Anyone try an Intel i5-2500K + GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3 build yet?

[soarwitheagles]

I recently built a i5-2500K + GA-P67A-UD3 system as well and am very happy with it so far.

I never overclocked any of my older systems, but Sandy Bridge seems to make it really easy to gain some extra performance without a lot of hassle.

This whole vdroop-issue doesnt seem to be very healthy for the CPU though, so I'm thinking about switching to another board.


Will there be a BIOS release which fixes that issue or should I look out for another board?

p1lot,

Welcome to Gigabyte forum and thank you for posting!  I am so glad to hear your system is working well for you.  Yes, the whole vdroop-issue appears to be more of a problem on the UD3 board than the other boards.  Dark Mantis would know much more than I on this issue as well as the BIOS updates.  You can count on him coming along and answering your questions.  He is really good at that!

Please keep us up to date on how you are coming along with that fantastic new build!

Soar

[soarwitheagles]

You're most welcome. I should say that I was only acting on Mantis' advice.

Pauleden,

Yes, DM is very good at providing good and accurate advice and the best part of all is that the advice is free all the time!

Can't beat that!

Soar

[Noodletoe]

Just an update.  After finally getting my new cooler, I have some temperature readings for those interested:
Stock CPU testing:
1. Stock CPU, stock cooler, ambient 20C
Idle: 25  Load: 56

2. Stock CPU, 212+ cooler
Idle: 25  Load: 45

Overclock testing:
3. CPU @ 3.5ghz, stock cooler (stock voltage)
Idle 30  Load 83 (yikes!)

4. CPU @ 4.0ghz, 212+ cooler (voltage at 1.275)
Idle 29-31  Load 52

I haven't bothered trying any faster than 4.0ghz, as I don't think there would be any noticable benefit for games beyond that point.
Cheers

[Dark Mantis]

Yes it just proves what we have always said that if you want to overclock you need a decent aftermarket cooler.

[soarwitheagles]

Just an update.  After finally getting my new cooler, I have some temperature readings for those interested:
Stock CPU testing:
1. Stock CPU, stock cooler, ambient 20C
Idle: 25  Load: 56

2. Stock CPU, 212+ cooler
Idle: 25  Load: 45

Overclock testing:
3. CPU @ 3.5ghz, stock cooler (stock voltage)
Idle 30  Load 83 (yikes!)

4. CPU @ 4.0ghz, 212+ cooler (voltage at 1.275)
Idle 29-31  Load 52

I haven't bothered trying any faster than 4.0ghz, as I don't think there would be any noticable benefit for games beyond that point.
Cheers

Noodletoe,

Thanks for posting your temps with corresponding CPU speeds and voltages.  I was pleasantly surprised that your Hyper 212+ had such good results at 4 GHz.  Kind of makes me wonder if I should go the Hyper 212+ route rather than the Corsair H70...

I have both CPU coolers on my desk and I keep trying to decide which way to go...

I lost a little confidence in the H70 after it sprung a leak...

Soar

[Noodletoe]

Thanks Soar.  It's been running perfect so far. 
It'd be a shame not to use the H70, but I know I couldn't do it unless I had 100% confidence it wasn't gonna leak again, costly risk.  If you're mainly concerned with the sound, I was very surprised the Hyper 212+ was not louder than it was.  My antec 900 case isn't a quiet case by any means, but the 212+ fan isn't any louder than my case fans (set to medium speed).  My previous cooler was a Freezer Pro 7 (for my E2180 @ 3.0ghz), and I could hear that fan over my case fans of the 900.  With the Hyper's high RPM fan, I think it will perform adequately with a decrease in speed if you needed to make it more quiet.  Also, I've read that some people are upgrading the hyper fan with a differenent two fan set-up running slower rpm, with better cooling, and even quieter.  Down the road I'd like to do this, but for now I'm very happy with the system noise level, including the 6870....
Note the 212+ installation could be easier, mostly due to a lack of detailed instructions, but it's not difficult.

[faizoff]

So has soar built his system yet or not? We're dying to hear from you soar.

[Dark Mantis]

No, I think he has been busy with his rebuild of his AMD system recently but hopefully now that is done he will get on with the Sandy Bridge build.