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

[rbsmontemor]

Use 266 strap and tell us what happens

Here when I put 375+ FSB, and 667 on the ram.....I get 8746938875r672368947930284 errors on memtest, dont matter how much volts I put on Vdimm, Vfsb etc... But the ram works fine on 333 FSb and 800 mem, so...there is no problem with the 6400HZ's (DDR1000)


PS: Using 333 strap make the things worse for me

*Sry for my bad english

[ChaosMinionX]

Personally the way I see the RAM dieing issue it this. If it was just random death of sticks in any slot I would think bad ram, but being that it's always the stick in bank 2 dieing it's got to be something with the board. If I could test individual ram slots vDimm then I would definitly test it out. But both sticks seemed to be about the same temps when I touched them. I'm just not going to run over 2.2v on my ram now. It very well could be just running ram out of spec on the voltage and that led to the death of one stick.

I have had 2 sets of 6400C3DF's die on first and 3rd dimm from the left consecutively. I am now running 2nd and 4th from left and seeing if that changes things, not to mention ive undervolted from spec.

[azzido]

Maglin, ChaosMinionX did you try your "dead" ram on different mainboard?
When your ram died did you get 3 beeps or it just didn't post?

I had the same issue with my Ballistix memory. I received new sticks from Crucial on friday, put them in and NOTHING. No post, no beeps, nothing. Then I tried one old and one new stick and it worked. Then I put all 4 sticks (old and new) and it worked, now i am sitting with 4 gigs of ram and it is working just fine. I strongly believe that there is something wrong with mainboard, not memory.

[Nazu]

Does Bad Axe 2 support 1333MHz fsb cpu's?

[Gunnz Akimbo]

Yer it should do, on SiSoft SANDRA it states a 1333FSB as the max setting.

Im currently trying a nice multitasking tweak for CPU threading, you may of read it here before.

In registry;

AdditionalCriticalWorkerThreads = 16 (Decimal Value)
AdditionalDelayedWorkerThreads = 16 (Decimal Value)


This is what Vista Smoker Pro sets them to (i checked it on my Vista machine)

Seems to be working good so far when things get congested.

[Aljechin]

This has been my only issue with this board. If you overvolt to say 1.5V I can't seem to find a way to get it to change withiin windows.

I run pretty high overclocks and run my computer 24/7 but during that time the CPU is idle much of the time. In the past I am able to use a CrystalCPUID or RMClock as SpeedStep/CoolnQuiet and you have controller over multi/voltage changes.

There is still no known way to undervolt and overclocked&overvolted CPU
for Idle-Mode on Bad Axe 2? What a shame, it would be the perfect board...

[stmckin]

Does Bad Axe 2 support 1333MHz fsb cpu's?

Yes, you can BIOS strap the FSB to 1333.

No, it doesn't officially support it.

Maybe, it will officially support them, but the X38 (Bearlake with PCIE2, ICH9, etc) chipset is coming out at the same time for those CPU's (Wolfdale etc) so I suppose Intel might not turn on support for 1333 CPUs on the 975XBX2... might have to get a "X38XBX" motherboard or whatever they end up calling it.

[ChaosMinionX]

Maglin, ChaosMinionX did you try your "dead" ram on different mainboard?
When your ram died did you get 3 beeps or it just didn't post?

I had the same issue with my Ballistix memory. I received new sticks from Crucial on friday, put them in and NOTHING. No post, no beeps, nothing. Then I tried one old and one new stick and it worked. Then I put all 4 sticks (old and new) and it worked, now i am sitting with 4 gigs of ram and it is working just fine. I strongly believe that there is something wrong with mainboard, not memory.

Yes actually, I have 2 other systems running Asus P5B dlx, and a RD600 that are just test systems. I used on both and both errored like crazy on the first loops of memtest 86+ 1.7

[SteveLord]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone with similar hardware to mine...was able to hit 3.4 or 3.6 and what their settings were. Im new to the Core2 game. (all voltages stock)

fsb
334

ref freq
266

mem freq
533

cpu clock
3006



Perfectly stable. However, I've tried moving up to 3.4 before by only upping the FSB and the voltage to i think 1.425 and 1.45 with some issues, despite Orthos being long stable.

[Last Hegemon]

Great job with the forum guys & gtj (you've convinced me to go with a BX2). I'm thinking of buying the following parts within the next week or so and looking for any suggestions/advice:

Intel Bad Axe 2
E6600 CPU
Memory ??? (G.Skill ok? looking to OC to around 3.2GHz and have a budget of $220 for memory; which should I get?)
8800 GTS video card (R600 might be too pricey and run too hot)
Corsair 520HX (40a should be plenty right?)
Barracuda 320GB hard drive (I'd wait for Hitachi's 7k1000, but Anandtech's review might turn out to be all hype; I've thought about getting 2 hd's and doing a Raid 0, just haven't decided; want fast, silent and cool....yeah that's asking for too much)
P180B case

This is going to be an all-around PC which hopefully will last me 4 years. Thanks in advance everyone!

[Forceman]

Great job with the forum guys & gtj (you've convinced me to go with a BX2). I'm thinking of buying the following parts within the next week or so and looking for any suggestions/advice:

Intel Bad Axe 2
E6600 CPU
Memory ??? (G.Skill ok? looking to OC to around 3.2GHz and have a budget of $220 for memory; which should I get?)
8800 GTS video card (R600 might be too pricey and run too hot)
Corsair 520HX (40a should be plenty right?)
Barracuda 320GB hard drive (I'd wait for Hitachi's 7k1000, but Anandtech's review might turn out to be all hype; I've thought about getting 2 hd's and doing a Raid 0, just haven't decided; want fast, silent and cool....yeah that's asking for too much)
P180B case

This is going to be an all-around PC which hopefully will last me 4 years. Thanks in advance everyone!

I've had both Seagate Barracuda and WD hard drives recently, and I've found the WD to be quieter and cooler than the Seagates. The WD Caviar SE16 has been very good for me, and price competitive also.

[gtj]

Great job with the forum guys & gtj (you've convinced me to go with a BX2). I'm thinking of buying the following parts within the next week or so and looking for any suggestions/advice:

Intel Bad Axe 2
E6600 CPU
Memory ??? (G.Skill ok? looking to OC to around 3.2GHz and have a budget of $220 for memory; which should I get?)
8800 GTS video card (R600 might be too pricey and run too hot)
Corsair 520HX (40a should be plenty right?)
Barracuda 320GB hard drive (I'd wait for Hitachi's 7k1000, but Anandtech's review might turn out to be all hype; I've thought about getting 2 hd's and doing a Raid 0, just haven't decided; want fast, silent and cool....yeah that's asking for too much)
P180B case

This is going to be an all-around PC which hopefully will last me 4 years. Thanks in advance everyone!

Welcome!

An E6600 at 3.2G is a pretty good combo. You'll probably be able to do it at stock voltages which will keep things cool. You'll either have to under or over clock the memory slightly. G.Skill will be fine as will any other kit you could buy for the $220. Personally I'm a fan of OCZ but like i said, any of the major guys are OK.

Seagate or WD: I run them both and like them both.

[argylesocks]

Personally I'm a fan of OCZ but like i said, any of the major guys are OK.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...ductCode=85264

OCZ PC6400 R2, now $149 after rebate...

[GamingDaemon]

Great job with the forum guys & gtj (you've convinced me to go with a BX2). I'm thinking of buying the following parts within the next week or so and looking for any suggestions/advice:

Intel Bad Axe 2
E6600 CPU
Memory ??? (G.Skill ok? looking to OC to around 3.2GHz and have a budget of $220 for memory; which should I get?)
8800 GTS video card (R600 might be too pricey and run too hot)
Corsair 520HX (40a should be plenty right?)
Barracuda 320GB hard drive (I'd wait for Hitachi's 7k1000, but Anandtech's review might turn out to be all hype; I've thought about getting 2 hd's and doing a Raid 0, just haven't decided; want fast, silent and cool....yeah that's asking for too much)
P180B case

This is going to be an all-around PC which hopefully will last me 4 years. Thanks in advance everyone!

Awesome name, dude! read any Iain Bank novels?

Anyway, I use the G.Skill memory and have had no problems going to 3.2GHz. I bought the 620HX PSU because...well, 620 is bigger than 520 (yes, but this one goes to eleven, you see... ...who can tell me what movie this is from?) I have the WD 80GB for Vista and the Seagate 320GB for games and development. My whole machine is whisper quiet, I can't ever tell if it's on ( I have the Enermax Chakra case). See my temps for my system below...

And for all our sakes, please, please, get the 8800 GTX. Why settle for a GTS when for just a little more, you can have the premium (unless you are talking about the 320MB version).

[argylesocks]

(yes, but this one goes to eleven, you see... ...who can tell me what movie this is from?)

Spinal Tap.
what do i win???

[Last Hegemon]

Thank you gents for all your responses! I can't pass up that special on the OCZ memory so I'll order it; you've made it easy
Daemon you must be an Ender fan (my fav sci-fi series); currently reading the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons and loving it. I've put Bank on the list
Yes, I was looking at the 640MB 8800 since it was a bit shorter than the GTX and of course less expensive; might have to take out a drive bay in the p180 to make it fit....ok ok I'll think about it. You guys rock!

[ArcticOC]

Got this one today:

Hello again, Jorn,

Thank you once more for contacting Intel(R) Technical Support.


Regarding this situation with your Intel(R) Desktop Board D975XBX2, please be aware of the following:

- The use of non-Intel(R) fans on Boxed Desktop processors voids the warranty on the processor, since Intel(R) fans are the only ones we have fully tested to work with our chips.

Also, please try the following:

- Go to Control Panel > Power Options.
- On the Power Scheme option, please choose 'Always On'.

This should disable the Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(R) Technology on OS level, and should put the multiplier at the maximum value.


Please do not hesitate to contact us again if you need further assistance.

Sincerely,

Paul C.
Intel(R) Technical Support

Watercooling must be a bad thing Glad evereyone here use the BOXED cooler

[rbsmontemor]

hahahahah what a JOKE!

[ChaosMinionX]

Got this one today:

Watercooling must be a bad thing Glad evereyone here use the BOXED cooler

Also sure glad Windows overrides something the bios cant even set with power schemes. I use always on, and that def has nothing to do with multis, I love tech support for companies and their generic bs they shovel out on a daily basis.

[neonflx]

if i want to install vista
could i just install it on the marvell controller on a RAID 0 or do i need to use the intel and use raid

thanks for any suggestions

[scorpion]

gtj / thanks for the heads up on watercooling,i went for the swiftech h20-220 apex ultra. so for great system.

[gtj]

gtj / thanks for the heads up on watercooling,i went for the swiftech h20-220 apex ultra. so for great system.

No problem.

[gtj]

if i want to install vista
could i just install it on the marvell controller on a RAID 0 or do i need to use the intel and use raid

thanks for any suggestions

You COULD but why would you want to? The Intel controller is natively supported in Vista and will have slightly better performance.

[neonflx]

thanks gtj

[rithina]

may i ask what is the latest revision of this board and the max vcore and vmch for it?