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

[zicada]

From what i can tell, the change to the A strap in F8C is that it will autodetect it as default for memory that can handle above 1066 speeds well. Be careful flashing F8C as it will not boot with certain makes of memory even with a reset bios, and you'll need some other sticks to get it to boot again.

[papatsonis]

thnx for your reply , the memory , does clear memtest 5th 1100 with 2.1, so i dont think its the weakest part.of course the 4 stick are holding me back :S but i dont want to even check the 2 stick overclocking as i want a 24/7 setting.All the tests i'd done were at Perfomance Turbo mode, so ill do a try at Standard mode.Assuming the memory isnt the limiting factor here (ive the opportunity to try a pair of team xtreem 1066 for testing) for 9x400 4:5 , TRD 5 or 6 , what will be the required vMCH (estimation) ?
thnx again

p.s.> what makes me fury is that 450 5:6 boots (but unstable) at tRD 7 , but 450 1:1 tRD 7 , NO boot at all :S

[Richard Dower]

Ok, GTL_1 and GTL_2.

With GTL_1 @ +3% the system freeze when runing In Place FFTs.. All other settings makes 1 core fail, but the system doesn't freeze. On AUTO it's completely stable. Just to remember the default option is "NORMAL"..and not "AUTO".

The GTL_2 has the options -3%, -6% and -9%. Didn't test too much but don't really see any difference.

And about DDR_REF, MCH_REF and another REF that I don't remember now...What would be better? Played with it a little but don't see any improvements..

Oh, another question..what's TRD Phase adjust? I know TRD = Performance Level....But don't know about phase adjust.
When using TRD = 8 the motherboard only boots with TRD Phase Adjust 8 or more, or NORMAL.

Ok, I'll breath now



Thanks, will test it now

GTL_1 is set by default to "Auto" in F8c beta....is it better to set it to Normal or Auto?

What about Loadline Calibration, default option is Auto...but you have the option to set it to Enable?

[Richard Dower]

F8c is a weird bios, let me stress again...with all bios incl. betas upto F6b i could set 425x8=3.4GHz.....i never had to increase (G)MCH or FSB voltages in bios to accomplish this. Every bios since then is screwed up.

I can't get 425x8 any longer, not without increasing voltages. I had another stab with F8c and had to increase the (G)MCH voltage is steps before i could even boot in Windows. right now i have 0.100V set which is four steps up from normal. Has nayone had similiar issues?, is this a safe voltage increase?

Vcore is set as always to 1.4000V with DDR2 voltage at 2.050V.

[rbsmontemor]

For me GTL_1 AUTO is better...and I don't know about loadline..my board is hardmoded.

Rbs.

[dinos22]

TRD is a based on an equation. Its a function of the FSB and the strap beeing used. In most cases it seems a very high FSB does not help performance. If you have a CPU with unlocked multi, it seems 400FSB is the best setting in most cases, as you get to use the best straps at TRD5.

An overview of what TRD's are available at each strap under various FSB speeds here:
(also suggest reading the entire article)
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3208&p=9

Remember that the auto-setting for TRD is still somewhat buggy on these boards. So set it manually according to the list above. Also, remember that the settings described here are the maximum allowed settings. You need to have memorysticks that are able to handle these, aswell as alot of voltage to the MCH. I recommend a setting of +0.275 to the MCH to reach these and be stable.

TRD Phase is used to set a different TRD on each memory channel. For example, if youre at an FSB that makes TRD6 unstable on both sticks, you can run one on TRD6 and the other on TRD7. There is a table somewhere on the web that explains each of the 31 phase-settings gigabyte uses for this. Asus enthusiast boards have far better bios options for TRD-phase tweaking in my opinion. The Gigabyte one is rather cryptic and strange.

F8c is interesting. I hope theyve done a better job of implementing the 266 2.5A strap, as it should be very useful if working correctly.

ahhh if it was only that simple

i'll play with this cacluation to see if it makes sense on some of the runs ppl do with 580+ PL7 runs

[dinos22]

ok so i received the DDR2 bios that has working half multies based on F3

here it is

http://www.mediafire.com/?bjywmwmldrt

beware this is for X38-DQ6 DDR2 boards

I DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU KILL YOUR BOARD WITH THIS BIOS >> MINE WORKS BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN YOURS WILL SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION

[freqy]

there was a catch with this half multi bios wasnt there? only for dual core? not for quad? or something?

[ragejed]

Ok, I have been watching this thread for sometime now and have some questions.

Let me give some background on my setup.

X38-DQ6 w/F7 bios currently
E6750 with Tuniq Tower 120 for a cooler (replaced fan with higher speed)
Mushkin 4-4-3-10 2x1GB PC6400
PC Power and Cooling 750watt
MSI 8800GTS 512 (stock OC version)
TONS of case fans in a LianLi full tower.


Currently im running 450x8 using the 2.00D , which is running 1:1
Timings are 4-4-3-10

Voltages
DDR2 +0.25
PCI-E +0.05
FSB +0.20
MCH +0.10
vCore is at 1.44375


Temps (when ambient air is 71F)
idle at 27C
load at 53c MAX


Here at my questions

1. What are the dividers and straps? I dont understand the A, B, C and D things. I just picked one that gave me 1:1 ratio (i read it was suggested to run core2 at this ratio)

1-(Part B) What really is the best ratio for the core2s? what gives the best performance?

2.how are my voltages looking? am I too low or too high on anything?

3. I plan to get to 4.0ghz, think ill make it on air if i lap the cpu? (HSF is already lapped)

4. Should I get a fan on the northbridge heatsink?

5. should I worry about vDroop? some people say its ok, others say its bad, im confused


Ok, that should be good for now. I just want to thank everyone that has posted so far. I have learned alot about this board thanks to all of you! keep up the great work!

[papatsonis]

After many many efforts and trial and error combinations , having in hand the excellent X48 Rampage Formula Anandtech's REVIEW i found a 24/7 stable setting with minimal(or what i thought minimal...) Voltages for my parts , 400fsb 6:5 divider(4x1gb 960mhz ram 4-4-4-12), tRD=6, with all subtimings very aggresive.Had done many tryouts to tighten the tRD increasing MCH voltage, in this , or other combinations , with no luck , so i had left it on "Normal"... The problem was that a cheap thermistor was showing 55-57 Celsius , and i couldnt even touch my finger for more than 3-4 seconds..on X38. Strange cause someone in this/or other x38 based mobo thread mentioned he got mid 40's C!!! .A while ago in another thread here ,pardon my "amnesia" again , i saw an asus motherboard that with auto setting in some voltages the bios was setting much more Voltage than nominal defined.. .Guess what.. DQ6 (at least with F8c bios..) at "Normal" vMCH in fact sets +0.250volt !!!! , when leave all voltages to AUTO ,it defaults to 1.25volt but when set to "Normal" i measured about 1.485volt!!!! (+0.025 volt measures about 1.268volt) .Finally it seems for the above settings i need about 1.36vMCH :/ for Extreme Bios setting , but eventually ill be happy with Turbo and +0.025vmch only (it still gets too warm :/) .Does anyone know where to measure CPU VTT (fsb voltage?) and vPCI-E on the motherboard? cause in another forum i found a reference for another gigabyte intel mobo that overvolts also FSB voltage and vPCI-E and its highly possible that does the same overvolt here at "normal" setting

p.s.> afterwards i saw in bios a message "voltage will be raised when overclocking " or smthng like that, but get me nuts this "big brother" behaviour of DQ6

[dinos22]

ALL/MOST good motherboards when set to auto will most likely overvolt

you are overclocking FFS
if you don't have control over it you should stick to stock otherwise use auto for initial testing and then determine values and in particular volts for 24/7 systems

i have mine set on 24/7 machine of course

[ChrissTi]

papatsonis: X48 is nothing more than a revisted X38 chipset ... So it doesn't do much better than an X38. That's why the boards are the same, for both chipsets .

[sparks]

I am still remembering all the post on the old 965 ds3 where it would not cold boot with any mem voltage over 1.8
Has Gigabyte fixed this or is it still a crap shoot with some memory on boot?

[ChrissTi]

I am still remembering all the post on the old 965 ds3 where it would not cold boot with any mem voltage over 1.8
Has Gigabyte fixed this or is it still a crap shoot with some memory on boot?

I don't know about 965 ds3 but on my mb the mem is set to 2.4V and have not any cold boot problem.

[*GiZmO*]

ok so i received the DDR2 bios that has working half multies based on F3

Has anyone already tried tihis bios?How does it work?

[ChrissTi]

ok so i received the DDR2 bios that has working half multies based on F3

here it is

http://www.mediafire.com/?bjywmwmldrt

beware this is for X38-DQ6 DDR2 boards

I DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU KILL YOUR BOARD WITH THIS BIOS >> MINE WORKS BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN YOURS WILL SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION

What, things are different from original F3, other than half multis ?
I like F8C

[*GiZmO*]

It would be great,if the new F3 would be like the old one (high FSB,speed...)+ the corrections in the F8c!

[road-runner]

I got a X38 DS4 today and under the sticker it says X48 DQ6, I wonder can this board be flash to a X48 DQ6 latter on?

[bob(nz)]

ok so i received the DDR2 bios that has working half multies based on F3

here it is

http://www.mediafire.com/?bjywmwmldrt

beware this is for X38-DQ6 DDR2 boards

I DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU KILL YOUR BOARD WITH THIS BIOS >> MINE WORKS BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN YOURS WILL SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Hey dinos - how is this bios going on your board? Similar to the original F3 for overclocking etc? I could really use the half multis for my benching

[ChrissTi]

I got a X38 DS4 today and under the sticker it says X48 DQ6, I wonder can this board be flash to a X48 DQ6 latter on?

No, because it has different PWM, maybe Dual Triple Phase (as I see in the picture), not a Quad Triple Phase as a real DQ6.

So the power circuit of the CPU is different, that means that the bios is not changable with DQ6's.

[dinos22]

Hey dinos - how is this bios going on your board? Similar to the original F3 for overclocking etc? I could really use the half multis for my benching

i've only tried max clocks and was a bit tricky getting the CPU to do SPI at 5.3GHz and 5.2GHz

i have to stick some LN2 on the chip to eliminate cooling issues and will report back but it seems fine

[Richard Dower]

What is considered a *safe* (G) MCH voltage?...like what range?
I've had to increase MCH voltage up further to acheive stability, at the moment i am Priming with (G) MCH set to +0.1750V. Thats seven steps above normal.

I'm using Prime95 version 25.6...which is a beta, could the beta be unstable?
Is the voltage on the MCH safe?

[ChrissTi]

What is considered a *safe* (G) MCH voltage?...like what range?
I've had to increase MCH voltage up further to acheive stability, at the moment i am Priming with (G) MCH set to +0.1750V. Thats seven steps above normal.

I'm using Prime95 version 25.6...which is a beta, could the beta be unstable?
Is the voltage on the MCH safe?

MCH can be +0.35 , mine is 0.2 so it's safe

[*GiZmO*]

I˙m wondering,what is stock vMCH?1,30V?

[papatsonis]

1.25v