** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[gtj]

gtj

Found your X38/X48 timing calculator and was wondering if this can be used for any X48 board? I had the DX48BT2 but was so frustrated I RMA it and went with another board. Sounds like I should have given the intel board a few more days for the new bios (1814)as I was very tired of the power cycling and the finiky start ups.

From a math perspective it should apply to any but the calculator does use terms like "Reference Frequency" and "Memory Frequency" that are real labels in the Intel BIOS.

[gtj]

SILVRHAND!!

You tRAS is WAY to low!!! I run 7-7-7-18, at 9-9-9, use 24-28, I have seen 27 commonly used.

but 13, WAY to low! then you can try the other timmings and lower them, make sure th voltage is at raated value of the DIMM before you lower them.
-Ron

Yeah, no kidding. When you start approaching 400 FSB you should be around 20 or so.

[Whadata]

I was wondering about temperature for the North and South bridge of this board. What should my idle and load temps be around? I'm about to OC for the first time, my only concern is too much temperature. Just wondering how much does OC affect the chipset temp and where the roof is?

[silvrhand]

Yeah, no kidding. When you start approaching 400 FSB you should be around 20 or so.

The funny thing is that these are what are pulled from the XMP profile on the chip when it's set to the secondary profile.

- John

Note:
XMP Profile 1: 1600MHz 7-7-7-28*
XMP Profile 2: 1777MHz 9-9-9-31

I was using profile 2, but it doesn't seem like the DX48BT2 has a setting for 31, wonder if it's flipping it in the BIOS somehow.

[HighTest]

HardOCP recently reviewed the Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 and had awarded it the "HardOCP Gold" award.

I still feel that that Intel review was way out of line on "Epic Fail", so I carefully compared the two.

In any case, I posted my findings here: http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=103

Interesting? Hmm?

Wonder if more copper bling and the name Gigabyte were on the DX48BT2 what it's rating would have been then.

[xMrBunglex]

well said.

Kyle said i'm not a reputable source because i insulted him? i say he's a crooked reviewer that will favor companies that send him more free stuff. i'm just a regular guy who hit 480 FSB on my first try with this board. he's the professional that insisted his won't go over 333 FSB no matter what he does.

now tell me who is more trustworthy.

PS the only reason i didn't try for 500 FSB or higher is because my CPU has a high multiplier. i'm a regular user - not a benchwhore. so i really have no reason to explore the max FSB on this board.

[silvrhand]

I'm not defending Kyle as his attitude is horrid.

That being said the DX48BT2 has to be one of the pickiest boards I've had in a long time. This thing definitely is not without it's issues and I've experienced a lot of things that Kyle ran into.

I am still working out the kinks as the board was a trade up for my Abit IP35 Pro, that cost me nothing, but I was expecting a lot more from this board than what I've ran into.

well said.

Kyle said i'm not a reputable source because i insulted him? i say he's a crooked reviewer that will favor companies that send him more free stuff. i'm just a regular guy who hit 480 FSB on my first try with this board. he's the professional that insisted his won't go over 333 FSB no matter what he does.

now tell me who is more trustworthy.

PS the only reason i didn't try for 500 FSB or higher is because my CPU has a high multiplier. i'm a regular user - not a benchwhore. so i really have no reason to explore the max FSB on this board.

[xMrBunglex]

yeah. i'm not a Bone Trail fanboy by any means. i've publicly expressed my disappointment with this board many times. the only reason i have it is because it was given to me (brand new) for free. if i had had a choice, i would have picked an Asus DDR2 board.

what bothered me about the [H] review is that some respected reviewers told the whole world that it can't OC beyond 333 FSB. that tells me that they're either incompetent or liars. i got my board stable at 450 FSB the very first night i owned it. it's given me many headaches along the way, but there is no question that it can OC circles around my last motherboard (Asus P5W DH Deluxe).

[silvrhand]

I really think there are some QC issues with these boards, I'm wondering if they had a bad batch of X48 bins or something. I don't know finally after the last BIOS upgrade I'm stable at 400/1600. But it won't clock much higher, 411FSB at most. There is probably more hidden in it but I don't want to mess with the GTL REF voltage adjustments.

I did find another bug with the board, if a XMP profile has settings that the board doesn't support it completely sets them wrong, which caused some of my stability issues, luckily for me someone pointed that out to me.

yeah. i'm not a Bone Trail fanboy by any means. i've publicly expressed my disappointment with this board many times. the only reason i have it is because it was given to me (brand new) for free. if i had had a choice, i would have picked an Asus DDR2 board.

what bothered me about the [H] review is that some respected reviewers told the whole world that it can't OC beyond 333 FSB. that tells me that they're either incompetent or liars. i got my board stable at 450 FSB the very first night i owned it. it's given me many headaches along the way, but there is no question that it can OC circles around my last motherboard (Asus P5W DH Deluxe).

[Wolf_Rider]

Nick, I flashed to bios 1814 and I still have the same problem as you. All my bios settings are on default.

Every time I boot after disconnecting the mains power the following happens:
power on, drives and fans power up, screen stays black; after a few seconds everything powers down (drives getting knackered...); and then it starts up again reaching the "POST failed (press Y for setup screen, etc)" message. After that it boots up normally, and reboots properly provided that mains power is never disconnected.

So Intel still needs to fix this.

I get a similar.... restore power, boot and then my rig shutsdown and reboots itself again into no screen etc... so I soft reboot and all fires up good.
No 'Post Failed messages', or anything like that

I always thought the X48 was a "golden sample" type X38... same components, same software, same drivers, same everything... different logo printsecreened on the board.

[Think]

I picked up this board from the sell/buy area of xtreme and finally starting to finish the installation but it looks as if I'm going to regret it.

[xMrBunglex]

I picked up this board from the sell/buy area of xtreme and finally starting to finish the installation but it looks as if I'm going to regret it.

that which does not kill you only makes you stronger. your new BT will be able to push your Q6600 to its edge without any problems. you'll be fine as long as you know what you're doing.

[gtj]

I get a similar.... restore power, boot and then my rig shutsdown and reboots itself again into no screen etc... so I soft reboot and all fires up good.
No 'Post Failed messages', or anything like that

I always thought the X48 was a "golden sample" type X38... same components, same software, same drivers, same everything... different logo printsecreened on the board.

After installing 1814, did you reset your bios to default settings? I found that this release in particular was a little flakey until I did a "load optimal settings", then reloaded my OC settings.

[HighTest]

I get a similar.... restore power, boot and then my rig shutsdown and reboots itself again into no screen etc... so I soft reboot and all fires up good.
No 'Post Failed messages', or anything like that

I had very similar symptoms, but then my powersupply smoked (Originally an Enermax Whisper II) and I purchased a new one. Didn't really go up in power as it wasn't necessary according to all the power calculators I've used, but I did go a whole level up on quality.

Now I don't have any of the described problems with my Zalman ZM600-HP. A power supply that is extremely stable on the rails, even at full load according to JonnyGURU.

While your supply may still be working, is it possible (as the specific model isn't in your sig, just it's rating) that you could have one that is unfortunately outside of good stable rail specifications? Have a chance to borrow one of reputable quality and see the result?

If you could test one, without first purchasing, you "may" find that this is the cause of this problem for you. I recommend the try before buy, because I'd feel bad if you went out and bought one on my recommendation and didn't have any change in result.

Also, check the rating on your Powerware 5125a UPS. If your UPS is too low on rated volt amps, when your supply is at full load, you'll run into stability problems even with a quality power supply. Quality UPS's of sufficiant rating must be used with the appropriate power supply. Make sure to add all the peak amps of all the assorted peripherals that are also connected to the UPS, something could take it over the top and you'll get poor power results (a really good UPS will shutoff due to overload, a poor one will provide under power that even a 99% PFC supply cannot adapt for).

[Tony Rotten]

For the first time I am ready to RAID-1 two identical drives connected to this motherboard's two eSATA ports.

First question is, do I still need the Matrix tech from Intel even if I am not RAIDing any SATA drives connected to the internal SATA ports?

Second question is, what's with the "F6" thing? Once I download the Marvel Raid driver at

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...%2064&lang=eng

how do I use the "F6" key with it during installation?

I do have the original VISTA Ultimate 64-bit DVD but do I really need to create a floppy (I can't) or a CD-ROM and then pretend that I am about to re-install Windows and then press F6? What gives?

Intel doesn't seem to give much info on this and one is supposed to know all this sh... I mean stuff..?

Thanks.

[Moose2]

For the first time I am ready to RAID-1 two identical drives connected to this motherboard's two eSATA ports.

First question is, do I still need the Matrix tech from Intel even if I am not RAIDing any SATA drives connected to the internal SATA ports?

Second question is, what's with the "F6" thing? Once I download the Marvel Raid driver at

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...%2064&lang=eng

how do I use the "F6" key with it during installation?

I do have the original VISTA Ultimate 64-bit DVD but do I really need to create a floppy (I can't) or a CD-ROM and then pretend that I am about to re-install Windows and then press F6? What gives?

Intel doesn't seem to give much info on this and one is supposed to know all this sh... I mean stuff..?

Thanks.

Vista has the raid drivers in it so you don't need F6.
If you are using the esata on the back of motherboard I don't know if vista comes with the drivers or not.

[Tony Rotten]

Thanks, so I'll only download

STOR_AllOS_MRUSetup_2.1.0.10_PV_Marvell.exe

for which I already have the instruction manual.

It's supposed to be a GUI program to set up the RAID on the eSATA drives.

As an aside and as a programmer, I could not believe that that utility is going to install the APACHE web server on my machine so that I can use the utility!!! What a crock!

If that is still the case then I will have to spend extra time in eradicating whatever web server software they installed to be able to run their all important piece of sh.. software. But I digress...

As soon as the chkdsk /f /r finishes on my just installed second eSATA Barracuda (SEAGATE ST3750330AS) 750GB, I'll go for it

[Moose2]

Good luck.

[gtj]

Thanks, so I'll only download

STOR_AllOS_MRUSetup_2.1.0.10_PV_Marvell.exe

for which I already have the instruction manual.

It's supposed to be a GUI program to set up the RAID on the eSATA drives.

As an aside and as a programmer, I could not believe that that utility is going to install the APACHE web server on my machine so that I can use the utility!!! What a crock!

If that is still the case then I will have to spend extra time in eradicating whatever web server software they installed to be able to run their all important piece of sh.. software. But I digress...

As soon as the chkdsk /f /r finishes on my just installed second eSATA Barracuda (SEAGATE ST3750330AS) 750GB, I'll go for it

You don't need the apache crap. When you set the mode to RAID in BIOS, the Marvell bios will pop up and you can create the array there.

All you need is the F6 package which just has the drivers. When Windows next boots it'll prompt you for the drivers.

The "F6" reference is for when you want to install windows on the array;

[Wolf_Rider]

I had very similar symptoms, but then my powersupply smoked (Originally an Enermax Whisper II) and I purchased a new one. Didn't really go up in power as it wasn't necessary according to all the power calculators I've used, but I did go a whole level up on quality.

Now I don't have any of the described problems with my Zalman ZM600-HP. A power supply that is extremely stable on the rails, even at full load according to JonnyGURU.

While your supply may still be working, is it possible (as the specific model isn't in your sig, just it's rating) that you could have one that is unfortunately outside of good stable rail specifications? Have a chance to borrow one of reputable quality and see the result?

If you could test one, without first purchasing, you "may" find that this is the cause of this problem for you. I recommend the try before buy, because I'd feel bad if you went out and bought one on my recommendation and didn't have any change in result.

Also, check the rating on your Powerware 5125a UPS. If your UPS is too low on rated volt amps, when your supply is at full load, you'll run into stability problems even with a quality power supply. Quality UPS's of sufficiant rating must be used with the appropriate power supply. Make sure to add all the peak amps of all the assorted peripherals that are also connected to the UPS, something could take it over the top and you'll get poor power results (a really good UPS will shutoff due to overload, a poor one will provide under power that even a 99% PFC supply cannot adapt for).

My PSU is the linked (1x 550w + 1x 650w) units that came standard with the P190 case and the VA rating on the UPS is 1500/ 1050w. The load indicator on the UPS says 50% load, with everything plugged in... I mean rig/ monitor/ scanner/ printer/ powered USB hubs. The 5125a is supposed to provide constant power out regardless of surge/ sag from mains supply, which really is all I was interested in

Today, I installed a new LAN NIC, to get off onboard, and found the rig when I powered up... started, stopped, restarted again and went all the way to desktop

[xMrBunglex]

Now I don't have any of the described problems with my Zalman ZM600-HP. A power supply that is extremely stable on the rails, even at full load according to JonnyGURU.

that was my last power supply and i had the same issue with this motherboard. if your computer stopped doing it, it might have more to do with a BIOS upgrade than your PSU.

on a side note, that Zalman 600W is the nicest power supply i've ever owned. i only got my current Corsair 750W for my new video cards (higher total rating and four 6+2 PCI-E connectors), but i miss my old Zalman.

my Bone Trail had the power cycling issue with both power supplies. i just flashed to the 1812 BIOS last night and haven't checked to see if the problem is fixed or not.

[Rainstir]

Hi all, I have the board installed, just waiting for more cash to get the processor and memory. I keep hearing about the power cycling problem, so my question is:

What does the board do when it does the Power Cycling?

[Tetras]

I noticed on my BT2 the capacitors on the 3 phase side are bent (during transit?) and are leaning against the PWM heatsinks, anyone think that is a problem? Should I try bending them back a little?

[Tony Rotten]

You don't need the apache crap. When you set the mode to RAID in BIOS, the Marvell bios will pop up and you can create the array there.

All you need is the F6 package which just has the drivers. When Windows next boots it'll prompt you for the drivers.

The "F6" reference is for when you want to install windows on the array;

I forgot to ask this: I have a dual boot system with XP Pro-32 bit and Vista Ultimate 64-bit.

Can I install the RAID 1 (two eSATA) drives in both OSs without conflict?

That is, I'd like them to have the same arrangement under each of the two OSs.

Thanks again.

[gtj]

Hi all, I have the board installed, just waiting for more cash to get the processor and memory. I keep hearing about the power cycling problem, so my question is:

What does the board do when it does the Power Cycling?

I forgot to ask this: I have a dual boot system with XP Pro-32 bit and Vista Ultimate 64-bit.

Can I install the RAID 1 (two eSATA) drives in both OSs without conflict?

That is, I'd like them to have the same arrangement under each of the two OSs.

Thanks again.

Haven't tried it but as long as you use the same version of the driver you'll be OK. Probably a good idea to test it with non critical data first though.