[hank123]

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L VOLT MOD - PENCIL MOD - HARD MOD FOUND!

!!DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

Well its been a long time coming. I know LOTS of people are looking this mod. I spend a ton of time reading poking going back and reading some more poking trying different things reading poking some more reading then at last finding it.


I would like to take the time to thank nd4spdbh2. He gave me a big push to get her done by taking any photo i needed at outstanding quality. This saved me a lot of time for taking notes and also on the eyes. He also did the water markings in the pics. Nice job buddy!

Now I must tell you that I tested the mod on my mobo with a e2180.
When testing I had the voltage set at 1.55625 in the BIOS. In windows CPU-Z read the voltage at 1.504 with NO LOAD. At FULL load CPU-Z read 1.472.
Pretty bad Vdroop under load.

After running a pencil over the area I still had Vdroop but not as bad! same settings in the BIOS same CPU-Z idle readings in Windows.
My Vdroop went from 1.504 to 1.488. Granted some droop still but not as much. I did have to run the pencil over the resistor a lot. I ran the pencil over the resistor a little during testing and was still drooping down to 1.472 but with a bounce back to 1.488 under full load. This was fixed by adding more graphite to the resistor.

Heres the pics.
The area you are looking for is between the ram slots and the CPU fan plug. it will have no number or marking on it. its just a little black resistor.

For BIG pic click the pic

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh2

NO do NOT HAVE THE COMPUTER ON, take the board out to measure and pencil the resistor down.


You really need a multi meter, they are all of 5-10 bucks for a halfway decent one. then its easy to see how much of a difference your making, it took A LOT of penceling for me to get down to 900ohms from 1950ish and even more to get down to 320 ohms.

NOTE: the correct Ohm reading for a proper vdroop mod will vary between board to board and depend on what cpu your running and its current draw. Proper technique is KEY, you must only pencil the resistor the least ammount possible that you need to make vdroop dissapear and or just barly be visible (.008v vdroop). DO NOT PENCIL TO MUCH, as we do not know the effects of going "too far".

Example: In my tests on my HTPC's setup, @ 910 ohms i only expierenced a .016V vdroop, compared to the previous .032V vdroop, @ 910ohms it also raised my idle voltage closer to the bios set voltage.

Example 2: In my second test i penciled down to 320 Ohms, this got rid of vdroop completely, so i took the board back out and backed off to 600 ohms, and @ 600 ohms i still did not have any fluctuation between idle and load, @ 700 i still expierenced no vdroop, so i took it up to 800ohms and expierenced a .008Vdroop, and in the end i finally setteled on 750 ohms, which is just on the edge of not having any vdroop and having .008V.

Essientally you want to pencil the resistor so your right on the edge of no vdroop and VERY little vdroop.

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh2

you guys going into this blind is not a good idea, you MUST have a multi meter and know how to use it to do this properly, there is no set number of pencil strokes due to multiple variances, so PLEASE stop asking the rediculous "how many times should i draw over the resistor" type of questions.

There is a certain procedure you must do to preform this mod, you must take premod readings, then measure the resistor in stock state, then pencil resistor down to about 1k, take postmod readings if vdroop is still too much pencil down 100ohms at a time.

A MUST HAVE TOOL FOR THIS MOD AND ITS 20 BUCKS!
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh2

pff not even that much.... harbor frieght = 3.99

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92020

might not be the best but it will be very very close to spot on.

Let me know how it works for you.

[hank123]

THIS IS FOR THE HARD MOD ONLY! DO NOT DO USE IF U DONT KNOW WHAT A HARD MOD IS!


THIS IS THE SPOT
CLICK ON PIC FOR BIG PIC!






SO SORRY FOR THE BAD PICS. I WILL SEE IF I CAN GET SOME BETTER ONES.








i found using a 10K pot my sweet spot for little vdroop was setting the pot to 1488. im sure this will differ person to person but this gave me 1.372 no load to 1.360 load! sounds good to me!

[ps2cho]

Can't wait!!

Hopefully will mean I can get my Q6600 3.6GHz stable. It boots into windows fine. Its just on load it dies. Its not from lack of volts, it's due to vdroop. 1.5v BIOS, 1.37v load LOL!!

[hank123]

It should work or help. When I show how to do the hard mod it might work better for you. Let me know how it goes.

[ps2cho]

Originally Posted by hank123

It should work or help. When I show how to do the hard mod it might work better for you. Let me know how it goes.

Tonight I'll give it a try and report back.

What type of pencil did you use? Just curious so we can see how much graphite/density differs.

You may want to post this on a few other forums so we can get a mix of results. Maybe compile an excel document with before and after results. I'll help out later tonight when I get home from work.

[hank123]

Originally Posted by ps2cho

Tonight I'll give it a try and report back.

What type of pencil did you use? Just curious so we can see how much graphite/density differs.

You may want to post this on a few other forums so we can get a mix of results. Maybe compile an excel document with before and after results. I'll help out later tonight when I get home from work.

I just used a click pencil its the only one i could find. I had to ask one of the room mates girl friends for it.

I think a #2 pencil should work fine for you. as for how much i used a LOT.

[nd4spdbh2]

Originally Posted by ps2cho

Can't wait!!

Hopefully will mean I can get my Q6600 3.6GHz stable. It boots into windows fine. Its just on load it dies. Its not from lack of volts, it's due to vdroop. 1.5v BIOS, 1.37v load LOL!!

holly god now thats some vdroop!

and Hank123, you are very welcome for the pics you give me way more credit for this mod than i should get.


Now time for me to do some quick testing of my own!

EDIT... ok just did a quick test to see what my DS3L does in non modded form... E4300 @ 3ghz @ 1.25v bios = 1.216V idle 1.184V load.

EDIT 2... OH SNAP... IT WORKS!!!.... default resistance for said resistor is 1975ohms, i penciled down to 910.... same settings as above (1.25V bios) and now ideling at 1.232v and loading at 1.216.... so up .016v idle and .032v load!!!!

wonder how far i can take the reisistor with a pencil!... and it was funny cus i have been dealing with my pics above that are super big, and i forgot completly how small the lil fuggers are!

[nd4spdbh2]

OH this is BIG... penciled the resistor down to 320 ohms... can you say GOOD BY vdroop??? YES Idle and load are now 1.232v WITH ABSOLUTLY ZERO FLUCTUATION!.... bios set is 1.250


hank123 you my friend are god!

[hank123]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh2

OH this is BIG... penciled the resistor down to 320 ohms... can you say GOOD BY vdroop??? YES Idle and load are now 1.232v WITH ABSOLUTLY ZERO FLUCTUATION!.... bios set is 1.250


hank123 you my friend are god!

HECK YES! DUDE IM SUPER PUMPED!

That makes me so happy! right on dude!

[Rpg2]

Big congrats on finding the Vdroop mod!

I'm familiar with overclocking and voltages on a standard/basic level, but I have no experience or knowledge of Vdroop/Vdroop mods and I have a few questions to ask.

Is this for Rev. 2 of the DS3L?

Will a normal #2 pencil (yellow, wooden kind (non-mechanical) and mechanical kind) work for this?

How many times do you need to run a pencil over the designated area for it to work/be effective?

Can someone put too much graphite/lead when doing this mod?

All you need for this mod is a pencil, correct? Do you need to have electrical and voltage reading equipment/hardware when doing this?

Finally, because I'm unfamiliar with Vdroop, what are the advantages and disadvantages with this vDroop mod? Will it allow me to lower the CPU Vcore since the amount of Vdroop will decrease, therefore lowering temps? (Example: When on load, the CPU is at 1.3v with 1.4v in BIOS and has lower temps when compared to a CPU at 1.3v when on load with 1.46v in BIOS.)

Again, congrats on your hard work!

[nd4spdbh2]

Originally Posted by Rpg2

Big congrats on finding the Vdroop mod!

I'm familiar with overclocking and voltages on a standard/basic level, but I have no experience or knowledge of Vdroop/Vdroop mods and I have a few questions to ask.

Is this for Rev. 2 of the DS3L?

Will a normal #2 pencil (yellow, wooden kind (non-mechanical) and mechanical kind) work for this?

How many times do you need to run a pencil over the designated area for it to work/be effective?

Can someone put too much graphite/lead when doing this mod?

Finally, because I'm unfamiliar with Vdroop, what are the advantages and disadvantages with this vDroop mod? Will it allow me to lower the CPU Vcore since the amount of Vdroop will decrease, therefore lowering temps? (Example: When on load, the CPU is at 1.3v with 1.4v in BIOS and has lower temps when compared to a CPU at 1.3v when on load with 1.46v in BIOS.)

Again, congrats on your hard work!

Yes this is for the revision 2 DS3L

In my above posts i used a standard #2 HB pencil

As per how many times, you really need a multimeter that can measure resistance, because there are many variables as to how much the resistance drops per pass... it took me a while of light drawing on top of the resistor to get it down from 1975 to 400 ohms... and yes you can put to much graphite, a multimeter would illeviate this problem.

As for the reasons for reducing or getting vdroop is stability... its really annoying when you have to set your vcore higher than need be because when under load the voltage drops. It might decrease temps some because you wont be feeding more voltage at idle, and the fact that the voltage does not fluctuate so much or not at all lends to stability also.


This vdroop mod allowed me to go from my original OCD E4300 @ 3.0ghz @ 1.250V bios (1.184v load) and take the voltage down to 1.200 volt (bios) and have the SAME IDLE and LOAD voltages of 1.184v

This also changed my stock clock lowest voltage. Before the mod @ stock 1.8ghz it took 0.95V in bios and i would load at 0.88V, now i can set the bios voltage to 0.90v and have it idle and load at .88V!!!!!!! All this with the stock VID of 1.3250

[hank123]

Originally Posted by Rpg2

Big congrats on finding the Vdroop mod!

I'm familiar with overclocking and voltages on a standard/basic level, but I have no experience or knowledge of Vdroop/Vdroop mods and I have a few questions to ask.

Hey mane thanks a lot.
as for question please ask away. im sure other people want to know.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

Is this for Rev. 2 of the DS3L?

Yes the mobo i did it on was the Rev 2.0. I'm not sure if the Ver 1.0 is much different.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

Will a normal #2 pencil (yellow, wooden kind (non-mechanical) and mechanical kind) work for this?

Yes. this is how most people do a pencil mod.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

How many times do you need to run a pencil over the designated area for it to work/be effective?

you can use a ohms meter to check. nd4spdbh2 brought his down to 320 ohms. just run a few lines over it and check in windows under full load to see how much droop your getting and add more as needed.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

Can someone put too much graphite/lead when doing this mod?

Im not really a fan of zero droop. that may change. so i will say it differers from person to person

Originally Posted by Rpg2

All you need for this mod is a pencil, correct? Do you need to have electrical and voltage reading equipment/hardware when doing this?

just a pencil. for the best result a 20 dollar muilt meter works great. how do u think i found the mod.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

Finally, because I'm unfamiliar with Vdroop, what are the advantages and disadvantages with this vDroop mod? Will it allow me to lower the CPU Vcore since the amount of Vdroop will decrease, therefore lowering temps? (Example: When on load, the CPU is at 1.3v with 1.4v in BIOS and has lower temps when compared to a CPU at 1.3v when on load with 1.46v in BIOS.)

OVER CLOCKING! with lower volts and lower temps.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

Again, congrats on your hard work!

thanks dude. I worked really hard this week finding it. pretty wore out. im trying to get up the will to do the hard mod.

It makes me really happy to see that it works and that other people can put it to good use!

[nd4spdbh2]

ya i think ima back off just a bit to probably 700-900 ohms so that vcore drops just slightly under load... maybe like a .008V drop... i dont know if running a quad in the board will require to shade the resistor down further do to the increased current, but really if i can get my vcore dead the same idle and load im sure you can get it VERY close if not the same voltage idle and load for a quad.

[Rpg2]

Thanks both of you for the replies. I'm sure this mod will be able to lower temps for people. Sorry for all the questions though. I might have more.

Do you run the pencil along the sides of the two metal things you highlighted with the red mark or over the top?

I'll probably won't be running out and getting a multimeter to measure the ohms, but I'll probably just run the pencil through 3-4 times and then turn on the comp to check for Vdroop. If there is, I'll turn it off and run the pencil over 2-3 more times. Will this be a safe method?

If yes, can you guys tell me how many times I should run the pencil over the two spots marked in the pic for the first time? (Example: Run it 20 times the first time and check Vdroop. If I want to lower it more, run it 5 more times and that will be how many times I should run it every time I check on it, want to lower it more.)

I need 1.3875v to get 1.375v idle and 1.32 or 1.34 load.... Vdroop man.....

Oh another question (sorry):
The voltage while a CPU is on load is the voltage it needs to be completely stable when idle. Is that right?

[hank123]

Originally Posted by Rpg2

Do you run the pencil along the sides of the two metal things you highlighted with the red mark or over the top?

yes over the top.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

I'll probably won't be running out and getting a multimeter to measure the ohms, but I'll probably just run the pencil through 3-4 times and then turn on the comp to check for Vdroop. If there is, I'll turn it off and run the pencil over 2-3 more times. Will this be a safe method?

yes you can do it this way.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

If yes, can you guys tell me how many times I should run the pencil over the two spots marked in the pic for the first time? (Example: Run it 20 times the first time and check Vdroop. If I want to lower it more, run it 5 more times and that will be how many times I should run it every time I check on it, want to lower it more.)

its hard to say. do 3 at a time or what ever u want.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

I need 1.3875v to get 1.375v idle and 1.32 or 1.34 load.... Vdroop man.....

theres a difference with Vdroop and Vdrop. this mod will not take care of the Vdrop only the Vdroop.

Originally Posted by Rpg2

Oh another question (sorry):
The voltage while a CPU is on load is the voltage it needs to be completely stable when idle. Is that right?

I would hold off on doing this tell u have a better understanding of OCing. Vdroop happens for a reason. this is a hardcore mod. BTW

[nd4spdbh2]

ya like i said in my post i am gonna be backing off a lil, even though i am undervolted ima make it to where my idle is slightly higher than my load voltage.

[hank123]

dude whats the ohm read out before? i didnt make a note. is it around 20K?

[Rpg2]

Originally Posted by hank123

yes over the top.



yes you can do it this way.



its hard to say. do 3 at a time or what ever u want.



theres a difference with Vdroop and Vdrop. this mod will not take care of the Vdrop only the Vdroop.



I would hold off on doing this tell u have a better understanding of OCing. Vdroop happens for a reason. this is a hardcore mod. BTW

Haha, thanks for the welcome.

Well, I have overclocked a bit. I got my CPU to 3.5Ghz. Wanting to hit 3.6Ghz but I haven't had time to get further.

I do know it's for Vdroop only, hence its a Vdroop mod. =P

I already posted this thread to OCN forums. Hopefully this will be a widely viewed thread.

Don't get what you mean by the last part, but oh well.

[nd4spdbh2]

default resistance is right round 1950-1975ohms

[ps2cho]

To test resistance do you need the computer on?

I have an expensive multimeter I can use.

[tester3000]

AWESOME!!!!! The DS3L is now officially the best budget board. LoL. I going to try out this mod today or tomorrow. The only negative about this board was the vDroop. Now that this problem is solved, this board is #1 in my books.

[Mikecdm]

I tried this last night with just a regular pencil and it worked for me but when I add more it doesn't improve the vdroop any more than what it had originally done. Am I using the wrong type of pencil or something? Whats this HB pencil?
If I wanted to measure resistance where would I do it? I have a multi meter, but I have never used it to measure anything on my computer.

BTW it fixed vdroop about .016v which is no where near what the two of you have reported. I think I'm doing something wrong.

Either way, thanks a bunch. Even a little still helps

[hank123]

016 less is still a lot. as i said it took care of MOST of mine. you could always use a conductive pen. it will only do so much with a pencil. im still trying to ger my OHM reading down to where nd4spdbh2 had his 700-900.

ps2cho babe. no man if u want the computer on u will being taking notes on the voltage. shut ur rig down.

guys im still working on getting up the balls to solder that tinny area for the hard mod that should work even better!

[nd4spdbh2]

Originally Posted by ps2cho

To test resistance do you need the computer on?

I have an expensive multimeter I can use.

NO do NOT HAVE THE COMPUTER ON, take the board out to measure and pencil the resistor down.

Originally Posted by tester3000

AWESOME!!!!! The DS3L is now officially the best budget board. LoL. I going to try out this mod today or tomorrow. The only negative about this board was the vDroop. Now that this problem is solved, this board is #1 in my books.

Ya i will agree with you this board is probably the best budget board, its got SO MANY oc options and is EASILY capable of 500+fsb

Originally Posted by Mikecdm

I tried this last night with just a regular pencil and it worked for me but when I add more it doesn't improve the vdroop any more than what it had originally done. Am I using the wrong type of pencil or something? Whats this HB pencil?
If I wanted to measure resistance where would I do it? I have a multi meter, but I have never used it to measure anything on my computer.

BTW it fixed vdroop about .016v which is no where near what the two of you have reported. I think I'm doing something wrong.

Either way, thanks a bunch. Even a little still helps

You really need a multi meter, they are all of 5-10 bucks for a halfway decent one. then its easy to see how much of a difference your making, it took A LOT of penceling for me to get down to 900ohms from 1950ish and even more to get down to 320 ohms.

NOTE: the correct Ohm reading for a proper vdroop mod will vary between board to board and depend on what cpu your running and its current draw. Proper technique is KEY, you must only pencil the resistor the least ammount possible that you need to make vdroop dissapear and or just barly be visible (.008v vdroop). DO NOT PENCIL TO MUCH, as we do not know the effects of going "too far".

Example: In my tests on my HTPC's setup, @ 910 ohms i only expierenced a .016V vdroop, compared to the previous .032V vdroop, @ 910ohms it also raised my idle voltage closer to the bios set voltage.

Example 2: In my second test i penciled down to 320 Ohms, this got rid of vdroop completely, so i took the board back out and backed off to 600 ohms, and @ 600 ohms i still did not have any fluctuation between idle and load, @ 700 i still expierenced no vdroop, so i took it up to 800ohms and expierenced a .008Vdroop, and in the end i finally setteled on 750 ohms, which is just on the edge of not having any vdroop and having .008V.

Essientally you want to pencil the resistor so your right on the edge of no vdroop and VERY little vdroop.

[Mikecdm]

Well I have a multi meter, matter of fact I have 2 of them. The thing is that I don't know where I'm supposed to get the readings from.

My vdroop is really bad, idle vcore is 1.472v and it was dropping down to 1.392v. With the penciling I have done it drops down to 1.408v.

It seems that it doesn't change anymore if I keep penciling it. I have tried 3 additional times after my first attempt and vdroop has stayed the same.

[Jacobman]

So for a hard mod you would get a 1000ohm pot and adjust to 750 then solder in somewhere? This board is looking very intriguing, even more so since the e7200 came out.

[nd4spdbh2]

Originally Posted by Mikecdm

Well I have a multi meter, matter of fact I have 2 of them. The thing is that I don't know where I'm supposed to get the readings from.

My vdroop is really bad, idle vcore is 1.472v and it was dropping down to 1.392v. With the penciling I have done it drops down to 1.408v.

It seems that it doesn't change anymore if I keep penciling it. I have tried 3 additional times after my first attempt and vdroop has stayed the same.

you measure the resistor that has the red line on it in the OP... just touch each side of the resistor.

Originally Posted by Jacobman

So for a hard mod you would get a 1000ohm pot and adjust to 750 then solder in somewhere? This board is looking very intriguing, even more so since the e7200 came out.

As per hard mod hank should be gettin it up here shortly (actually ill make a pic right now)

A 1000ohm pot isnt gonna cut it, its too low, i would recommend a 10kohm or GREATER multi turn variable resistor. if you set it at max resistance running in parrallel with the original 1950ohm resistor your looking at already down to 1630ohms

Something like this from RADIOSHACK would be good

[ps2cho]

Does it matter which end of the multimeter is on each resistor?

I have never volt modded before....well I guess vdroop modded like this so I want to make sure everything is right in my mind before I go penciling in stuff

Thanks again guys! I can't wait to get mine modded tonight.

So you recommend doing a couple strokes -- measure -- test -- more strokes -- measure -- test and keep going til the vdroop disappears then back off accordingly?

[Rpg2]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh2

Example 2

How would you undo the penciling if someone were to pencil it in too much and get no Vdroop at all?

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh2

you measure the resistor that has the red line on it in the OP... just touch each side of the resistor.



As per hard mod hank should be gettin it up here shortly (actually ill make a pic right now)

A 1000ohm pot isnt gonna cut it, its too low, i would recommend a 10kohm or GREATER multi turn variable resistor. if you set it at max resistance running in parrallel with the original 1950ohm resistor your looking at already down to 1630ohms

Something like this from RADIOSHACK would be good

The radioshack link is to a multimeter or something that can read the ohms or is it something else? If so, I'll go out and get one since they're quite cheap.

[ps2cho]

Originally Posted by Rpg2

How would you undo the penciling if someone were to pencil it in too much and get no Vdroop at all?

Eraser? lol

Nah, seriously this was my next question coming too.