal. I'm actually fairly confident if this F6c bios can give me the FSB, I can match the biostar for clock for clock performance

[eva2000]

supershanks could you download wprime v1.62 and do a 1M compare between your v1.61 version ? Just wanting to see which is the faster of these 2 versions as v1.61 is no longer downloadable on wprime.net

[supershanks]

4,310 7.5x575@2B 1,150 5-5-5-20 Revisited
Just installed the new F6C from Eva

As a starting point and for comparison thought i'd re-run 4,310 7.5x575@2B 1,150 5-5-5-20

Benches


Bios Comparison -
F6A


Wprime v1.63

supershanks could you download wprime v1.62 and do a 1M compare between your v1.61 version ? Just wanting to see which is the faster of these 2 versions as v1.61 is no longer downloadable on wprime.net

Could only get latest v1.63 , v1.62 is no longer available , unless you have a copy for me Wprime Your right though v1.63 shows a better result than v1.61


Stabilty




Bios Settings
Only change was to reduce CPU Pll from 1.64v to 1.62v Tried lowering Vcore but OCCT failed so left it.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45_EXTREME
[u]MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Turbo
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................:  7
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:.+0.5
CPU Frequency ...........................: 4,310Mhz
Clock Chip Control 
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled] 
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............:575Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:103Mhz
C.I.A. 2.......................................: [Disabled]
Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: 700mv
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: 700mv
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) ..............: 1,150Mhz
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual] 
Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................: 5
tRCD .........................................: 5
tRP'...........................................:  5
tRAS..........................................:  20
Advanced Timing Control [Press Enter]
tRRD...........................................: 4
tWTR..........................................: 4
tWR............................................: 4
tRFC...........................................:50
tRTP...........................................: 4
Command Rate (CMD) ....................: [Auto]
Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................:Auto 10
 tRD Phase0 Adjustmen...................:Auto 0
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto 0
 tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto 0
 tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto 0
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................: 9
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................: 7 
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................: 8 
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................: 8
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps

Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................:Auto 10
 tRD Phase0 Adjustmen...................:Auto 0
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto 0
 tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto 0
 tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto 0
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................: 9
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................: 7 
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................: 8 
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................: 8
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps

{U]Motherboard Voltage Control{/U]
Voltage Type.………... Normal 
CPU
CPU Vcore….……….........................:1.4437v
CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*.......: 1.34v
CPU PLL…………………....1.500V*.......: 1.62v 
CPU Reference.…….....0.755V*.......: 0.813v
CPU Reference2………,,0.800V*........:0.848v
MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….....1.100V...........: 1.44v
MCH Reference….…….0.800V...........; 0.768v
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V...........: 1.010v
ICH I/O……………….....1.550V............: 1.54v
ICH Core…………...……1.100V............: 1.10v
DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....1.800V............: 2.220v
DRAM Termination .…0.900V............: 1.010v
Channel A Reference 0.900V............: 1.010v
Channel B Reference 0.900V............: 1.010v
[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

See also the tweaks here Getting competeative May or may not help.

[eva2000]

ah didn't realise 1.63 was on download page though 1.62 was latest heh

I'm wondering where you're loosing performance as at 7.5x575FSB 1:1 5-5-5-15 you should be close to my 8x550FSB 1:1 time at least. Do you have largesystemcache enabled in registry ?

to enable

My Computer > Properties > Advance > Performance Settings > Advance > Memory Usage > System Cache

or

registry change to

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000001

both do same thing and is worth around 20-50 seconds improvement in 32m super pi times



Still around 35-40 seconds slower than P35/X38/X48 I estimate but getting there.