GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

[JustinHEMI]

Hello! Been some time since I have been here. I just had a quick question. I have read that to go to 4x1 ram on a GA-EX38-DS4, I will need to boost the voltage possibly as much as +.3. Well, right now, my voltage is already +.3 due to the corsair RAM I have in there needing 2.1 (per previous advice). So, my question is, when I put ram in dimms 2 and 4, do I need to boost that voltage more, or leave it at +.3? Thanks

Justin

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

Ahh, that voltage you leave at 2.1 or whatever is on your sticks sticker.

What you will need to add is some MCH/NB voltage, +.2-+.25-+.3 will usually do it. Start with less and raise if need be, or more and lower when you have time

[JustinHEMI]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

Ah gotcha, I will let you know how it goes in a few days. Thanks

Justin

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

Good luck, and keep us posted

[JustinHEMI]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

Hey ok. so the memory install seemed to have gone fine. I currently have the MCH at +.2. But I have another problem. At the same time I installed the extra memory, I installed an identical ATI HD3970 graphics card into a crossfire set up. Just some background... this is a fresh windows vista x64 SP1 install, latest GPU drivers (YESTERDAY), bios settings as per your standard template including PCIe at 102 and a mild overclock of a Q6600 with FSB at 333 multiplier 9 = 3.0ghz. Again, all the other MIT settings are per your standard template for an EX38-DS4 motherboard. Oh, the memory divider set at 3.20 I think which keeps the memory at its rated 1066 frequency (corsair dominators PC8500).

So, on three occasions, while playing crysis, my computer BSODed and rebooted. It went by so fast that I never actually caught the error. So, as with most BSODs I have experienced, I started with the memory. I ran 5 instances of memtest without error. So I think the memory is ok. Then I started looking online and there are A LOT of BSODs involving crossfire and/or vista. It seems to be leaning more towards an ATI/driver problem than anything. But, I wanted your opinion if you don't mind. I brought this here because I read on the crossfire forums that you need to add more MCH voltage because crossfire is hard on the NB. Do you concur with this statement and would you recommend trying to bump the NB a little more to say +.3? Thanks for your time. You do wonderful work here.

Justin

[JustinHEMI]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

Just for additional info, I ran memtest over night with no errors.

I suspect a video card driver issue.

Justin

[Dweirdo]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

just for my curiosity, What PSU do u have?and did u ran HD-TUNE? if u set every thing back to default in MIT, not just the MAIN MIT section, every option back to default will u get BSOD?

[JustinHEMI]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

this is the power supply I have. I don't that is the issue.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153038

I have not reset back to stock on everything. I was hoping there was a known solution first, but yes, this might turn into a chase down session by starting from stock. I might just yank those cards an put in one HD4870. :)

JUstin

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

I would test +3 on the NB/MCH and possibly +2 or more on the PCIE voltage as well

You are the first user I have personally heard mention of a Crossfire BSOD, Most crossfire issues I see are just initially getting it setup. So I would think it of course could be a driver issue, but also could be a voltage issue or your card/cards GPU or VGA Ram overheating

[JustinHEMI]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

Thanks for the tips. I did think about maybe overheating, but both cards fans do ramp up. However, I disabled the auto-reboot so that I can see the BSOD if it happens again.

Do you meant to set pcie voltage to 104? It is currently at 102.

Justin

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

Ahh sorry to confuse you. And I would personally test leaving that on 100 as it may be better then 102.

No, I meant PCI-E OverVoltage Control

[Dweirdo]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

PSU is not the issue u r right(though 4 rails-60 amp :S),i really suggest getting ALL back to default, check if there are any problems and then loading the last bios(F11-SAVE F12-LOAD).

[JustinHEMI]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

Whew that was rough!! When i got home and booted up, she started throwing BSODs all over the place! So i thought again that it was memory. But I finally was able to get into safe mode, pull the video card drivers, and that other video card. But the she started throwing BSODs like crazy again. All different types each time. I thought for sure it was a memory issue because when I pulled the two new sticks, she booted fine. Put em back in... nothing. But then pass memtest? I was pulling my hair out. Then I just swapped the matched pair slots. She booted up... chkdsk ran automatically... fixed A LOT of stuff (no bad sectors though) and now she is running stable again! That damned card and drivers really rocked my system. LOL DO NOT TRY CROSSFIRE LOL. So, I RMAed that card, put my other 3870 on ebay, and will have an HD4870 here by tomorrow afternoon. No more crossfire BS for me. There are obviously driver issues between crossfire and vista because on the crossfire forums, issues like I had are rampant.

ANYWAY...

Right now I am running 4gbs of corsair dominator 1066 memory. I want to go up to 8gb and was looking at mushkin, since it appears that is the "recommended" memory around here.

I just want to confirm that mushkin is the memory of choice for gigabyte boards? These dominators are nice, once you get them running, but they are a real pain in the butt sometimes. I am tired of dealing with them. Newegg has some nice black 2x2 sets I am looking at. But I have read that the heat spreaders might cause fittment issues. Any thoughts?

Thanks a lot for everyone's time and input.

Justin

PS I forgot to mention, before doing the DIMM swap mentioned above, I did clear the CMOS and re-enter all the settings.

PSS In your standard template, you say to disable multi-threading. I do not believe this is correct. I have always had it on, but turned it off just to check it out. All of my indicating tools defenitely stopped showing all 4 cores. The BIOS itself even refers to "cores."

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

WOW, glad you got it going. Sounds like it was rough!

What brand is your 3870 I mean is it ATI or just ATI based, and how much do you have it on ebay for? (W/ Buy it now?) Just wondering as I am on the hunt for a card.

With Mushkins, yeah if you use 4 sticks you may have issues. With 2 no way. Now with 4 sticks of the older heatsinks (NON eVCI) 4 sticks fit no problems, I have not tested 4 sticks of the new heatsink type (eVCI). So if you want to be sure I can ask Greg, or you can at Mushkin forums. He will know for sure and will reply fast. But like I said if you get 4 sticks with the older heatsinks (Frostbyte) they will for sure fit.

What standard Template? If you mean the Overclock guide I did not write that, noted at the top and bottom. But, as you noted, yout BIOS says cores, there is a setting in some BIOS's for Multi-Core and Multi-Thread (Old HT CPU's). Either CPU used, I would leave enabled. Like I said I did not write that, and have not read it for a year or so, do you think I need to remove that entry? If that is indeed where you say you found this "Template"

Hey, be sure when you clear CMOS you always load optimized defaults, set your ram voltage ONLY and save and apply and reboot Back to the BIOS to make your disk changes and any other needed changes. This is especially important when you flash, not so much when you just clear, but a good habit to get into

[JustinHEMI]

Re: GA-EX38-DS4 going to 4x1, quick question

Oh sorry, I just paid attention to who posted it, not the actual author. :) Anyway in this thread, post three it refers to it as standard high performance settings. Hence, my referral to it as a template (and because I have seen it called a template in other threads). Anyway, post 4 talks about disabling multithreading. In this day of multi-core chips, I would probably revise that.

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/gigabyte-x38-p35-p965-ds-dq-s3-overclocking-general-bios-tweaking-guide-26112/

As far as my HD3870, it will actually be put up today when my HD4870 goes in (I am starting fresh when that goes in with new OS). I am going to put it at 50 dollars starting with 100 dollars BIN. Here is the exact card that I bought from newegg.

Newegg.com - DIAMOND Viper 3870PE4512SB Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Justin