Gigabyte EX58-UD4P with Xeons

[smartbomb33]

Planning on joining the X58 Xeon club soon, only I'm a little worried because a few people on the web made posts about how this board doesn't play nice with Xeons.

I'm thinking about getting either the X5675, or the W3690. The former being much cheaper than the latter, but both are a bargain nonetheless. I wouldn't bother considering the W3690, but between the 2, the W3690 is the one on the CPU support list for this board. The X5675 is not on Gigabyte's CPU support list, so I feel like I'd be taking more of a risk buying that CPU.

According to CPU-Z, my board's revision is 12, and I'm running the F14p BIOS. I currently have a i7 920 C0 overclocked to 3.8Ghz at a disappointing 1.38 vCore. It's still a great overclock, but relatively speaking compared to the Xeons and i7 920 D0s, it's pretty crappy. At full load with Prime 95, I'm getting temps at the high 80s and low 90s (celsius) with my Prolimatech Megahalems heatsink.

I need someone smarter and wiser than I am to shed some light into this to help me make good decisions.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Mr.Scott]

Best I can tell you is, stick to the support list on the Gig boards.
I have X58A-UD3R and nothing off the list posts at all.
My other X58 boards (non Gig) are much more flexible.

 

[EarthDog]

I would also stick with what the CPU support list says.

 

[smartbomb33]

Best I can tell you is, stick to the support list on the Gig boards.
I have X58A-UD3R and nothing off the list posts at all.
My other X58 boards (non Gig) are much more flexible.

Which CPUs have your tried?
Thanks a lot, you probably saved me a ton of headaches and a lot of time. Were you able to put the BCLK higher than 150Mhz on the ones that were on the support list?

 

[Mr.Scott]

Over 200 on every thing that posts.
It's a nice overclocking board, it's just support limited. No X56xx series post.
Only a handful of W3xx series are supported.
No 6 cores work except 970 and 980 variants. No 6 core Xeons post at all.

My Asus P6T7 WS SC and my SR-2 can run anything.
I guess I'm just spoiled.

Anyhow, it's not about me, it's about saving you some trouble. Stick to the list.

 

[smartbomb33]

Thanks dude. Good advice, I'll take it. Looks like I'll give the W3690 a shot.
https://valid.x86.fr/n0uq92 - I did some Googling on my motherboard on the CPU-Z validation site, and I found this guy with the W3690.
I noticed his BCLK is way under 150, so that had me thinking this board just wasn't great with Xeons.

- - - Auto-Merged Double Post - - -

I would also stick with what the CPU support list says.

Great advice. lol

 

[Mr.Scott]

Nah. That's just a crappy validation.
Good clockspeed, nothing else good about it.

 

[smartbomb33]

An update on this thread...

So I finally got myself a Xeon W3690. It POSTs, and it seems to work... BUT there's a catch.
Regardless of the fact that this CPU is in Gigabyte's CPU support list for this board, this board doesn't seem to start correctly with this CPU when the system is rebooted. The system must be powered-off to be restarted, which poses some problems when trying to save some BIOS settings. When saving and quitting from the BIOS menu after changing something, it will want to restart... the problem is it won't let me do that. Instead what it'll do is hang after saving and quitting from the BIOS menu, which then forces me to power-off via the power switch - which will then make the motherboard think the last BIOS save was set above spec (like when you overclock and it isn't stable), which in turn will force the motherboard to revert to stock settings to try and insure a successful POST. I've tried several BIOS revisions now, from the latest one, to F13, to F14q (modded BIOS), and another F14p modded BIOS that's supposed to mitigate the Meltdown vulnerability. I've had the most luck with the F14q modded BIOS that kinda lets me save an overclocked setting. I haven't had any luck cranking up the BCLK yet, but it doesn't seem to mind being overclocked using JUST the CPU multiplier. I currently have it set to x31, giving me a CPU frequency of 4.2 Ghz. Surprisingly, seems stable so far with some light Prime 95 testing, albeit with the added quirk of not being able to reboot. The system can only be restarted via a full power off.

This was a pretty disappointing experience nonetheless. I don't think I'll find a more updated BIOS for this board unfortunately, and I'm not really interested in throwing any more money at this build, so I guess this is it. I'll try to run my system with these settings for the next couple weeks to see if I can live with it... if not, I'll probably just pop the W3690 out to go back to my good 'ol i7 920 overclocked to 3.8Ghz and a 200 Mhz BCLK. Not bad for a C0. C'est la vie.

Consider this to be a warning for those with this particular board looking to breathe some life into it by getting a Xeon. In hindsight, I should've just bought an i7 980, or maybe even a 920 D0 instead... basically anything outside of the Xeon line. The EX58-UD4P does not like Xeon chips, and it's a trend that I seem to have discovered prior to buying my W3690.

 

[Ozz1]

gig boards are well known for not clearing cmos as quick as youd like to, pull the battery , cmos jumper on and let it sit for a few and then try it again, give it a go, whats to lose ? ive had gig boards that didnt want to go forward. did that and later away it went, admittedly not an x58 platform, but what have you got to lose trying it ?

 

[smartbomb33]

When you say your boards "didn't wanna go forward". What do you mean exactly? Did they have a similar problem of not wanting to restart?

I found a few other people with this board that have had this exact same problem with Xeons that weren't in the CPU support list. My W3690 is on the list, but that doesn't seem to matter. Feels bad man.

 

[wagex]

When you say your boards "didn't wanna go forward". What do you mean exactly? Did they have a similar problem of not wanting to restart?

I found a few other people with this board that have had this exact same problem with Xeons that weren't in the CPU support list. My W3690 is on the list, but that doesn't seem to matter. Feels bad man.

are the motherboard bios up to date?

 

[smartbomb33]

are the motherboard bios up to date?

As up to date as they possibly can be. Also tried numerous other versions, including ones that were supposedly modded. No dice

That being said, I've been taking a look around the used market, and I may be able to get an Asus P6 WS Supercomputer motherboard for virtually free. If I decide to go and grab that.... This should solve my problem.

 

[Mr.Scott]

That being said, I've been taking a look around the used market, and I may be able to get an Asus P6 WS Supercomputer motherboard for virtually free. If I decide to go and grab that.... This should solve my problem.

Nice board. I have one. They run anything.

 

[Ozz1]

When you say your boards "didn't wanna go forward". What do you mean exactly? Did they have a similar problem of not wanting to restart?

I found a few other people with this board that have had this exact same problem with Xeons that weren't in the CPU support list. My W3690 is on the list, but that doesn't seem to matter. Feels bad man.

sorry , i should of said didnt want to boot , 990 fx ud3, 790 fx ud4p, p45 ud3r, ( 2 of) , p45 ud3, ive had similar probs with DFI boards to, pull the battery to drain the caps with the cmos jumper on and left sit for a few days and up they came again, id thought id lost the boards, but found the problem with the DFIboards, they dont like a battery thats not got full power, it plays havoc with the bios settings, aDFI boards dont like a battery power under 3v, least mine dont, they chew batteries

 

[smartbomb33]

...

 

[moses64k]

hi
I sign to the forum just for let you know , this gigabyte ex58-ud4p ,do not let you pass 150 fsb with xeon 6 core. (at the bios)
I had L5640, x5650 , w3670 , and now w3680 (unlocked multi).
the above cpu's work great , and fast. (max 150mhz FSB)
just recently I found out that if I press the reset button , like a double click, it WILL boot , from this "locked" reset problem.
so , you do not have to power off every time you reset the pc.
if I knew that before , I would stay with the X5650 , because this chip is just the same , and currently the W3680 is not overclocked .
the X5650 on 150 mhz FSB , was fast .
further overclock is possible with the "easy tune " software , inside windows.
I use bios f14p
the original cpu was i7 920 c0 (the first) , and the board passed 150 fsb with this i7 , easily. there is a great VRM on it. many phases.
I had before UD3R , both rev 1 and rev2 , and also rampage iii formula.
they all worked great with the 6 core xeons , and overclocked to 200 fsb . (and above)
one time I tried "underclocking" , I ran the L5640 at 1.6ghz locked , and benched some games. the results was just a Little less FPS .
since than , I'm not overclocking .
in the past I overclocked athlon 64 x2 cpu and also the beloved Q6600 ( 3.2 ghz ) and it was helping with graphic card bottleneck.
these westmere , gulftown xeons are fast and efficient . the move from i7 920 to X5650 was amazing.

I was looking for a bios update to this ud4p board , many times. just to get rid of the "powering off" issue for reset. and than accidentally find out that pressing the reset button , fast , a couple of times , is doing the job.
another trick that I've learned with this board ,
if you set overclocking inside the bios , (up to 150 ) than immediately after pressing the enter key for 'save and exit' , shut down the main power button. ( turn off the power supply switch) . after a couple of seconds , turn on. next boot it will accept the changes.
If someone else know a better solution , like maybe , a custom bios that include those xeons microcode. I will be glad to try it .
good bye , have a great new year .

 

[Little Steven]

ga-ex58-ud4p + xeon overclock

hi
I sign to the forum just for let you know , this gigabyte ex58-ud4p ,do not let you pass 150 fsb with xeon 6 core. (at the bios)
I had L5640, x5650 , w3670 , and now w3680 (unlocked multi).
the above cpu's work great , and fast. (max 150mhz FSB)
just recently I found out that if I press the reset button , like a double click, it WILL boot , from this "locked" reset problem.
so , you do not have to power off every time you reset the pc.
if I knew that before , I would stay with the X5650 , because this chip is just the same , and currently the W3680 is not overclocked .
the X5650 on 150 mhz FSB , was fast .
further overclock is possible with the "easy tune " software , inside windows.
I use bios f14p
the original cpu was i7 920 c0 (the first) , and the board passed 150 fsb with this i7 , easily. there is a great VRM on it. many phases.
I had before UD3R , both rev 1 and rev2 , and also rampage iii formula.
they all worked great with the 6 core xeons , and overclocked to 200 fsb . (and above)
one time I tried "underclocking" , I ran the L5640 at 1.6ghz locked , and benched some games. the results was just a Little less FPS .
since than , I'm not overclocking .
in the past I overclocked athlon 64 x2 cpu and also the beloved Q6600 ( 3.2 ghz ) and it was helping with graphic card bottleneck.
these westmere , gulftown xeons are fast and efficient . the move from i7 920 to X5650 was amazing.

I was looking for a bios update to this ud4p board , many times. just to get rid of the "powering off" issue for reset. and than accidentally find out that pressing the reset button , fast , a couple of times , is doing the job.
another trick that I've learned with this board ,
if you set overclocking inside the bios , (up to 150 ) than immediately after pressing the enter key for 'save and exit' , shut down the main power button. ( turn off the power supply switch) . after a couple of seconds , turn on. next boot it will accept the changes.
If someone else know a better solution , like maybe , a custom bios that include those xeons microcode. I will be glad to try it .
good bye , have a great new year .

Hi i have a ga-ex58-ud4p and a i7 920, I would like to upgrade it to a 6-cores Xeon but you are the only one that could resolve the problem with the reset issue. Did you find the solution for the max 150 blk. I would like to but a X5650 but if i can't pass 150 maybe I should stay with my i7 920 or save more money i go for the W3680 with unlock multiplier.
Thank you so much for your help.

 

[moses64k]

X5650 upgrade from 920

Hi i have a ga-ex58-ud4p and a i7 920, I would like to upgrade it to a 6-cores Xeon but you are the only one that could resolve the problem with the reset issue. Did you find the solution for the max 150 blk. I would like to but a X5650 but if i can't pass 150 maybe I should stay with my i7 920 or save more money i go for the W3680 with unlock multiplier.
Thank you so much for your help.

hello
the X5650 is amazing . you will benefit from the upgrade. (it 32nm vs 45nm) 6 cores with the power draw of the older 4 core.
If you need the best single core speed (have to overclock) , than may be its better to stay with the I7 920 . I bought the w3680 for trying to get rid of the RESET problem, but the x5650 is just as fast.
I'm not overclocking it . just glad that it work good and stable and I like it to last .
I'm currently using a GTX970 , and the machine is capable of drawing a lot of power and heat.
good luck

 

[Little Steven]

hello
the X5650 is amazing . you will benefit from the upgrade. (it 32nm vs 45nm) 6 cores with the power draw of the older 4 core.
If you need the best single core speed (have to overclock) , than may be its better to stay with the I7 920 . I bought the w3680 for trying to get rid of the RESET problem, but the x5650 is just as fast.
I'm not overclocking it . just glad that it work good and stable and I like it to last .
I'm currently using a GTX970 , and the machine is capable of drawing a lot of power and heat.
good luck

Thank you so much moses. So do you think its better a x5650 at 3.5ghz (20x150) than a 920 at 4.00ghz (20x200)?
the w3680 doesn't have the reset problem? Did you try to get 3.9ghz (26x150)?

 

[moses64k]

hi
the w3680 behave just the same as x5650 on this ud4p board. ( 150 fsb limit and reset problem)
I have been overcloking my cpu's a lot , it was fun and sometimes very helpful . for example : q6600 at 3.2 ghz was great for gaming , it seems to have some bottleneck at the default speed , so the little overclock helped a lot.
you should check with the current I7 920 , lower your speed to 3.4 or 3.5 ghz , and check the application your using.
if its a game , play it and look for yourself how is it running , before you make the switch.
I'm not using my pc for gaming . (have some old games from 2013)

I had other X58 board in the past , UD3R ver 1 and 2 , and rampage 3 formula. I ran them all with X5650 and L5640.
the "sweet spot" was 180 mhz FSB . they all did it . there was no different between the CPU's performance. (matched clock speed)
I tried under-clocking also , and FPS at my games was almost the same. (1-3 fps different . its not noticeable without fps counter on screen )
you should NOT count on the max speed you are getting with an overclock , for your stable machine. \
if you have to overclock a lot for some software ( a game for example) , than you should consider a new and improved machine.
other example : I have an older xeon X5450 with a P5QPRO . at 3.6ghz with a good gpu , it is running those games perfect. ( for ex GTA V , dirt 3 )
I can take it up above 4Ghz , but its not needed , and only makes a lot more heat.
to sum : if single core speed is important to you , dont switch to the 6 core xeon on the ud4p.
for all other purposes , YES.
you can get I7 6core , like 970 , 980 and overclock . my w3680 is open multi , but I didnt overclocked it. it is fast at default
good luck , have fun