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Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with AMD processors => Topic started by: Edo on September 10, 2011, 05:38:52 pm

Title: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: Edo on September 10, 2011, 05:38:52 pm
At the moment my CPU voltage stands at 1.46 V and the allowed is 0.85-1.40.Now.the reason I want to undervolt it is because I want to decrease it's power usage and most importantly heat which will of course decrease it's temperature.My old motherboard Gigabyte M61PME-S2 and it's BIOS F5B do not have that option and that's why I want to use software to do this.
Title: Re: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: Dark Mantis on September 10, 2011, 05:43:01 pm
Hi

A good idea and something more people tend to do nowadays.  Absic is the one to speak to about this as I know he undervolts his CPUs very successfully. There is no reason why you shouldn't do it and you need to approach it in the same way as you would if overclocking.
Title: Re: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: Edo on September 10, 2011, 06:00:54 pm
OK,thanks I'll wait for his reply.
Title: Re: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: absic on September 10, 2011, 08:40:48 pm
Hi Edo,

This might be a little tricky as your motherboard is now quite old and if I remember correctly doesn't allow you to manually change any of the voltage settings. It might be worth while checking in BIOS just to make sure that this feature hasn't been added.

Also, the only software that I can think of that might allow you to undervolt would be Gigayte's EasyTune software but, once again, memory fails me on this and I'm not sure that the version of EasyTune (5 that you can download from here: http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2755&dl=1#utility ) will actually work for this. I know EasyTune6 does but I don't think you can run this version with your motherboard.

My best advice would be to download and install EasyTune5 from the above link and then see if that will give you any control over the voltage.  When yo uinstall EasyTune you have to reboot your PC then click on teh Icon to start the programme. You may think that nothing has happened and that it is not working but you then need to click on the EasyTune Icon in the Notification Area of the Taskbar (near the clock) to actually open it up and to make adjustments.
Title: Re: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: Edo on September 10, 2011, 08:46:14 pm
Ok, thanks and no my motherboard Bios does not have the option for voltage adjustments.
Title: Re: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: Edo on September 10, 2011, 09:13:31 pm
Ok,installed Easy Tune 5 rebooted my PC,it tries to open the program but fails(not even the icon in the toolbar),installed Easy Tune 6 rebooted and it opens the program but the tuner option is grayed out.
Title: Re: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: absic on September 11, 2011, 10:15:08 am
Hi Edo,

I was afraid of that. As the BIOS has no voltage control features I did think that you might have a problem and I was hoping that EasyTune might allow you access but obviously, it doesn't.

I'm really not sure of the best way to move forward on this and I can not think of any software programme that will allow you to drop the voltage on the CPU with your current setup.

The only thing I can think of is for you to contact Gigabyte Tech Support via this link: http://uk.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/technical-support.aspx explain your problem and see if they can help you out with a bespoke BIOS, which is the only thing I can think of that will allow you to gain control of voltages. But, don't hold your breath as it may not be possible for them to do this.
Title: Re: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: Edo on September 11, 2011, 11:13:41 am
Ok,thanks for your effort,I will try that and hope for the best.
Title: Re: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: Edo on September 12, 2011, 09:10:05 am
Problem solved  :D!!!All I had to to is to update AMD processor driver and now CnQ is working as it should and CPU voltage is fluctuating  between 1.17-1.46 V and not 1.46 all the time(yesterday even 1.47)and the cores temperatures are 6-8 degrees lower which helps a lot.I just hope that it does not decrease CPU's performance while under load.Just did a few tests with FRAPS and it is somewhat decreasing it's performance,depending on which game I play 10-15 % :( .
Title: Re: Undervolting software for Athlon II X3 455 CPU ?
Post by: absic on September 12, 2011, 10:16:15 am
Hi Edo,

pleased you seem to have cured the Voltage problem and I have to say that I never even considered the CPU Driver as a possible cause. I guess that is because I have never had to do this on my own system.