Help Please! GA-EP45-UD3P/ E8500/ 4gig ram system needs tuned!

Hello All!
I’m an old dog trying to learn new tricks! LOL! I have an
GA-ep45-ud3p motherboard
E8500 Core 2 duo
4 gigs g-skills PC2-8500 DDR2 1066
ATI X1950 PRO PCI-E
WD 500gig sata 3.0
I see that a few of you are running the same motherboard as I am. I figure with that I’m in the right place. So I’m a first time poster here. Please don’t flame me to bad. But I really hope you guys and gals can help. Here is my story!

This is my second time through with a new set of hardware. The first time the system was very unstable Vista 64 something was not right with the hardware. It kept crashing and would not stay running more than an hour or so. Temps, fans and CPU all ok etc.! After losing most of my hair I decided to return all hardware for replacement RMA with Newegg. All the new hardware showed up and I installed all of it. This time I installed my pre Vista version of Windows XP Pro. System seems stable as a rock but I have noticed that this time through I can’t run COD5 full out with all options maxed out. My avg. fps is 23 with XP and my last set of hardware that was running Vista 64 avg. was 71.6 full out. All the hardware is the same operating systems has changed but I can’t understand why the slow FPS. I have a buddy that has a P4 3.2 with 4 gigs of ram and identical video card with XP that will run circles around mine. That’s just not right.

So with all that said. Are there any settings that you could think of that would help make this thing run like it should? Odd question but do I need to enable the second CPU? It does show 3.16GHz, 3.17GHz, 3.25 gig of ram Physical address extension in system properties.

I’m not over clocking. It is disabled in the bios. The one thing that my bios does offer is dram performance control. Default is turbo and I left it at that. The rest of the bios are for the most part default.

I know that if you are to help there will be more questions. I will check thread several times a day. Alto changes can only be made before 7 am or after 5:30 pm Thank you in advance!
Revtech

First make sure that the "Performance Enhance" setting is to Standard.

Then make sure that the timings setting is auto.

Then make sure that the RAM voltage is set the memory specified by Gskill.

Thanks for taking the time!
Timing on the G-skills web site is 5 5 5 15
It detected ok but I changed to manual. timings are
CAS 5
TRCD 5
TRP 5
TRAS 15

Control is set to standard.

I have a question about the voltage on the factory site it says "Test_Voltage 2.0 ~ 2.1 Volts" My bios dram voltage is set to auto. It is currently at 1.8v. Should I change it to 2.0 or 2.1.
Thanks?

I run Corsair DDR2 800 at standard 1.8v set thru BIOS. 2.0 or 2.1 would seem to me to be an overvoltage. Probably more info on E8500 threads of experienced OCers.

Edit:I did a quick search and found GSkill ddr2 1066 at 5-5-5-16-22 at 1.8v. So 1.8v sounds more normal to me.

I noticed that many i looked at were at 1.8 also.

I have a bfg 9500gt 1gig ddr2 pci-e and a ATI 1950 pro with 256 ddr3 which would be better to use with my setup? Most people i have mentioned it to are saying stick with the ati but i'm tossing it out there for other opinions.

Anyone around Milwaukee?

I set my bios to run my Gskill ram at 2.080v, just shy of it's 2.1 v limit.

You need to raise the voltage to between 2.0 & 2,1 volts to keep it stable.

Welcome to the Forum! http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=491697 Revtech

Try this:
In the bios>Advanced bios features
CPU Multithreading [Enabled]
Limit CPUID Max to 3 [Disabled]
No-Execute memory Protect [Enabled]
CPU Enhance Halt (CIE) [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support [Disabled]
C4/C4E State Support [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor [Disabled]
CPU EIST Function [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology [Disabled]

For a start.
Also, set the vdimm to 2.0+ and vcore to 1.250

Done Done and Done!

Shes purring now, screen res. is back to max! this really helped nore than you know. so i'm well on my way back. FPS is staying high 30's to low 40's. antialiasingis at about 25%. I would like to work on this yet.

I also used the automated clock configuration in Catalyst control center. It bumped the GPU up from 582mhz to 614mhz. it seems stable but time will tell.

thanks again! Rev

Like a kid at christmas!

Glad it worked out -

I am also glad it worked out for you.
It is great to find such friendly assistance. It makes the learning experience so much more enjoyable.

I agree! The help has been rolling in! Thank you ALL!

I posted earlier that I had 2 video cards one being a BFG Geforce 9500gt with 1 gig of memory and a ATI X1950 pro with 256 megs of memory. I would like to know what the forum thinks which is better??i understand the bfg has more mem. but a few people i know say the x1950 card is better even tho it has less memory and i just want to hear what the forum says.

Also I have an additional 4 gigs of matching ram. I left it out because I was told XP would not use it. Is that correct or on some outside chance if I install it will it use it or cause any concerns? System Properties use to say Physical address extension under the amount of ram. Now it does not say anything.

In regards to the 2 operating systems (Vista 64 then, XP Pro sp3 now) could that play a role in the way things run? I did not think so since Vista installed the games under X86. I’m assuming (I know don't assume) that Vista ran the program in a type of compatibility mode.

Rev

Revtech said:

I posted earlier that I had 2 video cards one being a BFG Geforce 9500gt with 1 gig of memory and a ATI X1950 pro with 256 megs of memory. I would like to know what the forum thinks which is better??i understand the bfg has more mem. but a few people i know say the x1950 card is better even tho it has less memory and i just want to hear what the forum says.

Also I have an additional 4 gigs of matching ram. I left it out because I was told XP would not use it. Is that correct or on some outside chance if I install it will it use it or cause any concerns? System Properties use to say Physical address extension under the amount of ram. Now it does not say anything.

In regards to the 2 operating systems (Vista 64 then, XP Pro sp3 now) could that play a role in the way things run? I did not think so since Vista installed the games under X86. I’m assuming (I know don't assume) that Vista ran the program in a type of compatibility mode.

Rev

Click to expand...

Pertaining to the video cards. You might do a thread in the "General GPU" board on the subject. You'll have better luck with some of the graphix gurus.

4gigs of ram on XP 32bit. It won't hurt it. But it won't utilize it all.

Vista 64 is much better now with service pack 2. I run it on my main gamer.

i'll post it there after work.

I had vista loaded the first time through and was plauged with bsod! I was afraid to boot it it happened so often. it was so bad that I would not even sync my phone because I was affraid it would blue screen while attached and would hurt the phone. the phone was my only form of email while I worked out the problems.
when i looked up the errors they all lead back to drivers or irq issues. I'm hoping that all the good things i heard about Windows 7 are true. If so i will be in line to purchase. I missed out on the trials but a few friends love it.

So what do think a person can overclock the e8500 to and be relativly safe? 10%?

E8500 can be VERY safe at 4Ghz...Just keep her under 72C for 24/7 operation and all will be well.

Thats good to hear. I installed a new Freezer 7 pro. When i was paying attention to the temps it never even broke a sweat. So thats something to think about.

Test your high temps by using Prime95 Small FFT. That will be your worst case scenario temps.