** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[Randy]

Haven't had any more BSODs so far. I'll have to put it through Orthos just to be sure anyway.
Randy, using 4 modules loads up the mem controller a lot more so usually you can't oc so much as with only 2. Also, you might need to bump the voltage. it's a sort of compromise, either mem amount or speed really.
Regarding going back to previous settings and not working the same way, it's strange really but you know this board, nothing is normal about it. Have you used the same 2 modules you had used first?

Yeah,
they are the same ones.

Do you mean bump the MCH or the memory voltage ?

[xMrBunglex]

Haven't had any more BSODs so far. I'll have to put it through Orthos just to be sure anyway.

i'm Orthos stable for 12 hours and still get BSOD's when i soft reboot sometimes. Orthos apparently won't guarantee anything in regards to the BIOS.

[Manel]

Randy, usually vMCH but i believe you tried that already. Maybe vMEM also will help but not sure, don't think so. You can always use 2x2GB instead of 4x1GB, that would probably help but that's another load of money for you to invest in your rig. Maybe they accept the exchange where you bought your sticks.
Thanks xMrBunglex, I guess Orthos will not be a sure thing, right?! Well, so far all is well.

[xMrBunglex]

it appears my BSOD's during reboot are somehow related to my Windows Firewall . i have no idea how or why, but Windows loads fine when i have the firewall turned off. i can turn it on after Windows has loaded without issue.

i suppose it's just a terrible coincidence that i've been having so many software problems since i got this board. it still makes no sense to me as i'm running all the same software i've had for the last year, more or less. except IDCC, which i uninstalled a month ago.

one thing i've grown to love about this board are the simple aluminum heatsinks on it. nothing ever gets remotely hot on the board. it makes those copper monstrosities on Asus and Gigabyte boards look pretty useless.

[Sean-E-Boy]

MB,

What OS are you on and how long has it been since it was installed?

[xMrBunglex]

XP MCE and about a month.

[rchelicopter]

It's kinda funny - and it kinda sucks.

Last week I changed out my 8800Ultra Superclock to a 9800GTX, after that every hard and soft reboot results in multiple multiple on's and offs by the MB. This used to happen only when I would remove power from the MB but now it happens all the time. I've reset the bios and still no go.

Any ideas

[Sean-E-Boy]

MB,

Sounds nice and fresh. I was going to say that I know that XP likes to fall apart on its self after a few months...especially if you have hardware error derived crashes and automatic reboots...possibly leading to BSODs, but doesnt really fit the bill here.

[xMrBunglex]

It's kinda funny - and it kinda sucks.

Last week I changed out my 8800Ultra Superclock to a 9800GTX, after that every hard and soft reboot results in multiple multiple on's and offs by the MB. This used to happen only when I would remove power from the MB but now it happens all the time. I've reset the bios and still no go.

Any ideas

enter Maintenance Mode and make sure the Watchdog is turned off. i was getting that for a while and i later realized Watchdog had turned itself back on at some point. turning it off again fixed that.

[rchelicopter]

Thanks for the reply, but watchdog is definately off as I am running an 1800fsb currently..

[Randy]

Thanks for the reply, but watchdog is definately off as I am running an 1800fsb currently..

Does the system stabilize when you put the old video card back in ?

[rchelicopter]

I can only assume it does, since its the only thing I changed.. Also I dont plan on putting it back in, its on ebay. Its Ok I guess because I rarely restart my computer anyway.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MESE:IT&ih=019

[rchelicopter]

Well, I fixed it. I put in the old "faster" video card and the problem went away.

On a side note if anyone is thinking of getting a 9800GTX graphics card, dont..

[Randy]

Well, I fixed it. I put in the old "faster" video card and the problem went away.

On a side note if anyone is thinking of getting a 9800GTX graphics card, dont..

Thanks for the heads up on the 9800. I wondered about your choice because in non SLI & SLI mode, I read the 9800 performed poorly compared to your Ultra. I tried a pair of Radeon 3870's a while back and went right back to my GTX. Mega problems. I think a lot of people see 9800GTX and automatically think it is faster than the 8800GTX.

[xMrBunglex]

i did some more experimenting and found Windows Firewall had nothing to do with my earlier blue screens. it's simply caused by a soft reboot. telling Windows to restart guarantees a BSOD when it tries to reload. telling Windows to power down and then pushing the power button to turn it back on again results in a normal reboot. i have no idea why.

[WingHeart]

i did some more experimenting and found Windows Firewall had nothing to do with my earlier blue screens. it's simply caused by a soft reboot. telling Windows to restart guarantees a BSOD when it tries to reload. telling Windows to power down and then pushing the power button to turn it back on again results in a normal reboot. i have no idea why.

Well, all these posted issues (unusual restarts, BIOS issues, memory (in)compatibility/voltage settings, etc) finally made me return my unopened DX38BT to newegg as I don't have the patience anymore for issues like this (I've already had my share and multiple board revisions when trying to get my H8DCE+ stable (as seen in this super long thread over at 2cpu - http://forums.2cpu.com/showthread.ph...=h8dce&page=99) and after that swore I'd never go through something like that again). I held on to my processor and memory and going to see what the reviews of the DX48BT2 are (perhaps since they are technically special binned X38 chips, they don't have a lot of these posted issues ?). Also, keeping on eye on other X48 boards (Asus and Gigabyte) and perhaps the XFX/EVGA 790i mobos (though, after having nForce issues in the past, wanted to avoid an nvidia chipset this upgrade round...). Probably make a decision in the next 2 weeks on what board to get...

Or perhaps it's that time to 'switch' to *gasp* Apple... ;p

Thanks for all that posted so far. If I decide to go with a DX48BT2, I'll keep everyone informed.

[gtj]

Rats. I fried my E6850 last night. The idiot who wrote the control software for my chiller forgot to test the part that's supposed to shut down the computers if the water temp goes critical. Of course, the idiot was me. Luckily only 1 of 3 systems on the chiller was affected.

On the bright side, while shopping for a E8500 to replace the E6850 I noticed that DDR3 has come way down in price and the BT2 dropped by $20 so.... I've got a BT2, Q9300, more OCZ DDR3-1800 and the E8500 replacement for the E6850 coming in tomorrow.

Right now, the BT is running a lowly E6600. Man this thing is slow.

[xMrBunglex]

awesome. let us know what you think of the BT2 and if there are any obvious differences from the BT.

[Randy]

Rats. I fried my E6850 last night. The idiot who wrote the control software for my chiller forgot to test the part that's supposed to shut down the computers if the water temp goes critical. Of course, the idiot was me. Luckily only 1 of 3 systems on the chiller was affected.

On the bright side, while shopping for a E8500 to replace the E6850 I noticed that DDR3 has come way down in price and the BT2 dropped by $20 so.... I've got a BT2, Q9300, more OCZ DDR3-1800 and the E8500 replacement for the E6850 coming in tomorrow.

Right now, the BT is running a lowly E6600. Man this thing is slow.

Doesn't the CPU shut itself down if it overheats ?

[gtj]

Doesn't the CPU shut itself down if it oveheats ?

It does and it did. It still works fine at stock speeds but it won't overclock at all now. I may put it into a spare XBX2 and just let it crunch.

[Randy]

Question,
Can I lock my memory at 1333 so I can get the CPU to 3.8 or 4.0, or is that not possible ?

As mentioned earlier, I added 2GB more memory and it hosed my ability to to run the memory @ 1521 and the CPU @ 10X380 without issues.

[gtj]

Question,
Can I lock my memory at 1333 so I can get the CPU to 3.8 or 4.0, or is that not possible ?

As mentioned earlier, I added 2GB more memory and it hosed my ability to to run the memory @ 1521 and the CPU @ 10X380 without issues.

Nope. You have to tweak the memory freq, reference freq, fsb and mult.

Adding memory puts more stress on the MCH so that means increasing the vMCH, increasing the strap (reference frequency) or both.

[Randy]

Nope. You have to tweak the memory freq, reference freq, fsb and mult.

Adding memory puts more stress on the MCH so that means increasing the vMCH, increasing the strap (reference frequency) or both.

I stopped at 1.35 for the MCH. Do think I pulled the plug too soon? What is the "strap" ?

Also,
I have to volt my memory @ 1.82 for stability. That seems high based on others I have read. Is there any corellation between a higher memory voltage and the need for a higher MCH voltage ?

Sorry for all the questions, but any help is appreciated.

[xMrBunglex]

i have my vMCH at 1.45 and my vMEM at 1.9, so you're fine. everything runs nice and cool on my system.

[gtj]

I stopped at 1.35 for the MCH. Do think I pulled the plug too soon? What is the "strap" ?

Also,
I have to volt my memory @ 1.82 for stability. That seems high based on others I have read. Is there any corellation between a higher memory voltage and the need for a higher MCH voltage ?

Sorry for all the questions, but any help is appreciated.

With 1.35 vMCH you've got plenty of room. Try 1.4 and see what happens. You shouldn't need any more than that at 380 FSB. The "strap" is the equivalent of setting the internal timings of the MCH. Just like memory...the lower the numbers give you lower latency but you have to keep the speed low to get it to work. The strap is actually the reference frequency. How do you have the reference and memory frequencies set now?

Generally speaking, if the system is running fine with 2 sticks then increasing the vMCH a bit can usually get you over the hump with 4 sticks. Both the vDIMM and vMCH are related to speed but the vMCH is also related to how many sticks the MCH has to manage.