Hi everyone,

This is my first post here, but I have been reading the previous posts I found since January or so, by xMrBunglex and others.

I was hoping to build a stable, bug-free, reliable system, so I went with Intel as many other people have done because of their supposed reliability, engineering department and customer service. The BadAxe being outdated now and not really in stock, I bought the DX48BT2 two weeks ago. I have been disappointed, as I have found more bugs and issues than with the previous systems I have assembled...Anyway, I have a couple of questions and suggestions for the experts here ;o) based on numerous tests I have done over the past week and a half:


1. I found a bug during the first boot sequence of my motherboard with my configuration. I know that the motherboard is supposed to cycle power on/off after BIOS changes or other hardware changes (which is a little strange to begin with!) -- however, on my first boot ever, the power cycled on/off twice, then booted. Subsequent boots are fine. Then I installed Vista and updated from the March 2008 BIOS to the May release, and now it only cycles on/off only once on the first boot, then displays a message saying that the POST was not successful and asking if I want to go in the BIOS to check options – even though all settings are unchanged, and subsequent boots are fine, so there are no issues (subsequent boots, reboots, etc, Vista are OK). This would happen again if I disconnect the power supply from AC, wait for the LED next to the RAM to go off, then wait again another minute (or keep the power button pressed), then re-plug the power. Some people apparently do not experience this issue; I have talked to Intel, and they did tests on their own motherboard, and found the same issue (POST unsuccessful message on first boot)!!! The two techs at Intel doing the test I asked them to do on their own computer were surprised. Although on their PC it was random (less than half the time on more than ten tests that they told me they did) – for me it's all the time. In each case, there is the DX48BT2, DDR1333, and a 45 nm quad processor. They have escalated the issue to engineering and are currently investigating, since they saw the bug on their own configuration!! The first boot with correct settings should not be unsuccessful. The POST message is not because of the watchdog seeing the power removed on contrary to what an Intel tech first said (they know think it's a bug with the standby power not being applied correctly at first or something). Also, the fans spin on very high no matter if you have the BIOS control the fans or not – only on subsequent boots they return to normal control. There is the same bug with or without the watchdog as well. I'm now waiting on Intel. I've done other tests with other power supplies, other memory brands, even nothing else plugged to the mobo (no keyboard, even no graphics card), the issue on the first boot after applying power the first time is the same no matter what.

*****I wonder how many people here have the same bug? Anybody wants to try? You have to make sure that you remove power long enough.******

2. I found another bug with my motherboard, with the SMBus controller (SMBUS – 2930 in system device in the device manager). On my second re-installation of Vista, a popup message in the taskbar said that no driver for the device were found. I did not see that message the first time but maybe missed it because it appears only once long after installation of the drivers. In the device manager, it shows no exclamation point, no error. But if I right click on it, properties: in Device Status, it says "no drivers installed". But on the next tab, Driver, it shows the Intel driver and date! Clicking on driver details of the same tab says: no drivers found! WTF?! I reinstalled Vista from fresh, nothing else but just that, no other drivers or programs, same bug. Then I contacted Intel, tried to uninstall, reinstall the driver, same. The version is from the CD, 8.3.1.1010 from October 2007, same as the website. Then the tech guy said to look in the general chipset page of Intel's website, and there you search and can find the INF driver for Intel series 4, dated June 2008, version 9.xxx, but it's not shown on the page of the DX48BT2!!! The tech explained that it's because they need to "update the page", and the "series 8.3.xx and 8.4.xx of the drivers had issues", and I should reinstall windows and use only the 9.x series dated from June. In addition to the confusion between their own versions and different drivers for the same product on different pages (great quality control guys! This is crazy!!), I found after yet another vista reinstall, that the same issue is there. I only found it because of the Vista popup message in the taskbar since in the device manager there is no exclamation point. Vista offered to download again the ICH9 drivers (again, they are installed, the "installation successful" is there, all other devices show OK with no such error and the correct Intel version etc!!). The popup message from Vista happened at different times after installation, sometimes after many reboots, install of all other drivers and programs, sometimes early on.
Also, the version on the CD and on the DX48BT2 page is 8.3.1010 (10/2007), while the new one on another Intel page is 9.xxx for the INF installation package (dated June 2008), but the actual driver version is 8.6.xxx, dated from 2007 up to 02/2008 for some drivers depending on the device (PCI, etc). It sounds like they had updated the drivers, but waited until June to update the entire package/installation program to be released; indeed the installation package has a different name now according to Intel: " Chipset Device Software" but there is a bug where "the old Intel (R) Chipset Software Installation Utility name can be seen briefly when the setup program is executed".
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...ng&PrdMap=2973
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filt...l&submit=Go%21

********Has anyone seen that issue? If you click on the properties/device status for the SMBus controller – 2930, what does it say? And if you click on Driver Details?********



3. I saw posts from xMrBunglex and others about the northbridge temperature, but people use the onboard sensor which is not the chipset itself. You can't use an IR gun well unless you set the emissivity correctly, and does not always work great, because the heatsink on the northbridge is metallic and reflective. My motherboard says 30 to 45 degrees C for the onboard sensors, but touching the northbridge heatsink it's very hot – by far the only and warmest part of the system. Based on comparison and the time until you have to release your finger because it is too hot, I would estimate the temperature to be between 55 and 65 degrees C. It is almost burning to the touch. Can anyone else try that too? If you have a small 40mm fan, is the base of the heatsink very hot? Note that apparently it's supposed to operate up to 97 degrees C (which is extremely hot!!).

Nick