The purpose of this quite long post is to share my observations and the BIOS (including my modifications).The key contribution from my side is enabling CPU multiplier and cache overclocking on unlocked CPUs.
In short, there is still a lot of interest in the X99 platform to this date, mostly due to the excellent performance/cost ratio. I bought a DDR3 version early in this year, and recently I bought a DDR4 version based on my previous positive experience. I have looked carefully online at pictures and videos, and there seems to be a total of three hardware revisions out there: 1.11, 1.13 (both my boards are of this revision) and 1.14. A summary of out-of-the-box feature set:
The VRM (4 phases with doublers) and heatsink are quite decent. CPU overclocking/Turbo Boost Unlock is generally feasible, just make sure you have fans blowing air on the VRM heatsink
There are more PCIe slots than a typical M-ATX board: 1x16 (reinforced), 1x4, 1x1. To round things off there is 1 NVME/NGFF, and one NVME only slot.
Relatively advanced BIOS with for instance Resizable Bar as a standard configurable option
Genuine X99/C612 chipset which enables Quad-channel RAM and multiplier overclocking of for instance Xeon 1660V3
In total 6 USB3 and 6 USB2 ports. No weird disconnection/freezing issues with these, like I have experienced myself with other earlier cheap Chinese X99 motherboards (ZX-99EV3 for example)
Very easy to re-flash externally with a CH341A (caution: make sure it operates at 3.3V). Just unplug the CR2032 battery first, no need to disconnect anything else, just power off the PSU. The BIOS chip is located at the bottom right corner, just above the color-coded front panel connectors.
One strange thing to note with this board: Even when just making smaller mods with for instance AMIBCP and then flashing with for instance FPT, then clear CMOS is necessary before it will start up. A bit odd indeed.
Regarding BIOS and modifications
Stock BIOS identifies itself as X99M4005, or revision 005. My personal experience is that BIOS revisions 004 and 005 are fully interchangeable between the DDR3 and DDR4 motherboard versions, but your mileage may vary. As outlined later in this post, I found a BIOS revision 003 online that I could not even get to boot.
I then unlocked RAM speed and timings and fixed the BCLK to exactly 100 MHz. See links at the bottom of this post for credits to how this was done.
I had no success overclocking the CPU and CLR/ring directly from the BIOS, but I managed to figure out what settings to change so that I can use for instance Throttlestop to do this from Windows instead.
Here are screenshots of CPU and cache overclocking:
This file link has these three BIOS files included, including a summary of what changes I made with AMIBCP to get CPU overclocking to work with Throttlestop. The most notable was that I needed to change “Package C State Limit” → C2, otherwise I would get a BSoD when trying to change settings.
And this file link has the corresponding data for how to perform the RAM speed and timings modification, which for me was by far the most difficult part.
Why did I put in such efforts to get RAM and CPU overclocking? Well, first I did test a lot of BIOS files from various sites to avoid having to DIY, but I could not get a single one to even boot. Not one. Really. I tried to flash:
Many X99D4M4 bioses from the BiliBili website, see below link for a key post
The iEngineer BIOS for X99Z V102, taken from the MI899 tool
Many different revisions of some key Huananzhi boards (primarily from Koshak1013), including the F8 and TF
…many others since externally re-flashing the board is so easy
But still, why go through all the trouble of doing this? Well, cheap gaming computers for family and friends is normally my main goal, and by mostly tweaking RAM and CLR/Ring latency this setup will then max out many mid-range GPUs. With the money saved by going for these cheaper parts, I can then put more money in the GPU. Prices from Taobao as of today, including freight within China:
–Motherboard=178 RMB; 1660V3=85 RMB; 4x8G=32G ECC RAM=4*50=200 RMB. Totally 463 RMB, which corresponds to ~64 USD/~60 EUR
Some related/relevant links:
There is some basic motherboard information available on this page, including an older BIOS revision (004) than what I had on my two boards: Envinda X99D4M4
A very interesting comparison of gaming performance. TLDR version: The setup I can build very cheaply will perform around the same as a Ryzen 3700X, but this requires the Ryzen CPU to be paired with quite expensive overclocking RAM (CL14 at 3600 MHz): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwHkjV9jblM
After a week of testing I am back with some more information. Most interesting findings are actually for the motherboard known by the following names:
ZX-99EV3 ; PlexHD-X99 ; Atermiter X99 ; Kllisre X99 etc.
To summarize the past week:
Using an external flasher I have found that the X99D4M4 revision 005 BIOS, is fully compatible with my ZX-99EV3 motherboard (hardware revision 1.23). See above post for a link
I have merged a BIOS that allows CPU and Ring overclocking directly from within the BIOS. Sadly only the ZX-99EV3 boots, my X99D4M4 does not.
The new BIOS can be downloaded from the link below
X99D4M4 BIOS cross-flashed on the old ZX-99EV3
I started by going through the available BIOSes on the xeon-e5450 site. There is a recent BIOS listed as taken from hardware revision “v1.51”. I had a look, and sure enough, it was the exact same structure and names as I found previously for X99D4M4 motherboards. So, I simply just took my own revision 005 and flashed it with my CH341A. Bingo! Everything works. All PCIe slots (including the Wi-Fi) works. I can also overclock with for instance Throttlestop. Very nice!
Here is a picture of me testing all PCIe slots. You can see that this is indeed a “Guinea Pig” type board, with a socketed BIOS chip. Makes life easy.
New BIOS with extended overclocking features
First of all, this is tested and working perfectly on ZX-99EV3. However, it does not boot on the X99D4M4. I will first describe the workflow here:
I first downloaded the iEngineer BIOS for “Qiyida ZX-99D3A4” in the Mi899 tool (revision 30). Then I used UEFITool version 0.28.00 for below three steps
Open the iEngineer BIOS. Right click on the BIOS region, select “Extract as is”, and save as .rgn file
Open the X99D4M4 BIOS and right click on the BIOS region. Select “Replace as is”, and just take the .rgn file from previous step
Final step in UEFITool is to click “File/Save Image file”
Flash the new file with an external programmer. Wait for 3 short and one long restart, before the system ultimately boots
I have owned a few X99 boards, and last year I bought the commercial “Qiyida ZX-99D3A4” BIOS from iEngineer (revision 31, CX99DE48). I can confirm that the above steps work perfectly with that BIOS as well. If you want to use that commercial BIOS, then just show your support and buy it directly from iEngineer. Here is a review of the BIOS that he made before (Miyconst paid for this development).
More ZX-99EV3 motherboard information is available in below link. There is already a BIOS for the ZX-99EV3 that allows for CPU and ring overclocking directly from the BIOS (Vladimzam_PlexHD_TF_mod). But I had some problems with that one, and hence, I think that there is some added value with this iEngineer based BIOS for this motherboard. My personal experience with that TF mod BIOS is:
Slow booting
Extremely slow rebooting
Randomly loses boot drive, unless using pure UEFI environment (CSM turned off)
@ForeignerInBeijing
Thank you very much for your detailed Guide about how you were able to boost the performance of some very old, but still powerful chinese mainboards with an Intel X99 chipset. Since I know, how hard and time consuming it is to write such well structured and easy to understand Guide, I want to send you an extra “Thank-you” for your excellent work.
As you probably have recognized, I have changed the thread title. As thread within the Forum Category “BIOS Modding Guides and Problems” it should be labeled as “Guide”. I have tried to do it without enlarging the title’s length or severe shrinking its content. If you should not agree with my proposal, feel free to make it better be editing the title of the first post.
Wow, thanks for the kind words! Basically, I just follow the excellent example that you set yourself: Not only are the tools/files provided for the task at hand, but most importantly there is significant knowledge sharing in a well-documented process. And questions are answered in a friendly manner. We are all learning from each other here.
What I set out for here was to create a summary of information I would have loved to see before buying the X99D4M4 in the first place. In other words:
This thread should be the first search engine hit for “X99D4M4 BIOS”
This thread should be the on the first page when searching for just “X99D4M4”
Hence the thread title must absolutely have the word X99D4M4 in it, and I have modified it now. There is also a DDR3 version of this MB, and therefore I have also included X99D3M4 in the title as well.
As a sidenote: Sometimes there are completely unexpected discoveries along the way, and the BIOS compatibility of the X99D4M4 with the now quite old ZX-99EV3 is exactly that. As you can probably guess, I am now researching further to make yet another BIOS mod that allows overclocking directly from within the BIOS on the X99D4M4.
@ForeignerInBeijing
If you try to reply into this thread, you will realize, that your chosen thread title is still too long (the visible part ends with “cheap Chi…”). My advice: Do not specify the complete names of all X99 mainboards, which are or may be supported by your Guide.
This board has now started to appear as Machinist X99-B9, and I have therefore updated the thread title. With it there is a new BIOS, which looks extremely similar to what I had on my X99D4M4:
X99M4005, (03/06/2024) X99
M99M4005, (06/07/2024) MACHINIST X99 B9
Update 2024-12-08: I have now tested the Machinist BIOS on my “unbranded” X99D4M4. As expected it works, and there is no advantage/disadvantage with it. I will hence stick with what I already have.
Following American date standards (MM/DD/YYYY), then the Machinist BIOS is around three months newer. I will of course flash it later and try some basic things. For now I have done a very simple simple check/comparison using UEFITool NE report functionality, namely to see what DXE drivers are different. Only 10 are:
Bds
Setup
ACPI
CsmDxe
CryptoPkgTest
HardwareSignatureEntry
GraphicsConsole
CsmVideo
AMITSE
1A7828FC-DA7D-4BC1-8B58-9A954FED7D70. No short name on this one, but a quick search referrs to this GUID as “Intel 1Gb”
On an overclocking note, there is another change in a PEI module that might be of interest, namely “UncoreInitPeim”
Links to new videos:
Unboxing of Machinist X99-B9 (X99D4M4 revision 1.14) by Miyconst. I will update this post once he has a full review up, his reviews are simply the best.
Video review of the same board by Iskandar Souza, including a link to the new BIOS. He tests with a 145W processor (2697V3), and just like I also concluded, a downdraft cooler is a very good idea with this VRM.
Good day! I received my Machinist x99 B9 and it is not working properly. I managed to start it three times. And make a backup of bios (rev1.14).
But after that, I try server ddr4 and desktop. Try one module in every slot. Try another CPU(2620v3 and 2666v3). It is don’t boot still.
It looks like the chipset is dead(
All contacts were rubbed and cleaned with alcohol. It is a defective board, and I find someone with the same problem in the comment to Miconst unboxing of this board(you have a link).
I don’t try to change bios. Need ch341a.
But I think it will not help.
May-be you know something I can do to check/repair it?
I would start with the following, which I always do when I receive a second-hand CPU, RAM or motherboard:
Take out the CPU and the RAM from the motherboard
Spray CPU socket and RAM slots with contact cleaner
Spray the underside of the CPU with contact cleaner
Spray the bottom of the RAM modules with contact cleaner
Then use an alcohol tissue (seems you have done this already):
Wipe the bottom of the RAM modules
If it is a socketed CPU like X99 (LGA 2011-3), then wipe the underside
Finally assemble with just a single RAM stick inserted and test again, slot by slot. Now some general advice and questions:
Never mix server (ECC and/or Registered) RAM with normal desktop RAM. In my own experience it never works
How do you reach the conclusion that it is a dead chipset, I see nothing that supports this theory?
If you had it running initially, then it might just be bad BIOS settings. Have you tried clearing CMOS/taken out the battery? Below is a quote from my first post:
“One strange thing to note with this board: Even when just making smaller mods with for instance AMIBCP and then flashing with for instance FPT, then clear CMOS is necessary before it will start up. A bit odd indeed.”
Yes, I tried CMOS/taken. Not working.
Today I managed to start board. All four slots are fine. All worked. Try some tests. Start some games. When it started, all was fine. But what I understand is that if I switch off my PSU, then it’s not starting again. Strange behavior. Bios have nothing to do with it, in my opinion.
Maybe next time when it started, try to mod my stock bios for offsets and unlock. Or what bios is good for r1.14?
Hmm, based on your description, I am not sure what the problem could be here
Does the CMOS battery have the expected voltage of around 3.3V?
Does the system start, if you first turn on the PSU, and then clear CMOS? I remember having this issue, clear CMOS worked like a power button for the first boot. Then it worked normally.
In post #5, I verified that my 1.13 MB that came originally with the X99M4005 BIOS, could run the M99M4005 BIOS. I expect that the reverse holds true. In other words:
I would first try with my second BIOS (2_timings_and_bclk.bin)
Then as a second step, I would use whatever approach to get Turbo Boost Unlock for a 26xx V3 CPU. I never got the easy to use tools (for instance S3TurboTool) working in all circumstances. Hence I settled on compiling my own FFS driver from assembler source code.
But of course, make sure you can read and write the BIOS chip before trying anything.
!
All who has simular problem, if it not start. And nothing helped, try to look at chipset)
Aliexpress choice service, Machinist store. They claim that it is my foult. No free return. No partial refund. They not looking at my videos. Auto apply the return solution to my disput. And, they wont you to have second working x99 motherboard to show them, that it is no problem with your cpu or gpu or ram or psu) In other way, you can’t prove, that their product is defective and get back your money(
Thanks for helping! But this thred have no more interesting for me)
Basically, I just follow the excellent example that you set yourself: Not only are the tools/files provided for the task at hand, but most importantly there is significant knowledge sharing in a well-documented process. And questions are answered in a friendly manner. We are all learning from each other here.
