*** Official Giga-byte 8INXP Thread ***

[AnandTech Moderator]

In an effort to make finding information about the Giga-byte 8INXP easier for all forum members, please post and discuss your issues, problems, experiences, rants, raves and FAQs here.

AnandTech Moderator

 

[PowerEngineer]

I'd like to hear from GA-8INXP owners about their DPVRM experiences. It seems that many people are having problems with this dual power supply feature.

With all the current interest in the GA-8SQ800 and the GA-SINXP1394, perhaps these warrant their own "official" thread.

Thanks!

 

[mechBgon]

Hope these help someone...

Is there a proper order for installing the operating system, service packs and drivers on the 8INXP?Here is the routine that Intel strongly suggests for Intel-based motherboards:

1. Fresh Operating System Installation
2. Latest Service Pack or Patch
3. Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility (INF Utility)
4. All other device drivers
5. Intel® Application Accelerator if needed
6. Microsoft* DirectX* 8.0 or higher

What should I keep in mind when planning what memory to get for my 8INXP?

GA-8INXP supports the Dual Channel technology. After operating the Dual Channel Technology, the bandwidth of Memory Bus will add double up to 4.27GB/s.

GA-8INXP includes 4 DIMM sockets, and each Channel has two DIMM sockets as following:

• Channel A : DIMM 1, DIMM 3
• Channel B : DIMM 2, DIMM 4

If you want to operate the Dual Channel Technology, please note the following explanations due to the limitation of Intel chipset specifications.

When only one DDR memory module is installed: The Dual Channel Technology can't operate when only one DDR memory module is installed. Additionally, you can boot the system only when the memory module is inserted into Channel A. On the other hand, the memory module must be inserted into DIMM1 or DIMM3 sockets.

When two DDR memory modules are installed (the same memory size and type): The Dual Channel Technology will operate when two memory modules are inserted individually into Channel A and B. If you install two memory modules in the same channel, the Dual Channel Technology will not operate. Additionally, you can boot the system only when one of the memory modules is inserted into Channel A. On the other hand, the memory module must be inserted into DIMM1 or DIMM3 sockets.

When three DDR memory modules are installed: Please note that the Dual Channel Technology will "not" operate when three DDR memory modules are installed. If you install three memory modules, the system will only detect those memory modules inserted in Channel
A, and those in Channel B will not be detected!

When four DDR memory modules are installed: If you install four memory modules at the same time, the Dual Channel Technology will operate only when those modules have the same memory size and type.

-from the owner's manual

edit: btw, this wasn't intended to answer your question PowerEngineer, just thought I'd get a high slot in this thread and post something useful

 

[ofttd]

I did not like the looseness of the power module even with the retainig bracket on. That is just asking for trouble. I attached a self-sticking rubber foot to the front of the modules fan that pushes against the cpu heatsink...now it is nice and secure. Of course the rubber foot I chose is sized so it doesnt impede the modules airflow.

I do have an occasional boot problem where the video doesnt initiate...reboot always works tho...hasnt been often enough to warrant much investigation.

 

[poMONKey]

i havent installed the dual power mod at all.

too many issues and not enough reasons ( the blue LED fan???

) to rassle with it.... maybe gigabyte will make a new bracket soon!

the board seems pretty stable, although i cant get past 150 fsb yet. i have a super n00b OC thread going on over HERE...... any thoughts or help will be WELCOME!

so far tho... the wait and $$$ was worth it!!!!

 

[caboob]

Gigabyte just released a new BIOS (F4) that fixes the DPVRM problem. You can get it right HERE.

Ive used it since lats night and it seems to have taken care of the problem. You dont get a status message anymore on POST but you can check that it's engaged in the BIOS.

 

[poMONKey]

anything else it fixes or improves that youve seen??? been waiting for this release...

 

[Lycan]

Very small increase in overall memory bandwidth.
No issues so far, seems to be running sweet.

Lycan

 

[Jojo1971]

I noticed that my two PSU's (Enermax 550 watts and POWMAX 500 watts) ran hotter (overload?) when i had my 8INXP than with my current P4G8X...
Has anybody observed that in their 8INXP?

 

[caboob]

I seem to have noticed that my PSU (Antec True 550W) operates louder than usual and I wonder if that DPS card is draining power.

 

[LoverBoyJ]

Ok here's my issue
1. DPVRM - havn't installed F4 bios, current system is still on "burn-in" stage.
2. I get a lower FSB reading during boot-up (+/- 2mhz) . (i.e. set FSB to 133 it posted as 132Mhz during bootup) but sandra is saying 133Mhz, don't know if this is BIOS issue or Clock generator issue. If using default selection it displays 133FSB during boot-up.

I have it all the way to 175Mhz FSB and using Sandra Burn-in.

Does anybody experience #2 situation?

 

[poMONKey]

LoverBoyJ... i get that flux too, and sandra says 133 ( or whatever i have fsb set to... ). wcpuid gives me a +/- on the fsb too... doesnt seem like anything to worry about.

this is a thing to worry about ( )... im still stuck @ 150 fsb... cant get this thing to budge :| ! anybody have an idea what could be causing this lack of OC ( besides ME... ), please please please let me know !!!

i flashed the f4 into place last night and reapplied AS3 to my hsf and my temps have come down from about 43c idle to about 38c idle, thats a good thing. prolly gonna get a different ( better ) hsf just to see if thats the prob with my temps.


5 thumbs up!!!!!

 

[ofttd]

Hey Pomonkey,
That seems like a pretty good overclock for the 3.06...how high can they go with air cooling? Just built 4 systems based on the 8inxp and each can go as high as the processor allows. The two with 2.4 c1s can do 170 fsb the two with 2.66s can do 166...just wondering if you're cpu limited. The 38C temps are what we're running at also at idle. The highest I've seen any of them go is 48C under load.

 

[poMONKey]

thats what i ment, i cant get this cpu to budge!!! yeah... i think i have drawn a "bad" apple

my temps go as high as 60c under prime95 load... no so good... but everything else ( the board ) is solid as a rock. i can play around in 150 fsb no prob... its just the apparently unattainable 170 fsb that i wonder about :|

BTW: i think the onboard lan is KILLING my pings!!! i just plugged my cable modem into my old computer that has a net card, and i have my old, sweet, fast-a$$ pings back... i figured something was up when i loaded Q3 for the first time and navigated to my favorite server... BAM... the pings are twice ( + ) what they were on my old machine... old box: 37 ping / new box: 185 ping... same server...

should i just install a card?

 

[highwayman]

 

[Paveslave]

Originally posted by: caboob
Gigabyte just released a new BIOS (F4) that fixes the DPVRM problem. You can get it right HERE.

Ive used it since lats night and it seems to have taken care of the problem. You dont get a status message anymore on POST but you can check that it's engaged in the BIOS.

Do you have to flash your bios froma disk at start-up? I tried to do the flash while I was in windows and it told me I didn't have that chipset installed. Do I have to re-install the DVPS before I update the Bios? I had removed it because it wouldn't boot up, instead it just made my case beep rapidly.

 

[caboob]

The BIOS is posted as a .zip file. Did you unzip it before attampting a flash in windows?

 

[Paveslave]

yes, I unzipped it and ran the flash utility that was in the zipped file. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

 

[tpcolson]

I dunno if this has to do with the dual powersupply: out of box, I was so exited that I forgot to plug in the atx_12V Vcore connector to the mobo. Installed and ran XP for a day before I noticed that extra power connector just dangling....

 

[tpcolson]

ack! I see that the SATA controller only supports two ata devices, yet also supports raid 0 and 1. Lets see...I want to stripe with 3 drives........

 

[ofttd]

Paveslave...
On the m/b driver disc the was a program called @bios...I installed that and had the easiest BIOS upgrade ever. I had the new bios saved locally and just told the @bios program where it was...didnt use flash utility at all. It was as easy as any device driver.

 

[Paveslave]

Originally posted by: ofttd
Paveslave...
On the m/b driver disc the was a program called @bios...I installed that and had the easiest BIOS upgrade ever. I had the new bios saved locally and just told the @bios program where it was...didnt use flash utility at all. It was as easy as any device driver.

Thanks for the advice, I didn't even know I had that program or how it worked. Needless to say I am still learning, hehe

 

[treykee]

I flashed my bios up to F4 from within Windows. Once I rebooted, It hung after showing a certain amount of data, I've included a link to the picture I took of the screen. If anyone has any idea how to fix this without RMA'ing the board it would be greatly appreciated.
-Trey

this is what it looks like

 

[Paveslave]

I've got a weird problem that just started today after I've been messing around with trying to install Norton system works 2002. I had problems getting it to work with Win XP, it wouldn't register cleansweep so I had to uninstall it. Well, during this mess my computer started beeping about twice a minute. I couldn't figure it out so I pulled up my Easy Tuner and the beeping is a warning for my CPU temps. The CPU Temp will be around 37-41 and then for a second it go above 60 degrees and then it will go back to normal. I know it's not running at 60 degrees, so what the heck. I don't know if the norton is related to this problem, but something is screwy. I even tried to flash the bios again to see if that was it but it's not. I'm at a loss and could use some advice!!

 

[caboob]

I'll take st@b here but it seems like you should check to see if your heatsink is properly seated. Your idle temps seem high. The beeping sound is the thermal protection circuit on the CPU kicking in and thus will automatically clock itself down to prevent itself from burning up. On your heatsink install, did you peel the protective wrapper off the TIM?