**Official ABIT IX38 QuadGT Review/Overclock/Guide Thread**

[JPxM0Dz]

That's looking real good mate
I wish I had that CPU temp - what do you use for cooling?
Also nice low board voltages... how can you run 490 FSB with a quadcore w/o raising ICH voltage?! Amazing. MCH is rather low too

Yeah that was my thoughts also, but by jumping up to 495FSB I did indeed need to up the voltages on ICH and MCH including vcore to gain stability.

I'm using CoolIT Freezone for cooling...

[JPxM0Dz]

As you can see I did need to up those voltages. I'm still in the testing stage at this point, may need to increase some settings and quite possibly decrease others.

I wasn't able to crack 500FSB until I upped the ICH, nothing else helped until I did that.


http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=283456

[Heidfirst]

I'm shopping for a x38 board.
Can I run crossfire with 3 cards on this board?
How does this board stack up against the maximus and the dfi x38 board?

In theory I strongly suspect so albeit 1 slot will be at x4 & will require a card with a single slot cooler.

Once they all have mature BIOS I doubt that there will be much between any of them (same as P35).
The Maximus (& the Gigabytes X38s) only has 2 physical X16 slots though so no chance of 3 way Cf.

[Philip_J_Fry]

how is the mosfet temp??

can anyone check?? cuz the Abit 680i had really bad connection between the mosfet heatsink and mosfet

[Supershanks]

The pwm temps you mean look 2 poists above for idke speeds. with active cooling & vtt at 1.36v good enough for 470x8 load is around 72C see post post#443
& jcool's post around the same area.

[jcool]

I'm using CoolIT Freezone for cooling...

Ok... and that is.. what? I don't think anyone's ever seen that one over here in Germany
But nice to see you got 500 FSB - you all think the board will need lower voltages with a Q9450? Cause I was sort of planning to run 500*8 with a Yorkie 24/7 (and I won't run 1,66V MCH 24/7 obviously...)

[Funkers]

how are you guys managing to hit such high fsb with the quad's. I've tried all sorts of settings with the board and i cant stress test at anything past around 380-390 on a x7 x8 multiplier. I can however run 9*400 however heat is an issue as my heatsink is warped for the moment.

I've tried some of supershanks settings for his fsb overclocks on the quad but have had no luck. A soon as I start prime95 the screen freezes and then around 15 seconds later i get a BSOD.

Could this just be the processor not beimg suited to high fsb? I am also still on the shipping bios that came with the board if that makes any differemce.

Any ideas as it seems strange that i can reach 9*400 however at a lower overclock of 8*400 it just locks up??

[jcool]

how are you guys managing to hit such high fsb with the quad's. I've tried all sorts of settings with the board and i cant stress test at anything past around 380-390 on a x7 x8 multiplier. I can however run 9*400 however heat is an issue as my heatsink is warped for the moment.

I've tried some of supershanks settings for his fsb overclocks on the quad but have had no luck. A soon as I start prime95 the screen freezes and then around 15 seconds later i get a BSOD.

Could this just be the processor not beimg suited to high fsb? I am also still on the shipping bios that came with the board if that makes any differemce.

Any ideas as it seems strange that i can reach 9*400 however at a lower overclock of 8*400 it just locks up??

Sounds like a bios issue.
I'd try 12.B05, see if it helps. Only major issue with that one is that every time you enter the bios, your Vcore setting resets itself back to your CPU's VID. But it's easy to circumvent if you know how: just set your desired voltage via the offset and it will keep the setting.
Also remember to put a fan in front of the PWMs and, in case of watercooled CPU, the NB.

[JPxM0Dz]

Ok... and that is.. what? I don't think anyone's ever seen that one over here in Germany
But nice to see you got 500 FSB - you all think the board will need lower voltages with a Q9450? Cause I was sort of planning to run 500*8 with a Yorkie 24/7 (and I won't run 1,66V MCH 24/7 obviously...)

Hey there, sorry I just took it for granted we all know about Coolit, their a company based outa Calgary AB Canada
It's essentially a Liquid cooler/TEC combo all self contained requiring no maintanance.

Here's a couple of reviews...

http://www.extrememhz.com/freezone-p1.shtml
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1055

Link: http://www.coolitsystems.com/

[jcool]

Ah sure, another HS/peltier combo... looks nice though. Someday I'm gonna have to get myself a chiller.

I tried to hit 500FSB aswell in the meantime, the good news is, I hit 490x7 w/o a problem, bootet right into windows and was even 3dmark stable.
However, I can't seem to get to 500 no matter what. I guess the CPU doesn't like it or whatever.
Anyhow, one major point: ICH voltage seems to be crucial for QC overclocking, at least for me (as it was on my old QuadGT)
I tuned down every single mobo voltage for 400x9 and all went well, until I set ICH too low. 1,05 gives pirme errors (custom blend - inplace) after 1 minute, 1,10 gives a nice BSOD (IRQ not less or equal) after a couple of minutes, 1,15 is primestable but crashes if I run BOINC and CoD4 simultaneously () and 1,20 is rockstable.
Oddly, I observed this behaviour with various boards and a few different quads (B3 and G0) so watch the ICH voltage if you wanna get your rig really stable.

[nordien]

Got two HD3870's last friday. This my setup:

Q6600 G0 @ 3.6ghz
8 * 450 FSB
DDR1080 @ 4-5-4-18 @ 2.4 @ 1:1.20

2 x Club3D HD3870's @ default

3Dmark06 = 18975
3Dmark05 = 22003
Crysis 1280*1024 @ high = 4875,3
Crysis 1600*1200 @ high = 3845,3
COD4 @ 1600*1200 @ 16*4 = 110 fps
Need for Speed Most Wanted = 111 fps average

2 x Club3D HD3870's @ 837/1251

3Dmark06 = 19258
3Dmark05 = 23123
Crysis 1280*1024 @ high = 5017,2
Crysis 1600*1200 @ high = 4001,1
COD4 @ 1600*1200 @ 16*4 = 115 fps
Need for Speed Most Wanted = 119 fps average

Cant overclock the Cards any higher without freezes. Im going to replace the coolers soon. The coolers do work but @ a very high noise level. If i set the coolers to 60% with rivatuner they stay very cool but when i start gaming they run to hot. You have to tet them to 80% but it sounds like a Boeing landing in the garden......

[Supershanks]

Nice nordien

it sounds like a Boeing landing in the garden..

Microsoft Flight Sim should be good then

[mark0326]

how are you guys managing to hit such high fsb with the quad's. I've tried all sorts of settings with the board and i cant stress test at anything past around 380-390 on a x7 x8 multiplier. I can however run 9*400 however heat is an issue as my heatsink is warped for the moment.

I've tried some of supershanks settings for his fsb overclocks on the quad but have had no luck. A soon as I start prime95 the screen freezes and then around 15 seconds later i get a BSOD.

Could this just be the processor not beimg suited to high fsb? I am also still on the shipping bios that came with the board if that makes any differemce.

Any ideas as it seems strange that i can reach 9*400 however at a lower overclock of 8*400 it just locks up??

I am experiencing the exact same problems as you, x8 multi is a complete no-go as soon as I hit 390.
I didn't have the same problems when on an earlier BIOS.

[JPxM0Dz]

Ah sure, another HS/peltier combo... looks nice though. Someday I'm gonna have to get myself a chiller.

I tried to hit 500FSB aswell in the meantime, the good news is, I hit 490x7 w/o a problem, bootet right into windows and was even 3dmark stable.
However, I can't seem to get to 500 no matter what. I guess the CPU doesn't like it or whatever.
Anyhow, one major point: ICH voltage seems to be crucial for QC overclocking, at least for me (as it was on my old QuadGT)
I tuned down every single mobo voltage for 400x9 and all went well, until I set ICH too low. 1,05 gives pirme errors (custom blend - inplace) after 1 minute, 1,10 gives a nice BSOD (IRQ not less or equal) after a couple of minutes, 1,15 is primestable but crashes if I run BOINC and CoD4 simultaneously () and 1,20 is rockstable.
Oddly, I observed this behaviour with various boards and a few different quads (B3 and G0) so watch the ICH voltage if you wanna get your rig really stable.

Agreed ICH is crucial , only wish I could go higher than 1.50v

[jcool]

More than 1,5? Wow... I was running 490x7 with 1,35V ICHIO 3DMark stable so I'd think 1,5 should be enough

[Funkers]

mark0326. is it the abit ix38 your using? if so did you use a bios which didnt cause any issues?

I really need to update the bios. I've butchered a floppy from an old pc.

anybody know if there are multiplier issues with the shipping bios and if its worth changing to one of the beta's?

I all also noticed that you have an enermax supply which i'm sure ive read can cause issues with this board. I've got the infiniti version.

[mark0326]

Funkers, I soon found the Enermax Galaxy had problems with the IX38 so now have CoolerMaster Pro 850w - no problems.
I didn't have the x8 problems with the boards original 11 BIOS, don't think I tried x8 on the B03 but I certainly do have problems with the B05!
SuperShanks said he did have some similar problems but the board sorted itself out eventually - just keep trying. Maybe worth trying to re-flash the BIOS.
Out of interest, what batch is your CPU? Mine is L731B509
(need to update my comp specs - sorry)

[JPxM0Dz]

Funkers, I soon found the Enermax Galaxy had problems with the IX38 so now have CoolerMaster Pro 850w - no problems.
I didn't have the x8 problems with the boards original 11 BIOS, don't think I tried x8 on the B03 but I certainly do have problems with the B05!
SuperShanks said he did have some similar problems but the board sorted itself out eventually - just keep trying. Maybe worth trying to re-flash the BIOS.
Out of interest, what batch is your CPU? Mine is L731B509
(need to update my comp specs - sorry)

My Galaxy is working perfect with IX38, DFi P35 is another story...

[jcool]

Yeah my Liberty 500 also works well...#
B03 sucks according to supershanks, so you might just try b02 or b05... I'm still quite happy running my Q6600@400x9 and my 4Gigs of ram@1000 with very low voltages, but I just have no time for further testing atm.

[mark0326]

jcool: any problems on the 1:1.25 divider? Others have problems with stability.

[AMDfreak]

I've been tinkering with the IX38 since Saturday and thought I'd share my observations so far.

First, a quick rundown of my system:
Vista Ultimate x64
Q6600 G0 L24A something
IX38 B05 BIOS
1950XTX
4x 1GB Ballistix Tracer
Watercooling with:
Fuzion w/quad nozzle
MCW-60
PA 120.3 w/ 3 low speed Yate Loons
Iwaki MD20RLZ
7/16 Tygon

I'm currently orthos stable for 15+ hours 412x9 memory 1:1. I have vcore at 1.53, temps 52-58C at load. System is much more stable without uGuru running, so I'll be trying to get that vcore down some.

8x450 is not happening even with the ICH votages cranked way up. I've not had time to test for max FSB yet.

Active cooling is a must on the PWM's. No fan got me over 120C. I now have 2 92mm fans twist tied to the tubing to blow on the PWM's and NB. If anyone would like to create a NB and PWM waterblock for the IX38, I will be your first customer.

[Supershanks]

8x450 is not happening even with the ICH votages cranked way up. I've not had time to test for max FSB yet.

This no go on 8x450 is really strange. I'm running mine with ICh at 1.12v settings here nordien is also able to run fine

f anyone would like to create a NB and PWM waterblock for the IX38

Yep to that

[jcool]

As I already stated earlier, ANY PWM Freezer made for the Abit AB9 QuadGT/Abit IN9-32X Max will fit the IX38 QuadGT.
There are models available from www.mips-computer.de and www.watercool.de
Unfortunately, there is no NB block available as of yet, but Mips is working on it - will be finished soon

About the 1,25 strap, I'm running it now with 4G D9GMH@1000 4-4-4-12.
Seems stable, 1000 5-5-5-15 is definitely stable (3-4 days BOINC + Games)
Bios 12.B05

[AMDfreak]

As I already stated earlier, ANY PWM Freezer made for the Abit AB9 QuadGT/Abit IN9-32X Max will fit the IX38 QuadGT.
There are models available from www.mips-computer.de and www.watercool.de
Unfortunately, there is no NB block available as of yet, but Mips is working on it - will be finished soon

Nice, I missed that post. Now we just need that NB block and I need to learn German...

BTW, just got home and I'm 20 hours stable at 412x9. Time to ratchet it up a notch!

[jcool]

How can you miss that, with these huge pics
Anyways, I'll ask the Mips guy whether he'll ship overseas... I know him personally since I live not far away
You can see the mips PWM block on my pictures, the watercool PWM looks like this - just no-nonsense straight copper