SPCR

So my cheap GIGABYTE GA-Z68AP-D3(R2.0) from the Micro Center deal won't drop the voltage back down when idling if I overclock the CPU.

If I leave everything on Auto and simply raise the turbo frequencies, the board applies an automatic overvolt to 1.35V and that voltage won't drop when idle. The CPU frequency will drop to 1.6ghz, but the voltage stays at 1.35V. If I set the voltage to NORMAL and adjust the turbo frequencies the same thing happens and I get an automatic overvolt to 1.35V with no drop in voltage at idle. The same thing happens when I adjust the multi also.

I've tried a lot of combinations of settings and none seem to work. They all result in 1.35V or a fixed voltage if I fix the voltage. I can set the voltage to 1.2V and it stays there, but won't undervolt on idle. I can set the voltage to normal and use the dynamic overvolting and it sets the V to what I set it at but it won't undervolt at idle.

Is there anything I am missing here? I'd like to be able to get this chip to 4.5ghz under load, but idle at very low power. When I reset the board to default settings the chip drops to .8V on idle, but touch a single setting for turboboost and the board is at 1.35V.

Just a thought; if you have the power-saving functions set to auto maybe they get's disabled once you start to alter the clock ratio and/or the voltage settings.

Have you tried updating your BIOS? I got the exact same board from probably the same Microcenter deal as you, and I have no problems with the voltage on the F7 BIOS. Turbo mode off, Stock / Normal voltages, 42x multiplier.

I do have S3 sleep / standby issues, but it seems a lot of Z68 motherboards are affected by it. I'm curious as to whether or not you have that problem.

Ok, so I finally got my board to drop the voltage at idle. I had to set the voltage to normal, set the offset to 0, set the voltage leveling to preset 5, and had to use auto for the power saving features rather than enabled. It was like a puzzle getting it to work. I'm on the latest BIOS. Can't remember the # though.

Yes, I do have standby issues. My 7950 video card won't boot returning from sleep. I've tried enabling S5 mode in the bios instead of just S3 but I had to leave for work so it hasn't been tested yet.