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  • Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

    I have been trying to overclock my Ep35-ds3l w/ E8400 but have been running into some problems. First, after turning off the powersaving voltage regulators in the bios, I upped the core voltage a marginal amount (one step above default) only to have windows show a lower than stock voltage in Everest and CPU-z.

    After searching some forums, it was apparent that many people were unable to get windows to reflect changed voltages, and were able to fix it by updating the bios to F5 or F6a. So I decide to update to F6a(beta). I flashed using Qflash The flash worked and would always post, and I was able to get back into the bios and load optimized default, but after trying to boot windows, it would crash or spit out some strange bunch of text about either bootmanagers, checksum or some other error that was never the same twice after posting. One time it actually loaded a command prompt that looked like: grub> with a few lines of text at the top that mentioned something about BASH, something i had never seen before. Very strange.

    I attributed this to the bios being in beta, so i decided to flash the bios with the latest non beta: F5. The same problems were happening. Also, sometimes while changing settings in the bios, graphical artifacts would appear and the system would lock.

    I then reverted back to the F4 version of the bios which I had originally saved from the board before flashing, and after having to flash twice due to a failed verification (second time worked fine), everything worked just the same as before I had flashed with the beta bios. It boots into Vista with no errors.

    I have never encountered problems like this in previous experience with flashing other boards.

    I would really like to be able to change my voltage, because as of now with the F4 bios, it runs well below the 1.225 stock at around 1.17.

    Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.
    Last edited by Helios00; 09-10-2008, 01:30 PM. Reason: typo

  • #2
    Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

    Originally posted by Helios00 View Post
    I have been trying to overclock my Ep35-ds3l w/ E8400 but have been running into some problems. First, after turning off the powersaving voltage regulators in the bios, I upped the core voltage a marginal amount (one step above default) only to have windows show a lower than stock voltage in Everest and CPU-z.
    This is normal and nothing to worry about, the actual voltages in Windows will pretty much always be lower (sometimes signifcantly lower) than what you set in the BIOS. This effect is (afaik) due to different CPUs drawing different amounts of power and depending on the power a CPU draws the actual voltage at a given BIOS setting differs.
    Don't really look at the BIOS settings, it's the actual voltages you get that matter (i.e. the CPU-Z reading).

    After searching some forums, it was apparent that many people were unable to get windows to reflect changed voltages, and were able to fix it by updating the bios to F5 or F6a. So I decide to update to F6a(beta). I flashed using Qflash The flash worked and would always post, and I was able to get back into the bios and load optimized default, but after trying to boot windows, it would crash or spit out some strange bunch of text about either bootmanagers, checksum or some other error that was never the same twice after posting. One time it actually loaded a command prompt that looked like: grub> with a few lines of text at the top that mentioned something about BASH, something i had never seen before. Very strange.

    I attributed this to the bios being in beta, so i decided to flash the bios with the latest non beta: F5. The same problems were happening. Also, sometimes while changing settings in the bios, graphical artifacts would appear and the system would lock.

    I then reverted back to the F4 version of the bios which I had originally saved from the board before flashing, and after having to flash twice due to a failed verification (second time worked fine), everything worked just the same as before I had flashed with the beta bios. It boots into Vista with no errors.

    I have never encountered problems like this in previous experience with flashing other boards.
    Looks like you got a bad flash. have you tried Loading the optimized defaults and then removing the BIOS battery (also remove power cord from PSU). This has worked wonders many-a-time.

    I would really like to be able to change my voltage, because as of now with the F4 bios, it runs well below the 2.25 stock at around 1.7.

    Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.
    You mean 2.25V on the memory (2.25 is way to hight for the CPU)? So where did you have problesm with the voltage, CPU, memory or both?

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    • #3
      Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

      After getting everything working again with the F4 bios, I redownloaded, reextracted and reflashed with the F5 bios only to have the same problems. 2 bad flashes in a row?

      Oh and those voltages were a typo. I meant to say stock = 1.225 and windows was displaying ~1.17 through CPU-z and Everest. Changing the bios voltage has no effect on the CPU-z voltage.

      As far as your suggestion, are you saying I should flash with F5, load optimized defaults, shut down and remove the CMOS battery?

      Thanks for the quick response.
      Last edited by Helios00; 09-10-2008, 01:38 PM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

        Originally posted by Helios00 View Post
        After getting everything working again with the F4 bios, I redownloaded, reextracted and reflashed with the F5 bios only to have the same problems. 2 bad flashes in a row?

        Oh and those voltages were a typo. I meant to say stock = 1.225 and windows was displaying ~1.17 through CPU-z and Everest. Changing the bios voltage has no effect on the CPU-z voltage.
        Ah, I didn't fully understand your problem from your first post then. That is in fact not normal, but might also be a problem with CPU-Z. Have you checked with other programs like everest (you can see voltages under "Sensors")?

        As far as your suggestion, are you saying I should flash with F5, load optimized defaults, shut down and remove the CMOS battery?

        Thanks for the quick response.
        Yes, sometimes when overclocking the PC won't boot anymore, resetting the CMOS alone doesn't make it boot, but resetting CMOS (same as loading optimized defauls pretty much) and removing the battery for some time (sometimes it takes a minute, sometimes a full day) has brought seemingly "dead" motherboards back to life and fixed various other problems. It's always worth a try, but no guaranteed fix.

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        • #5
          Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

          Originally posted by Nickel020 View Post
          Ah, I didn't fully understand your problem from your first post then. That is in fact not normal, but might also be a problem with CPU-Z. Have you checked with other programs like everest (you can see voltages under "Sensors")?

          Yes, sometimes when overclocking the PC won't boot anymore, resetting the CMOS alone doesn't make it boot, but resetting CMOS (same as loading optimized defauls pretty much) and removing the battery for some time (sometimes it takes a minute, sometimes a full day) has brought seemingly "dead" motherboards back to life and fixed various other problems. It's always worth a try, but no guaranteed fix.

          Yes, Everest shows the same decreased voltage as cpu-z

          I will try your suggestion and get back with results.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

            The battery method might have helped.

            I was successfully able to boot into windows once, but Everest and CPU-z still showed a massive vdroop (from stock 1.225 to 1.17). So I went into the bios and manually set the Vcore to 1.225 and rebooted. The same problems returned and it would not boot into windows.

            Noticing that the "performance enhance" option was turned to turbo, I set it to standard. This worked. I was allowed to boot into windows, and both CPUz and Everest showed an increased voltage.

            However, the vdroop was still massive! I have to set the bios vcore to 1.300 in order for windows to show a voltage of 1.225. This seems quite out of the ordinary.

            Since the windows display is assumed to be the one that matters, does it make a difference what the bios voltage is set to?

            Also, the 'standard' performance enhance setting apparently affects the memory timings. It appears that this value was causing a lot of problems when it was set to turbo, but I am not too keen on having significantly slower memory. Is there any way to get around this? Ive got 2 sticks of 2gb OCZ DDR2 800.
            Last edited by Helios00; 09-10-2008, 04:06 PM.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

              It doesn't really matter what the BIOS is set to. If you look at overcloking lists for CPUs (pretty much) nobody asks what voltage the BIOS is set to, the CPU-Z value is the one that matters (rightly in my opinion). I did some multi meter measurements and CPU-Z is very much accurate, this has been confirmed many times on the web.

              You also should not confuse vdroop and vdrop. What you're talking about is vdrop, the difference between BIOS setting and actual voltage. Vdroop which many people consider to be bad for overclocking is the difference between the CPU voltage during idle and during load. This should not be excessive (as in greater than 0.05V) but unless you're trying to push your CPU to the absolute maximum vdroop is nothing to worry about.

              And again, the rather large vdrop is nothing terribly bad either, it's pretty common especially among budget boards. Your board has a 4 phase power design for the CPU and vdrop and vdroop is greater there than it is on more expensive boards with more phases. I also noticed this when I compared the 6 phase P35 DS3 to the 12 phase P35 DQ6, the DQ6 was "better" as in less of both.
              It also could achieve the same overclock at less actual voltage, but the maximum overclock of the CPU I tested was the same on both boards (it had a FSB wall though).

              All in all you don't need to worry about such things unless you want to go the absolute maximum. If you're overclocking because you just want a little more performance try to stay under 1.35V in CPU Z and under 70° CPU load temp (use the newest CoreTemp) for your 24/7 at all times and you've got nothing to worry about.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

                Thanks for your informative replies.

                Another quick question: should I be worried about the performance enhance bios being set at standard instead of the default turbo? What kind of performance decrease should I be expect from this setting?

                The reason I ask is that the board is still under 30 day warranty, so returning it has crossed my mind. The fact that the machine will absolutely not boot with the default core voltage and this default bios setting worries me.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

                  Turbo just will not work properly and is set by default for those who never enter the BIOS, I do not know why as I am sure it causes many issues such as this.

                  For your flashing issues, please always BE SURE you are on the correct Model and Revision page for your board, which there is only one (Just had to say incase anyone reads later and there is newer revisions) And before you flash go in the BIOS and load optimized defaults and shut down. In your case I would also always remove one of the 2GB sticks, as optimized defaults will use turbo and that will affect and possibly cause a corrupt flash.

                  BIOS updates are a "Dont fix it if it isnt broke" type of thing, and are ALWAYS a risk. So best to find one and keep it for a long time, until you maybe see one that addresses a specific issue you have

                  Also, aside from vdrop or vdroop, since it was not mentioned here you may still have speedstep enabled? Which would also drop the voltage and the CPU Multiplier, those settings would be EIST and C1E

                  If you need some help with overclocking, please feel free to post back anytime!

                  I can help for sure!!!

                  2x2GB will have issues at stock defaults always because it requires some manual memory timings and voltages set for sure.

                  Those would be at least >>>
                  52-62 of "Refresh to Act Delay"
                  +0.15V - 0.25V MCH Voltage
                  2.0 - 2.1V manually set DDR2 voltage (Whatever your ram sticker says)

                  And If it is in your BIOS >>>
                  Static tRead Value 7-12 (I see alot of defaults set at 6, and this will cause issues without being tweaked down to 6 by the user)

                  Thanks Nickel020 for the informative posts above. Ya know, about the vdrop/vdroop issue here... My P35 has a Loadline control in the MIT, doesn't the P35-DS3L?

                  Maybe not because it is a budget model?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

                    I've heard negative things about the loadline calibration, it does stabilize voltage, but overclocks that were stable before aren't stable with it anymore. I haven't really tested it myself just heard experiences form other people as xtreme systems and forumdeluxx.de. There also was some discussion on the official German Gigabyte forums, with the consensus being that you should leave it off, but no one really presented hard data unfortunately.
                    And no/marginal vdroop isn't all that people make it out to be. I have never seen any kind of testing that shows less vdroop actually results in better overclocking.
                    And vdroop is actually intended by Intel it's not a problem, it's a feature (at least as long as it's not too big).

                    I think the P35 boards have pretty much the same BIOS options. The DS3 had the same options as the DQ6, but the steps for increasing voltages were bigger on the DS3, but that was changed in a later BIOS I think. Loadline calibration was "patched in" later as well.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

                      Ya, I have heard the same at various places. More so aimed at 45nm overclocking though. I have it on myself, but havent messed with my settings in forever, but they were stable either way long ago. I have not changed anything in probably 5 months, and installed Water maybe 2 months ago and havent even had time to play in that yet!!

                      Ya, people do make it out to be WAY more of an adverse affect then it really is. I mean all you have to do to overcome it is up the volts some more really.

                      Well that is not what I see, And I have tables for most all the BIOS's. The DS3 and DS4 are the same but the DQ6 variants all have a few more options as well as the step differences. The S and SL versions are budget is why I asked as I do not have them, but I remember my S3 along time ago having less options then the DS3 at the time.

                      And yeah I knew loadline was added later for most P35 boards but not all. I thought maybe you had or had access to a budget S or SL model is why you replied here. So that is why I asked if you knew

                      Hey, if you do want to see a "Active Table" type thing for most Gigabyte Boards there is a nice thing over here to check out, you can see all pages of alot of boards. Click on "Optimale Gigabyte™ BIOS Einstellungen" then select a model>>>>
                      Computertechnik JZelectronic

                      Beta's are also there sometimes before anywhere else "Neue BIOSe von Gigabyte" Then click top linked Square button

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

                        Well loadline calibration is only going to change something near the the CPUs maximum overclock, if you're not going to the maximum with your current cooling it doesn't really matter.

                        I have the P45 DS3L here at the moment that I'm testing it. I has the same options as all models up to and including the DQ6, the Extreme may have some more options for all I know (need to compare my BIOS with the screens of the Extrme at clunk.org.uk).

                        But whether the P35 DS3L has loadline calibration, the OP should be able to answer that :)

                        Also I know JZ, being from Germany I actually have bought boards from him directly^^ He's pretty much a Gigabyte guru, has been selling only Gigabyte boards for years, is a mod on the official german Gigabyte forums and knows some guys at Gigabyte Taiwan.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

                          Ya, I was referring to the P35's DQ6 having more options not P45

                          Ohh yeah! That is cool, I wish I could read that page in English. IS there a english button on it anywhere? I do see some sites have them, I'd like to be able to view it easier.

                          Well, Maybe the OP will let us know. And which BIOS version he is using if he does not have it in there

                          I am about to jet, I will see you tomorrow. Have a good one

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Bios flash problems EP35-DS3l

                            Two things:

                            1. the P35-DS3L definitely does not have Loadline control.

                            2. The voltage set in the BIOS does matter. The voltage set in the BIOS is the maximum voltage the processor will be subjected to at any point.

                            If you want a voltage of 1.35 at idle and have .05 V-offset (also called V-drop) BIOS voltage is set to 1.40 volts.

                            This graphic shows what is being talked about. Complements of AnandTech:
                            AnandTech: Overclocking Intel's New 45nm QX9650: The Rules Have Changed


                            As intended, Voffset and Vdroop ensure that the supply voltage never exceeds CPU VID

                            The CPU VID setting establishes the absolute maximum allowable processor supply voltage experienced during transient conditions and is not the target idle voltage. We hope this statement draws attention to this important distinction, as many believe the opposite to be true - a mistake all too commonly made. Together, Vdroop and Voffset ensure that the peak CPU supply voltage seen during heavy to light loading changes remains well below the established maximum. If you determine that 1.17V, as in the case above, is not sufficient for maintaining CPU stability under load, simply increasing the CPU VID does correct the problem. Let's now examine how the system responds if we remove Voffset.

                            If you are worried about the amount of total droop here is a quote from the same article:


                            Intel Processor Power Delivery Guidelines (Cont'd)

                            In this next case we eliminate Vdroop altogether and examine the chaos that ensues. As illustrated by our model, removing Vdroop does nothing to reduce the magnitude of the idle to full-load transient but does increase the settling time as the VRM must recover to a higher final regulation voltage. As in the case of no Voffset, it is possible to exceed the maximum allowable CPU voltage (VID). Clearly, removing Vdroop gains us nothing and only serves to create problems that are more serious.

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