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I'm about ready to give up

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Mpegger

Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2001
My Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R just seems to refuse to be stable with the cpu close to or over 4GHz. :bang head

I originally had a i7-930 in this board and was never able to get it over 4GHz stable, but was easily able to overclock to anything lower then 4GHz and even undervolt at overclocked speeds just fine. The board is a champ up to 200Mhz (I didn't want to go beyond), so I figured it was just the CPU not liking the high overclock and just lived with it.

Here I have a i7-980x, which (according to the seller/bencher here) was benched on DI over 5GHz, ran daily around 4.4-4.5, and yet I still have the same exact problem as with the 930. I cannot get stable at anywhere near or over 4GHz. With the unlocked multiplier, I can just set it at a 29x multi with everything on auto (bios set volts @ 1.28125), and the system will be rock solid. I'm sure I could even undervolt the cpu (I haven't bothered to try) just like with the 930 and it would still be just fine. But get to a 29x multi and I start have random issues. 30x and above, I just seem to never be able to get stable. :mad:

I just tried again yesterday to go over 4GHz with the 980x. I tried for a 32x multi (4.2GHz) and could not even boot into Windows without upping the voltage to 1.36xxx. Eventually I got it to stop bluescreening at bootup with 1.38xxx, but it would still eventually blue screen. And even at 1.41xxx, it would still blue screen during test. I even dropped the multi to 31x (4.1GHz) and it still blue screened. :mad:

I'm going to try again over the weekend, so any suggestions would be most appreciated. One thing I do plan to do is install Windows with updates and required drivers on another drive and see it acts the same. I have alot of stuff installed on this current system, but even way back when everything was new (with the 930), it still had the same issue. :(
 
Maybe your RAM could be bad or not want to OC at all?

Are you following the gulftown overclocking guide?
 
Funny how the Giga X58 boards are notorious overclockers. I had 2 of them that were plagued with problems. I switched to an Asus P6X58-E WS and I was extremely happy with it. It overclocked like a bat out of hell and was rock steady stable. Had my 920 @ 4.2Ghz with 1.36v as my daily driver right up until I jumped to the z77.

You can try and underclock the ram and then try upping the multi again, but I'm sure it's the board fighting back.
 
Funny how the Giga X58 boards are notorious overclockers. I had 2 of them that were plagued with problems. I switched to an Asus P6X58-E WS and I was extremely happy with it. It overclocked like a bat out of hell and was rock steady stable. Had my 920 @ 4.2Ghz with 1.36v as my daily driver right up until I jumped to the z77.

You can try and underclock the ram and then try upping the multi again, but I'm sure it's the board fighting back.

Yeah, I keep reading how my board is supposed to be such a great overclocker, and to a degree it is (again, 200 Bclock no problem). But no matter what combination I try (high bclock + low multi or high multi + stock board) and it just refuses to play nice with a 4GHz+ clock.

And yes, I've followed the guide, which is how I was able to get the board to a 200 Bclock. The ram shouldn't be a problem, as I've always kept it at 1600 or less (I don't overclock ram as I hate having to play with all the timings), and I'm only trying to overclock the 980x with the multi + cpu voltage. No need to "upset" the board or have to figure out other voltages when I have a unlocked multi. It just seems ridiculous that I have to push so much voltage for just a little bump in MHz, and still can't get stable. Being at 1.28V and stable @ 3.8GHz should mean I can get 4Ghz @ around 1.3V or so, not 1.41V and still unstable.:-/

Btw, don't forget that this is a 980x. From all I read, these 32nm chips don't have the same tolerances for high voltages that the 45nm have. So 1.4+ to me, is already pushing it. I might go 1.45, but that still seems way to high to me. I'd like to try and figure out what could be holding back the overclock. For all I know, the USB3 controller, or the on board sound, could be the reason this board keeps acting up.
 
Just for shiz n giggles disable both the USB3 and onboard sound and then give it another shot.

I vote swapping boards. See if you can snap up an Asus. The P6X58 vanilla is a sweet contender. I used to have the R3E Gene and for being a mATX it was awsome. Maybe a R3E will do you better? In any case I would ditch that Giga board or save it as a back-up board, but for all that is holy get rid of it ;)
 
Just for shiz n giggles disable both the USB3 and onboard sound and then give it another shot.

This is what I plan on doing when I install Windows 7 on a bare drive. Disable everything not necessary and then try again. And if it finally works, enable hardware 1 by 1 and see when it fails.

I vote swapping boards. See if you can snap up an Asus. The P6X58 vanilla is a sweet contender. I used to have the R3E Gene and for being a mATX it was awsome. Maybe a R3E will do you better? In any case I would ditch that Giga board or save it as a back-up board, but for all that is holy get rid of it ;)

I have considered it and would love to swap boards, but a decent 1366 board new still goes for over $200. I haven't seen one up in the classified for ages either. Not sure I'd want to buy one used (or "new") on eBay, though I still look to see if I can score something decent for a reasonable price, but no luck so far. Even the used eBay listings for decent boards are around $200. :screwy:
 
You got a high end cpu and you need high end mbo that feature overclocking potential. Saving up and get a good board and try again. You should be able to OC that cpu @4.0Ghz easy.
 
The UD3R isn't a low end board, and has plenty of overclocking potential. But like with anything related to overclocking, it could come down to just luck of the roll as to whether something will overclock well or not.

So far what I have found:

  • This board will go into a endless boot loop if I disable the USB ports and can only get out of it by resetting the bios. So it's all USB2 ports, or nothing.
  • This boards "Auto" settings for voltages are not always the best options. If a overclock fails and it resets the bios, I will find that the voltage will be set sometimes as low as 1.2V for the cpu as the Auto voltage. It's also setting my ram voltage at 1.64V(!!!) instead of the detected 1.5V in Auto, and I've had it like that for years. :eek: Manually setting the voltages, and anything else with a Auto setting seems like a must.

My testing will continue in my quest for getting over 4GHz.
 
Have you try to update to the latest bios? this might help your overclocking. If you have not, at least give that a try.
 
Have you try to update to the latest bios? this might help your overclocking. If you have not, at least give that a try.

I was just thinking that myself as a suggestion but the newest BIOS isn't always the best, I'd download the latest along with a few older versions for the board too, this way you'll have those files and can try them to see which works best or even makes a difference. If one seems to stand out from the others, go with it.

You haven't mentioned what settings you are using for your RAM, particularly if you're running a divider or what RAM speeds you're at. I'd experiment with using a lower divider to see if your sticks aren't acting up in some way but if you're already clocking up the bus, I'd have to say "Doubtful"... But again you never know until you try right?
 
Original bios wasn't that great. Stable, but support for newer CPUs and higher multis available with the Turbo and C-states were not available. Newer bios were better at this, however, with the old 930 and PSU, it caused terrible "coil whine" from the board that was very noticeable, and annoying. Caused the same problem with the 980x so for a long time I just stuck with the older bios till I upgraded to another PSU and tried the "newer" bioses again. No more coil whine, but still the same problems with every bios being unable to overclock to 4GHz or above.

Btw, seems like my ram loves being at 1.648V as the auto setting has it, even though they are rated at 1.5V. My previous ram was the same, running 1.6V instead of 1.5V. The system will constantly blue screen if I set the ram manually to 1.5V, and even up to 1.6V. Haven't had time to try other voltages, but maybe this weekend I'll try some more different settings again.
 
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