Could someone help me out with a motherboard question please


  1. Posts : 6,075
    Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
       #1

    Could someone help me out with a motherboard question please


    Hi all ,

    This is proberly going to sound like a stupid question but I could do with some clarification on this as I am going to order a new motherboard seeing as my current one wont let me overclock.

    I had a dual core cpu which I overclocked nicely , but the new cpu seems to be a bit of a bad egg in the quad core department. Its a Q8300 and the fsb is 1333.

    Now this is where I need some help,

    As I understand it , my motherboard is only rated to 1333 fsb so am I correct in thinking that's why I can't overclock?

    The motherboard is a Matx G41 , I have been looking around and it appears all G41's are 1333 fsb max.

    However G31's are upto 1600 in OC which it states in their descriptions.

    So am I right in thinking if I get a G31 Matx then provided the bios has the facilities then I should be fine to overclock with it?

    Not wanting to overclock loads , just beef it up a little.


    Oh and any recommendations for a G31 Matx if that is what I need?


    Thanks in advance

    Paul.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,496
    7 Ultimate x64
       #2

    You can always overclock by upping the fsp and keep the RAM at 1333 by using a divider. Can you could link to the board for a more definitive answer?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 6,075
    Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Hi Fumz,

    Not quite sure I understand what you mean.

    The ram I have in is 800mhz

    The problem is with the motherboard I have at the moment - Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L G41 Socket 775 VGA 8 Channel.. | Ebuyer.com won't let me clock the Q8300 at all.

    Well there is a bit more of a story behind it if you don't mind me going into detail...

    Its a bit of a strange one so bear with me,

    The system started off bog standard with the motherboard listed above , an E3300 dual core and an 8600gt gpu.

    With that setup I was able to overclock til my heart was content

    Then for a short while I put a geforce g210 gpu in it and it wouldn't let me overclock at all even by 1mhz

    I put it down to the graphics card and soon after got a nice new HD 5850 and to go with it I got a new 700 watt psu , the Q8300 , an artic cooler 7 and 4 gig of OCZ titanium memory.

    Once that was all installed and running I tried a small overclock and it wouldn't overclock at all again even by 1mhz which totally baffled me.

    So I removed the GPU and used the build in graphics and it let me overclock the Q8300 but only by about 50mhz before I hit a wall and it wouldn't boot into windows.

    Tried the old E3300 with the new graphics , same problem no overclock at all.

    Must be the motherboard right?

    Here is the G31 version of the motherboard I have at the moment - Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L iG31 Socket 775 onboard VGA 7.1.. | Ebuyer.com Dirt cheap , but states 1600 OC for the fsb and has the same bios overclocking features as my current one.

    What do you recon.

    Sorry for the long one lol
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 6,075
    Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Ok think I have found the answer , been searching all over the web and found someone with the same cpu and the new motherboard I am looking at , says he has cheap ram in it which mine is not and he has managed to overclock to 3.2 on the stock cooler which again mine is not.

    So hopefully that will do the job til I can afford a nice full size atx and a nice case.

    Just ordered the motherboard so will let you know how I get on.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1,496
    7 Ultimate x64
       #5

    Granted, I didn't look very hard, or very long, but these guys seem to reaffirm what you've already reported: the board can and does overclock well. GIGABYTE GA-G41M-ES2L overclock - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net

    Your gpu has no effect on your overclock; at least it should not. Perhaps all you need to do is lock the pci-e lane in at 100hz? Perhaps this has nothing to do with why you can't clock up, which is most likely the case.

    RAM too should not hinder your OC, as long as you're also using a proper divider to make sure that after you increase your fsb, your RAM still runs at 800MHz.

    Have you updated your bios, or are you using the bios the board shipped with? There's an updated bios dated June 2, 2010 you might consider: GA-G41M-ES2L (rev. 1.0) - GIGABYTE - Support&Download - Motherboard - BIOS
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 6,075
    Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Hi again Fumz,

    And many thanks for taking the time to look into this for me.

    I think I have tried pretty much everything which I should have mentioned before.

    In the link they mentioned the usb devices thing , I tried that a while back but same problem.

    I also locked the pci at 100mhz a while back.

    And also made sure the memory is at 800 after any overclock.

    Perhaps I just have a bad board.

    Only thing I haven't tried is the latest bios which I will certainly try now seeing as I have a new board on the way if it goes wrong lol.

    Thanks again

    Paul.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 1,496
    7 Ultimate x64
       #7

    Hi paulpicks,

    Yeah, I got the sense you already knew what you're doing, so I was leery about posting obvious factors... my apologies.

    About the only thing I can think of would be to update the bios. Support for your newer cpu is probably the only thing getting in your way? Yeah, the board "could" be bad, but since you've already proven it to be a good clocker, that's unlikely.

    Hope things turn out well with the new board though. :)
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6,075
    Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Cheers mate ,

    Downloaded the new bios and stuck it on a freshly formatted stick , but for some reason the qflash in the bios isn't finding the stick or file , checked all the settings in the bios and it should be finding it but its not.

    I think I will give up on this board lol.

    Ordered the new one just before 10pm uk time , will be delivered to my work place tomorrow , can't beat that for fast delivery eh!

    Will fit the new one tomorrow night and hopefully post back with good news.


    Paul.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 6,075
    Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Ok update for ya...

    Got the new motherboard , whacked it in earlier and oh yes its all sorted!!!

    Now clocked from 2.5ghz to 3.1 safely , I am happy at that , seems the cpu was bottlenecking the gpu a fair bit at 2.5 also.

    I use a program called passmark performance test to measure any changes.

    Before the OC with the new motherboard , the CPU scored 4100 , it now scores 5000
    the gpu scored 2100 , it now scores 2500 , memory is up from 1000 to 1250 and the overall system score is up from 1600 to 1980

    Cant be bad!


    Cheers

    Paul.
      My Computer


 

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