Gigabyte GA-EP45-EXTREME Living Review

[eva2000]

F6H bios performance improved in dual channel memory oc's

[supershanks]

Originally Posted by Ace

what is the operating voltage for those dimms?...didn't you say that you did not go high on the Vdimm with those?

the problem could be that you had a weak IC chip on there and it was just a matter of time powering off and then on which sent it on its merry way!

and yes, i agree with you that your airflow looks VERY adequate!

2.00v is max , but was working up the clocks on the T board. had just got Occt stable at 550x7.5 using 3.33d = 1833 7-7-7-20 1.84v when they went.

[QUOTE=Eva]Personally I found the corsair ram cooler a bit weak in air flow/pressure, i prefer my own custom ram cooling of either
[/QUOTE=Eva] might be someting in that , though I prefer to use smaller 40 or 60mm fans to avoid dead spots which might mean that some chips are left to run hot , but your right most home made jobs are better. The corsair unit is convenient , maybe too much so :0

F6H bios performance improved in dual channel memory oc's

Thank's just got it from the link over on yours

[supershanks]

F6H New BTA
Just got my sticky mits on this thanks to Eva

Changes
1st thing I noticed is new flashier Flash Screen

Advanced Timing Control has been expanded now with 2 sub menus.

The Timings section is familiar from early bios. Looks like there has been some slackening off of tRD , Had set up to bios to my 7.5x575@2b but left tRD on Auto shows 12.

The new Driving options -

Pull-Up/Pull-down option ranges are +7~-7
Driving Strength Profiles and reason for the change in flash screen




Comparison
F6H

F6C

Bios F6C - 4,310 7.5x575@2B 1,150 5-5-5-20 Revisited

Slight dip in Wprime , but across the board increases in memory based benches.

[eva2000]

wow you're quick to test

The Timings section is familiar from early bios. Looks like there has been some slackening off of tRD , Had set up to bios to my 7.5x575@2b but left tRD on Auto shows 12.

i think prior to F6H, the tRD AUTO shown value was incorrect at higher FSB at some point and was looser than what was shown in bios AUTO tRD.

[Clunk]

Ahh, to be young and enthusiastic again

[supershanks]

Originally Posted by Eva

wow you're quick to test

think the time difference helped you posted it at Today 07:33 UK Time which was just right for me

Not played that much but still can't get ram > 1150Mhz stable Was on MSN with clunk this pm, browsing etc., no issues at 7.5x585 but superpi only does around 4~5 iterations before failing. Used the 1200 drive profile, had hoped that might help.

[eva2000]

i see.. i took the opportunity to pluck in a new cpu for F6h..

1st of 5x E8600 Q820A599 installed on Gigabyte EP45 Extreme with new F6H bios. VID = 1.25v and seems to be around 0.032v vdroop on Vcore under load.

who said E8600 were hot buggers ?

System:

• E8600 Q820A599 2V8 / **5146
• CPU Cooling: Dtek Fuzion Rad Tower Box
• Gigabyte GA-EP45 Extreme rev 1.0 F6h bios
• 128MB Gainward FX5200 PCI
• 2x1GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 dual channel kit
• Memory cooling: 120x25mm Thermaltake 81cfm fan
• 74GB Western Digital Raptor OS drive
• Pioneer 215 DVD-RW
• 1200W Silverstone OP1200
• WinXP Pro SP2 Nlite Fully Updated.

Idle vs Load temps @4000Mhz 1.225v bios set vcore

Is the first vcore I loaded windows in to test, so haven't tried any other vcore settings yet.

Room ambient = ~20C
Powermate Wattage Meter = 142-151 Watts under Prime95 load

[supershanks]

Eva thought you were a decent guy , now you go tempting me with E8600 . was planning on sticking with 8500 till Nehalem , but have seen a few like yours, they look quite a leap in silicon , can feel my willpower wilting.

[Ace-a-Rue]

[supershanks]

Originally Posted by Ace

::

Spoken like a man who understands , my predicament & the need to keep the wife on side