** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[xMrBunglex]

X48 is CrossFire only. you can't SLI on it.

[Manel]

Yeah, SLI in theory will not work on any chipset but nVidia's. For me, it's just a driver issue, nothing else, and nVidia trying to profit on having the BR04 (nv200) bridge on every mobo with chipsets but their own. I'm getting so fed up with nVidia and their arrogant actions. AMD is kicking them in the butt and that is good, maybe they'll learn something.
Anyway, they'll have to, sooner or later, release SLI for others, I believe the rumour is true regarding nVidia leaving the chipset business.

[xMrBunglex]

does anyone in here have all four memory slots used on their Bone Trail? i just bought a new 2x1 GB kit to fill up all my slots and i can barely boot into Windows. i've tried loosening the memory timings, lowering my FSB, and raising my vFSB and vMCH. i haven't tried to go below 400 FSB, but it would be pointless to do that anyway. i'd rather just eat the money and buy a new 2x2 GB kit than lower my clocks that far.

[gtj]

Right now I'm running the BT2 at 425fsb with 4x1gb. At 1 time I did have the BT at 400 x 4x1gb but not in a while. You're going to need to push the Vmch pretty hard to be stable over 400. I'm at 1.425 on the BT2 so the BT might need closer to 1.5, You shouldn't need to touch the Vfsb or any other voltages except the Vdimm. For that, you'll need to go up a notch or 2 from what was stable with 2 sticks.

[gtj]

Another thing to try is going from 333/1333 to 400/1600. For some inexplicable reason, I'm getting better Everest throughput at 400/1600 with 4 sticks.

[xMrBunglex]

thanks for your help. i tried everything i was willing to try and decided to eat the restocking fee and just save up for a good 2x2 GB kit instead. i wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of lowering my overclock just to add some extra RAM. those G.Skill PI kits are looking pretty good to me.

[Randy]

thanks for your help. i tried everything i was willing to try and decided to eat the restocking fee and just save up for a good 2x2 GB kit instead. i wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of lowering my overclock just to add some extra RAM. those G.Skill PI kits are looking pretty good to me.

I ran into the same problem with Patriot 1333 when adding 2 additional 1GB sticks. Ended up going with Mushkin 2 X 2GB kit to keep my timings low and run 1T.

[Manel]

Thanks you guys for pointing that out, I kinda was itching to have 4G also, guess I'll have to go 2x2G too instead.
Are you using the black or blue slots?
Intel hasn't yet corrected the chipset drivers available download, these guys suck. Thay also posted the wrong description for the new integrator assistant, now corrected.
But rejoyce, there is a new download available, the NoBoot Wizard v1.0, great!!
What about IDCC, is it dead already, before leaving beta status?

[Manel]

Good news, well sort of!! nVidia finally released SLI to Intel chipsets at nVision08, I was surethey had to eventually. Not so good is that it will be only to X58, not older chipsets. They'll be controlling it with a BIOS resident cookie for detection, can you believe this?! Those bastards, I guess I'll just stop buying their hardware. Intel Larrabee, if any good, will be my next choice I guess. 4870 looks real good but I'm not much of an AMD fan.
nVidia states that they finally could overcome the limitations of implementing SLI on other chipsets, with PCIe 2 (how long has it been out already?!) and broadcast was, out of the blue, implemented in software rather than hardware. Wow, those guys are really full of it.

[xMrBunglex]

Nvidia didn't have to overcome any hardware limitations to make SLI work on Intel chipsets. it was a business decision from the beginning. the only thing stopping SLI from happening earlier was the fact that Nvidia wouldn't license it to Intel.

[Manel]

Yeah, of course it was just a matter of keeping tech under control, on their own chipsets alone. Still, they tried to convince everybody that there were hardware limitations and now, just like that, they say after all they just fixed it. Still, I'm hoping they'll allow SLI also for other chipsets, like the X38/48 in our BoneTrails.
I really think nVidia is loosing it, the only way is down now. Too bad.

[Avantlord]

at last i had buy some DDR3, so later they should be in my hands i hope they´ll work on my first try , they are 2 X 1Gb Gskill DDR3@1600Mhz i will keep you updated whit the facts

[xMrBunglex]

i've always been real happy with G.Skill memory. i just replaced my Patriot DDR3 1600 2GB kit with this G.Skill DDR3 1333 4GB kit and i can't believe how good it is. it has double the capacity, costs less per GB, runs at the same speed and settings, and uses less volts to boot. i didn't think that was possible.

here are some numbers with the memory at DDR 1480 6-6-6-16 1T @ 1.7V


i'm real happy with it. this neverending southern california summer is probably going to force me to replace my Asus heatsink with an Enzotech Ultra 120 very soon. i'll let you guys know how it works and if i have any clearance issues.

and Avant

[clark_carty]

I've got two problems, and I believe they are interelated with the addtion of the 4870X2. I know DFI X38/X48 boards had issues, and I believe the Intel ones do too. Cooling and power supply should be an issue as you can see from the specs below I've retrofitted the MB into an HP Blackbird 002 case, and I've tweaked all the fan settings in IDDC.

I've been a long time user of the DX38BT board with a QX9650 and 4GB (2 x 2GB) of Corsair XMS3 CM3X2G1600C9DHX, along with an 8800GTX. It's been successfully overclocked to 375 x 10 with the memory at 1500MHz for a long time.

When I put in the 4870X2, the system would no longer run. The only way I could fix it was to run the memory at 1066MHz. And the strange thing is, at 1333MHz, memtest86+ and Prime95 would be completely stable. Running games or watching a DVD would cause random reboots.

So the other day I upgraded to a DX48BT2 with a QX9770. Same sort of issues. Stable memtest86+ and Prime95 at 1600MHz, but random reboots. Turning the memory down to 1333MHz is the only thing that made them go away.

So there appear to be lots of threads in the Corsair forums about getting 1600MHz stable on the DX48BT2.
http://www.asktheramguy.com/v3/showthread.php?t=70421
http://www.asktheramguy.com/v3/showthread.php?t=72074

And the other day I guy posted similar problems in the HardForums.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread....post1032987791

Anybody seeing similar issues that their 4870X2 gives random reboots, and the only way to fix it is to turn down their DDR3 bus speed, even if it's running at stock speeds?

I haven't tried the 8800GTX in the DX48BT2 setup because I've been doing clean installs of Vista inbetween and I really don't want to do it yet again. :-)

Here's my setup:

Motherboard
Intel DX48BT2

Processor
QX9770

Memory
TW3X4G1600C9DHX

Video Card # 1
Visiontek 4870X2

Hard Drive # 1
1 TB Seagate

Hard Drive # 2
1 TB Seagate

Optical Drive # 1
DVD+/-RW

Optical Drive # 2
BluRay REW

Case
HP Blackbird 002

Power Supply
Topower Blackbird 1.1kW

Sound Card
Creative Labs Soundblaster Exteme Gamer

Monitor
HP 30" LP3065

Operating System
Windows Vista x64

[Think]

Well, I finally installed this board and I think it's defective. Continuously turns on and off as soon as I turn on the powersupply at every 2 second intervals with no post whatsoever and no beep warning, but the green light turns on the motherboard.

• DX48BT2
• Q6600GO
• Mushkin 996625 (2x2GB) 1600mhz ( tried various slot allocations as per instruction - tried only one DIMM)
• *alternative Mushkin 996583 (2x1GB) 1333MHZ ( tried both and one only)
• Tried two different Videocards
• Tried without RAM
• Removed from the case, reseated the hsf.

Bios reset, bios pin removal, bios battery removal.

I can't see it being my PC POWER 750W unit but I did short to pins to see if it ran and measured the voltage output and all is good.

I called Intel customer service at 916/377-7000 and they indicated that they have seen this problem and apparently the new bios solves this issue but obviously I can't even boot so there is no way I can flash. They issued an RMA and now I have to ship it out at a cost of $48.00 and they will not ship out one until they have received the motherboard and have assessed the problem - TERRIBLE SERVICE!.

I'm not going to wait so I'm going to pick up the ASUS RAMPAGE EXTREME and sell off the Intel or use it for another systems.

[gtj]

I called Intel customer service at 916/377-7000 and they indicated that they have seen this problem and apparently the new bios solves this issue but obviously I can't even boot so there is no way I can flash. They issued an RMA and now I have to ship it out at a cost of $48.00 and they will not ship out one until they have received the motherboard and have assessed the problem - TERRIBLE SERVICE!.

I'm not going to wait so I'm going to pick up the ASUS RAMPAGE EXTREME and sell off the Intel or use it for another systems.

It definitely sounds like you got a bad board but Intel will cross-ship you one if you ask. It's 12 bucks or something but they pay shipping both ways and they'll do next day delivery. You then get 30 days to return the bad board or they charge your credit card $168. Press them on it.

I exchanged a board 2 weeks ago. Called them on Thursday...had a new board on Friday morning.

[clark_carty]

Well, I finally installed this board and I think it's defective. Continuously turns on and off as soon as I turn on the powersupply at every 2 second intervals with no post whatsoever and no beep warning, but the green light turns on the motherboard.

• DX48BT2
• Q6600GO
• Mushkin 996625 (2x2GB) 1600mhz ( tried various slot allocations as per instruction - tried only one DIMM)
• *alternative Mushkin 996583 (2x1GB) 1333MHZ ( tried both and one only)
• Tried two different Videocards
• Tried without RAM
• Removed from the case, reseated the hsf.

Bios reset, bios pin removal, bios battery removal.

I can't see it being my PC POWER 750W unit but I did short to pins to see if it ran and measured the voltage output and all is good.

I called Intel customer service at 916/377-7000 and they indicated that they have seen this problem and apparently the new bios solves this issue but obviously I can't even boot so there is no way I can flash. They issued an RMA and now I have to ship it out at a cost of $48.00 and they will not ship out one until they have received the motherboard and have assessed the problem - TERRIBLE SERVICE!.

I'm not going to wait so I'm going to pick up the ASUS RAMPAGE EXTREME and sell off the Intel or use it for another systems.

The new BIOS fixed it on the DX38BT, but NOT the DX48BT2. Tell them to try it again! I only experience it when doing a Restart From Vista. A Shutdown works fine.

Here's how to get the PC up and running. While it's cycling back and forth push and hold the power button down for 4 seconds until the machine shuts off. Let go of the button. Then lightly press and let go of the button. It should stop the power cycling and boot up normally. If that doesn't do it, put the jumper in maintenance mode, get into the BIOS, and quit out. If it happens again, the power button trick should get around it.

[Randy]

Back to 1554 bios for me. 1814 started all types of random reboots and USB issues.

[xMrBunglex]

i recently do some Orthos testing and i had errors at the speed i've been running at since i built this computer. i assumed there was some CPU degradation or the summer heat makes me less stable than i was before. i lowered my FSB by 10 MHz and i'm golden again. it is possible that the 1814 BIOS was the culprit though. i'm not going to lose any sleep over a few MHz, so i just downclocked a bit, tested, and forgot about it.

[xMrBunglex]

someone in this thread once mentioned that he didn't have Dolby settings in his IDT audio control panel. i just realized that he must have a 64-bit operating system. now that i'm running Vista 64 i see that Intel doesn't have any downloads for me to use IDCC or the Dolby controller. i find it kind of ironic (stupid) that Intel has bragged about their 64-bit processors for years and they don't seem to have any 64-bit software to work with this hardware.

has anyone with a 64-bit OS tried to install the Dolby thing or IDCC? will the 32-bit versions of those programs work on Vista 64?

[Think]

The new BIOS fixed it on the DX38BT, but NOT the DX48BT2. Tell them to try it again! I only experience it when doing a Restart From Vista. A Shutdown works fine.

Here's how to get the PC up and running. While it's cycling back and forth push and hold the power button down for 4 seconds until the machine shuts off. Let go of the button. Then lightly press and let go of the button. It should stop the power cycling and boot up normally. If that doesn't do it, put the jumper in maintenance mode, get into the BIOS, and quit out. If it happens again, the power button trick should get around it.

...then the Intel service department doesn't know what he's talking about because he specifically said that the new bios fixed this problem - go figure.

I tried you're solution but it didn't work but thanks.

[petr0id]

has anyone with a 64-bit OS tried to install the Dolby thing or IDCC? will the 32-bit versions of those programs work on Vista 64?

IDCC work's fine here.

[Think]

It definitely sounds like you got a bad board but Intel will cross-ship you one if you ask. It's 12 bucks or something but they pay shipping both ways and they'll do next day delivery. You then get 30 days to return the bad board or they charge your credit card $168. Press them on it.

I exchanged a board 2 weeks ago. Called them on Thursday...had a new board on Friday morning.

I'll give them a call on Monday, thanks

[Manel]

Hi x
It was me who didn't get the Dolby tab in IDT drivers, but sorry to say that I'm on Vista x32, not x64. I guess that is not the reason. I have to re-install Vista and see if shows then, maybe it's because my Vista install is from when my BIOS was a really early version, 1251, the original one. Maybe the SATA drives issue comes from there too. Re-install time I guess.
Regarding IDCC, well there wasn't been any development recently - maybe Intel binned it, I believe it will run on x64 from the latest version 4.1.0.168, I believe the readme mentions it. Also, the download site confirms it. There are also performance/burn-in testing apps to go along with it that are x64 as well.

Think, Intel support at it's best as usual.

[xMrBunglex]

yeah, i installed IDCC last night without issue. i'm going to try the Dolby program too. it isn't listed in Vista 64's download page, but it is listed in Vista 32's download page. if it works on the 32-bit OS, it should work on mine as well.

i also decided my Asus heatsink is more than good enough and it wouldn't be worth it to spend $60 on a new heatsink just to lower my CPU temp by 3 degrees. i read some reviews yesterday and the top rated heatsinks don't appeal to me. the Enzo heatsink is barely better than mine.


i also started having trouble doing soft reboots from Vista last night. not sure if it's a BIOS thing or what. serves me right for saying my board reboots fine with the new BIOS. apparently i spoke too soon.

Manel, don't reinstall Vista just yet. the reason i brought the Dolby thing up is because i only have it on my XP partition. it doesn't show up in my IDT control panel in Vista. i'm gonna try to solve that puzzle tonight.