GA-EP45-UD3P - Won't boot with 450FSB

[D-an-W]

That was using the settings in Post #35.

[profJim]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

F6 works for me. I have no qualms with bios flashing. I tried F7 briefly but found no added benefit. The GB website gives very little info concerning specific issues that are covered with each new bios version. Sometimes some bios features are removed with newer bios releases.

The latest bios sticky has detailed bios info, but the details are not easy to find for a particular mobo.

[Psycho101]

I recently got pi**ed off at myself for not taking the time and effort to try and get the 2.00D strap and tRead=9 stable. I knew I probably could, however I didn't have the time.

Unfortunately I was made redundant from my place of work last week, so between phonecalls, interviews and employment agency meetings I had bags of time to nail it down.

I took my best BIOS settings, for 2.5 hours stable and tried every BIOS I could. Went from F9 to F8, 7, 6, 5, 4. I was surprised that with Identical settings, F4 and F6 would Prime forever and a day (14 hours Blend after 5 hours Large FFT). I chose F6 in the end because F4 doesn't have the ability to save BIOS profiles to USB (even with legacy storage turned on).

A couple of things to watch with BurnTest. Firstly, I've found that I can run a 50 pass test with matching Residual values only to have the system fall over on Prime, OCCT or two instances of Orthos.

Second strange thing. Notice it gives you calculation speed in GFlops? This should always be about the same as it uses the same equation set for each run. However I'm Prime stable at 1.3500v, but GFlops in IBT vary from 18 to 24 and 66c max temps. Raising vCore to 1.3625 or above I get a consistant 45GFlops every time, and 73c max temps. Weird. Almost like there's not enough voltage for IBT to run as fast as it should even though the system is stable.

[D-an-W]

My 4.04GHz template uses 2.00D and tRD9 (Thanks to Lsd).

I'll try F6 and see if it lets me boot at 450FSB, something I can't currently do (Hence the topic ).

I really need to improve CPU cooling for longterm use of that template though, whats the current pick of the bunch for cooling and low noise?

[Psycho101]

The best air coolers in my opinion, in order of preference:

• Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 Copper or "TrUE Copper"(Real expensive, pure coppper and weighs 900g, or around 2 lb)
  
• Regular TrUE, or True "Black"
  
• Scythe Kama Angle
  
• Noctua NH-U12P

Others like Coolermaster V8, Coolermaster Hyper 212 are good as well. The Hyper 212 is what I have and would recomend it if you're on a budget like I was, however I had to lap it before I saw good temperatures, so maybe not so good "out of thee box" for overclocking.

Which ever one you get I'd highly recommend buying a Noctua NF-P12 fan, the 1300 RMP flavour. It's quiet, shaved 4c off my load temps compared to the stock Coolermaster fan which sounded like a leaf blower at high RPM.

Invest in some quality thermal paste too. The stuff that comes with heatsinks is often cheap ass stuff. Again just a personal preference, but I use MX-2. Unlike Arctic Silver 5, it needs minimal time to settle, and no curing is needed. AS-5 can take potentially 200 hours to fully cure, and temps are no different than fresh MX-2. There are pastes out there which contain Micronised diamond. Diamond is the most thermally conductive material available, more so than Silver, Copper or Aluminium. It's not really worth the price premium though.

[D-an-W]

I have some AS5 (& 2 & 3!) already so would make sense I guess to use that unless I could get this magical MX-2 stuff delivered with the cooler.

The weight of the TrUE Copper in my vertical system could be an issue it seems? I will have to have a measure up see if a TrUE would even fit in there too I guess.

Am I right in saying the Noctua NF-P12 fan doesn't have PWM control, it looks to come with a 3 pin connector and some leads including resistors?

[Psycho101]

I would use what you have paste wise if it's still good. Any more than a couple of years and the particles of silver or ceramic (depending on the paste) tend to gravitate towards the bottom.

You shouldn't have much of an issue with a TrUE Copper with a UD3 board. Mine is the strongest, least flexible I have ever seen. The TrUE comes with a nice solid back-plate too, so as long as your case mounts for the motherboard are up to it, you'll be just fine. It would be good to be more careful when transporting the case around though. Lay the PC so the motherboard is on the bottom when moving.

I can control my Noctua fan with SpeedFan, you just need to go to Configure > Advanced > Chip > IT8718F at $290 on ISA and change PWM 1 mode to Software Controlled.

Pictures below are the fan at 1380 RPM and 900 RPM. Note, adjusting lower than 50% causes the fan to stop. Virtually no change in volume though, maybe just slight. They're 19.8dB at max, 16.9db at 1100RPM and 12.6dB at 900 RPM.

**Ninja Edit** There's a quite good, if brief, review of MX-2 here on Tweaktown: Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Paste Introduction :: TweakTown

[Psycho101]

Second pic, fan control to 50%, 900RPM (same speed as if you used the ultra-low-noise adapter, the blue one).

Ignore the core temps speedfan shows, I idle at 37c with a properly calibrated RealTemp.

[Lsdmeasap]

Arctic Silver > MX-2 and TX-2

For sure!!

[profJim]

Check out the Noctua NH-C12P down-draft cpu cooler.
This setup weighs 730 grams (fan included), and is only 114mm tall with the fan attached.
I prefer the down-draft coolers for their improved cooling of nearby mobo components.

TweakTown has an excellent review of the Noctua NH-C12P.
Many other quality websites have reviewed the Noctua products.

I use Arctic Ceramique and like it. I bought the 22 gram large setup and this will probably cover me for 500 or more years.