Please help! E P I C F A I L

[Pixelsmack]

So I bought this decent Gigabyte motherboard and Q9300 quad Core a while back. Without having to spend lots of cash I was hoping to squeeze some more love out of it to help the latest games. I recently upgraded my 8800GT to a GTX260-216, love it!

The motherboard box has big logos on it; how easy it is to overclock. And most websites have revealed taking Core 2 Quads up 500mhz is no big deal even on stock cooling. (I'd like to see 3ghz from my 2.5ghz)

So where am I going wrong? Even using the mboards on-board "OC-for-Dummys" it just locks even at small OC ammounts; won't post. Is it my ram? I bought good DDR2-800 Corsair ram. Do I need to buy ram that is clocked for my desired destination overclock? Like 1200mhz DDR2?

Any help is appreciated. My sig has my specs but my mboard is a Gigabyte EP-35C-DSR.

[crainger]

Have you grabbed the newest BIOS? My sisters Gigabyte was an terrible mess until I grabbed the latest BIOS and it's been rock solid since.

[Pixelsmack]

Yes, it's all up to date.

[iflop]

Maybe your ram timings are too tight. Did you set them manually?

[SLippe]

Take a look here; http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/

Also, make sure your updated BIOS isn't a Beta version.

[Pixelsmack]

I'll check this out, thanks. But do I need to get faster ram? I want to make sure that's not the issue. I have 800mhz CORSAIR DDR2...and am thinking in order to OC I need to haver faster ram.

[Feyy]

Remember you have 4GB, loosen timings alot at first.

Also downclock the modules alot at first.

Then keep pushing till you reach a sweetspot.

[bacon12]

I had stability issues with that board and my e8400, never could get decent stable clocks from the cpu with it. My asus however will take the same cpu to 4ghz.

[ASUSEN7900GTX]

i have a little question
i have a Gigabyte Ga-EX38 DS4 no bios update as of yet bought it together with my Q9450 adn HD4870 well you know.

so is this motherboard a hard case as well if i am to ever OC?

if i do i might get the scythe zipang as it is a very good cooler and fits in my P190 i can´t fit the true since the giant fan inside the side plate

so are all gigabyte motherboards har d to deal with compared to asus?

[mailman2]

Taking a quad to 500 Mhz isn't easy. I've never had one that liked going much over 450Mhz. The Q9300 is not a great clocker because the multiplier is so low.

Also, Gigabyte boards have more vdroop than most boards I've ever used, I stick with ASUS due to the Load Line Calibration feature - and easy pencil mod for vdroop. This eliminates the droop (or drop in vcore) during load which is a huge reason for instability.

You also didn't mention your cooling. I'm using high end custom water and the still one of hardest parts of overclocking a quad is controlling the heat. You might have seen some of the skilled quad overclocking reviews that put forth a misconception that it's easier than it really is. Hitting 500Mhz FSB is no easy feat though.

[ASUSEN7900GTX]

well i guess overklocking a dual core is way easier than a quad?

so a E8600+some P45 ASUS board si the better option to OC?

[mailman2]

Originally Posted by ASUSEN7900GTX

well i guess overklocking a dual core is way easier than a quad?

so a E8600+some P45 ASUS board si the better option to OC?

I had an E0 8600 @ 4.6Ghz, but my Quad @ 3.7Ghz was faster in games that took advantage of more cores, which are alot now. And with GTA IV coming I wasn't about to sacrifice any performance. Rockstar is suggesting a quad for GTA 4. Quad is a better all around CPU, but a dual will let you OC further. Do you want to be better off in the future or just have a bigger e-peen now to flaunt? I opted to go back to the better choice all around than the 4.6Ghz e-peen.

If you are looking for a cheap option to OC that quad...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813131182R