Gigabyte Budget Rig help for a novice please.

[Butchers]

Hi peeps i am just a novice so could really do with some help as google has been unable to uncover anything for me.

I have had the pc for 6 months and apart from some memory probs at first everything has been fine since getting new ram modules. Anyway the problem i am having now is my bios is telling me my cpu frequency something like 1.25ghz when it should be 2.50ghz i have adjusted it manually back to what it should be but when i restart the pc and try it just stays the same. i was recommended to clear the bios and set optimized defaults so i used the mobo manual and tried this but still no change! The confusing thing is though is that cpu-z shows everything to be running at is normal 2.50ghz.

My main components are:
GA-EP35-DS3L Rev 1.0 (F6)
Freezer Pro 7
Intel Dual Core E5200
2 x 2gb of OCZ2G8002G
Asus Radeon HD4850 512mb
Coolermaster 460W Psu

[Pottypete]

Hi,
start, my computer,right click propeties, near the bottom left, what does system properties recognise your chip at?
In bios  is the cpu Front side bus set correctly?, check it, don't forget to save and exit,
F6A bios are available here, http://drivers-download-driver.com/driver-gigabyte-ga-ep35-ds3l-bios-f6a/

[Butchers]

Thank you for the reply pete. Yeah funnily enough the fsb host control was underclocked at 100mhz instead of 100mhz. The crazy thing is i don't understand why and the pc hasn't seemed to be reacting any slower  Should i reflash the bios with that version you linked me to, its just that i thought that f6 was the latest version available. Lol this pc stuff can be so confusing sometimes 

[Pottypete]

Hi,
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2847
Check that this link refers to your mobo, bios are at 7c
Use the gigabyte utility tooll to update bios,
Take care when using this
If it is working ok now, consider this ( if it ain't broke, don't fix it) Don't update for the sake of it, unless the update sorts out the problem,
Lets know how you get on,
Regards

[Butchers]

Unfortunately pete the link on your last reply is a different mobo. Mine is the EP35 DS3L. It was recommended to me as being good for overclocking and feature packed mobo on a budget but i havent even had a chance to try oc'ing it yet as i am still reading up on how to do it and not fry anything lol but have read on many different forums about peeps having probs with this mobo. Its a shame really because it looks and feels like a quality product and have read lots of good things about gigabyte stuff so i like the product, i am just wondering if this is damaged at all in some way though i don't know how  ........... Its not booting up properly now, i restarted the system before and for some reason when restarting the whole thing powered down and then back up again but again all the bios settings had changed. i installed that bios you mentioned before too (f6a) via Qflash as i was told the @bios function is a little dodgy sometimes. I just don't know what to do??? If my system is running underclocked i won't be able to play my games....lol thats kind of depressing. ive had it for 6months now, do you think i would still be able to send it back to ebuyer for a new one??

[Butchers]

Thx For all your help thus far pete. I just have one more thing if anyone can help. My frequency has now resumed back to being 200mhz x 12.5 and stayed there so far. but now my ram won't stay fixed at 5-5-5-18 @ 1.9v which is what ocz say it should be.Instead when i set it to this and next restart the pc it powers off and then powers itself back up again accept in the bios the ram settings say 6-6-6-18 and bios shows ram volatage @ 1.92 volts Any idea why? some people have said maybe its the psu (coolermaster real power 460w) + should my voltage settings in the bios be set to manual/Normal or should have them set to Auto ?? Any help or advice would be much appreciated, thank you. 

 components are:
GA-EP35-DS3L Rev 1.0 (F6)
Freezer Pro 7
Intel Dual Core E5200
2 x 2gb of OCZ2G8002G
Asus Radeon HD4850 512mb
Coolermaster 460W Psu

[Pottypete]

Hi,
I unlink fsb in bios, and set memory timings to auto,  and memory voltage set to normal/auto
The extra tight setting never seem to give me any extra shove anyway
Download Cpuz run and it will give you all the gen you need,
Download Pi(e) here http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/ and run a few (1 million) places and check the time difference between memory settings
Regards

[Butchers]

Thanks alot pete. i don't know if you really are potty lol but you certainly are very helpful  I will try the things you have mentioned. As for setting the voltages should i just leave them all at normal or to auto??? i think if its set to auto then the bios/mobo sets the voltages automatically or to normal which i am told allows me to manually adjust them!! Some people have said it is better to let the mobo adjust them on auto but others have said not to incase it chooses to over volt  lol so much info but with so little knowledge myself its hard to know who is right lol oh and just one more question please. Last one i promise lol Do you think that my psu is able to provide enough power for my system i was told when i bought everything it was but im a little dubious!! My setup is as follows:

Main components:
GA-EP35-DS3L Rev 1.0 (F6)
Freezer Pro 7
Intel Dual Core E5200
2 x 2gb of OCZ2G8002G
Asus Radeon HD4850 512mb
Coolermaster 460W Psu

Extras: 1x 250gb Hdd 1x 300gb Hdd
             2x Dvd rw
             2x 120 mm Fans

I trust your opinion.

Many Thanks M8

[Pottypete]

Hui
There you go, just input your specs and it will give you some reccomendations,
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/
And the price difference bettween outputs are so small I would go for the biggest one I could afford, for future proofing for the next rig,
Better to have a big output psu running half output, than a small one running flat out,
Never believe the writing on the sticker regarding output, some manufacturers give the theoretical output, again Google
power requirements seem to be climbing all the time with advancing technoligy .
If your not sure about settings for voltages, plump for auto every time, as you get more experienced tinkering you can tinker,
If it ends up mamaries vertical you can always switch it off, And start again
With cpu  thermal throttling turned on, you got to do something really drastic to get a puff of blue smoke,
Google really is your friend, measure twice, cut once is the best motto
And since enering retirment i'm having my second childhood, HaHa
Have fun

[Butchers]

Thanks for eveything Pete. And congrats on the child lol thats awsome news. sorry for bugging you so much and all i can say is you help and info has been invaluable to me. If i were not a poor man i would thank you with many riches lol. Thanks again m8y for providing such a helpful service bbfn 

[Pottypete]

Hi,
What PSU did you get?
What was the reccommended output from the calculator?
It don't cost nothing to ASK,
If you had £80,000,000, would you make 80,000.000 happy,  http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,355.0.html
Regards
Pete

[Butchers]

Hi Pete, I currently have a coolermaster extreme power 460w (RS-460-PCAP-A3) psu. was told it should be more than good enough for my setup and tbh when i tried that thermaltake link and put everything into the calculator and it gave me 349w and that is with a theoretical 3ghz oc (that is what i would have liked to achieve overall lol) so im guessing what i have is powerful enough. Lol i tried setting all voltages to auto system seemed ok for a little while then i tried to adjust the the ram tRFC as i read online that this can speed up response times of the ram a little. but when i tried to restart this system it poered up and down a couple of times and then rebooted with the settings changed. Again though when i went into the bios all the cpu frequency and host fsb speeds were skew-iff again so i have cleared the cmos again and started over with optimized defaults. The missus is starting to lose patience now though and thinking all this pc building lark is a waste of time  Tho its a big learning curve for me and an experience i wanted to try for a long time. Yeah 80 million would be nice right about now i think i don't think i would give it all away i would deffo hold a mill back to buy a proper nice pc with and awsome internet connection lol the rest i would probably have to discuss with me partner what to do with 

[Pottypete]

Hi,
Getting your hands dirty (with a little help) is I find the best way to learn in at the deep end
Regarding to 80 mil, forgot to say keep mil for myself
Biulding a rig like this and gold plating it you mean,http://www.amateurscientist.org/2008/06/ibm-builds-military-super-computer.html
My dad allways said if it got t+ts wheels or wires it wll cause problems  just got a slap for that from missus,
Just for interest run task manager whilst running your most resourse hungry programs and see how little your cpu and memory is being used,
Regards
( my keyboard ain't spelling very good this morning )

[Butchers]

Ok pete i will try that. would a stress test like orthos or occt be good enough?
 
Well i did have some reservations previously that maybe the memory (2 x 2gb of OCZ2G8002G) was causing the problems so i decided to clear the cmos again this morning and change the memory for 2 smaller modules (2 x 1gb of OCZ2P8002GK) Unfortunately even though the ram was detected fine and with faster timings than the previous ram, when i went into the bios to update the time and date and then to save and exit cmos i found that the keyboard was no longer responding, so i was unable to make the changes and reboot the pc as per usual i took the connector out of the serial port and tried all the usb ports and the keyboard still wouldn't respond. it was like the bios had crashed or something. This is the 3rd time this has happened now when i have been trying to save changes in the bios. lol im running out of options to try and get this board to run properly lol plus my ears are getting sore from the missus moaning lol i can't help feeling like its broken somewhere and because i have had it a few months i don't think ebuyer will take it back or change it   

[Pottypete]

Hi,
Don't despair m8,
Do remove the power supply lead, when you remove the cmos battery, and put jumper on pins,
leave for a fag and tea,
Down load mem test here, burn to cd, and reset boot to cd, run for a few hours and any memory errors will be shown, but you got to get into bios first
You could have a duff cmos battery, should be 3.0+volts, rare on a newish board, but hey
You may have to use a ps/2 keyboard and mouse instead of a usb one!!!!
If all else fails you MAY have a dodgey mobo and have to RMA it with ebuyer,  (there is a 3 year warranty on the mobo),They are very good, I bought a lot of gear from them, ring them and have a chat,
Or request an rma from gygabyte uk, cost you a tenner for return p/p, Quicker return as well
Tis difficult to rectify some faults over the web,
But hey we've learnt a lot,
And tell your partner your repairing it yourself to save the dosh for some new shoes for her , (duck incoming)