** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[Sean-E-Boy]

Hey all, been a while since ive been on here and some things have changed.

Ditched the q6700 for a q9550 E0, turned out to be a slight headache upon install.
Prior to, i set the bios (1814 at the time, 1893 came out the next day) back to default values for voltages, etc. tossed in the q9550 and got 3 pulses of the fans and lights upon power up then it shut down and was dead. Called Intel, and to my surprise, they painlessly issued an RMA and a week later had a replacement board.

Updated new board to 1893, and after some playing got the limits:
My FSB seems to be the limiting factor, with a max FSB of 475x6 @1.5v FSB and had to bump the MCH to 1.5 to be stable there. mem @ 800x400
After increasing the multi, made it to 475x8.5, or 4.0375Ghz @ 1.4125 vcore (default 1.325, core VID in CPU-z 1.250) with FSB and MCH both at 1.5

Now working on more conservative every day use settings. dropped to 460x8.5 @1.3875 and still working on memory (trying to remember how all this mem reference x mem freq works and the best way to step up through it).

Saw a strange thing, changed mem settings, failed to boot, went into maintenance mode, changed back, rebooted, entered setup to check settings, exited, went into OS and everything seemed to be fine. checked cpu-z and to my surprise, was running at 333x8.5 even though in BIOS was at 460x8.5. had to change bios settings around a few times, but it eventually worked its way out.

What have you guys seen as the max mem frequency with this board? saw 1760mhz (1333x333) with defaults while increasing FSB at 6x multi.

[Manel]

djs, running all stock right now, no oc, only vMem at 1.78V for my Titaniums.
Have to flash to 1893 and give it a go again some day, when I have the time.
Good to know your setup is running ok.

[djs357]

Yeah, all seems good. I had issues at the higher mem voltages. They seem to like this voltage. Let me know if you decide to give yours a push.

[Sean-E-Boy]

TheBob,

If you can provide us with a more-or-less step-by-step list of the methods you used to reach the wall you are currently at, we will be better able to help you figure out what is holding you back.

There is also a great post related to determining limits for you setup earlier in this thread: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=851

[tam]

Hi guys,

I'm new to this forum and I've been reading this thread since I have a DX48BT2 too. I have a little concern about my processor's temperatures. I'm currently running the following:

- Intel DX48BT2. BIOS 1893.
- Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 3.16GHz.
- Zalman 9500 AT.
- Cooler Master Blue Ice SLC-S41-U1-GP 40mm fan.
- OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 7-6-6-24 (OCZ3P1600EB4GK).
- Diamond Radeon HD 4870 GDDR5 1GB.
- Creative Fatal1ty XtremeGamer Pro.
- Thermaltake ThoughPower 650w.
- Thermaltake M9 with clear side.

And the OC settings are the following:

* CPU Voltage Override: 1.3500v
* CPU Voltage Offset: DISABLED
* Enhanced Power Slope: DISABLED
* Front Side Bus Voltage Override: 1.325
* MCH/ICH Voltage Override: 1.400

* Processor Multiplier: 9.5
* Host Clock Frequency: 400
* NEW SPEED: 3.8GHz

* C1E: DISABLED
* EIST: DISABLED

* Reference Frequency: 400MHz
* Memory Frequency: 1600MHz
* Timmings: 7-6-6-24
* Advanced: 60-4-10-5-5
* Memory Voltage: 1.90
* Commmand Rate: 1T

* CPU Stepping: C0/M0

Idle:
CPU: 38C.
Core #0: 42C.
Core #1: 48C.

Full Load:
CPU: 60C.
Core #0: 63C.
Core #1: 66C.

Temperatures were taken from Everest Ultimate Edition 4.60.

memtest86 2.01 all-tests: PASSED. No errors.
prime95 Small-FFT Test @ 30min: PASSED. 0 errors - 0 warnings.
prime95 Custom @ 8hours: PENDING.
3DMark06 score: 14991.

The only thing I'm missing is the long prime95 test which I'll be running tonite.
My main concern as I said is the CPU temperatures, I'm not sure if they are good or way too high.
I live in South America so ambient temperatures are hot, around 30C to 36C in my room, 20s with the AC on.
The other thing is that the case where this components are is small (Thermaltake V9) and the Radeon HD 4870 gets hot like an oven (70C to 85C), I can prolly bake cookies on it. The thermalpaste (Artic Silver) is well applied and the Zalman 9500 AT is properly installed.

Any bits will be appreciated and thanks in advance.
TAM.

[Manel]

Hey Tam
Welcome to the thread.
I have high temps as well, but it's worse for me I guess, mine are in the low 40's (41-42ºC) at idle and 70'ish at load. Same as yours more or less but mine is an E8200 at stock at the moment. I believe it's the thermal paste and cooler (standard Intel) that are not that great but still I find it too high. Guess I'll have to take the time and re-seat the proc and apply new paste.
Anyway, your temps, considering your running oc'ed and at higher voltage don't seem too bad, even with the Zalman. The fact that your case is small (is it well ventilated?) and the 4870 heating things up won't help a bit. Are these temps measured in the room with the AC on or off? Maybe you can try removing the mobo from the case and turn the AC on and check the temps, just to make sure that it's not your case or vid card that's making the proc temp so high. Don't just open the case side panel, that will just hinder airflow, put the board in a cool place.
By the way, where in South America do you live? Brasil?

[tam]

Well, the case is well ventilated, it has 2x120mm fans, one in the front and one in the back, enough to cycle hot air. And about the Radeon, I enabled CCC's overclock function and increased the video card's fan speed and now it's running at 50C; the processor temperatures dropped a little bit:

Full Load:
CPU: 55C.
Core #0: 58C.
Core #1: 62C.

Temperatures were taken with the AC on and it's on all the time. The AC reports 68F room temperature (20C).
I ran prime95 long test for 4 hours and had no errors or warnings so I guess the OC settings are rock stable atm, still, I might run it again from 8 to 12 hours.
And I'm in Venezuela atm.

Thanks for replying.

TAM.

[Manel]

Well, I don't really think those temps are too high, not sure anyone gets a lot lower than that, without any alternate cooling that is.
Your 4870 must sound like a jet now, or is it quiet enough? From what I read they're either too hot or too loud.
There's a lot of people here from Venezuela and the other way around. Nice and warm there, right?

Have you guys seem the screenshots for Windows 7 already? Ugly beast there, come on Micro$oft, you can di better. Looks a lot like one of the Linux distros - sorry you Linux fanatic guys, but it sucks.
I remember the initial shots of Vista were very similar, very washed out interface and now it's very cool. At least for me. I can almost see everyone throwing rotten tomatoes at me now but, apart from all the bloat and old files you can still find in Vista that still come from way back, it's a nice OS. Don't get me wrong, I do like Unix (and it's flavours) but the geek era is now gone.
I just feel MS is going after all the others instead of sticking with their own ideas, I really don't like the way it looks right now. Anyway, it'll probably change and will look better in the final release.I hope they don't go with the KDE/Gnome look, it's horrible (for me).
Everyone seems to hate MS these days, but everyone uses their products, although there are similar free products. I know the feeling, I work for a big multinational company myself and everybody loves to hate the brand, the products/services are always too expensive.
Anyway, enough talk. Anyone installed the beta Windows 7? How does it feel?

[Randy]

Well, the case is well ventilated, it has 2x120mm fans, one in the front and one in the back, enough to cycle hot air. And about the Radeon, I enabled CCC's overclock function and increased the video card's fan speed and now it's running at 50C; the processor temperatures dropped a little bit:

Full Load:
CPU: 55C.
Core #0: 58C.
Core #1: 62C.

Temperatures were taken with the AC on and it's on all the time. The AC reports 68F room temperature (20C).
I ran prime95 long test for 4 hours and had no errors or warnings so I guess the OC settings are rock stable atm, still, I might run it again from 8 to 12 hours.
And I'm in Venezuela atm.

Thanks for replying.

TAM.

I wouldn't worry about 55 at full load. And Low to mid 40's for an average cooler on the OC you have is probably about right.

[GumaLive]

Hey Tam,
I have also OCZ3P1600EB4GK memory, but I'm not able to put my system to 1600 FSB :-(
I would like to ask you if your memory worked for you on 1st time? Just inserted, switched settings and everything was OK?
And is your memory in blue or black sockets?
Also what is the result of Prime?

I used same settings as you, but I get ramdom reboots and with exactly same settings I'm not able to pass memtest. Right now I'm solving it with OCZ tech support and it seems that one module is faulty.

[Avantlord]

does any one have seen any improve on 1893 bios? does it worth?

sorry my bad english xd

[Manel]

Yeah, I haven't flashed to 1893 either yet.
Can anyone at least confirm if the issue with the power off and no boot afterwards is solved? From the list of fixes it seems so but that has happened in the past and it's still there.
Also, any differences in the mem settings? Few months back Tony said some improvements were on the way, including control of the tRD/Perf Level but so far nothing. Is it there yet, anyone?

[Randy]

Yeah, I haven't flashed to 1893 either yet.
Can anyone at least confirm if the issue with the power off and no boot afterwards is solved? From the list of fixes it seems so but that has happened in the past and it's still there.
Also, any differences in the mem settings? Few months back Tony said some improvements were on the way, including control of the tRD/Perf Level but so far nothing. Is it there yet, anyone?

I can run a 400FSB with this bios, and I choked after 380 before. Also, I can use the XMP profile, where it hasn't worked in the past.

[Manel]

That's good news Randy, I guess I'll have to give it a try. It seems there was serious tweaking after all, maybe this is what Tony was up to with Intel. Can you confirm if tRD is available in this new BIOS already?
What about the power off issue, can anyone confirm if it's fixed already?

[tam]

Hey Tam,
I have also OCZ3P1600EB4GK memory, but I'm not able to put my system to 1600 FSB :-(
I would like to ask you if your memory worked for you on 1st time? Just inserted, switched settings and everything was OK?
And is your memory in blue or black sockets?
Also what is the result of Prime?

I used same settings as you, but I get ramdom reboots and with exactly same settings I'm not able to pass memtest. Right now I'm solving it with OCZ tech support and it seems that one module is faulty.

Hey bro,

afaik, you gotta change the processors FSB to be able to run the memories at 1600. If you only changed the settings of the memories I doubt they are gonna work. Not sure about this, somebody else correct me if I'm wrong. My memories, since they are DDR3-1600, they are on the black slots (if you read the yellow paper that comes with the motherboard it says DDR3-1600 memories are only supported on the black slots, channel A and B DIMM socket 1).

If you can provide more information on what you are trying to do it will be helpful. Post your bios settings too.

About the bios version 1893, I've been running it since I got the board and I haven't experienced any reboots or any malfunction on it, it's running pretty smooth. The only setting I saw that isn't working well is C1E, even when it's off it keeps modifying my multipliers value but since I only turn it off to run benchmarks and tests it doesn't bother me.

Manel, I only changed the video card's fan speed enough to be quiet and to decrease the temperature, it's at 35% fan speed (20% is the stock speed) and now the card it's at 40C @ idle, 50C @ full load. And yeah, Venezuela is pretty good, I just wish the political situation changes soon enough.

[Think]

Everything is running well but it takes to long for the NIC to make a connection with my internet in comparison to my Asus sytem. Both plugged into the same router. I boot the Asus and I'm online in a very short time...when I boot the DX48BT2 it takes a long time to initiate a connection.

1. Clean installation of Vista 64 bit ultimate in each
2. Same router
3. Different processors and Ram but I don't see how that would make a difference in connection to the internet?

[Miwo]

Hey all,

Its been awhile since I've been on this thread. My DX38BT is still alive, kicking, and 100% stable. What i'm curious on is if the latest BIOS is worth flashing? I havnt updated since June or July. More importantly, i was wondering if the latest BIOS lets you set more memory settings like tRD?

Thanks

edit: oh i see now that tRD still not in

[Sean-E-Boy]

@Think: I think it depends on the board...I have an dx38bt and recently had to RMA...the first one was connected almost immediately...could open a web page as fast as i could open IE after boot, but now the replacement takes ~5-10 sec after boot to connect.

@Miwo: if you plan on updating BIOS, be sure you have a copy of your current that you can rollback to...I tried to use MemSet on 1893, but shows MCHBar as locked, not sure if this is a BIOS change or, since i never tried MemSet before, if i just dont know how to unlock it.

[Manel]

Have you guys seen the Intel DX58SO SmackOver board? Looks nice, much like ours.
Still, Intel hasn't gone with a full solid state caps and there are also a few old design chokes as well. Fan headers are red/orange and I can't see the EPS12V plug anymore, there's the Molex one though.
The heatsinks are blue with the skull logo, although there's no more bone or skull mention in the board's name.
Layout is very similar, haven't learned that the audio connectors are in a bad place, my case cables aren't long enough.
There's a 8lane PCIe instead of an 16lane, the other 2 PCIe 16x are still there.
The 4 DIMMs is a bit of a let down.

[xMrBunglex]

four DIMMs on an X58 board? i thought they all had six DIMMs for tri-channel memory. doesn't matter - i don't think Intel has to worry about me ever buying another one of their motherboards anyway. i bought a Gigabyte yesterday and my Bone Trail is going into a new HTPC.

[Manel]

Too bad, this could be really the greatest mobo.
After all, it's not a PCIe 8x but 4x, but with a retention mechanism as well, odd. Placement of this is separate from the connector it seems. Why not a full x16, even if electrically 4x?
2 PCIe x1 is good, and finally PCI is going, only 1 this time.
Still I believe Intel should have used newer chokes and loose the electrolytic capacitors altogether, I know most of it is hype but at least it lokks better, and performance is better as well and lifespan.

[Manel]

Hey x
So, you finally gave up your Bone, hum?! Too bad.
Yes, only four DIMMs, go figure. Also, no SLI for Intel, at least for now. Too bad.

[Manel]

Gaming sucks on this mobo... at low res at least. Other than that looks good, only Asus better as usual.
Intel will never be in the same league. Can't they hire some guys that know OC and board tweaking and designing?

[FELIX]

@Miwo: if you plan on updating BIOS, be sure you have a copy of your current that you can rollback to...I tried to use MemSet on 1893, but shows MCHBar as locked, not sure if this is a BIOS change or, since i never tried MemSet before, if i just dont know how to unlock it.

...probably a bios change.

[Randy]

four DIMMs on an X58 board? i thought they all had six DIMMs for tri-channel memory. doesn't matter - i don't think Intel has to worry about me ever buying another one of their motherboards anyway. i bought a Gigabyte yesterday and my Bone Trail is going into a new HTPC.

Keep us posted on the new board. I am already seeing X58's available on Ebay, so it won't be long to get to the retailers. I think the Asus P6T will be my next board, along with the Nehalem Extreme. I will probably drive over the Bonetrail with my minivan.