Live MB OC Report :: ASUS Rampage Extreme

[aln688]

Such a statement as:

The Noctua NH-C12P actually fits perfect

...made me wonder!

Yes, it fits perfect because (a) you positioned your brackets on the left & right of the CPU, and (b) your case must be a lot larger and gives you more clearance above the top of the motherboard.

I have the Lian-Li Lancool K1 mid-tower, and if I position the C12P as you have it, it'll hit my Corsair 620HX, or the PSU tray. Here's my case but with my old Intel DX48BT2 board, with C12P installed:



I've grudgingly ordered a Noctua U12P, the height of that thing but on its side really puts me off, I'm worried about gravity pulling on the board, even with the SecuFirm retention mechanism. Regardless, it seems to be a well-regarded cooler. Thank you to cheapseats, I never knew there was a U12P.

[aln688]

Hello cheapseats,

Tell me, with your U12P, did you use the air heatsink that comes with the Asus board, instead of the fusion block? Does it fit? I hope so, I've already installed the air optional heatsink with a good layering of compound.

Cheers.

[rob2k]

I've grudgingly ordered a Noctua U12P, the height of that thing but on its side really puts me off, I'm worried about gravity pulling on the board, even with the SecuFirm retention mechanism. Regardless, it seems to be a well-regarded cooler. Thank you to cheapseats, I never knew there was a U12P.

Might be worth reading back a few pages about board warping issues when using a TRUE120 - I experienced 3mm of distortion myself - how does the weight of the Noctua compare ?


Starting to have fun with 0801 bios .......

[sunny7day]

more fsb with 801 bios?

[synthetic2008]

Thank you Rob, you gave the inspiration to me to try RE with system water cooling.
my system : (Special thanks for Mr. DangerXXX and Mr. Cybercaffe)
CPU: QX9770-C1 @ 4050MHz.
GPU: Saphire 4870x2.
MEM: Kingston DDR3 14400 XMP, 8-8-8-21 1T 1801 MHZ
DRIVES: velociraptor 300 GB 10K, Seagate 500 GB cache 32MB
LG DVD R/w SATA.
O/S: Vista Enterprise 32bit
M/B: Asus Rampage Extreme. Bios : 0501.
PSU: Corsair 1000W
CASE: Lianli
LOOP 1: Swiftech MCP655 -> Swiftech Apogee GTZ ->NB & SB MIPS -> Mosfet -> EK, radiator -> Faser 3X120



the current result of performance test :

[rob2k]

^ Synthetic2008 - that's an impressive build !. Nice one

0801 is my new keeper - will update my sig later. I'm sure I can go to 475 or 480 but need to set my radiator fans back to 12v first.

[cheapseats]

Does it fit?

Still using with the Asus NB cooler + NB fan.

I'm running mine flat on a table, so I can't really say about warping. U12P isn't that big or heavy though - I wouldn't be too worried about it myself.

Found the cooling fine for e8600 and haven't bothered with a second CPU fan yet

[aln688]

Might be worth reading back a few pages about board warping issues when using a TRUE120 - I experienced 3mm of distortion myself - how does the weight of the Noctua compare ?

Thank you for considering the weight. As I discovered, the Thermalright TRUE is 790g, and that's without a fan, basing the fact that a fan is around 190g, that means the TRUE would approximately be 1000g.

The Noctua from specifications is 600g without a fan, with a fan it's 790g. So the Noctua is approximately 200g's lighter. I still am hesitant against using a tower type cooler, I worry about the long term affects of gravity with this type of heatsink.

Still using with the Asus NB cooler + NB fan.

Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time for the picture! Your picture is extremely helpful and gives me confidence I ordered a heatsink that won't be a useless brick. I really *want* to use this C12P but I just can't get it to fit, ah well. I did think about changing case so even although the heatsink hangs off the top of the board it wouldn't hit anything, but its cheaper to buy a new heatsink!

[Ozzfest05]

The TRUE With 2 120 fans will be fine for long term use 24/7 you have nothing to worry about

[aln688]

The TRUE With 2 120 fans will be fine for long term use 24/7 you have nothing to worry about

Thanks, good to know even with a TRUE this board will be fine long time.

[aln688]

As suggested in this thread and others, I removed my heatpipe assembly and applied Noctua NT-H1 compound, then without adding washers I simply tightened up the screws a little more on the back of the board.











I'm not aiming for sub-zero temperatures, just below 50 degrees would be ideal.

[Ghostleader]

Hi Ghostleader,

What part number are your dominators and what speed/timings can you achieve with 0403 ?.

I'm persevering with 0801 but finding that my previous settings do not work so it will take some time.

For those that do not like the pulsating ROG and start buttons these can be switched off in 0801 - Hurrah !!

I run the same as you do, the TWIN3X2048-1800C7DFIN G.

I started with 400 10 4000 1600 666 18 1N tRD5 and it was pretty good but I need 1,70+ for the NB with tRD5 and tRD6 is no good.



Next up was 450 9,5 4275 1800 777 21 1N tRD7 and I think it´s quite awesome as a 24/7 gamer setup.





Tried 475 9 4275 1900 777 21 1T tRD7, awesome bandwidth and latency but I need 2,15v on those ram to be stable, a little to much for my liking, maybe with a little more tweaking I can get below 2,05v.

How do your setup look like with your ram at 1900 777 18?



With 500 8,5 4250 2000 888 24 1N tRD8 I can get 32M stable but not stable when I loop Crysis with Crysis Benchmark Tool or when I play Crysis, maybe with more tweaking it may can be stable but I don´t know where to start, skew or subtiming, any suggestion.

With my 790i Ultra I could reach 2050 888 24 1T tRC 34 at 2,05v stable with Crysis.

I can run 500 8,5 4250 1600 666 18 1T tRD7

To beat 450 9,5 4275 1800 777 21 1T tRD6 I need something like 2050 - 2060MHz at 888 with ratio 1:2 and I talk about more fps, but if I can get 475 1900 to run below 2,05v I think I go with that setup.

So this is where I stand right now.

[aln688]

Does anyone else's Rampage Extreme heatpipe assembly sit high at some points? I just looked at my own after re-installing it with thermal compound, the small rubber washers don't even touch the board in some cases, yet in other areas they do! The screws are fully tightened though, it's odd.

Not touching the board:


Not touching the board:


This one IS touching the board:


I'm wondering if I should take the assembly back off and work on it?

Also, is it a given that if too much compound was used on the Northbridge (NB) then when the heatsink is screwed in place, the compound would run down the side of the chip? I checked and I don't have any compound squirting down the side of the chip, but still wonder if I used too much:

[Zeus]

found something interesting today
and y it always hang
first was for the use of 4dimms i had to clock the pll to 1.57v for 500fsb
second the sb voltage has to be = pll..
geee back to the 975 days..

Care to elaborate a bit more on this?

I've had a 975 board myself (P5WDH deluxe) but i honstly don't know what you mean with SB voltage= PLL.

Mine hangs once in a while also (maybe once or twice a week), mainly at idle but is Prime and 3D stable.

[rob2k]

@ Ghostleader - Thanks for the detailed reply . I can get up to 1840 with 7-6-5-18 timings and 2.06v but 1900 requires 7-7-7-20 and 2.10v. That is my limit for CPU temps as my rad fans are running at 9v until I get a controller so i've backed it down to 1880 and 470FSB for an acceptable temp->noise balance.

@ Aln688 - Mine was all over the place too so don't worry. Look for N/B idle temps of around 40 when you get it running. Good to hear that the Noctua H/S is lighter than the TRUE. My TRUE120 is now a shelf ornament !!, my personal opinion is strapping 1kg to a vertically mounted board in temps between 30-70C cannot be too great for the board and I know of at least one RMA in this forum due to warping.

Finally settled with the settings in my sig for 0801. I can post detailed bios settings if requested or email my bios backup file. This board requires a lot of patience and GTL & SKEW tweaking.

[rob2k]

Settings posted and bios file emailed as requested .........

Extreme Tweaker

Ai Overclock Tuner: Manual
OC From Memory Level Up: Auto
FSB Frequency: 470
CPU Ratio Setting: 9

CPU Configuration

CPU Ratio Setting: 09.0
C1E Support: Disabled
CPU TM Function: Enabled
Max CPUID Value Limit: Disabled
Vanderpool Technology: Enabled
Execute Disable Bit: Enabled
Core Multi-Processing: Enabled

CPU Clock Skew: Delay 300ps
NB Clock Skew: Delay 200ps
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 400
PCIE Frequency: 101
DRAM Frequency: 1880
DRAM Command Rate: 1N
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
1st Information: 7-7-7-20-8-88-12-6
CAS# Latency: 7
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 7
RAS# Pre Time: 7
RAS# ACT Time: 20
RAS# To RAS# Delay: 8
REF Cycle Time: 88
WRITE Recovery Time: 12
READ to Pre Time: 6
2nd Information : 8-7-6-4-7-4-7
READ to WRITE Delay (S/D): 8
WRITE to READ Delay (S): 7
WRITE to READ Delay (D): 6
READ to READ (S): 4
READ to READ (D): 7
WRITE to WRITE (S): 4
WRITE to WRITE (D): 7
3RD Information: 23-8-1-8-8
WRITE to PRE Delay: 23
READ to PRE Delay: 8
PRE to PRE Delay: 1
ALL PRE to ACT Delay: 8
ALL PRE to REF Delay: 8
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
DRAM Dynamic Write Control: Disabled

DRAM Skew Control

DRAM CMD Skew on Channel A: Delay 75ps
DRAM CLK Skew on DIMM A1: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on DIMM A2: Auto
DRAM CTL Skew on DIMM A1: Auto
DRAM CTL Skew on DIMM A2: Auto
DRAM CMD Skew on Channel B: Delay 150ps
DRAM CLK Skew on DIMM B1: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on DIMM B2: Auto
DRAM CTL Skew on DIMM B1: Auto
DRAM CTL Skew on DIMM B2: Auto


Ai Clock Twister: Auto
Ai Transaction Booster: Auto
Common Performance Level: 06

EPU II Phase Control: Auto
CPU Voltage: 1.475
Load-Line Calibration: Disabled
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.590
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.418
CPU GTLVerf (0): +50mv
CPU GTLVerf (1): +50mv
CPU GTLVerf (2): +50mv
CPU GTLVerf (3): +50mv
NB GTLVerf: +60mV
North Bridge Voltage: 1.630
DRAM Voltage: 2.107
NB DDRVref: AUTO
DDR3 ChannelA Vref: +12.5mv
DDR3 ChannelB Vref: +12.5mv
South Bridge 1.5 Voltage: 1.603
South Bridge 1.05 Voltage: 1.086
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

[aln688]

@ Aln688 - Mine was all over the place too so don't worry. Look for N/B idle temps of around 40 when you get it running. Good to hear that the Noctua H/S is lighter than the TRUE. My TRUE120 is now a shelf ornament !!, my personal opinion is strapping 1kg to a vertically mounted board in temps between 30-70C cannot be too great for the board and I know of at least one RMA in this forum due to warping.

Thank you Rob2k, glad I'm not the only one that's concerned about board warping due to using brick-like heatsinks. I don't mind slightly higher temperatures so long as my board isn't going to suffer in the long run. I wouldn't say the Noctua is ideal at 790g, but it's better than 1000g.

When I get it running I'll post my NB temperatures, idle and load. What are the primary tools to stress Windows to check NB temperatures? I see Prime 95 mentioned? I'll also be looking to overclock my Q9550 2.83GHz to 3.4GHz, this should be an easy 400 FSB, matching my Kingston HyperX 1600 RAM.

[aln688]

@ Aln688 - Mine was all over the place too so don't worry.

So your heatpipe assembly was not touching the board is places as well? It's odd, I think the screws in the back of the board are all the same length, I just don't think the metal extension pegs on the heatpipe assembly are all the same length, resulting in the rubber washers either touching or not touching the board. I don't think I want to put washers any where to compensate, I don't think it will help.

[Ozzfest05]

Did some more testing on the board and I just got my replacement Corsair HX1000w Lapped the True again just to waste time and here we go tomorrow I might Go 2000mhz ram at same timings with 4500mhz cpu clock using 9x500 that should be my 24/7 setup that would be nice.

[rob2k]

So your heatpipe assembly was not touching the board is places as well? It's odd, I think the screws in the back of the board are all the same length, I just don't think the metal extension pegs on the heatpipe assembly are all the same length, resulting in the rubber washers either touching or not touching the board. I don't think I want to put washers any where to compensate, I don't think it will help.

If you look through the early pages of this topic there are pics of the H/P thermal tape not touching the components just to the left of the ROG flashing logo so worth checking there too. The screws are all the same but I don't think every H/P threaded post is the same length without going in the loft and checking this out. I had high hopes with this boards stock cooling and additional heatsinks (hence high cost !) but all of that is in a box never to be used again.

As far as benching tools from my screenshots above you can see that I use RealTemp to show temps of individual CPU cores and Asus PcProbe for NB and SB temps. Everest is a great tool for memory and cache read/write performance. HyperPi is the mutlicore version of SuperPi and can be set to run on all 4 cores at once to 32M accuracy. The 24 loops take about 14 minutes so it is a fairly short indication of system stability after which you can use Prime95, 3dMark 06 and Vantage to test longer term stability and also more varied aspects of your system - graphics, disc performance, etc. It can be a touchy subject as people have varied opinions as to what makes a system stable. if mine runs HyperPi to32M on all four cores at once, primes for a couple of hours, runs 3dMark 06 and Vantage and then games without freezing or crashing then I am satisfied.

@ Ozzfest05 - Good results with the G.Skills. Looks like 500 is just around the corner

[aln688]

Well Rob2k (and others), you were right. To double check I took off my heatpipe assembly just to check it was making contact, here is what I found:





...this was AFTER I already removed it, applied good quality thermal compound to the NB, SB and MOSFET chips and had re-installed it. I could hardly believe my eyes. About 70% of the NB chip wasn't even touching the copper.

I did notice that some of the "pillars" on the bottom of this heatpipe assembly touch the board (via the rubber washer), where some didn't. I'm furious that a board of this cost is so sloppily engineered so far as the heatpipe assembly.

I'm unsure how to proceed from here, I'm not really wanting to water cool. I suppose I could try the washer mod as mentioned before, problem is, I don't think ALL pillars or holes in this heatpipe assembly need a washer, ugh.

[aln688]

FYI, you're right, each pillar or post for the heatpipe assembly is not the same length, how on earth could they QC when this is the case?!

[Zeus]

Simply rediculous for a board with a price tag like this one!

I experienced something similar, there's no contact with the NB heatspreader at the side of the coils/pwm's.

I'm still waiting for bitspower to finish their block.

[rob2k]

I'm unsure how to proceed from here, I'm not really wanting to water cool. I suppose I could try the washer mod as mentioned before, problem is, I don't think ALL pillars or holes in this heatpipe assembly need a washer, ugh.

Hi Aln688 - On a bit of a mission tonight so will have more time in the morning - there are passive N/B heatsinks available from Noctua and Thermalright that still allow for a decent sized CPU H/S to be installed. If you search this thread I think 3oh6 has had some impressive results with the Noctua one. It just means fitting the small EK sinks to the other components (see my avatar pic).

ATB R2K

[crustytheclown]

Sorry guys if i become offtopic but this is my first post here and i totally need your help.I started messing around with my rampage and ln2 but in the end I ended up with this beauty




Could someone tell me the code of the mosfet and what can i do to replace it.
Thanks a million.
BTW rampage and ln2 at north about 15 fsb gain