Gigabyte GA-P85-D3 and Gigabyte GA-P81-D3P

[ikemhla]

Hi Gary,

Gigabyte GA-P85-D3 and Gigabyte GA-P81-D3P


I have a choice on the two Mobos above.

Which one do you think is better for 3 Scope Pros PCI?

Thanks is advance.


Ike

[garyb]

i'd try the GA-P85-D3 since it has 4 PCI slots. more options...
i have no experience with either chipset, but they're both probably fine.

[ikemhla]

Hi,

Gigabyte GA-P85-D3

Thanx Gary B.
The GA-P81-D3P has five PCI Slots.

If anyone on the forum is familier with the Intel B85 chipset's performance with Scope PCI Cards, I would be grateful for the assistance as I am trying to get a new Mobo for my DAW.

Or if anyone has had success with this Mobo, kindly advise

Any suggestions as to the ideal processor and ram??

Thanx in advance

Ike

[garyb]

i only saw the GA-P81-D3 on the Gigabyte website. it only has 3 PCI slots, the rest are PCIe.

as to ram, just get it from a reputable source. use the "value ram", you don't need the heat spreaders. for the CPU, i3, i5 or i7, it doesn't matter to Scope at all. for the rest of your apps, the fastest CPU that you can reasonably afford would be best.

i haven't seen any socket 1150 motherboards that don't work, except for a couple of defective ones. since the PCI controller is third party in these newest motherboards and doesn't rely on the chipset, it's unlikely that the chipset would be an issue.

[ikemhla]

Hi,

Thanx Gary B.

Re: The Masterverb Test.

I am running my system on an Asrock G31M Mobo. I have been getting 11 Masterverbs with no problems at all. All working and no adverse effects from Scope.

The Asrock G41S mobo gives me 13 masterverbs


I am upgrading because I got a third PCI card and would do with 18 DSPs.

I am getting good results and no crackles with 64 bit either. The system just works fine.


Regards

Ike

[ikemhla]

Hi Gary,

Just tking my new RIG on a test drive. I managed to get a GA-P85-D3 board and Intel Haswell i5 processor. The board is a rev2 board with a PCIe to PCI Bridge.

Seems to be working fine but there are tons of stuff in the BIOS and very few things that are recommended as Tweaks. There is also an HDMI interface for the Audio.

Has anyone managed to streamline this Mobo foe Audio. I could certainly do with some help. Scope Cards are sharing IRQ with the Bridge etc. I will try post the status in my next email.

However the system is playing well, the three cards are well fed by a 850Watt power supply no overheating at all.

Regards

Ike

[frokka]

Hey Ike, if you could post a screenshot of the (bottom) IRQs in Device Manager for reference, that would be great.

Device Manager > View: Resources by type.

[garyb]

as for BIOS, the main things are Intel Enhanced Speed-Step Technology or EIST, Turbo and Hyperthreading. there are a few other items which are in the Tips and Tricks forum and on the letter that came with v5.1. just make the tweaks that apply to your computer.

the HDMI interface is for the built-in audio. it has nothing to do with your Scope cards.

IRQ sharing is not an issue, unless it's USB, Firewire or LAN. if it is one of those things, either the card must be moved, or you must disable the offending device in the device manager.

you should go into your power options and make sure that the CPU is always on, and that the PCI bus and the computer do not sleep. more detail in the the Tips and Tricks forum under "setting up your computer".

you shouldn't need to do anything too extreme to get everything stable.

[tlaskows]

I disabled sleep in Windows (screws up the cards when the computer wakes up). Disabled SpeedStep and HyperThreading. I think those are the only changes I made and it's running all well.

-Tom

[ikemhla]

Hi Gary B, Froska etc,

Here is the Hardware;

Titan T850W PSU
Intel Core i5
Gigabyte GA-B85-P3
DDR 3 Ram
2x Seagate Survailance 1TB HDs

Attached is the IRQ bottom page as requested by Froska.
I see an EHCI USB item on IRQ 16. Should I disable that?

Thanks in advance Gents.

Regards

Ike

[ikemhla]

Hi,

I tried to disable the Com ports A B and Parallel and got issues with the bios not finding the Boot drive.
Any idears.

I got a CHECHSUM ERROR and could not Boot. I have defaulted to the default setup.

Regards

Ike

[frokka]

That sound strange, however there is no need to disable com and parallel ports, Windows is not going to deliver lower IRQs because of that.

And you don't have to disable the USB device if everything is working, I think most of us need as many USB ports as we can possibly get.

/frokka

[garyb]

disable the USB port. you can always use a hub, if needed.

as Frokka said, though, no reason to disable serial and parallel ports that i can see. there is also no reason for any issues with the boot drive just from disabling those ports. something else was changed/disabled/disconnected...

[ikemhla]

Hi,

Thanks for the advise. The Boot problem was a faulty Ram Stick that failed.
Thats all sorted out now.
The system is working very well no clicks no pops just plain MAGIC.

I will disable the USB port as Gary advises.

Thanks again.

Ike

[tlaskows]

Excellent!

These cards will last you another 10 years, I have a good feeling (German engineering )

-Tom

[garyb]

[ikemhla]

Hi,

Sure thing. I still have The Tripple Board and TDat 16 happily running on Win Me.

Once in a while I fire em up and use them. Its a pitty TDat was phased out. A great
app with a distinct sound.

Regards

Ike

[ikemhla]

Hi,

As Firokka pointed out there are no issues with the USB.
I have a clean sound no pops no clicks just !!!!MAGIC!!!!

One day I will get the exite.

Ike

[dehuszar]

Hi ikemhla,

I am considering this board as well (I think my current setup just whimpered out a death rattle). Have you had any issues with it since your last post?

Any other motherboard recommendations that folks can make? I need at least 2 pci slots and 6 sata ports, preferably that would support i5/i7 processors. Is there a clear winner these days for Scope PCI boards?

Thanks in advance,
Sam

[garyb]

it's not nearly as scary as in the pentium days...