[PolRoger90]

I ordered this board today http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128358 and if it ships from their Tennessee distribution center I should get it tommorrow and I'll hopefully start testing it this weekend. This will be my first experience with a Gigabyte board and I'm looking forward to checking it out!

[dndx2]

i just ordered the same board from newegg today. looking forward to your input since i'm a noob :P

[PolRoger90]

My board arrived yesterday and I've installed it today. I swapped out my TPower and replaced it with the UD3P. I'm currently using a Xigmatek cooler, 4 gig kit of OCZ Reaper PC2-8500, an old ATI X800XL, and a WD2500KS with Vista Home 64-bit.

I'm still trying to familiarize myself with the BIOS. I thought I'd start off with around +0.750 to cpu vcore and 9x444@DDR2 1066 with a 5/6 divider and everything else on "auto" but it failed right off untill I figured out that I keying in the wrong value and I was actually undervolting my cpu. Once I applied a more realistic voltage (1.30v/1.264 showing in BIOS) I could then post and get into windows. It was interesting to see where some of the "auto" settings were actually set at.

[PolRoger90]

Next I went with 7.5x533 1/1 DDR2-1066 same cpu voltage and everything else still on auto. I don't really agree with some of the auto settings but they did allow me to successfully post and get into windows.

I don't know if this BIOS has a hidden advanced timings settings like the DFI LP JR does nor have I seen any RCOMP settings. I still have to figure out Gigabyte's version of GTL Ref values in this BIOS (CPU/MCH Reference?) I'm also not familar with MCH/DRAM Reference so anyone willing to share their knowledge of Gigabyte BIOS settings... any and all suggestions are welcome.

Next I'll be working on some overclocks without the "auto" settings and I'll be dialing in more reasonable chipset voltages.

[Sunburn74]

Hey. I have a p45-ds3r by gigabyte. I'm running an e8400 at 4 ghz (8.5x471) with idle temp being 29 and load being 55ish. Completely prime stable.

here's a screeny of my settings




I could probably stand to lower the cpu vtt and pll but right now i'm happy and don't have the time to test.

What you should know is that these p45 boards respond better to autosettings on memory, high mch straps (don't even bother with the 333. go with the 400 and a 1:1 it can handle it), and freak out with cpu settings like virtualization and bit execute protect. bit execute caused my board to blue screen like crazy and then i turned it off and all fine. I assume same chipset you may have the same problem.

Upping the mch doesn't help with fsb stability. Whats more important is vtt and vcore. later

edit: vcore idle is usually 1.408 or 1.424. under load it falls to 1.392. I have a thermalright ultra 120 extreme with 2 mounted fans, an exhaust, 180mm fan in front, and a 250mm fan on the side of the case.

[PolRoger90]

Well here is my first overclock with the settings manually dialed in. 9.5x448 DDR2-1074 5/6 divider and I'm using the 333 latch. I've disabled most of the SpeedStep/thermal cpu features etc. and I have Load-Line Calibration enabled. I ran a quick OCCT (1hr mix) stability test and the CPU vcore voltage didn't budge/droop at all! During the test load temps varied... mostly around 48 to 50.

[PolRoger90]

Check out this graph of the cpu vcore from the previous OCCT test. I've also noticed that with Load-Line enabled and cpu vcore set to 1.325v the BIOS shows 1.316v in PC Health Status while CPUZ shows a little less in Windows with 1.296v.

[Supershanks]

they do look good boards, the bios is pretty much the same as the Gigabyte GA-EP45-EXTREME with the same auto voltages see the warning link

# Watch those Auto Voltages!!

:lol:
see link #22 re cpu reference only difference there is the fact you have a single CPUGTL ref .

[HousERaT]

I like this board but the voltages have me uneasy about overclocking as high as I'd want. I've had the fsb stable at 550 but 1.6 vtt to get this is a bit much. My DFI overclocks higher with less voltage. I'm hoping a new bios will make things better. Still on the F4 bios here.

[Supershanks]

1.6v is very high, I run 575 24/7 but with 1.34v on my extreme.

[sno.lcn]

Mine arrived from Gigabyte today, I'll be starting a review very soon.

I didn't realize it's a ddr2 board until a few minutes ago. Good thing I hung on to my nice Team Xtreem sticks, I almost sold them a few weeks ago

[Zhut]

PolRoger90 I am wondering how you compare your new board to your Biostar TPower. Reason I ask is that I was thinking of getting the Biostar one of these days. Thank you in advance. Likes/dislikes, overclockability between the two, Bios, etc.

[PolRoger90]

HousERat: I'll be switching over to some 2x1gb kits soon and I'll start looking at high fsb. I'm hoping it won't require the high "auto" like voltages.

Supershanks: 1.34vtt seems fine to me... how a high fsb are you able to get with it on your EP-45 Extreme?

[PolRoger90]

Originally Posted by Zhut

PolRoger90 I am wondering how you compare your new board to your Biostar TPower. Reason I ask is that I was thinking of getting the Biostar one of these days. Thank you in advance. Likes/dislikes, overclockability between the two, Bios, etc.

So far I'm having a positive experience with this board and the TPower is also a very nice board especially with compatible memory. It is still a little early for me to have a good feel for the UD3P. I'll need to do more testing... so I'll have to get back to you again later.

[Zhut]

Yes, I thought I might be "jumping the gun" a bit with my question PolRoger90, sorry about that. So far what I see from the UDP3 does look promising even from my newbie view. I do certainly like the price!! I am a big fan of getting the most for the money spent as I am sure most are. Certainly please keep us posted. Being new to building and doing research myself the world of motherboard selection possibilities seems endless. Everyone wants to make a good decision, keep us posted.

[PolRoger90]

Originally Posted by sno.lcn

Mine arrived from Gigabyte today, I'll be starting a review very soon.

I didn't realize it's a ddr2 board until a few minutes ago. Good thing I hung on to my nice Team Xtreem sticks, I almost sold them a few weeks ago

I'll look forward to reading your review.

[PolRoger90]

Originally Posted by Zhut

Yes, I thought I might be "jumping the gun" a bit with my question PolRoger90, sorry about that. So far what I see from the UDP3 does look promising even from my newbie view. I do certainly like the price!! I am a big fan of getting the most for the money spent as I am sure most are. Certainly please keep us posted. Being new to building and doing research myself the world of motherboard selection possibilities seems endless. Everyone wants to make a good decision, keep us posted.

I was also running socket 939 before I upgraded to the p45 chipset and E8X00 cpu and I think it is a combo that can offer an excellent cost/performance ratio.

[HousERaT]

my major complaint with the I45 is the hugh jump in between voltage settings. 1.4 to 1.45 vcore is too large of a jump for me. If they have smaller increments for the voltage settings and I might have to go back to the Biostar.

[sno.lcn]

So far I'm having lots of fun with this board. With the EP45T-Extreme, 600fsb was effortless. And by effortless, I mean 600 boot was successful on my first try. This is proving to be more of a challenge

[PolRoger90]

Originally Posted by HousERaT

my major complaint with the I45 is the hugh jump in between voltage settings. 1.4 to 1.45 vcore is too large of a jump for me. If they have smaller increments for the voltage settings and I might have to go back to the Biostar.

I agree the step from +0.150 to +0.200 is too large in the current TPower I45 BIOS especially for the 45nm E8x00 series chips. If I remember the next step after that is +0.200 to +0.250. They have smaller steps up to the +0.150 setting they should have continued with that same smaller step pattern. I've been hoping for a new BIOS but nothing yet.

[PolRoger90]

Originally Posted by sno.lcn

So far I'm having lots of fun with this board. With the EP45T-Extreme, 600fsb was effortless. And by effortless, I mean 600 boot was successful on my first try. This is proving to be more of a challenge

Glad to hear it! I'm sure you will persevere... keep us posted.

I'm going to swap in a 2gb kit tonight. I hope getting a feel for the GTL's settings on this board won't take up too much time... they are configured a bit different from the DFI and Biostar boards.

[sno.lcn]

Here's where I am so far.



http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=438650

[PolRoger90]

@sno.lcn-

There is hope for me yet... DDR2-1110 @ 4-4-4-12!... looks like you got some nice sticks there.

[PolRoger90]

I began testing one of my 2gb kits (Kingston HyperX) last night and I was finally able to get them running at their rated speed and more with this board! Still using the 333 latch, 5/6 divider.