Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4 and E8400 Compatiblity

So I'm in the market for a brand new Computer. I was planning on buying a C2D E6750, but White_Pawn suggested that I should be considering an E8400. After reading up on it, it seems like an excellent idea. But I do have one concern.

This page says that the GA-X38-DS4 will work as long as I have BIOS version F2. What happens if Newegg ships me a board with BIOS version F1? Will the board not even post? How would I flash the BIOS if the CPU isn't even recognized?

Thanks,

Lejend

it might be worth buying a dirt cheap celeron chip, you can boot, flash your bios and then install the new chip.

people on this forum are always saying people should have backup chips!

I believe you can also Q-flash gigabyte boards (from a bootable flash drive). Keeping a cheap processor around isnt a bad idea either.

Well, I bought the board and the CPU. Once it shows up I'll post with how it goes. You guys are right. At the very worst, all it will take is a used Celeron off eBay.

That being said, here's to hoping it posts with an "Unrecognized CPU."

When it can't fully understand the CPU you've dropped in it, it just boots to some ridiculous low speed. It's perfectly able to have the bios re-flashed in this situation.

Ask me how I know (hint: see my sig -- and I just received my E8400 on Saturday)

I think the chances of it being a supportable 45nm BIOS or booting up is fairly big

Just stick it in and have the BIOS update ready on your flash drive

Chances are if it is a X38 chipset the board and bios is going to support the E8000 series. I have a Gigabyte P35C DS3R which on the box has a big logo claiming support for future 45nm Intel CPUs....

I also got the same mobo and cpu from newegg. I ordered it earlier around 1 PM EST. Should be here in a few days. If I'm not lazy ( ), I'll post and see what happened and what I got.

Hazaro said:

I NEED 45nm RESULTS ON P965 CHIPSET! PM ME IF YOU CAN!

Click to expand...

It's possible but the motherboard manufacturer needs to support 45nm in the BIOS. My Asus Commando (965P) has support even for some of the Yorkfield quads. I'll know for sure in a month or two when I get one.

Thanks for the help. I've already got my flash drive loaded with the BIOS and ready to go. The 24th can't get here fast enough...

Update: Like Albuquerque said, the mobo posted just fine. I flashed the BIOS and I've been rolling ever since.

Thanks everybody for your help.

Hi Guys
Ive got a problem and require some help, I have just bought a new rig, obv. bought a GA-x38-DS4 and also bought 4x 1GB Crucial Balistix Tracers DDR-8500, tried x64 and x32 editions of vista and everytime i add more than 2x 1GB i get BSOD memory_management, now i know this is a continuous problem with many users (as per the posts all over the web) and have figured out that there is a way around this by altering the timings and i think reducing the 1066 to 800 etc (excuse me if im wrong). i just wondered how i go about doing this.

Also i have a problem with the connection from my PSU to the mainboard, so i have a paperclip in the back of the connecter to keep a always on connection, this isnt a massive problem because i always keep my pc on, however if i have to power my computer off, when i switch it back on it recovers the bios everytime, i wondered if you can stop it from recovering the bios each time.

hope this makes some sense
--
chopper

Dalehopper,

First, welcome to the forums! Second, you might get more help if you posted this in it's own thread. I wish I could give you more specific advice about your problem, but I'm sure someone here can help you.

Lejend

dalehopper said:

Hi Guys
Ive got a problem and require some help, I have just bought a new rig, obv. bought a GA-x38-DS4 and also bought 4x 1GB Crucial Balistix Tracers DDR-8500, tried x64 and x32 editions of vista and everytime i add more than 2x 1GB i get BSOD memory_management, now i know this is a continuous problem with many users (as per the posts all over the web) and have figured out that there is a way around this by altering the timings and i think reducing the 1066 to 800 etc (excuse me if im wrong). i just wondered how i go about doing this.

Click to expand...

Do you have memory voltage set manually or auto setting. Many memories run higher than 1.8v which is the auto setting.

Edit: nevermind, i didn't see this thread was this old.. lol