Official GIGABYTE X38-DQ6/X38T-DQ6 Info/BIOS Thread

[Cornel]

Hey Cornel I think it's Freeky not Freddy

Glad to see Freqy's advice helped you out
Thats why forums like these are good

You should be able to switch to turbo for the Enhance Performance setting
You should also be able to raise the 400 fsb and lower the 400mhz memory strap down to a 333mhz strap using 2.4x for much better results

try this profile

444 x8 @3552
Performance Enhance turbo
memory multi 2.40B
5-5-5-18 3-3-6-42-3-8-5-2T
cpu/pciex 1000mV
ddr2 +0.55v
pcie +0.25v
fsb +0.15v
(G)MCH +0.175v
your cpu is good +1.42v

That didnt work...
but now i have problem with my other settings too, the one that worked nice for a while...


I found out one thing, when the motherboard goes in endless recovery loops, turn it off (hold powerbutton for 4 sec) and hit and hold DELETE and turn on, hold it until u see the post screen, release delete and hit it again to enter bios.

It must be somthing realy wrong with this setup...



It somtimes freezes here (here = picture) at stock speed...

...oh hell, wait, now it just continued... it freezed for 5 miuntes maybe (when i was editing&uploading the picture)

[freqy]

regarding the q6600 (1066 fsb)

i wonder how high a rate front side bus is safe for this processor?

I'm a little apprehensive to push it past 400fsb on a 24/7 basis.

Even if kept cool there is that 'electrolysis migration' problem ive been reading about.

[Alcibiades]

How to break the endless failed o/c reboot cycles

When you hear the CLICK noise on a failed o/c and your PC turns off
wait until just b4 it switches on again and hold down the power button
If you timed it right youll see your PC switch on and just b4 it starts to crank up it switches off (because you're holding the power button still)

X38-DQ6 will not try to boot your extreme setting again (which will result in endless failed o/c reboot cycle) thinking it just had a BAD o/c attempt!
So it will load standard recovery settings.

No more pulling batteries out.

Also ALWAYS clear CMOS after every change of bios, very important

[Isepick]

Heh...Gigabyte pulled the F5j off their site rather quickly...and I am still having problems getting this damn thing stable with a 2nd 3870, even without the crossfire cables attached. Prime locks up within 1 minute on large ffts, pull out the card and it runs happily. Wish I knew what it was conflicting with (apparently not the jmicron I thought earlier)....sigh....waiting for a good bios, or a decent X48, whichever comes first...

[Buggalugs]

Also ALWAYS clear CMOS after every change of bios, very important

Do u mean to use the jumper on the motherboard?

Also when you update the bios there is option to delete DMI data. Is it better to delete this too?

[Alcibiades]

Do u mean to use the jumper on the motherboard?

Also when you update the bios there is option to delete DMI data. Is it better to delete this too?

Yes the jumper or remove cmos battery for 5 minutes

I always clear DMI data when flashing, then clear cmos, then I enter the bios.

[Alcibiades]

That didnt work...

Damn sorry to hear that, you have 4GB I see and they are 2x 2x1GB ddr2 right so all 4 banks are full.
I only have 2x1GB and I know it's easier with 2 sticks than with 4.
OCZ tells me that if I buy another 2x1GB 9200 FlexXlc for a total of 4GB, that because I have 2x 2x1GB kits they are NOT guaranteed to work at stated speeds for 4x1GB only 2x1GB sticks.
So if you wanna run 4GB at high speed you have to get a 2x2GB kit.

Hopefully a bios rev will address this, bios F5H is stated as having better memory performance for 4 dimms.

[Cornel]

2x2GB is inncoming today.
There is just somthing strange with my computer when i am using those HyperX ram sticks.

I pulled them out and found my old BallistiX ( http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=312367 ) ramsticks, and i got a diffrent computer. No endless bootrecovery anymore. Just 2x1gb in my computer now, one BallistiX stick died in my old computer.
But thise sticks is 800mhz... uhm.. running 9x400 = 3.6 ghz atm.

[LiViD]

HyperX is not as good as it use to be back in the DDR-I days. The PC2-6400 variants use Infineon AF-3S IC's, while the PC2-8500 uses D9GKX which bumps up the pricetag a fair bit.

[2DIFF]

Hi there. I must say I'm massively disappointed by my GA-X38-DS5. Call this board whatever you want - but do not call it stable! It's a mess. I can't OC my E6420 at all. Had a GA-965P-DS3P before (see signature) and it performed well. The X38-DS5 doesn't allow ANY changes in the Bios's OC section, and what's worth: If I change settings, my systems halts @ loading the RAID-Bios, so no chance to even get back to Sys. Bios -> reset CMOS. Another really nice feautre of this board is the fact of loosing the keyboard (PS2) while in BIOS, WTF?? I have the F3 Bios, don't think the F4'll be better. Wow, I just put 280 Swissfrancs into fire. Not very well done, Gigabyte. :-((

[Richard Dower]

Welcome to my world DIFF...the X38 is flawed, the bios sucks donkey..... Gigabyte can't get a bios to work it seems.

[E.R]

Damn sorry to hear that, you have 4GB I see and they are 2x 2x1GB ddr2 right so all 4 banks are full.
I only have 2x1GB and I know it's easier with 2 sticks than with 4.
OCZ tells me that if I buy another 2x1GB 9200 FlexXlc for a total of 4GB, that because I have 2x 2x1GB kits they are NOT guaranteed to work at stated speeds for 4x1GB only 2x1GB sticks.
So if you wanna run 4GB at high speed you have to get a 2x2GB kit.

Hopefully a bios rev will address this, bios F5H is stated as having better memory performance for 4 dimms.

I´ts a hardware thing, not a BIOS thing so no BIOS can change anyhing about the fact X38-DQ6 cant handle 4 sticks. My crappy DQ6 had the exact same problem with usage of 4 dimms, i decied not to lower my expectations/demands on my motherboards so i trade away the crap for good board that can handle 4 sticks at their rated speed or above and does not have any problem what so ever.
I tried every one of the BIOS before i traded, including F5H, do difference what so ever for memory, and low performance 2x2 compared to Flex XLC was not my way to go since i se no difference between 2x1 and 4x1 on Maximus either for memory OC nor CPU OC.

[2DIFF]

COOLER THAN ICE: Well, look @ this. I was wrong, the board ain't that crappy, in fact. Just changed the NB cooling, and voilà! The X38 seems very delicate in terms of heat. So, can now go to 3.4 Ghz with a E6420, wich is enough for me. Never had a "Silent-Pipped" board before, I tought they'd be much more effective, so I didn't cool the NB with water. Now I use the cheap old Thermaltake W3 NB waterblock and am Happy as a honeybee. Hope this'll last...

[ChrissTi]

Here is my setup:

Robust Graphics Booster: Turbo
CPU Clock Ratio: 8X
CPU Frequency: 3.616GHz (452x8)
CPU Host Clock Control: Enabled
CPU Host Frequency(Mhz) : 452
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) : Auto
C.I.A.2: Disabled
Performance Enhance :Extreme
System Memory Multiplier (SPD): (2.4B)
Memory Frequency(Mhz): 1085
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) : Auto


****** Clock Driving and Skew Control ******(?????)
CPU/PCIEX Clock Driving Control: 800Vmm
CPU Clock Skew Control: Normal
(G)MCH Clock Skew Control : Normal

******** System Voltage Optimized ********
System Voltage Control: Manual
X DDR2 OverVoltage Control: +0.60V
X PCI-E OverVoltage Control: normal
X FSB OverVoltage Control: normal
X (G) MCH OverVoltage Control: normal
X MCH Reference Voltage Control: Normal
X DDR Reference Voltage Control: Normal
X DDR Termination Voltage Control: normal
CPU VOLTAGE Control: 1.5375
Normal CPU Vcore: 1.5375

The system is very stable on air.
By simply letting - DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) : Auto - the bios configures the memory timings.
By modifing Performance Enhance to Standard, Turbo or Extreme, it modifyes the chipset and memory timings to have less or more latency. Lower the latency (Standard) to gain system stability.
I have 2 different dual channel memory kits 2x2GB, and because of that I could not overclock them as much as I wanted. I've tested with one dual channel kit and managed to go to 1200 DDR Mhz (600Mhz real), stable, on air.

[Richard Dower]

Dudes...any bios updates?

Can someone check www.station-drivers.com again please, website has been down for several days once again.

[Buggalugs]

Wow ChrissTi, you overvolt your ram by 0.6 v? is this safe for 24/7 setup? What kind of system temps are you getting?

[~aoe~]

The TeamGroup Extreem specification 2.3-2.4v, and the AData 2.2-2.3v. Also considering that +0.6v on this board probably translates to around +0.55v or less in real terms, he's probably ok with that.

[Brama]

regarding the q6600 (1066 fsb)

i wonder how high a rate front side bus is safe for this processor?

I'm a little apprehensive to push it past 400fsb on a 24/7 basis.

Even if kept cool there is that 'electrolysis migration' problem ive been reading about.

The processor is not a battery, the migration is not due to electrolysis.

The electron migration is mostly due to high voltage, not high frequency.

By the way I would feel myself enough safe to use it 24/7 till 430-450 MHz.

[HeadShotWI]

Is there a bios version our right now that doesn't cause problems with sata optical drives? if so which one?

[Caped Crusader]

Is there a bios version our right now that doesn't cause problems with sata optical drives? if so which one?

What Optical SATA problems are you guys talking about? I have a LITE-ON SATA DVD-RAM DL drive, using BIOS F7f and so far no problems writing/reading media, except for some Datawrite DL 2.4x discs, but it's probably a bad media issue...

[Supershanks]

I've run a sata dvd from day 1 & not had any issues. Spent most of my time on f5G & F5H, but have tried most others.

[HeadShotWI]

What Optical SATA problems are you guys talking about? I have a LITE-ON SATA DVD-RAM DL drive, using BIOS F7f and so far no problems writing/reading media, except for some Datawrite DL 2.4x discs, but it's probably a bad media issue...

Maybe I am thinking of a different board. I thought I read that people were having problems. Disregard.

[2DIFF]

Here is my setup:

Robust Graphics Booster: Turbo
CPU Clock Ratio: 8X
CPU Frequency: 3.616GHz (452x8)
CPU Host Clock Control: Enabled
CPU Host Frequency(Mhz) : 452
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) : Auto
C.I.A.2: Disabled
Performance Enhance :Extreme
System Memory Multiplier (SPD): (2.4B)
Memory Frequency(Mhz): 1085
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) : Auto


****** Clock Driving and Skew Control ******(?????)
CPU/PCIEX Clock Driving Control: 800Vmm
CPU Clock Skew Control: Normal
(G)MCH Clock Skew Control : Normal

******** System Voltage Optimized ********
System Voltage Control: Manual
X DDR2 OverVoltage Control: +0.60V
X PCI-E OverVoltage Control: normal
X FSB OverVoltage Control: normal
X (G) MCH OverVoltage Control: normal
X MCH Reference Voltage Control: Normal
X DDR Reference Voltage Control: Normal
X DDR Termination Voltage Control: normal
CPU VOLTAGE Control: 1.5375
Normal CPU Vcore: 1.5375

The system is very stable on air.
By simply letting - DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) : Auto - the bios configures the memory timings.
By modifing Performance Enhance to Standard, Turbo or Extreme, it modifyes the chipset and memory timings to have less or more latency. Lower the latency (Standard) to gain system stability.
I have 2 different dual channel memory kits 2x2GB, and because of that I could not overclock them as much as I wanted. I've tested with one dual channel kit and managed to go to 1200 DDR Mhz (600Mhz real), stable, on air.

...Thats a no-go on my X38-DS5...doesn't even make it over the RAID Bios, and if, freezes @ Windows Bootscreen. Why do you have a Normal CPU Vcore of 1.5375? greetz

[Caped Crusader]

Maybe I am thinking of a different board. I thought I read that people were having problems. Disregard.

I've read posts on that also, but I have no idea what the problems may be... anyway, I haven't noticed anything on my side.

[Richard Dower]

F7 bios, all of them, won't detect SATA optical drives properly in bios. It's not listed as a connected drive. You have to manually detect the drive...which it does, but on a restart it loses the drive again.