The Maximus Formula Thread - Help/OCing/Guide/Rampage conversion

[RCG_Bex]

Meh - I put it to 266 strap and upped the NB and no DLL or CPU errors. But it it BSOD's. So upped the termination voltage and it boots then black screen, no windows etc. :(

Might have another bash with 333 strap... too drunk n work in the morning though >.<

If not then maybe I'll just work on getting 4.8GHZ stable. It goes for a wee bit in prime but nothing spectacullar :(

~Bex

[NLight95]

I have the same gskill kit and they require 2.2volts for 1080 anything less and they randomly fail.

That's rather bizarre because I've been running my G.Skill @ 1088 with only 2.0v. In fact, it can run as fast as 1105 with just 2.0v, and the only aux cooling I have is the side 120mm fan adapted from my LL G70 case to my A77. If I place a fan on the memory it will go as high as 1115 with the same 2.0v. Adding more voltage only seems to produce more memtest86 errors. For testing I initially run memtest 5 for 10 passes then if it passes, I run the entire test overnight. I also run OCCT for an hour, Prime small fft for an hour, then Prime blend at least 12 hours. The memory has never failed once.

I built a system for my brother and he has the exact same G.Skill memory which behaves very similar to mine. He has an E8600 running @4400 with the ram at 1115, 2.0v.

Here's my system:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/NLight95/Bench%20Test/4300--Prime95smallFFT.jpg

[nama]

That's rather bizarre because I've been running my G.Skill @ 1088 with only 2.0v. In fact, it can run as fast as 1105 with just 2.0v, and the only aux cooling I have is the side 120mm fan adapted from my LL G70 case to my A77. If I place a fan on the memory it will go as high as 1115 with the same 2.0v. Adding more voltage only seems to produce more memtest86 errors. For testing I initially run memtest 5 for 10 passes then if it passes, I run the entire test overnight. I also run OCCT for an hour, Prime small fft for an hour, then Prime blend at least 12 hours. The memory has never failed once.

I built a system for my brother and he has the exact same G.Skill memory which behaves very similar to mine. He has an E8600 running @4400 with the ram at 1115, 2.0v.

Here's my system:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/NLight95/Bench%20Test/4300--Prime95smallFFT.jpg



i have agree, g-skill ram hates high voltages, the moment you get past 2.25v you start getting more errors. am making progress on my initially posted stability problem with ram. been playing with nb and fsbt voltages. using occt for quicker error detection before i blast the system with prime. and right now they are @ 1080mhz @ 333 strap with 2v actual(higher voltages didnt help but add more heat. i hope am on a hunch here with the fsbt coz it beats having to rma the board. will post back my findings in a day. juss hope they cud 1200.

[NLight95]

i have agree, g-skill ram hates high voltages, the moment you get past 2.25v you start getting more errors. am making progress on my initially posted stability problem with ram. been playing with nb and fsbt voltages. using occt for quicker error detection before i blast the system with prime. and right now they are @ 1080mhz @ 333 strap with 2v actual(higher voltages didnt help but add more heat. i hope am on a hunch here with the fsbt coz it beats having to rma the board. will post back my findings in a day. juss hope they cud 1200.

1200 might really be a stretch, but you can definitely get more out of the G.Skills by placing a 120mm fan to blow air on them. I find that mem coolers like the Corsair Airflow actually impede airflow to the CPU, unless you're using a blow down cooler like a Thermalright XP-120.

I forgot to mention that random instability sets in when I set AI Clock Twister to the strong or stronger setting. I keep it at moderate. You take a slight hit in mem performance but gain a lot more stability. And no need to set all the timings to manual (just more settings to remember). I only set what needs changing. If an Auto setting and my manual setting are one and the same (like my base mem timings), then I just leave them at Auto.

BTW, how hard was it to install the 220 Compact? I thought about picking one up but want to see what the upcoming Nehalem pricing is going to look like. I know my 8500 has more to go, it's that I've hit a temp ceiling with my Xig 1283 cooler.

[nama]

the 220 compact is real easy to instal, can be done in a n evening (more like 2hrs)... i always had no trouble on my previous maximus when it came to memory subsystem. but this one is giving me hell fine tuning the memory subsystem. am learning from it tho. i have a 120cm fan blowing over the ram/nb area so temp wise am safe, maybe i need to reseat the entire stock heat pipe setup.

[The Nemesis]

That's rather bizarre because I've been running my G.Skill @ 1088 with only 2.0v. In fact, it can run as fast as 1105 with just 2.0v
I built a system for my brother and he has the exact same G.Skill memory which behaves very similar to mine. He has an E8600 running @4400 with the ram at 1115, 2.0v.



That's because the G. SKills are using psc chips which will run up to 1100MHz easily on 2.0v-2.1v. They also hate voltages. Anything over 2.1v-2.2v and they turn to crap. Trouble is there are two revisions of the psc chips. Rev A & B. One will do around 1130 2.0v the other requires 2.1v just to get 1066 stable and doesn't clock as high. There's an indeth review on 4GB kits being done over @ Andantech. This info came from the author. All the testing is not complete yet but he spoke highly of those G. SKill & a Patriot kit.

[macforth]

Hi forum addicts,
About the middle of Mar '08, I built a new system as follows:

Asus Maximus Formula SE
QX 9750 Extreme 3.0 45nm quad (origonal air cooler)
4 gig Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5D
Asus 3870X2
Raptor X 4 74'2 in Raid 0
WD 80 for backup and data
Audigy 2ZS platinum
Liteon DVD
Antec Modular 850 PSU
Housed in a Lian Li 101

The system has been used for gaming....although, like everyone, I thought I might .......
......anyway...never got there yet. I am in aussieland and went to the USA to visit family for 3 months...May to Aug.
I had never had a problem...it was easy to initially setup...flawless and very zippy compared to the last (AGP). Games like Eve Online and Age of Conan it loved.
Yesterday I turned it on for an evenings gaming......and it refused to go past Dram. I fiddled and fiddled, and found that I could start it (occasionally) with only one stick in.
Once I managed to get it past dram and it fired up..I immediately went to the BIOS. The date had reverted to 2002...the raid had changed to IDE etc etc.
Try as I might...including managing to upgrade the bios to the latest ....I cannot get it to boot easily...and certainly when it does boot...it is with only one stick. I have changed the sticks around...and it will start sometimes...with any of the 4...so I figure it's not the memory.
My gut feeling?.........think something has gone in the motherboard.....
Anyone else with any ideas?

[RCG_Bex]

Chnage CMOS battery, date loss is usually CMOS battery dying. Although - try increasing teh voltages to the RAM. Corsair seems to need voltages increased on nearly every build I do these days :down:

~Bex

[macforth]

Had all 4 memory sticks checked..........one is gone, gone, gone........

so I'm hoping thats all it is........got BIOS 1207 and working OK at this stage with just 2 gigs
boots up with no worries.....but I worked through the BIOS very slowly


Cheers

[Zucker2k]

going to try for a 5.0GHz bench tonight or tomorrow, just got back form 6 days at the lake so I'm kinda tired.
Still like the quad better so far, if I can hit 500x10 and run the ram at 1200MHz :D:D

Dont think its going to happen but I will certainly try. New motherboard bios options are alittle new and have yet to find the time to test each option fully.

I see MIIF is treating you well. I got a dog for a cpu here; max prime stable so far is 4.4Ghz @ 1.440v! :shakes: Anyway, I've trimmed it down to 4.2Ghz 24/7. I'm running high fsb to compensate, 7.5x560, PL9. This is on the second rampage I got from newegg. I've had to rma the other board since the water incident. Both boards have done 600fsb easy. My 2x2GB G.Skills have been the bottleneck so far but still this board amazes me with what it is able to do at relatively low voltages.

Everything is completely stable, 7.5x560, PL9.

Edit: I'm on bios RF 0410.

[Grnfinger]

I see MIIF is treating you well. I got a dog for a cpu here; max prime stable so far is 4.4Ghz @ 1.440v! :shakes: Anyway, I've trimmed it down to 4.2Ghz 24/7. I'm running high fsb to compensate, 7.5x560, PL9. This is on the second rampage I got from newegg. I've had to rma the other board since the water incident. Both boards have done 600fsb easy. My 2x2GB G.Skills have been the bottleneck so far but still this board amazes me with what it is able to do at relatively low voltages.

Everything is completely stable, 7.5x560, PL9.

Edit: I'm on bios RF 0410.

I'm very pleased with my choice so far.
Seem to be having troubles tho posting past 500FSB , alot of new options to learn.
GTL's have a math calculation so you no longer just set 0.63x ect, its now + or - mv's to adjust wich only complicates.
My E8600 cannot beat my Q9550 in any bench so its going to ebay today or tomorrow,
I see your still have excellent results running Rampage, I hope to aquire one soon:up:

I hope Asus will be out of stock on my RMA on the SE board. Should have got my shipping email Friday ( actually Thursay but I like to add 1 day to wait time ) So Monday I will start my :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:in and chewin and carry on about the long delay with my 3870X2 and toss in a few remarks about jumping ship in hopes of a upgrade. I doubt it will happen but I will try.

[Zucker2k]

I'm very pleased with my choice so far.
Seem to be having troubles tho posting past 500FSB , alot of new options to learn.
GTL's have a math calculation so you no longer just set 0.63x ect, its now + or - mv's to adjust wich only complicates.
My E8600 cannot beat my Q9550 in any bench so its going to ebay today or tomorrow,
I see your still have excellent results running Rampage, I hope to aquire one soon:up:

I hope Asus will be out of stock on my RMA on the SE board. Should have got my shipping email Friday ( actually Thursay but I like to add 1 day to wait time ) So Monday I will start my :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:in and chewin and carry on about the long delay with my 3870X2 and toss in a few remarks about jumping ship in hopes of a upgrade. I doubt it will happen but I will try.
Lol. Goodluck on that. Someone is offering me cherry picked Rampage Extreme for a very attractive price, it's got me very confused since I'll have to get DDR3 ram too. Choices, choices.... :shakes:

[The Nemesis]

I am also pleased with the Maximus II Formula :)


http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/8219/20hrsprime38ghz135vgs4.jpg

[zlojack]

So it seems like the Rampage or the MIIF are really good for FSB.

Thing is, with the Rampage Extreme, you sure won't be bottlenecked by the RAM.

[trt740]

So it seems like the Rampage or the MIIF are really good for FSB.

Thing is, with the Rampage Extreme, you sure won't be bottlenecked by the RAM.

There is almost zero performance increase using DDR3 other than benchmarking. Most current chips cannot utilize the bandwith that DDR2 provides, when the big N is realeased, that will change but for now DDR3 is a waste.n Also if intel releases a 775 chip with a memory controller that could change things aswell.

[zlojack]

There is almost zero performance increase using DDR3 . Most current chips cannot utilize the bandwith that DDR2 provides, when the big N is realeased, that will change but for now DDR3 is a waste.

I hear you and agree.

I just meant that when you oc the FSB, you get to a point where DDR2 can't go any higher.

[Grnfinger]

I hear you and agree.

I just meant that when you oc the FSB, you get to a point where DDR2 can't go any higher.

How is the 8600 comming along? I have been through 2 of them so far and I'm not overly impressed with it. My E8400 did 4.4 as you well know and I was hoping a 8600 would yeild a 5.0GHz 24/7 system. Well my 2 chips wont.

If I can get a DDR3 board for an upgrade with Asus I will be a happy boy.
I have alot of ddr2 here that could be sold off for a ddr3 kit.
In reference to the MIIF vs the Maximus X38 regarding ram bottle neck.
GSkill PC8500 2X2GB sticks

Maximus X38 required 2.2volts for 1080MHz and would not go a drop higher without errors.

MIIF requires 2.1volts for 1103MHz and 1133Mhz with 2.2volts and they might go a tad higher with some timing tweaking.


Mushkin XP2-8500
MIIF requires 2.1 volts for 1255MHz:shocked:
and I'm still trying to find the limit, this is running 5-5-5-15 dram static enabled and trans booster to stronger

[zlojack]

How is the 8600 comming along? I have been through 2 of them so far and I'm not overly impressed with it. My E8400 did 4.4 as you well know and I was hoping a 8600 would yeild a 5.0GHz 24/7 system. Well my 2 chips wont.

If I can get a DDR3 board for an upgrade with Asus I will be a happy boy.
I have alot of ddr2 here that could be sold off for a ddr3 kit.
In reference to the MIIF vs the Maximus X38 regarding ram bottle neck.
GSkill PC8500 2X2GB sticks

Maximus X38 required 2.2volts for 1080MHz and would not go a drop higher without errors.

MIIF requires 2.1volts for 1103MHz and 1133Mhz with 2.2volts and they might go a tad higher with some timing tweaking.


Mushkin XP2-8500
MIIF requires 2.1 volts for 1255MHz:shocked:
and I'm still trying to find the limit, this is running 5-5-5-15 dram static enabled and trans booster to stronger

Well, the first E8600 I had I returned because it clocked like crap and had stuck sensors. The one I have now is a bit better. I could never get 4.4GHz out of the E8400...it wouldn't get stable. I had 4.3 at 1.41v and on this E8600 I've got 4.4 at 1.34v so far, though I'm still tweaking.

I'm curious to try out a new motherboard and see what it can do with this RAM and E8600, but at the same time, I'm not sure if it's worth dumping more money into a motherboard for a very minor difference in performance.

[KRich]

So, between a Maximus II Formula and Rampage Formula, what would the best overclocking choice be for an E8600? My Maximus Formula w/ Rampage Formula BIOS is very difficult to stabalize above 440 FSB, yet the chip is good for 4.4GHz with just 1.275V so I know it has got more in it and I think the motherboard is holding it back.

[Grnfinger]

So, between a Maximus II Formula and Rampage Formula, what would the best overclocking choice be for an E8600? My Maximus Formula w/ Rampage Formula BIOS is very difficult to stabalize above 440 FSB, yet the chip is good for 4.4GHz with just 1.275V so I know it has got more in it and I think the motherboard is holding it back.

Both boards would be excellent choices

On the Maximus x38 my Q9550 would not post past 425FSB on any multi.
On the MIIF it will not only post but is benchable up to 501FSB on any multi.

I dont own the Rampage X48 but Zucker2k does and he also owns the E8600
on the 7.5 multi he runs a nice 560FSB

[KRich]

Both boards would be excellent choices

On the Maximus x38 my Q9550 would not post past 425FSB on any multi.
On the MIIF it will not only post but is benchable up to 501FSB on any multi.

I dont own the Rampage X48 but Zucker2k does and he also owns the E8600
on the 7.5 multi he runs a nice 560FSB

Thanks buddy :up:

I guess then that overall, both would not hold the chip back, but the Rampage Formula would probably allow the maximum FSB using a lower multiplier.

The Maximus II Formula has got some nifty new stuff though and it looks like the BIOS has got more features too.

[RCG_Bex]

My PC hates me again. *sigh*

5GHz no more CPU ERROR on LCD but sometimes boots, other times not. 4.8GHz hates me as well now so on 4.6GHz atm but even that's went a bit funny..... :(

~Bex

[Grnfinger]

My PC hates me again. *sigh*

5GHz no more CPU ERROR on LCD but sometimes boots, other times not. 4.8GHz hates me as well now so on 4.6GHz atm but even that's went a bit funny..... :(

~Bex

Whats your GTL's at?
I had 4.1GHz pass linpack 10 loop test twice then it would fail after that.
Adjusted GTL's only and it passing 20 loops 3 times, going to prime it now

[Zucker2k]

My PC hates me again. *sigh*

5GHz no more CPU ERROR on LCD but sometimes boots, other times not. 4.8GHz hates me as well now so on 4.6GHz atm but even that's went a bit funny..... :(

~Bex

Unless you live in an incredibly cold room and can maintain all your temps close to 10C, it'll be next to impossible to run that chip that high 24/7. 4.5Ghz is doable, but even that depends a ot on cooling.

[The Nemesis]

Hey Zucker2k, what was the max FSB you could run your Q9450 on the Rampage Formula? Still can't get 500FSB stable but this Maximus II is an early production board with the A2 chipset. I'll probably try the E8400 in it just to see where it tops out. I'm guess 550FSB.

[Zucker2k]

Hey Zucker2k, what was the max FSB you could run your Q9450 on the Rampage Formula? Still can't get 500FSB stable but this Maximus II is an early production board with the A2 chipset. I'll probably try the E8400 in it just to see where it tops out. I'm guess 550FSB.

It topped out at 495 for benches. Highest I've run a E8400 on MF is 6x560. Your particular chip and board should make all the difference. No reason why you shouldn't be able to run 580ish+ max.

[The Nemesis]

It topped out at 495 for benches. Highest I've run a E8400 on MF is 6x560. Your particular chip and board should make all the difference. No reason why you shouldn't be able to run 580ish+ max.


Thanks, I guess I'll pass on the Rampage then. My chip topped out @ 495FSB for benching on the P5E VM HDMI & Maximus II. Kinda dissapointing since it does 3.8GHz @ 1.35v & can probably go lower.

[RCG_Bex]

Whats your GTL's at?
I had 4.1GHz pass linpack 10 loop test twice then it would fail after that.
Adjusted GTL's only and it passing 20 loops 3 times, going to prime it now

.65 n .67

Back on 4.8GHz (still testing) but it needed more voltages than last time...

~Bex

[The Nemesis]

RCG_Bex what are your vtt & pll voltages set at? Seems as though your cpu is degrading due to overvoltage in one of those area's.

[Nuckin_Futs]

Anybody have a bad or weird expeiience w/ flashing to new BIOS v1207? I did as usual via AFUDOS ES version and it booted once to ask for F1/F2 choice and of corse I chose F1 to enter and lookaround and load defaults and it never booted again. It is hanging on DET_ROM and sometimes displays ROM ERR. What happened.

Thankx!

EDIT: I had to use older rev OCZ Plats to get her going again and then drop my Crucials back in and set RAM spd and times manually as last time. So far, so good for now.

Oh yes, cause I know how hard it is for some to click the stand by button and check, I did it, I always do it, & it actually works again in BIOS v1207 in 1:1 and 1:2 as of now. I will test on my usual 5:6 tomorrow.

[The Nemesis]

Anybody have a bad or weird expeiience w/ flashing to new BIOS v1207? I did as usual via AFUDOS ES version and it booted once to ask for F1/F2 choice and of corse I chose F1 to enter and lookaround and load defaults and it never booted again. It is hanging on DET_ROM and sometimes displays ROM ERR. What happened.

Thankx!

Looks as though the memory adjustments made to bios doesn't agree with your micron based memory. Do you have any other memory you can boot with? If not, you'll have to try with one stick. If not successful clr cmos remove battery and let it sit for awhile. It will boot after this but use one stick go into bios do not choose 400 strap, choose 333 or auto.

[Nuckin_Futs]

Looks as though the memory adjustments made to bios doesn't agree with your micron based memory. Do you have any other memory you can boot with? If not, you'll have to try with one stick. If not successful clr cmos remove battery and let it sit for awhile. It will boot after this but use one stick go into bios do not choose 400 strap, choose 333 or auto.

That's exactly what I ended up doing from remembering of last time. I had to leave battery out for over 10mins and used my older OCZ Platinums w/ different ic's and it let me get the F1 for set up and I was good to go. I didn't have to touch voltages, I just fixed DRAM spd and rimings to defaults, manually.

Thankx.

That asside, it already feels like a better BIOS then my previous BETA v1004. S3 "Stand By" (Sleep) actuallly works in at least 1:1 or 1:2. Anybody else have good results to share? I will try to get some time to test in the days to come.

[Moto450]

My Crucial Ballistix Tracer 8500's don't like this MB at all, I'm back to my OCZ 8500's and it works great. If I put the Crucial Ballistix back in I get Det Error everytime now with the new Rampage BIOS, so I just run it with the OCZ and it seems to work great.

[RCG_Bex]

RCG_Bex what are your vtt & pll voltages set at? Seems as though your cpu is degrading due to overvoltage in one of those area's.

That's what I wondered... :shakes:

Used to be 1.5v v-core (1.48v real), 1.56v PLL (1.65v real) - I tried to get it stable but it wouldn't or went funny, so I just jumped back down to running at 4.5GHz which it's fine at. No degrading there as far as I know.

What I have noticed though is that it's running hotter... ~3c more lately without a higher ambient

~Bex

[EDIT] Just jumped back over to 266 strap, took my PLL back to 1.5, v-core down to 1.48v, nb 1.49, termination 1.4, 0.63x and 0.67x. Booted at 4.7GHz alot happier but I get fatal errors in prime :(

My CPU / board seems to have this funny thing that if there's a tiny but too much over it freaks out - so I'll try tweaking from here again

[zlojack]

Maximus X38 required 2.2volts for 1080MHz and would not go a drop higher without errors.

MIIF requires 2.1volts for 1103MHz and 1133Mhz with 2.2volts and they might go a tad higher with some timing tweaking.


Mushkin XP2-8500
MIIF requires 2.1 volts for 1255MHz:shocked:
and I'm still trying to find the limit, this is running 5-5-5-15 dram static enabled and trans booster to stronger
What PL do you run for 1255?

[MGreg]

I've got a q9650 and maximus formula.
I have tried all the maximus formula and rampage formula bios' trying to find one that will let me get higher then 435FSB, but no luck , regardless of my settings or voltage (tried upto 1.75v nb)

Any tricks to 45nm quads? My q6600 g0 did 460 48 hours prime95 with this same board.
I've gone though any suggestions I could find in this thread incase it would help. Is it normal to get stuck so low on a 45nm quad? Think I'd run into same issue with an actual rampage formula?

[The Nemesis]

I've got a q9650 and maximus formula.
I have tried all the maximus formula and rampage formula bios' trying to find one that will let me get higher then 435FSB, but no luck , regardless of my settings or voltage (tried upto 1.75v nb)

Any tricks to 45nm quads? My q6600 g0 did 460 48 hours prime95 with this same board.
Otherwise I am looking for a new board.

x38's and most P35's top out @ 435-450 for 45nm quads. I've used several boards from different chipsets same results. Some boards couldn't reach 475 to bench others were prime stable @ 475. If your after a certain clock speed and aren't benching memory bandwith intensive stuff go P45. If you are go x48 but you may top out @ 450-480FSB with 45nm quad. X38 I wouldn't pair with a quad, and most p35 boards were terrible except abit IP35 Pro.

[MGreg]

:D thanks, glad the rampage should allow me to get higher speeds, really want 4Ghz :ROTF: and the 16x 16x will help so I can add another 4870x2.
Now to find a rampage extreme in canada

[Grnfinger]

:D thanks, glad the rampage should allow me to get higher speeds, really want 4Ghz :ROTF: and the 16x 16x will help so I can add another 4870x2.
Now to find a rampage extreme in canada

I had the same problem, 425FSB was max on Maximus X38 bought a MIIF and hit 500FSB easy

[zlojack]

My board is not liking high FSB even on a dual. I'm getting the urge for something different after almost a year with this board.

~490-500ish then good luck even getting into Windows...

I'm thinking I'm going to either grab a real Rampage Formula, a MIIF or splurge and go for a RE. But I also want to get a 4870 X2, so sticking with DDR2 might be a better move.

Zucker, what's your Rampage good for 24/7 on FSB?

[Zucker2k]

Zucker, what's your Rampage good for 24/7 on FSB?

I'm running two setups interchangeably; 7.5x560 (4.2Ghz) and 8x550 (4.4Ghz).

What bios version are you running? I've found that setting A/B skews to +300, DRAM Static Control = Disabled, and Clock Twister to AUTO can help a lot. You may want to give that a shot. Also, leave cpupll at 1.50v.

[zlojack]

I'm running bios 410 (just installed today, actually) after finding 0408 to be fussy.

550 x 8 sounds like a pretty nice setup, as does 560x7.5

My board would not like that FSB, for sure. It won't even post past the SETUP with FSB higher than 510, never mind for 24/7 operation.

[Grnfinger]

I'm running bios 410 (just installed today, actually) after finding 0408 to be fussy.

550 x 8 sounds like a pretty nice setup, as does 560x7.5

My board would not like that FSB, for sure. It won't even post past the SETUP with FSB higher than 510, never mind for 24/7 operation.

I think you need a new board :bounces:

You know you want one, Canada Computers has a MIIF in stock atm:yepp:
Now the Rampage Xtreme is a nice board if you have a spare kindney in exchange.

JUMP JUMP JUMP

[Zucker2k]

I think you need a new board :bounces:

You know you want one, Canada Computers has a MIIF in stock atm:yepp:
Now the Rampage Xtreme is a nice board if you have a spare kindney in exchange.

JUMP JUMP JUMP

Grn leave jack alone... hehe.

[Barr3l Rid3r]

Gonna get an E0 8400 this week and then I tell u guys..

[zlojack]

I think you need a new board :bounces:

You know you want one, Canada Computers has a MIIF in stock atm:yepp:
Now the Rampage Xtreme is a nice board if you have a spare kindney in exchange.

JUMP JUMP JUMP

I hear ya... I'm back and forth on it. I really think the RE is a bit much, especially given the fact I'd have to spring for RAM as well, but it sure is tempting.

As for the MIIF, it's pretty awesome, but I want to see a few more results on the whole 16x vs. 8x PCIE issue (other than TweakTown), especially since I'll probably end up with 2 4870 X2's in there are some point.


Grn leave jack alone... hehe.

Hehe... peer pressure :D

[The Nemesis]

I've found that setting A/B skews to +300, DRAM Static Control = Disabled, and Clock Twister to AUTO can help a lot. You may want to give that a shot. Also, leave cpupll at 1.50v.

Hmmm wonder if this will work on MFII. My Maximus -> Rampage is back in box for the moment. The MFII wouldn't prime @ 488FSB but when I set everything to auto it primed for a half hour. I stopped it because auto set the PLL to 1.78v. When I get home from work I'll try this and see if I can get 488FSB to pass a few hours of prime.

[Zucker2k]

I'm trying to see what kinda bandwidth these G.Skill sticks are capable of... DDR2 1160 (1:1), 8x580, PL9.

[RCG_Bex]

Ok I think I have a problem here. My CPU kept getting 1 core stuck at 100% - took it back down to 4GHz and I've noticed it likes to hover at ~50-60% on each core now constantly. Im guessing its the CPU that's fecked but any chance that it's my board? Also hows the new BIOS?

~Bex

[kwalker]

Ok I think I have a problem here. My CPU kept getting 1 core stuck at 100% - took it back down to 4GHz and I've noticed it likes to hover at ~50-60% on each core now constantly. Im guessing its the CPU that's fecked but any chance that it's my board? Also hows the new BIOS?

~Bex

Sounds more like your operating system freaked out.
Probably scrambled the swap file and windows is looking for everything :D
hope the cpu didnt freek out

[Zucker2k]

Ok I think I have a problem here. My CPU kept getting 1 core stuck at 100% - took it back down to 4GHz and I've noticed it likes to hover at ~50-60% on each core now constantly. Im guessing its the CPU that's fecked but any chance that it's my board? Also hows the new BIOS?

~Bex

have you checked in task manager to see if a resource is using it? maybe explorer?

[The Nemesis]

Ok I think I have a problem here. My CPU kept getting 1 core stuck at 100% - took it back down to 4GHz and I've noticed it likes to hover at ~50-60% on each core now constantly. Im guessing its the CPU that's fecked but any chance that it's my board? Also hows the new BIOS?

~Bex

What's your cpu configuration in bios? TM & C1E. Could be thermal throttling if cpu is hotter than the sensors are saying. If you have another board or os mirrored on another drive I think I'd move the cpu or restore a previous OS clone before I did anymore overclocking. You need to get the the root of the issue or determine if theres a problem with your hardware before things get worse.

[RCG_Bex]

Ok, everything is back at default settings running stock after it crashed and loaded out 1 core at 100% again trying to play tf2 at 4GHz (it had been running prime alright)

Will let you know how it goes. I hope it's just windows cause I did get boot errors a wee while back trying to overclock past 4.8Ghz (.dll's etc)

~Bex

[The Nemesis]

Ok, everything is back at default settings running stock after it crashed and loaded out 1 core at 100% again trying to play tf2 at 4GHz (it had been running prime alright)

Will let you know how it goes. I hope it's just windows cause I did get boot errors a wee while back trying to overclock past 4.8Ghz (.dll's etc)

~Bex

Hmm, have you been overclocking the PCI-e bus too? YOu may have corrupted the os a bit.

[RCG_Bex]

110 - didn't think that was particularly high though.... Out of TF2 at stock - 1 core always hit 100% :(

~Bex

[The Nemesis]

My MFII won't boot with 2 X 4850's @ 110. And my Maximus Formula->Rampage would sometimes act wierd with it @ 110 unitl I lowered it back to 100. With the BFG 280GTX I could never duplicate the problem. Seems some ATI cards don't like the high PCI-e clocks. As for the one cpu being maxed for tfII I'm not very familar with that game but if it doesn't have native support for multi core (Quad Core) cpus then I would think that was normal.

[RCG_Bex]

Well that was everything at stock, so PCI-e was 100. I had vga boot errors earlier when it wasn't raised. TF2 has muilti core support whch you could see whas active but as I say, it would suddenly shoot up and get stuck at 100% or cause my PC to randomly reboot.

*sigh* I really don't want to re-install again just yet, want a good stable OC before I put my SSD in :(

~Bex

[les_paulde]

As for the MIIF, it's pretty awesome, but I want to see a few more results on the whole 16x vs. 8x PCIE issue (other than TweakTown), especially since I'll probably end up with 2 4870 X2's in there are some point.

You could check here (http://www.madshrimps.be/vbulletin/f22/crossfire-performance-intel-x48-vs-p45-vs-x38-vs-p35-45871/), this guy's compiled a small collection of results. Might help ya out a lil bit... :)

[zlojack]

Thanks for that les paulde!

[les_paulde]

No problem! I was quite shocked myself when I was deciding which mobo to get to see how much of a difference it actually makes, if you're gonna add another 4870X2 I would certainly choose the x48 chipset. I must say that I am extremely happy with my x48 P5E deluxe which now runs as a rampage and would therefore highly recommend it, especially due to its price, or would you not even consider this board?

[Zucker2k]

I'll be getting my rampage from rma in two weeks if anyone is interested. Of course, it'll be cheap - $200.00 + shipping.

[HDPC]

hi,

Anyone with similar hardware configurations or like to give me a hand to get to 3.6GHz with the following hardware:

Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q9450 "Yorkfield" + Thermalright Ultra 120
Mobo: Asus Rampage Formula (Bios 408)
Memory: G.SKILL DDR2-1000 PC2-8000 8GB (4x2GB)
Video Card: ASUS Radeon HD 3870 X2
Sound Card: X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB SATA2
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 30"
Case: Lian Li
PSU: Corsair HX620
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

I replaced my NB/SB and mosfets with Thermalright HR series. So I am hoping the cooling is good now.

Thanks in advanced,

-hdpc

[Zucker2k]

hi,

Anyone with similar hardware configurations or like to give me a hand to get to 3.6GHz with the following hardware:

Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q9450 "Yorkfield" + Thermalright Ultra 120
Mobo: Asus Rampage Formula (Bios 408)
Memory: G.SKILL DDR2-1000 PC2-8000 8GB (4x2GB)
Video Card: ASUS Radeon HD 3870 X2
Sound Card: X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB SATA2
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 30"
Case: Lian Li
PSU: Corsair HX620
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

I replaced my NB/SB and mosfets with Thermalright HR series. So I am hoping the cooling is good now.

Thanks in advanced,

-hdpc
1. Flash to bios 0308
2. Set 8x450 on the 333 strap, set PL to 7
3 set everything to bone stock (manually), adjust cpu vcore as needed.
4. advance channel A/B skews to +300

See if this boots. Work your way from there.

[vikings]

Hi, in my pc in sign , I can't choose different memory profile (#1 or#2).
I read manul of my maximus and I saw that in Ai overclock tuner it's possible choose two different memory profile:

profile#1 (high performance)
profile#2(high frequency)

but when I set super memory profile ,I get only profile#2.
Why?
I tried with 1102 and 1207 bios version

[Grnfinger]

hi,

Anyone with similar hardware configurations or like to give me a hand to get to 3.6GHz with the following hardware:

Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q9450 "Yorkfield" + Thermalright Ultra 120
Mobo: Asus Rampage Formula (Bios 408)
Memory: G.SKILL DDR2-1000 PC2-8000 8GB (4x2GB)
Video Card: ASUS Radeon HD 3870 X2
Sound Card: X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB SATA2
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 30"
Case: Lian Li
PSU: Corsair HX620
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

I replaced my NB/SB and mosfets with Thermalright HR series. So I am hoping the cooling is good now.

Thanks in advanced,

-hdpc

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 110
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1080

CLOCK SKEW advanced 250ps both channels

DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 55
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 8
Write to Read Delay (S) : 3
Write to Read Delay (D) : 5
Read to Read Delay (S) : 4
Read to Read Delay (D) : 6
Write to Write Delay (S) : 4
Write to Write Delay (D) : 6

Write to PRE Delay : 14
Read to PRE Delay : 5
PRE to PRE Delay : 1
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : 5
ALL PRE to REF Delay : 5

DRAM Static Read Control: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : Manual

Common Performance Level [7]

Pull-In of CHA PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH5 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH5 Disabled

CPU Voltage : (1.32 actual)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.60
North Bridge Voltage : 1.51
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.22
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.65X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

Stable setup on bios 308 running a Q9550, you might have to adjust cpu volts

[HDPC]

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 110
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1080

CLOCK SKEW advanced 250ps both channels

DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 55
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 8
Write to Read Delay (S) : 3
Write to Read Delay (D) : 5
Read to Read Delay (S) : 4
Read to Read Delay (D) : 6
Write to Write Delay (S) : 4
Write to Write Delay (D) : 6

Write to PRE Delay : 14
Read to PRE Delay : 5
PRE to PRE Delay : 1
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : 5
ALL PRE to REF Delay : 5

DRAM Static Read Control: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : Manual

Common Performance Level [7]

Pull-In of CHA PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH5 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH5 Disabled

CPU Voltage : (1.32 actual)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.60
North Bridge Voltage : 1.51
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.22
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.65X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

Stable setup on bios 308 running a Q9550, you might have to adjust cpu volts



Thanks Grnfinger. I let you know how it goes.

-hdpc

[HDPC]

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 110
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1080

CLOCK SKEW advanced 250ps both channels

DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 55
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 8
Write to Read Delay (S) : 3
Write to Read Delay (D) : 5
Read to Read Delay (S) : 4
Read to Read Delay (D) : 6
Write to Write Delay (S) : 4
Write to Write Delay (D) : 6

Write to PRE Delay : 14
Read to PRE Delay : 5
PRE to PRE Delay : 1
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : 5
ALL PRE to REF Delay : 5

DRAM Static Read Control: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : Manual

Common Performance Level [7]

Pull-In of CHA PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH5 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH5 Disabled

CPU Voltage : (1.32 actual)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.60
North Bridge Voltage : 1.51
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.22
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.65X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

Stable setup on bios 308 running a Q9550, you might have to adjust cpu volts


Hi again Grnfinger,

I get BSOD during boot up, I guess when it about to start the OS.

-hdpc

[askimo]

Can somebody tell me what would be the best pair of 2gb of RAM to be used with the P5E mobo? I currently have 1gb x 4 and I'm thinking it is holding me back.

[NLight95]

That's because the G. SKills are using psc chips which will run up to 1100MHz easily on 2.0v-2.1v. They also hate voltages. Anything over 2.1v-2.2v and they turn to crap. Trouble is there are two revisions of the psc chips. Rev A & B. One will do around 1130 2.0v the other requires 2.1v just to get 1066 stable and doesn't clock as high. There's an indeth review on 4GB kits being done over @ Andantech. This info came from the author. All the testing is not complete yet but he spoke highly of those G. SKill & a Patriot kit.

I haven't had any issues with the G.Skill (my previous Crucial Tracers gave me endless headaches). I really like the fact that I can just boot with the stock voltage.

Didn't know there were two revisions. Thanks for the tip.I must have rev A.

[NLight95]

x38's and most P35's top out @ 435-450 for 45nm quads. I've used several boards from different chipsets same results. Some boards couldn't reach 475 to bench others were prime stable @ 475. If your after a certain clock speed and aren't benching memory bandwith intensive stuff go P45. If you are go x48 but you may top out @ 450-480FSB with 45nm quad. X38 I wouldn't pair with a quad, and most p35 boards were terrible except abit IP35 Pro.

What is generally the peak for 45nm dual cores and an X38? I'm thinking about upping my FSB for some more memory bandwidth. Also, what kind of nb and fsb term voltage would, say, a 500FSB require?

[JCGhz]

Hey Grnfinger.. does your Maximus II overclock better then your MF/Rampage board did?

I dont just mean FSB I mean all around.. ie(stable at lower vcore higher clock.. etc)

Thanks in advance:)

[NLight95]

You could check here (http://www.madshrimps.be/vbulletin/f22/crossfire-performance-intel-x48-vs-p45-vs-x38-vs-p35-45871/), this guy's compiled a small collection of results. Might help ya out a lil bit... :)

I wonder if the rampage bios yields better xfire performance on the maximus than the maximus bios.

[NLight95]

Can somebody tell me what would be the best pair of 2gb of RAM to be used with the P5E mobo? I currently have 1gb x 4 and I'm thinking it is holding me back.

You can also consider 2x2GB since DDR2 is so cheap. Many here have had good luck with G.Skill

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

[Grnfinger]

Hey Grnfinger.. does your Maximus II overclock better then your MF/Rampage board did?

I dont just mean FSB I mean all around.. ie(stable at lower vcore higher clock.. etc)

Thanks in advance:)

Everything is lower, PLL, FSBT, NB, even ram volts are lower on the MIIF compared to the Maximus X38 , Asus just shipped my Maximus back today so I hope to run some head to head comparisons when I get it back.

[Grnfinger]

Hi again Grnfinger,

I get BSOD during boot up, I guess when it about to start the OS.

-hdpc

Run the ram 1:1 and a higher PL maybe 9, nad bump the NB volts to 1.55
you may need more vcore as well

[chawks2]

Has anyone tried the E8400 E0 stepping on this board? I would imagine similar success would be found as E8500/E8600. Mine should be coming shortly, will post my results.

[askimo]

You can also consider 2x2GB since DDR2 is so cheap. Many here have had good luck with G.Skill

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

It seems that G.Skill has a good reputation. What about the 2x2gb Corsair Dominator ddr2 8500?

[zlojack]

I can give a big thumbs up to the Corsair.

[Grnfinger]

It seems that G.Skill has a good reputation. What about the 2x2gb Corsair Dominator ddr2 8500?

Dominators will clock higher than GSkill
So will Mushkin XP2-8500

[HDPC]

Run the ram 1:1 and a higher PL maybe 9, nad bump the NB volts to 1.55
you may need more vcore as well

Hi Grnfinger and Zucker2K,
I am getting DET RAM on my LCD. I've am using bios 0308. Thanks for your help.

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 110
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1080

CLOCK SKEW advanced 250ps both channels

DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 55
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 8
Write to Read Delay (S) : 3
Write to Read Delay (D) : 5
Read to Read Delay (S) : 4
Read to Read Delay (D) : 6
Write to Write Delay (S) : 4
Write to Write Delay (D) : 6

Write to PRE Delay : 14
Read to PRE Delay : 5
PRE to PRE Delay : 1
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : 5
ALL PRE to REF Delay : 5

DRAM Static Read Control: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : Manual

Common Performance Level [7] <-----I've tried 9 as well

Pull-In of CHA PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH5 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH5 Disabled

CPU Voltage : 1.318 <---I've also bumped this up a bit
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.60
North Bridge Voltage : 1.51
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.22
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.65X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

[Zucker2k]

Hi Grnfinger and Zucker2K,
I am getting DET RAM on my LCD. I've am using bios 0308. Thanks for your help.

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 110
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-900 Not eeryone of these rams is stable at 1080 (or you'll need 2.20v)

CLOCK SKEW advanced 300ps both channels

DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : Set Auto for 52
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 8
Write to Read Delay (S) : 3
Write to Read Delay (D) : 5
Read to Read Delay (S) : 4
Read to Read Delay (D) : 6
Write to Write Delay (S) : 4
Write to Write Delay (D) : 6

Write to PRE Delay : 14
Read to PRE Delay : 5
PRE to PRE Delay : 1
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : 6
ALL PRE to REF Delay : 6

DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
Ai Clock Twister : Auto
Transaction Booster : Manual

Common Performance Level 8 - 7, if you revert to 1080

Pull-In of CHA PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH5 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH5 Disabled

CPU Voltage : 1.318 <---I've also bumped this up a bit
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.25 (raise it 1 notch after every boot failure)
DRAM Voltage : 1.80v (900) or 2.14v for 1080
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.20 (raise it one notch after every failure, but go to NB first, this should only come after first trying to boot with 2 notches up on NB)
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : Auto
North Bridge GTL Reference : Auto
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

Try this, remember, it very important not to touch PLL; only raise vtt after going 2 notches on NB and failing to post or boot successfully into windows. Goodluck.

[Barr3l Rid3r]

Try this, remember, it very important not to touch PLL; only raise vtt after going 2 notches on NB and failing to post or boot successfully into windows. Goodluck.

Funny, what made u guys think that g.skill DDR1000 can handle 1080 w/ PL 7 or 8? that easy, Here I maxed out at 1060Mhz PL 9 2.00v


E8400 E0

http://i37.tinypic.com/ifbf9d.jpg


http://i36.tinypic.com/25ambzs.jpg



Thermaltak Big typhoon Lapped + Enermax 120mm @ 2100rpm

Zalman VF1000 + 2x 80x80x15mm Slim Ball-Bearing Fan

[HDPC]

Try this, remember, it very important not to touch PLL; only raise vtt after going 2 notches on NB and failing to post or boot successfully into windows. Goodluck.

Thanks for the reply Zucker2k,

I've set everything the way you suggested with the following:
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.25
DRAM Voltage : 1.80v
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.20

I am getting a INIT ROM on the lcd and the monitor has a cursor blinking, not going anywhere. I can't even get into the bios anymore. After I hit Delete and it is the same state.

I am stuck :p:

Do I have to reflashed the bios?

I won't do anything until I hear back from you guys. Thanks.

-hdpc

[Zucker2k]

Thanks for the reply Zucker2k,

I've set everything the way you suggested with the following:
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.25
DRAM Voltage : 1.80v
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.20

I am getting a INIT ROM on the lcd and the monitor has a cursor blinking, not going anywhere. I can't even get into the bios anymore. After I hit Delete and it is the same state.

I am stuck :p:

Do I have to reflashed the bios?

I won't do anything until I hear back from you guys. Thanks.

-hdpc

Unplug the power, wait i minute and turn the computer back on.

Edit: Bump NB to 1.35v

[HDPC]

Unplug the power, wait i minute and turn the computer back on.

Edit: Bump NB to 1.35v

Thanks again Zucker2k.

I am still getting BSOD with:
North Bridge Voltage : 1.25 --> 1.27 --> 1.29
DRAM Voltage : 1.80v
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.20 --> 1.22 -->1.24

:(

Any more suggestions Zucker2k?

-hdpc

[HDPC]

Unplug the power, wait i minute and turn the computer back on.

Edit: Bump NB to 1.35v

Yeah Setting NB to 1.35v does boot. I am in Windows now. Thanks...

Time for some priming. :D

Thanks Zucker2K.

[loften]

does anyone have the entire maximus se heat pipe contraption they want to get rid of ? i don't have mine anymore, i think it got tossed out and i need to rma my board.

[ZenEffect]

Dominators will clock higher than GSkill
So will Mushkin XP2-8500

mushkin ftw
glad to see you hopped on board. :D
now test your new max(imus) fsb!

[Grnfinger]

Funny, what made u guys think that g.skill DDR1000 can handle 1080 w/ PL 7 or 8? that easy, Here I maxed out at 1060Mhz PL 9 2.00v


E8400 E0





Thermaltak Big typhoon Lapped + Enermax 120mm @ 2100rpm

Zalman VF1000 + 2x 80x80x15mm Slim Ball-Bearing Fan


That would be because mine run at 1103MHz 5-5-5-15 Dram static enabled
Clock Twister stronger PL7 @ 2.1 volts stable all day long.



mushkin ftw
glad to see you hopped on board. :D
now test your new max(imus) fsb!
There a really nice kit hit 1250MHz not stable tho, need to tweak them.
Might head over to there forum for some information on the dimms, see what others have got for a 24/7 setup.

[Barr3l Rid3r]

That would be because mine run at 1103MHz 5-5-5-15 Dram static enabled
Clock Twister stronger PL7 @ 2.1 volts stable all day long.



There a really nice kit hit 1250MHz not stable tho, need to tweak them.
Might head over to there forum for some information on the dimms, see what others have got for a 24/7 setup.

yours is DDR1066Mhz not DDR1000Mhz.

[Zucker2k]

yours is DDR1066Mhz not DDR1000Mhz.

Give it up, you'll lose this argument. NEVER use your experience as a yardstick.

Now which one is more difficult, taking 8GB of the G.Skill 1000s to 1066 (533 FSB), 1:1, PL9; or running 4GB of the same ram @ 1080 (450 FSB), 5:6, PL7 or 8?

[Barr3l Rid3r]

Give it up, you'll lose this argument. NEVER use your experience as a yardstick.

Now which one is more difficult, taking 8GB of the G.Skill 1000s to 1066 (533 FSB), 1:1, PL9; or running 4GB of the same ram @ 1080 (450 FSB), 5:6, PL7 or 8?

G. Skill DDR1000 have different Chips then DDR1066Mhz, there is even some differents chips among DDR1066 itselfs.... well I tested 3 kts of G. Skill DDR1000 2x 2gb and they were all about the same, less the 1100Mhz and all PL9, and them don't respond to higher voltages eighter. Just a little bit better then DDR800 2x 2gb kit wich could easily reach 1000Mhz but hardly pass that.

[RCG_Bex]

Well my E8600 hates me. Non of my prime stable OC's work without bumping up the volts. Putting her to rest. My partner can have her in his LAN cube.

I just bagged myself a QX9650 at an awesome price :D

~Bex

[ZenEffect]

There a really nice kit hit 1250MHz not stable tho, need to tweak them.
Might head over to there forum for some information on the dimms, see what others have got for a 24/7 setup.

mushkin support is really good. especially that mofo greg. my hp kit i can hit 1250 plus with ease, and 1200 cas4 pl5 with pullins benchable so im confident that a few tweaks and you should be up and FLYING. :up:


Give it up, you'll lose this argument. NEVER use your experience as a yardstick.

Now which one is more difficult, taking 8GB of the G.Skill 1000s to 1066 (533 FSB), 1:1, PL9; or running 4GB of the same ram @ 1080 (450 FSB), 5:6, PL7 or 8?

what on earth are you using 8 gigs for (not flaming, just curious... those numbers are quite impressive for the amount of ram you are using)

[Zucker2k]

what on earth are you using 8 gigs for (not flaming, just curious... those numbers are quite impressive for the amount of ram you are using)
I was curious; jumped on the bandwagon... IT IS the way of the future, though I don't know how Nehalem is going to play out with the tri-channel DDR3, but we'll see soon enough.

[zlojack]

I had 8GB for a while (running at 1133GHz or thereabouts) but I found that my RAM use never went over 4GB, so I sold a pair of the sticks when I was in a cash crunch.

[OVERK|LL]

My little Crucial 667 sticks would do 1133 at 2.0V, thanks to some info from somebody on here. I had no idea until I tried it.

[Talonman]

I can't help myself. I just am not ready to part with my Maximus and the waterblocks I collected. Yes the X58 SLI boards are sexy, but apon long reflection, I won't be jumping board at this time...

Insted in rebellion, I've decided to make final decission on the QX9650 or QX9770. I really think I am going to click buy this time... :p:

With my ram, would the QX9770 give me much extra performance over a QX9650?
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145

Do you have any opinion about if the Maximus does better with one or the other processor?

Currently the QX9770 on Newegg is $1,469.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115051

The QX9650 is $999.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115034

Do you think the QX9770 is worth $470.00 more in performance on the Maximus running DDR2 ram?

Any opinions would be appreachiated. :up:

[zlojack]

Don't do it Talonman...your Q6600 at 3.825 is awesome.

If you really want to get one of the new quads, maybe the Q9650.

Also, when I looked at the P6T shots that were posted not too long ago, it kind of looks like the EK Asus blocks might still fit it.
http://xtupload.com/imgageoutput.php?i=284&img=mb723ohp.jpg (http://xtupload.com)

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2008/05/first-look-asus-p5q3-maximus-ii-formula/overview.jpg

It could be that it's not going to work, but so far the X38, P45 and X48 boards have all had pretty much the same layout and hole config and the block can work on all of them. I know it's a new socket, but the rest of the layout looks pretty close. You never know...but I would wait and see. Plus, if you spend a grand on a CPU, you'll probably only see a couple hundred MHz improvement in clock speed over what you've already got. (Just my :2cents:)
Here's a link to another huge photo of it.
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2008/08/asus-p6t-deluxe-next-generation-x58-motherb/P6T-Deluxe_supper.jpg

[Talonman]

Really... I still can get 3.8GHz on my Q6600 like it's free.

I was hoping the new quads were a big step up in performance.

They are in price. ;)

If my NB Block did fit, it may sway me a bit more toward a new mobo...
I would love an intel SLI mobo.

My 8GB of DDR2 ram would be trash...

The CPU block would be out for sure correct?

I feel like I would have to almost junk my current PC. That's the part that made me want to just throw some crazy money at a monster CPU insted. If it gave me a huge performance increase, it would be much quicker, and mabey even cheeper in the long run than x58? :p:

If I make the jump, I need a new mobo, DDR3 ram, processor, and a new CPU block at a minimum. That is what makes the new quads look better to me price wise, with me just buying a new QX CPU, and using my Maximus. I do value your opinion though...
Do you think I woud be a bit disappointed for the money, over what I can do with my Q6600?

My Q6600 @ 3.8GHz and an OC'ed single 280=P14K in Vantage.
What would an OC'ed QX9650 or QX9770 and an OC'ed single 280 score in Vantage?

[zlojack]

I don't know...a quad at 3.8 is going to do you just fine for a long time.

I would wait, if I were you. $1,000-$1,500 is a lot to pay for 200-400 MHz

Trust me, I've been through this and now I've learned my lesson (to a certain extent :D)

Your system is pretty rockin'...

[Talonman]

Thanks...

Mabey I wait a bit more on the new CPU...

[Grnfinger]

Thanks...

Mabey I wait a bit more on the new CPU...

Save your cash
I have spent alot lately on 2 E8600's and a Q9550.
8600 was not much better than my 8400 I sold and 9550 is sweet chip but really it was not worth the 200 bucks for a few hundred mhz.
upgrading the GPU was my best decision even if it took almost 2 months for me to finally get to use it.

[Talonman]

Unless you have a unique board or Q9450, the maximus formula is not a good match for that chip. That is if your after more than 3400MHz prime stable. My board topped out @ 435 bootable. Same chip benchmarks @ 495FSB in a different board. I have a maximus II on the way now. This board is a dream for a QX9650. I bench mine @ 410 x 11 PL5:D

Do you still feel the QX chips do better than the Q's in the Maximus Formula?

Do you think there would be much of a performance increase for me if I am already running a Q6600 @ 3.8GHz?

I keep going back and forth in my mind, if this would be a good upgrade for me... :shrug:

[zlojack]

Thanks...

Mabey I wait a bit more on the new CPU...
Yeah...I think you're gonna be fine. Don't get caught up in the fever. Listen to Grnfinger...

I did the same thing last year. I went through several chips as I always get curious and want to try something new. Earlier this year I had a sweet E8400 that did 4GHz on 1.31v which I probably should have just kept :p:

Now my E8600 is great, but I've decided to spend my cash on other stuff for a while.


Save your cash
I have spent alot lately on 2 E8600's and a Q9550.
8600 was not much better than my 8400 I sold and 9550 is sweet chip but really it was not worth the 200 bucks for a few hundred mhz.
upgrading the GPU was my best decision even if it took almost 2 months for me to finally get to use it.
Yeah, that was too bad. Glad to see it worked out for the good, though.

How's your MF RMA going? Any news?

BTW, your chip has now moved on to another new home :D

[Grnfinger]

My board is in the mail, I hope to have this week.
It will be interesting doing a head to head.

[Talonman]

OK...

I guess the next jump for me would be an X58 board, and new CPU at the same time.

Thanks again guys. You just saved me a grand. :p:

[RCG_Bex]

My QX9650 arrived today (I blagged 1 for £300! - rrp is £750 here), best BIOS for overclocking it? :D

~Bex

[zlojack]

OK...

I guess the next jump for me would be an X58 board, and new CPU at the same time.

Thanks again guys. You just saved me a grand. :p:

Smart choice.

You'd notice the difference for some benchmarks, but for most use it would be a minimal difference at best. Not worth a grand. Your Q6600 is one of the sweet ones at 3.8 plus you've got it dialed in and the memory is doing well. Plus your GPU is flying... overall...you've got a heck of a rig.

[The Nemesis]

Do you still feel the QX chips do better than the Q's in the Maximus Formula?

Do you think there would be much of a performance increase for me if I am already running a Q6600 @ 3.8GHz?

I keep going back and forth in my mind, if this would be a good upgrade for me... :shrug:

The QX chips are best for this board due to unlocked multiplier. This only matters for benchmarkers who whant to run PL5 DDR2-1200 @insane speeds. I bench my QX chip @ 4.5GHZ 410FSB PL5 DDR2-1233. Unless you're a benchmarker 3.8GHz with a q6600 is a nice overclock. U'd need to hit 4.2+ to see a noticeable difference for typical use. The only reason I can think of to upgrade cpu's is If I was after an E0 stepping dual that can reach 4.5GHz @ 1.35v or so. E8400 E0 steppings are $149 or so and nice upgrades for some but 3.8GHZ quad still scores more than 4.4GHz dual in 3DMark 06.

[weirkved]

hi ther.
i think that my maximus formula is a little strange from yesterday.

In last 1 year i used my qx6800 4.2ghz daily (420fsb).
From one month till some days ago i used my E8500 4.5ghz daily (455fsb).

In last days i think that something strange happens to my Maximus Formula.
Now i can' go up from 356FBS, its very strange.. its certain from motherboard because i lowered the multiplier of cpu to 8 and still doesn't POST!

I tried this config, a config that i used to save on oc profile as "Safe prefile"

356MHZ FSB
1.35V CPU
1.52V CPU PLL
1.45V N.B
1.84V RAM
1.36V FSB


Now this config DOESN'T POST!

Currently i'm with Rampage Formula Bios 410, but i have already tried all the others including the maximus formula bioses and still cant run anymore.

I confess that i gived some little extra boost in northbridge and FSB voltages for daily use ( like 1.65v and 1.50v), do you think that i fcked up the board?

Help me please! Thanks

[Grnfinger]

hi ther.
i think that my maximus formula is a little strange from yesterday.

In last 1 year i used my qx6800 4.2ghz daily (420fsb).
From one month till some days ago i used my E8500 4.5ghz daily (455fsb).

In last days i think that something strange happens to my Maximus Formula.
Now i can' go up from 356FBS, its very strange.. its certain from motherboard because i lowered the multiplier of cpu to 8 and still doesn't POST!

I tried this config, a config that i used to save on oc profile as "Safe prefile"

356MHZ FSB
1.35V CPU
1.52V CPU PLL
1.45V N.B
1.84V RAM
1.36V FSB


Now this config DOESN'T POST!

Currently i'm with Rampage Formula Bios 410, but i have already tried all the others including the maximus formula bioses and still cant run anymore.

I confess that i gived some little extra boost in northbridge and FSB voltages for daily use ( like 1.65v and 1.50v), do you think that i fcked up the board?

Help me please! Thanks

1.65 NB volts for daily use is a tad xtreme
my suggestion is to clear cmos and set all values again manually, dont use a saved profile.

[weirkved]

1.65 NB volts for daily use is a tad xtreme
my suggestion is to clear cmos and set all values again manually, dont use a saved profile.

yeah i have did that..

Only putted the configs that i marked above :(

[OVERK|LL]

Does it post AT ALL?

[weirkved]

with more than 356FSB now it DOESN'S post, stays DET DRAM...

[Grnfinger]

with more than 356FSB now it DOESN'S post, stays DET DRAM...

DET DRAM is a incorrect PL setting.
post your bios setup and current hardware

[Kiwi76]

I have a few questions.

I got this board new back in December/January with an E8400. It booted right up (good thing since it's my first socket775 system) and it shipped with BIOS 0602. I recently tried the latest BIOS (1207 or something), but I could not overclock with it. I made sure the settings were all default before flashing, and I flashed twice to make sure nothing went bugged with the first, and it didn't fix anything. I could adjust voltages and timings and anything else, but if I adjusted the FSB, it did not stick and kept resetting to 333MHz after a reboot. Since I saw no difference in the BIOS, I reverted back to 0602 to be able to overclock again for now, and since reverting I have been able to. It's really not a big deal to me since I saw no difference between the two, but does anyone know what that was about?

Secondly, what advantages does flashing to the Rampage BIOS bring? I know the X38 and X48 are all but literally the same thing, but since so many people have flashed to the Rampage's BIOS, is it superior? I've read through the majority of this thread and some things many times over, so I may have missed it, but there's alot of information here.

Also, the Northbridge on my board runs fairly warm (~45C idle to ~53C load). I did the whole thing of removing the cooling (with a hairdryer) and replacing the stock paste with Arctic Silver 5, but it hardly helped (most people seemed to claim it should pretty much guarantee ~10C drops). Temperatures dropped maybe a degree or two, and there is a small 40mm fan on the Southbridge. It's only getting ~1.4V (450MHz FSB). Some responses earlier seem to say this is warm, while some others seem to say they are fine at ~60C, and a post linking to the Intel documents showed they were fine up to somewhere in the 90C range, and I think 85C if running at 1600MHz FSB. I find 85C and higher to be hard to believe, but the documents do state it. Mine didn't drop even after doing away with the stock cement and using thermal paste, so is it running too warm? Should I be concerned?

[Grnfinger]

WOO WHO! :bounces:

My Maximus X38 just arrived today from RMA!!!!!!!
It will be fun doing a head to head against the MIIF
Both Q9550 and E8600, altho I already know the Q9550 results

[ZenEffect]

WOO WHO! :bounces:

My Maximus X38 just arrived today from RMA!!!!!!!
It will be fun doing a head to head against the MIIF
Both Q9550 and E8600, altho I already know the Q9550 results

im very interested to see the results. i have a sneaking suspicion that the new board will be capable of 550 plus fsb. ;)

[N3it1]

Yeh post some results from the Maximus Formula.I tried to flash my formula to rampage but it kept complaining about invalid this and that.
Also tips for my no-go Q9300 would be appreciated and some decent bios version.

[Moto450]

Use Koda's BIOS Flash tool and force flash it to Rampage ;) This Tool rocks and is real easy to cross Flash your BIOS, here the link here grab the newset version on this page. Sorry can't help with the cpu your running but others can.


http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=186538&page=6

[N3it1]

Cheers.Got the Bios in but other problems occurred cause of that. Installed Rampage 403 Bios to my X38 Maximus Formula > No cpu vcore or fsb options after that.
edit: With Bios 408 its the same...rather useless when i cant overclock at all with this "megasuper" bios.

[OVERK|LL]

Then perhaps you've done something wrong? The Rampage BIOS adds a PILE of features........

[N3it1]

Ye i figured out that also but what i can do wrong when i flash it with the Kodakey and it says succesfull?
I mean hell...i did all by the book sort of speak.Those features just magically disappeared.And i got no clue what bios to try if i flash it back to normal X38 Formula bios since they all suck.
I did the force flash and it said it was ok.Next thing i know i cant even overclock.I doubt it helps if i clear cmos or remove the battery.

[koda]

did you choose Rampage Formula ?

(silly question but who knows ? Not Rampage extreme ?)
Edit : ok ... i'm stupid 403 408 are only Formula ones ;)

[N3it1]

Works now.Got no clue why tho,i just was in rage and pushed new bioses in and after a while it worked.

[Moto450]

Clearing BIOS allways seems to help, pulling the battery, pushing the on button and letting it sit for a while works on these ASUS MB's I have found.
Glad you got it back up and running.

[icecpu]

My system sometime restart (BSOD)
I tested prime95 small FFTs and blend and memtest2.1 everything stable more than 3.5 hours .
I can't figureout what is the problem, please give advise, thanks

here is the setting:

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : Auto
CPU Ratio Setting : 9
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
FSB Frequency : 470
PCIE Frequency : 110
DRAM Frequency : DDR2-1128
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A : Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B : Auto
DRAM Timing Control : Manual
Cas# Latency : 5
Ras# to Cas# Delay : 5
Ras# Pre Time : 5
Ras# Act Time : 15
DRAM Stactic Read Control : Auto
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Ai Transaction Booster : Manual
Common Performance Level : 07
Pull-In of CHA : (all Disabled)
CPU Voltage : 1.275
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.57
DRAM Voltage : 2.06
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.26
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.50
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Voltage Reference : 0.63x
NB GTL Voltage Reference : 0.67x
DRAM Controller Voltage REF : DDR2_REF
DRAM Channel A Voltage REF : Auto
DRAM Channel B Voltage REF : Auto
CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

[Futastic]

My system sometime restart (BSOD)
I tested prime95 small FFTs and blend and memtest2.1 everything stable more than 3.5 hours .
I can't figureout what is the problem, please give advise, thanks

here is the setting:

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : Auto
CPU Ratio Setting : 9
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
FSB Frequency : 470
PCIE Frequency : 110
DRAM Frequency : DDR2-1128
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A : Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B : Auto
DRAM Timing Control : Manual
Cas# Latency : 5
Ras# to Cas# Delay : 5
Ras# Pre Time : 5
Ras# Act Time : 15
DRAM Stactic Read Control : Auto
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Ai Transaction Booster : Manual
Common Performance Level : 07
Pull-In of CHA : (all Disabled)
CPU Voltage : 1.275
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.57
DRAM Voltage : 2.06
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.26
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.50
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Voltage Reference : 0.63x
NB GTL Voltage Reference : 0.67x
DRAM Controller Voltage REF : DDR2_REF
DRAM Channel A Voltage REF : Auto
DRAM Channel B Voltage REF : Auto
CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Try upping your CPU voltage.

[Grnfinger]

My system sometime restart (BSOD)
I tested prime95 small FFTs and blend and memtest2.1 everything stable more than 3.5 hours .
I can't figureout what is the problem, please give advise, thanks



Do you know what the BSOD msg is?
Your vcore does look alittle low for that clock, but I would think it should fail prime.
Run linpack and see if it passes, run a 10 loop test, 5 sometimes will not show an error. If it passes I dunno maybe start looking at your PSU?
But I would run linpack first.

[zlojack]

I'm going to be saying farewell to this board soon.

My first true overclocking board :D

Next up...Rampage Extreme:up:

[Grnfinger]

I'm going to be saying farewell to this board soon.

My first true overclocking board :D

Next up...Rampage Extreme:up:

you win the lottery?
or did you sell a kidney,
I have the Maximus X38 up, (posting on it now)
The E8600 is on air ( gotta true cooling it ) my AC is set to a frosty 60c to help push the chip.
It will be an interesting evening.

[Futastic]

you win the lottery?
or did you sell a kidney,
I have the Maximus X38 up, (posting on it now)
The E8600 is on air ( gotta true cooling it ) my AC is set to a frosty 60c to help push the chip.
It will be an interesting evening.

60c? Holy crap didn't know AC can go that high...or did you mean 60f?

[Grnfinger]

60c? Holy crap didn't know AC can go that high...or did you mean 60f?

errr thanks yes I meant 60F, its been a long day

first run no tweaking, just used old 8400 settings

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/firstrun.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/4500-1.jpg

[icecpu]

Do you know what the BSOD msg is?
Your vcore does look alittle low for that clock, but I would think it should fail prime.
Run linpack and see if it passes, run a 10 loop test, 5 sometimes will not show an error. If it passes I dunno maybe start looking at your PSU?
But I would run linpack first.


I never use linpack for testing, and I don't know what it is. I always use prime95 for stability testing, I'll give it a try and up the vcore like Futastic said.

The BSOD is just blue screen and lots of white word I can't read anything because it flash quickly and then restart

EDIT : just ran linpack and it passed 5 loop

[Grnfinger]

Q9550
Max X38 3.6GHz
My max FSB with MAximus X38 is 425 on any multi, best I could do was 425x8.5


http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/9550_1.jpg


Q9550
Max II P45 3.6GHz

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/miif_3600.png

3.825GHz

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/Stable_3825.jpg

3.9GHz

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/3900_everst.png

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/linpack_3900.jpg

So looks like the Maximus X38 is gettting slightly better bandwidth but I'm sure I can correct this with some ram tweaks but didnt do any tweaks.
MIIF is the clear winner with 45nm quads it will bench up to 4.2GHz but wanted to post only STABLE settings

Next is E8600
We will start with an easy 4.0GHz and work up from there.

[Cold Storm]

Wow man. that's looking good... Glad to see the baby is up and running for ya. Then seeing if the Max. II board is any better

[Grnfinger]

E8600
Maximus X38
2x2GB Mushkin XP2-8500

4.0GHZ

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/test1_40.png

4.2GHZ

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/test2_42.png

4.5GHZ 1080MHz ram

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/test3_45_1080.png

4.5GHz 1200MHz ram :up:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/4500-1.jpg

E8600
Maximus II P45
2x2GB Mushkin XP2-8500

4.0GHz

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/test1_40_MIIF.png

4.2GHz

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/test2_42_MIIF.png

4.5GHz 1080MHz ram

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/test2_45_MIIF_1.png

1200MHz would not post no matter what I tried

[Scooby]

Great Grnfinger, can you share your bios settings for your 4.2Ghz, 4.5Ghz and 4.5Ghz/Ram up?

Would like to try them out...TH;)

[Grnfinger]

Great Grnfinger, can you share your bios settings for your 4.2Ghz, 4.5Ghz and 4.5Ghz/Ram up?

Would like to try them out...TH;)

Sure
Will post them up shortly.

One thing I would like to point out is the MIIF requires less volts for same clocks, even ram required less volts.
PLL, VTT and NB all were alot less on the P45 board, temps were cooler on the P45 as well.

[Anuaja]

Nice compare Grnfinger :up:

Worth or not, upgrade from maximus to maximus II ?

This is my maximus rampage :D

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/252/45gigdualpi32m1wu0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/1017/e860045ghzyy6.png (http://imageshack.us)

[Zucker2k]

That's an interesting wall on that MF, Grnfinger. I still think x48 is hard to beat; you fellas better get RF while supplies last.... lol, I know, I sound like an Asus pr person.

Rampage Formula, 0308
Q9550, vid. 1.2500
2x2GB G.Skills @ 1129Mhz 2.10v
Windows Vista x64, SP1
Ambient temps , 23-25c (73-78f)

Here's an hour of p95 blend... I've primed this chip at 4080Ghz, and have seen temps hit 90c with IBT test. This chip is surely a keeper. Highest FSB tested stable is 390 @ 8x390. I haven't tested higher.

[zlojack]

you win the lottery?
or did you sell a kidney,


Birthday money FTW :D

[Zucker2k]

Birthday money FTW :D

Hmmm, where's mine been going? Oh, that'll be * x 35 :yepp:

[Grnfinger]

That's an interesting wall on that MF, Grnfinger. I still think x48 is hard to beat; you fellas better get RF while supplies last.... lol, I know, I sound like an Asus pr person.

Rampage Formula, 0308
Q9550, vid. 1.2500
2x2GB G.Skills @ 1129Mhz 2.10v
Windows Vista x64, SP1
Ambient temps , 23-25c (73-78f)

Here's an hour of p95 blend... I've primed this chip at 4080Ghz, and have seen temps hit 90c with IBT test. This chip is surely a keeper. Highest FSB tested stable is 390 @ 8x390. I haven't tested higher.

I've got a Rampage on order, hope to have it this week.
trying a modded bios from Ket for the MIIF in a few mins in hopes of better bandwidth.


Birthday money FTW :D

:bday:

[zlojack]

I've got a Rampage on order, hope to have it this week.
trying a modded bios from Ket for the MIIF in a few mins in hopes of better bandwidth.



:bday:

Thanks man:up:

[Barr3l Rid3r]

http://i34.tinypic.com/4gkocn.jpg




HD4850 @840/2000Mhz 1.32v 42ºC Full Load

[les_paulde]

Hi everyone,

After having been ripped off by Crucial for some new revision Crucial Ballistix Tracers PC8500 (single-sided crappy sticks :down:, stay away from these!!) without being informed of the change beforehand, I decided to get rid of my older 2x1024mb kit as well, and completely swap over to the G-Skill F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK sticks. They arrived saturday morning, and I've been trying to get them to run stably at least at their rated speed of 1066mhz, but have been failing miserably. I was hoping somebody could tell me what settings I should change to obtain a higher memory frequency? I'm running a P5E Deluxe (x48) rampaged with 0401. I've posted a screen shot with my mem timings @ 519Mhz, which I luckily managed to get prime stable, but I still wouldn't mind climbing higher, especially considering a lot of people here seem to have great results with them... :D My bios voltages are as follows (read by Everest):

FSB VTT: 1.50v
NB core: 1.52v
SB core: 1.07v
SB PLL: 1.54v

and I've been needing to set the DRAM voltage to 2.2v in the bios to get them to run stable, any lower and I get hundreds of memtest86 errors in no time...:shrug:

Thanks alot for any suggestions in advance!

http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq211/les_paulde/3737mhzprime_stable.jpg

[maN1C]

How far is it "safe" to push vcore on a Q9550?

It is well cooled and stays below 60C under load, with 1,4 V running through it. I'm trying to push FSB beyond 440 in a Maximus Formula 1207 BIOS

:-O

[Grnfinger]

Hi everyone,

After having been ripped off by Crucial for some new revision Crucial Ballistix Tracers PC8500 (single-sided crappy sticks :down:, stay away from these!!) without being informed of the change beforehand, I decided to get rid of my older 2x1024mb kit as well, and completely swap over to the G-Skill F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK sticks. They arrived saturday morning, and I've been trying to get them to run stably at least at their rated speed of 1066mhz, but have been failing miserably. I was hoping somebody could tell me what settings I should change to obtain a higher memory frequency? I'm running a P5E Deluxe (x48) rampaged with 0401. I've posted a screen shot with my mem timings @ 519Mhz, which I luckily managed to get prime stable, but I still wouldn't mind climbing higher, especially considering a lot of people here seem to have great results with them... :D My bios voltages are as follows (read by Everest):

FSB VTT: 1.50v
NB core: 1.52v
SB core: 1.07v
SB PLL: 1.54v

and I've been needing to set the DRAM voltage to 2.22v in the bios to get them to run stable, any lower and I get hundreds of memtest86 errors in no time...:shrug:

Thanks alot for any suggestions in advance!




Advance clock skew 300PS
and get trfc off auto and set 55 this should allow the ram to run at 2.1 volts as high as 1100MHZ, after that you might need a drop or two more dram volts

[Zucker2k]

Yes, vcore is quite high, but that's how this little chip likes it...this thing belongs in a server; high temps don't bother it. I think its a rebadged xeon chip :p: I'll enable C1E and EIST so the chip can relax at idle.

My G.Skills seem to be maxed out @ 1158Mhz; I don't want to go above 2.20v, even with a 80mm fan blowing on them.

Screenies:

[les_paulde]

Advance clock skew 300PS
and get trfc off auto and set 55 this should allow the ram to run at 2.1 volts as high as 1100MHZ, after that you might need a drop or two more dram volts

Thanks grnfinger, I'm trying this as we speak. I had the skew only at 250 so that might definitely make a difference. When you say 2.1 volts, does this include the correction for the Rampage's overvolting or should I reach 2.1v when checking under Everest?

What about settings like DRAM static read control, AI clock twister and the transaction booster (PL)? Right now i have them on disable, lighter and set to 11, but am not sure if this is the right way forward?

thanks again for your help! :)

EDIT: system still keeps crashing, also using bios versions 0308, 0401 and 0408. Even using the official P5E Deluxe bios 0501 and 0502 does not result in a stable system, although the memory is clearly listed on Asus' QVL for this board... I've tried voltages ranging from 2.08v to 2.22v in the bios, and I also tried tRFC at 60 but unfortunately all to no avail.

Does anybody have any ideas what else I could try?

[Grnfinger]

Yes, vcore is quite high, but that's how this little chip likes it...this thing belongs in a server; high temps don't bother it. I think its a rebadged xeon chip :p: I'll enable C1E and EIST so the chip can relax at idle.

My G.Skills seem to be maxed out @ 1158Mhz; I don't want to go above 2.20v, even with a 80mm fan blowing on them.

Screenies:

I've been trying to get 4.0GHz stable for some time now.
I didnt pump the volts you did in to my chip tho. You think 1.45 is a safe 24/ amount?
best I did was 1.5 hour run at 1.40 volts b4 1 core crapped out. Not sure if the GSkills will run at 1132 anyways

[Zucker2k]

I've been trying to get 4.0GHz stable for some time now.
I didnt pump the volts you did in to my chip tho. You think 1.45 is a safe 24/ amount?
best I did was 1.5 hour run at 1.40 volts b4 1 core crapped out. Not sure if the GSkills will run at 1132 anyways

I think this chip could do 1.60v 24/7. It just needs the volts. I can tell it will go higher because it'll prime at higher temps than in the ss. Also, my ambient temps haven't been the greatest. If I could get 60f in here, I could feed it more volts and maybe loosen up rams a bit, it's currently doing 1158Mhz @ PL7.

About your 1.45v 24/7 question, I think if you're already doing 1.40v, the extra .05v isn't going to do any harm. These quads are less voltage sensitive than the duals, it seems. I think plls are what you should look for. I never touch the plls (1.50v) when I'm overclocking 45nm chips. Also, fsbt is reasonable enough, and I've run way higher fsbt volts in the past without breaking anything.

I was in the MIIF thread and read a lot of unhappy posts; seems the P5Q Deluxe is doing better than the ROG board. :shakes:

[Zucker2k]

Thanks grnfinger, I'm trying this as we speak. I had the skew only at 250 so that might definitely make a difference. When you say 2.1 volts, does this include the correction for the Rampage's overvolting or should I reach 2.1v when checking under Everest?

What about settings like DRAM static read control, AI clock twister and the transaction booster (PL)? Right now i have them on disable, lighter and set to 11, but am not sure if this is the right way forward?

thanks again for your help! :)

EDIT: system still keeps crashing, also using bios versions 0308, 0401 and 0408. Even using the official P5E Deluxe bios 0501 and 0502 does not result in a stable system, although the memory is clearly listed on Asus' QVL for this board... I've tried voltages ranging from 2.08v to 2.22v in the bios, and I also tried tRFC at 60 but unfortunately all to no avail.

Does anybody have any ideas what else I could try?Try going back to RF 0308 bios.

I have a suspicion your cpu could be the culprit. This memory should do that frequency without sweat.

You're so close to 1.60v @ only 1.38Ghz? I also think your fsbt is too much, at only 415 fsb. set it at 1.36v (should be even lower). Disable dram static read control, and set clock twister to auto. set ram to 1.94v (2.00v real) in bios; not any higher until you're certain ram volts are your problem; these sticks are voltage sensitive. Set pll to 1.60v real. manually set PL to 6, if you fail, 7. Goodluck.

Don't forget to advance clock skews to 300 as have been suggested.

[steve30x]

Can anyone tell me what is the highest temp for a Q6600 that is safe? Would 70 celcius be too high. I am getting 60 celcius with 3.6ghz and would like to try and push a bit more but I dont want the CPU to get too hot.

[Grnfinger]

I think this chip could do 1.60v 24/7. It just needs the volts. I can tell it will go higher because it'll prime at higher temps than in the ss. Also, my ambient temps haven't been the greatest. If I could get 60f in here, I could feed it more volts and maybe loosen up rams a bit, it's currently doing 1158Mhz @ PL7.

About your 1.45v 24/7 question, I think if you're already doing 1.40v, the extra .05v isn't going to do any harm. These quads are less voltage sensitive than the duals, it seems. I think plls are what you should look for. I never touch the plls (1.50v) when I'm overclocking 45nm chips. Also, fsbt is reasonable enough, and I've run way higher fsbt volts in the past without breaking anything.

I was in the MIIF thread and read a lot of unhappy posts; seems the P5Q Deluxe is doing better than the ROG board. :shakes:

I am a little disapointed with teh board , I expected alittle more from such a hefty $$ board.
I have a Rampage comming this week if it performs better than the P45 the MIIF is gone to ebay. Seems Asus has dropped the ball on bios support. A board half in price should not be beating the ROG line.
The board is stable and runs cool, has alot of bios options and looks very sweet. To bad they spent more time with eye candy than engineering :shakes:

[zlojack]

The new ROG boards have a lot of potential, but it seems like they're a bit fussy. My RE is very fussy about RAM so far, though I'm really only starting to play with the bios. The fact that I'm back on air cooling temporarily doesn't help either, I'm sure.

[kup]

I am a little disapointed with teh board , I expected alittle more from such a hefty $$ board.
I have a Rampage comming this week if it performs better than the P45 the MIIF is gone to ebay. Seems Asus has dropped the ball on bios support. A board half in price should not be beating the ROG line.
The board is stable and runs cool, has alot of bios options and looks very sweet. To bad they spent more time with eye candy than engineering :shakes:

I'll be eagerly awaiting your verdict because I can't decided between the Rampage or the MIIF...

The 16 Phase CPU Power sounds nice, but does it really offer anything over the Maximus/Rampage...? I'm hoping a well run X48 would overclock as well as a P45...

[les_paulde]

Try going back to RF 0308 bios.

You're so close to 1.60v @ only 1.38Ghz? I also think your fsbt is too much, at only 415 fsb. set it at 1.36v (should be even lower). Disable dram static read control, and set clock twister to auto. set ram to 1.94v (2.00v real) in bios; not any higher until you're certain ram volts are your problem; these sticks are voltage sensitive. Set pll to 1.60v real. manually set PL to 6, if you fail, 7. Goodluck.

Don't forget to advance clock skews to 300 as have been suggested.

Thanks for the suggestions! I had a go at trying out different settings yesterday, but still didn't achieve a stable system at 1066mhz. I changed back to RF0308, and setting the skew at 300 definitely helped the stability, but the Vram at 1.94v would result in my pc not booting up. I think I found a sweet spot at 2.04v in the BIOS, which results in 2.08v in Everest. This will let me run prime blend for hours without fail, but simultaneously running memtest will result in errors after about an hour. So obviously I was still not happy with these results, (although definitely happier thanks to both your suggestions Zucker2k and Grnfinger! :yepp:) so I decided to run a DOS memtest while I was catching up on some sleep at night. This morning, it turns out that 33 errors were generated, but all on just one of the two sticks. I dunno if this is hard proof, but i'm suspecting one of the modules is broken, and I therefore took it out and am currently running another memtest on the supposedly good module, hoping that when I get back from work it will have no errors and I can safely assume one of the modules is broken.

If so, I will post my final stable results after the RMA drag has been completed... Luckily I kept my older Ballistix Tracers which I can use for now, and in the mean time I will have a go at implementing those voltage changes you suggested Zucker2k! :)
cheers!

EDIT: one of the 2 modules was indeed broken, so I returned the package to the shop, hopefully the exchange won't take too long but the single, good-working stick worked flawlessly at 1066mhz, so I know that once I receive the new RAM, this should make my quad fly like anything! :)

[les_paulde]

Can anyone tell me what is the highest temp for a Q6600 that is safe? Would 70 celcius be too high. I am getting 60 celcius with 3.6ghz and would like to try and push a bit more but I dont want the CPU to get too hot.

Personally I like to keep my Q6600 around 65C, just out of longevity concerns. Theoretically, you could run it hotter than this, as long as you're below Tjmax. If u really wanna know how far you can push it, try out RealTemp, which will tell you your distance to TJmax- as long as this is at least 20 degrees C, I think its safe to assume your CPU won't melt down.

Also, I'd say that 70C at full Prime95 small ffts is actually still alright, even under my 65C rule, as normal use (even while gaming) will never ever be able to fully load your cpu as prime95 is...

[RCG_Bex]

God damn, feeling pretty poo. I need more RAM. (my photo res's are so high they're crashing my PC hen I flick through them lol)

So anyone want to recomend me some DDR2 4GB min - to be overclocking a QX9650 4GHz+

Currently using Adata Extrem 1200's which I had running as high as 1400mhz :D

~Bex

[RCG_Bex]

Please excuse the double post! But on a side note - played qith my QX9650 a little... Results speak for them selves - 1st time right off the bat with a 266 strap :D

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb22/Elemental-Dragon/QX96504GHz-128v.jpg

Adata Extreme 1200 running @ 1203MHz :)

Obviously I doubt it's prime stable but who knows. So far runs fine. Think I need to tweak the NB voltages though... Will tweak it in the morning... My first quadcore so should be fun learning new voltages :)

~Bex

[MaXXimus]

Curious... using 1201 BIOS and wondered since its listed only as BETA within ASUS's download section if any other version may have a better track record? Or possibly do the Rampage Conversion? Thoughts?

[zlojack]

Curious... using 1201 BIOS and wondered since its listed only as BETA within ASUS's download section if any other version may have a better track record? Or possibly do the Rampage Conversion? Thoughts?

I really liked the Rampage conversion and the extra options and bandwidth I was able to squeeze out of my RAM.

[MaXXimus]

Well that sounds like a good deal, appreciate the reply... now of course I know one persons experience is always going to differ from another when dealing with this kind of hardware, so... anyone else care to share their personal experience, so I can narrow down what Im going to do?

[zlojack]

What RAM have you got? CPU? That would be helpful as maybe those with similar hardware could give you an idea of what to expect.

[MaXXimus]

QX9650 and Dominator 1066 2X2Gig.

[zlojack]

Then I can definitely say that I had the same setup and it worked well.

Here's an old Everest benchmark Performance Level 6 on the Corsairs with a QX9650
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/Corsair1123MHzPL65-5-5-15421FSB8GB2.png

[MaXXimus]

PMed ya zlojack...

[Grnfinger]

Well that sounds like a good deal, appreciate the reply... now of course I know one persons experience is always going to differ from another when dealing with this kind of hardware, so... anyone else care to share their personal experience, so I can narrow down what Im going to do?

Conversion is worth the 3 mins of your time.
It will make the Maximus fly, it yeilds better FSB and lower volts.
I RMA'd my board to Asus with Rampage bios flashed and they sent me a new board so warranty is not an issue.
I would recommend it to anyone with a X38 Maximus.

[MaXXimus]

Very nice... thanks for the feedback and will be my #1 priority when I get up tomorrow to give it a go. Will post back my experience. BTW, I was recommended to use the 0308 BIOS... thoughts on that? I always liek to get more then one opinion.

[Grnfinger]

Very nice... thanks for the feedback and will be my #1 priority when I get up tomorrow to give it a go. Will post back my experience. BTW, I was recommended to use the 0308 BIOS... thoughts on that? I always liek to get more then one opinion.

308 is the best for bandwidth
unless you need E0 support then I would recommend it otherwise 407 is the best to date.

[Barr3l Rid3r]

308 is the best for bandwidth
unless you need E0 support then I would recommend it otherwise 407 is the best to date.


410 is pretty good here.

[RCG_Bex]

Yeah I think I'm going to flahs back from 407 to 308 now that I have my quad. Board's getting pimped out in the next few weeks so hopefully I can get this baby was some flying OC's but I really need to get my hands on some bigger RAM :(

~Bex

[Grnfinger]

My Rampage arrived yesterday.......DOA!

[Zucker2k]

My Rampage arrived yesterday.......DOA!

That's gotta suck; pulled battery and reset bios?

[Grnfinger]

That's gotta suck; pulled battery and reset bios?

No will try the suggestions and see if that works.

had the whole afternoon set aside for tweaking and testing, now what will I do:shrug:

[RCG_Bex]

That actually sucks :(

I really wanna get my MF out and rip the cooler off it but I can't until the rest of my stuff arrives because I need my PC for clan practice and the guest PC isn't up to it :(

~Bex

[MaXXimus]

Ok found time to do the Rampage conversion using RF0308 and all went fine. Problem is that even with all stock settings I got a BSOD within 30 seconds of getting into COD4, the only changes I made within the BIOS were for memory which were exact as within the default bios. I dont know what the deal is here... bum board? bum cpu? I reverted back to the Formula and tinkered a little with the multi and fsb and damned if I can get a stable 3.8 or 4.0 which is suppose to be so easy.

[RCG_Bex]

Sorry to be dumb, but which RAM is it that this board doesn't like. I know it's fussy with the Crucial - is it just the Ballistix? Or is there any others that I should be aware off - I don't recall off the top of my head there being any others that cause an immediate problem...

~Bex

[HousERaT]

Sorry to be dumb, but which RAM is it that this board doesn't like. I know it's fussy with the Crucial - is it just the Ballistix? Or is there any others that I should be aware off - I don't recall off the top of my head there being any others that cause an immediate problem...

~Bex
I've benched on this board with an assortment of D9GMH memory; OCZ, Crucial, & Teamgroup with no problems. I can't speak on the stuff that's out now.

[MaXXimus]

Grrrrrrr... I did 12*333 and upped my vcore to 1.375 and this POS wont even post, I dont understand.

[les_paulde]

Ok found time to do the Rampage conversion using RF0308 and all went fine. Problem is that even with all stock settings I got a BSOD within 30 seconds of getting into COD4, the only changes I made within the BIOS were for memory which were exact as within the default bios. I dont know what the deal is here... bum board? bum cpu? I reverted back to the Formula and tinkered a little with the multi and fsb and damned if I can get a stable 3.8 or 4.0 which is suppose to be so easy.

I had a similar problem with RF0308 and my ballistix tracers pc8500, I could just not for the life of me get them to run stable on this bios. Tried skew, relaxed performance level, tRFC, etc, but nothing would stop the BSODs and crashes. On my P5E deluxe they were rocksolid with all the settings on auto, and only after I flashed 0401 did the ram become stable again. Perhaps this could be an issue your dealing with as well? What memory are you running?

[MaXXimus]

Dominator PC8500... think I should try the 0401? Im not quite sure what to do other then be happy with all stock or toss it out the window.

[Grnfinger]

Ok found time to do the Rampage conversion using RF0308 and all went fine. Problem is that even with all stock settings I got a BSOD within 30 seconds of getting into COD4, the only changes I made within the BIOS were for memory which were exact as within the default bios. I dont know what the deal is here... bum board? bum cpu? I reverted back to the Formula and tinkered a little with the multi and fsb and damned if I can get a stable 3.8 or 4.0 which is suppose to be so easy.

List your hardware.
I have 3 kits of ram and they all play nice on the Maximus. I'm running 407 for E0 support otherwise I would use 308.
Also it dosent hurt to update to the latest chipset drivers.
If your running Raid then the latest Matrix Storage manager is also a benifit.

I found on my conversion that a clean OS install was in order, my machine has some slight issues after the conversion and a re install of Vista was the remedy.

[les_paulde]

the reason i discovered this was that I noticed the difference between the bioses by the stability, and when i checked the different timings using memset, I saw the tREF values were different between the two, and when I set the tREF to 3120 (the one from 0401) using memset and the 0308 bios, it suddenly became stable. I dont know if this was the only thing that made it stable but might be worth a shot i guess.

Also, what about your NB voltage?

[MaXXimus]

List your hardware.
I have 3 kits of ram and they all play nice on the Maximus. I'm running 407 for E0 support otherwise I would use 308.
Also it dosent hurt to update to the latest chipset drivers.
If your running Raid then the latest Matrix Storage manager is also a benifit.

I found on my conversion that a clean OS install was in order, my machine has some slight issues after the conversion and a re install of Vista was the remedy.

Not sure exactly what hardware ya want but here is a complete list...

Mother Board - ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38
Processor - Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz LGA 775 130W Quad-Core
Case - (Self Modified) Lian Li 343B
PSU - Tagan BZ Series 1300W Modular
Memory - (2*2Gig) 4 Gig Corsair Dominator PC8500 DDR2 1066
Hard Drives 4x (2T) Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB
Video Cards - VisionTek Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB
Mouse - Logitech G5 Laser
Mouse Surface - Cyber Sniper Tracer
Keyboard - Saitek Eclipse II
Burners - 2x ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
Card Reader - SUPER TALENT All-in-one USB 2.0 4 Slot
Floppy Drive - SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5"
OS - Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit
Speakers - Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1
Sound Card - Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro
Headset W/Mic - Sound Blaster Fatal1ty Pro
CPU Cooler - Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Cam - Logitech QuickCam AF
Monitor - Gateway HD 22" WS

No RAID installed, I dual boot with XP 32bit and Vista 64bit and its a fresh install of not more then 1 week, also all drivers such as Chipset are latest version.

[MaXXimus]

Also, what about your NB voltage?

I never touched my NB volts when I did the 0308, all I did was the conversion... went into bios and only set my memory to 1066 2N 5-5-5-15 and upped the dram volts to the recommended 2.10 volts and that was it. I booted fine and was messing around a bit talking to some buds on Ventrillo and then started up my COD4 and BSOD... got ticked and converted back to the Formula bios.

Seriously wondering if it the board, because my first Formula I had some help to OC and no issues but my system wasnt in a case yet because the case was out of stock... when it finally came in I had some issues seating my video cards and like a noobstick used a screwdriver to to try and pry it into place and mesed up soem trace... I purchased this mobo then and it just doesnt seem to want to do anything I attempt.

[Grnfinger]

This is a stable setting for Q9550 Corsair Dominators PC8500 Ver 1.2
Using bios 308,
But maybe you should start with the prying on your mobo with a screwdriver first next time.

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 110
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1081
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 30
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 8
Write to Read Delay (S) : 3
Write to Read Delay (D) : 5
Read to Read Delay (S) : 4
Read to Read Delay (D) : 6
Write to Write Delay (S) : 4
Write to Write Delay (D) : 6

Write to PRE Delay : 14
Read to PRE Delay : 5
PRE to PRE Delay : 1
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : 5
ALL PRE to REF Delay : 5

DRAM Static Read Control: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : Manual

Common Performance Level [7]

Pull-In of CHA PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH5 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH5 Disabled

CPU Voltage : whatever your cpu needs
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.35
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.65X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

[Talonman]

Do you guys have a stable setting I could print off for my Maximus SE, that would pritty much garentee my Q6600 booting after the Rampage 308 conversion? It dosen't have to be my 3.8GHz, just good enouigh to re-install my OS and boot. I could fine tune later...

I am going to 380, and I can't afford to not be able to boot up and ask for help if need be...

I am using the Gskills ram that allot of us Maximus boy's are running. :)

[Grnfinger]

Do you guys have a stable setting I could print off for my Maximus SE, that would pritty much garentee my Q6600 booting after the Rampage 308 conversion? It dosen't have to be my 3.8GHz, just good enouigh to re-install my OS and boot. I could fine tune later...

I am going to 380, and I can't afford to not be able to boot up and ask for help if need be...

I am using the Gskills ram that allot of us Maximus boy's are running. :)

Just use my template above and change teh multi to 8.
run 8x450 or 425 and your pretty much safe to boot/install.

[les_paulde]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to get the max stable OC out of my G0 Q6600, but am running into a somewhat strange phenomenon. Currently, I'm 8+ hrs small FFT stable at 3770Mhz, with the following settings:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9
FSB Frequency : 419
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1046
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: AUTO
CAS# Latency : AUTO
RAS# to CAS# Delay : AUTO
RAS# Precharge : AUTO
RAS# ActivateTime : AUTO
RAS# to RAS# Delay : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (D) : AUTO

Write to PRE Delay : AUTO
Read to PRE Delay : AUTO
PRE to PRE Delay : AUTO
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : AUTO
ALL PRE to REF Delay : AUTO

DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
Ai Clock Twister : AUTO
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : 1.58v
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.60
North Bridge Voltage : 1.55
DRAM Voltage : 2.14
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.42
South Bridge Voltage : 1.1
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : AUTO
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Even though my Vcore is quite high, the core temps do not exceed 65C when fully priming, thanks to the H2O system i'm using. The strange thing is that 419Mhz fsb is fully stable, whereas 420mhz tends to crash my PC after about 10-15 mins when priming. It's not like 1 core craps out, no, the whole computer reboots. I've tried upping the PLL, VTT and Vcore voltages a little more, but to no avail, and I've even added a fan to the motherboard's heatpipe assembly, so I doubt it is a temperature issue. Also, my RAM is now fully memtest86+ stable, so I can be pretty sure it's not my RAM. Am I just at the limit of my Q6600 or is there something i'm forgetting? I've read people using the GTL reference setting, but I've not been able to find a description of how to successfully use this setting during overclocking. Anyone has any suggestions, I would really like to make this a solid 3,8Ghz overclock and it just seems weird that 1 extra mhz can make the whole system completely unstable, i would have maybe expected a core crapping out during priming but not a full-on crash... :p:

Thanks for any input!

[Zucker2k]

This is a stable setting for Q9550 Corsair Dominators PC8500 Ver 1.2
Using bios 308,
But maybe you should start with the prying on your mobo with a screwdriver first next time.

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 110
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1081
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 30
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 8
Write to Read Delay (S) : 3
Write to Read Delay (D) : 5
Read to Read Delay (S) : 4
Read to Read Delay (D) : 6
Write to Write Delay (S) : 4
Write to Write Delay (D) : 6

Write to PRE Delay : 14
Read to PRE Delay : 5
PRE to PRE Delay : 1
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : 5
ALL PRE to REF Delay : 5

DRAM Static Read Control: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : Manual

Common Performance Level [7]

Pull-In of CHA PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH5 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH5 Disabled

CPU Voltage : whatever your cpu needs
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.35
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.65X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5Grnfinger, where did you get your Blue Edition Q9550? I want some, it has a 9x multi. :p:

[MaXXimus]

Only Rampage BIOS I could use that was stable at stock is 0410 which is what I am running now. Still trying to get 3.8 stable with not much luck so if anyone can look over my settings and tell me where to go next:

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9.5
FSB Frequency : 400
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1066
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime :15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (D) : AUTO
DRAM Static Read Control: AUTO
Ai Clock Twister : AUTO
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : 1.375
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.55
DRAM Voltage : 2.10
FSB Termination Voltage : AUTO
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : AUTO
CPU GTL Reference : AUTO
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

NB LED Selection : NB Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU VOlt
Voltiminder LED :

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Advanced CPU Configuration
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting :
C1E Suppport : Disabled
CPU TM Function : Disabled
Vanderpool Technology : Disabled
Execute Disable Bit : Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled

[les_paulde]

Have you ruled out your ram as the problem yet? ie. ran a memtest86+ for a night? Otherwise maybe try some suggestions in bold, but for the VTT perhaps you might wanna read this article about killing your chip with too high a voltage, especially VTT: http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=428. Also keep in mind this board likes to overvolt to some extend, you can watch this under 'hardware monitor' in the bios.
Also, maybe only enabling loadline calibration is needed as your Vcore drops under load otherwise, perhaps causing your problems?

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9.5
FSB Frequency : 400
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1066
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime :15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (D) : AUTO
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
Ai Clock Twister : AUTO
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : 1.375
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50 (I read somewhere not to go over 1.6 with 45nm and 1.7 with 65nm, please correct me if I'm wrong)
North Bridge Voltage : 1.55
DRAM Voltage : 2.10
FSB Termination Voltage : Read the posted link
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : AUTO
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

NB LED Selection : NB Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU VOlt
Voltiminder LED :

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Good luck!

[zlojack]

Has that VTT theory ever been corroborated?

[Utnorris]

No, there was no follow up or any investigation as to what caused their chip to die. They just made an educated guess, unfortunetely, this seems to be viewed as a fact on many forums, but no one has shown that VTT voltage is what killed their chip. This has been heavily discussed on several forums, including the Max II thread and the Q9650 thread where NapalmV5 is throwing all types of voltages at his chip and has not killed it and he is on air. However, from what I can gather he does keep the vcore voltage under 1.45v, so maybe that is what can really kill a chip. Personally, I don't understand why all of a sudden VTT voltage would start killing chips just because they are 45nm. There were no issues with any of the previous generations or chipsets with VTT over volting. It has always been the temperatures that were the issue, not the voltages when it came to overclocking. Keep your temps low and add whatever to your chip. This of course is just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Grnfinger]

Grnfinger, where did you get your Blue Edition Q9550? I want some, it has a 9x multi. :p:

Me to :D
I adjusted the multi for his purpose

[MaXXimus]

Have you ruled out your ram as the problem yet? ie. ran a memtest86+ for a night? Otherwise maybe try some suggestions in bold, but for the VTT perhaps you might wanna read this article about killing your chip with too high a voltage, especially VTT: http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=428. Also keep in mind this board likes to overvolt to some extend, you can watch this under 'hardware monitor' in the bios.
Also, maybe only enabling loadline calibration is needed as your Vcore drops under load otherwise, perhaps causing your problems?

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9.5
FSB Frequency : 400
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1066
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime :15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (D) : AUTO
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
Ai Clock Twister : AUTO
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : 1.375
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50 (I read somewhere not to go over 1.6 with 45nm and 1.7 with 65nm, please correct me if I'm wrong)
North Bridge Voltage : 1.55
DRAM Voltage : 2.10
FSB Termination Voltage : Read the posted link
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : AUTO
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

NB LED Selection : NB Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU VOlt
Voltiminder LED :

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Good luck!

Good stuff so far man, thanks a heap... not out of the woods yet but for sure on the way and crossing fingers. I took 1 step at a time and tried Loadline Calibration and no go... kept that enabled and then disabled DRAM Static Read and Prime95 failed again but lasted about a minute. Core 2 is being a pain and was failing within seconds... so again I kept those settings and opted to increase vcore a notch (now 1.38125) and Prime95 is going on 10 minutes without an error... WOOT WOOT.

Is it still typical to have to run Prime for 8+ hrs or? And also... anyone have any thoughts on the Intel Linpack versus Prime95?

[MaXXimus]

Son of a bisket... Core 2 failed yet again at 17 minutes... really hate to dump more vcore into this thing for only a darned 3.8, wouldnt mind if it was for 4.0... whats the maximum safe vcore for 24/7 usage?

[zlojack]

I think you should use both Linpack and Prime/Orthos.

I've had one or the other stable and the other one fail quite a few times.

Also, I tend to agree with utnorris about the VTT. One person kills a chip and puts forth a theory, which gets turned into a fact through rumours.

It's one chip. Who knows what killed it. It's an interesting theory, but not a proven one.

Once I get my WC back up and running on my RE, I'll be pushing my E8600 as high and as hard as it can go, so I guess we'll have another test on that. As Ivan Drago says...if he dies, he dies :D

[MaXXimus]

Termination Voltage upped to 1.35 and now Im Prime95 stable for an hour so I have a couple questions:

1: Whats would you guys consider max for Term Volts?

2: Does raising this value in any way make it possible to lower the vcore?

[Zucker2k]

Termination Voltage upped to 1.35 and now Im Prime95 stable for an hour so I have a couple questions:

1: Whats would you guys consider max for Term Volts?

2: Does raising this value in any way make it possible to lower the vcore?

1. Whatever makes your chip stable
2. Yes

[MaXXimus]

1. Whatever makes your chip stable
2. Yes

Well I guess I will be tinkering tomorrow with vcore... but with settings the way they are I was actually able to pass the Linpack test, only did 5 passes but hell... all my other attempts it only passed 1 outta 5. Good stuff.

[RCG_Bex]

*bashes head* ARGH! I forgot how much 308 hates my RAM!!!

Stupid thing is being a picky git about posting @ 450FSB. It posts, it boots, it BSOD and then DET RAM. Similar for 440. Anyone got some QX settings? Tried tweaking mine again and again but no joy. Had a bash for Grnfingers but my mobo doesn't like them 1 bit - Posts, attempts to boot and black screen of nothingness!

~Bex

[zlojack]

I posted some a while back.

450 can be tough. I ended up going with 421 x 9.5 for 4GHz on my QX9650


Here's what I used:
Bios settings:

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8.5
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 266
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2- 1128
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 60
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 8
Write to Read Delay (S) : 3
Write to Read Delay (D) : 5
Read to Read Delay (S) : 4
Read to Read Delay (D) : 6
Write to Write Delay (S) : 4
Write to Write Delay (D) : 6
Then the extra sub-timings for the Rampage: 14-5-1-6-6
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled(tried Enable no diffrence)
Ai Clock Twister : Moderate/Strong
Performance Level : 7 (I had it at 6 for FSB at 425 + 1133MHz RAM on my QX9650, but for 450 it had to go to 7)
All pull-ins disabled.

These settings were pretty decent and stable, but I hadn't really played with them enough in terms of tightening timings to squeeze a bit more out of the sticks.

[Utnorris]

I posted some a while back.

450 can be tough. I ended up going with 921 x 9.5 for 4GHz on my QX9650

WOW!!! :shocked::shocked: That's an awesome FSB you got there, I think you broke the world record, lol. :rofl:

Utnorris

[zlojack]

WOW!!! :shocked::shocked: That's an awesome FSB you got there, I think you broke the world record, lol. :rofl:

Utnorris

LOL...typo.:ROTF:

Too much wine last night :D

I obviously meant 421 :p:

[westsider]

maximus formula@rampage bios


modded thermalright ifx sli NB and ifx SB


http://www.pic-upload.de/thumb/01.10.08/kb6sy6.jpg (http://www.pic-upload.de/view-1019202/Screen-Snaper-Image.jpg.html)


http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=424850

[ShawnTRD]

Whats the best RF BIOS now a days?

[Grnfinger]

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/47.jpg

[MaXXimus]

Question... I have found my perfect settings for 3.8GHz (Prime95 stable 12+ hrs & 20 passes Linpack), been tinkering with 4.0 - 4.2 and cannot get it stable and was wondering, if I am leaving my FSB speed the same and only changing the multi from 9.5x to 10x would I also need to be upping my FSB volts or should I only be needing to up the vcore?

[RCG_Bex]

GJ Grn - 100mhz more and you'd be on par with my E8600! :D

My Quad's well.. I dunno.... I can do 425, and 400, and I can do 445, but it goes funny.... It sometimes goes black and then on a next power up says DET RAM. :down:

I still need to pick some new RAM.... really, REALLY need 4GB now. RAM usage was 89% today :shock:

~Bex

[Grnfinger]

GJ Grn - 100mhz more and you'd be on par with my E8600! :D

My Quad's well.. I dunno.... I can do 425, and 400, and I can do 445, but it goes funny.... It sometimes goes black and then on a next power up says DET RAM. :down:

I still need to pick some new RAM.... really, REALLY need 4GB now. RAM usage was 89% today :shock:

~Bex

I need a faster kit myself, think my GSkills are maxed

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/MII_4GHZ.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/40_gskill.png
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/20k.jpg

[RCG_Bex]

It's not the speeds that are the problem, it's the ammount. My rams done 1400mhz before! (I nearly died from shock as I spotted it after I booted - forgot to change the ram settings). I did spy some 4GB packs of Geil 1200 but it's pretty damn pricey... Don't think I can afford it unless I hold off until xmas or something :(

~Bex

[les_paulde]

It's not the speeds that are the problem, it's the ammount. My rams done 1400mhz before! (I nearly died from shock as I spotted it after I booted - forgot to change the ram settings). I did spy some 4GB packs of Geil 1200 but it's pretty damn pricey... Don't think I can afford it unless I hold off until xmas or something :(

~Bex

What about the OCZ FLex XLC OCZ2FXT11504GK? They're rated for 1150Mhz at 2.1V, I dunno but it seems that these should hit 1200Mhz as well and only sell for 159EUR here in Holland. (http://www.alternate.nl/html/shop/productDetails.html?artno=ICIELX&)

Just a thought....

[RCG_Bex]

Nah, they're aluminum heatsinks on them as well. Apart from anything OCZ RAM doesn't usually like Asus boards...

~Bex

[Zucker2k]

Nah, they're aluminum heatsinks on them as well. Apart from anything OCZ RAM doesn't usually like Asus boards...

~Bex

Get the G.Skill 8800 (2x2Gb) kit.

[kup]

I just bought the G.Skill F2-PC8500CL5D-PI 2x2GB kit and I'm hitting 1150MHz so far on 2.1v with a lowly Asus P5K-E on bios 1102 @ 5-5-5-15. Amazing ram! Absolutely amazing for the price (£90 @ Memoryc.co.uk).

[Grnfinger]

I just bought the G.Skill F2-PC8500CL5D-PI 2x2GB kit and I'm hitting 1150MHz so far on 2.1v with a lowly Asus P5K-E on bios 1102 @ 5-5-5-15. Amazing ram! Absolutely amazing for the price (£90 @ Memoryc.co.uk).

Would you mind sharing your setting ?
I'm trying to get my GSkills stable at 1130MHz and so far no luck.:shrug:

[kup]

Literally just 5-5-5-15 2T then all other timings on Auto ( I found Auto best for the rest because the bios lacks the fine tuning to match the EPP Profile manually) @ 2.1v. Performance level is 6 on the P5K with 333 Strap, 5:8 I think it works out to be? vPLL and vFSB are both @ lowest, 1.5v and 1.2v respectively (my board doesn't suffer from the overvolting when on the lowest setting in the bios).

I'll be pushing them more when I get my new Rampage Formula next week! :D

EDIT: I just saw from your pic that you're not running the "PI" series ram, maybe that's the difference?

[Grnfinger]

Literally just 5-5-5-15 2T then all other timings on Auto ( I found Auto best for the rest because the bios lacks the fine tuning to match the EPP Profile manually) @ 2.1v. Performance level is 6 on the P5K with 333 Strap, 5:8 I think it works out to be? vPLL and vFSB are both @ lowest, 1.5v and 1.2v respectively (my board doesn't suffer from the overvolting when on the lowest setting in the bios).

I'll be pushing them more when I get my new Rampage Formula next week! :D

EDIT: I just saw from your pic that you're not running the "PI" series ram, maybe that's the difference?

Hmmm perhaps that could be the problem.
I have yet to really tweak them , just ran Memtest Pro with everything maxed and 47 errors.
So I might be better running 1:1 but PL 10 is not to attractive to me.

[zlojack]

Which board is this, Grn?

[Grnfinger]

Which board is this, Grn?

MIIF

My 2x1GB Corsairs will do 1225MHz easy so perhaps there is need to travel tomorrow and spend some more money at CC

[zlojack]

Well, I'm not sure about the MIIF, but I tried G.Skill, Mushkin and OCZ (various models/combos) on my MF and those sticks were the best ones for me. I had over 1100 with 8GB, but I don't know exactly what the settings were.


Here's one of 4GB at 1147MHz
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v391/zlojack/Bios0308StrongtRD743GHz.png

[Grnfinger]

Well, I'm not sure about the MIIF, but I tried G.Skill, Mushkin and OCZ (various models/combos) on my MF and those sticks were the best ones for me. I had over 1100 with 8GB, but I don't know exactly what the settings were.


Here's one of 4GB at 1147MHz


Thanks Jack

Think I might invest in some Dominators this weekend, then I can have a ram sale Monday:ROTF:

[RCG_Bex]

Ok, QX9650 booted @ 4.35GHz but RAM was ~1330MHz with voltage set to 2.26 @ 5-6-6-18 :shock:

:lol: Obviously it didn't last long (long enough to msn someone and then restart the pc myself)- could probably get it stable if I spend some time on it. Back to 4.2GHz with ram @ 1297MHz 5-5-5-18 2.4 for now :)

~Bex

[les_paulde]

Well, yesterday I received my RMA'd kit of the G.Skill F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK (not bad, I must say, within a week :)) so I obviously had to have a go at getting these to run at the same speed as my Ballistix Tracers, namely 1117Mhz..

Started off at 1.94v in the bios with the previously suggested settings (skew, etc.), resulting in a stable rig in memtest at 1066Mhz. Happy as I was that these now finally do run at their rated speed, my initial excitement quickly faded as I noticed that I could not run the sticks any higher than this, despite people's great experience with them here in the forum. I've tried different skew settings, changed Trfc to 55 and even tried with the CPU running at stock. Also upping the voltage to 2.12v real did not allow me to reach any higher speeds, although the errors in memtest did seem to decrease upon increasing the Dram voltage. But I'm a bit weary with upping the voltage on these puppies, how high have people gone before without destroying the sticks?

Also, is there any other setting I could try to get these sticks to run faster, even 1080/1090Mhz I'd be happy with as my Everest benchmark is non too exciting right now, even though I'm on the 0308 Formula bios:

http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq211/les_paulde/3771mhz4Gb.jpg

Thanks again for any ideas! :up:

[Grnfinger]

Well, yesterday I received my RMA'd kit of the G.Skill F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK (not bad, I must say, within a week :)) so I obviously had to have a go at getting these to run at the same speed as my Ballistix Tracers, namely 1117Mhz..

Started off at 1.94v in the bios with the previously suggested settings (skew, etc.), resulting in a stable rig in memtest at 1066Mhz. Happy as I was that these now finally do run at their rated speed, my initial excitement quickly faded as I noticed that I could not run the sticks any higher than this, despite people's great experience with them here in the forum. I've tried different skew settings, changed Tref to 55 and even tried with the CPU running at stock. Also upping the voltage to 2.12v real did not allow me to reach any higher speeds, although the errors in memtest did seem to decrease upon increasing the Dram voltage. But I'm a bit weary with upping the voltage on these puppies, how high have people gone before without destroying the sticks?

Also, is there any other setting I could try to get these sticks to run faster, even 1080/1090Mhz I'd be happy with as my Everest benchmark is non too exciting right now, even though I'm on the 0308 Formula bios:



Thanks again for any ideas! :up:

They should do 1080 very easy with settings
Dram static enabled
Clock twister strong
PL 7

advance clock skew 300ps both channels.
TRFC to 55
and set 2.12 in bios if it passes then start lowering dram volts.
your NB volts will play a part 1.47 to start and adjust up from there.
I need 1.51 NB volts for stability.

Mine do 1103MHZ currently and will boot and bench at 1130MHz, trying to get them stable now with some tweaking.

[kup]

Grn, I did some tests on my G.Skill and they Prime Blending and Memtest86+ stable with everything on Auto Timings PL6 1130MHz @ 2.1v. I know it's not the done thing here but have you tried on Auto?

[Grnfinger]

Grn, I did some tests on my G.Skill and they Prime Blending and Memtest86+ stable with everything on Auto Timings PL6 1130MHz @ 2.1v. I know it's not the done thing here but have you tried on Auto?


No but I'm willing to try anything right now.
3 weeks trying to get 4.0 stable, and what did it was setting GTL's to auto:yepp:
So maybe auto ram is worth a shot. Then use Everest to set the values manually.

Took the afternoon off work today seems I'm feeling alittle sick:ROTF:
so looks like I have a few hours to tinker with the ram.:up:

[RCG_Bex]

Well I hit 4.35GHz on the QX9650 last night - RAM @ 1320MHz :rofl: 5-6-6-18 @ 2.26v :P

Went for 4.4GHz but not stable enough for a screenshot :(

My RAM hates using the lowest settings unless it's >1100mhz... really wierd...

I think I'm hitting a wall though because I kinda get into windows but then BSOD almost immediately. Not sure what to raise next tbh :(

~Bex

[Grnfinger]

try upping NB volts and PLL

[RCG_Bex]

Ok - will do tonight when I get home :)

How much NB voltage is too much?

~Bex

[Grnfinger]

Ok - will do tonight when I get home :)

How much NB voltage is too much?

~Bex

I would not go above 1.57 or so.
Temps will be more important tho.
Try to keep the NB under 47-50 full load.


On a side note my Mushkins are 30% passes Memtest Pro, running 1130MHz.
Had to relax the timing some but seem to be stable

5-5-5-15-5-65-6-5
10-4-5-6-6-5-6
16-6-1-6-6
let's me keep PL 7 and Twister to stronger and Dram Static is Enabled.

[kup]

Very nice there, Grn. How are the G.Skill playing now?

[zlojack]

Those timings don't look that bad.

How much did you lose in latency?

[Grnfinger]

Very nice there, Grn. How are the G.Skill playing now?
Trying my Mushkin kit with these timings and currently passing.
Once I get them stable I'll swap out for the GSkill and test them.



Those timings don't look that bad.

How much did you lose in latency?

Latency stayed about the same my major hit was Read time, down about 700MB/s Copy and Write are still very good, 9500+ and 9900+
So still worth all this hassle......I hope

[ZenEffect]

cranked this off last night
http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f210/icon22976/th_45ghzprime-3.jpg (http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f210/icon22976/45ghzprime-3.jpg)

and now im retuning for better memory performance :rofl:
already passed 8 rounds of memtest86 and priming this off now.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f210/icon22976/cachemem-4.png

[Grnfinger]

Not as impressive as yours Zen, but I have been struggling with 4.0GHz 1130 MHz stability for a little while now
well......
:bounces:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/40_1130_stable.jpg

[ZenEffect]

Not as impressive as yours Zen, but I have been struggling with 4.0GHz 1130 MHz stability for a little while now
well......
:bounces:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/40_1130_stable.jpg

come play on the 400 strap. pl6 is nice ;)
your mushkins can do it if mine can :up:

[Zucker2k]

My G.Skill 1066s @ 1140 PL7, @ WinMemtest (supposedly better than Memtest86.

[Grnfinger]

My G.Skill 1066s @ 1140 PL7, @ WinMemtest (supposedly better than Memtest86.

I use Memetest Pro I like it and it seems to be acurate.
Havent tried my G.Skills at 1132MHz with the revised relax timings yet, going to today.

[kup]

I can't wait until my new Rampage arrives. It's going to be good to get back into the overclocking. Especially with the recent cold weather! :D

The G.Skill have breathed new life into this old P5K-E so hopefully they'll do the same for the Rampage! 475MHz 1:1 was never possible with my old D9 "Fatbody" ram on this P5K-E!

[InfinityNX]

Hi, I'm insanely new at overclocking with the Maximus Formula. I was wondering if anybody has the same hardware as I do, since I really want to get a 4ghz stable on my proc.

Here's my specs:

Intel Q9550 C1 stepping
Asus Maximus Formula
Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2x1GB ddr2 800mhz

CPU and NB is watercooled.
SB is passively cooled.

If you need any other info, please don't hesitate to ask, I really need help. I don't get how the settings on the Extreme Tweaker work :| thanks guys!

[Grnfinger]

Final 4.0GHz 24/7

Seems my kit of G.Skills cant handle 1132MHz so have to settle on the Mushkins for now till I can afford a kit of G.SKILL F2-9600CL5D-4GBPI

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/10loop_40_stable_1130.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/bench_40.jpg

[kup]

Grn, look for the 8500 PI kit, they're flying for me! Not worth the money for the 9600 kit when the lower kits clocks as well. Just my two cents.

How come you went with the G.Skill over the Mushy in the first place?

[Grnfinger]

Grn, look for the 8500 PI kit, they're flying for me! Not worth the money for the 9600 kit when the lower kits clocks as well. Just my two cents.

How come you went with the G.Skill over the Mushy in the first place?

Had the GSkills first, got them from Newls1 at a decent price. Bought Mushkin much later cause they were on sale at a super price and I wanted a spare 2x2GB kit for insurance, now I'm glad I did. Going to look now at the kit you suggested.

[Grnfinger]

I can only find 2x1GB kits of G.SKILL F2-8500CL5D-2GBPI Pi PC2-8500 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15

are these the ram Kup?