Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H: Help, can't change HTT or mem divider

I've been out of the loop and haven't built a system since the ol' athlon xp days. I've been trying to play around with the be-2400 but I can't seem to change the HTT or memory divider in the bios. My HTT is at 1160 or so.. does that matter? I know I should keep it around 1000. I could be overlooking something.. so please feel free to tell me how stupid I am and point me in the right direction.

Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H rev. 1.0 with F4 bios

On a Gigabyte, if you cant find the setting. After the Bios loads press Ctrl/F1 at the same time. Opens more bios options.

yeah I only got another option or two and it didnt include memory divider and I can only set the HTT to 1000, 800, 600, 400, no manuel setting =/

anyone else have this board?

chubchubcullen said:

yeah I only got another option or two and it didnt include memory divider and I can only set the HTT to 1000, 800, 600, 400, no manuel setting =/

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Don't have that board but the HT multiplier typically can only be set to 5X, 4X, etc (or 1000, 800, etc for that BIOS) - nothing new there. And, yes, you should keep it near 1000 MHz unless you have historical data that shows you can go higher on that motherboard without an issue. If the HT Link is running 1160 then your clock is set to 232 MHz? If so, turn the HT multiplier down to 4X (800) - that'll be good until you go over 250 MHz on the clock.

Don't know where to find the RAM divider but RAM speeds are calculated MUCH different on K8 systems than the XP's. At a setting of 800 and a clock of 232 your RAM is at 889? Not bad at all. Your OCZ will soon need looser timings - mine gave out around 920 MHz (for your system: 11.5x 240) ...

QuietIce said:

Don't have that board but the HT multiplier typically can only be set to 5X, 4X, etc (or 1000, 800, etc for that BIOS) - nothing new there. And, yes, you should keep it near 1000 MHz unless you have historical data that shows you can go higher on that motherboard without an issue. If the HT Link is running 1160 then your clock is set to 232 MHz? If so, turn the HT multiplier down to 4X (800) - that'll be good until you go over 250 MHz on the clock.

Don't know where to find the RAM divider but RAM speeds are calculated MUCH different on K8 systems than the XP's. At a setting of 800 and a clock of 232 your RAM is at 889? Not bad at all. Your OCZ will soon need looser timings - mine gave out around 920 MHz (for your system: 11.5x 240) ...

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thanks! yeah figured it out this morning.. im an idiot.. i was looking for a place were it said divider/multiplier so yeah, setting the HTT to 800 lowered it to 900 something and i think i figured out how to change the divider.. thanks for the help ice!

I was pretty confused when I first hit this platform as well even though it's been awhile.

Any other questions don't hesitate to ask. We were ALL new to these systems at some point ...

I have the DSH3 version (the full size ATX version of yours) so I think the bios is pretty much the same. The thing I have noticed is that bios choices are labeled in an unusual way and its a matter of getting used to the terminology Gigabyte used on these series of boards. It seems like they went out of their way to obscure overclocking processes. For instance, what we used to call front side bus is "CPU frequency". By now you know that the HT multiplier is not stated in 1x, 2x, 3x, ect. terms but in terms of the speed after the multiplication of baseline DDR speed (200 mhz) is done. Setting the memory divider is done sort of indirectly on these boards.

I got so frustrated with it that I just resorted to the simplistic approach of finding what was the overclocking limit of the memory (by setting the "CPU frequency" multiplier low while pushing the envelope of the memroy) and what was the overclocking limit of the cpu (by using safe 400 mhz memory speeds while raising the "CPU frequency" multiplier) and then finding a reasonable compromise between the two while, at the same time keeping an eye on CUP voltages and heat.

I was having a hard time trying to get my memory to run properly I had to up the voltage to 2.1 and then match timings in CPU for my OCZ 1066 memory to work.

After 3 days I got it sorted was a pain thou I got used to an easier BIOS from when I built my AMD 2500+ SkA rig that was a AOPEN board and then moved over to 939 which was ECS same layout.

Gigabyte's terms for it's BIOS are weird very weird lol has anyone of you who have this board updated to the F6 BIOS I have F4 currently it says it fixed CPU ID so no need really I suppose.

AngelfireUk83 said:

I was having a hard time trying to get my memory to run properly I had to up the voltage to 2.1 and then match timings in CPU for my OCZ 1066 memory to work.

After 3 days I got it sorted was a pain thou I got used to an easier BIOS from when I built my AMD 2500+ SkA rig that was a AOPEN board and then moved over to 939 which was ECS same layout.

Gigabyte's terms for it's BIOS are weird very weird lol has anyone of you who have this board updated to the F6 BIOS I have F4 currently it says it fixed CPU ID so no need really I suppose.

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I updated to th F6 bios on this board but it didn't seem to change the menu choices. I was having trouble getting it recognize my memory as dual channel since upgrading to the AM2+ X3 8750 be cpu. The F6 upgrade fixed that but it is not stable in dual channel mode. Didn't have this problem with the AM2 X2 5000+ be cpu I was running before.

I had heard the unganged mode was sometimes a problem with the X3, though I don't think anyone knows why. In a lot of cases (unless you're Folding of Crunching) it probably won't matter much whether it's ganged or unganged ...

trents said:

I updated to th F6 bios on this board but it didn't seem to change the menu choices. I was having trouble getting it recognize my memory as dual channel since upgrading to the AM2+ X3 8750 be cpu. The F6 upgrade fixed that but it is not stable in dual channel mode. Didn't have this problem with the AM2 X2 5000+ be cpu I was running before.

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My timings at matched with CPU-Z at 533mhz and I have mine in Unganged mode still with the F4 BIOS I've no need to update it as it's running smooth can't wait to get my upgrades.