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Sluggish i7-920 on Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME
- Thread starter ahmad.obay
- Start date
sluggish
hi, all.
Well on the 5/5 i purchased an i7 system with almost identical sluggishness.
Specs:
Gigabyte UD4P
920 CPU (stock heatsink)
Corsair 6GB DDR3 (TR3X6G1333C9)
Corsair HX1000 PSU
Palit GTX295
3x Seagate hdd's (sata250,320 and IDE160)
OS: XP Pro32 on the 320, Vista ultimate64 on the 250, IDE is backup.
This system has caused quite a lot of grief.
First system wouldn't post; the memory was stuffed. one stick of the Corsair was faulty. kit replaced under warranty.
Then, again system wouldn't post.
This proved, believe it or not, to be the IDE hard drive rack. The PSU detected a short and refused to allow a power up. Chucked the rack, and voila!
Then BSOD at system install(about 45x's).
old version of XP Pro....it was pre SP1 on the CD i have to admit, but the O/S was updated to sp3. I slipstreamed SP2 to a new CD but
the key was just too old ....apparently.
Another copy of XP and, that key wouldn't work either????
I have to admit at this point that i was attempting a system repair (re-write HAL) from an Athlon 754 ddr1 system on that hard drive, so i should have expected problems. 754 to i7 hmmmm...
(I did prepare Windows in safe mode by removing all relevant drivers and running a driver removing utility on the 754, so technically i gave myself the best chance of success. technically not actually)!
I eventually got it up and everything is working.
As the days go on, it starts taking 5 full minutes to load up XP.
Adjust page file.....some difference but still generally poor system performance. slow to open anything, ie control panel, administrative tools, DxDiag etc. ran a non windows defrag utility, better.
ran the old single threaded 3dMark03 and got 72000 3dMarks.
(not too shabby compared to the old 754 9000 3dmarks when it was at its best).
Ran it again and crash, and once again, crash also.
Next i started playing with bios settings and got nothing but POST errors.
This was a hint though i didn't know it at the time.
Next i used the windows Gigabyte Easy Tune6 utility (QuickBoost 1 ie: 2.8Ghz) and got POST errors.
whipped the CPU heatsink off for yet another inspection and all looks OK but on closer inspection i see some thin(er) spots of the OEM paste.
Go out and purchase some $10 Antec Formula5 Silver Thermal Compound.
I clean the CPU and heatsink and apply the paste exactly in accordance with the instructions.
This Antec paste appears to be almost identical to the Intel paste in both colour and viscosity.
The application procedure consists of applying 1/2 the size of a rice grain of paste to both the CPU and the heatsink. Next you spread it around by putting your finger on the inside of a clean plastic bag.
This sounds simple, but, the paste is so thick it takes some time. gentle but forceful action spreads it. clean up is with a single edge razor.
I can immediately see much better coverage, and, as it is applied to both surfaces seems to be a more efficient solution.
boot back up....still the same.
Next i play FSX with all settings turned up on full.
I have a saved game where i am conducting an instrument approach into San Fransisco Intl in a 747 near max landing weight at dawn at about 28deg ambient. there are about 50 other "heavies" under radar control (sorry for the wankie jargon) and thunderstorm activity. There is filtered streaming light and shadows, mist, lightning, intermittent showers and a rising sun. The city is still lit up and the traffic on the ground is set to 100%. the draw distance is 60 miles and moderate turbulence. wing tip vortices stream off and on as the aircraft passes through this turbulence. res is 1280x1024@60htz on 32 bit XP pro.
Now with all of this load the frame rate is pretty poor around 8-15fps.
I re run then notice an increase 15-25's. and again etc 3x's 15-25's.
back to windows and system idle for about 15 mins. open easy tune and notice idle temp of 27-29deg. This is fully 10deg less than before.
Next i notice the system noticeably more responsive.
boot to bios turn QPI link speed to full.
system seems to be more normal.
a number of factors MIGHT be at play here:
1) i think my ram is rubbish (though i could be wrong), and i might say the same for the board as well.
2) I find it alarming how much force is required to close the CPU lever on my gigabyte board. this force MAY cause some localized bending of the board.
My lever actually bends in the closed position.
The retention mechanism for the heatsink combined with a possibility of some potential for localized warpage in the CPU area may cause less than ideal motherboard to CPU pin contact and/or heatsink/CPU contact.
3) this less than ideal contact may be addressed by application of a high quality Brand name heatsink paste.
4) a burn in utility could be good to "activate/melt" the paste and to burn off any oxidation of system contacts...ram, vga cpu etc.
5) i might be completely wrong about the warpage causing this but i have noticed that after the system gets hot my computer has been getting better, and the sluggishness generally less each day.
6) i wish i had spent $70 and got the store to set up my system. it would have saved 3 240km trips to my store.
I installed Vista 64 on the other hdd and all seems to be good, except that absolutely nothing seems to work properly with the O/S...nothing opens, no windows fix utilities open, side by side errors on just about everything, unzip utilities won't work. looks nice but what a piece of ****.
this is my first vista experience. Crysis plays well though and looks totally amazing. my son likes shadowrun and it looks good. Vista experience is 5.7. cpu, ram, vga 5.9 and Seagate Sata 5.7.
My Vista experience however, is 0.
I've read GTX295's are bottlenecked by 920 at stock speed so in coming weeks i'll hook up my LCD and re try the o/c at 1600x1050.
cheers,
Paul.
hi, all.
Well on the 5/5 i purchased an i7 system with almost identical sluggishness.
Specs:
Gigabyte UD4P
920 CPU (stock heatsink)
Corsair 6GB DDR3 (TR3X6G1333C9)
Corsair HX1000 PSU
Palit GTX295
3x Seagate hdd's (sata250,320 and IDE160)
OS: XP Pro32 on the 320, Vista ultimate64 on the 250, IDE is backup.
This system has caused quite a lot of grief.
First system wouldn't post; the memory was stuffed. one stick of the Corsair was faulty. kit replaced under warranty.
Then, again system wouldn't post.
This proved, believe it or not, to be the IDE hard drive rack. The PSU detected a short and refused to allow a power up. Chucked the rack, and voila!
Then BSOD at system install(about 45x's).
old version of XP Pro....it was pre SP1 on the CD i have to admit, but the O/S was updated to sp3. I slipstreamed SP2 to a new CD but
the key was just too old ....apparently. Another copy of XP and, that key wouldn't work either????
I have to admit at this point that i was attempting a system repair (re-write HAL) from an Athlon 754 ddr1 system on that hard drive, so i should have expected problems. 754 to i7 hmmmm...
(I did prepare Windows in safe mode by removing all relevant drivers and running a driver removing utility on the 754, so technically i gave myself the best chance of success. technically not actually)!
I eventually got it up and everything is working.
As the days go on, it starts taking 5 full minutes to load up XP.
Adjust page file.....some difference but still generally poor system performance. slow to open anything, ie control panel, administrative tools, DxDiag etc. ran a non windows defrag utility, better.
ran the old single threaded 3dMark03 and got 72000 3dMarks.
(not too shabby compared to the old 754 9000 3dmarks when it was at its best).
Ran it again and crash, and once again, crash also.
Next i started playing with bios settings and got nothing but POST errors.
This was a hint though i didn't know it at the time.
Next i used the windows Gigabyte Easy Tune6 utility (QuickBoost 1 ie: 2.8Ghz) and got POST errors.
whipped the CPU heatsink off for yet another inspection and all looks OK but on closer inspection i see some thin(er) spots of the OEM paste.
Go out and purchase some $10 Antec Formula5 Silver Thermal Compound.
I clean the CPU and heatsink and apply the paste exactly in accordance with the instructions.
This Antec paste appears to be almost identical to the Intel paste in both colour and viscosity.
The application procedure consists of applying 1/2 the size of a rice grain of paste to both the CPU and the heatsink. Next you spread it around by putting your finger on the inside of a clean plastic bag.
This sounds simple, but, the paste is so thick it takes some time. gentle but forceful action spreads it. clean up is with a single edge razor.
I can immediately see much better coverage, and, as it is applied to both surfaces seems to be a more efficient solution.
boot back up....still the same.
Next i play FSX with all settings turned up on full.
I have a saved game where i am conducting an instrument approach into San Fransisco Intl in a 747 near max landing weight at dawn at about 28deg ambient. there are about 50 other "heavies" under radar control (sorry for the wankie jargon) and thunderstorm activity. There is filtered streaming light and shadows, mist, lightning, intermittent showers and a rising sun. The city is still lit up and the traffic on the ground is set to 100%. the draw distance is 60 miles and moderate turbulence. wing tip vortices stream off and on as the aircraft passes through this turbulence. res is 1280x1024@60htz on 32 bit XP pro.
Now with all of this load the frame rate is pretty poor around 8-15fps.
I re run then notice an increase 15-25's. and again etc 3x's 15-25's.
back to windows and system idle for about 15 mins. open easy tune and notice idle temp of 27-29deg. This is fully 10deg less than before.
Next i notice the system noticeably more responsive.
boot to bios turn QPI link speed to full.
system seems to be more normal.
a number of factors MIGHT be at play here:
1) i think my ram is rubbish (though i could be wrong), and i might say the same for the board as well.
2) I find it alarming how much force is required to close the CPU lever on my gigabyte board. this force MAY cause some localized bending of the board.
My lever actually bends in the closed position.
The retention mechanism for the heatsink combined with a possibility of some potential for localized warpage in the CPU area may cause less than ideal motherboard to CPU pin contact and/or heatsink/CPU contact.
3) this less than ideal contact may be addressed by application of a high quality Brand name heatsink paste.
4) a burn in utility could be good to "activate/melt" the paste and to burn off any oxidation of system contacts...ram, vga cpu etc.
5) i might be completely wrong about the warpage causing this but i have noticed that after the system gets hot my computer has been getting better, and the sluggishness generally less each day.
6) i wish i had spent $70 and got the store to set up my system. it would have saved 3 240km trips to my store.
I installed Vista 64 on the other hdd and all seems to be good, except that absolutely nothing seems to work properly with the O/S...nothing opens, no windows fix utilities open, side by side errors on just about everything, unzip utilities won't work. looks nice but what a piece of ****.
this is my first vista experience. Crysis plays well though and looks totally amazing. my son likes shadowrun and it looks good. Vista experience is 5.7. cpu, ram, vga 5.9 and Seagate Sata 5.7.
My Vista experience however, is 0.
I've read GTX295's are bottlenecked by 920 at stock speed so in coming weeks i'll hook up my LCD and re try the o/c at 1600x1050.
cheers,
Paul.
whats the floppy got to do with it?
just so you know, the boot up floppy seek is enabled on my board. is this what you mean?,.....i suppose you mean disable it!
ctrl f1 in bios to enable some extra bios features. the boot up floppy seek is one of those hidden in bios menu until you unlock. This is probably why it is hidden.
i wonder why the floppy causes slowness.
in easytune i can't even get the computer to boot on the 2nd o/c option, so i am keen to change this.
Also, slightly off topic, but still related to i7 sluggishness, I cannot run Intelburn test on my Vista 64 o/s on my other hdd. "side by side" error.
i have done most things to get this to work, ie: z-zip 64, MS downloader cleanup utility, and 64 bit windows installer from M$oft.
it (intelburn test)just wont run. it is the latest version, and states in the read me that it is best used on 64bit O/S. i installed it on this o/s xp32 and tried to run it from Vista. it was a stab in the dark, i guess, but it still wouldn't run.
thanks,
P.
just so you know, the boot up floppy seek is enabled on my board. is this what you mean?,.....i suppose you mean disable it!
ctrl f1 in bios to enable some extra bios features. the boot up floppy seek is one of those hidden in bios menu until you unlock. This is probably why it is hidden.
i wonder why the floppy causes slowness.
in easytune i can't even get the computer to boot on the 2nd o/c option, so i am keen to change this.
Also, slightly off topic, but still related to i7 sluggishness, I cannot run Intelburn test on my Vista 64 o/s on my other hdd. "side by side" error.
i have done most things to get this to work, ie: z-zip 64, MS downloader cleanup utility, and 64 bit windows installer from M$oft.
it (intelburn test)just wont run. it is the latest version, and states in the read me that it is best used on 64bit O/S. i installed it on this o/s xp32 and tried to run it from Vista. it was a stab in the dark, i guess, but it still wouldn't run.
thanks,
P.
well,
i can run prime95 and after 2hrs no probs at all.
i'll give the Vista mem test a go.
Btw 3007wfp turned off the floppy and everything is better on XP32 , BUT i haven't tried easytune yet.
if i can get easytune to work on the 2nd o/c i'll try to manually o/c.
Zmonk is correct in assuming a mem test is in order as i have little faith in my Corsair memory.
i really feel it is low quality, as the first set was faulty. the dealer said they have never seen anything like that before and it was a one off.....yeah right!.....well they would say that wouldn't they?!
I just can't get it to overclock even slightly without post errors.
Also, when running Prime95 on Vista64, the CPU monitor in easytune indicates some very strange readings. The multiplier goes up to 64. thats right 64 multi and 8512 QPI and CPU freq. What the effing hell???? it doesn't crash and at the completion of the test shows no errors.
The temp only just reaches 60C, and Prime seems stable enough to go on for weeks.
Yet i go to easytune and try to boot at 3ghz the idiot thing won't even post.
P.
i can run prime95 and after 2hrs no probs at all.
i'll give the Vista mem test a go.
Btw 3007wfp turned off the floppy and everything is better on XP32 , BUT i haven't tried easytune yet.
if i can get easytune to work on the 2nd o/c i'll try to manually o/c.
Zmonk is correct in assuming a mem test is in order as i have little faith in my Corsair memory.
i really feel it is low quality, as the first set was faulty. the dealer said they have never seen anything like that before and it was a one off.....yeah right!.....well they would say that wouldn't they?!
I just can't get it to overclock even slightly without post errors.
Also, when running Prime95 on Vista64, the CPU monitor in easytune indicates some very strange readings. The multiplier goes up to 64. thats right 64 multi and 8512 QPI and CPU freq. What the effing hell???? it doesn't crash and at the completion of the test shows no errors.
The temp only just reaches 60C, and Prime seems stable enough to go on for weeks.
Yet i go to easytune and try to boot at 3ghz the idiot thing won't even post.
P.
well have some more to report on the sluggishness.
i now have my LCD connected and can run at 1680x1050.
1) easytune doesn't work in anyway for overclocking, for me at least......endless boot loop
2) had to do a complete battery out clear CMOS.
3) did some playing around in bios and tried 166BCLK and it booted and ran but failed in Prime95 in both XP pro32 and Vista64 then endless boot loop on re-start.
4) had to do a complete battery out clear CMOS.
5) I did some research and came up with some settings that have transformed my system and made it run as i would expect an i7 to run.
6) floppy disabled in bios(thanks 3007wfp).
The ram Corsair 6GB TR3X6G1333C9 is quite OK in my opinion(as opposed to what i said about it earlier).
i have tested it at 1066 (40 passes) and it has no errors. Thanks Zmonk!
So i upped it to:
RAM 1333 9/9/9/24/1t at 1.54V(corsair specs +.04V).
CPU 2.66 (bclk disabled/stock 133mhz),
Turbo boost on,
QPI link x48 (was not sure on this, but just took a guess and it seems to work at STOCK CPU freq),
Uncore 2667 x20(double ram speed),
Turbo boost on.
Voltages:
QPI 1.2,
CPU Vcore 1.30625,
DRAM 1.54,
load line calibration enabled.
In addition i turned off
vitualization,
CPU eist,
C3/C6/C7 state support,
CPU thermal monitor,
hyperthreading.
As mentioned, Turbo Boost is on, with the above items turned off. This results in a constant 133x21 for a total freq of 2.8ghz.
Observations:
Sluggishness completely gone.
Prime95 runs on Stock heatsink not greater than 60C/ambient 22-25C for 2 hrs without error.
Both O/S stable.
System plays Crysis 1.2 patch, everything on very high, 4x AA @1680x1050res for hours reliably (might try to turn up AA to 16x if i can get 3.2 reliable).
General computing MUCH faster.
I now have a reliable base on which to turn back on the other features,
and to begin some more serious o/c.
This process has shown me my new computer is not faulty, BUT i have no idea why it was so disgustingly slow or why easytune doesn't work.
Easytune is in no way software overclocking. For it to work, it sets the parameters to CMOS on reboot, thus saving you from altering every tiny setting, apparently. So why doesn't it work?! it's the manufacturers software and surely it's properly tested.
Why do manufacturers persist in treating their customers as a test facility for their unproven products?
It's not like we get a discount. we all have to pay top dollar.
Why not just omit this troublesome utility or fix it!
All this program has done is generated ill feeling towards Gigabyte by me.
I'd expect this from $$oft.
Again, i still have no firm idea as to why my system was so slow.
It is possible that some of the voltages are a bit off, or the system is slow to detect a load state. the easytune issue just confuses things on a new system.
i7's are apparently still too new for all the hardware combinations to make themselves known.
At least it's working normally now.
P.
i now have my LCD connected and can run at 1680x1050.
1) easytune doesn't work in anyway for overclocking, for me at least......endless boot loop
2) had to do a complete battery out clear CMOS.
3) did some playing around in bios and tried 166BCLK and it booted and ran but failed in Prime95 in both XP pro32 and Vista64 then endless boot loop on re-start.
4) had to do a complete battery out clear CMOS.
5) I did some research and came up with some settings that have transformed my system and made it run as i would expect an i7 to run.
6) floppy disabled in bios(thanks 3007wfp).
The ram Corsair 6GB TR3X6G1333C9 is quite OK in my opinion(as opposed to what i said about it earlier).
i have tested it at 1066 (40 passes) and it has no errors. Thanks Zmonk!
So i upped it to:
RAM 1333 9/9/9/24/1t at 1.54V(corsair specs +.04V).
CPU 2.66 (bclk disabled/stock 133mhz),
Turbo boost on,
QPI link x48 (was not sure on this, but just took a guess and it seems to work at STOCK CPU freq),
Uncore 2667 x20(double ram speed),
Turbo boost on.
Voltages:
QPI 1.2,
CPU Vcore 1.30625,
DRAM 1.54,
load line calibration enabled.
In addition i turned off
vitualization,
CPU eist,
C3/C6/C7 state support,
CPU thermal monitor,
hyperthreading.
As mentioned, Turbo Boost is on, with the above items turned off. This results in a constant 133x21 for a total freq of 2.8ghz.
Observations:
Sluggishness completely gone.
Prime95 runs on Stock heatsink not greater than 60C/ambient 22-25C for 2 hrs without error.
Both O/S stable.
System plays Crysis 1.2 patch, everything on very high, 4x AA @1680x1050res for hours reliably (might try to turn up AA to 16x if i can get 3.2 reliable).
General computing MUCH faster.
I now have a reliable base on which to turn back on the other features,
and to begin some more serious o/c.
This process has shown me my new computer is not faulty, BUT i have no idea why it was so disgustingly slow or why easytune doesn't work.
Easytune is in no way software overclocking. For it to work, it sets the parameters to CMOS on reboot, thus saving you from altering every tiny setting, apparently. So why doesn't it work?! it's the manufacturers software and surely it's properly tested.
Why do manufacturers persist in treating their customers as a test facility for their unproven products?
It's not like we get a discount. we all have to pay top dollar.
Why not just omit this troublesome utility or fix it!
All this program has done is generated ill feeling towards Gigabyte by me.
I'd expect this from $$oft.
Again, i still have no firm idea as to why my system was so slow.
It is possible that some of the voltages are a bit off, or the system is slow to detect a load state. the easytune issue just confuses things on a new system.
i7's are apparently still too new for all the hardware combinations to make themselves known.
At least it's working normally now.
P.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2009
I have a similar hardware setup with the Gigabyte EX58-UD3R. My system seemed sluggish when installing Vista Ultimate (it just didn't feel right). There were long waiting times when it was loading.
I aborted the install, flashed my BIOS to the latest version (F6 in my case), and then loaded the "optimized defaults", as it tells you to do. (Go to Gigabyte's website and look up Q-BIOS to see how to do this.) Lastly, I disabled my floppy drive.
After that, I noticed a significant improvement in my computer's performance.
I aborted the install, flashed my BIOS to the latest version (F6 in my case), and then loaded the "optimized defaults", as it tells you to do. (Go to Gigabyte's website and look up Q-BIOS to see how to do this.) Lastly, I disabled my floppy drive.
After that, I noticed a significant improvement in my computer's performance.
aluchsinger,
thanks for the advice!
i have flashed my bios, to F8 in my case, and followed Gigabyte's instruction about loading "optimized defaults" after flashing...exactly. I'm a bit of a stickler for such things!
I've re-enabled:
CPU eist,
C3/C6/C7 state support,
hyperthreading,
and the sluggishness has returned...but not as bad as it was before.
The ram speed is still at 1333 C9/9/9/24/1t and +.04v so this may account for some of the speed still remaining.
With the XP o/s i may take 3007wfp's advice and reinstall XP.
Vista i'm still not sure about.
If i turn off the power saving states (C3 and eist etc) the bloody thing flies!
i mean really quick, everything almost instant...jpegs, office 2003, pdfs etc.
Turn those power states back on and over a period of about a week it starts to slow again.
Of course discs are defragged by a non M$ defrag utility.
Also, if XP wants a fresh install (as opposed to a system repair) to "fix" the problem, why is Vista 64 sluggish also?-i ask myself.
Vista was a fresh install only 30 days ago.
Still the Easytune issue remains (read above posts).
Surely THIS is the best indicator, if anything, to the sluggishness.
Again, i still really have little idea as to why this i7 system is slow at or around default settings.
CPU stepping is C0.
paul.
thanks for the advice!
i have flashed my bios, to F8 in my case, and followed Gigabyte's instruction about loading "optimized defaults" after flashing...exactly. I'm a bit of a stickler for such things!
I've re-enabled:
CPU eist,
C3/C6/C7 state support,
hyperthreading,
and the sluggishness has returned...but not as bad as it was before.
The ram speed is still at 1333 C9/9/9/24/1t and +.04v so this may account for some of the speed still remaining.
With the XP o/s i may take 3007wfp's advice and reinstall XP.
Vista i'm still not sure about.
If i turn off the power saving states (C3 and eist etc) the bloody thing flies!
i mean really quick, everything almost instant...jpegs, office 2003, pdfs etc.
Turn those power states back on and over a period of about a week it starts to slow again.
Of course discs are defragged by a non M$ defrag utility.
Also, if XP wants a fresh install (as opposed to a system repair) to "fix" the problem, why is Vista 64 sluggish also?-i ask myself.
Vista was a fresh install only 30 days ago.
Still the Easytune issue remains (read above posts).
Surely THIS is the best indicator, if anything, to the sluggishness.
Again, i still really have little idea as to why this i7 system is slow at or around default settings.
CPU stepping is C0.
paul.
