** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[HighTest]

I have a system with 8GB of RAM, and the 1902 BIOS didn't work well for me. Well, I'm happy to report that 1997 works fine.

ChiefTB,

Could you provide more details on your 8GB setup? What manufacturer and speeds are you running this at?

Could you provide your settings in the Memory and Processor overide sections for fellow 8GB enthusiasts?

Thanks!

[ChiefTB]

ChiefTB,

Could you provide more details on your 8GB setup? What manufacturer and speeds are you running this at?

Could you provide your settings in the Memory and Processor overide sections for fellow 8GB enthusiasts?

Thanks!

I'm using OCZ Platinum Series PC3-10666, part OCZ3P13334GK.
The memory settings are 1333MHz, 8-7-7-24-80, 1.82V. All other settings (RAM, CPU, bus) are left at defaults. (Though I turned on EPET under bus, but it's not related.)

[Manel]

Hey HT, long time no see.
Post #2000 mark passed, long thread guys. This board really must be something.
New downloads on Intel, Win 7 betas. Not sure if LAN v14.2 (seems like intel heard me) is beta only for Win 7 or also Vista/XP, it was available before as final but not for 7 if I recall correctly.
Also new INF for 7 and Matrix RAID as well as Marvell RAID. Guess Intel is gearing up for 7 too.

Regarding the BIOS image, IDCC reports the image size and it's below 2MB as it should be.
Anyone tried the 1997 and IDCC v4.2 beta already?

[HighTest]

Hey HT, long time no see.
Post #2000 mark passed, long thread guys. This board really must be something.

Thanks! It's real good to see you here too.


Always providing great information. I think it's not just the board but the fellow ethusiasts contributing to this thread.

[Manel]

Can anyone please confirm if the power issue has been fixed with 1997? This has been on for too long and can't understand for the life of me why Intel can't just fix it once and for all, is it that hard?
If it wasn't for these little issues this would be an (almost) perfect board, right?
I'm curious about what would you guys change about this board if you could. Anyone care to post?
I guess I would loose the Marvell controler and get the TI FireWire in the PCIe bus instead. Add a clear MCH fan as default, low rpm for low noise. Rotate 90 degrees the SATA ports. SLI support. Front panel headers closer to the front since I have issues with case cable length. Extensive use of solid caps and ferrite core chokes. On board reset button as well (I believe the place is there for it). More options in BIOS and with better granularity.
Most of all, instead of good old BIOS, UEFI was in order, specially coming from Intel.
Do you think it's asking too much?

How does this board fare with Win 7? Have you guys running the RC had any issues so far? It seems it's snappier than Vista. Does it get along with the BoneTrail? Something I've been wondering about 7 and the new taskbar: is it possible to go back to a Vista like taskbar, instead of the new close-to-OSX taskbar? Anyone tried it yet? I hate the new bar, where it's not easy to see if it's a running app or a shortcut. Can anyone confirm?
Are the new Intel drivers (beta) working properly in 7?

[Sean-E-Boy]

Manel,

I have a feeling that the power issue is a hardware one and not BIOS related...dont really have any proof other than the fact that they cannot seem to fix it with BIOS updates. with 1997 if the power is cut to the PSU and you then power it back up the board still doesnt want to boot on first system power up and have to power cycle to boot.

W7 works well (i think that the beta was a better build than the RC), it is faster than Vista in many ways. and you can get close to the vista taskbar, but not exactly. the issue with not being able to tell if it is a shortcut or a running app is a configuration option where you can either have the taskbar simply highlight the shortcut to indicate that there is a window in that category open, or you can set it up to show individual tabs (similar to previous versions of windows) when there is a window open in that category. either way it works ok, but takes one more click to open a new IE window, for example...if you already have one open, need to right-click icon in taskbar and then left click "internet explorer" in the context menu to open a second window...or just Ctrl+N with the focus on an IE window, and a second will appear as usual.

as far as the drivers go, I cannot really say. I installed vista-64 drivers prior to the W7-alpha and beta ones being made available, and since the vista ones are higher in version # the system doesnt want to install the alpha and beta ones automatically. the vista drivers seem to work without issue under W7, though.

as far as the OS in general, workability and window management in W7 is far better than any other windows version, in my opinion, especially if you need 2 windows open at once. for example, you can drag any window by the title bar to the right or left edge of the screen and it will automatically resize to fill top to bottom on that half of the screen. drag the bottom of the window to the taskbar and it will fill current width from top to bottom, drag titile bar to top of screen and windows goes full screen. while in any of these autosized windows you drag the title bar away from its location and it goes back to the previous size. just wish they had it so you could drag the window to the corner of the screen and have it fill only that 1/4 of the screen...maybe later.

as far as the board, needs more internal SATA ports. also they need to have a few extra options in BIOS. something that would be really helpful would be the ability to:
1) save at least 2 different BIOS environments that can be easily selected and applied without having to manually set each individual settings every time (for example, if you want to have board OC'd for maximum CPU and maximum RAM performance for gaming, have one setting, and have another save slot so when you want to transcode video and need the ram configured in a different way to maximize large data throughput...which may require different host clockXmulti to achieve.)
2) add the ability to turn on or off RAM slots from the BIOS. this way you can have 8g of RAM in the system, but under your max OC'd environment for gaming where you want the RAM to operate at 1800+ Mhz you can turn off 2 of the dimms so that the MCH can handle it, but in environment 2 where you want max memory for video transcoding, etc, you can turn on the other 2 dimms and set the memory slower so the MCH can handle that.

I would put 8g of RAM in this board if these were possible, but since it isnt, not going to screw with opening the case and adding or removing RAM (especially with water cooling...not easy) and then having to write down settings someplace so i can reconfigure system in BIOS to be stable.

for me, it would be great if there were 3 slots to save settings so i could have max performance for gaming, max memory configuration for dealing with video, and then 1 more to set at like stock or underclocked even for when i am doing nothing intensive, such as web browsing or file sharing or using MS Office. if tomorrow they came out with this board and these options, or some other LGA 775 board with these options, I would buy it instantly.

I guess my point is that it isnt just about overclockability and this or that minor memory tweak being left out, but the overall easy of use of the board in drastically different scenarios...b/c not all of us just sit around playing computer games 24/7, and since summer has hit, would like to be able to just select my setting 3 in the BIOS so my computer room isnt 7 degrees warmer than others when all i am doing is drafting a post on XS!

sean

[Pontius]

i haven't had any issues with Windows 7 other than IDCC won't run. ANd you can right click the task bar and change the grouping options and also tell it to show all the icons. My taskbar looks pretty much like what you would see in vista or xp

[Manel]

Thanx Sean, you've got a point there. The settings slots would be really handy I guess. I had the same thought of being a hw issue, the power thing. It's strange they just couldn't fix it yet.
A couple more mem settings would come in handy, and voltage finer granularity. Guess it might be the voltage regulator unavailable to provide finer tunning.
8GB would be sweet, seems 1997 handles it better. Not sure I would spend the money though.
Thanks for the tips on Win7. Guess gotta give it a try.
Pontius, any screenshots so I can see how it looks?

[Pontius]

Yeah Here's a SS of my desktop. you can see on the bottom its pretty similar to vista, and also the square is the see through function, so you dont have to constantly be minimizing and opening windows if you just need to check on the progress of soemthing. It's been by far my favorite windows yet. Its way faster as well.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3343/...3971e130_b.jpg

oh and also i put pictures of this build on flickr but i forgot to show all of you guys, I got some good shots of the waterblocks installed too. It was on my phone so some of them are a bit blurry.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3832945...7618067922434/

[Sean-E-Boy]

that MCH water block looks a hell of a lot nicer than the rigged setup i used, but oh well, works fine

[Pontius]

yeah it worked out well, the way that backplate is supposed to go on didn't exactly work in my case (stood off the board to much) so I showed that picture of how i did it, not the best but it works.

[dukzcry]

Sean-E-Boy:

as far as the board, needs more internal SATA ports

But i don't need a lot of them :-)
I'm using cheapest middle level controller that you ever could fine (Dell PERC 5). Those are actually rebranded LSI and similar to LSI 8408E and 8480E. You'll get best HW solution for home. /This is not cheap LSI Fusion-MPT, but real LSI MegaRAID SAS. With rechangeable RAM and cache battery. Not such crap as Promise or ST-Lab which are software RAIDs, and not like Adaptec, which may be or actually soft-raid or with closed documentation, and finally not as 3ware which are expensive but with closed documentation again. If you really need good hardware RAID, only LSI (not all of corse, and their rebrands from Intel and Dell) and Areca are good enough./
I'm using one for hardware mirroring. They are supported well by most of modern *nix systems too.

But I DON'T RECOMMEND it to anyone for this reason:
PERC 5 described as using PCI-E 8x, while actually doesn't need more than 4x slot, as this board is actually using two PCI-E to PCI-X bridges each for handling four devices. So this board capable of handling eight SAS or SATA devices. But you'll get memory conflict for second PCI-E to PCI-X bridge, so on the Intel DX48BT2 board YOU'll NOT GET second port working, so you will be able to connect only four devices, this may be problem, but for me this is more than enough, so it's ok.

But it's rather better try to buy Dell PERC 6 for low price, as these are real native PCI-E controllers, but you'll be need provide 8x slot (so you'll loose your 16x on DX48BT/BT2). With this you'll able to handle eight devices with high perfomance.

Manel:

SLI support.

You'll better bid on Skulltrail board on EBay. It's actually a MP board, but just few needs more than four cores nowdays, you'll can be able to put two Core 2 Duo's or trying using it with single Core 2 ... .
This only one from Intel that will provide you with Quad SLI :-) It's had onboard issues codes LED indicator and all bells and whistles.
Or dealing with X85...

[dukzcry]

Forget to ask.
Does anybody found connector for external PC speaker on this board?

[Manel]

Pontius, thanks for the ss. Cool wallpaper, AK-47? You're right, it's so damn close to Vista you can hardly tell the difference. Only by the small square on the lower right corner. I thought the quick launch toolbar was gone, all shortcuts were on the taskbar, as well as running apps icons. Also, the status icons near the clock I thought most of them were also gone, at least by default. Maybe you can put them back there.
My issue with 7, at least from ss, was the new taskbar, too thick in my opinion, and the mixed quick launch and running apps squares on it, ugly!!!! Good to know it can be customized to near Vista.
Great waterblocks there. Looks good in the transparent case too.

dukz, SkullTrail is not for me. It's kinda cool but too bulky, MP not needed. Mem used is also not my game, too restrictive. For me this was just Intel showing off. SLI on it also doesn't suit me. I'm not paying nVidia for those PCIe bridges, not a single cent, since those are not actually needed anyway. I used to be nVidia fan (not fanboy by the way) but this SLI issue was what actually made me look the other way. Still use their hardware but only because I don't much care for ATI/AMD. When Intel has Larrabee by early 2010, it's switch time if it delivers. I'll never forgive nVidia for their act with the SLI issue, when everyone knows it's just a software issue actually. It could be available for our boards if nVidia would just release it to all. It's their loss I guess. I'd probably go for the SmackOver instead, if I wanted a new rig. But I love this one.
I don't think there is an external PC speaker header on this mobo. At least the manual doesn't mention.

[Manel]

New Intel Integrator Toolkit Framework and Intel Board ID Tool.

[Manel]

Rumour has it that Intel is preping SkullTrail 2, dual octa-core Nehalem-EX (total 16 cores, 32 threads, yaichs), 4 channel DDR3-1333 or -1600 per CPU, 4 PCIe slots for Quad-SLI or 4 way CF.
Intel is showing their claws...

[Patyabc]

Dear Friends:

I hope you could give me some info to get 3.6 in My MB, cause I was trying a lot of methods without success.

I thank you very much your assistance.

CPU Q9650 stepping E0
MB DX48BT2 205
Mushkin 4 Gb's XMP 1600
SapphireRadeon 4870 512
CPU Cooler Zalman 12"Fan
Thermaltake 1000
PSU Be-Quiet 650 W

[s0lid]

Manel:

You'll better bid on Skulltrail board on EBay. It's actually a MP board, but just few needs more than four cores nowdays, you'll can be able to put two Core 2 Duo's or trying using it with single Core 2 ... .
This only one from Intel that will provide you with Quad SLI :-) It's had onboard issues codes LED indicator and all bells and whistles.
Or dealing with X85...

Sigh, skulltrail uses LGA771 chips, there's no way you could install lga775 chip there!
Only lga771 E5xxx or QX9755s will fit into that board.

[Sean-E-Boy]

Dear Friends:

I hope you could give me some info to get 3.6 in My MB, cause I was trying a lot of methods without success.

I thank you very much your assistance.

Paty,

From the provided details you listed you are going to have issues. With 650W I would be somewhat surprised if you could overclock (OC) to 3.2 (host clock 360 x multi of 9), it really just isnt enough juice to get a good stable OC. I would suggest at the very minimum a 750W PSU...800 or 850 ideal.

aside from the power supply issue, you should have no problem getting to 3.6 or 4ghz even. on the other hand, this board isnt like a supercharged corvette, where you just pick a gear and slam on the gas, many of the settings in the BIOS will have to be changed from default and the various components (RAM, MCH {the x48 chip}, FSB, and the CPU) will have to be overclocked and tested individually to determine where OC weak points are with your particular rig in order to be stable at 3.6 or higher.

It is completely possible, but will take some time.

sean

[dukzcry]

Manel:

Rumour has it that Intel is preping SkullTrail 2, dual octa-core Nehalem-EX (total 16 cores, 32 threads, yaichs), 4 channel DDR3-1333 or -1600 per CPU, 4 PCIe slots for Quad-SLI or 4 way CF.
Intel is showing their claws...

Wow! This one should beat SPARC workstation

s0lid:

Sigh, skulltrail uses LGA771 chips, there's no way you could install lga775 chip there!
Only lga771 E5xxx or QX9755s will fit into that board.

My fault.

[mpeg3s]

Hi guys, I just noticed.

Does anyone with DX38BT and Vista x64 have an IRQ problem with internal Intel Gigabit 82666DC-2 Network?

Mine reports -2 which means it's not functioning properly.

[Manel]

Intel INF update 9.1.1.1014 up on Intel...
Same version still beta for 7

[Pontius]

alright well I got some time this weekend to try some oc,

I got it to 420 clock and it seems solid. I can't get it to 430 though. at 420 I have

400/800 memory 9-9-9-28 2t
vcore is 1.2125
fsb 1.350
mch 1.25
multi 6

when I brought it to 430 i got kept moving up until i had
the fsb at 1.375 and mch at 1.350 and still nothing. I moved up the vcore and that didnt help. I noticed that the jump from default vcore (1.21250) to the next is kinda a big jump, the next one i have is like 1.28 or something. Ill have to check but any ideas? If i can't go any higher im fine with that just not sure what to do next. I re read your posts sean, what exactly do I do with the GTL ref?

[Sean-E-Boy]

So, when you raise the host clock to 430x6, what happens? do you get a blue screen, or nothing at all, does it freeze and restart or blue screen during OS loading, do you get to the desktop? these different types of failures usually mean different things.

If you want to see how high you can take it, just crank the vFSB and the vMCH all the way up...you will be fine since you are on water, and it will only be for a short time anyway (although i run my q9550 with vMCH and vFSB at the maximum...6+ months now, no problems.) Also, cranking them both up to 1.4 for example can help to rule out if one of those voltages is the issue, or if it is the vCore that is stopping you (and it very well may be)

and if vCore is the issue and seeing that you still at default vCore, we can play with GTLs, but only if you intend on leaving your vFSB @ 1.35...if you raise or lower it after messing with GTLs, it may add some additional problems that would then require you to go backwards some to figure it out.

so i guess the question is: are you more concerned with reaching a particular CPU frequency or DDR3-speed, or are you more concerned with keeping voltages low and seeing how far it will go?

[Pontius]

when I try to go to 430 everything works fine, no blue screens or errors or anything. When I run the intel burnin test that you gave me it fails.

To be honest, this machine is running almost all the time, although I am currently setting up a media server so Ill be able to turn this off a bit more. But still having really high voltages makes me think it would lower the life of the board?
This is my gaming rig, and it seems to me that having a more responsive FSB and memory would be more advantageous than a super high overclock? what is your opinion sean? thanks again.