GA-EP45T-USB3P rev1.0 for 3TB drives

[lowrider]

Minor updates:
ICH10R southbridge - v12902006 with the TRIM mod
8111 ethernet - rtegrom260.lom
SATA2 chip - 1.07.28
ICHAACHI 1.2 original from a EP45-USB3P
Updated NCPUCODE (uses Intel 771/775 microcode-20140913)

Hi guys, what's the latest and best BIOS for this motherboard that includes latest features and best overclocking potential? Is it the one linked above?

[gto4ben]

This is the latest I'm currently using on my GA-EP45T-USB3P daily machine:

ICH10R southbridge - v11.2.0.1527 with the TRIM mod
8111 ethernet - rtegrom264.lom
SATA2 chip - 1.08.01
ICHAACHI 1.2 original from a EP45-USB3P
Updated NCPUCODE (uses Intel 771/775 microcode-20140913)
Gigabyte SLIC

I reverted to the 11 series Intel raid driver based on some recommendations I read. I did not perceive any performance changes. The Intel RST driver with this OROM is 11.2.0.1006. The machine is very stable with the Xeon X5492 and 16G (4G per slot) of Patriot DD3 memory and two Diamond 7870 video cards (Crossfired).

[lowrider]

Thanks for this man. Despite this mobo being old, it's a fantastic piece of hardware and it's great to see it got a bit further bios support from you. I am using it on an HTPC for my parents which i also use as a gaming machine when I visit. It's smooth as silk and for 1080p gaming it's pretty good still!

[Joemill453]

This is the latest I'm currently using on my GA-EP45T-USB3P daily machine:

ICH10R southbridge - v11.2.0.1527 with the TRIM mod
8111 ethernet - rtegrom264.lom
SATA2 chip - 1.08.01
ICHAACHI 1.2 original from a EP45-USB3P
Updated NCPUCODE (uses Intel 771/775 microcode-20140913)
Gigabyte SLIC

I reverted to the 11 series Intel raid driver based on some recommendations I read. I did not perceive any performance changes. The Intel RST driver with this OROM is 11.2.0.1006. The machine is very stable with the Xeon X5492 and 16G (4G per slot) of Patriot DD3 memory and two Diamond 7870 video cards (Crossfired).

Hello @gto4ben
I thought I was the only one still using a LGA775 board as a daily lol. Thank you very much for your continued support!!
My Rig:
Gigabyte EP45T-USB3P rev 1
Intel xeon X5470 
16gb gskill  F3-17000CL9-4gbXM
I flashed your latest bios and everything works well but I have been having an issue trying to get a new WD 10tb gold hard drive to read on the intel SATA ports.
If I set my SATA control mode in the bios settings to IDE the bios WILL recognize my 10tb hard drive but in AHCI It will not.
Am I stuck only using the 10tb in IDE on this board or is there anything else you could suggest?
Thank you so much for your help!!

[gto4ben]

Congratulations on keeping your setup in great shape.

I'm also maximizing all the SATA and IDE ports; however, my combination is:
-six HDs in the Intel SATA ports. five are in both Raid0 and RAID5 modes for 12TB and 4TB respectively. One is an SSD where the Win7-64 OS resides.
-two HDs on the GSATA (Jmicron) ports, both in AHCI mode for 3TB each. These ports will not recognize a 3TB HD in RAID mode due to outdated drivers  but they will recognize a 3TB drive in AHCI mode provided you have Win7 or higher.
-two DVD drives on the IDE port (also Jmicron) that have converters from IDE ribbon cable to SATA to mate with the DVD drives.

This makes a total of ten drives.

I'm not sure why the WD HD cannot be recognized. Is your OS win7-64 bit using NTFS?. Win7-32bit and older Windows as well as FAT32 will have lower limits. A search on the various hard drive capacity limits as a function of OS can be found online.

If you are on the Intel SATA ports, set it to RAID mode to try that mode out. You do not have to configure them into a RAID array. Install the Intel RST RAID driver first in the OS or the OS won't recognize the full 3TB drive capacity.

[Joemill453]

Congratulations on keeping your setup in great shape.

I'm also maximizing all the SATA and IDE ports; however, my combination is:
-six HDs in the Intel SATA ports. five are in both Raid0 and RAID5 modes for 12TB and 4TB respectively. One is an SSD where the Win7-64 OS resides.
-two HDs on the GSATA (Jmicron) ports, both in AHCI mode for 3TB each. These ports will not recognize a 3TB HD in RAID mode due to outdated drivers  but they will recognize a 3TB drive in AHCI mode provided you have Win7 or higher.
-two DVD drives on the IDE port (also Jmicron) that have converters from IDE ribbon cable to SATA to mate with the DVD drives.

This makes a total of ten drives.

I'm not sure why the WD HD cannot be recognized. Is your OS win7-64 bit using NTFS?. Win7-32bit and older Windows as well as FAT32 will have lower limits. A search on the various hard drive capacity limits as a function of OS can be found online.

If you are on the Intel SATA ports, set it to RAID mode to try that mode out. You do not have to configure them into a RAID array. Install the Intel RST RAID driver first in the OS or the OS won't recognize the full 3TB drive capacity.

Wow talk about fully maximizing every port on your board! My operating system is windows 10(upgraded from windows 7)x64 formatted as NTFS and installed on a OZC vertex SSD. I believe all of my windows drivers are up to date. Maybe I'm due for a fresh install of windows......
So I tried your recommendation setting the intel contol mode to RAID and the bios DOES recognize the 10tb WD hard drive in RAID mode.
Windows gives me a blue screen on boot up though with an error like cannot access boot drive(i'm not sure the exact error i did this early this morning before work)
I guess Ill look into setting up RAID(i've never played with it)
perhaps I am missing a RAID driver in windows
How do you like the x5492 xeon? do you overclock it??
Again thank you for your time and trying to help. Is there any way I can donate?

[gto4ben]

The x5492 Xeon has been reliable and fast. I run it at the stock 3.4GHz for reliability, longevity, and power savings.
The few times I tried overclocking caused random errors.

Donations can be made by clicking the Donate button at the top of the page. Thanks.

[Joemill453]

The x5492 Xeon has been reliable and fast. I run it at the stock 3.4GHz for reliability, longevity, and power savings.
The few times I tried overclocking caused random errors.

Donations can be made by clicking the Donate button at the top of the page. Thanks.

oh okay, Im just going to push it till I break it. then Ill finally upgrade lol. Does that donate button donate to you or the site? Id like to donate to you

[gto4ben]

The x5492 Xeon has been reliable and fast. I run it at the stock 3.4GHz for reliability, longevity, and power savings.
The few times I tried overclocking caused random errors.

Donations can be made by clicking the Donate button at the top of the page. Thanks.

oh okay, Im just going to push it till I break it. then Ill finally upgrade lol. Does that donate button donate to you or the site? Id like to donate to you

Thanks for the kindness! I do this to help enthusiasts like you enjoy and keep these vintage MBs keep working. Your thanks is more than enough.

[Joemill453]

The x5492 Xeon has been reliable and fast. I run it at the stock 3.4GHz for reliability, longevity, and power savings.
The few times I tried overclocking caused random errors.

Donations can be made by clicking the Donate button at the top of the page. Thanks.

oh okay, Im just going to push it till I break it. then Ill finally upgrade lol. Does that donate button donate to you or the site? Id like to donate to you

Thanks for the kindness!  I do this to help enthusiasts like you enjoy and keep these vintage MBs keep working. Your thanks is more than enough.

Well I really do appreciate it man! These old computers can be a nightmare sometimes trying to keep them up with new technology. 
I believe my 10tb WD gold hard drive is DOA. I was able to get it to show in the bios after I enabled intel RAID control but it would not display in windows even with a fresh install of windows 10 pro x64. 
I also took that Hard Drive and put it in a usb 3.1 enclosure and tried to plug it in through usb.
I would get the tone like a drive was plugged in but windows would never recognize the HDD. 
I also tried plugging it into a Surface pro with the usb adapter and still nothing.
Im going to send the drive back to amazon and try a 6tb WD black HDD wish me luck!