Gigabyte GA-DS3L BIOS settings for newbies

[Regalk]

I thought I would put together a set of typical settings for those who bought this board and have a E21x0 series (or even higher models) to help minimize too many questions on the same topic.
This assumes that your memory is high speed (DDR2 800 4 4 4 12 2.1volts). Therefore for value ram loosen the timings and reduce the system memory mulitplier to 2.40 or 2.00
Bios should be F5 (latest)
This will get you started on your overclockng adventures. However if you screwed up with the Motherboard installation, have improper air flow, lousy power supply then just read and nothing else - you must be able to get to BIOS and you must have adequate cooling not intel stock cooling even though there are some here who thinks otherwise.
Processor E2160 on GA-P35 DS3L with Mushkin HP DDR2800 4 4 4 12 (actuals are loosened to 5 5 5 18)
If you run system memory timings at 2:00 then of course this will be 4 4 4 12 (again I am assuming that you have high speed DDRs)
Robust Graphic Booster Auto
CPU Clock Ratio 8X
CPU Host Clock Control Enabled
CPU Host Frequencey (mhz) 400
PCI Express Frequency (mhz) 100
C.I.A.2 Disabled

System Memory Multiplier 2.50
Memory Frequency (Mhz) 1000
High Speed Dram DLL Settings [option 1]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) [manual]
CAS Latency Time 5
DRAM RAS# to CAS# 5
DRAM RAS# Precharge 5
Precharge delay(tRAS) 18
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD) 4
Rank Write to READ Delay 9-11 (higher will help in stability) Iuse 10
Write to Precharge Delay 10-14 (higher wil lhelp in stability) I use 11
Refresh to ACT Delay 42
Read to Precharge Delay 6
tRD 7
tRD Phase Adjustment [Auto]

System Voltage Control [Manual]
Ddr2/ddr3 OverVoltage Control +.2 V
PCI-E OverVoltage Control [Normal]
FSB OverVoltage Control [Normal]
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control +0.1 V
CPU Voltage Control 1.4375 V
Normal CPU Vcore 1.35 V

Good luck - and feel free to critique

 

[Rockymaru]

Hey Regalk, thanks for posting this! Wow, talk about perfect timing! I just purchased a completely new Intel build w/ this MoBo as the centerpiece, which should be arriving any day now. I've only fiddled around through BIOS in the past making simple settings changes, and have never built a computer from the ground up, let alone setup BIOS for a first time.

Therefore, I have a couple of questions:
1. Will BIOS automatically detect some or most settings?
2. How much of these to values will need adjustment based on your recommendations?

This will be my build:
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L MOTHERBOARD
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor 2.4GHz (no OC'ing for me)
Corsair CMPSU-520HX 520W PSU
GeIL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400): 4-4-4-12
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[EvixKeth]

Rocky, I have the same board and processor as you do, and for stock speeds, you shouldn't have to change a thing. Mine boot up on the first try when I built it, and all the speeds were set right.

 

[Regalk]

Bios will automatically detect based on the "SPD" timing in the chips from the OEM . However OCZ. Corsair, Crucial , Patriot and others have set the SPD for "binned" chips (hope that is the right term) to higher than spec by bumping the voltage up and adding heatsinks for the extra heat. Therefore BIOS cannot detect those souped up settings so you have to increase the voltage and manually set as indicated by manufacturer.
e.g. 4 4 4 12. The other settings tRFC, tRRD, tWR, tWTR cabn be automatically set by BIOS but I would still watch this carefully since it may get too tight or just be too loose.
I always manually set then test with memtest for errors. When I get errors I back down one at a time.
So for example I have since changed my overclock to 338 X 9 (Orthos was just not running reliably at 400X 8). I was able to reduce the vcore down to 1.375 and memory multiplier at 845 4 4 4 13
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD) 2
Rank Write to READ Delay 2
Write to Precharge Delay 4
Refresh to ACT Delay 35
Read to Precharge Delay 6
tRD 7
So pretty timings at 845 with MUSHKIN HP

Update Nov 21, 2007
Have increased the FSB to 394 (I thought there was a FSB hole/strap maybe not)
Memory back to 5 5 5 18 3 3 6 42 6 7 for timings at 980 (X 2.50)
Ran memtest, 3dmark03/06, UT2004/NFS carbon and Crysis demos OK so far
and ran Orthos overnight looks good so far - vcore at 1.416
I am still messing around but 394FSB looks real good - will go a tad higher later (I know it fails orthos at 400)
Remember to save your last good overclocked settings as you play around - F11

 

[Rockymaru]

Thanks for the reply, guys. EvixKeth, hopefully you are right! That would save me a headache, or 2 lol! So what specific steps did you take once BIOS booted up? Did you mess w/ your RAM timings as Regalk speaks of? Or did you already move onto formatting your HDD's, then installing your OS? Is that basically it?

Also, should I have to worry about thermal grease? The Arctic Cooling unit I bought already has some applied, but am unsure about the CPU. Do they apply their own grease on the CPU or just the stock heatsink and fan? Would I need to wipe off the grease from either the Arctic Cooling unit or the CPU?

Regalk, yes, thank god I'm at least somewhat familiar w/ memory timings, as the 2GB DDR 3200 OCZ RAM I have now came underclocked, and I had to manually set the timings to what was listed as stock speeds (2-3-2-5....I think it came in at 2-3-3-5). But we'll see what happens down the line. Damn FedEx still hasn't shipped out my parts from the west coast yet, and I'm on the east coast!

 

[Rockymaru]

Hey there. Got everything installed the other night and runs smooth! CPU & Sys Idle around 31-35 C w/ everything on stock. Only thing I'm not seeing in BIOS (version F5) are the specific memory timings (CAS Latency Time 5
DRAM RAS# to CAS# 5, etc.). And under CPU-Z, it doesn't list any info for my Geil RAM, other than size (2048 MBytes). Would this fall under your "binned" chips? Regardless, how can I check my timings?

Much obliged for any help.

 

[jjz]

To see/set the memory timing you need to to use CTRL+F1 on the main bios screen
Rocky- why not try some overclocking and let us know how it goes- I have a near identical setup almost ready to go

 

[Regalk]

Originally posted by: Rockymaru
Thanks for the reply, guys. EvixKeth, hopefully you are right! That would save me a headache, or 2 lol! So what specific steps did you take once BIOS booted up? Did you mess w/ your RAM timings as Regalk speaks of? Or did you already move onto formatting your HDD's, then installing your OS? Is that basically it?

Also, should I have to worry about thermal grease? The Arctic Cooling unit I bought already has some applied, but am unsure about the CPU. Do they apply their own grease on the CPU or just the stock heatsink and fan? Would I need to wipe off the grease from either the Arctic Cooling unit or the CPU?

Regalk, yes, thank god I'm at least somewhat familiar w/ memory timings, as the 2GB DDR 3200 OCZ RAM I have now came underclocked, and I had to manually set the timings to what was listed as stock speeds (2-3-2-5....I think it came in at 2-3-3-5). But we'll see what happens down the line. Damn FedEx still hasn't shipped out my parts from the west coast yet, and I'm on the east coast!

Going back to these questions
a) Make sure your system is stable (default) before you are ready to install WinXP (I do not do this myself -being a hardcore I overclock from the getgo)
b) Thermal grease - I never use the grease/paste it comes with - always AS5
c)DDR 3200 - I hope this was a typo as I noticed in your later post. ONLY DDR2
d) Always read the overclocking guides and other posts when overclocking
Now back to mine - my memory timings at 394 X 8 and running mem X 2.5 are 5 5 5 16 4 3 6 42 4 7 AUTO in that order. +.02 for DDR volts and vcore just a bit below 1.425v

 

[Regalk]

But now looking ahead I am not too pleased with the Gigabyte's board and will be replacing with an ABIT IP35 very soon (in a week). I like hardcore stuff.
I just flashed to the new F6 bios in case you guys missed it - not much changed and the board now supports yorkfield and the newer cpus. Well the blinky system memory volts not optimized no longer blinks

 

[SerpentRoyal]

IP35 is now $120 @ MWAVE (rebate expired 11/30). IP35-E and IP35 Pro are being phased out in the US. All the local Fry's B&M stores are out of IP35-E.

 

[Regalk]

That is in the US. Here in Canada it is available at Directcanada.com. Just bought the IP35-E - I was thinking about the IP35 but changed my mind. I will be modifying the board in any event. The NB HS goes for a heatpipe version.
Already downloaded the latest bios. Got me a Q6600 as well so I want to see how far that sucker will go on this board.
Will test on the box first for a few days before it goes into my case.

 

[Rockymaru]

jjz, thanks for the tip! As I suspected, the RAM's timings were 5-5-5-15. I have sinced changed them to what I *THOUGHT* was the stock speed of 4-4-4-12. Ran mem test up to 900% (over an hour) and zero errors. So far so good!

 

[Regalk]

Originally posted by: Rockymaru
jjz, thanks for the tip! As I suspected, the RAM's timings were 5-5-5-15. I have sinced changed them to what I *THOUGHT* was the stock speed of 4-4-4-12. Ran mem test up to 900% (over an hour) and zero errors. So far so good!

Rocky it is a shame you do not want to do a little overclocking but the Quad is plenty fast at default.
I will have to wait until my Quad gets here by this week end to see what it has - I will try the GA-DS3L first to se e how far I can go then on to the Abit IP35-E

 

[GrantMeThePower]

Any changes to these tips if the chip is a e6750?

 

[tigersty1e]

Why are you running your SPD multi at 2.5 and not at 2.0?

 

[Regalk]

Originally posted by: GrantMeThePower
Any changes to these tips if the chip is a e6750?

No - probably want to try 400 X 8 right off the bat without a vcore bump

 

[jjz]

I got a nice quick overclock using this board- q6600 now running at 3.3 (9x367)- only had to up the vcore to 1.3375. I left the EIST and C1E enabled without trouble.

My only question is whether there are any advantages to changing the SATA options to native and/or AHCI?

 

[dropsofjupitor]

I have to admit that your post made me become a member a of these forums.
Lately I am getting this fever of overclocking and have searched the internet a few times. Mostly the information out there is confusing with tons of newbies like me trying overclocking and getting frustrated. One motherboard recommended by 20 odd people would be ripped apart by almost the same number of people some where else.
So in short a few days ago I bought GA-P35C-DS3R along with Q6700 processor. The rest I pulled off my old system. I don't know anything solid about overclocking so I just played with the motherboards automatic overclocking settings by enabling C.I.A.2 and choosing Turbo which I believe is something like 15% overclock. I turned off/disabled EIST and Intel speed step options in BIOS.
System booted and started Windows XP Professional smoothly. I then ran CPU-Z and Prime95 tests on all four cores. The system ran all night with processor running at 3.2Ghz at 320 Mhz FSB along with 4 instances of Prime95 without any glitch. I turned it off in the morning and came to work and then saw your posting. After reading your post I believe that you do know what you are doing and I want to overclock by manual settings. I really don't know what to ask right now but once I get home, I will try a few things differently and the will sure come up with a few questions. Right now just wanted to say that I am really excited about the overclocking prospects.

 

[dropsofjupitor]

I think I forgot to mention that it was the posting of Regalk that made me join these forums

 

[JAH]

I got a E6600 with this mobo, using the F7 BIOS (latest). Trying to overclock yet have max stability since I will be gving this PC to a non-technical person.

I noticed that the "High Speed Dram DLL Settings" option is no longer there in F7 BIOS. Must not be important?

Anyway, I overclocked my system to 3GHz (9x333 2.0 Multiplier) and got about 1000 points higher in 3DMark06 vs the default speed of 2.4GHz. However, both EVEREST and CPU-Z (in Vista 32bit) reported the CPU as having 6x multiplier (6x333 for 1998MHz) instead of 9x. I assumed this is just a bug?