Testing / comparing : Intel D975XBX2 / Asus P5B DX ***56K WARNING***

[GamingDaemon]

Well, it looks like when I added the fan, I somehow reset the BIOS Jumpered settings. C1E and the Watchdog had been re-enabled. Does that happen when you remove the power plug from the power supply?

Anyway, it boots fine now. Can i tell you how much I hate jumpering the BIOS. With the 8800 card there and the IDE cable running over it, it's almost impossible to get to it. But it's done now.

So, I did a quick test with Orthos. Got it running with the settings in my sig, and my temps quickly went to 54C. I turned on the big freakin' 250mm fan so air blew in, and the temps went up to 55C.

Hmmmm...

I reversed the huge fan, and the temps went to 55C.

Sigh...

It seems to have almost no effect. Except that I've been running Orthos while typing this response, and the fan seems to get loud from time to time. Is this fan just worthless? Help please...

[gtj]

HELP!

I got my fan back from Enermax today and went straight about installing it. Easy enough. Then I tried to boot.

Arrrgghhhh! I kept get the message about failed POSTs, press 'Y' to go to BIOS, 'N' to use prior settings. No matter what I did, 'Y', or 'N', I could not get it to boot.

Thinking that the fan was pulling extra Wattage (I have a Corsair 620), I put extra voltage to the memory, vCore, everything, but nothing worked. Finally, by going back to no overclocking at all, I was able to boot.

So then, I went back in, restored my old overclocking (in my sig), and booted. Got the 'Y' or 'N' again. So then, I tried this old trick I had learned when I was overclocking last week. I would get to the 'Y' or 'N' message, press 'N', quickly press the reset button on my case, and then hold down the pwoer button. That worked! I booted to here, buyt my memory timings are 667 5-5-5-12 not 533 4-4-4-12.

I am going to jumper the BIOS right now, but will be back to see any replies. Please, gtj, anyone, help me!

Failed POST messages are the stupid watchdog.

[gtj]

Well, it looks like when I added the fan, I somehow reset the BIOS Jumpered settings. C1E and the Watchdog had been re-enabled. Does that happen when you remove the power plug from the power supply?

Anyway, it boots fine now. Can i tell you how much I hate jumpering the BIOS. With the 8800 card there and the IDE cable running over it, it's almost impossible to get to it. But it's done now.

So, I did a quick test with Orthos. Got it running with the settings in my sig, and my temps quickly went to 54C. I turned on the big freakin' 250mm fan so air blew in, and the temps went up to 55C.

Hmmmm...

I reversed the huge fan, and the temps went to 55C.

Sigh...

It seems to have almost no effect. Except that I've been running Orthos while typing this response, and the fan seems to get loud from time to time. Is this fan just worthless? Help please...

Get a 3pin fan extension cable, like the ones that come with fan controllers. Plug the female end into the bios jumper header amd move the jumper to the end of the cable.

Where do yuo have the fan plugged in?

[gtj]

I got a different response from Intel regarding the C1E bug. It seems they are completely denying it now.




Thank you for contacting Intel(R) Technical Support.

First at all, even though the C1E and the Enhance Intel(R) SpeedStep Technology are related, they are not the same. C1E is a feature that refers to the Enhanced Halt State and the Enhance SpeedStep Technology allows the system to dynamically adjust processor voltage and core frequency, which can result in decreased average power consumption and decreased average heat production

Then again the operating system handles the power management for the different devices within the system, you can try going to power options in the control panel and set the power schemes to always on.

We do not rely on what third party software states, that is why we would recommend you to run the Intel(R) Processor Identification Utility to properly identify your Intel(R) processor and its features.

The Intel(R) Processor Identification Utility was developed by Intel(R) Corporation to enable consumers the ability to identify and, in some circumstances, determine if their Intel(R) processor is operating at the correct speed intended by Intel(R) Corporation. Beginning with the Pentium(R) processor, this utility provides consumers with the ability to determine standard CPU identification of Intel processors. In addition, supported processors can utilize the Intel(R) Processor Identification Utility to help determine if a processor has been over-clocked.

You can download this utility at:
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/

Then again, you can try running the latest BIOS version for your motherboard. You can get this update at the following link:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scri...ProductID=2578



This was their reply to me after I told them CPU-Z and Everest was how I determined C1E wasnt disabling. I dont even know how to politely respond to this.

Want a big chuckle? I downloaded the bootable version of the Processor Identification Utility 3.3.20061218. It tells me that Enhanced Halt Start IS NOT SUPPORTED on my E6600.

Respond with THAT and see what they say.

[argylesocks]

hey gtj -
i noticed on your "ernie" machine, you had to loosen up your timings on your ram when you went to 4:5. what was the reasoning there?

did you notice a difference, compared to running at 1:1 ?

[Circaflex]

i havent even finished my build yet but im so tempted to ditch this badaxe2 and grab a 680i just because it seems like this board is a pain to overclock

[gtj]

hey gtj -
i noticed on your "ernie" machine, you had to loosen up your timings on your ram when you went to 4:5. what was the reasoning there?

did you notice a difference, compared to running at 1:1 ?

No reason other than I didn't have time to confirm that 4-4-4-15 would be stable enough. I need to make a pass through all 3 machines and re-confirm my settings.

[gtj]

i havent even finished my build yet but im so tempted to ditch this badaxe2 and grab a 680i just because it seems like this board is a pain to overclock

680i

The BX2 has issues like any other board but don't give up before you start. Intel's been putting BIOS releases every few weeks and remember, most people only post here if there's a problem. You don't hear when things are going OK.

[argylesocks]

hey, just for the record, i wanted to let everyone know that things are going ok.

[Circaflex]

Okay okay youve got me to stick with it, any good waterblocks for the nb? So far the best i guess ive found is the DD Maze4?

[GamingDaemon]

Failed POST messages are the stupid watchdog.

Thanks! I'll remember that for the future.

[GamingDaemon]

Get a 3pin fan extension cable, like the ones that come with fan controllers. Plug the female end into the bios jumper header amd move the jumper to the end of the cable.

Where do yuo have the fan plugged in?

Doh!! Why didn't I think of that! I'll have to pick one up for sure.

The fan is plugged into a regular 4-pin power cable that is also being used to power my DVD Burner. I think I read somewhere not to use the "Fan-only" connectors for the 250mm fan.

[gtj]

Okay okay youve got me to stick with it, any good waterblocks for the nb? So far the best i guess ive found is the DD Maze4?

Swiftech MCW30 works great.

[gtj]

The fan is plugged into a regular 4-pin power cable that is also being used to power my DVD Burner. I think I read somewhere not to use the "Fan-only" connectors for the 250mm fan.

Hmmm plugged directly into power and it's changing speeds? Does it have it's own thermistor?

[GamingDaemon]

Hmmm plugged directly into power and it's changing speeds? Does it have it's own thermistor?

No, there is a switch on the outside of the case that changes the direction of the fan. It has three options: In, Off, Out. Sorry for not explaining that.

What annoyed me about the switch though when I first installed it tonight, was that it seemed to go in the opposite direction of the markings on the outside of the case. I used a tissue on the outside of the case to prove my theory. I unscrewed the switched assembly and flipped it upside down, which meant pulling the wires taught, just so the fan direction matched the markings on the outside of the case. I guess I am extremely anal, but I like things to match.

Anyway, I moved my overclok up to 360FSB, kept the same memory timings, and with the fan pumping air in, I am at 34C idle, 55C under load. Just a tiny bit higher than when I was at 350FSB.

[gtj]

I guess I am extremely anal.

Uhmmm...

[gtj]

I think there's going to be a new BIOS release shortly. The BIOS download page doesn't list the old one anymore.

[GamingDaemon]

Uhmmm...

Hey, I'm married with a kid I know you were thinking

[GamingDaemon]

I think there's going to be a new BIOS release shortly. The BIOS download page doesn't list the old one anymore.

Cool. Something to look forward to...maybe they will have 'magically' fixed the C1E problem that they don't have.

[Zucker2k]

Swiftech MCW30 works great.

That's what I'm using here. Vmch is at 1.88v real, nb temp is at 26C, room temp is 76f

[Zucker2k]

I think there's going to be a new BIOS release shortly. The BIOS download page doesn't list the old one anymore.

Noticed that too; what I need now is a bios that enables me to lower multiplier and I'd be all set for some serious fsb action. I'm currently stuck on the 10x multi.

[ChaosMinionX]

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/df-s...leaseNotes.pdf

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
BIOS Update Release Notes
PRODUCTS: D975XBX2 (Standard BIOS)
BIOS Version 2674
About This BIOS:
 March 15, 2007
 BX97520J.86A.2674.2007.0315.1546
 SATA RAID info:
 Intel(R) RAID for SATA - v5.6.2.1002
 Marvell 88SE6145 SATA BIOS – v1.1.0.34
 PXE UNDI: Initializing Intel(R) Boot Agent GE v1.2.28
 PXE Base Code: Intel(R) Boot Agent GE v1.2.42
 Intel® Active Management Technology info:
 Intel® AMT BX Firmware: v1.2.3
New Fixes/Features:
 Fixed failures with the TCG ACPI Event Log when running the Vista
DTM TCG TPM BIOS Interface Test.
 Fixed issue where system would hang booting Windows XP with OEM
Activation 2.0 data programmed, EIST enabled, and certain
processor installed in the system.
 Modified IRQ table to evenly distribute IRQs for devices.
 Fixed priority issue in Advance Boot Mode when Legacy Floppy is
installed without a media.


Hows that for camping Intel site? haha I got it on a refresh.

Enjoy

[theonlybabyface]

BIOS 2674 is out now...

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scri...%2032&lang=eng

BIOS Version 2674
About This BIOS:
 March 15, 2007
 BX97520J.86A.2674.2007.0315.1546
 SATA RAID info:
 Intel(R) RAID for SATA - v5.6.2.1002
 Marvell 88SE6145 SATA BIOS – v1.1.0.34
 PXE UNDI: Initializing Intel(R) Boot Agent GE v1.2.28
 PXE Base Code: Intel(R) Boot Agent GE v1.2.42
 Intel® Active Management Technology info:
 Intel® AMT BX Firmware: v1.2.3
New Fixes/Features:
 Fixed failures with the TCG ACPI Event Log when running the Vista
DTM TCG TPM BIOS Interface Test.
 Fixed issue where system would hang booting Windows XP with OEM
Activation 2.0 data programmed, EIST enabled, and certain
processor installed in the system.
 Modified IRQ table to evenly distribute IRQs for devices.
 Fixed priority issue in Advance Boot Mode when Legacy Floppy is
installed without a media.

[pa9797]

Thats what i like about Bx2 always constantly improving their bios. Strange that even though this bios update works for all the OSs but if u select Vista 32 the bios driver is not there?

[theonlybabyface]

Ah ChaosMinionX, just beat me to it.