** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[Manel]

Hey vasgto, welcome to this (yes) long thread, almost reaching 100 pages. What a feat, hum?!
Hopefully you're board is not defective. How far can you go on your board? Some people get near the 500 mark with theirs, not sure if this is too low for you. These boards aren't as tweaked as, for example, Asus boards that can go higher in FSB. Still, it's a great board IMHO, you just need to know it well enough and go gently, it's like a woman (more a lady really).
When you check CPUZ, is it not throttled down in idle state? The voltage would drop. Try running compute intensive tasks at the same and also check the multiplier and see if it's showing the rated value or a lower one.
Give me info on your system and oc results.

[redphil]

Exchanged the Q9300 against a little Celeron E3200. Really nice and cheap little CPU:

[Manel]

Hi red. Nice OC there. Why did you go for the Celly? I see it hits 4G but will it performe like the Q9300, even at higher freq?
Something is funny regarding the temps, you have CoreTemp showing 50's and 40's to Tjmax while IDCC shows 127ºC deltaT. Looks like it's the min temp read by the sensor (lower end of scale), either the proc is not supported in BIOS or IDCC is not reading correctly.

[redphil]

Why did you go for the Celly? I see it hits 4G but will it performe like the Q9300, even at higher freq?

I think I don't neet four cores at the moment. I participated in distributed computing a while ago, therefore the Q9300 was helpful. But for normal use I prefer a fast Dual-Core. And ists a real bargain, got it @ebay for around 30 Euros.

The Board and the IDCC aren't recognizing the CPU, so the Temperature is wrong.

[vasgto]

Thanks for the reply Manel, but here is a brief description the last time I tried which was several months ago... It goes something like this, now this isn't exact but you'll get the idea: I have an E7300 which overclocks to 4.0ghz on my EVGA 790Ultra on air, using same everything on the DX48BT2 I only get 3.5ghz. Its that simple, and yes I tried default settings with an increase in cpu voltage only and I tired turning everything energy related off. Still no change in cpu voltage. I have read some reviews which the author had the same problem... anyway, I just thought I'd ask in case there was a special bios that someone knows about to fix this problem. REX is extremely hard to find

[Manel]

Hi vas
Carefull when turning stuff off in BIOS, if it's only C states and all that's fine. However, don't disable Vdroop or Voffset, it will cause you problems. I'm not sure how these are called in our board' BIOS, haven't messed with it for a while now, not even sure if we can change it even. Still, for this generation of processors those are supposed to be enabled, to account for the load changes.
Was your limit in FSB or proc freq scaling? What settings could you achieve with your 790 Ultra and with the DX48BT2?

[Manel]

nVidia drivers 257.21 WHQL out, also DirectX June 2010 runtimes.
Still, nothing new on Intel :-(

[Manel]

BIOS 5390 out for DX58SO.
Bonetrail has been forgotten...
Maybe it's already perfect, needs no more fixes or new features or tweaks!!!

[Manel]

Hello!?
Is Intel dead or what.

[Manel]

Yesterday, there was an item Intel series 6 chipset boards at Intel's download site, but today it's gone.
I wonder when the X68 will be out, I heard only next year or even 2012 but maybe it's sooner.

[Manel]

Well, it seems this really has reached EOL.
Nothing new for so long.
Even the DX58SO hasn't seen an update latelly.
I believe Intel is bust preping the 6 series boards, including the X68 - that could be my next board, if it looks good.
It's claimed to sport USB 3.0 SuperSpeed and SATA 6G integrated. Too bad that PCIe 3.0 is not, apparently. It's almost out but I don't think they'll wait. Anyway, never get new tech at first, look at our board with the PCIe issue!

[Manel]

Windows 7 SP1 Beta is out on TechNet. Final should be out only next year. Same for Windows Server 2008 R2.

[Manel]

Also, nVidia drivers 258.96 WHQL. Haven't tried them yet though. Support fot Surround 3D.
Does anyone know if nVidia has dropped the stupid SLI detection for non supported (read paid royalty) boards in their drivers?
Guess ATI is looking better every day now. Couple of 5850s look sweet!

[Manel]

You can now download SP1 beta for 7 or 2008 R2 on MS page, right from the front page. MS is really serious about this, making 7 the best ever. Good to see, but I guess we won't be seeing it final till early next year or so.

[Manel]

Anyone still alive around here?
Everyone on vacation or you guys just dropped the cause?!
I guess even Intel completelly dropped further development.
DX58SO got a new BIOS with only a couple of fixes.
Also, nVidia updated PhysX also with a couple of bug fixes.

[redphil]

I've to admit that I changed to the Intel DP55KG Kingsberg in combination with a little Clarkdale-CPU (Pentium G6950).

[Manel]

Hi red
Nice board, proc might be a bit weak, specially the integrated graphics core.
Still, it should outperform the Core 2 arch anytime.
I'm kinda waiting for the X68 but it seems no PCIe 3.0 or USB 3.0 though, only SATA 6GBs. Maybe only in X78?!

[Manel]

nVidia has new 259.31 drivers hidden in their developer pages, but still not on the download page. It doesn't say if they're WHQL'ed, maybe that's what they're waiting for. Dated July.
Provides OpenGL 4.1 functionality, for Fermi.

[Manel]

Intel has LAN drivers v15.5 released for a while, why not make them available in the BT page?
Man, this guys are slow!! I guess 6 Series mobos won't be out this year, maybe they further enhance the chipsets to include USB 3.0 and PCIe 3.0, SATA 6G is already there. That would make X68 perfect.
Rumours have it that X68 will support 4 channel mem and octa-core CPUs to come. Doubt about the mem though, although the server version of the chipset probably will.

[Manel]

Intel's CPU (and GPU) roadmap for 2011 is out. Core i3, i5 and i7 series ix-2xxx, all wit integrate HD video, 32nm Sandy Bridge.
Also, mention to chipsets H61, H67, Q65, Q67, QS67, B65, P67 and mobile HM65, HM67, QM67 and QS67.

[voltron]

Hello:

Forgive me for what I assume is an elementary-type question. I have been encountering this annoying problem and I would appreciate
anyone's help in working around it. I have been building and updating several systems, including updating system bios, chipsets, etc, including several DX48BT2-based systems. Whenever I update an Intel X48-based chipset or any other Intel-based chipsets that contain an enhanced USB controller driver, as part of that specific chipset, if the system is using a USB-based keyboard or USB-based mouse, those specific devices freeze up/stop running. Unless the system is using a PS-2-based keyboard or a PS-2-based mouse, I have to do a "hard" shutdown, to restart the system and get the newer enhanced USB drivers installed. Of course, I hate doing this and wince every time I do the "hard" shutdown. So far, I have been lucky and the systems have always come back up, with the new enhanced USB drivers installed. However, I would love to know how I could update the enhanced USB drivers, without having to perform a "hard" shutdown of the system. Moreover, most of these systems do not have a PS-2 port; therefore, using an older, PS-2-based mouse or a PS-2-based keyboard is not an option, unfortunately. What is the proper procedure for updating the enhanced USB drivers, via the Intel “Have Disk” method, whereby, I can get around the USB-based keyboard and USB-based mouse freeze up issue? Any information would be wonderful.

Thank you.

[HighTest]

In before the archive

Hey Manel,

Yes, I still drop by, but far less frequently in this thread as I've not seen a new BIOS or driver release in some time. But my board is still going strong and I'll likely continue to enjoy it's performance for my needs until the successor to Windows 7 when I'll need a hardware refresh with the OS upgrade

[Manel]

Hi HT
We almost reached the 100 page mark, quite a feat.
Mine is still rocking too. To bad nothing new for a while, even the LAN drivers (which last time I checked were already v15.5) haven't seen an updated download on the page.
I won't even mention the audio drivers, I must say this has been a fail from Intel.
BIOS development is also dead as far as we can tell, right?
I guess they must be very busy with the new 6 series to come, to be able to loose some time with "old" boards.
Windows 8 has been in development for a while, even before 7 was out there were some leaked shots with new features (re-installation, repair...), guess it will be out in 2012 or so.
By then it's sure time to upgrade, maybe i7-2900 and X68 or even X78, who knows.

Voltron
Can't say I have had that problem, haven't updated INF drivers in a while (I presume that's what you're referring to).
I must confess that for me PS2 should be dead already, for a long time. As for all legacy standards for that matter. A major overhaul in hardware and software is in order in my opinion. Only the big guys don't have the balls to do it, since compatibility is at stake.
We're still suffering from the old PC architecture, with all those issues in mem allocation for legacy staff that make no sense anymore. That's where the Mac shines I guess. They even have UEFI for ages while we're still stuck with the old arcaic BIOS. Intel did their part there and some others tried but what a wash-out. Well, I guess I digress.
Regarding the USB issue, have you tried installing in safe mode? Or maybe you can schedule a restart for a couple of minutes after the installation, which is also not a nice way to do it, but maybe better than hard restart.
What if you disconnect the mouse and re-insert it again after the update? Does it work? Maybe in a different port, if you update each controller at a time, and insert in a port that's not hanging from the updated controller. Just a thought, maybe it's stupid but who knows.

[voltron]

Hello, Manel:

Thank you for your input. I was also thinking of installing within safe mode. I haven't tried this, yet; but, I plan on it the next time I encounter a system that needs its INF files updated, particularly the enhanced USB drivers. I tried unplugging and re-plugging the disabled USB keyboard and mouse, without success. I know the devices have been disabled, as the lights go out on them. But, re-plugging them does not bring them back. I have not, however, attempted to plug them into a different USB port. I have been hesitant on that, not wanting to get orphaned devices in device manager; however, this may be another way to go, as a "hard" shutdown is not a fun thing to do. Scheduling a restart is something to think about, too; so, thank you for that suggestion. While I know what you are saying about legacy technology (PS2, floppy drives, etc.), it was nice to update the enhanced USB drivers on one system, without disabling the keyboard, simply because it was a PS2 and not a USB keyboard. In particular instances, that old technology still serves us well; although, when it gets in the way of good progress, it does hurt.

If anyone else has other suggestions, they are greatly appreciated. Thank you, Manel and thanks to everyone else.

[Manel]

Hey Voltron
Glad to know that some of it might be usefull.
The different port sugestion was because every chipset has a number of different USB controllers within itself and each has a few ports. If you update individually each controller the others might work still, although I'm not too sure about this, since maybe only one driver is used for all of them and that might affect them all.
Yes, I'm kinda alergic to legacy but I know sometimes they save our butt!!
Good luck with the next update.