Gigabyte H61m and i3-2100 voltage

swell9

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Hey
I have a questions about the gigabyte gigabyte h61m-d2p-b3 regarding voltages.
What should the voltages be set to when using Intel i3-2100 on this board?
I am also using 1.65v memory, what are the correct voltage settings?
There seems to be alot more voltage options in this MOBO bios than I am used to!

Thank you.
 
Solution


If you are stressing this system over an hour with prime95, your components are almost certainly fine, it's just fine tuning the system.
Take a gander at the posts and instructions on using prime95, like setting the advanced round off checking, etc.

Take a look in your BIOS at the Vcore voltage (choices up to where gigabyte lists it as Red). I think but am not positive the Vcore of your CPU can go to a max of...

swell9

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Thanks for the reply. The mobo is set to auto
But is there a documented value for the i3-2100?
I am asking because the system freezes randomly sometimes and a hard reset is all I can do.
 

John_VanKirk

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Hello,
There are a lot more voltage and frequency choices on the newer MB's. Intermittant freezing of your new system is probably RAM related, but could be the video, or other things. To answer your question, yes there are max voltages for your CPU, QPI, Mem Controller, PCH, and RAM, they are inter-related, and are limited to pretty much the temperatures generated by the CPU, RAM, PCH when overclocking.

First things first, what OS are you using, RAM make, model, size, PSU and are you using the onboard video or have a separate video card?

Next take a look in the BIOS on the MIT page to make sure the CPU temperature is OK. Any of the BIOS settings changed, or are they left on Auto? There are 8 items on that page, starting with BIOS ver, ending with DRAM voltage. Please list those for us.
That'll give us some good information to begin tracking down the culprit.

 

swell9

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Thanks for the followup John.
Here are my specs:
Windows 7 32-bit
Intel i3-2100
Patriot Sector 5 2x2GB DDr3-1333 CL 9-9-9-24 (MODEL PGV34G1333ELK)
Powercolor Gaming 600W PSU
Powercolro Radeon 5770 1GB

I do not currently have access to the mobo MIT page, but will give you the voltages as soon as I can. AFAIR everything was set to auto and I didn't change anything.

P.S. It might be obvious but this is a custom built PC. :)

Thanks for the help.
 

John_VanKirk

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Check the voltages and temps when you have a chance. Being a custom built rig, could they have overclocked it for gaming?

Since you are running Win-7, it has a Memory Diagnostics program built in the Recovery Environment, which is worth trying
Next time you boot up, just after the splash screen, click F8 to get to Advanced Boot Options where it says 'repair your computer', choose 'system recovery options' (logon as administrator) and the Memory Diagnositics. Choose the extended 17 test and runs 2 passes, next time your boot up.
See if that comes up with any answers.

Other thing to do is to go to the Event Viewer, and under Custom Views, Administrative Events, see if any Critical Errors were recorded there at the time when you had the freeze up.
 

swell9

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The temps are all fine... nothing high.
Here are the voltages and clock speeds.
Also, when I said custom built I meant I built it myself. Sorry! And so it has not being overclocked.

BIOS Ver. : F5
BCLK : 99.80 MHz
CPU Freq. : 3093.82 MHz
Memory Freq. : 1330.78 MHz
Total Memo. Size : 4096 MB
CPU Temp. : 36.0 C
Vcore : 1.164 V
DRAM Volt. : 1.512 V


I will also try and look in the event viewer and run memory diagnosis.
Thanks again.
 

John_VanKirk

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I think you have found the solution for those intermittant freezes
Agree with spooky 100% about adjusting the voltage to you RAM chips.

Your RAM chips are supposed to have 1.65V as per their spec sheet, which is fine.
The newer board you have has the default DRAM voltage at 1.5V which is in line with the Intel specs for the 1155 CPUs.

An easy way is to go to your Adv Mem Settings in the BIOS (from MIT) and see if there is a choice for SPD (system presence detect), which would set the DRAM parameters to their specs, not the MB.

If not, then set the settings to 9-9-9-24 (which they should alread be at) but the voltage to 1.65 or slightly lower.

Then your DRAM will thank you, and hopefully no more coughing!
 

swell9

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Hello,

I set the voltage to 1.64V (as there is no option for 1.65v) and still get the freezes. I could not found the system presence detect option either.

I tried looking into the event viewer for the cause but all it said "Critical Error: Power failure". That's because the only thing I can do when the system freezes it disconnect it from the power outlet and restart again.

Any help is greatly appreciated...
 

John_VanKirk

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Hi again,

Were you able to set the timings at 9-9-9-24? It may be you have to set each individually, so double check.
The 1.64 V is fine.

Might also check the settings to make sure it does say DRAM 1.64 V.

CPU Freq. : 3093.82 MHz
Memory Freq. : 1330.78 MHz
Total Memo. Size : 4096 MB
CPU Temp. : 36.0 C
Vcore : 1.164 V
DRAM Volt. : 1.512 V

Go to your BIOS, and on the CMOS Setup Page in the Performance Enhancement, for now set it at Standard
Then on the CMOS Setup Page, check the SPD is on Auto, or see what other choices you have,
Then further down, in the DRAM timing, make sure the timings are
CAS = 9
tRCD = 9
tRP = 9
tRAS = 24

You BIOS pages show 8-8-8-24, but that may just be generic.

With the DVD Installation disk, start it and run the Memory Diagnostics to see if there is a RAM problem, now that you are at the standard voltage.

See if there are any corrections that need be made

 

swell9

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Yes, the timings are set to 9-9-9-24 automatically. Are you asking me to set them to these numbers manually?
Also, the voltage value that I changed is the DRAM voltage. However, I have never been able to monitor whether the RAM sticks are actually getting that much voltage. I tried Everst Ultimate Edition, CPUz, but couldn't see any DRAM voltage values.

One thing might be worth mentioning. I sometimes noticed (through CPUz) that the CPU is overclocking on its own. Not much clock increase but it reached ~3200Mhz which is a 100Mhz overclock from the 3.1Ghz for i3-2100 if I am not mistaken. So I don't know if that's significant or not.

I will try to set Performance Enhancement to Standard, and look for the SPD option. But If I recall correctly, I think I tried setting it to standard a couple of days ago and still got the freezes.

Thanks again for the help.
 

swell9

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Yes, As of now I did all the tweaks I could and I acutally found the SPD option. The memory is now set to its 1333Mhz speed too.

I will give it a run of a few days and get back at you if anything occurs.

Thanks so much for the help.
 

swell9

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Hey,

After setting the voltage to slightly higher than 1.65V, and raising the vCore and PCH voltages a tiny bit I was able to run the games for longer periods but, in the end, the system still froze.

I tried testing with one RAM stick and it didn't crash. Although I didn't test it for extensive periods of time.
I also swtiched RAM slots and still experienced the same issue.

Prime95 and Memtest used to freezes within a few minutes but now they take a good couple of hours (after the voltage adjustments mentioned above). The freezes still occur though and I would like to know where the problem is.

I tried a different power supply but didn't get different results.

I really don't know what else to do :S

Thanks for the help.
 

John_VanKirk

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When we set up a system for overclocking, there is a specific sequence you folloow, maxing out one component first, then backing off slightly, then maxing out the next component, backing off slightly etc. You are making progress, and still need a little 'practice' to make perfect here.

Next step, I would download Memtest 86+ from their website as the iso file, burn it to a CD or miniCD with your Win-7 "burn to" context menu choice, place your DVD first in boot order temporarily, and run the high intensity memtest program for a longer time than the last freeze. That way, if you don't have any memory problem, we'll know the RAM and memory controller are set optimally, and to concentrate on adjusting the the BCLK freq or CPU voltage.

I know it's a pain, but once you get it set properly, you'll be good to go.
 

swell9

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Hey John,

I have actually been running Memtest from a DVD since my previous post. And to my suprise it didnt freeze. As of right now, it has been almost 14 hours of memory testing and the process is still going! Memtest states 15 passes has been made with 0 errors.

The only different thing that I know of is that my USB mouse is not connect to the PC anymore, whereas in all the previous test runs it was connected.

I am starting to suspect that it is not a voltage issue anymore. I have heared that some people have USB devices causing such freezes. I tried to look for more information and Memtest suggested that USB legacy support should be disabled. During this 14 hour run, I never disabled USB legacy support, although I can see that not having any USB devices connected is probably an equivalent of that.

Do you, perhaps, have more information on this issue or on a fix? Do you think that turning off USB legacy support will fix the freezes in Windows envrionment as well? Because as you may know Memtest runs from DOS. I might try that and report back.

EDIT: I will actually connect a usb mouse and see if the freezes come back. This way I know for sure if it is the USB mouse causing the trouble.
 

John_VanKirk

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I leave my USB legacy enabled. That permits you to use the keyboard early like in the BIOS.

The nice thing about what you are doing with Memtest 86+ is you are only testing the memory. If OK, you know the two sticks function together properly, the voltage is OK, the memory controller is functioning OK. Then you can concentrate on other systems.

I also set the SATA ports to native mode so the OS can choose which IRQ's to set for the different components.

If the Mem is OK, then you can concentrate on optimizing the CPU voltage and possibly BCLK, and looking closely at the Video subsystem which can be problematic.
 

swell9

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Hi,
Ok, Memtest made about 8 passes without any errors. It turns out USB legacy must be turned off while running Memtest. However, the system still freezesz during Prime95 blend test.

I am currently running Prime95 small FFT to isolate a CPU problem if any.

Also, what do you mean by set the SATA ports to native mode? Where is that option? In BIOS, I know there is IDE and ACHI but never seen a "native" option.

EDIT: I don't see an option to change BCLK on this motherboard either.

Thanks
 

John_VanKirk

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Hi again,
Getting to know all the components of the BIOS is a real education!
Since you ran MemTest86 without errors, that's not the problem.
The Prime95 stresses the CPU, so it just may require a slight voltage adjustment in the BIOS. Might look at the Vcore and DMI and Mem controller voltages.
Most of the time, when you adjust say the Vcore, Gigabyte gives you safe ranges, then alert ranges in red where you don't want to go.

In the CMOS setting setup check that the Mem SPD is set to auto
In the Adv Freq settings, the BCLK should be there, under Adv CPU Core Features. To know about, not to change now.
In the Integrated Peripherals, the SATA Port 0-1 Native Mode should be Native
In Power Management, the HPET should be your OS bit, either 32 or 64 bit.

The point about the BIOS setting information in the Gigabyte manual, is it's all there, just hard to follow at times because of the translation inconsistencies! Each component is important to know about, each just takes searching MS or Google or Wikipedia for info.
 

swell9

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Hey,
I just finished running the small FFT test on Prime95 with no errors/freezes ( it has been 4 hours of testing). I will now run blend test and report back with the results.

Also, in this motherboard, Gigabyte seems to have implemented a more dynamic vcore adjustment tool. i.e I do not set the vCore voltage per se, instead I can change a "Dynamic vCore" number that allows the vCore to increase by that value. For example +0.01v, allows that much increment to the "normal" voltage. That being said these values are not "red color coded", although the memory voltage settings are.

My mem SPD was set to 1333MHZ by myself, should I set it back to auto? And I still couldn't find the BCLK frequency change option under Adv CPU features, only an option to change the multiplier. In regards to the other settings, SATA mode and HPET were already correctly set up at native and 32-bit respectively.

Against thank so much for providing useful advice.
 

John_VanKirk

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The SPD RAM freq of 1333 is great! The memory you've checked out, so you wouldn't want to make any changes to it.
Check on your CPU model # and Vcore voltage, so we can look up the specs on it.
Other thing, is to check on the PC Health page in the BIOS for your BIOS version. The gigabyte says the latest it F5. If you don't have a reasonably recent BIOS ver, might consider updating that.
 

swell9

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I was not able to run blend test on Prime95. Froze within 70 minutes.
The CPU is intel i3-2100 Part #:BX80623I32100

And, yes BIOS states that F5 is the installed version.
 

John_VanKirk

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When you run the small FFT in Prime95 you are really stressing the CPU. The Custom or blend test, checks everything, CPU, RAM, PCH, Temps. Wonder if the CPU or PCH are getting hot. Doubt very much if there is a problem with the CPU.

If you haven't checked, RealTemp or CoreTemp64 are low level programs to check system core temperatures while stressing.
 

swell9

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RealTemp reports ~50 during prime95 blend test. So I don't think temps are a problem here.

What's the problem then?
Memtest => passes => no memory error
small FFT => passes => no CPU error

could it be a defective motherboard? Although I see myself being really really unlucky to have purchase a defective mobo by chance.