** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[Manel]

Sean
There is such a liquid for submerging the entire board already, for some time now. It's a non conductive liquid of course, a type of oil or parafin or something, can't remember what it was exactly. I believe some german (I think) system buider sells such a setup, the case was quite nice I believe. You extracted the board from the top, with a handle, but problem is it usually was a mess if you had to do so to change a vid card or so. Cool though.

[Pontius]

Hey, So i got on here a long time ago to try and over clock my dx38bt. however It was my only computer and I got scared so I stopped.

Well now I got watercooling installed. I just would like to achieve a mild stable overclock. Honestly if someone would be willing to get on aim or something that would be really awesome.

My build is in my sig. Obviously I would have to pull out the 2 1gb and get it stable then think about putting those back in.

I'm thinking I want to start with getting the board to 1600 fsb and lowering the cpu multi. which would put me at 2.85 ghz. If someone could give me a general outline of what settings to start with and what to tweak to get it stable that would be extremely helpful. I think I understand most of it, just not the math involved with timings etc. Thanks so much!!

[Sean-E-Boy]

Pontius,

Ill be more than happy to help you out. I know that this board is tricky to OC, so you must have patience.

A few things to note:
1) there is the possibility that you will run into issues with only 500W power supply, but you may be ok seeing that the 3870 is a relatively low draw card and that your HDs are 7200 rpm, no?. Not sure what brand your water cooling is, but those pumps can draw some juice too. Just something to keep in mind.
2)
a) if you plan on using all 4 dimms at some point, you might as well start the OCing process with them in...getting stable with 2 and then adding 2 more will not be fun.
b) overclocking with all 4 memory slots filled will be limiting, but seeing that you said "mild stable overclock" you should be ok, but dont expect to keep the memory 1:2 with the FSB (ie. 1600Mhz fsb and 1600Mhz RAM speed as seen in say CPU-z) much beyond 1600
3) do all 4 of your RAM dimms have the same timings and voltages listed on the memory itself? if not, put the details in your sig. Also, are they all PC3-12800 (1600Mhz)?
4) with your water cooling, did you install a water block for the MCH or just the CPU?
5) in BIOS on the CPU page, with vCore set to "default" (and saved and rebooted, if it isnt already at default) what value is displayed for current CPU voltage? its towards the bottom of the page.
6) what BIOS version does your board have? have you regularly updated other components (<---this one is key, make sure that the chipset drivers are up to date...AND when updating chipset drivers, the super intelligent folk @ Intel didnt build an installer that actully updates everything that it is supposed to. so first run it like you think you should, then you must extract the exe (download 7zip, maybe winrar to do this...right click installer, select extract...) to a folder somewhere...desktop works...then right click My Computer, click manage, device manager, at the top click view then devices by connection, then expand ACPI....then Microsoft ACPI...then PCI Bus and then everything within PCI bus right click, choose update driver, then choose browse or i will find it myself or whatever it says, then select that folder you extracted (make sure search subfolders is checked, if available) then ok. do this for each item in the PCI bus category...many wont update, but several will that should have with the installer but didnt.

thats all i have for now, post back the details and work on updating drivers, etc.

the fun (and anguish) will start soon.

Sean

[dukzcry]

I forget about MCH fan... It was discussing, but too much past.
Is something like redundant 40x40mm Delta will fit?

[petr0id]

Hello there!
Here is my another try to OC DX38BT.

Still unable to OC memory to 400/1600,
it is working at 400/1333 now and with only those timings
(if timings are set to it's default 9-9-9-24, mobo wont boot at all).

Dangerously hot, isn't it? I must install water cooling, i know.

I want to run memory at 1:1. If i'll rise voltage on the memory to,
for example, 1.8v (default 1.5)? May it help me to run memory at 1600?

[Sean-E-Boy]

"If your system application requires more MCH cooling than that provided by the MCH
passive heat sink, you can add a fan to the heat sink by using the included MCH heat
sink fan mounting bracket. This fan mounting bracket is designed to accomodate a
40 mm x 10 mm or 40 mm x 20 mm, 12 V dc fan. You can use the board’s 3-pin MCH
fan header to supply power to the MCH fan."

its a 40x40mm square 10 or 20mm tall.

the sound that they make is really annoying, though.

[Sean-E-Boy]

petr0id,

you probably dont need water cooling. the TDP for your E8400 is only 64 Watts, whereas the quads are much higher...like 95+ watts (about 50% more). while water cooling would keep you very nice and cold and you could put an MCH water block on too, a good aftermarket CPU fan like a zalman or something should do just fine.

as for the memory, it is unlikely that more volts will increase your speed much (some memory respond well, some dont), usually increasing mem voltage helps when trying to lower timing values.
what is the model number of your RAM?

also, what are your voltages in BIOS (mch, fsb, etc.)?

[petr0id]

Sean! Thanks for your reply!
Here is some pictures:


Watchdog and EISST disabled, voltages are manually set to it's stock values. About temperatures: i'm not sure who's lying - RealTemp or BIOS, but temperature values are different: in BIOS (how you can see on the second pic.), it is only near 50C, but RealTemp showing something near 70C.

[Edit]:
BTW, i can make good pictures of all BIOS pages and post it here, only if we need it to be posted here, in that thread.

[Sean-E-Boy]

Petr0id,

excellent shots! first, like you said earlier, stock cooler may hold you back here, but it doesnt mean that you cannot start figuring some things out.

Question: what vCore were you using when you ran the Prime95 test a few posts ago?

Next, there is a progression of testing that helps you to determine some limits such as max FSB, Max (more or less) CPU frequency, etc.

the first thing to do is to start with all voltages on the CPU page at default...setting them manually is fine, make sure enhanced power slope is ON and Voltage offset is OFF,
now set your multiplyer to the lowest possible and put your host clock to 333 (stock),
next, go to the memory page and set your memory to 400/800 and raise timings...i know you said that you had issues with running higher than 7-7-7-21, but try to set it to 9-9-9-28 or higher and be sure to set the Command Rate to 2T. Memory in Black slots, right?

also, just to keep out the possibility of your video card causing issues, put the PCI burn in back to 100Mhz for now.

save and exit and boot into windows. remember...this board has issues with changing memory settings and being able to boot fully the first try, so you may have to power cycle a few (a few could be up to 5) times to get into windows.

once you get into windows, download this: http://www.ultimate-filez.com/files/IntelBurnTest.zip

open the zip and extract the LinData and intelburntest.exe files to your desktop or to a folder somewhere. we will use this program a little later, but good to get it now b4 i forget.

if you were running at 400x9 earlier on stock voltages, go ahead and restart the computer, enter BIOS and jump to 400x{lowest multi} without changing anything else. save and exit.

if you were not running 400x9 with stock voltages, restart computer, enter BIOS, go to ~360x{lowest multi} without changing anything else. save and exit.

so the idea here is that with the processor multiplyer set to its lowest, the memory speed set to its lowest, and the memory timings more loose than normal, we can increase the host clock of the CPU which increases the FSB and know pretty well that when we reach a point of instability that it is caused primarily by the FSB and related voltages rather than by some other thing. this process of OCing takes more time, but is less frustrating than the "just crank-it-up" style. Plus, you will have a better understanding of what your configuration is capable of in multiple categories.

the way to proceed here is to gradually increase the FSB (by 10-30 each time) until windows freezes on boot or a quick Prime95 (version 25.8 or 25.9) small FFTs or in place large FFTs results in an error or crash/bluescreen, ect.

using a piece of paper, or preferably a second computer, keep a spreadsheet of the settings that you are using and note whether testing was successful or failed/froze/bsod. the more information you have here the easier it will be later to troubleshoot issues.

[EDITED] once you get to that point, then increase the vFSB by 1 step, change nothing else, save, exit, reboot, enter windows, try testing again. at a certain point (and this could be quite high...Host Clock 450,470 maybe higher with dual core), increasing the FSB will not fix instability and you will need to raise vCore or vMCH (see last 2 sentences in this post). but once you figure out if vCore or vMCH was needed, increasing host clock should again cause instability that can be fixed by vFSB.

one very important practice to get into is making sure to only change one thing at a time when trying to troubleshoot instability....if you raise vcore, vfsb, vmch all at once, sure it may fix the issue, but what WAS the real issue? understanding what is causing the problem give you a better grasp overall of what is going on.

[ADDED] also, when you get to the point where windows freezes upon loading and you are still at default vCore and no increase in vFSB fixes the issue WRITE ALL VOLTAGES AND SETTINGS DOWN. this point allows for some more advanced tuning that we can go back to later.

[petr0id]

Thanks, Sean!
Your small manual on oc'ing is very useful for all, i think.
I will give it a try 8)

Answer: vCore wasn't changed. It is at 1.3250V.

Yes, memory is in the black slots and i think, i'll gonna buy 1600Mhz memory.
Memory and a stock cooler are the weakest points in my system for now.
First of all - temperature. CPU must be cold in the summer time.

[Sean-E-Boy]

i think, i'll gonna buy 1600Mhz memory.
.

glad to help. you may want to hold off on buying memory for a bit. I know that with the quad cores and stock multis that the MCH cannot handle mem frequencies much over 16 or 1700, but with the dual cores you may be able to stay 1:2 up to 1800 or so.??? something to consider.

[petr0id]

Hmm. Do You think my memory is overclockable?

[petr0id]

one very important practice to get into is making sure to only change one thing at a time

Agreed.

I will continue my experiments and will post here results (if there will be no fire onboard)

[petr0id]

Thanks to Sean-E-Boy, tonight i was able to run my rig at 8X450,
at stock voltages (vFSB - 1.2000, MCH/ICH - 1.250) without further problems (eg reboots, freezes, BSOD's etc).

Memory was set to 400/800, 9-9-9-24, 1.58v (+1 notch to default mem voltage).

Windows won't start with higher FSB (missing system .dll's, .sys's at bootup), so i leave it at 450 and save those settings as custom defaults.

Next step is to run those settings with the memory at higher freq's (i tried to run it at 400/1600, but no luck).

[Edit]:
I'am worrying about my HDD's. All those power ON/OFF's...

[petr0id]

Updated audio drivers ver. 20001.0 is available for download.
But not a word about new Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility 9.1.0.1014

[Sean-E-Boy]

pert0id,

the failure to boot b/c of missing files is caused by a voltage issue...dont remember which, but probably vFSB. it tends to happen after system crashes during boot, then next boot it says bad files. drop the FSB down and its ok, then increase vFSB, increase FSB and try again.

what is the lowest multiplyer for your E8400? how high did you get the host clock at the lowest multi? also, dont be affraid to increase the vFSB some, maybe even up to 1.3 it shouldnt affect temps much.

your hard drives should be fine. if you are concerned, you can always unplug whichever ones dont have the OS on them, but my 6 have been power cycled probably several hundred times just from trying to OC, and (crossing fingers) so far so good.

what is the actual model number of your RAM?

[Pontius]

Alright Sean, thanks so much for your reply!

Heres what I got written down:
bios version (i know its unnecessary but heres the full thing) BTX3810J.86A.1554.2008.0501.1628

processor voltage is 1.325
also, FSB volt is 1.225
MCH/ICH is 1.250

my memory timings are the same and the speeds are the same. I made sure they would be the same before I got them.
ref freq. 333 MHz
mem freq. 1333 MHz
tcl: 7
tRCD: 7
tRP:7
tRASmin: 24
(will someone let me know if these next ones are important i haven't messed with them and don't know if they matter..)
tRFC:60
tRRD: 4
tWR: 10
tWTR: 5
tRTP: 5

oh and my voltage is 1.82
command rate: auto

I went through and did the driver updates like you suggested. Thats so ridiculous of having to do that manually. I always assumed the inf update utility did everything. psht. oh well.

Yes I have a waterblock installed on northbridge as well as CPU.

If i have to get a new powersupply oh well. I've already poured enough money into this thing. I think it should be fine though.

[petr0id]

the failure to boot b/c of missing files is caused by a voltage issue...

It is strange, because i did not touch any voltage settings, only mem voltage is at 1.58

what is the lowest multiplyer for your E8400? how high did you get the host clock at the lowest multi?

Lowest is 6. I was able to run it at 450Mhz

what is the actual model number of your RAM?

PC3-10700H (667MHz), Samsung, M378B5673DZ1-CH9

[Manel]

petr0id, just dl'ed the new audio drivers. At last, it seems Intel heard us here.
Funny thing, there were several updates in between that Intel never released. Also, the latest available drivers before this last one are not mentioned in the readme, 5790.3_5713.7_IDTGUIv83. Those IDT guys are also very confusing in the descriptions. The legacy_aus tag doesn't comfort me either, why legacy, and aus is for australia only?
Latest versions are not WHQL?
Is the GUI updated from the old design (ugly as hell)?
Have you installed it yet? Is it working properly?
Hope it solves my issues, can't select 5.1 anymore, some scratching also. No Dolby controls in the GUI either.

Where did you see the INF 9.1.0.1014?

Also mew Intel Integrator Assistant.

[Sean-E-Boy]

Pontius,

Good, sounds like most everything is in order....I would update the BIOS to 1902, though. Since you are using water cooling, there is no real need to have an older BIOS to be compatible with IDCC for fan control, and sure its nice to have for monitoring temps and voltages, but everest does pretty well for that.

after updating BIOS, i would suggest that you refer to the above post to petr0id: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...postcount=1884 to determine your cpus max fsb.

in short, this is what you do:
0. make sure Watchdog is DISABLED
1. take memory to 400/800 and raise the fisrt three timings to 9 and the next one to 28. also, make sure command rate is manually set to 2T.
2. go to the cpu page, i am going to guess that 1.325 vCore is the default, but manually set it to this level if it isnt already.
3. And since you are on water, increase the vFSB to wherever you are comfortable...large gains in FSB speed are seen with relatively small increases in vFSB up to 1.4 vFSB, beyond that more voltage is helpful, but less performance is gained per step....above 1.45 is really for squeezing those last few Mhz out of the FSB.

as a cautionary note, overvoltage can be just as damaging as overheating....but i wouldnt let that scare you. 1.4 should be pretty safe...I have been running my 9550 vFSB (and vMCH) at max for 5 months now, still running...and i am going to guess that it is going to last longer at this voltage than i will want to keep it.

ANYWAY, set the vFSB to where you are comfortable and since you are running 4 dimms, kick the vMCH up to 1.35 or so.
4. set the multi and host clock settings to manual, take the multi to its lowest, put the host clock to stock 333.
5. save, exit, reboot into windows, verify with cpu-z or everest that you are in fact locked at the lowest multi (had problems with my q6700 and this). do so by having cpu-z or everest open and then open a program like word or photoshop or something that takes a bit of time to load and watch the mulit or the processor frequency and make sure it doesnt jump up and down.
6. if this checks out, restart, go to BIOS, increase host clock by 30 mhz and change nothing else. save, exit reboot into windows.
7. download this: http://www.ultimate-filez.com/files/IntelBurnTest.zip extract the lindata and intelburntest.exe to your desktop, double click intelburntest.exe, type n, then 1, then 5. it will take a little while to run, but when it is done, make sure that all the numbers in the far right column are the same. ***during the tests is also a good time to monitor cpu temps as this is the most tempurature intensive test i have found***. if they are the same, restart, go back to BIOS, increase host clock by 30 again.
8. repeat.
9. once you get to 400mhz, you may want to start increasing host clock by steps of 10-15.
10. post back results and problems

[Sean-E-Boy]

petr0id,

i know you didnt touch voltage, but you did increase the host clock. increasing the host clock requires more vFSB at low multis to be stable, just as increasing the multi from 6-8 at host clock 450 will require more vCore to be stable. its all related and the missing file error is a sign of undervoltage.

[petr0id]

Hiya Manel
I was recently bought E-MU 1212M, so audio is disabled in BIOS
and i can't test new Intel's famous audio drivers.

About 9.1.0.1014, here, for example.

[Pontius]

well i adjusted the memory timings, and set the voltages like you outlined. turned off eist and watchdog. it did appear that the multiplier was indeed locked at the lowers. i went to open outlook and the computer shut off. i increased the fsb voltage a little bit to see if that helps.. watching it boot right now.

also i stepped up the voltage on the memory to 1.9 i think, thats what ocz says the 2gb sticks should be at anyway. apparently there is a slight difference in the timing of those, the 4th timing on the 1gb sticks sould be 20 and it should be 24 on the 2gb. i've never had any issues with it.

hrm im just kinda trying messing with some of the voltages that you had suggested to alter. no real progress. Its interesting that it will make it all the way to windows, but will crash when I try to load a large application. that makes me think it's memory but i have no idea.

EDIT: Alright. well i pulled out the two 1 gig sticks. booted. things went smoothly, i was able to open outlook and even fallout 3. i went to run just a brief pass of the intel burnin utility and my computer just turned off (although I think thats what my computer does when it blue screens). so i adjusted the speed of the memory back to 1333/333 and it seems to be running just find now, the burnin test is running right now.

[Sean-E-Boy]

and this is all at 333 host clock with lowest multi?

[Pontius]

yeah i was very confused about it, because technically it was an underclock. perhaps those memory don't like at running at a slower speed though?

but after I put the memory back on 400/1333 it worked just fine. had no problem running stress tests after that. i left the timings at 9-9-9-28 2t and was able to easily bring it up to 400mhz on the lowest multiplier(6).
here's the voltages I was using, some of them may be a bit high cause i was kinda just guessing
cpu volt 1.3375
fsb v 1.375
MCH 1.35

i even put the other 2 sticks in there, brought the multi up to 7 giving me a 20% oc, at 2.8 ghz. stress tests pass. currently im trying to tighten up the timings on the memory and bring that up to the 1600 fsb speed but im running into the issue where windows says file not found, so im gonna re-read what you guys were talking about a few posts back.

EDIT: sorry I'm probably being confusing. yes originally i couldnt open outlook at lowest muliplier at 333. I've gotten past that though thank you SO much for your continued help.