Intel D975XBX "Bad Axe" Mod Thread (including "Conroe" support for rev 303 and lower)

[rodman]

What a mess this thread is, lol. First you can, then you can't, then you can, then you might. Damb, I'm just going to post my questions here at the end.

Exsplain 1333 strap ect? My MSI mobo has no such thing.

You can or can not change multi with mod #3.

Does this mobo offer 4:5 memory

[QUOTE]1304 BIOS, the reason is because of the IDT chip[QUOTE]

What revision? And in plain english what does this mean? You can't overclock past 30% fsb unless you use clock gen? What good is that. My MSI mobo is looking better than I thought.

What mods if any will work with revision 305, has anyone used a 305?

[charleski]

1) does your MB have the IDT clockgen chip (look at the thread from collaler)
2) have you done the OC_DEBUG mod as described in the *big sticky* - If not then stop bugging us and do it.
3) What BIOS version are you using and what other option? (vMCH, Vfsb, vCore?)
4) What are the numbers from the sticker that Fugger described above?

If you don't want to answer these questions then don't expect help.

[rodman]

I won't have the mobo till Tues, just tying to shed some light on those subjects so when i power up I already know what to do. So far I have no clue, some help would be nice.

[Absolute_0]

I'm having a problem, i don't know if this thread is the right place but i certainly don't want to create a new thread over it.

I have my Badaxe setup with a SATA hard drive and windows XP installed on it.

Now, i have 2 data drives that are packed with important files and stuff that i want to get to. One is IDE 200gb and the other is SATA 320gb.

Whenever i plug either of these hard drives in, the computer fails to boot. At the point where it should be loading windows XP, the screen corrupts with multicolored characters and it freezes. I have no idea how to get it to accept the drives and let me get into windows with them.

[Blue078]

I'm having a problem, i don't know if this thread is the right place but i certainly don't want to create a new thread over it.

I have my Badaxe setup with a SATA hard drive and windows XP installed on it.

Now, i have 2 data drives that are packed with important files and stuff that i want to get to. One is IDE 200gb and the other is SATA 320gb.

Whenever i plug either of these hard drives in, the computer fails to boot. At the point where it should be loading windows XP, the screen corrupts with multicolored characters and it freezes. I have no idea how to get it to accept the drives and let me get into windows with them.

Try setting your SATA drive with XP {the one one you installed XP on with the badaxe} to the first drive in the drive order, under Boot Menue in the BIOS. Make sure the two data drive come afterwards

[Absolute_0]

**Solved my hard drive problem, all it took was a lot of tinkering in the BIOS and restarts. I thought i lost the board because once it corrupted so bad with streams of white dots, but alas it works.

[eva2000]

Well i've got a big big problem.

My board has the IDT chip on it, it is different from the old ICS chip.

How i understand it is the PLL is different. So, for me, 1333 strap doesn't work, > 30% OC in the bios doesn't work, and clockgen doesn't work.

So my E6700 is stuck at 30% OC or 3.46 Ghz.

actually that could be limit of your MCH/NB 1333fsb strap + 30% = 433fsb

i have 2x badaxe ICS rev304,

1st board
1067fsb strap = 420-423fsb max
1333fsb strap = 423-429fsb max

2nd board
1067fsb strap = 430-431fsb max
1333fsb strap = 430-432fsb max, 433fsb won't boot (1333 +30%)

then on 2nd board i changed to Radiical chipset waterblock water cooling MCH and 2nd board did 433fsb max on 1067fsb strap and 440-443fsb max on 1333fsb strap.

But then again your IDT based board might have other issues ?

[Absolute_0]

It's not a problem anymore eva, i got a clockgen that works for IDT based that that allows me headroom to 4 Ghz, although i've only taken it to 3.9 Ghz.

I can still only boot at 30% OC tho.

It's not the FSB giving out, 6700 and 10x multi, i'm hardly using much FSB. 1066 strap too, 1333 strap doesn't work.

[Blue078]

Yep, tried that, it still freaks out and freezes before it can boot into windows.

It did this when i first put in my WinXP disk to put windows on. Everytime i did recovery installation, or did "leave file system intact" it would start installing XP, then reboot, and instead of finishing XP, it would freeze over.

I think this motherboard has a problem using hard drives that already have data on them, because it wouldn't begin to boot windows unless i did a format.

Humm I had hoped that was the cure, as it happened to me. How about how you have your SATA ports setup? I left mine at AUTO in the BIOS

[blacksun1942]

Hi there.

I apologize first of all if this has been addressed; I *HAVE* used the search function, but I haven't been able to find a clear answer on this.

I'm using the D975XBX rev 304 with 1334 BIOS; E6400 retail @ stock...

I've searched through all of my BIOS options, and I've found the EIST option and disabled it, but I am unable to find the C1E option that undervolts the CPU.

I'd like to ensure that my CPU is running at stock vcore and stock speed at all times, but I have no option to disable C1E in my BIOS (not that I can find, anyway).

I am aware of the OC-DEBUG mod......is this necessary to have the C1E BIOS option for E6400?...

If not, then where exactly is the C1E option and why am I missing it?

[kenofstephen]

ordered some parts from FCG, 2 weeks already but not yet arrived.....so worry .........

[anthonyl]

Hope someone can help me out here:

I have the Badaxe motherboard (rev 304) with 1334 BIOS and have a few problems.

A/ Machine went fine for a while then all of a sudden it will not "RESTART".... I select restart..the machine shuts down partialy....the monitor goes black....I hear the HDD spinning up and the CD-Rom lights up ..but it will not boot back into Windows. I have to press the ON/OFF button for about 6 seconds to power down the PC and then press the On button to power it back up....then it posts fine and boots into Windows.

B/ Sometimes whilst navigating in the BIOS the BIOS will just freeze up...I am unable to navigate or press any buttons....However when I hit the DEL key it just tries to reboot....SEE PROBLEM A.

Specs are

Badaxe motherboard
E6400
Nvidia 7950GX2
2Gb Corsair 6400 DDR2 Ram
Coolermaster 600Watt Green PSU.

HELP!!!! PLEASE!!!!

[eva2000]

monitor issues = either video card or psu or both could be a the cause

bios freezes = memory timings/vdimm i'd say

You could try my custom 1334 bios i made in 1st post at http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=3004 but use at your own risk (read readme.txt carefully on how to flash it)

[wickedld9]

Hope someone can help me out here:

I have the Badaxe motherboard (rev 304) with 1334 BIOS and have a few problems.

A/ Machine went fine for a while then all of a sudden it will not "RESTART".... I select restart..the machine shuts down partialy....the monitor goes black....I hear the HDD spinning up and the CD-Rom lights up ..but it will not boot back into Windows. I have to press the ON/OFF button for about 6 seconds to power down the PC and then press the On button to power it back up....then it posts fine and boots into Windows.

B/ Sometimes whilst navigating in the BIOS the BIOS will just freeze up...I am unable to navigate or press any buttons....However when I hit the DEL key it just tries to reboot....SEE PROBLEM A.

Specs are

Badaxe motherboard
E6400
Nvidia 7950GX2
2Gb Corsair 6400 DDR2 Ram
Coolermaster 600Watt Green PSU.

HELP!!!! PLEASE!!!!

I'm almost certain the problem is the 7950. I also have one and have been playing with different video cards in my bad axe and have noticed much better stability, much quicker boot times, and no more BIOS locks when using a 7900GTX.
Can't wait for the X1950's to get here..

[anthonyl]

Well last night I managed to quickly reset the BIOS settings back to default and now my problem seems to have gone.

Im almost sure it was the RAM timings / voltage causing the problem.

I have 2 Gb Corsair TwinX2 DDR2 6400 and had ram timings at 5-5-5-15 with 2.1 volts. Funny thing is though I had been running those settings for over a week with no problem and then all of a sudden out of the blue it craps out.

[adamant415]

I was wondering if anyone with the badaxe board is having the same issue as me. I have problems with my board freezing up while in the bios. Most of the time I have to hurry up and make some changes save with F10 then go back into the bios and finish making my changes. For example I usually not have enough time to change all of the cas latencies on the memory without having to save the bios halfway thru and go back and make the rest of the changes after a restart.

Edit....I am currently using bios 1334 but the same problem would occur with bios 1304. I hope my board isn't on its way to the grave yard.

Edit 2.....lol I just read a few posts up about someone having a similiar problem with freezes. I will try to load defaults then go back thru and make my changes again and see if that helps.

Edit 3....Loaded defaults and the problem still occurs. Seems like it takes a little longer to freeze now so I have more time to change settings but it will still freeze on me. Most likely to occur while changing setting in the advanced menu under chipset configuration but will freeze sometimes while making no changes at all and just navigating thru the bios.

[anthonyl]

So I am not going mad alone after all....someone is going mad with me....lol

I keep looking on the Intel site hoping for a BIOS update, but I hope the Nvidia chipset boards arrive sooner so I can swap it out.

[eva2000]

tried my bios yet http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=3004 ?

[uOpt]

I was wondering if anyone with the badaxe board is having the same issue as me. I have problems with my board freezing up while in the bios.

I have that, too. Seems like some kind of issue in the BIOS itself, as the board literally never locked up outside the BIOS and is running 24/7 since I got it.

As you say, if you have big changes you save your work and come back to make the rest.

[anthonyl]

So thats 3 people with BIOS freezing......Class action? lol

[Blue078]

Actually my first badaxe had the BIOS freeze issue, even at all stock settings when in the BIOS I had to make changes fast. But that was the least of it's issues The main reason I exchanged it for another one was every stick of memory I ever placed in the first blue slot ended up dead with in a few hours.

{No it wasn't vdimm voltage modded}

Thanks

[adamant415]

Well luckily the bios freezing up is just an annoyance. The board is stable when it is up and running in windows. I hope it stays that way when I am running 4x1GB of ram. If not then maybe I'll go to the dq6.

blue078 are you saying that your replacement board dosen't freeze up in the bios, dosen't kill ram or both?

[aamsel]

4 people. I just came home with a rev. 305 board, and it has frozen quite a few times in the BIOS, and I haven't done anything to the board yet.

Andrew

So thats 3 people with BIOS freezing......Class action? lol

[kenofstephen]

ordered some parts from FCG, 2 weeks already but not yet arrived.....so worry .........

actually i've pm him manymany times already......what happen?

[jimmyz]

am I cheated for the money? sorry if i were wrong

i'd say if there is anyone on here you can trust it's free cable guy i've been following this forum for a long time he is a trustworthy person. he may just be too busy, on vacation, out of parts or just hasn't got around to it.
maybe you should pm him and ask him. and please tell him thanks from all of us for his help with these conroe boards.