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

[6_6_6]

I don't have any airflow around it AT ALL. Let's see when this will explode then!

with decent airflow around the nb you can even go 1.6V (+0.325) and the nb is still ok, but i wouldn't do it without a extra fan for 24/7.

[Richard Dower]

CPU-Z, version 1.44.2 beta:

http://rapidshare.com/files/95634677/cpuz.zip.html

[TheKarmakazi]

I also agree this is an awesome board. Im using the F6 bios (not the best for FSB) and was still able to run superpi32m @ 505x9 (on air). Im going to flash to F3 which seems was the best for FSB. I was able to hit 525x9 and boot into windows but spi1m would error on 5th loop (did this @ 1.55v bios, 1.48v actual).

When I get my QX6850 ES on Wens Im gonna do some action with the F5H/F5G bios. This is supposedly the best for a quadcore right?

[Richard Dower]

CoreTemp 0.97.1 is out:


Version 0.97.1 - 7th March, 2008

- Fix: Phenom did not display proper temperature in version 0.97.
- Fix: Phenom randomly reports 255C (value ignored).
- Fix: Phenom displays more than a single system tray icon per CPU.
- Fix: Phenom 1/4 multipliers rounded improperly.

- Change: C° and F° now will display °C and °F accordingly.

[ChrissTi]

GA-X38-DQ6 -- F8 Bios version

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2665

[Caped Crusader]

CoreTemp 0.97.1 is out:


Version 0.97.1 - 7th March, 2008

- Fix: Phenom did not display proper temperature in version 0.97.
- Fix: Phenom randomly reports 255C (value ignored).
- Fix: Phenom displays more than a single system tray icon per CPU.
- Fix: Phenom 1/4 multipliers rounded improperly.

- Change: C° and F° now will display °C and °F accordingly.

Does it work with Vista 64 yet?

[REVHEAD]

Does it work with Vista 64 yet?

Yep been using it since the weekend, works great.

[Kojo]

GA-X38-DQ6 -- F8 Bios version

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2665

Best bios for me sofar. Wasn't able to use alot of multi's with my e2160 +4x1G. D9GMH, now it's all very smooth... 1066+ tRD5 :P

[Richard Dower]

GA-X38-DQ6 -- F8 Bios version

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2665

This SUCKS!! why no support for the Q9450 in bios?
What the hell am i supposed to do if my CPU arrives and bios dosen't support it??????????

[Richard Dower]

GB driver page got updated, nothing i haven't linked to already though:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2665

[Kojo]

This SUCKS!! why no support for the Q9450 in bios?
What the hell am i supposed to do if my CPU arrives and bios dosen't support it??????????

I wanna bet it's going to work just fine ....else I'll just be mad as hell with you :P

[ChrissTi]

This SUCKS!! why no support for the Q9450 in bios?
What the hell am i supposed to do if my CPU arrives and bios dosen't support it??????????

Did you read somewhere that it doesn't support it ?

[Caped Crusader]

F8 works great for me too! I guess this board is finally getting mature

[TheKarmakazi]

I guess I will have to give F8 a whirl. What type of improvments have you guys noticed over earlier BIOS?

[Richard Dower]

F8 sucks!!!!...the 2.50A multi no longer works...tried everything and it wont POST any longer. I have to use 2.40B multi but my memory is now running at 1020MHz as opposed to 1063MHz!!!!

Thanks GB...idiots.

[Richard Dower]

Did you read somewhere that it doesn't support it ?

I didn't read anywhere that it DOES support the Q9450...why, did you?
CPU support list does not list the Q9450 as being supported.

[ubiquityman]

Regarding the EX38-DQ6, strangely enough, I drove a Prius for the first time last week when I rented a vehicle in Los Angeles.

IMHO, the EX38-DQ6 and the dynamic power saving is somewhat analogous to driving a Prius.

It's interesting to watch the system clock up and clock down, with what looks like dynamic adjustment of both clock and voltage.

Power is getting pretty costly, but in terms of computing costs, it's still pretty small. Where I'm at, electricity is about 3.3 cents per kWh, a 50W reduction in power (if that is even possible with this mobo), running 7/24 equates to only $14.25/year. Not really that significant, but I don't know yet what the maximum reduction would be. (I doubt it would be more than 50W though) I have a Kill-A-Watt meter, so I will be trying that in the near future when the system is overclocked to see how it does with dynamic power reduction.


I'm still trying to get my system together right now so I haven't starting overclocking yet. Originally, I put my 4-drive Matrix RAID10 + RAID5 array onto the DQ6, but it didn't boot from the array properly, so I had to create a new array. This time, I didn't bother with the RAID5, but just did RAID 10.

Strangely after I installed Windows, something happened (not sure what), but it appeared like I lost 2 drives. There were 2 drives that if connected to the Intel SATA on the mobo, would cause the mobo not to boot. However, connected to the purple JMICRON SATA ports was no problem at all.

So, I connected those drives to the JMICRO SATA, reformatted. Updated the BIOS to version F2, moved the drives back to the Intel SATA and everything is working again. So I'm going to try to create the RAID10 array and then restore my backup.

It takes several hours each time, so each night I can do 1 run at this. Hopefully, I can get my system fully restored, then I will try overclocking.

[ChrissTi]

I didn't read anywhere that it DOES support the Q9450...why, did you?
CPU support list does not list the Q9450 as being supported.

It doesn't mean that it doesn't support it. Q9450 it's just like QX9650 and QX9770, with multi locked to 8x, and Q9550 with multi locked to 8,5

[Richard Dower]

Well, i need to SEE the CPU being listed as supported to be sure/safe.

[OM DUST]

I agree with the view that its a great board.

Mine runs very stable and has a lot of ports which I tend to use most of.

I've now cranked my Q6600 up to 3.8 24/7 100% stable, and the memory is running at 1125 5-4-4-13

Only issue I now have is sometimes after it shuts down, it goes into boot cycle at power up, when that happens I need to switch psu off for a few seconds. This only happens about 20% of the time, and I can live with that easily enough.

I'm waiting to get a new core 2 quad in mine but so far the setup is better than anything I've used before.

DK - What are you doing with your current C2Q 6600?

[zicada]

F8 sucks!!!!...the 2.50A multi no longer works...tried everything and it wont POST any longer. I have to use 2.40B multi but my memory is now running at 1020MHz as opposed to 1063MHz!!!!

Thanks GB...idiots.

2.5A works just fine here. Obviously they keep changing alot of stuff, and various types of memory will require different settings to compensate. My understanding is they actually FIXED 2.5A.
There still seems to be some very strange behavior in how the BIOS determines TRD though.
For some reason, some straps seem to only allow the lowest possible TRD at CL4, not CL5. Fairly counter-intuitive imo...

[Hornet331]

Well, i need to SEE the CPU being listed as supported to be sure/safe.

F7 -> Update CPU ID (Support Intel® Yorkfield CPU)

All Q9xxx's are yorkfields therefore the Q9450 is supported...

[ThatGuy16]

Should i update my bios, i'm not having any problems with the version i have.. Would there be any gain from it?

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2736

I'm using F1 still (X38-DS4)

Would it be worth the trouble?

[REVHEAD]

Regarding the EX38-DQ6, strangely enough, I drove a Prius for the first time last week when I rented a vehicle in Los Angeles.

IMHO, the EX38-DQ6 and the dynamic power saving is somewhat analogous to driving a Prius.

It's interesting to watch the system clock up and clock down, with what looks like dynamic adjustment of both clock and voltage.

Power is getting pretty costly, but in terms of computing costs, it's still pretty small. Where I'm at, electricity is about 3.3 cents per kWh, a 50W reduction in power (if that is even possible with this mobo), running 7/24 equates to only $14.25/year. Not really that significant, but I don't know yet what the maximum reduction would be. (I doubt it would be more than 50W though) I have a Kill-A-Watt meter, so I will be trying that in the near future when the system is overclocked to see how it does with dynamic power reduction.


I'm still trying to get my system together right now so I haven't starting overclocking yet. Originally, I put my 4-drive Matrix RAID10 + RAID5 array onto the DQ6, but it didn't boot from the array properly, so I had to create a new array. This time, I didn't bother with the RAID5, but just did RAID 10.

Strangely after I installed Windows, something happened (not sure what), but it appeared like I lost 2 drives. There were 2 drives that if connected to the Intel SATA on the mobo, would cause the mobo not to boot. However, connected to the purple JMICRON SATA ports was no problem at all.

So, I connected those drives to the JMICRO SATA, reformatted. Updated the BIOS to version F2, moved the drives back to the Intel SATA and everything is working again. So I'm going to try to create the RAID10 array and then restore my backup.

It takes several hours each time, so each night I can do 1 run at this. Hopefully, I can get my system fully restored, then I will try overclocking.

The power saving may not be much but its something, think about it in equation to all the computer users in the world, the savings would be tremendous.
At the end of the day it shows that Manufacturers are slowly making an effort to curb greenhouse gases. Eventually we will all have to play taxes on the emmitiones each individual puts out.

[jbloggs]

The power saving may not be much....

Bit of a gimmick I reckon!