Overclocking & bios Qs; Newbie with P35-DS4

I've not built a PC for several years, have never overclocked before & have never built Intel before. That said, I have been messing with PCs for several decades & do program, so they're not alien to me either.

Components are as listed in 'My System'. ATM I'm only at the bits all over the floor stage. When it's built I'll install XP Pro, drivers et al, run stability tests & then have a play with overclocking.

One or two small questions already:

I've manually set ram timings to 4-4-4-12. I'm pretty sure the correct voltage for this ram is 2.1V, however the DS4 doesn't seem to allow one to set a specified level; instead one can only set an offset, but it doesn't tell me the default value. Do I assume the Jedec standard of 1.8V & set an offset of 0.3V? I've read elsewhere the default on this board is actually 1.85V. Should I instead use some software to check the default?

ATM I've just stuck the mainboard in the case with cpu/hsf, ram & video card, to test they're working, so no OS or drives yet. If I need software, can anyone suggest what & if possible link to a disk image for a rescue/utilities cd which includes this?

Regarding the Ultra 120 eXtreme, I now see what others mean when they describe how easily it moves even after mounting securely. I recall reading how to work around this but have forgotten the details. Anyone remind me or point me at a thread? Cheers.

One little puzzle - the Sythe S-Flex 1600rpm fan on the HS has no speed control, so I expected the bios to show an rpm of about 1600, however it's actualy around 600. What am I missing?

Oh, in the past I've always built budget systems. As this case was much more than I usually pay I at least expected a buzzer/speaker for the mobo, but there doesn't seem to be one, which is annoying for if/when there are problems booting & one needs to here the error codes. Anyone know where I can pick up one of those little buzzers that plugs straight onto the mobo with no other mounting required?

mroz, you replied to my thread with concerns on the P35-DS3R, I highlighted that Gigabyte boards have the Smart Fan Method of controlling the CPU cooler fan. I recollect that the feature is found in the BIOS under 'PC Health Status', scroll to the bottom and you will see the feature SMART FAN Control Method, DISABLE it in order for the fan to run at full whack.

Off topic:
Have a question for you, does your CPU cooler/Stock HS fan spin up immediately upon system power up, or does it take a few seconds to start up? Say just as POST occurs? Would very much appreciate your answer on this, thanks.

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Originally Posted by UseItNow

mroz, you replied to my thread with concerns on the P35-DS3R, I highlighted that Gigabyte boards have the Smart Fan Method of controlling the CPU cooler fan. I recollect that the feature is found in the BIOS under 'PC Health Status', scroll to the bottom and you will see the feature SMART FAN Control Method, DISABLE it in order for the fan to run at full whack.

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:lol: I actually managed to forget that - however I'm not sure how that could apply in this case, as the Sythe connects to cpu_fan on the mobo using only three of the four pins; the last to allow speed control isn't present on the Sythe.

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Off topic:
Have a question for you, does your CPU cooler/Stock HS fan spin up immediately upon system power up, or does it take a few seconds to start up? Say just as POST occurs? Would very much appreciate your answer on this, thanks.

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It's so damned quiet I can't tell you ottomh, but I'll go check now...

Edit: Yup, there's about a four second delay. Just as well I checked actually... I have the fan on the side of the hs facing the drive cages & meant it to push air through the fins to the case rear - the label on the fan is visible. Just realised I think it's running the wrong way & I need to flip the fan label side to the hs :Oops:

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Originally Posted by mroz

I'm not sure how that could apply in this case, as the Sythe connects to cpu_fan on the mobo using only three of the four pins; the last to allow speed control isn't present on the Sythe.

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I'm using a Thermalright Ultra-90 with a Zalman ZM-F2 three-pin connector fan as yourself with the SMART FAN disabled. Getting a full whack of 2800rpm give or take a bit.

Likewise, cheers :)

The Scythe's now at 1500rpm (& it's also now obvious I did fit it backwards). I never realised fan speed control was possible with the three pin connecters - seems it's done just by varying the supply voltage to the fan; still need to look up how the four pin pwm method works.

Ah, pulse width modulation - there's some interesting info there.

Hmm, this explains a little more. Only thing I don't know now is why the mobo leaves the logic of pwm to the fan, signalling it via pin 4, rather than just doing the pwm itself. Better shut up, getting more OT & making it less likely I'll get any answers to my original questions ;)

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Originally Posted by mroz

I've manually set ram timings to 4-4-4-12. I'm pretty sure the correct voltage for this ram is 2.1V, however the DS4 doesn't seem to allow one to set a specified level; instead one can only set an offset, but it doesn't tell me the default value. Do I assume the Jedec standard of 1.8V & set an offset of 0.3V? I've read elsewhere the default on this board is actually 1.85V. Should I instead use some software to check the default?

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Sorry, forgot to reply to this, the motherboard does assume the JEDEC standard of 1.8v, so just adding 0.3v will give it 2.1v or just slightly more as when I spoke to Gigabyte UK Tech, he told me that the motherobard will consume a little bit more than the stated 1.8v + increment.
As I have the Ballistix PC2-5300 at 3-3-3-12 with 1.9v plus a tiny bit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mroz

Oh, in the past I've always built budget systems. As this case was much more than I usually pay I at least expected a buzzer/speaker for the mobo, but there doesn't seem to be one, which is annoying for if/when there are problems booting & one needs to here the error codes. Anyone know where I can pick up one of those little buzzers that plugs straight onto the mobo with no other mounting required?

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I've got the Antec 900 and yes, I was disappointed to notice no in-built speakers, so you've now got me interested in these things, never knew they existed!
Edit: Have you got a name for these buzzers, thanks.

Lastly, I still don't know if this is a feature of the Gigabyte boards where they start the CPU FAN with a delay, I've sent a Tech query to Gigabyte, see what they say on this. :)

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Originally Posted by UseItNow

Sorry, forgot to reply to this, the motherboard does assume the JEDEC standard of 1.8v, so just adding 0.3v will give it 2.1v or just slightly more as when I spoke to Gigabyte UK Tech, he told me that the motherobard will consume a little bit more than the stated 1.8v + increment.
As I have the Ballistix PC2-5300 at 3-3-3-12 with 1.9v plus a tiny bit.

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Thanks, helpful to have that confirmed.

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I've got the Antec 900 and yes, I was disappointed to notice no in-built speakers, so you've now got me interested in these things, never knew they existed!
Edit: Have you got a name for these buzzers, thanks.

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Not yet, I'll have a look in a moment. I was hoping someone would tell me. These little things are just a mini buzzer about 10mm across on a pair of legs about 30-40mm long, which plug directly onto the spk connector. In the past I've had one cheap case which included such a buzzer; a few days ago I saw an open mount for a PC (like a case but with no sides) which included one, but I've never seen them for sale on their own.

Edit: Here's an auction for 100 of them :D
/searches for another hour & gets distracted by a breadbox pc...
Nah, can't find much more than that - not even from component suppliers like Maplin, RS or Farnell :(

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Lastly, I still don't know if this is a feature of the Gigabyte boards where they start the CPU FAN with a delay, I've sent a Tech query to Gigabyte, see what they say on this. :)

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I don't think it's Gigabyte specific bicbw; aiui it doesn't kick in till it notices enough heat. I don't get the impression it ever causes a problem.

Hi mroz,

I have the Gigabyte P35-DS4 too - nice board, I'm really liking it :)

I have mine running my Q6600 Quad at 8x400=3.2GHz, voltages manually set in BIOS to 1.35vcore, memory manually set at 4-4-4-12 +0.3v (2.1v), and I bumped up the fsb and MCH voltages by 0.05v too (not sure if this is actually needed. She's rock solid stable 24/7 under load (running SETI) at these settings.

I disabled a few settings as per Clunks guide and left pretty much everything else at stock or auto settings.

I manually disabled the smart fan control so my HSF is spinning at full speed.

If you need any help with anything, don't hesitate to ask :)

Thanks a lot for your stats & the offer of help. Much appreciated :)

No doubt 'll be posting more on my experiences in the next few days.

Edit: not tempted to go higher than 3.2?

Just came across this thread and it was most helpful! :)

I've just built a system based on a Gigabyte G33-DS3R motherboard in an Antec P180 case and was also wondering both about the default memory voltage (since my Crucial Ballistix is rated at 2.1v) and the lack of a speaker on the case.

Still no sign of those motherboard buzzers on eBay annoyingly, unless I wanted to buy a bulk lot of 100 from the States that is...hmm maybe there would be a market for them in the UK from all the speakerless Antec case owners though? ;)

One thing that puzzles me is, why the need to disable Smart Fan Control? Surely if it does what it says on the tin it will spin up your CPU fan according to the temps, so why the need to have it running full whack from power-on? :confused:

If you have a low speed fan then it can run too slowly using smart fan and stall, no spinny fan hot hot hot CPU!

So disabling it can be an option. My Akasa Amber 92mm fan on my Thermalright Ultra 90 is fine starting on my G33M-DS2R and I have set it to run at max speed when the CPU motherboard sensor reaches 40oC rather than the standard 60oC which means it runs almost at full speed when my CPU is under full load running F@H (CPU MB sensor records ~37oC) and its still inaudible :)

Actually I think the phenomenon you describe has happened to my system a couple of times when I was running stability tests - temps had been consistantly in the mid-fifties at full load, but I came back to the PC after a period of time to find temp reads of 70! :eek:

The first time this happend I immediately re-booted, and as soon as it POST'ed I heard the CPU fan kick-in at full speed.

The second time this happened I didn't reboot but opened one of the bundled Gigabyte utils called i-Cool, which again kicked the CPU fan back to life and temps immediately fell back to mid-fifties.

Guess I was pretty lucky to get away with it on both occasions! :undecided