G31M-S2L RAM timing

[Johnny123]

Firstly, I bought this mobo because there was not enough in my bank account for the graphics card i so desired, So i plan to move it on to another computer and keep the CPU, etc. It was only AUD$50 so i don't really mind... But between now and payday I'd like to get it running perfect.

I bought a 2gb kit of kingston HyperX DDR2 800 ram which is rated at 4-4-4-12 @ 2.0v

But there is no option to change the timing (I think that is expected on cheap boards)



Can anyone help me out here? Or is this something I can't do with this board? (I hope the GA-X48-DS5 is nice and tweakable).

EDIT: YES I got it :) I found that you press CTRL+F1 and a whole load of goodies appear :) Now i just need to figure the other new goodies out and i'm done :P

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

Let me know if you have anymore issues or questions, I'd be glad to help. If you want to flash your BIOS to a newer BIOS you may not need to use the Control + F1 option as they have removed it on most of the newer BIOS's. But not sure about for that board, since you dont plan to keep it long it may not matter to you anyway, just thought I would let you know.

F5 and F6 do work with your CPU and are posted here >>>
GIGABYTE - Support - Motherboard - BIOS - GA-G31M-S2L

To see what version you are using now you can look in the Mainboard Tab in CPU-z or use F9 on the Main screen of you BIOS

[Johnny123]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

I've updated to the F6 bios version and the CTRL+F1 is still working.

Confirmed: CPUz reports the version is F6.

Now the heatsink which says Gigabyte on it, right under the CPU, thats the northbridge right? cause with the default FSB it feels rather hot.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

Welll ya, it will always work. But in some of the newer Bios's (P35 at least I knwo for sure) you no longer have to use the hotkeys to see all settings.

Yeah, that is the NB. If you have some NON Conductive paste you can/should redo the thermal paste under it if you feel you can. I often see way to much on there, or improper coverage done at the factory. If you cannot touch the heatsink for more then 10 seconds, then yes that is way hot

In your BIOS health page, the "System" temp is the NB, other apps like Everest Ultimate, or EasyTune sometimes call it the "Motherboard" temp as well

[Johnny123]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

Now it is touchable but after about 10 seconds it feels quite hot. I think the reason it was super hot before was the system fans we're unplugged due to them being super loud (there thermaltake fans on a thermaltake soprano case i bought a few years ago with my old rig which was on 24/7) but since having them all turned on now the chipset cooler doesn't feel so hot and you can have your finger there for more than 10 seconds.

So I'll be getting a new case soon enough.

What do you think would be the highest graphics card this board would take on? My wholesaler has cheap Gigabyte 512 MB 9800GTX cards in stock and i was thinking of picking one up .

Everest reports very high results when i benchmark the RAM, Are they accurate?

Memory read: 7235 MB/s
Memory write: 7053 MB/s
Memory Copy: 6234 MB/s
Latancy: 68.2 ns

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

Ahh, well yeah case fans ON always helps! J/K

Good luck in picking a case!!!

Hmmm, I dunno bought Nvidia Cards, that would be best asked in the Graphics/Video section here. I do know though the G31 is not a very "good" chipset so you may just be wasting $$ putting a gaming card into it. Maybe best to buy a midrange 256MB and leave it at that

Yeah, those look about right for speeds, could get better with some subtimings tweaked but again that chipset is a Budget one and may not do much better with things tightened up. Here is some tests I done real quick for someone not long ago with my ram and everest >>>

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/failed-memtest-dsl3-crucial-ballistix-800mhz-27011/index2.html#post254429

[Johnny123]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

Ahh, well yeah case fans ON always helps! J/K

Good luck in picking a case!!!

Hmmm, I dunno bought Nvidia Cards, that would be best asked in the Graphics/Video section here. I do know though the G31 is not a very "good" chipset so you may just be wasting $$ putting a gaming card into it. Maybe best to buy a midrange 256MB and leave it at that

Yeah, those look about right for speeds, could get better with some subtimings tweaked but again that chipset is a Budget one and may not do much better with things tightened up. Here is some tests I done real quick for someone not long ago with my ram and everest >>>
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/fail...tml#post254429

Thanks alot for the help mate I think getting a new mobo and a gaming card will be good.

I'll be buying:

CoolerMaster 850 Watt Real Power Pro Modular PSU
Gigabyte 512 MB 9800GTX GeForce PCI-Express VGA Card
Cooler Master Cosmos 1100 Black Full Tower Case
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 mainboard Socket 775
Another 2gb of kingston ram (same as i bought before).

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

Looks good

Ya, I just meant why spend your Cash now to game if you planned to get a better board. But of course You could get the card now if you have the cash since it is on sale, then get the board later

[Johnny123]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

I bought the P31-DS3L/S3L. I had a realisation that i don't game that much...it works well. Bought another 2gb kingston ram kit and it's all good (this board has 4 slots).

It's better and i think it will do fine.

Next on the list is the case :)

Oh yeah the Gigabyte 512 MB 9800GTX GeForce PCI-Express VGA Card works well in this mobo :) Games don't lag now.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

Wish I had me one!

Stuck in the past for now with a Sapphire X1950 256MB, but I dont game either so it is pretty good for me. I thought about grabbing another for 50 or so on ebay just so I could "Say" I have crossfire. Not that it would matter to me for how I use my pc, but I guess it would up those 3DMark and PCMark scores

I am building/modding me a RocketFish case right now. Will be cutting up and painting this week or next soon as my paint all arrives

[Johnny123]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

Wish I had me one!

Stuck in the past for now with a Sapphire X1950 256MB, but I dont game either so it is pretty good for me. I thought about grabbing another for 50 or so on ebay just so I could "Say" I have crossfire. Not that it would matter to me for how I use my pc, but I guess it would up those 3DMark and PCMark scores

I am building/modding me a RocketFish case right now. Will be cutting up and painting this week or next soon as my paint all arrives

Well the card runs well and i'm happy. Thanks for the help before mate.

I wanted to return my old mainboard but since i bought wholesale (gotta love having an australian business number) i'll probably put it together in another computer.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

No problems. Glad you have a good card now

Well you may just want to wait on a new board for a year anyway, socket 775 will be gone then!!

[Johnny123]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

No problems. Glad you have a good card now

Well you may just want to wait on a new board for a year anyway, socket 775 will be gone then!!

Well since this current setup is satisfying my speed needs for now, It would be nice to keep up with technology (which is very VERY hard to do unless you pay heaps of $$$ for something which will go right down in price in a few months).

Yeah I wonder what will replace socket 775, All i know is whatever replacement wont have any backward compatibility.


Now I've flashed the BIOS (using that @BIOS cause i'm rather lazy) and it's updated to the latest version and all.

Now one more thing I just need confirmation if these are all good
(all i've set is the main RAM timing of 4-4-4-12, the rest i really have no idea)

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

2/3 New Sockets are already almost out to the public. >>>
Intel Nehalem Socket 1366 Motherboards Emerge at Computex 2008">

Nehalem News

The 1366 Socket will be used by Bloomfield (high-end desktop and dual socket server)

The 1160 Socket will be for Mainstream variants (Lynnfield and Havendale).
Beyond3D - Quick Analysis: Nehalem CPUs & Sockets


DO NOT USE @BIOS EVER, unless you want to RMA your board and wait a few months for a new one. Please listen now, so you dont have to tell me I am right later!!!

Qflash is just as fast, no need to be lazy with your PC!!

Those look very good, is that with subtimings on AUTO?

[Johnny123]

Re: G31M-S2L RAM timing

2/3 New Sockets are already almost out to the public. >>>
Intel Nehalem Socket 1366 Motherboards Emerge at Computex 2008">

Nehalem News

The 1366 Socket will be used by Bloomfield (high-end desktop and dual socket server)

The 1160 Socket will be for Mainstream variants (Lynnfield and Havendale).
Beyond3D - Quick Analysis: Nehalem CPUs & Sockets


DO NOT USE @BIOS EVER, unless you want to RMA your board and wait a few months for a new one. Please listen now, so you dont have to tell me I am right later!!!

Qflash is just as fast, no need to be lazy with your PC!!

Those look very good, is that with subtimings on AUTO?

Subtimings are on AUTO because I wasn't sure what to set them to.

I've used @BIOS twice and after reading the posts here i don't feel lucky for a third time, next time i'll use the Qflash.

Also: Arghhhh my system will be outdated soon! hahaha i had a celeron which was like socket 478 or something and this computer is what replaced it. So i'll have this setup for quite a few years now.

edit: EasyTune 5 (which is what i use to check temperature of the CPU and the system temp) reports the CPU temp to be 15 degrees when idle. I'll see where it goes with load. Oh and ever since i turned one of my fans around so it blows IN the system temp has gone down heaps as well and the heatsink doesn't feel super hot. Just using Everest to give it some load and the temp is going up to about 26-27 with 100% CPU usage. I think I'd manage an easy overclock here?

In a perfect world, My paycheck would be large enough to keep up with technology. (Well i found the money for a new Coolermaster CM690 SLI certified case, Not that i'd really need SLI)