The (new) Official PC building thread!

Russ,

from what I have read about the X38/X48, they are different from the P35 chipset. it's a new feature unique to the X38/X48 chipset. you're talking about memory speeds and I'm talking about fsb straps. the P35 doesn't give you choice of fsb straps (I don't believe).

 

Mort81,

The GA-P35-DS3R Rev. 2.0 does! You set it in the bios. Here's what it shows to the right of the settings in the top panel You have to set it to Manual and move down to the Memory Frequency to set it:

+ -> 800 strapping

~ -> 1066 strapping

# -> 1333 strapping

You set it with the + key for 800, the ~ key for 1066 and the # key for 1333

Russ

 

mort on my p5k-e (p35) i get starp choices aswell, 200 266 333 400, i chose 400, and from there 999mhz (effective) on the ram, at 5-5-5-15 and 2.1V on PC6400 RAM.

 

so russ,

you only have 3 straps? what are they, quad pumped?


hmm well let me stand and be corrected. I didn't think the P35 chipset had different fsb straps. I never researched the P35. only the X38/X48. so there should be no reason that anybody with a P35, x38 or X48 mobo can't get their memory running very close to it's rated speed, be it just a little under or just a little over. they should work fine also for those that wish to OC their memory a bit more than some also. more choices of how much to OC it

I like my DDR 1066 running at 1068 just fine. it's already factory OC'ed so I don't want to push it too hard. I've got to go to bed nighty night.

 

Mort81,

For some reason I could have sworn that it had a 667 strap! I have no idea! I'll call GigaByte on Monday and find out.

Russ

 

russ,

if they're quad pumped, and it apears they are, you should have a 1600 strap.

800/4 = 200, 1066/4 = 266, 1333/4 = 333 so 1600/4 would = 400.

 

no bashing. just hear me out. maybe you can answer this. why does gigabyte bios's have to be so complicated? why don't they just list/show them for what they are instead of all the special key combonations to get what you want/where you need. that's all I ask.

 

Russ I've just put together 3 comps with the ECS GF6100 that comes with a 3200 754 sempron,512 memory. $95.00 with a $20.00 rebate.I did a ECS 760 board about a year ago. So if these hold up as well it keeps some happy people that otherwise wouldn't have the enjoyment of the net.
So with a cooler it puts the seniors in a comp for under a$100.00. I have 4 of the Lite on 160's that most of the time you need the paper clip to open the door!

 

The video is extremely laggy when I'm not in fullscreen mode. When I do go in fullscreen mode, it's fine.
It's weird because I disabled de-interlacing in the divx decoder configuration, and the problem fixed itself. Shouldn't disabling that make it worse? I thought de-interlacing improved video, not made it worse....

 

Mort81,

The answer to your first question is simple. At the time my MB came out there was no 1600 strap. Even most of the boards that do have one all say 1600 (OC). There is (as far as I know) no official 1600 bus yet.

I can't really give you a good answer to the second question. Yes, it would be nice to be able to understand the purpose of everything in the bios. It would certainly make things easier to understand. That goes for most motherboards I've ever had, Asus included. I guess something just gets lost in the translation from chinese to english. The French translation is even worse and the German reads like a declaration of war! LOL!! Why GigaByte chose the Award bios I don't know either. Still, with all that, it didn't stop GB from coming off the mat (after almost being over-run over by Foxconn) and coming out with a truly legendary MB in the GA-965P-DS3 in spite of it's bios shortcomings. Why none of the MB manufacturers can't write a manual that explains everything, instead of assuming that us builders know it all already! LOL!! I'm still trying to figure out what I did the get 32,000+ MIPS out of an E4300 at 3.2GHz. I guess they all figure that since we are enthusiasts, we should have all the answers! LOL!!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

While there's no real logic to Gigabyte's decision to 'letter' the FSB straps, there's not much wrong with it, it's hardly confusing, especially compared to the plethora of details that a lot of BIOSes give you (thinking DFI mainly here)

 

sammorris,

It could be a liability thing too as they are providing a boot
strap for something that doesn't officially or technicly exist in case someone blows up their machine because of it! LOL!! Anything's possible these days!

Russ

 

I never really understood memory settings and how they worked with the FSB in my ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe, that was my starter board as far as system settings go. I think the lettered straps of my Gigabyte board helped me learn by being able to watch the memory cycles rise or fall with the FSB changes and strap combinations. Maybe its the fact I've done this a few times since then. I'm not trying to be a fanboy because I went through enough problems getting this thing to run properly that I can be critical of things, I'm just giving a little credit in the area it helped me.

 

seeing we are talking memory right now.

say i want to go with 4gigs of mem(yea i know xp will only see 3-3 1/2 gigs)
can i just buy 2 more sticks of the same mem i have now and get the 4 gigs that way or do i need to buy a 4 gig kit in order for it to be dual channel?
i can get 2 more gigs of the same stuff i have now for $19 after rebate. compared to $129 for a 4 gig kit.

Mort
by chance do you know the batch number of your CPU? should be on the side of the factory box
fpo/batch Q807A190
something along those lines

 

Rob,

I don't know the batch. mine is oem/tray so it never came in a nice box with all the info on it and I didn't write the numbers down from the top of the cpu. sorry buddy.

sam,

how'd you make out with your fsb straps and memory multipliers? you get your memory running closer to it's rated speed?

 

Hey Marty, haven't set to it yet, when I spoke to you last I was just packing up to move back home with my parents' for the summer. I figured I'd give my PC a bit of 'settling time' after setting it up before making any changes. I'll probably start having a look tomorrow.

 

with the ACfreezer 7 whixh way should the fan be faceing? towards the front of the case blowing to the rear of the case,out the back exhaust fan? or the other way blowing towards the front of the case?

the reason i ask is cause i just seen a few cases with the fans blowing towards the front of the case.
also when i was over at microcent one of the NZXT cases i looked at had the CPU cooler fan faceing the rear blowing towards the front of the case?

 

Rob,

the fan should be in front of the cooler blowing towards the rear. did you do any Q9450 price checking while you were at microcenter?

 

Mort

no i havent bee there this weekend. i seen that case last week?
on my way to work tomorrow i will stop in and see what i can find out.

as for the cooler thats how i have mine. i just thought i might have done something wrong