maf718 wrote:Hi, does the BIOS of the G31 have any options for changing the memory multiplier at all? If it does it doesn't make sense that it doesn't allow 1:1. For my P35 (which I guess is the same family as the G31) you need to set the System Memory Multiplier to 2.00 to achieve a 1:1 ratio, which is not exactly intuitive.
Yes, all motherboards I've tried have at least offered 2:3 (DDR2 533), 3:5 (DDR2 667) and 1:2 (DDR2 800) ratios for 800 FSB CPUs. Only my Abit IP35-E offered 1:1 (DDR2 400) for those CPUs.
I did the BSEL mod to get the E5200 to boot at FSB 1066 (267MHz). What the BIOS now reported about clockspeeds was wrong, but it did give me 1:1 as the lowest memory ratio. I was able to boot up to 6x350MHz, but 6x355MHz didn't boot. The CPU should work fine a 6x400MHz = 2.4GHz is actually slower than the stock clockspeed (2.5GHz). I did notice that Gigabyte didn't mention FSB 1600 compatibility on the box, but they do claim support on their website.
I am pretty disappointed in the Gigabyte BIOS, but the ability to lower the CPU multiplier does make it more useful than the TUL/Foxconn.
Getting the BSEL mod to work was a real pain. I used some foil from a gum wrapper to jumper the CPU pads. I nearly thought it wasn't working when BIOS reported the wrong clockspeeds (like it though the FSB was 200MHz when it was actually 266MHz.) The BIOS did report the correct speeds during POST, however. And I veryified the FSB 1066 memory multipliers were working. Setting the memory to auto at the new default FSB 1066 resulted in the memory running at 2:3 ratio (DDR2 800). I think the other memory ratio it offered at this FSB is 4:5 (DDR2 667).
I might need to do both the BSEL mod for FSB 1333 (333MHz) and perhaps Vid mod to get up to FSB 1600. The former just involves putting a tiny piece of tape on a single pad, so that shouldn't be too bad.
