Intel D975XBX (Bad Axe)

[Sandog]

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Here is the link for the D975XBX2

Intel® Desktop Board D975XBX2 - Intel® Desktop Board D975XBX2 support

[Kibosh]

Hi All,

I am having a bit of a problem and would appreciate some opinions. Here is the low-down . . . I have had this board (975xbx) for about 1 1/2 years now. I had my 2 WD drives configured as RAID0 and working fine for about 9 months. I decided to upgrade to Vista and had that working for a couple of months and then the problems began. I began losing one of my drives in the RAID. It would just up and dissappear and then after about a minute I'd get a BSOD. This went on for about a month, I tried various things and even went back to XP thinking it was something with Vista. I eventually re-installed Vista and configured the drives as IDE. This seemed to work but then the OS started complaining about bad blocks on the drives. I finally brought the PC back to where I bought it to get the drives replaced under warranty.

They replaced one drive and thinking everything was good to go, I re-installed Vista with RAID. Same crap started happening . . . I checked the drive and boom bad sectors again!! I decided to RMA both drives to WD direct and re-install Vista with IDE. I got one drive earlier and everything seems OK. I got the second drive yesterday installed and now I cannot copy between the drives. It starts and then eventually hangs Vista up. In the event log it shows that the drive is now corrupt and to run chkdsk. WTH?!?!?

I noticed that if I use port 0 and 1 the PC boots, but if I use say ports 1 and 3 it won't even POST?!?!

I am stumped! I am guessing the MB is pooched somehow. I can bring it back under warranty to get the MB replaced . . . but I am just wondering if anyone can provide any opinions.

Thanks in advance,

Kibosh

[Sandog]

Sounds like a bad drive problem originally. SMART drive doesn't work in RAID I believe. Anyway, I think you had a bad drive, then it sounds like mixing OS's on RAID. I believe you have to load Windows from scratch on clean drives for RAID. Also make sure the drives are identical part no.s, have the same amount of cache, etc. Good luck.

[Sandog]

Well I always expect something from this X6800 once in a while and yesterday I played around with BIOS and OC'd it. I've been conservative and haven't even bothered with Vcore before but that is what is takes to get a bit above 300MHz FSB. Also knew having for sticks of RAM is a hindrance, ditched two sticks and I am stably OC'd. I wonder how 2x2GB sticks effect stability also. I can hit 10x333, 11x291, or even 11x315 with a little more voltage. Built a cable to reach to the rear outside of my case that extends the 3pin BIOS jumper. This helps significantly with trying my luck. I did this years ago with a switch but the switch was not very sturdy and I ditched it.

[crabber]

I set up a RAID 5 with 3 WD drives. there was a bug in WD firmware, I lost all 3 drives, I was able to upgrade the firmware and then set the array back up. but I had to restore the data from backup. This happened with drives purchased one year ago.

Originally Posted by Sandog

Sounds like a bad drive problem originally. SMART drive doesn't work in RAID I believe. Anyway, I think you had a bad drive, then it sounds like mixing OS's on RAID. I believe you have to load Windows from scratch on clean drives for RAID. Also make sure the drives are identical part no.s, have the same amount of cache, etc. Good luck.

[HermitTongue]

Originally Posted by Sandog

Also knew having for sticks of RAM is a hindrance, ditched two sticks and I am stably OC'd.

Still on D875PBZ here and just about to upgrade to D975XBX2.

I was thinking of putting in 4 x 2GB of ECC Kingston when I get
my mobo - does the BadAxe 2 also have problems with all four
memory sockets filled or is it just the BadAxe 1?

[ATINUT]

I've got all four DIMM sockets filled on my 975XBX2, and no problems at all.

[ATINUT]

I'll be dropping a Radeon 3870X2 videocard in to my computer tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how it performs, on my 975XBX2 board. I dumped Nvidia, after I started getting BSOD's from Nvidia's drivers.

[HermitTongue]

Originally Posted by ATINUT

I've got all four DIMM sockets filled on my 975XBX2, and no problems at all.

That's a relief. Thanks.

[Sandog]

Good luck ATInut on the X2, that is an awesome card.

[Sandog]

On OCing with the D975XBX2 I have stated I had reached a stable OC but alas it is not true for about the second or third time now. I always end up hitting the 'won't boot' scenario after awhile which dissapoints me from having the X6800 and the BA2. My OC experience is better with 2 sticks of memory vs. four which is not to say 4 sticks do not work with this board. Four sticks work fine at default CPU frequency settings and SPD memory settings but that is not where I should be forced to stay at with this system.

[ATINUT]

Ended up going back to WindowsXP on my BA2. Frickin 64bit Zune software wouldn't install on Vista 64.

Gonna be a little while, before I can get some gaming done.

[ATINUT]

I did some gaming in Quake 4, Call Of Duty 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, and so on, and I can tell you this, my Radeon 3870X2 runs circles around the two 640MB 8800GTS cards that I had before, like a rabbit that's been shot at and missed too many times.

Gameplay is much smoother on the 3870X2, and it performs better with my 975XBX2. I'm glad I bailed out on Nvidia.

[Sandog]

Nice, I would like to try ATI again soon.

[tiberius69]

Originally Posted by tiberius69

Solved!

I'm using a 2 Gig OCZ memory kit OCZ2N1066SR2GK. I recall when I purchased it that it was spec'ed to run at 2.1v. I've been getting away with running it on "auto" for just short of a year. I did get occasional BSODs, but they weren't frequent enough to warrant tracking down.

I used a pair of 533 MHz sticks to get the thing to post and set the memory timings and voltage manually and now all appears well. I guess it dosen't pay to be lazy AND run "designer" RAM LOL

Crud! It's back. 3 beep POST failure code with 2 different and one "known good" pairs of RAM. Pairs and singles in any slot results in 3 beep POST failure code. Opened and esclated a support ticket with Intel. Everything has been disconnected with the same results. Maintanence menu BIOS jumper--same. BIOS recovery--same (dosen't touch the floppy). Removed the CMOS battery for 30 min.--same

Any suggestions while I wait to hear back from Intel?

Thanks in advance.