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GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

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  • GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

    I am building a system (my first) with a GA-X38-DQ6 motherboard. It came with the F4 BIOS. Should I upgrade the BIOS to F5h or F6b or some other level?

    It has been a real pain getting this system to post. The first motherboard I had would do the constant power on/off cycle. That one was returned to Newegg. I got a refund from them instead of the replacement I asked for. The GA-X38-DQ6 isn't even listed on their web site anymore. I got the second one from ZipZoomFly.

    It would also be nice if it was documented somewhere that you have to have a non-USB keyboard just so you can turn on the USB keyboard/mouse enabled settings in the BIOS. Are there any other BIOS changes like that one that I need to make.

    Thanks for the your help. I am sure I'll have additional questions. The configuration of the system I am building is shown below.

    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
    GIGABYTE GA-X38-DQ6
    COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000
    CORSAIR Dominator 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (2 of these)
    Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 10000 RPM 150GB (2 of these)
    Hitachi 0A35772 1TB SATA 7200 RPM 32MB Cache (2 of these)
    GIGABYTE ODIN GE-M800A-D1-NO SF ATX12V PSU
    EVGA e-GeForce 8800GTS 320 MB PCIe
    LITE-ON LH-20A1S DVD/CD

  • #2
    Re: GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

    mcclemens- Using the F6b bios since it came out and my system is rock solid with it. Make sure your ram is on the qvl for the board, that might be the reason for your post problems since your ps seems more than sufficient. Have you run memtest on the ram, just to rule it out?
    Also, I use a usb keyboard and mouse and have those options enabled in the bios, so I don't understand what your problem is there.
    I went from an Asus P5K deluxe board, which gave me all sorts of problems to this board and I am extremely happy with it. Since you're having the same post problems with both boards you've gotten, it's likely the problem lies with something besides the board, no?
    Hope you figure this out. Happy New Year.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

      F6b is a must for sure

      been a soild build with no problems here

      OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate System Type x64-based PC
      Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.System Model X38-DQ6
      Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU Q6850 @ 3.00GHz, 3015 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
      BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. F6b, 10/30/2007 SMBIOS Version 2.4
      Total Physical Memory 4,093.69 MB ddr2 1066
      Name SONY DVD RW DRU-840A SCSI CdRom Device
      2X ASUS EAH3870/G/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire setup

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      • #4
        Re: GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

        Only the first MOBO I had did the power on/off cycle. The second one works fine.

        I also have a USB keyboard and mouse working. The issue is how do you enable them if you don't have a PS2 keyboard and how do you know that enabling them needs to be done.

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        • #5
          Re: GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

          cool good to hear ya got it running, Ya I think Gigabyte needs to set the USB keyboard and mouse to a default of enabled although I never used a usb for anything other than camera stuff and flash drives :)

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

            Re the usb keyboard and mouse deal--I've only used a usb keyboard with the board since first getting it and was able to navigate the bios with it without having to enable it there...must have been enabled in whatever bios my board came with (I think it was f4). Obviously yours came with a bios that had it disabled by default, which was a bit of a screwup by Gigabyte, although it couldn't have been too hard to borrow a ps2 kboard or find one laying around, no? They should've taken care of that, though.

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            • #7
              Re: GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

              Initial build yielded no POST. Boot cycle problem. System would spin fans for a few seconds, then apparently reboot, cycling ad nauseum.

              Gigabyte tech support (20 minutes on hold, Tuesday, around 5:00PM PST) offers MB not recognizing memory. They advise: Please put-on anti-stat strap, disconnect all external power, turn off power supply, remove all memory sticks, disconnect HDDs and optical drives; leave 8 & 24 pin power connectors, cooling fans, graphics card in; remove CMOS battery; with small screw driver hold down silver clip in center of CMOS battery holder for 10 seconds (THIS APPEARS TO BE TRICK to resolve my no-POST, boot cycle problem); re-install CMOS battery and one stick memory, re-connect power, turn-on power supply, connect keyboard and monitor. (I'd left 1394, USB headers, front panel headers, FDD connected); turn on PC with front panel switch. This yielded successful POST. Save CMOS to BIOS. Made some BIOS adjustments. Exit and SAVE. Power down. Reconnect HDDs on 0,1 SATA; reconnect optical drives on SATA 2,3; install second memory stick. Power up. Good POST pressing Del into BIOS. Drives recognized. That's as far as I got tonight. BIOS-F6, Intel Q6600 SLACR, Asus V-60 cooler (P5E MB build failed due to BIOS fubar, CrazyCool heatsink removed per manual), Crucial Ballistix 2x1G BL2KIT 12864AA804 DDR2 6400, Sapphire HD2600XT 512MB, 2xSeagate 320GB HDD, 2xAsus DRW-2014L1T Opticals, Toughpower 700W Modular PS from Tripplite 1500 LCD UPS via HT10DBS surge (tech support asked about my power source.)

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              • #8
                Re: GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

                Ouch...

                I know how frustrating it is when things don't do what they are supposed to out of the box.

                If you have any courage left, i will suggest the new F7 BIOS, seems to be a bit better, but still very touchy about memory timings and frequency.

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                • #9
                  Re: GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

                  F7 bios installed now my cpu fan is speed is always 100% will try a new download and install if that don't fix it it's back to f6b for now..

                  Yes the Bios fan speed is enabled. :)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: GA-X38-DQ6 - Which BIOS should I use?

                    Originally posted by Bohoba View Post
                    F7 bios installed now my cpu fan is speed is always 100% will try a new download and install if that don't fix it it's back to f6b for now..

                    Yes the Bios fan speed is enabled. :)
                    Oops, too late I updated mine recently to F7 before seeing this thread.
                    The CPU fan runs at 100%, is there a fix for this yet.
                    Currently I can get by as I have a Zalman aftermarket and it comes with a controller.

                    any other issues with f7 ? I thought it would be more stable than F4, that screwed up my RAID...
                    Intel Core i5 4670k C0 @4.2Ghz - Corsair H80i
                    Gigabyte GA-Z97x-SOC Force (Rev 01, BIOS F6C)
                    16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 1866Mhz DDR3 9-10-9-27 1.5v
                    Gigabyte R9 280x OC Windforce

                    OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD - Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
                    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Small print - All suggestions I give on this forum are just that - Suggestions.
                    I'm merely suggesting an approach/opinion which I would have taken - You are welcome to try at your own risk.

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