The Official OC (OverClocking) Thread!

Nope, you're right, i had problems with my Albatron board, now i've bought a cheap gigabyte board, it is much better havn't had any problems.

op?

I can't remember which site, they tested Q9300, they mangae to overclock it pass 4GHz point.

 

op= Operation.

 

oh ok, i thought so, just making sure. Can a 945 chipset support 45nm? all chould i say can old chipsets support it?

 

Well we (a group of friends) have one and as soon as they let me get my hands on it (if I dont get my own by then) I can say for myself. But so far on even the better X38 witrh new BIOS, it is still FSB limited to a point. It's still a quad and they are still gonna' be harder to OC then the duals. They can hit 4GHz just like the Q6600 but with just barely less volts but bit more cooler. I dont know yet the MAX FSB on low multi, but you can bet I wannt drop it on my X38 to find out.

I have to admit, even as an ASUS woner, I think tyhe DFI has an edge on these dure to the multi PLL per core and higher GTL Ref. So maybe a DFI owner will get one and test for 500x8.

 

Can I hear from some of the X38 newcomers and their mobo and experiences? Any DFI owners on X38 or P35 yet?

So far, for the P5E and MAXIMUS FORMULA, OC's for the duals are cool to 4.2GHz and DDR1200+ and with a chipset voltage of only 1.5, FSBT 1.5v, SB 1.105, SB PLL 1.58v and CPU PLL 1.632v, and GTL Ref of 63% (max for my board, DFI offers over 72+). Quads do as well as can be expected but not as well as for some DFI owners.

CPU at 4GHz is a nice 23/36/36 (CPU-IHS/core1/core2)

E6750 and Crucial Ballistics Tracers PC2-8500 on 2.27v (DDR1200) or 2.2v @ DDR1153

RE: !945 of 45nm? To my knowledge, no, at least for ASUS BIOS support updates. I believe it was the linitation of the 945 but I do know the !975X will anbd can be BIOS modded to worl with 45nm. My P5W-DH WiFi is 45nm ready (select duals for now), not bad for a 3yo board. So see, sometimes you do get what you pay for.

 

I've used a 965 DQ6 rev 1.0 and 3.3 and now an X38DQ6 with no issues what so ever.

Most issues I've seen reported are from idiots that should leave high end kit alone.

There ae far more issues reported on the Asus X38 chipset boards than the Gigabyte ones.

I've clocked my Ballstix Tracer and Dominator to 1200 with no problems at all and whereas previous chipsets have suffered with dividers, this board take it in it's stride.

Memory bandwidth is better than anything I've used before, all my scores on Everest are top of the pile beating every other reading on the software.

OC'ing the CPU has also been very easy and the voltages have been very stable, no effort at all to get my q6600 to 3.6ghz totally stable at low temps.

FSB will run happily at 1920 'well over the official 1600 supported on the new X48.

Another difference between Gigabyte and Asus for instance is support, every question I've ever put to either has been answered by Gigabyte and ignored by Asus 'even after Asus took gigabyte over'

Also has PCI-e 2.0 support, so does give amazing GPU peformance with the latest 8800GTS's and the next high end cards to come out replacing the 8800GTX should make a big jump.

 

Nuck: Fair enough, that's one reverse scenario then I guess, I mean clearly no manufacturer is perfect, and other brands do put out gems from time to time, unfortunately I don't have the background experience of people who build PCs for a living or occupation so I can't provide a huge amount of damning evidence..
As for the C-DS3R, since that's the exact board I use, maybe I'm overly swayed by how good this one is.
I always used to support Asus stuff, i've had three Asus boards, but given the agro I had with one of them, and the fact that that one, and it's predecessor both kicked the bucket after less than a year, understandably makes me less partial to the brand. The third board I have, my server board, is much better, but even so it's quirky. It seems to me like you have to spend big money to get a good Asus board. Considering the Gigabyte I use now is barely any more than I paid for the two Asus ones that failed, reliability on a budget-wise, Gigabyte seem to have got it napped.

 

@BigDK
Are you going to run dual cards? Cause if you do, you can only CF and not SLI

This is so weird, basically everyone here love gigabyte more than ASUS, and on other forums they love ASUS more than gigabyte. Very controversial.

I'm wondering if anyone here or knows someone owns a GA-X38-DS4 motherboard?

 

I don't intend to run dual cards at all, if I did then yes it would have to be ATI cards but I wouldn't touch an X2 card as there are too many issues at the moment with various drivers.
At least with an SLi or CF card option you can turn one card off, with an X2 you are stuck with it.

I don't yet have a copy of Crysis, but when I do I'll see how the system handles it.

So far every game I've played has played very smoothly with no stutters or lag, and I do always max out the resolution up to 2560x1600 depending on games max settings.

I always turn on all the eye candy as well, so there are no issues for me running a single card.

I have my 8800GTX OC'd to 2100x650 100% stable and still cool using the EK waterblock.

When its time to upgrade I'll still be looking at a single card solution from Nvidia, I'm just waiting for the next gen top end card to come out, then everything gets shifted down the line from one PC to the next.

I have no issues with Asus boards, as I also have the following Asus boards with no issues.
P5WDH Deluxe, P5WD2 Deluxe, P5W64 WS, Commando.
The only Gigabyte board I now own is this X38DQ6.
What I have seen however is there seem to be more issues with the Asus X38 boards than the Gigabyte ones, again you have to take all reports with a pinch of salt and go by your own experience.

Generally my experience is good with every board I buy, but I tend to do a bit of research before hand and buy what I know will do what I want.

This X38 board is the first board I have ever bought on release day, I took a chance and again it does everything I want (except SLi).

I won't buy a Nforce chipset board though, they are over priced and have no where near the OC capabilities of the Intel chipsets.

 

the x2 is £250 here, and in quite a lot of games, bar crysis (vs evena GTS), and the NFS series (vs even a GTS), beats the equivelent priced GTX and MASSIVLEY expensive ultra.

for its price id say its a steal. esp with xfireX being very flexible, and getting very good benches of games now.

 

Despite everything I've said about SLI, I'd sooner go with a pair of 9600GTs than a 3870X2, same price, more reliable tech, and "disableable" if that's a word lol.

 

Sounds like the right word to me, at least it sums up what can be a big advantage.
You get the option if needed, and I'd rather play a game when I wanted not when the patches finally arrived.

 

@ BigDK, See, I'm not the only one who likes or is willing to but a flag ship mobo. And you say yourself, you're waiting for the next top end GPU. So we'll come oout spending the same, ewven if I decide to go ATI. $300.00 mobo + $500.00 GPU
What I have seen however is there seem to be more issues with the Asus X38 boards than the Gigabyte ones, again you have to take all reports with a pinch of salt and go by your own experience.

Exactly. However if one reads on, you'll see that almost 99% of the common issues are solved with help from experienced users. And only a 1~2% of issues are of big concers (usually BIOS adjustments wanted). The P5E & MAXIMUS FORMULA are not for the average peep who has no intention of OC'n too far or no patients to read or learn. For all others coming from privious ASUS "Flag Ships", the transition is easier and if you tune it with a lil' effort, it is a wonderfull board for glitch free daily use
------------
Now I find it hard to believe that a single nVidia can beat out a dual ATI (current tech) on the X38 or P35 (P965/!975X maybe a run for their money)? I see a lot of synthetic benches and most optimized for AMD and of corse nVidia. Now I'm not a gamer, but for what real world little gaming I do and modest gaming my brother does, It's a fair tie if you stick to games. However, move to HD/BD DVD, and ATI begins to shine for even the average viewer (you won't need bench #s to see it).

Just My Experience

 

BigDK,

I wonder how long this rumor is going to stick around as the issue has been dead for a very long time! It was planned and discussed by all the big shots back in August of 06, and then dropped. The merger never got past the planning stages and finally fell through. BTW, it was the other way around! Gigabyte was supposed to have the controlling interest, 55% of the new company. The new company was to be called Gigabyte United. The whole deal went kaput in April 07! I guess they sgreed to disagree! LOL!! We just went over this whole thing on another forum, just a couple of months ago, and there's a ton of links if you just google "GigaByte Asus Merger"!

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/gigabyte_says_goodbye_to_asus

Best Regards,
Russ

 

You know, I never even heard about that!

 

I missed that update, and yes I see it was 51-49% to Gigabyte.

That now being corrected, the main point was that Asus have never answered any request for help I have ever made, Gigabyte have answered every one.

The last to Gigabyte was 2 weeks ago, answer 1 came back in just under 2 days, the second answer to a follow up took an hour.

 

Well I've only contacted gigabyte twice and this is what happened:

1.My motherboard wasnt working. They replaced it within 3 weeks.

2.I wanted to disable speedstep on my motherboard. So I call them up and the guy tells me to email Gigabyte Taiwan for a custom bios for me so i can disable speedstep. They said they can't do that. Eventually I figured out it was the EIST option in advanced settings.

So my experience is kinda 1/2 good. Not even.

 

EIST is the less responsive of TM P state functions so it is best to leave off when overclocking. This why most better mobos blank it out as not available after you raise beyond a certain FSB.

If you wqant good reliable TM function during in overclocks, endbale both TM1/2 + C1E. For us ASUS Gigabyte users, you will at the very least get P stae function to reduce CPU ratio multi to lowest. VID low ratio will not reduce, that is something for Abit and DFI owners. Full compliant C+P State function

 

I'm not surprised you were told they couldn't do it on the BIOS front, as they rarely do it for anyone.

I know of only one person they provide custom BIOS's for, and that is because he is an approved BETA tester and has a very close relationship with them.

The fact that they never pointed you straight to the option in BIOS is pretty poor though, although it should be detailed in the manual. Not sure what board you were using, but my last 2 Gigabyte boards have that in the manual.

I would still like to see anyone even get a response out of Asus as it's not just me that has this problem with them, it is well documented.

BTW I'm not knocking Asus, as I think they do make amongst the best boards ever made.

 

Asus have been useless for tech support, and their website download speed is a joke.

NZXT support is a bit naff via the official channels, but fortunately if you post on the forums you can usually get something done if you live in the US. Elsewhere though, and you won't get far. Nonetheless though their products are superb so I don't knock them, and to be fair cases don't usually go wrong as such...