Overclock: P35C-DS3R fsb setting ignored. Weird!

[Krakn3Dfx]

Here's hoping the issues related to this board, which are many, are fixable by firmware upgrade. Right now, if I power off my PC and turn it back on, I have to basically go in and fight with it for 10-15 minutes to get it running properly again. Luckily, once I'm booted up, I can leave it running for weeks without a problem, and if I just do a reboot, it seems to keep the proper settings.

Never really had any problems until I went from an e4400 to the e8400, I'm thinking they broke something in the bios when they updated for 45nm CPUs. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

 

[Old Hippie]

Dave, how 'bout a little BIOS swapping?

 

[imported_daveG]

I've tried F10, am running F8 now and have gone back to F4 for giggles. Most my attempts were with F8 or F10.

Got anything newer? I'll go right now and check gigabyte's site....
Nope. Nothing newer there. I know my e6750 was first supported in F4 so that is as early as I went.

Suggestions?

It really does sound like a bios issue.

 

[Old Hippie]

Another shot in the dark......

I've read on the German Gigabyte forum that when the OC doesn't stick you must:
1. unplug the power cord from the PSU, then replug and see if it works.
2. unplug the power cord, clear CMOS (taking out the battery too), make again the changes in BIOS then test it.
Usually the first method works.
If after a long time the board doesn't remember the OC settings, then you must "Load optimized defaults" and reset everything like it was before.

Have ya tried this Dave?

 

[imported_daveG]

German forum? Wow. Can you read German or are you auto-translating?
Is there enough information to recommend readers look there as well?


Thanks for the suggestions. I did try these but I could have done something differently.

Can you be specific?
Unplug after setting the new FSB after saving but before rebooting?
Unplug after experiencing a boot where the new FSB is ignored?
Unplug after applying optimized defaults and saving?

I know I have done these things but I may have missed a detail.

 

[Old Hippie]

Can you read German or are you auto-translating?

Nope, I barely read Engrish, but my searching skill is top notch. :laugh:

I got that quote from this HF thread. It's ongoing, you outta check it out.

 

[imported_daveG]

Thanks for the link. I will definitely check it out.

I tried setting the fsb to auto, save & exit and unplugged before reboot completed.

I got weird 8x266 nonsense. FSB in the bios shows as "auto" but for some reason this mb set the FSB to 266. The post message showed my E6750 identified and running at 2.1GHz.
I changed FSB to manual 335 and restarted (including an unplug between save and restart). The bios saved the 335 and shows it but the post and xp both reflect 333 (as expected).
<sob>


I'll take a look over the German site and see if anything rings a bell.

 

[mind]

Originally posted by: daveG
OK, so I've read about a lot of folks having problems with gigabyte boards similar to what I am seeing but none exact. Anyone out there got any ideas?

GA-P35C-DS3R v1.1 with E6750 cpu, Corsair HX620 power, 2GB (2x1GB) DDRII 6400 memory in XP pro. F10 bios. Everything works fine at stock settings and speed. CPU-z, PC Wizard and another temp utilities used to gauge speeds.

Disabled all the usual suspects and tried to overclock. Nothing. 333mhz normal FSB but won't go to 334. Settings allowed and kept (nothing lost on power cycles) but the setting is ignored. There is no instability, just no change. Set FSB to 350, no change once in XP. The weird part is that this also applies to UNDERCLOCKING the fsb. A setting of 300 isn't applied either.

I can change memory timing or multiplier and they take. FSB frequency doesn't. Obviously the softFSB utility couldn't change things either. SMBus error I believe was the error.

I know about the Ctrl+F1 trick, it doesn't look like it changes things in the later bios versions.

Yes, I tried clearing the CMOS three times (removing the battery for > 20 minutes) with no change in behavior. Settings were cleared each time but the problem never let up. I flashed the bios - no change. Flashed the oldest bios I could get (F4 is earlies supporting E6750), reset to optimal defaults, reflashed to latest (F10) and again, reset to optimal defaults before tweaking. No change.

I give up. Temps are normal. Everything works at 333mhz FSB. Power management is not the cause (set "Always On" so speedstep shouldn't be an issue).


If anyone has clues (other than just an RMA), let me know!

As I originally posted somewhere else:

I'm not sure if this will work for you, but I did something similar to the following.


1) Shutdown PC
2) Clear CMOS (short jumper).
3) Turn PC on and Load Optimized defaults in BIOS.
4) Save and shutdown PC.
5) Disconnect power cord from Power Supply (PS) and/or turn PS power switch OFF.
6) Clear CMOS again (short jumper).
7) Press the power button to ensure all power is used up (this is while the power cable is still disconnected).
8) Reconnect PS power cable and turn PS switch ON.
9) Turn PC ON (press the power button).
10) Load Optimized defaults in BIOS.
11) Save settings and reboot. DONE.

This is a little overkill but should work.

Good luck.

 

[Obiss]

Hey All,
I have a very similar problem with my new P35 DS3R board. The difference is when I pop the CMOS battery out, it fixes the problem, but only temporarily. After a few days I end up with CPUZ telling me that FSB is back to 333Mhz. This is driving me nuts because it is a real pain popping the battery over and over. I am using an E8400. My brother has the exact same board and processor with no issue. This thread has been great and given me some ideas to try. Please keep posting about this issue. I will certainly post if any of these ideas work for me!

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

I've kind of given up on this board for awhile, picked up one of the $60 Abit IP35-E boards for now. Might RMA the Gigabyte, see if I get a newer revision that doesn't have the same issues. I've also heard the memory controller on some of the early revs is flaky, and I have a 1.1, so hopefully a replacement board will at least cure some of the more annoying problems, and the rest can be fixed with a bios update in the future.

 

[anchorite]

OK Guys,

I have just encountered the same problem on my EP35C-DS3R today and google took me to this place, after reading all of your posts. I decided to try the following:

Press the switch on the back of my power supply...turn it off then turn it on after a few seconds.

And....

It worked, it is not ignoring my fsb anymore. Hope this helps...
thank you for all of your posts, it definitely has given me hints to my solution!

Thanks.

 

[lncm]

Hello there. I just registered to confirm that Gigabyte P35 boards have severe issues. There are several reports of boards not accepting overclocked fsb settings and dying on bios flashing. I recently decided to upgrade to a Intel socket 775 platform and got a Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G that was a nightmare. It refused to boot with overclocked settings - it did, just to reset itself again and reboot with default settings. I tried everything, bought a new powersupply, tried to boot only with video and 1 stick of RAM, nothing. It finally died when trying to reflash it with F2a, with actually did retain the overclocked settings, but half of times the system wouldn't boot, just keeping resetting itself. Technical support was useless.

Bought an Asrock P35 board (it's actually the 3rd asrock motherboard I own and never have anything to complain about), and exactly with the same components, I'm running a 60? E2180 @ 3.1Ghz with the retail cooler since day one. So it's definitely a gigabyte problem.

 

[anchorite]

Hi, Incm,
It resets itself because of instablity. Try increasing the CPU voltage to 1.35 (suggested max by retail box), and your mem voltage to max (mine is 2.2v so I enter +0.4V since the default is 1.8). Keep your memory at default frequency first.

 

[lncm]

Originally posted by: anchorite
Hi, Incm,
It resets itself because of instablity. Try increasing the CPU voltage to 1.35 (suggested max by retail box), and your mem voltage to max (mine is 2.2v so I enter +0.4V since the default is 1.8). Keep your memory at default frequency first.

I don't think so, as it did it even at 201 (!) Mhz FSB. And yes, I tried voltages up to 1.45 core, 2.0 memory, running at DDR2-677 (It's DDR2-800), upping the motherboard voltages. It's definitly a BIOS problem, as F2a retained settings, but is highly unstable - it keeps reseting even at default speeds and won't let me even enter BIOS setup... I tried to clear CMOS as described and nothing, it's as good as dead.

So beware of Gigabyte P35 motherboards. It was a major disapointment for me, as I had Gigabyte motherboards in the past and they were highly reliable.

 

[anchorite]

Originally posted by: lncm

Originally posted by: anchorite
Hi, Incm,
It resets itself because of instablity. Try increasing the CPU voltage to 1.35 (suggested max by retail box), and your mem voltage to max (mine is 2.2v so I enter +0.4V since the default is 1.8). Keep your memory at default frequency first.

I don't think so, as it did it even at 201 (!) Mhz FSB. And yes, I tried voltages up to 1.45 core, 2.0 memory, running at DDR2-677 (It's DDR2-800), upping the motherboard voltages. It's definitly a BIOS problem, as F2a retained settings, but is highly unstable - it keeps reseting even at default speeds and won't let me even enter BIOS setup... I tried to clear CMOS as described and nothing, it's as good as dead.

So beware of Gigabyte P35 motherboards. It was a major disapointment for me, as I had Gigabyte motherboards in the past and they were highly reliable.

Oh, my Bios version is F3b when I bought. Did you try to flash the bios?

 

[lncm]

Originally posted by: anchorite

Originally posted by: lncm

Originally posted by: anchorite
Hi, Incm,
It resets itself because of instablity. Try increasing the CPU voltage to 1.35 (suggested max by retail box), and your mem voltage to max (mine is 2.2v so I enter +0.4V since the default is 1.8). Keep your memory at default frequency first.

I don't think so, as it did it even at 201 (!) Mhz FSB. And yes, I tried voltages up to 1.45 core, 2.0 memory, running at DDR2-677 (It's DDR2-800), upping the motherboard voltages. It's definitly a BIOS problem, as F2a retained settings, but is highly unstable - it keeps reseting even at default speeds and won't let me even enter BIOS setup... I tried to clear CMOS as described and nothing, it's as good as dead.

So beware of Gigabyte P35 motherboards. It was a major disapointment for me, as I had Gigabyte motherboards in the past and they were highly reliable.

Oh, my Bios version is F3b when I bought. Did you try to flash the bios?

Yes. Actually that was what killed the board...

Mine was F1 if I can remember correctly; I tried all available bios, updated to the latest (F3b) and problem persisted. As I said, F2a eventually retained settings but was so unstable I couldn't even start the system...

Anyway, solution was to replace the motherboard (with another brand) and everything is working fine by now...

 

[fantasyl]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
I've read on the German Gigabyte forum that when the OC doesn't stick you must:
1. unplug the power cord from the PSU, then replug and see if it works.
2. unplug the power cord, clear CMOS (taking out the battery too), make again the changes in BIOS then test it.
Usually the first method works.

Hi to all, new member here!

Number 1 worked for my P35-DS3R (rev.2.0) board.......was stuck at 200FSB settings with my E2180 (usually OC to 3.2GHz ), I reset the CMOS, flashed the board with a new bios, and the solution was as simple as that......argh!!!

 

[fausto412]

EXACT SAME PROBLEM HERE THAT STARTED THIS POST. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS BIOS F11'S FAULT...TRIED FLASHING TO F9, F10 AND F12E...PROBLEM STILL THERE. I WILL TRY SOME OF THE THINGS I READ HERE AND REPORT BACK.

 

[fausto412]

Originally posted by: fausto412
EXACT SAME PROBLEM HERE THAT STARTED THIS POST. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS BIOS F11'S FAULT...TRIED FLASHING TO F9, F10 AND F12E...PROBLEM STILL THERE. I WILL TRY SOME OF THE THINGS I READ HERE AND REPORT BACK.

ok, first thing i tried was turn off the power supply with the computer already off, unplugging the cord and pressing the computer's power buttom....then i plug the power cord again and turn the psu button back on and turn the pc on...went to the bios in the MB tweak section and it showed different default info, with no overclock. if you recall even with no overclock it was show incorrect fsb in there...so i tried to overclock and booted up @ 3.6 ghz so that seems to have fixed it for me...at least for now.

i know it happened recently since i had the 3.6 OC since last year.

i wonder what the real source of the problem is?

 

[mrfatboy]

My P35C-DS3R finally died. Getting a P45 next week. Those P35C's always had a memory voltage problem.

 

[fausto412]

Originally posted by: mrfatboy
My P35C-DS3R finally died. Getting a P45 next week. Those P35C's always had a memory voltage problem.

damn! sorry tto hear that man. any idea what went wrong? did it quit working all of a sudden or gradually gave you problems?

is it out of warranty?

yes they always had memory voltage issues. i hope my works ok for as long as i have a use for it. when i bought it i planned for long term use.


just glad i got my overclock back but i wish i knew what the heck cause the bios to give me issues with the overclocking. i hope it's software related and that they fix it.

i'm not happy with gigabyte's bios support...it's a freaking guessing game.

 

[mrfatboy]

it slowly deteriorated. The 2 upper memory slots keep burning up the memory. I RMA'd to gigabyte and told them the exact problem to look for. All they did was update my bios and send it back to me. Gigabyte is terrible to work with on RMA's.

 

[fausto412]

that sucks ass.

next board i get won't be gigabyte if mine craps out.

 

[mrfatboy]

I still think Gigabyte is good. I bought the P45. The "c" version ddr2 & ddr3 version just sucks a$$. But for sure Gigabyte rma sucks real a$$.

 

[tvdang7]

i have the same problem on my ds3-l. just upgrade to vista and i cant overclock at all but the bios settings are still there when i enter the bios............