** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[crazysn2ke]

Hey Manel, good to see you holding the fort as always

If you didn't know already, you can get Intel's Smackover fan here: http://click.intel.com/Fan_Kit_for_I...8SO-P1982.aspx, you would also need this part to mount it: http://click.intel.com/MCH_Heat_Sink...ket-P1674.aspx

I got one about a year ago and boy does it make a difference to my MCH heatsink temp. I was in the same boat as you. I looked everywhere for a quality 40mm fan but couldn't find one anywhere, so i settled on Intel's one. When pluged into the dedicated MCH fan jumper on the board, it runs at full speed and can't be controlled, so as a result it isn't the quietest fan in the world, nothing to loud, but it does have a low hum to it. Also, it does have a blue led light in it, i didn't like that at the start, but i'm used to it now and actually don't mind the soft blue glow eminating from my case. (At least it doesn't flash, i don't think i could've gotten used to that)

And my, doesn't that DX58SO2 look like one Bad A** piece of hardware !

[Manel]

Hey crazy, good to see someone's still coming over.
Good find there, thanx a lot. I never thought of looking for it at Intel's. Cool!
It's for the SmackOver but I believe it's the same for the BoneTrail, the dimensions are the same.
The mounting kit is listed as discontinued but I believe this bracket comes with our board already.
I don't mind the blue LED, my case already has a couple anyway, so nothing new here, not that I appreciate it much, but hey! Got used to it.
I guess I''l have to order it from Intel, it's hard to find it locally I guess.
Can't remember now but I believe only the CPU fan header is a 4 pin one with PWM control. Anyway, the fan should only be a 3 pin one, right?
Guess I'll order one asap, if the temps are really going down.
Great find. I just need to confirm regarding the mounting kit. Did you get it as well?

Yes, the SmackOver2 looks sweet, great board if all this is true. It's Intel's best board ever, SmackOver done right!

[roguebeast]

my cables do reach, although next time I take my mobo out I'm gonna route them under it to hide them a little better. It's gonna be hard for me to not want to upgrade to that SO2.

[Manel]

rogue, maybe you got the newer model with the longer cables already. I guess they kept their promise.
At the time, the 900 came with a cable only long enough to reach the front panel, but only very stretched and it crosses my board all the way through and it's sitting on it, not even from the back of the board I could make it reach. Even now the connector is kinda shaky.
I can understand that, good for you that only the board needs to be swapped, I'm itching to finally see it and I guess maybe I'll have to buy new staff altogether. It will be hard to say no.

[crazysn2ke]

Hey Manel,
yeah i do pass through this room from time to time, so in future i will make sure that i say hello

I did get the mounting kit, and it was the one orignally shipped with the boxed board, but as my board was an oem, i didnt get one. If you did, then you won't need worry about it It is a 3 pin plug and there is a dedicated MCH fan header on the board near the MCH (which i have mine plugged into), but there is nothing stopping you plugging it into any fan header on the board or from your power supply if you want more control over it. I will say that as far as temps go, its nothing that i measured with software or themometers, the real difference i noticed was that before i started using that little fan the MCH heatsink was really hot to touch, but after it is only warm. My ambient temp may have droped by 1 - 2 degrees, but i can't really remember what it was before.

And as far as that DX58SO2 goes, man i want me one of them. I have always had a rule to never buy top end hardware, but it's going to be really hard to keep to that this time. Time to start doing some overtime i think .

[Manel]

I got the boxed version of the board, the kit comes with it already. Good thing cause Intel discontinued it as far as I can tell.
I was too lazy to check the manual for the fan header, usually only the CPU fan is PWM controlled (4 pin) and all others are 3 pin fixed voltage. One can always control it manually with a resistor or pot but that is not very pratical.
I do have an IR thermometer somewhere, I might just measure and compare temps before and after, just to see if it was worthy.

I also stay away from hi-end hw but this one is itching... not that I need it at the moment, but it sure makes you want it bad.
Let's see when it's released, and if those specs are correct!! I guess those guys at Intel are hard at work, maybe that's why they haven't released a thing in a long time, only those info docs latelly.

By the way, since you're on 7, how does audio work, since there are no official drivers for it?
I have a periodic soft noise in the background, looks like fan induced or something, must take the time to figure it out.

[djs357]

Manel,
The MCH fan with the DX58SO was so shrill and loud I replaced it with a Silenx Ixtrema40. I just saw the 58SO2 discussion. Been out of town. Did you get a DX58SO or SO2?

[Manel]

I didn't get the DX58SO, or the DX58SO2 which is not available yet.
I was referring to the DX38BT, which doesn't include the fan, only the bracket.
But I sure got my eye on the DX8SO2. It's almost perfect I'd say. I'll just wait for it to be released and see. Still, with socket 2011 a year away I'm not sure I'll wait for it.

[djs357]

I figured that out after rereading the slide. My data says 2 3.0USB (Using NEC I think) and 2 6Gb SATA ports (don't know whos controller it is). Everthing else seems right. I was wondering if the SO2 had released in Europe already. It definitely has not here. If you see solid data let me know.

[djs357]

The fix for the RAID Controller ROM and some other misc. fixs. This one seems OK to install v 5506.

[Manel]

djs
Rumour has it that it will feature a revised ICH with native USB 3.0 and SATA 6G support, not confirmed though.
The board is not ready yet, don't think it will be till the end of the year I guess.

BIOS 5506 solved the RAID problem for you? There's a new RAID option ROM version in fact, but Intel hasn't posted the drivers for it. They also mention IDCC v5.5.0.46 which I can't find. Good thing they're still working on IDCC, but I'd love to see the other XTU UI for our boards.

[Manel]

Will we also have an updated BIOS with this fix?

[Manel]

Is it just me or anyone else is experiencing long load times of Intel's page?

[Manel]

nVidia drivers v263.09 for 500 series only, no release notes.
Also, M$ released a DX update, about time now. Usually it would be in November and it was in the last day. Working hard! By the way, DX12 should be around the corner, next year I guess.

[Manel]

Holly s**t, DX58SO2 and DX58OG out!!

[Manel]

LAN drivers 15.7 for new boards only?
Intel XTU available in January 2011, they provide a link but it's just a pdf. Thanx Intel. Hope it will work with BT.

[Manel]

SATA 6G via Marvell, no USB3, OG seems to be a lesser version of the SO2.
POST code LEDs, onboard oc buttons on SO2. Cool!! Heatpipes on SO2 as expected.
BIOS 0603 first release.
No updated IOH after all, somewhat disappointing. Wait for X68.

[Manel]

Guys, join the Intel Extreme Team in their boards page. Cool. Haven't had the time to do it and read it carefully. Maybe on the weekend.
The newer boards are not in their page yet, just in the downloads section.

[Manel]

http://intelsignatureeditionboards.com/indexmain.html

[Manel]

Intel Extreme Team:
We're the radical element inside the Intel desktop
board division that play by our own rules.
We build the best - full stop.

We're the ultimate expression of what Intel is all about. We are the geniuses who run free to challenge
convention - not to mention rattling convention's cage to push everyone else around us. Our Intel Extreme Team has collectively left a lot of triple-E footprints in behinds on our way to the top of our respective fields.

Call us the elite of the elite if you wish but the thing we
most want you to take to heart is that we live to create
impossibly wicked stuff - motherboards beyond even
the imaginations of gamers. Because, like you, we
love to play. And win.

These guys are bold!! Too bad we are yet to see something really extreme, they can't even deal right with the "Extreme" stuff they have out yet.
Still, maybe things start getting extremer now.

As usual the game is for US only.

[Manel]

It looks like someone big will join Intel on this endeavour... please not Fa1ality!

[redphil]

It looks like someone big will join Intel on this endeavour... please not Fa1ality!

He's working with ASRock already, so I don't think that he'll cooperate with Intel at the same time, too.
http://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php...im-detail.html

[Manel]

Good read from Edwin Tracy, BIOS lead engineer at Intel:

http://intelsignatureeditionboards.com/Biosarticle.html

Easter eggs on BIOS? Wow, Intel has gone to the other "Extreme"...

Maybe finally Intel is catching up with the Taiwanese manufacturers, I would loose the lighted skulls and character drawings in BIOS though. It looks too silly IMHO. Just go for the good things, like better components (driver MOSFETs, all solid state caps - done!, chokes, ...). No need for military grade devices though!

[Manel]

Good find red. I'm glad, not that I don't like the man, it's just hype I guess.
If Intel can just spice up the BIOS enough I believe they'll get the attention of some of the crowd.
I just want to check out the new boards and see if Intel will implement UEFI on all boards and be done with legacy once and for all. Decrease boot times will be a major advantage of it. PCI is already gone, soem of their boards now have to use a bridge to support it. Maybe next year is the year of a major overhaul in the PC industry to leave old stuff behind for good. At least the Jobs Mob aren't affraid of going forward and leave the old behind.
I understand some people can't or won't just upgrade when something new is up, but for me I rather dump everything and not have to sacrifice performance or features to keep something old.
That's the PC history all along.

[Manel]

Something new is up on Intel's page for us, only the IIT v4.0.3.280, if you use it anyway.
I was hoping to see at least the LAN drivers v15.7 since they're out for hte SO2 and GO, I'm sure they'll work with the rest of the boards.
And the sound drivers, man!! I know Intel ditched the IDT codec but the least they could do for us all with older boards was update the drivers as they're available from IDT, and I'm pretty sure they've released newer versions, Win 7 at least?!