** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[gtj]

is it ok to just go ahead and bump my pci express freq up to 109.24?

If you're sure you're 100% stable otherwise then go for it. If not, it'll only make things more confusing.

oh and thank you!

No problem!

[Pontius]

Uhm I installed a new video card (ati HD 3870) and i got this... I dont think the video card had anything to do this but basically the IDCC registers my cpu temp at 0 or below, and the fan goes full speed, I guess Ill try reinstalling it to see if that works

[Pontius]

well I reinstalled. same thing, IM gonna go back and check the bios...

its probably cause I'm dual booting xp 64 bit and vista ultimate..


edit, checked the bios its registering the temps of the cpu right , but the thermal margin is at 0 C, which I find odd...

maybe clearing the bios will fix?

[gtj]

Same issue with my 9300. If it gets too cold, the thermal margin appears to "wrap" which causes the fans to run full speed.

Screw IDCC. Use Real Temp and watch the "Distance to TjMAX".

[Pontius]

Sweet!!

Is there any way to adjust the fan speeds though? if not being too cold is an ok problem by me

[Miwo]

I'm finding 2x2GB Sticks a little tough to work with, since I seem to need high vMCH to drive it with High FSB + Low Timings. Right now, my memory is running at 1.78v, 1610MHz, 7-6-6-19 CR1 using the 400 Ref / 1333MHz setting. Trying to get this rock stable at the moment. I'm running 1.58v through the Northbridge according to Everest +2.5v readout (1.65v setting in BIOS). Seems a little high, but my heatsink is only a hint warm. How many volts do you all feel comfortable shoving down the x38, granted temperatures are still cool?

[gtj]

Sweet!!

Is there any way to adjust the fan speeds though? if not being too cold is an ok problem by me

Yeah, right now IDCC is the only windows based too for adjusting fan speeds now.

I'm finding 2x2GB Sticks a little tough to work with, since I seem to need high vMCH to drive it with High FSB + Low Timings. Right now, my memory is running at 1.78v, 1610MHz, 7-6-6-19 CR1 using the 400 Ref / 1333MHz setting. Trying to get this rock stable at the moment. I'm running 1.58v through the Northbridge according to Everest +2.5v readout (1.65v setting in BIOS). Seems a little high, but my heatsink is only a hint warm. How many volts do you all feel comfortable shoving down the x38, granted temperatures are still cool?

2 x 2g should be no more trouble than 2 x 1g. Same strain on the NB. Way too much on the NB even if it's not putting out much heat. I've never run more than 1.45 (BIOS). What's your vFSB and what's tRFC set at? Try raising tRFC into the 70's or 80's and raising vFSB slightly to compensate.

[Miwo]

Yeah, right now IDCC is the only windows based too for adjusting fan speeds now.

2 x 2g should be no more trouble than 2 x 1g. Same strain on the NB. Way too much on the NB even if it's not putting out much heat. I've never run more than 1.45 (BIOS). What's your vFSB and what's tRFC set at? Try raising tRFC into the 70's or 80's and raising vFSB slightly to compensate.

Just did a little digging around and I found this from an Anandtech review on an Asus X38 board:


Certain instabilities arose when running Northbridge voltages in excess of ~1.75V, caused by high internal die temperatures because of the voltage. Simply lowering VMCH was enough to return to stable operation. We've also found that the X38 chipset is far more sensitive to heat than any other Intel chipset to date. In fact, the BIOS is kind enough to warn the inexperienced user that Northbridge voltages in excess of 1.75V require a more effective cooling solution as the stock heatsink and heatpipe assembly can only do so much.


If that is the case, then Intel is conservative with the 1.7v maximum vMCH. If Asus users can get away with 1.75v on a dinky rollercoaster heatpipe cooler, I see no reason that I can't with Active cooling + Enzotech NB Heatsink. . A quick search on the forums show many x38/x48 users running higher vMCH for their DDR3 as well.

I just passed an 8 hour Blend session without any problems on 483MHz FSB, running 400Ref/1333Mem. Comes out to about 1609MHz on the Memory @ 7-6-6-19 . tRFC was at 60, but I think I may bump it back to the stock 74 and see if I can lower my vMCH volts a little bit.

vMCH is at 1.65v Bios (1.58v idle / 1.56v load in Everest)
vFSB is at 1.375v

[hector69]

First of all, thanks to the mod/admin who finally validated my account after the 2nd try. The first one got declined somehow, and contacting the webmaster or fugger was useless as no one replied my email.


Now, onto the real deal:

I've been having some problems overclocking my system. I think I might know what the problem is but, seeing as some of you managed to get some decent clocks, I think I'm not understanding some of it. Below is what I have:

Motherboard: Intel DX48BT2
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.4 GHz (Q6600 G0)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Max Orb (http://www.compusa.com/applications/...1636&CatId=493)
RAM: 4 x 1 GB PC10600 1333MHz DDR3 (http://www.compusa.com/applications/...375&CatId=3361)
PSU: Thermaltake PurePower 600w (http://www.compusa.com/applications/...372&CatId=1483)
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 3870
HDD: Hitachi 320 GB 7200 rpm

The case has both a rear and a front fan controlled by a Ultra Fan Controller. The rear one max rpm is 2000 (12cm), and the front one is 4800 rpm (9.2cm). The CPU cooler fan is also 2000rpm max. So it has a nice air flow inside the case.

Now, the motherboard is running latest 1554 BIOS. So far, I have attempted several tweaks in the BIOS settings, none of them successful. So far, I managed to raise the FSB from 266 MHz to 300 MHz, making the CPU reach 2.7 GHz successfully and 4 hour Prime95 stable. Any attempt at raising the FSB beyond ~300 MHz won't post. I have disabled C1E and EIST. Enhanced Power Slope and everything else is in their default/auto settings. Memory settings are all Auto as well. Failsafe Watchdog is Enabled.

I think my problem could be either low PSU wattage (which I doubt), or the Failsafe Watchdog preventing me to clock higher for some reason (bug?).

Ambient temperature is around 85ish Fahrenheit, sometimes 90ish. No AC. At nights, it drops to 80ish, sometimes lower. I have monitored the temperature while Prime95 is torturing the CPU using EVEREST latest beta, and with all fans blowing at max speed, Core #1 rises up to 67~70 degrees Celsius. All other cores are slightly lower, and motherboard temp is around 48 degrees Celsius.

Any other stuff you guys need to know before pointing me to the right direction? I would be happy if I can make it stable at 3.0 GHz. I'll be waiting for all of your replies.

[down8]

Disable Watchdog, as has been said in any thread regarding any of Intel's recent Extreme boards.

Once that's done, start playing.

[hector69]

Disable Watchdog, as has been said in any thread regarding any of Intel's recent Extreme boards.

Once that's done, start playing.

down8, as you suggested, I disabled the Failsafe Watchdog, and increased the FSB to 333 MHz. After saving settings, the board restarted and it got stuck at nothing, no video display, although it didn't power cycled like it used to when Watchdog was Enabled. I then forced shutdown by pressing the power switch until it turned off. I waited several seconds and then I turned it back on, and it booted fine. EVEREST shows the FSB I set, raising the CPU clock to 3.0 GHz. I'm gonna Prime95 it now, and see if it's stable. I'll report back later.

EDIT: 8 hours Prime95 Blend: Stable, NO errors. CPU TCase Temp is between 62~65 degrees Celsius, Core #1 is between at 67~71 degrees Celsius, the other cores are slightly lower. Motherboard Temp is 46 degrees Celsius.

Prime95 Blend still going on stable and no errors.

[down8]

The BT does have some quirks. Just leaving it alone, or doing a small rain dance, or bowing to the East can make the difference between a successful boot and a black screen.

[Randy]

Quick heads up on the 280 GTX with this board. Works great, but the EVGA I purchased totally blocks access to the 2 SATA ports behind the PCI Express Slot. Angled cables are still a no-go.

Now I need to grab another PCI Express SATA II card - any suggestions with success on this board ?

[hector69]

12+ hours of Prime95 and no errors. I guess I just needed to disable the damn Failsafe Watchdog.

[xMrBunglex]

Quick heads up on the 280 GTX with this board. Works great, but the EVGA I purchased totally blocks access to the 2 SATA ports behind the PCI Express Slot. Angled cables are still a no-go.

Now I need to grab another PCI Express SATA II card - any suggestions with success on this board ?

Areca makes good cards. the Storage section in the General Hardware part of this forum is very helpful. and those SATA ports are the reason i probably won't buy a 4870 X2 or any of the new long Nvidia cards. i just don't wanna deal with it. Intel should have put their SATA ports horizontal like most new motherboards.

[Pontius]

well this weekend I ran prime95 twice for about 8 hours, no problems and it never got too hot, however a few days later, one of my corsair xms 3 TWIN3X2048-1333C9 died. Oh well I guess Im gonna RMA that stuff and return it to new egg ( i accidently threw out the packaging). Ill probably get some OCZ memory this round, something with a lower voltage, I was kinda uneasy from the get go at how hot that stuff ran. that stuff is so damn expensive though :P .
any advice as to what I should get ?

I wanna take advantage of the 1600 fsb but you have to OC your processor to 400Mhz?

[Pontius]

oh and I cleared the cmos and it solved the fan speed problem

[Miwo]

well this weekend I ran prime95 twice for about 8 hours, no problems and it never got too hot, however a few days later, one of my corsair xms 3 TWIN3X2048-1333C9 died. Oh well I guess Im gonna RMA that stuff and return it to new egg ( i accidently threw out the packaging). Ill probably get some OCZ memory this round, something with a lower voltage, I was kinda uneasy from the get go at how hot that stuff ran. that stuff is so damn expensive though :P .
any advice as to what I should get ?

I wanna take advantage of the 1600 fsb but you have to OC your processor to 400Mhz?

It really depends what strap and what memory divider you are running on. Check the DX38BT Calculator: http://www.peakin.com/x38/calculator.html

if you are at 400FSB, use either 333Ref/1333Mem, or 400Ref/Mem1600 to get 1600MHz memory. 333MHz Strap is much faster than the 400MHz strap. That sucks about your ram

[Pontius]

hrm I not really shure what that means.
I'm running a q9300
and I guess Im gonna just RMA that stuff, and use it until I get some more money in my bank account and get some OCZ memory (from the sound of it its the best). I really want to find a good balance of a fast system, but I really want this system to last a long time as well :P

[Pontius]

sorry that probably didnt help, where would i look to find what that information means in that calculator, and where can I find the info I need to put into it?

[Miwo]

ok Pontius,

I am under the impression you want to run your system at 400FSB / 1600MHz. To do that, yes, you will need to overclock the processor. To figure out which reference frequency and memory frequency to use, you need to enter 400FSB on the calculator and follow the row where your memory speed = 666MHz (since you have 1333MHz DDR3). Memory speed is derived from the Reference Frequency and Memory Freqency settings. A quick look tells me that you can either achieve this by the following settings

Host Bus Freq: 400Mhz
Reference Freq: 400Mhz
Memory Freq: 1333MHz
Resulting Memory Speed: 666MHz(*2 = 1333MHz DDR3)

OR

Host Bus Freq: 400Mhz
Reference Freq: 333Mhz
Memory Freq: 1333MHz
Resulting Memory Speed: 640MHz

For pictures, http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...-dx38bt_7.html

Both combinations will put your System FSB at 1600MHz, and your processor at 3.2GHz. The combination using Ref:400MHz is probably easier to reach, but the latter combination using Ref:333MHz will probably give you better memory timings and latency even though you will be running just short of 1333MHz. Keep in mind that the higher FSB your system runs at, the more work it is for the Northbridge. You'll probably need to increase vMCH and vFSB at a certain point, especially since you are using a quadcore.

My recommendation for you would be to start testing with REF: 400MHz, Memory Freq: 1333MHz, Host Bus Freq: 333MHz, Memory Voltage = 1.7v. You will have to adjust FSB Volts, Cpu Volts, MCH volts accordingly through Stress testing. Use Prime95 on 4 threads. If Small FFT Torture fails, you can usually solve this by bumping up core voltage. If Blend Torture fails, you can usually solve this by bumping up vFSB and vMCH voltage. Yes, it will probably take some time to figure out your ideal settings, but that is part of the fun and challenges of overclocking stuff. As you might have already noticed, the DX38BT can be finicky with memory, so good luck with that

Edit: If you don't want to OC your processor, drop the multiplier on 400FSB. 400x6.5 = 2.6GHz , a very marginal OC. Might still have to mess around with vFSB/vMCH though.

[Pontius]

thank you so much that was extremely helpful!

[Miwo]

np let us know how it works out
once you figure out the board, its not bad to work with like many people have said. Push to see how high you can go while being 24/7 stable . The low multiplier will hurt, but you should be able to do at least 3.2GHz on 400FSB

[Miwo]

The voltages you need to hit that are particular to your chip and board, but I would recommend you not to go above 1.4vCore air, 1.35v vFSB, 1.5v vMCH without some extra cooling or at least until you get a handle of things better. Start at host bus = 333MHz, and work your way up

[Pontius]

ok well I just ordered some pc12800 OCZ platinum, I think those will really help, I hear they are pretty good, and should be a lot faster as well. Ill let you know how it goes once I get them in.