Gigabyte GA-EP45T-Extreme Motherboard Review

Overclocking Results

We are always evolving here at Hardware Canucks and the plethora of motherboards and memory kits had led us to turn the overclocking section into a memory compatibility & overclocking section. Today we will be testing XMP compatibility of not only a 2x1GB kit of DDR3 performance memory, but also a 2x2GB kit of performance memory as well. Of course there will still be FSB and CPU overclocking but let’s start with the memory.

2x1GB XMP Memory Stability Testing

Our XMP capable Corsair Dominator 2x1GB PC3-14400 (TWIN3X2048-1800C7DFIN) had no problem running the XMP profile with full stability. There is, however, a major influence for this we believe. The XMP profile sets an unruly 2.06v for vDIMM which equates to an actual 2.10v going to the memory. This is not only completely un-necessary as manually lowering the voltage to 2.0v actual provided the screenshot above, it is also potentially harmful to the memory and needs to be rectified promptly. XMP profiles are suppose to adjust settings to what the memory manufacturer designates, and a 0.10v over-volt is not likely something Corsair wants to see.

2x2GB XMP Memory Stability Testing

The powerful Mushkin Ascent 2x2GB PC3-12800 is up next and after having some issues with this kit running XMP profiles in the Rampage Extreme, this was more of a test of the memory than the motherboard. Thankfully the Mushkin Ascent we have on hand appears to be working just fine and had no issues with the GA-EP45T-Extreme. Again, we ran into the situation of a perfect 0.10v over-volt from what is designated by Mushkin and manually lowering the voltage to the specified 1.90v led to no instability issues. What is troublesome is not only the fact that the motherboard over-volts 0.04v from what is chosen in the BIOS, but the GA-EP45T-Extreme was not picking up the XMP specified voltages correctly. We will discuss this further in the voltage regulation section.

Maximum Memory Stability Overclocking

The honeymoon with memory overclocking ended quickly after running the XMP stability tests. Essentially, we couldn't get the Corsair Dominator 2x1GB PC3-14400 to overclock much past their XMP profiles at CL7. We then tried at 8-8-8, and we got pretty much nowhere. At 940MHz 8-8-8 with 2.1v, we could get Prime95 Blend and the rest of the stability testing to run no problem but when HCI Memtest fired up, we would receive blue screens within the first 20 minutes of running. All of the memory results were with the F3B BIOS as the previously publically available F2 BIOS (now the F3A BIOS is available) wouldn't run any memory at even 800MHz. Clearly the P45 chipset and the GA-EP45T-Extreme are not quite ready for the realm of high-speed memory, so before you go out and buy a performance kit to match up with this board, you will want to check the forums to see what kits are not having problems running spec. Hopefully this is something that future updates will alleviate. The other issue was that we found our memory to require higher voltage for the clocks it could run than other boards. This turned out to be something of a trend for this motherboard.

FSB Stability Overclocking

The FSB stability overclocking was quite impressive with our sample easily reaching 550MHz Front Side Bus, but as mentioned, at a cost to ridiculously high voltages. For those unaware, leaving voltages on AUTO and increasing the FSB will set absurdly high vPLL, and vFSB (VTT). For our 550FSB stable screenshot above, they are at 1.86v and 1.60v respectively. Both of those voltage levels have been presumed to kill CPUs within a matter of weeks. With the P45 chipset, this doesn't appear to be the case, but the long term effects over months of 24/7 exposure to these voltages is yet to be determined. Some users have claimed high FSB clocking with much lower vPLL, and VTT voltages mentioning the right combination was the key. After spending several days, endless hours, and countless blue screens, our results reflect the best we could manage. In the end, the AUTO setting allowed the highest FSB clocking, but at the expense of very high voltages.

Overall Stability Overclocking

To be truthfully honest, despite some of the relatively high results we have shown, we were quite disappointed with the overclocking of this motherboard...sort of. From memory clocks that are pitiful with the Micron based memory we used, to CPU clocks that require up to 0.10v more for certain frequencies than all other boards the CPUs have been tested in, to FSB clocks that require downright rude levels of some voltages, the EP45T-Extreme has a drawback for almost everything it does positively in the overclocking section. We have to keep in mind that our overclocking needs are in the upper end of the market, as in, we demand more for overclocking out of a motherboard than 99% of the market. With that said, however, this is a board advertised as Extreme and comes with a hefty price tag. Capable BIOSs at launch should be at least expected. As of last week, the F2 BIOS is the only one available from the Gigabyte web site, and with F2; XMP memory profiles for any kit we tested would not run. How is average joe suppose to run his memory at spec when the only BIOS available doesn't have the ability to run even 800MHz XMP memory? Luckily though, the F3A BIOS was posted live not too long ago.