** OFFICIAL ** Intel DX38BT & DX48BT2 BoneTrail Thread

[Manel]

BIOS 0779 for the DX58SO2/OG.
Audio driver update also.
Lucid Virtu 1.1.101 for the DZ68DB. Cool!

[Manel]

dukz, haven't tried, have you?
What is it for exactly? Couldn't figure out if it's just to add console support. UEFI boot is already there.
I'm still not quite sure if our boards have full UEFI or regular BIOS. Guess the latter but Intel has been using UEFI in some boards for a while, although still calling it BIOS.
If there was a full UEFI implementation for my board I would go for it, like there is now for the DP67BG. Still looks the same but I'd get rid of the old BIOS in a flash (literally :-)).

[Manel]

Is it just me or is anyone else experiencing long startup times in Windows after installation of nVidia GeForce v266.58 WHQL drivers? It started out to set the wrong resolution (not native) for my monitor and set their own display scaling as default. But now it takes forever to get to the desktop, lots of disk activity. Well, release 270 should be out soon, maybe it's fixed, this one is 3 months old already.

[Manel]

What would you know, IE9 was just out the door and MS just announced IE10 Platform Preview 1. That was quick MS! Get it at www.ietestdrive.com if you fancy.

[Manel]

Confirmation that Ivy Bridge is compatible with Cougar Point as well as Panther Point 7 series chipset to be released. No PCIe 3.0 expected for the 7 series chipsets, only CPUs. USB 3.0 support is included though, only some ports probably as for the SATA 6G. New FDI interface for 3 simultaneous displays, HDMI 1.4. QuickSync will also be updated, maybe Virtu will no be necessary anymore. Finally DX11 for the integrated graphs. Intel RST 11 and enhanced AVX as well.

[Manel]

DX58SO2 review @ XBit Labs:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...l-dx58so2.html

[Manel]

It seems Intel hasn't forgotten users of "older" boards after all. BIOS update for DX58SO. Minor fixes in 5559.

[Manel]

nVidia 270.61 WHQL drivers out, for those who care. Incredible performace boosts for 500 series cards in some games, take with a grain of salt as usual, I guess their setupsare quite different from everyone else's.
nVidia update included, about time. Also, 3D Vision controller driver is now installed with the driver. PhysX hasn't seen an update in ages, I guess it might be coming to a end.

[Manel]

Intel released LAN drivers v16.2, as usual they're only supporting 5- and 6-series chipsets. I guess it should work with all other boards. Anyone tried it?
Has anyone tried the RAID drivers v10 with our boards? We have only BIOS option ROM v8.9 in our boards if I'm not mistaken. Would v10 work as well, even without BIOS support? Any benefits in doing that?

[Manel]

What ever hapenned to Intel eXtreme Tunning Utility (XTU)? Is it dead already? It's barely out. Maybe it's finished and needs no improvements.
Anyone tried it with the BoneTrails?

[Manel]

Xfastest (how come the chinese dudes always get the leaks first?!) has posted (leaked) news on Sandy Bridge-E upcoming procs.
It seems it will debut (in Q4'11) in at least 2 variants, a 6 core Extreme Edition fully unlocked @3.3G with 15M (yes, read it well) cache as well as a 3.2G with 12M cache. Theother model will be a 4 core @3.6G with 10M cache and limited unlocked (whatever that means).
Intel will be again setting confusion free it seems! Oh well.

[Manel]

Intel's been busy: BIOS 1979 for the DP67BG and BIOS 0014 for the DZ68DB. The later includes RAID option ROM v10.5 already. A beta version of the drivers is available.

[Manel]

Renesas drivers v2.0.34.1 and INF v9.2.0.1030 update.
Intel SATA status utility v1.0.0.0.

[Manel]

Intel's scientists invented (back in 2002 but know it comes to light) the 3D transistor (Tri-Gate) and will be using it in Ivy Bridge next year. It seems with this Moore's Law is again on track. Mark Bohr's video is quite funny actually.
They have already demo'd Ivy Bridge working prototypes.

[Manel]

Intel RST 10.5.0.1026 for DZ68DB out with Smart Response Technology (SSD Caching). Latest BIOS required.
I wonder why they still provide the F6 Floppy drivers, does anyone still use those? Intel boards don't even support those for ages now. I know, it's just what they used to be called but the still do, and there are USB ones, yes. Still, I was under the impression that from Vista on those are not needed anymore.

[Manel]

There's someone selling a socket 2011 Sandy Bridge-E processor already on eBay for $1359,99, Core i7 8core/16 thread ES Q19D.
Cool, if you have the money to throw away. For now, that is. It's supposed to be 66% faster than 2600K.
It seems Sandy Bridge-E plus X79 Express chipset foms he Waimea Bay Platform. Just love the names.
This could be a Xeon processor or soething new, since till now only 2 6-core and 1 4-core CPUs were known. Or maybe a hoax!!
Compatible with chipsets Patsurg C600 (enterprise) or HEDT X79 (desktop).
Can't wait for Computex.
There are some screenshots of CPU-Z showing it as Xeon, but @ 1.6GHz only. A1 stepping, early sample.
4 channel, 40 lane PCIe, 3.9G Turbo Boost.
Specs:

INTEL SPECIFICATIONS



QDF # Q19D
Brand String Genuine IntelR CPU
Code Name Sandy Bridge-EP
Max Core Frequency 1.6 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency N/A
Max IntelR QuickPath Interconnect Speed 6.4 GT/s
PCI Express* link 5.0 GT/s
TDP 130 W
Core Max Ratio Unlocked

Core Min Ratio Unlocked

External Clock Frequency (BLK) 100 MHz
Stepping A-1
Extended CPUID 0x206d1
Number of Processor Cores 8 / 16 Threads
Shared Cache 20 MB
Memory Controller Frequency 1066 MHz
Processor Input Voltage (VID) range 0.915 – 1.24 V
Processor VSA Voltage range 0.875 – 1.065 V
C1E Enabled Yes
C3 Enabled Yes
C6 Enabled Yes
IntelR Intelligent Power Technology Enabled Yes
IntelR Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) No
Enhanced Intel SpeedStepR Technology (EIST) Enabled Yes
IntelR Turbo Boost Technology Enabled No
IntelR 64 Architecture Enabled Yes
IntelR Virtualization Technology (VT) Enabled Yes
IntelR Hyper-Threading Technology (HT) Enabled Yes
XDP Capable Yes
Package / Socket FCLGA10 / LGA 2011-

Other chipsets around the corner are Z77, Z75 and H77 for consumer boards. It seems Intel is going for Z naming scheme now. For businss Q77, Q75 an B75 with new techs.

More info:


Sandy Bridge-E CPU Feature Overview

•Up to 6 cores and 12 threads
•32-KB instruction and 32-KB data L1 cache per core
•256-KB shared instruction/data L2 cache per core
•Up to 15 MB L3 cache (up to 2.5 MB per core) shared among all cores
•Up to 40 PCIe Gen 3 Lanes (2x16 & 1x8)
•4 lanes of DMI2/PCI Express 2.0 interface
•4 Channels DDR3-1600 (1 DIMM per Channel)
•Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 (thermal control is the only limiter)
•130W TDP
•LGA2011 Socket
Sandy Bridge-E comes in 3 SKUs :
•Sandy Bridge Extreme Edition : 6 cores / 12 threads, 3.3GHz clock, 15MB L3 cache (2.5MB per core), Max. OC
•Sandy Bridge E : 6 cores / 12 threads, 3.2GHz clock, 12MB L3 cache (2MB per core), Max. OC
•Sandy Bridge E : 4 cores / 8 threads, 3.6GHz clock, 10MB L3 cache (2.5MB per core), Limited OC
Intel X79 Express Chipset (Patsburg-HEDT) Overview

•10 SATA 6Gbps ports with SAS capability
•4 SATA 3Gps ports
•PCIe 3.0 x4 uplink for dedicated storage bandwidth
•8 PCIe 2.0 lanes
•14 USB 2.0 ports
•Integrated Gigabit Ethernet MAC (Lewisville PHY)
•Intel Rapid Storage Technology enterprise 3.0
◦SAS RAID support (0/1/10)
◦SAS Expander support
◦SATA RAID support (0/1/10/5)
◦Write Journaling
◦Open Source Linux support
•100MHz BCLK
•Supports processor, memory and chipset overclocking
•Supports Intel Extreme Tuning Utility 3.0 (XTU)
•8-layer PCB, 2oz copper recommended

Intel is working on PTB (Post- Thunder Bolt) tech, which will eplace USB, DP, HDMI, TB and other intefaces and will support DP and PCIe protocols. 50Gbps for 100m. Available in 2015.

[Guma]

Hello guys,
it looks like that we have new drivers... again no warranty that it will work, but I think so ;-)

RAID Intel RST 10.5.0.1026
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...eng&iid=dc_rss

INF chipset 9.2.0.1030
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...19642&lang=eng

LAN Intel® PRO driver 16.2
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...20009&lang=eng

[Manel]

Hey Guma. Those aren't exactly new, they've been out for a few days already. :-)
Haven't tried them yet, since they're not "compatible" with my board, at least Intel doesn't think they should update the support page for older boards.
Today it's supposed to be the Z68 launch day, haven't looked around for it yet though. Not new anyway.

[Guma]

Well I have installed them and it works. See screen. RAID BIOS version 8.9.1023
- LAN and INF also installed file

[Manel]

Cool Guma, guess I'll try it out also.
Something odd with IDCC v5.5.1.84 for DX58SO, dated 5/6/2011 but once you click the link the release date is 09/03/2010. Well Intel, which one is it? Guess the latest since it requires BIOS 5559. Thought they forgot about IDCC!!
Guess XTU is also in a limbo. Too bad, it looked great, too bad.
I believe there was a newer version of Intel RST but it's not available yet fr downloading.
Still, they're already talking about v11 of RST, for Ivy Bridge.

[Patyabc]

Friends :

This is working,too.

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/1893...3.1.4.031a.ZIP

Have a nice day, friends.

[Manel]

DZ68DB on Intel page already, belongs to the Media Series.

Paty, just dl'ed it. IDU is a bit Meh... Still, it comes with the infamous SMBus driver v2.0.
I much prefer IDCC and even better XTU, if they only made it available for our boards. I guess it might work but has anyone tried it already?

[Patyabc]

This is the DL Link for xtu.

I 'll try ASAP this for research reasons only.

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/19683/eng/XTU_2.1.zip

[HighTest]

Wow! It's great to see how many DX38 and DX48 enthusiasts still remain. I've been very pleased with how long my DX48 and Q6600 purchase has lasted for me.

Looks like another generation that I can wait on as Windows 7 still is performing great still.

[Manel]

Paty, I had already di'ed it, only hadn't tried to install yet.
HT, long time no see. Windows 8 will be out next year, maybe then a new rig can be justified. Still, I expect Win 8 to be even leaner than 7.
I was kinda hoping for X79 but as far as I can tell, maybe this is not it yet. I find it too much of a patchwork. Maybe when it's out I have a different opinion.