The Gigabyte board is instock at MWave for $269.99. The Asus Maximus is also instock for $259.99. Now I'm torn on which one to get. Decisions decisions
Originally posted by: TheBeagle
Hello Mr. Sal.
I use Crucial Ballistix memory and have had good luck with it. Currently, you can buy 2GB (1GBx2) of Crucial 1066 DDR2 Ballistix (Part #BL2KIT12864AA1065) for an amazing price of $119.75 (plus a $15 MIR to boot- MIR expires tomorrow) here: MWave.com; or 2GB (1GBx2) of Crucial 1066 DDR2 Ballistix Tracer (Part #BL2KIT12864AL1065) for $126.25 (MIR expired) also here: MWave.com.
The good part about Crucial stuff is the no-hassle lifetime warranty. Although you can certainly buy faster DDR2 memory, the point of diminishing returns quickly approaches once you push it much above 1125FSB. The cost-benefit ratio gets really out of sight once you try to go much higher than that, especially considering the instability issues.
Best of luck with your memory purchase. TheBeagle :beer:
Originally posted by: TheBeagle
Good Early Morning Everyone.
The quest for stable memory settings continues with the X38 board. I suspect something is not yet quite right with the latest two version of the BIOS (F5g & F5h). The Q6600 will OC to 3.25 GHz quite easily, but as soon as you put it under stress, the memory craps out (BSOD) until you substantially lower the ratios. The "A" and "C" ratios seem to be problematic. I believe that Mr. Gary has also encountered this issue.
So for right now, I'd say the BIOS is not mature enough to provide a good OC with a Q6600 which is STABLE. I'm using Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 PC8500 (1066) memory sticks that have never been a problem before. Maybe there's some incompatibility between the Crucial sticks and the X38, but that remains to be seen.
ATI TV Tuner Side Note - I obtained one of the new ATI TV Tuner cards (Theater 650 Pro Chipset - PCIe - Dual Tuners) and it works quite well in Vista 64 Ultimate in the X38 board. However, the ATI Catalyst Media Center software does NOT work - yet. ATI says that a newer version of Catalyst Media Center is in the works that will support Vista, but is not due for release until the end of 2007 or early 2008. Until then, you have to be "satisfied" with the functionality of the new card in Windows Media Center.
On The Audio Card Issue - I Have An Update! I have just obtained one of the new Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCIe sound cards. That's NOT a typo, it is actually a PCIe 1x card. The Retail Part Number is: SB1040EF (UPC Code # 054651146143) and the OEM Part Number is: SB0820VP (UPC Code # 054651146006). I was AMAZED at how well this PCIe version of the X-Fi card worked in the X38 board, and the software driver loaded and synced just great. The Creative Labs software even has an automatic update feature that went out to their web site and downloaded newer updated drivers and audio program patches, installed them, and it all worked just fine.
I certainly am attributing this successful encounter with this Sound Blaster card to its PCIe configuration. It wasn't very long ago, that Creative Labs was reported as having discounted the use of the PCIe bus as a suitable connection method to a PC motherboard. Now they actually have QUIETLY produced one.
However, notwithstanding the fact that I actually have this card physically in front of me (I bought 2 of them), and have entered that part number imprinted on the card directly into the Creative Labs web site search engine, I get no acknowledgment whatsoever that the damn thing even exists - VERY STRANGE INDEED! It almost seems that Creative Labs is denying they even manufacture these types of cards. I'll keep you posted on my experiences with this new Sound Blaster card, but for right now, it's a WINNER!
Best regards to everyone. TheBeagle :beer:
Originally posted by: JASTECH
A2 is what Sandra shows. Question: The memory should be in same colored slots for my dual channel to work correct? My MB book says same color slots but Sandra indicates they are in 0/1 and 4/5? Maybe thats why system is slow?
I did have it non-Dual channel, lol. Now it is correct but still too slow I think. Maybe a new stable BIOS would help?
Originally posted by: TheBeagle
On The Audio Card Issue - I Have An Update! I have just obtained one of the new Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCIe sound cards. That's NOT a typo, it is actually a PCIe 1x card. The Retail Part Number is: SB1040EF (UPC Code # 054651146143) and the OEM Part Number is: SB0820VP (UPC Code # 054651146006). I was AMAZED at how well this PCIe version of the X-Fi card worked in the X38 board, and the software driver loaded and synced just great. The Creative Labs software even has an automatic update feature that went out to their web site and downloaded newer updated drivers and audio program patches, installed them, and it all worked just fine.
I certainly am attributing this successful encounter with this Sound Blaster card to its PCIe configuration. It wasn't very long ago, that Creative Labs was reported as having discounted the use of the PCIe bus as a suitable connection method to a PC motherboard. Now they actually have QUIETLY produced one.
However, notwithstanding the fact that I actually have this card physically in front of me (I bought 2 of them), and have entered that part number imprinted on the card directly into the Creative Labs web site search engine, I get no acknowledgment whatsoever that the damn thing even exists - VERY STRANGE INDEED! It almost seems that Creative Labs is denying they even manufacture these types of cards. I'll keep you posted on my experiences with this new Sound Blaster card, but for right now, it's a WINNER!
Best regards to everyone. TheBeagle :beer:
Originally posted by: JASTECH
OK, now using F5G, cleared CMOS and chose Load Optimized Defaults. Anything else I need to check or change? TIA, JAS
Originally posted by: TheBeagle
Hello to Mr. JimmyG and Colleagues.
YES, the card works like a charm in Vista 64 Ultimate. The OS found the card right away on bootup, and I installed the drivers on the CD with no problem, The Creative Labs update application then went out to the web, found an updated series of files, download them, installed them, and it has worked perfectly since then. The fidelity and power of the card is obviously much better than the onboard resources (no offense meant to the Realtek onboard stuff), and at this point I'm very pleased with the outcome. The damn thing just WORKS! Hope that helps you.
Best regards to everyone. TheBeagle :beer:
Originally posted by: JASTECH
Did a Sandra XII test on the HD.
Warning W3104 - Current transfer mode not optimal, i.e. not highest supported. This affects drive performance. If the controller is also capable of the highest supported transfer mode, there is no reason not to use it.
Fix: First check controller supported transfer modes. Then check the mode the driver for the controller/BIOS is set to use and modify; some default to a lower mode for compatibility. You may need to install newer drivers if the current drivers do not natively support the controller (especially for RAID). You may need to update the controller BIOS or drive firmware, if the mode does not stick. If data corruption occurs verify the cable and consider switching (if any) drives on the same channel onto other channels.
If the built-in controller does not support the mode, consider using the on-board/RAID controller or even disable the built-in controller and install a new controller.
So my guess is the Default Optimized settings in the BIOS didn't set something correct?
Here is the HD test results.
SiSoftware Sandra
Benchmark Results
Drive Index : 73 MB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Random Access Time : 15 ms
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.
Windows Experience Index
Current Drive : 5.9
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Performance Test Status
Run ID : JAS-MAIN on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 6:02:59 PM
Platform Compliance : Win64 x64
System Timer : 14MHz
Use Overlapped I/O : Yes
I/O Queue Depth : 4 request(s)
Block Size : 1MB
Volume Information
Capacity : 233GB
Detailed Benchmark Results
Speed at position 0% : 71 MB/s (78%)
Speed at position 3% : 82 MB/s (90%)
Speed at position 7% : 80 MB/s (89%)
Speed at position 10% : 79 MB/s (87%)
Speed at position 13% : 73 MB/s (81%)
Speed at position 17% : 80 MB/s (89%)
Speed at position 20% : 82 MB/s (90%)
Speed at position 23% : 91 MB/s (100%)
Speed at position 27% : 76 MB/s (84%)
Speed at position 30% : 83 MB/s (91%)
Speed at position 33% : 85 MB/s (94%)
Speed at position 37% : 87 MB/s (96%)
Speed at position 40% : 78 MB/s (86%)
Speed at position 43% : 79 MB/s (87%)
Speed at position 47% : 80 MB/s (88%)
Speed at position 50% : 81 MB/s (89%)
Speed at position 53% : 76 MB/s (83%)
Speed at position 57% : 74 MB/s (81%)
Speed at position 60% : 71 MB/s (78%)
Speed at position 63% : 75 MB/s (83%)
Speed at position 67% : 77 MB/s (85%)
Speed at position 70% : 72 MB/s (80%)
Speed at position 73% : 71 MB/s (79%)
Speed at position 77% : 65 MB/s (72%)
Speed at position 80% : 67 MB/s (73%)
Speed at position 83% : 63 MB/s (69%)
Speed at position 87% : 62 MB/s (68%)
Speed at position 90% : 62 MB/s (68%)
Speed at position 93% : 55 MB/s (60%)
Speed at position 97% : 51 MB/s (56%)
Speed at position 100% : 49 MB/s (54%)
Random Access Time : 15 ms
Full Stroke Access Time : 12 ms
Physical Disk
Model : ST3250410AS
Version : 3.AAC
Serial Number : 2020202020202020202020205236315958465647
Rotational Speed : 5400rpm (estimated)
Removable Drive : No
Queueing On : No
Performance Tips
Notice 5008 : To change benchmarks, click Options.
Notice 5004 : Synthetic benchmark. May not tally with 'real-life' performance.
Notice 5006 : Only compare the results with ones obtained using the same version!
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.