IN9-32X Max issues

[Azurael]

Either my Asus M3N-HT or my Phenom II just went belly-up, so I put together a temporary rig out of some old bits I had laying around, an IN9-32X Max and a Q9300 to use while I sorted it out.

I'm having a couple of exceptionally strange issues... Firstly, memory slots 1+3 appear not to work... It will boot with my Kingston 6400C4 2GB sticks or the GeIL 6400C4 1GBs I keep as spares, but it's dreadfully unstable. Moving the memory to slots 2+4 resolves this. Secondly, I can't run the RAM at 800MHz - it has to stay at sync to be stable, not really a problem because in the real world, sync is always fastest, but the memory controller seems decidedly dodgy. Thirdly, the LAN controllers are crazy - I have to cut the mains power for about 20 seconds every time before I boot else the connected LAN controller won't appear to Windows at all. I've resorted to keeping both enabled in the BIOS and just switching the ethernet cable into the opposite LAN port after booting if I forget to cut the mains first. FInally, and perhaps most importantly, the diode CPU temps reported are crazy - my water loop was keeping the Phenom II and previous overclocked Q6600 at around 40c full load, but the idle temps are 50 and load about 60 with the Q9300. Maybe the IHS is really warped and this isn't the Abit's fault... But the BIOS is reporting ~30c CPU temps which sound more believable?! Oh, and on top of all this, I have to manually set the CPU FSB strap to 1333MHz in the BIOS for it to run stably

I'm running BIOS v15, although it's ancient... I suppose I should be grateful that I've got a 680i board working with a 45nm quad at all, but it won't budge 1MHz from stock, even though I've had this CPU running at almost 4GHz on a P35 board, and the RAM seems to like 500MHz+ at C4 on not much more than stock voltage.

[BUFF]

the early 680i mobos (of which the IN9 32X is one) weren't designed to run quads (intel & nVidia were having a spat & intel didn't tell nVidia everything that they needed to know).
the In9 actually turned out to be one of the better early ones in that it would at least run them (Gigabyte iirc gave up on theirs) & even get into the low>middle 300fsbs with them but that's all that you'll get.

& the 680i's (& 650i's) memory controller was always a bit touchy.

The diode temps probably are wrongly reported as Intel changed the way that they worked & the BIOS probably doesn't have the microcode for that CPU.
You should be able to use another utility though that will read them properly.

haven't a clue about the LANs, sorry.

[Azurael]

Hmm, the microcode should be there - the CPU ID string is reported correctly, speedstep works and the Q9300 is on the BIOS support list... Core temp reports the same as Everest for the core temps. And with regard to the memory controller, I can't remember my old 650i board being anywhere near as flaky, and I was running with 4x1GB GeIL sticks in those days :-/

Still, it's a temporary rig. It works, I shouldn't moan

[BUFF]

Hmm, the microcode should be there - the CPU ID string is reported correctly, speedstep works and the Q9300 is on the BIOS support list... Core temp reports the same as Everest for the core temps.

could be a stepping issue -iirc there were at least 3 Q9300 steppings?

And with regard to the memory controller, I can't remember my old 650i board being anywhere near as flaky,

mine always has been & still is.

[Azurael]

Well, I solved the problem by picking up a cheap refurb DFI X48-T2RS...

I think I'll stick to Gigabyte and DFI boards in future, I always seem to have better luck with them than other manufacturers, with Gigabyte going right back to the days of the AMD K6-2 which was in my first self-built system. Mind you, it's not like I could buy a new Abit board if I wanted to anyway!

[BUFF]

it wasn't the manufacturers it was the fallout from the Intel/nVidia spat & the effect that had on the original 680i designs.
As I mentioned Gigabyte gave up on trying to run quads on it's original 680i.

[Azurael]

it wasn't the manufacturers it was the fallout from the Intel/nVidia spat & the effect that had on the original 680i designs.
As I mentioned Gigabyte gave up on trying to run quads on it's original 680i.

I've had 3 Abit mobos in the last 5 years, one of which wasn't based on an NVidia chipset. All of them had BIOS quirks that persisted through to the final releases. I might stick my old Q6600 in this one and see if running a more supported CPU works better... Plus, it has a high enough multiplier that I might get somewhere with overclocking it if the Abit is okay at 333MHz with the later quad.