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

[OVERK|LL]

Yep

They have heat issues. Is the drive in very close proximity to another? Does it have air going across it?

[ChaosMinionX]

They have heat issues. Is the drive in very close proximity to another? Does it have air going across it?

The whole rack in the case has 2 120mm fans goin across it, the drive is never above 30c...


Also why does my transfer from drive to drive start out at like 180-200MB/s and drops off to like 20-30MB/s?

[KALISPIMENTA]

Help please i was playing a game when my pc crashed when it restarted a the bios setttings were gone and the pc hangs on the blinking _.i tried installing windows again, system restore, clear cmos from the back and nothing always hangs on the blinking line (-)any ideas? ty

[OVERK|LL]

The whole rack in the case has 2 120mm fans goin across it, the drive is never above 30c...


Also why does my transfer from drive to drive start out at like 180-200MB/s and drops off to like 20-30MB/s?

Sounds like an issue with the drive or the cable. Have you tried another cable?

[ChaosMinionX]

Sounds like an issue with the drive or the cable. Have you tried another cable?

Just used a different cable. Will see how it fairs.

[lohoutlaw]

Hello guys,

Well after the fist post i did in this thread (post #7706), i did some voltage changes at the heart of the board.
Surprised myself with my findings.

I thought i would run a couple of tests to see just what voltage it took to make my O/C's stable.
As you can see from my last post that my voltages were kinda high to start with. But after adjusting most of the settings that count, i ran with it.

So these 2 tests were done with IntelBurn software, 10 irritations to be sure of stability 2X.
For each test run, i dropped the voltage to CPU 1 increment until i came up with the correct voltage required for my CPU.(Screen shots provided below)

Asus Rampage Formula
Intel E8600

Voltage as follows:
CPU ********
CPU PLL 1.50v
NB 1.55v
Dram 2.14v @ 2T
FSB Term 1.36v
SB 1.050v
SB 1.5v Voltage 1.50v
Load Line Enabled
All other voltage settings set to auto.

All the setting above were left alone on these tests, only adjustments i made were to CPU voltage.

(1.33750v to CPU bios)
4400mhz x 8 @ 2200FSB, Bus speed 550.0mhz @ 59c load temp.

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s116/lohoutlaw/44-2200fsb133750v-1.jpg
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s116/lohoutlaw/44-2200fsb133750v2-1.jpg

(1.24375v to CPU bios)
4000mhz x 8 @ 2000FSB, Bus speed 500.0mhz @ 50c load temp.
As you can see i threw the Asus Probe software in there to help with CPU voltage confirmation. Yes it is a bit buggy as well.

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s116/lohoutlaw/40-2000fsb124375v2.jpg
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s116/lohoutlaw/40-2000fsb124375v.jpg

As you can see in the screen shots i managed to get my CPU O/C'd stable with a huge decrease in voltage to CPU. :)
A Thank you to Renegade5399 @ BPC for the voltage help :)
I hope this will help others in the long run with there o/c's.

Source thread @ BPC (http://www.blazingpc.com/forum/showthread.php/rampage_formula_e8600_overclocking-15910/index.html)

Enjoy :)

[xxDayTrader]

With these settings Prime went about 2 1/2 hours before there was a hardware error in one of the cores. Usually, I'd begin to bump vcore, then give it another shot, and slowly bump the PLL, NB and/or FSB (documenting along the way) to figure out where they had to be to get a 24hr stable run of Small FFTs in Prime 95 unless one of you guys have a better suggestion.



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: DDR2-901
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 : LIGHTER
Transaction Booster : MANUAL
Common Perf. Level : 8

CPU Voltage : 1.54375
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.58
North Bridge Voltage : 1.55
DRAM Voltage : 2.20
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.40
South Bridge Voltage : 1.05
Loadline Calibration : ENABLED
CPU GTL Reference : .67
North Bridge GTL Reference : .67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2_REF +10mv
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.50

NB LED : NB Volt
SB LED : SB Volt
CPU LED : CPU Volt
Voltmeter: ENABLED

CPU Spread Spectrum : DISABLED
PCIE Spread Spectrum : DISABLED

CPU Ratio Control : MANUAL
Ratio : 8
C1E Support : DISABLED
CPU TM Function : DISABLED
Vanderpool : DISABLED
Execute Disable Bit : DISABLED
Max CPUID Value : DISABLED


With vcore, PLL and NB set to Auto, I got a POST, booted into Windows. I restarted and got the following settings in the BIOS Hardware section:
CPU Vcore 1.46
PLL 1.616
NB 1.63
--DRAM set to 2.20 by me (this is the max Mushkin "recommends")
In AUTO for those 3 settings (and FSB Strap @ 333) I tried Prime and after about 1 minuted I got BSOD.

Thanks again guys.

[KALISPIMENTA]

Anyone?

[xxDayTrader]

Anyone?

I had a similar problem years ago and it turned out to be a HD issue......but you said you were able to reinstall the OS whereas I wasn't able to.

[KALISPIMENTA]

i install it but at start up hangs again it wont pass the black screen with the blinking _.tried new memory disconnected hds and nothing.im on the asus support phone line by the 2nd time now for 30 minutes Now with no luck*.god i miss evga support:(
edit:omg no help what so ever,right away rma 12 to 21 business days.Guiet tech guy with no answers??!!
Anyone else with ideas browsing the net on this ppc is fliping me out.

[MJR]

had the same issue. Turned out to be a grounding issue. the (-) I was told is a general fault code that encompasses many things. Asus support told me it is most commonly a grounding thing, which turned out to be my problem. Unplug all your peripherals, put your system on a grounded power bar and make sure the case isn't conducting.

[KALISPIMENTA]

Grounded power bar?ty for the help.this code is generated on the screen correct?

[MJR]

what country R U in?

If ur not in the US, I'm not sure what they call them but I'm referring to a grounded surge protector plug, just to rule out your electrical source as the issue.

[Grnfinger]

So I finally get time today to open my RMA from Asus, with teh holidays and all its been a busy week, and the wife gave me the evil eye whenever I went near it...she was kinda piss'd about my 2 hour benching session on Christmas day...go figure
Been waiting since August and 3 RMA's later to get my board back and working.
So I sent them a Maximus Formula SE and they were supposed to send me a Rampage as the SE is no longer in stock, guess what they sent me?
A freaking Maximus II Formula, now what the hell am I going to do with 2 boards of the same chipset?

[Commander_HK47]

So I finally get time today to open my RMA from Asus, with teh holidays and all its been a busy week, and the wife gave me the evil eye whenever I went near it...she was kinda piss'd about my 2 hour benching session on Christmas day...go figure
Been waiting since August and 3 RMA's later to get my board back and working.
So I sent them a Maximus Formula SE and they were supposed to send me a Rampage as the SE is no longer in stock, guess what they sent me?
A freaking Maximus II Formula, now what the hell am I going to do with 2 boards of the same chipset?

I want to laugh, but not at you, just the idiocy of ASUS's RMA department.

[Grnfinger]

I'm not pleased but it is a nice upgrade, I just did not want 2 boards of the same platform, I was looking forward to benching a bit tonight with it.

[Commander_HK47]

are both PCIE slosts 8x or is one of them at lest 16x(physical/electrical)?

[Grnfinger]

yes one is 16x and one is 8x

I dont do crossfire tho so its of little importance to me, my new GPU will be a 4870X2 2GB card so it will not be an issue

[Commander_HK47]

Yeah having at lest one 16x slot is fine. Just couldn't remember if they where both 8x or not.

[ZenEffect]

yes one is 16x and one is 8x

I dont do crossfire tho so its of little importance to me, my new GPU will be a 4870X2 2GB card so it will not be an issue

out of spite you should bench that board to a early death *less than 72 hours* and rma it again to asus and tell them to correct the order! i want to see 600fsb quad!

[ShawnTRD]

Grnfinger,
I got my G.Skill F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK from Newegg today. Whats your recommended settings and starting point for these?

[Grnfinger]

Grnfinger,
I got my G.Skill F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK from Newegg today. Whats your recommended settings and starting point for these?

Ahh new ram :bounces:

What clocks are your running your 6700 at?

Heres my Q6700 3.6GHz setup

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: DDR2-1081
DRAM Command Rate : 2T

DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A1: Advanced 250ps ( assuming your ram is in the blue slots)
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A2: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B1: Advanced 250ps ( ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ )
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B2: Auto

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 : 1.46 ( start here that what mine needed, you can adjust from here)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53 ( you can try to lower this)
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.40
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.67X
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

[chew*]

Finally decided to play with this some more, been running @ 3.2 for a while with stock volts so i figured I'd tackle my temps issue and lapped this scythe ninja copy. Finally got somewhat stable temps and completed prime for an hour with 1.325v, benched it in 3dmark also. Still needs alot of tweaking and the OS seems to boot a little sluggishly, I will play with non cpu volts tommorow to determine which is the culprit, most likely the southbridge.....

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9428367

Whats a decent PI 1M time with this setup? I'm pulling 14.172s untweaked for PI with sig parts.

[ShawnTRD]

Prime didn't error, but it looks like my 3rd core (normally the one that errors) stopped.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd247/ShawnTRD/OCing/new.jpg

[chew*]

Thats odd my q6600 does 3.2 at 1.225v (stock VID) and the board undervolts it to 1.208.......then again it is #47 out of a batch but I didn't think batch really mattered when they glue 2 dies together from other batches.

You sure it not you memory settings?

I figured out why windows was sluggish, Hosed my OS with a couple BSOD's finding stable settings, reinstalling now, appears alot snappier.

[ShawnTRD]

Might be, but I upped my CPU V and I think that fixed it.

[Grnfinger]

Might be, but I upped my CPU V and I think that fixed it.

If it still craps out, it has been my findings that if you drop a core on 1042 test up vtt or vNB

LMK how you make out

[xxDayTrader]

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: DDR2-901
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 : LIGHTER
Transaction Booster : MANUAL
Common Perf. Level : 8

CPU Voltage : 1.5625
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.60
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53
DRAM Voltage : 2.06 (might have been 2.08 - can't read my writing)
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.52
South Bridge Voltage : 1.05
Loadline Calibration : ENABLED
CPU GTL Reference : .67
North Bridge GTL Reference : .67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.50

NB LED : NB Volt
SB LED : SB Volt
CPU LED : CPU Volt
Voltmeter: ENABLED

CPU Spread Spectrum : DISABLED
PCIE Spread Spectrum : DISABLED

CPU Ratio Control : MANUAL
Ratio : 8
C1E Support : DISABLED
CPU TM Function : DISABLED
Vanderpool : DISABLED
Execute Disable Bit : DISABLED
Max CPUID Value : DISABLED


http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/12-31-08-8x450stable.jpg

These settings ran stable for about 4 or 5 hrs and even though I worked up very slowly to them, I hoped to bring some of my temps down (maxed out around 74 degrees in 2 cores / 69 degrees in the other two) from Real Temp. If I bumped Vcore, PLL, NB or FSB down even one step I'd get an error in the 3rd core of Prime. So, I went back to my original settings and am running Prime again just to be sure I don't get any errors.

Assuming this looks OK, I'd like to get into improving my RAM but, much like what I've done so far, I'm rather in the dark about where to start, what to adjust and so forth so some advice (even if it's something to go read or research) would be great.

Mike




EDIT : Got the following failure
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/8x450failure.jpg

[Grnfinger]

Those redlines should do 1081 @ 5-5-5-15 easy

run the 12:10 divider and bump up the ram to 1081MHz
Next change these settings

Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : MANUAL
Common Perf. Level : 7

retest your ram if it craps out try clock skew first and alittle more volts, I think there safe to 2.2 volts so set max in bios to 2.12 if required

[chew*]

grnfinger, Have you used the OCZ plats 1066 sticks in this board? What were you able to manage with them if so.

[ShawnTRD]

Will using AS5 on the NB and SB lower my temp that much?

[Grnfinger]

grnfinger, Have you used the OCZ plats 1066 sticks in this board? What were you able to manage with them if so.

No sorry I have not , never had much luck with OCZ

[kup]

My QX6850 just cannot do 500MHz FSB. :( I've used all of my 515MHz+ settings from my old Q6600 and it locks after about 5mins. What voltages would you push to boost the FSB(or the wall?)?

[chew*]

Hmm well they are doing rated specs, NP atm, read alot about users having problems getting reapers up to speed though.

Any thought on prime stable small fft's , 3d06 stable but crysis bench crash? I'm thinking NB volts or ram.

Once i get the my TRUE in a couple of days I will post some OCZ ram tests (temps are to much for extreme ocing atm ). I picked it up for phenom II but figured I'd try it out in this first.

I prefer ceramique to as5, it's the universal soldier of thermal paste. Yes it will make a difference as well as straightening out the heatpipe assembly, only one corner of my SB was making contact when i recieved the board. Lay it on a large piece of glass and see how evenly it sits, adjust till its flat.

[Grnfinger]

Hmm well they are doing rated specs, NP atm, read alot about users having problems getting reapers up to speed though.

Any thought on prime stable small fft's , 3d06 stable but crysis bench crash? I'm thinking NB volts or ram.

Once i get the my TRUE in a couple of days I will post some OCZ ram tests (temps are to much for extreme ocing atm ). I picked it up for phenom II but figured I'd try it out in this first.


Oh no I'm not bashing the ram, I just had bad luck with them and even worse with RMA
I would agree most likely vNB, you could also try dram clock skew advanced 100ps to start and move up from there it might help..


My QX6850 just cannot do 500MHz FSB. :( I've used all of my 515MHz+ settings from my old Q6600 and it locks after about 5mins. What voltages would you push to boost the FSB(or the wall?)?

I find alot of PLL will move the wall slightly if you havent tried it yet.

[chew*]

Shawn I found a small fan over the NB also does wonders. The way the heastink is pinned screws fasten to it quite easily. Don't mind the mess I just recently organized everything when i swapped PSU this is just an old pic.

http://members.cox.net/hoobahans/my%20rig.jpg

[xxDayTrader]

Those redlines should do 1081 @ 5-5-5-15 easy

run the 12:10 divider and bump up the ram to 1081MHz
Next change these settings

Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : MANUAL
Common Perf. Level : 7

retest your ram if it craps out try clock skew first and a little more volts, I think there safe to 2.2 volts so set max in bios to 2.12 if required

12:10 @ 1081 CHECK
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger CHECK
Com. Perf. Level : 7 CHECK

As for Clock Skew.... am I correct in assuming the lower the advance the better? At someone's recommendation here (I believe it was Zucker) I had the CLK Skew Channel A & B to : Advance 300ps. When I was inputting your suggestions, I changed it to NORMAL and hung at DET RAM. Bumped both to Advance 50ps and got BSOD as I was posting this reply so now I'm back to Advance 300ps on both. Is that ok or should I try to lower it?

Sorry for all the N00B questions..... just trying to keep myself on track and have something to work on while I'm waiting for replies. ;)


Here are the rest of my memory settings:
DRAM Frequency : DDR2 - 1081MHz
DRAM Command Rate : 2N

DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A : Advanced 300ps
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B : Advanced 300ps

1st Information: Manual -> RAS# ACT Time / Auto for the rest 5-5-5-15-3-52-6-3
2nd Information : Auto (8-3-5-4-6-4-6)
3rd Information : Auto (14-5-1-6-6)

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

[Grnfinger]

I found advanced 350ps was the sweet spot for my setup, if its running solid on 300ps then I would not touch it.

[kup]

I find alot of PLL will move the wall slightly if you havent tried it yet.
What would you recommend as max? I can't believe I lost all my saved settings when I formatted. :eek: :(

[Grnfinger]

iirc 1.70 is max, someone correct me if I'm wrong please
is this going to be a 24/7 setup?

[chew*]

iirc 1.70 is max, someone correct me if I'm wrong please
is this going to be a 24/7 setup?

That real voltage or set because mine overvolts like crazy, etc 1.50 set = 1.61 measured.

[kup]

It'll be a 24/7 Folding setup. I'll try up to 1.65v and that will give about 1.7v actual. What did you run on yours, Grn?

[chew*]

Figured out my crysis bench problem. Won't even bench at stock, either the bench is screwed, the game is screwed or my dx10 is screwed because it benches in DX9 fine.

[Grnfinger]

It'll be a 24/7 Folding setup. I'll try up to 1.65v and that will give about 1.7v actual. What did you run on yours, Grn?

about 1.72 actual for over 6 months, chip was still going strong when I sold it.

[xxDayTrader]

got a Fatal Error 2 1/2 hrs into Prime95 "Blend" test (usually I'd just run the Small FFTs) in core #2. When I was running the Small FFT tests it was usually core #3 that would get the error.

http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/core2failure.jpg

[Grnfinger]

Its vcore or pll, up pll first if that wont help, you'll need a drop or 2 of vcore
usally 512 errors its pll

[xxDayTrader]

Its vcore or pll, up pll first if that wont help, you'll need a drop or 2 of vcore
usally 512 errors its pll

Sweet! I didn't realize the iteration gave a clue as to what went wrong. Now I wish I would have been posting up my Pirme screenshots a week ago when I started this mess.

Had CPU Voltage : 1.5625 & CPU PLL Voltage : 1.60. Just bumped PLL to 1.62 and rerunning Prime.

Thanks again Grnfinger!

[ShawnTRD]

What about me?

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd247/ShawnTRD/OCing/3340.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd247/ShawnTRD/OCing/33402.jpg

[Grnfinger]

try some vtt

[ShawnTRD]

WOW!!! :eleph:

I just did that and WOW! I was thinking about doing something like that a couple weeks ago but never did. My NB Idle temp dropped from about 40c to 33c. My load looks to be staying around 37-38ish. They were in the 46-47ish range.


Shawn I found a small fan over the NB also does wonders. The way the heastink is pinned screws fasten to it quite easily. Don't mind the mess I just recently organized everything when i swapped PSU this is just an old pic.

http://members.cox.net/hoobahans/my%20rig.jpg

[xxDayTrader]

Its vcore or pll, up pll first if that wont help, you'll need a drop or 2 of vcore
usally 512 errors its pll

upped pll from 1.60 to 1.62 and got this
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/1-1-fail.jpg

since that didn't work, I'll drop vcore one, rerun and if that doesn't help drop it again........and if THAT doesn't work I'll get back to ya. ;)


EDIT: pll @ 1.62 and vcore down one notch to 1.55625 and got:
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/pll162vcore1.jpg


HELP GRNFINGER

[ShawnTRD]

xxDayTrader,
What are you cooling that 6600 with? 75c seems way high...

[xxDayTrader]

xxDayTrader,
What are you cooling that 6600 with? 75c seems way high...

lapped Q6600
lapped Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120
Artic Silver 5 TIM

given what i've seen in other posts here, i'm suspicious that i'm putting too many volts to my cpu

all in a Silverstone TJ07 case - all air cooled.

[t_ski]

grnfinger, Have you used the OCZ plats 1066 sticks in this board? What were you able to manage with them if so.

I have some OCZ plats in this board (not sure of the revision off hand, but they are rated @ 2.2v). I can get them to run up to 1063 MHz FSB, but id I go up one more notch on the CPU FSB (from 424 to 425 MHz), they don't post. Still trying to figure them out. Can you post your timings please?

[ShawnTRD]

xxDayTrader
I think you might be over doing it with your CPU and RAM Voltage. Try some of this..


DRAM Static Read Control: ENABLED
Ai Clock Twister : Mod- Strong
Transaction Booster : Enable
Common Perf. Level : 7

CPU Voltage : 1.4V-1.45 (maybe less)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.58
North Bridge Voltage : 1.49
DRAM Voltage : 1.98 (your ram is rated for 2.0-2.1V @ 1000MHz)
Loadline Calibration : ENABLED
CPU GTL Reference : .67
North Bridge GTL Reference : .67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.50

[binormalkilla]

Well I'm going to take the Rampage BIOS dive again. I just got an 8GB kit of Geil Esoteria, and I'm having a little trouble getting it stable. So far I can only get it to DDR2-846 5-5-5-15 (rest set to auto for timings). I'm currently running the latest Maximus Formula BIOS. Any suggestions on the Rampage would be greatly appreciated.
I have my CPU and NB on water too.

[t_ski]

I can't seem to find who was asking before, but the question was "what happens when you set the memory FSB to 1066 and all the ram timings to Auto?" The answer: same thing. DET DRAM hang :(

I also played around with setting the NB strap to 333, which brought the ram down to around 1021, then upped the FSB to 425 to see if there was an FSB wall @ 425 and got the hang again.


I found advanced 350ps was the sweet spot for my setup, if its running solid on 300ps then I would not touch it.

Grnfinger, that may be it! When I saw that post I figured it would be worth a shot, since I have never messed around with those timings before. I set the vdimm to 2.208v (actual) and set the DRAM CLK Skew on Channel AB to Advanced 350ps , then changed the FSB to 425 and it posted! It even went into Windows perfectly fine. I am now playing around @430 FSB (mem - 1071) and Priming away for about 15 minutes so far. Probably going to reboot and go higher.

Thanks! :worship:

[xxDayTrader]

xxDayTrader
I think you might be over doing it with your CPU and RAM Voltage. Try some of this..


DRAM Static Read Control: ENABLED
Ai Clock Twister : Mod- Strong
Transaction Booster : Enable
Common Perf. Level : 7

CPU Voltage : 1.4V-1.45 (maybe less)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.58
North Bridge Voltage : 1.49
DRAM Voltage : 1.98 (your ram is rated for 2.0-2.1V @ 1000MHz)
Loadline Calibration : ENABLED
CPU GTL Reference : .67
North Bridge GTL Reference : .67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.50

Just for the hell of it I gave this a shot and I posted fine but got BSOD as Windows was loading up.

Going back to Grnfinger's 8x450 settings
CPU : 1.5625
PLL : 1.60
NB : 1.53
FSB : 1.52
DRAM : 2.02 -- this is what I've had mine at for a bit now.

.........AND AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS

[t_ski]

1071 went for 21 minutes so I stopped it. Now up to 1088 and Priming. How are my mem scores? They look so much better in Everest - I was using SANDRA before, which is reading them about 900 MB/s slower. :(

EDIT: Doh, two cores failed :(

[Commander_HK47]

Do any of you other guys use Intel Burn Test for your stability testing? Just asking as i see primarily Prime95 shots.

[binormalkilla]

All right I flashed the latest 0701 Rampage BIOS and all is well at 475FSB. I'm pretty excited now....I was worried that this new Geil Evo One RAM sucked, but it seems it was just the MF BIOS that didn't play well.
I passed stability for an hour in blended.....good enough for now.


Do any of you other guys use Intel Burn Test for your stability testing? Just asking as i see primarily Prime95 shots.

No, I just use Prime 95. I've heard some horror stories about people melting MOSFETs while stressing with the Intel tool. I ran it once and saw the temps.....it's WAY beyond what you'll ever experience in any computing environment. I was actually shocked to see how much power my CPU was consuming compared to Prime.

I think it may be useful for a shorter run for those who are lazy (like me.) One thing is for sure: it will stress your CPU more than any application out there.

[xxDayTrader]

Do any of you other guys use Intel Burn Test for your stability testing? Just asking as i see primarily Prime95 shots.

I have both OCCT and Prime95. I use Pirme95 because I need assistance and with Prime, I get more assistance. Hell, I'd run "I'mAPainInTheAssN00b.exe" if it would help things........ ;)

[Inpanic]

How many Volt i can config for 24/7? The board is watercooled, so i havent any temp problems...

My damnit maximus extreme isn´t stable with 500 FSB@1.59 vNB ....

My old rampage did it with 1.35 vNB... Is x38 to x48 so different?

[KALISPIMENTA]

Hey guys is there a fix for the usb ports not working? I connected the front case usb cables and they wont work,is there a setting on the bios or something ?
TY

[Grnfinger]

upped pll from 1.60 to 1.62 and got this


since that didn't work, I'll drop vcore one, rerun and if that doesn't help drop it again........and if THAT doesn't work I'll get back to ya. ;)


EDIT: pll @ 1.62 and vcore down one notch to 1.55625 and got:



HELP GRNFINGER

try a drop or 2 more of FSBT, it should help you, if not post your complete bios setup and I'll try your settings


I have both OCCT and Prime95. I use Pirme95 because I need assistance and with Prime, I get more assistance. Hell, I'd run "I'mAPainInTheAssN00b.exe" if it would help things........ ;)

:ROTF:


Do any of you other guys use Intel Burn Test for your stability testing? Just asking as i see primarily Prime95 shots.

I use IBT to do a quick test of my settings, 10 loop with min memory in use, till the chip will pass, then 10 loops with max memory till it passes, then I tweak volts to lowest and run a 15 loop with max memory in use, if it passses it then goes to prime for 4-8 hours.

Prime is very good and over the last 6 months or so I have been making a spread sheet of Prime errors, I have a good idea what needs to be adjusted depending on what test it fails. Its not a 100% guarantee but usually it works

[binormalkilla]

I wonder the chances of me getting 543*7 stable? Man that would be insane for memory performance.....now that my NB is on water I can push the juice. I seriously doubt it's possible......but one can dream, right? :p
I wish this chip had half multipliers.

[Grnfinger]

on a 65nm quad?? I would like to see that :up:

[ShawnTRD]

Is it just me or does my RAM performance seem week for 1066?

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd247/ShawnTRD/WeakMem.jpg

[binormalkilla]

on a 65nm quad?? I would like to see that :up:

Hehe I know, that would be badass.

[chew*]

I have some OCZ plats in this board (not sure of the revision off hand, but they are rated @ 2.2v). I can get them to run up to 1063 MHz FSB, but id I go up one more notch on the CPU FSB (from 424 to 425 MHz), they don't post. Still trying to figure them out. Can you post your timings please?

5-5-5-15 other than below settings leave to auto for now....

Dram static read Disabled
AI clock twister Lighter
AI transaction Manual
Performance level [07]
Dram clock skew CH A 300ps
Dram clock skew CH B 300ps

Dram volt 2.14
Fsb term 1.28
NB voltage 1.55 (Real)

Settings are for max clock on ram.


Grn,
Any ideas on a black screen of death while priming?
I got my TRUE 120 today bumped up to 3.7 fine, primed for a few hours fine, bumped to 3.8 boot to windows ran a quick PI 1M, fired up prime ran 2 cycles reboot/BSOD, no blue screen no errors just like its rebooting the more voltage i toss at it the faster it crashes.....I'm thinking PSU.

Also anyone experience weird problems after a power outage or disconnecting power? This thing hangs on USB devices, loses hard drives, everytime after unplugging it to work on, never did it with the maxximus formula bios's. I have to pull all USB sticks out and unplug and plug one of my sata drives in to get it to realize it's there.

[binormalkilla]

5-5-5-15 other than below settings leave to auto for now....

Dram static read Disabled
AI clock twister Lighter
AI transaction Manual
Performance level [07]
Dram clock skew CH A 300ps
Dram clock skew CH B 300ps

Dram volt 2.14
Fsb term 1.28
NB voltage 1.55 (Real)

Settings are for max clock on ram.


Grn,
Any ideas on a black screen of death while priming?
I got my TRUE 120 today bumped up to 3.7 fine, primed for a few hours fine, bumped to 3.8 boot to windows ran a quick PI 1M, fired up prime ran 2 cycles reboot/BSOD, no blue screen no errors just like its rebooting the more voltage i toss at it the faster it crashes.....I'm thinking PSU.

Also anyone experience weird problems after a power outage or disconnecting power? This thing hangs on USB devices, loses hard drives, everytime after unplugging it to work on, never did it with the maxximus formula bios's. I have to pull all USB sticks out and unplug and plug one of my sata drives in to get it to realize it's there.

I've never experienced such issues with my MF. Do you have the PCI-E OCed high?

[chew*]

I've never experienced such issues with my MF. Do you have the PCI-E OCed high?

set at 100, fsb strap to auto but this does this even at stock clock when power is disconnected :confused: like for instance i set everything to defaults saved. rebooted at stock. then shut down and disc power to install TRUE.

[chew*]

Is it just me or does my RAM performance seem week for 1066?

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd247/ShawnTRD/WeakMem.jpg

Shawn i just ran it although I just have a trial ( no Key gen ), at stock settings on ram I get
8380 read and latency is 61.6ns. Looks like you might be able to tweak some stuff but it could be due to your overall cpu clock.

[binormalkilla]

Zucker or grnfinger (or whoever with experience on this board with a 65nm quad and 8GB):
What timings do you suggest I run on my Geil Evo Ones? I can post my BIOS settings later, but I'm at 8*475 Prime blended stable with the same timings as SPD, except 18 instead of 15....I'll post more later when I get home from work.
I would like to run DDR2-1128 or so if possible.....I think these Evo Ones can take the voltage. The heatsink on them is amazing.

[ShawnTRD]

Shawn i just ran it although I just have a trial ( no Key gen ), at stock settings on ram I get
8380 read and latency is 61.6ns. Looks like you might be able to tweak some stuff but it could be due to your overall cpu clock.

Do I gain performance from lower multplier, and higher FSB?

[ShawnTRD]

I guess so...
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd247/ShawnTRD/OCing/membetter.jpg

[xxDayTrader]

try a drop or 2 more of FSBT, it should help you, if not post your complete bios setup and I'll try your settings


tried a couple drops on FSBT, lowered vcore and upped PLL (per your previous post) (did all one at a time and got failures each time). Here are the last 3 failures and the final BIOS (that went with the third failure) below.
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/1-2fail.jpg
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/1-2-9lastfail.jpg
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/1-2-fail.jpg

0308 BIOS

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: DDR2-1081
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM Timing Control: MANUAL
DRAM CLK Skew A : Adv 300
DRAM CLK Skew B : Adv 300
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

1st Information: Manual through RAS# ACT Time / "Auto" for the rest 5-5-5-15-3-52-6-3
2nd Information : Auto (8-3-5-4-6-4-6)
3rd Information : Auto (14-5-1-6-6)

DRAM Static Read Control : ENABLED
Ai Clock Twister : STRONGER
Transaction Booster : MANUAL
Common Perf. Level : 7

CPU Voltage : 1.550
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.62
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53
DRAM Voltage : 2.02
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.46
South Bridge Voltage : 1.05
Loadline Calibration : ENABLED
CPU GTL Reference : .67
North Bridge GTL Reference : .67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.50

NB LED : NB Volt
SB LED : SB Volt
CPU LED : CPU Volt
Voltmeter: ENABLED

CPU Spread Spectrum : DISABLED
PCIE Spread Spectrum : DISABLED

CPU Ratio Control : MANUAL
Ratio : 8
C1E Support : DISABLED
CPU TM Function : DISABLED
Vanderpool : DISABLED
Execute Disable Bit : DISABLED
Max CPUID Value : DISABLED

[Commander_HK47]

Do I gain performance from lower multplier, and higher FSB?

Yes, you will see improvement in benchmark programs, however the real question is will you see improvement in applications like games? That is the real question because not all gaming applications will see improvements from increase of bandwidth as not all games are codded to utilize that extra memory bandwidth.

You have to experiment with the software you have now and take notes and finally compare your results. Your best results will be with games that use large textures, or large environments.

As for other programs i believe that programs like Photoshop when working with very large resolution/numerous images will see improvements.

[binormalkilla]

Do I gain performance from lower multplier, and higher FSB?

You will see a tremendous benefit in memory bandwidth and latency on Intel platforms due to the memory controller have to communicate to the CPU through the FSB.
Now on Intel Core i7 and AMD systems tighter timings normally take priority, as the memory controller is on the CPU die (thus behind the FSB.)


Ok here are my settings that are 1h20m prime blended stable:
Maximus Formula Converted to a Rampage Formula

BIOS: RF0701
Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 475

DRAM Clock CMD Skew CH1 A1 : AUTO (greyed out? don't remember that..)
DRAM Clock CMD Skew CH1 A2 : AUTO (same, greyed out)
DRAM Clock CLK Skew CH1 B1 : advance 300ps
DRAM Clock CLK Skew CH1 B2 : advance 300ps

FSB Strap to North Bridge : Auto
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-950 (would like to run 1141)
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 18 (haven't tested lower much)
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 60 (maybe 65 or higher to clock higher?)
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: Enabled (open to suggestions on this one..)
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : Manual

Common Performance Level [9]

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 : 1.52500 (probably can run lower, just for now)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.71
DRAM Voltage : 2.20
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.54 (don't know if I need this much)
South Bridge Voltage : 1.1
SB 1.5V: 1.60
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.63X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

I would like to get DDR2-1141 and tighter MCH latencies....so any advice is greatly appreciated.

[chew*]

Hey day can you do me a favor and run just small fft's, It would help to determine if it's system/ram related or just the cpu *EDIT* Actually it errored on 8k.....thats more than likely cpu related. I usually run small fft's first get CPU real stable then shift to dealing with the rest with blend after.

[ShawnTRD]

binormalkilla
Thanks for the info on oh the memory bandwidth is so linked to the CPU. As for what advice for you I would say try increasing CPU PLL Voltage. I had to raise mine. I think I'm around 1.58 to 1.62. Increase CPU GTL Reference to 0.67X. I've not had to increase my South Bridge Voltage or SB 1.5V. And running at 3.8 what is you core temps doing?

[xxDayTrader]

Hey day can you do me a favor and run just small fft's, It would help to determine if it's system/ram related or just the cpu *EDIT* Actually it errored on 8k.....thats more than likely cpu related. I usually run small fft's first get CPU real stable then shift to dealing with the rest with blend after.

I pretty much just run small FFTs.... Once I started adjusting my RAM a bit I ran a large FFT and a Blend just to make sure the RAM had "some" stability. The tests above were all Small FFTs.

Mike

[chew*]

Not done testing yet this is just small fft's, loving the low volt OC's.

BIOS
cpu 1.325
PLL 1.50
fsb term 1.28
nb volts 1.45

http://members.cox.net/chewxs/8%20hours%20prime.jpg

Updated pic from a few days ago before i added the true 120.

http://members.cox.net/chewxs/updated%20case.jpg

Reason it's important to lap all heatsinks no matter how good they are or how much they cost.

http://members.cox.net/chewxs/TRUE.jpg

[xxDayTrader]

Not done testing yet this is just small fft's, loving the low volt OC's.

BIOS
cpu 1.325
PLL 1.50
fsb term 1.28
nb volts 1.45



Man, I can't get anywhere NEAR that low on cpu voltage without a BSOD as Vista loads up. ....ahhhh, back to my guesswork.

[chew*]

hmm, Im at 8 hours blend so far, probably going to shut it off soon, need to make sure 3d is stable as i have a clan match tonight.

My chip is a really low vid, but I would check your mount on your heatsink and or heatpipe assembly for chipset. I couldn't get over 3.2 on that OCZ cooler till I lapped it and got a good mount with the proper amount of thermal paste. I repasted the NB/SB the day i got the board.

[Grnfinger]

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/3600_quad.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/3800final.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/40-2.jpg

[chew*]

some sweet ram clocks grn, looks like you didn't optimize that PI run yet, I'm guessing you can probably squeak out a sub 13 ;)


Here ya go 9 hours blend and still going, the timings I listed for OCZ platinum ram earlier appear to be stable for at least 1080mhz( I think they finally errored out in memtest on test 5 at 1120mhz ). Been surfing the net all day as well no issues. Gotta test 3d real quick match is coming up soon, Will try to push more later.

http://members.cox.net/chewxs/prime%209%20hours%20blend.JPG

[chew*]

3dmark 06
9x400
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9428367

3dmark 06
8x450
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9492767 0701 bios

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9493053 0308 bios

whether or not in games it will make a diff is another story, maybe 1/2-1 fps.

I think the 0701 bios is a little better performance wise for 3d, I ran the tests a few times and they were consistent.

Seems the 0308 is a little better for memory performance.

0308 bios
http://members.cox.net/chewxs/0308%20bios.JPG

0701 bios
http://members.cox.net/chewxs/0701%20bios.JPG

[Commander_HK47]

I think the 0701 bios is a little better performance wise for 3d, I ran the tests a few times and they were consistent.

Seems the 0308 is a little better for memory performance.

I am currently in the process of learning how Asus packages there bios modules(the units that make up the rom file), Aiming for a four phase project: extract, interpret, modify, and repack for use. Currently i have the tools to extract the modules, and I am currently in the process of interpreting the information...

I know that it is possible to use customized bios files with any given motherboard as i have used several with board back in the day, I just never spent the time to see how they(the coders)compiled them...

[OLDcomer]

...

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/3800final.jpg
...


Can you share your bios settings because i am trying to make my q6600 stable at 3.8 with my p5e@rampage308?

[binormalkilla]

Can you share your bios settings because i am trying to make my q6600 stable at 3.8 with my p5e@rampage308?

THese settings on my board are prime stable for 1h20min so far.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3545863&postcount=7829

[chew*]

Seems the 4870 scales a little better @ 3.6 versus 3.2 same clocks on card. I originally only gained 300 points @ 3.2g, now gaining 400+.
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9502086 card @ 850/975 fan 50%

[t_ski]

Hey guys is there a fix for the usb ports not working? I connected the front case usb cables and they wont work,is there a setting on the bios or something ?
TY
Have you double-checked the USB header? When I put everything in my new case I missed the pins by one row. :(

Is it just me or does my RAM performance seem week for 1066?

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd247/ShawnTRD/WeakMem.jpg
A little bit. I am running close, but my timings are just a hair tighter. What PL are you running them?


5-5-5-15 other than below settings leave to auto for now....

Dram static read Disabled
AI clock twister Lighter
AI transaction Manual
Performance level [07]
Dram clock skew CH A 300ps
Dram clock skew CH B 300ps

Dram volt 2.14
Fsb term 1.28
NB voltage 1.55 (Real)

Settings are for max clock on ram.


Grn,
Any ideas on a black screen of death while priming?
I got my TRUE 120 today bumped up to 3.7 fine, primed for a few hours fine, bumped to 3.8 boot to windows ran a quick PI 1M, fired up prime ran 2 cycles reboot/BSOD, no blue screen no errors just like its rebooting the more voltage i toss at it the faster it crashes.....I'm thinking PSU.

Also anyone experience weird problems after a power outage or disconnecting power? This thing hangs on USB devices, loses hard drives, everytime after unplugging it to work on, never did it with the maxximus formula bios's. I have to pull all USB sticks out and unplug and plug one of my sata drives in to get it to realize it's there.

Chew*, what difference does the skew setting have on yours going from 300 to 350ps? I never messed with mine until the other day, and started at 350.

Also, in regards to your boot issue, do you have a USB drive in there every time? Is the machine trying to boot from it? I saw a computer I worked on recently have a black screen on it upon reboot, and when I noticed the flash drive in the USB hub connected to it, I pulled the drive and it booted.

[Zucker2k]

So my pump died a couple of days ago, and I was experimenting with ways to run pumpless until I got a replacement pump. So I set my chip to the stock vcore of 1.232v, dropped the multiplier to x6 and started bumping fsb till I got this:

Edit: Idle was 50c on highest core, and prime blend load was 70 before I stopped it.

[ZenEffect]

So my pump died a couple of days ago, and I was experimenting with ways to run pumpless until I got a replacement pump. So I set my chip to the stock vcore of 1.232v, dropped the multiplier to x6 and started bumping fsb till I got this:

Edit: Idle was 50c on highest core, and prime blend load was 70 before I stopped it.

how did you manage pl8 w/ 1:1? what are your settings?

[Zucker2k]

how did you manage pl8 w/ 1:1? what are your settings?

multi = x6
dram skews = 300 A/B
RAM timings = stock = 5-5-5-15
Dram Static Read = Enabled
Ai Clock = Stronger
PL = 8

vcore = 1.2500v (1.232v real)
cpu pll = 1.50 (1.58 real)
NB = 1.65
Dimm = 2.10v
FSBT = 1.60v (1.52v real)
SBV = 1.50v
SB 1.5v = 1.50v
LLC = Disabled
CPU GTL = x65
NB GTL = x67

[MJR]

multi = x6
dram skews = 300 A/B
RAM timings = stock = 5-5-5-15
Dram Static Read = Enabled
Ai Clock = Stronger
PL = 8

vcore = 1.2500v (1.232v real)
cpu pll = 1.50 (1.58 real)
NB = 1.65
Dimm = 2.10v
FSBT = 1.60v (1.52v real)
SBV = 1.50v
SB 1.5v = 1.50v
LLC = Disabled
CPU GTL = x65
NB GTL = x67

Are you on a maximus formula x38 Rampage converted? or are you on an actual x48 rampage? I just can't figure out how you are getting such high fsb clocks on the Q9550.

[Zucker2k]

Are you on a maximus formula x38 Rampage converted? or are you on an actual x48 rampage? I just can't figure out how you are getting such high fsb clocks on the Q9550.On a rampage...

This thing is rock stable.... I'm browing and and using word 2007....

[chew*]

Have you double-checked the USB header? When I put everything in my new case I missed the pins by one row. :(

A little bit. I am running close, but my timings are just a hair tighter. What PL are you running them?



Chew*, what difference does the skew setting have on yours going from 300 to 350ps? I never messed with mine until the other day, and started at 350.

Also, in regards to your boot issue, do you have a USB drive in there every time? Is the machine trying to boot from it? I saw a computer I worked on recently have a black screen on it upon reboot, and when I noticed the flash drive in the USB hub connected to it, I pulled the drive and it booted.

Higher skew adds stability depending on the ram thats all, tony reccomends advance 300 so i rolled with it.

Iv'e got one USB stick modded for booting, one 8 gig for whatever and speedbooster in vista and a media drive.

I never had the issue with the maxximus bios's however and they appear to have the same usb options. I dunno what the issue is but as long as I don't disc power its all good. I already tried removing all USB devices, for some reason I think my old seagate is causing the issue because when it happens that drive dissapears and only reappears after i get it booting properly and unplug/plug it in hot.

[binormalkilla]

binormalkilla
Thanks for the info on oh the memory bandwidth is so linked to the CPU. As for what advice for you I would say try increasing CPU PLL Voltage. I had to raise mine. I think I'm around 1.58 to 1.62. Increase CPU GTL Reference to 0.67X. I've not had to increase my South Bridge Voltage or SB 1.5V. And running at 3.8 what is you core temps doing?

My temps are somewhere around 50-60C on Prime95. Does FSBT help improve PL settings? I thought that was only FSB.....
Anyhow, I can't even post at DDR2-1141......meh.

[chew*]

My temps are somewhere around 50-60C on Prime95. Does FSBT help improve PL settings? I thought that was only FSB.....
Anyhow, I can't even post at DDR2-1141......meh.

binorma if those are the OCZ plats they start erroring around 1120, I really haven't played with them that much yet, I will see if I can get memtest to pass higher.

[xxDayTrader]

Well, after a lonnnng weekend, I think I'm finally on the right path with my OC. After a lot of help and suggestions, I was still getting errors in Prime (usually in the 8k tests). {Previous post with full BIOS : http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3545500&postcount=7827}. I documented every setting, and switched CPU, PLL, N Bridge, and FSBTerm to Auto, rebooted and took note of the readings in the BIOS hardware section.
CPU Voltage : 1.46
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.616
North Bridge Voltage : 1.63
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.568
South Bridge Voltage : 1.05

Even in auto, I got Prime failures within the first minute. So, I took these settings and did my best to incorporate what was suggested to me here and came up with:
CPU Voltage : 1.5625 / actual : 1.552
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.56 / actual : 1.664
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53 / actual : 1.552
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.52 / actual : 1.584

I got an error in Prime after an hour and a half but it did make it through the 8k range. From there I cut the PLL a bit (per Grnfinger's earlier recommendations), ran Prime, added to VTT, ran Prime, cut PLL again, more Prime, then bumped vcore and ran Prime again. That last move has been stable for almost 6hrs (once through Prime) and is still going (settings below)

CPU Voltage : 1.568 / actual : 1.552 (raise of .02 didn't show an increase in bios hardware)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.52 / actual : 1.61 - 1.63
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53 / actual : 1.55
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.54 / actual : 1.616
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/1-5pass.jpg

Assuming Prime is stable for 24hrs, I'm tempted to leave things where they are unless someone sees an error in my setup process, something alarming or something that could or should be improved.


EDIT: I'm kinda worried about my temps. I know they don't get to the 76 degree mark during normal use but is this something I should be fearful of? Considering every attempt to run a lower vcore results in Prime failures, I'm assuming I just happen to have one of those chips (or motherboards) that needs a lot of juice to OC.

[chew*]

Have you lapped with 800 grit, If you have lapped with higher relap with 800, higher grit hurts temps, what kind of paste.....arctic silver ceramic helps, are you running dual fans on that TRUE, and if you have done all of the above you can try adding a washer to the TRUE to apply more pressure.

[xxDayTrader]

Have you lapped with 800 grit, If you have lapped with higher relap with 800, higher grit hurts temps, what kind of paste.....arctic silver ceramic helps, are you running dual fans on that TRUE, and if you have done all of the above you can try adding a washer to the TRUE to apply more pressure.


CPU and the TRUE were both lapped down to 1500 grit (what can I say, i went to a military college and we shined stuff to the extreme). Perhaps I went too fine on the grit. I've read posts that support stopping at 800, others that said going finer was ok and others that said the finer the grit the better. I 'may' have used too much TIM (Artic Silver 5 btw). I don't think I did, but it's possible. Perhaps I'll take my rig apart and remount my heatsink. I knew my Silverstone TJ07 case wasn't the best for aircooling but my temps rise one or two degrees (in prime) when I have the side panel in place. (the dual fan / exhaust into the pc chamber video card I have doesn't help either). I do plan to go water-cooling eventually, just not right away ($).



That said...... do the temps seem out of place given the vcore setting I'm using?

[Simkin]

Hello!

anyone have settings for maximus bios to reach 3.8Ghz on Q6600? whats best here? 475X8 or 423X9?

i have now 3.6Ghz stable, thanks to settings from this thread :)

[chew*]

CPU and the TRUE were both lapped down to 1500 grit (what can I say, i went to a military college and we shined stuff to the extreme). Perhaps I went too fine on the grit. I've read posts that support stopping at 800 an others that said going finer was ok. I 'may' have used too much TIM (Artic Silver 5 btw). I don't think I did, but it's possible. Perhaps I'll take my rig apart and remount my heatsink. I knew my Silverstone TJ07 case wasn't the best for aircooling but my temps rise one or two degrees (in prime) when I have the side panel in place. (the dual fan / exhaust into the pc chamber video card I have doesn't help either). I do plan to go water-cooling eventually, just not right away ($).



That said...... do the temps seem out of place given the vcore setting I'm using?

Hard to say, each chips runs different, for instance mine runs hot even with low volts. FOr those volts it seems cool to me, just offering up more ways to bring temps down a tad more ;)

@ simkin, if your board/cpu/ram is capable 475x8 will net you better bandwidth.

[xxDayTrader]

Re. temps........ what should I be trying to keep my NB at and what program to you (you all) like for NB temps? I have Asus Probe II but it's kinda buggy (ie picking up 4V readings on my DRAM for example) and sets off alarms that mysteriously fix themselves.

[xxDayTrader]

Anyone know what I should look to adjust for this failure 12 1/2 hrs in (man, it's alllllllways on core 3)?

CPU Voltage : 1.568 / actual : 1.552
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.52 / actual : 1.61 - 1.63
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53 / actual : 1.55
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.54 / actual : 1.616
RealTemp recored max temps of 78 for 2 cores, 73 for the other two cores (idle temps now are high 30's to mid 40's)
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/12hrprimefail.jpg

[OLDcomer]

At last, I found some stable settings for q6600@3.8GHz:
Bios: 308
CPU Ratio Setting: 9.0
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 333
FSB Frequency: 422
CPU Voltage: 1.55 (CPU-Z)
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.5
North Bridge Voltage: 1.41
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.2
Loadline Calibration: Enabled
CPU GTL Voltage Reference: AUTO
NB GTL Voltage Reference: 0.67x

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/3842/38ghzpv2.th.jpg (http://img61.imageshack.us/my.php?image=38ghzpv2.jpg)

[Zucker2k]

Anyone know what I should look to adjust for this failure 12 1/2 hrs in (man, it's alllllllways on core 3)?

CPU Voltage : 1.568 / actual : 1.552
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.52 / actual : 1.61 - 1.63
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53 / actual : 1.55
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.54 / actual : 1.616
RealTemp recored max temps of 78 for 2 cores, 73 for the other two cores (idle temps now are high 30's to mid 40's)
vcore or fsbt will fix it.

[CBird28]

hi i got an x38 maximus formula, is it possible to have 2 raid setups? i already have 2x 250gb drives in RAID0, but i also need a raid1 setup, i got 250gb of data on my media hdd and if that died i would probably cry. So is it poss to have a raid0 and a raid 1 setup on the mobo? or would i have to get a controller?

[chawks2]

So is it poss to have a raid0 and a raid 1 setup on the mobo? or would i have to get a controller?

Absotutely, I have a RAID 1 & 5 right now on the ICHR. Your biggest issue is going to be ports. Most configs these days have a SATA CD, so you end up with 5.

[binormalkilla]

binorma if those are the OCZ plats they start erroring around 1120, I really haven't played with them that much yet, I will see if I can get memtest to pass higher.

Nah, they're the Geil Evo One's (4x2GB.)

[vodka3dg]

hi, i'd appreciate if anyone could tell me wich the latest rampage formula (x48) bios is that i can fit into my P5E :) 403 works like a charm, but perhaps (at least i hope so) a newer version will make it work even better.
many thanks in advance ppl!

btw, is there anybody out there with a Q6600 vid1.3125 that is also this high on volts? i mean 1.456v for Linpack 64bit 10 min stable (VTT 1.20, PLL 1.5).
the thing is that it is really difficult to get to 3.6GHz with this cpu... i had an older Q6600 G0 with the exact same vid that would do it with 1.55v (sold the sucker :p).. PLL and VTT don't seem to do the trick.. tried different STRAPS and MCH voltages too, till i got really fed up and let it sable as it is now. does anybody have any thoughts on this? would apreciate: trying to run 3dm_vantage with higher cpu clocks + my pencil-modded 4850 :)

[Grnfinger]

hi, i'd appreciate if anyone could tell me wich the latest rampage formula (x48) bios is that i can fit into my P5E :) 403 works like a charm, but perhaps (at least i hope so) a newer version will make it work even better.
many thanks in advance ppl!

btw, is there anybody out there with a Q6600 vid1.3125 that is also this high on volts? i mean 1.456v for Linpack 64bit 10 min stable (VTT 1.20, PLL 1.5).
the thing is that it is really difficult to get to 3.6GHz with this cpu... i had an older Q6600 G0 with the exact same vid that would do it with 1.55v (sold the sucker :p).. PLL and VTT don't seem to do the trick.. tried different STRAPS and MCH voltages too, till i got really fed up and let it sable as it is now. does anybody have any thoughts on this? would apreciate: trying to run 3dm_vantage with higher cpu clocks + my pencil-modded 4850 :)

New 65nm quads do not clock very well and they scale rather horrible.
I have had 3 Q6600's and 1 Q6700 and they all needed atleast 1.4875 for 3600MHz.
imo 1.20vtt for 65nm quad at 3600 is way to low and is problably the problem.

I would recommend 1.40vtt and 1.60PLL, but it could be the Rampage bios on your P5E limiting your overclock. Have you tried to flash back and see if you can get the chip stable?


So my pump died a couple of days ago, and I was experimenting with ways to run pumpless until I got a replacement pump. So I set my chip to the stock vcore of 1.232v, dropped the multiplier to x6 and started bumping fsb till I got this:

Edit: Idle was 50c on highest core, and prime blend load was 70 before I stopped it.

Sorry to hear about your pump, did you lose any hardware?

[vodka3dg]

New 65nm quads do not clock very well and they scale rather horrible.
I have had 3 Q6600's and 1 Q6700 and they all needed atleast 1.4875 for 3600MHz.
imo 1.20vtt for 65nm quad at 3600 is way to low and is problably the problem.

I would recommend 1.40vtt and 1.60PLL, but it could be the Rampage bios on your P5E limiting your overclock. Have you tried to flash back and see if you can get the chip stable?



Sorry to hear about your pump, did you lose any hardware?
you're probably right about new 65 quads... i got my hands on 3 of them (all vid 1.3215), and even thought some say vid has nothing to do with OC potential the three of them made me feel a complete chump for buying/recommending them, oc potential wise.

i did go back to (i dont remember wich) P5E bios... with my previous quad i could switch between RF and P5E maintaining the overclock. still, the only 2 reasons i still use the RF bios is because it has many more options (of which i don't know if all ar functional :rolleyes: ) and the lovely post splash screen i get :D so i wouldn't mind switching back to the corresponding bios.

thanks for the advice on PLL and VTT... i tried 1.6PLL, but it didn't cross my mind going that high on vtt :) i'll start with FSB400x9 then (if success) test FSB450.. the later one would be the best choice obviously :D

another question... do you, or anybody else know how much fsb to expect when using STRAP 266? thks :up:

[Zucker2k]

Sorry to hear about your pump, did you lose any hardware?Cory, thanks. I did lose my raid0 setup. Strangely, this was right after I did a bios flash from 0308 to 0701. I don't want to blame it on that, but I suspect something went awry. I did lose a lot of valuable software/media collection. I got a new pump so all is well and dandy.

Oh, I got my filthy paws on a 4870 x2. :up:

[CBird28]

Absotutely, I have a RAID 1 & 5 right now on the ICHR. Your biggest issue is going to be ports. Most configs these days have a SATA CD, so you end up with 5.

ok cheers fella. I use the intel matrix software im sure will sort it. Thanks

[binormalkilla]

Anyone who flashed from the Maximus Formula to Rampage have the problem where temp monitoring on the nortbridge and voltages on RAM and NB just go away? I monitor temps and voltages on my G15 and they just disappear after some time....weird.

[Grnfinger]

Cory, thanks. I did lose my raid0 setup. Strangely, this was right after I did a bios flash from 0308 to 0701. I don't want to blame it on that, but I suspect something went awry. I did lose a lot of valuable software/media collection. I got a new pump so all is well and dandy.

Oh, I got my filthy paws on a 4870 x2. :up:

:bounces: me too :bounces:
its in tha mail now.



Anyone who flashed from the Maximus Formula to Rampage have the problem where temp monitoring on the nortbridge and voltages on RAM and NB just go away? I monitor temps and voltages on my G15 and they just disappear after some time....weird.


When I did the flash I had the same problem, I updated my chipset drivers and all was well.

[KALISPIMENTA]

Need some help! can someone with a q6600 and some g skill f2-8500cl5-2gbpk memory post their bios settings.I had to reflash the bios and didnt save my oc and now cannot get 3.6ghz stable.
Thnak You

[binormalkilla]

:bounces: me too :bounces:
its in tha mail now.





When I did the flash I had the same problem, I updated my chipset drivers and all was well.

Using the same installation as before? Just overwriting or what? I have to reactivate Vista too :p
I'm going to update the chipset drivers tonight. Maybe the Intel installation program will recognize different driver files or something.
Thanks!

BTW enjoy that 4870X2....she's a beast!

[ZenEffect]

:bounces: me too :bounces:
its in tha mail now.






*jealous*

some bandwidth pr0n. tested memtest86+ stable last night testing lower and lower volts. currently 2.14 *working in reverse from 2.25*

this is 2x1gb newegg ram (crucial lanfest) pc6400

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f210/icon22976/cachemem-5.png

if you want my settings let me know.

[Grnfinger]

*jealous*

some bandwidth pr0n. tested memtest86+ stable last night testing lower and lower volts. currently 2.14 *working in reverse from 2.25*

this is 2x1gb newegg ram (crucial lanfest) pc6400

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f210/icon22976/cachemem-5.png

if you want my settings let me know.

Jeebus man that is some sweet ram, NICE timings!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

gotta link?

[binormalkilla]

*jealous*

some bandwidth pr0n. tested memtest86+ stable last night testing lower and lower volts. currently 2.14 *working in reverse from 2.25*

this is 2x1gb newegg ram (crucial lanfest) pc6400

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f210/icon22976/cachemem-5.png

if you want my settings let me know.
Holy crap man that's insane. Great job.:clap:

[Grnfinger]

Using the same installation as before? Just overwriting or what? I have to reactivate Vista too :p
I'm going to update the chipset drivers tonight. Maybe the Intel installation program will recognize different driver files or something.
Thanks!

BTW enjoy that 4870X2....she's a beast!

You can overwrite older chipset drivers, but I do a clean install.
fyi grab a OEM version of Vista and activation will be a thing of the past.
Dell's OEM version works ratehr well.

[binormalkilla]

You can overwrite older chipset drivers, but I do a clean install.
fyi grab a OEM version of Vista and activation will be a thing of the past.
Dell's OEM version works ratehr well.

Yea I bought that retail copy....meh. I'm going to overwrite for now, but if I have any problems then I'll just reinstall.

[Grnfinger]

Need some help! can someone with a q6600 and some g skill f2-8500cl5-2gbpk memory post their bios settings.I had to reflash the bios and didnt save my oc and now cannot get 3.6ghz stable.
Thnak You

Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Setting : 8
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
FSB Frequency : 450
PCI-E Frequency: 110

DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1080mhz
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A: Advanced 250ps
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B: Advanced 250ps
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

3rd Information
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

Performance Level 7

CPU Voltage : 1.40
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.51
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.20
South Bridge Voltage : 1.05
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.50
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.65X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REF
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF

[ZenEffect]

Jeebus man that is some sweet ram, NICE timings!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

gotta link?

this ram was discontinued in 2007 :ROTF:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148144

dropped it down to 2.14v memtest86+ 100% stable :up:

and screw vista, get server2008!

[Grnfinger]

Thanks for the link m8, To bad about the ram, I'm sure I could find it tho, we have great resources at work!

Server 2k8 any good for gaming/networking?
I game and I need ax to work computers via VPN, I have 5 computers at home all networked and a NAS, so it MUST work :D

[binormalkilla]

Should I try increasing my clock skew to 350ps (picoseconds?) in order to help RAM stability? I still can't post at DDR2-1140 :( I'm at 300ps right now....haven't tried 250 either....

[ZenEffect]

Thanks for the link m8, To bad about the ram, I'm sure I could find it tho, we have great resources at work!

Server 2k8 any good for gaming/networking?
I game and I need ax to work computers via VPN, I have 5 computers at home all networked and a NAS, so it MUST work :D

since ive switched back to 2gb im using xp, but server2008 was my main os for quite a while. its faster than vista, rock solid, and can look exactly like vista aero. you can download it for free and use it for 240 days. the conversion is really easy, use this (http://www.win2008workstation.com/wordpress/2008/07/17/windows-server-2008-workstation-converter/) utility and enable/disable what you want. for the gameux dll file, copy it into the system32 directory first or it will give you an error. also extract all the files first it is very very important. you can configure what services run after that.

you will LOVE the power of the os.

also, more pr0n, i was trying to see how the voltage scaling would go and ran out of cpu shortly after hitting this its a bit looser timings, but you will love the speed. this ram is incredible on this motherboard.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f210/icon22976/cachemem-6.png

5-5-5-15 @ 2.32v :up:

[KALISPIMENTA]

Thank you for such detailed settings grnfinger will text tonight:D

[binormalkilla]

I can't even post at PL7 at 423*9 :(. I've tried a few different pull-ins on PL9 and it's not stable. I reboot after ~45minutes of Prime blended. The same with PL8. I suppose it's the 8GB holding me back.

Has anyone had success with overvolting the MCH with +10mV (or 20, 30?)

EDIT:
I'm going to try testing with 2x2GB sticks later.

[MJR]

hey guys. I have an opportunity to basically swap out my board for a true x48 Rampage. Would I be able to break the with that board? How high do the Q9550 go on the x48 Rampage? or shoudl I look for a p45 if I want to push this chip?

[binormalkilla]

Ok well no luck on any better PL settings with 2 sticks....what gives? Something's missing.....maybe my MCH just isn't the best compared to others? Meh......not giving up yet....runing 0701 BIOS, so maybe I should go with another version?

[ZenEffect]

Ok well no luck on any better PL settings with 2 sticks....what gives? Something's missing.....maybe my MCH just isn't the best compared to others? Meh......not giving up yet....runing 0701 BIOS, so maybe I should go with another version?

what is your settings?

[binormalkilla]

what is your settings?

Check this (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3545863&postcount=7829) post. I've tried a lot of different voltages, different pull-ins, CLK skews, you name it. I'm stable at these settings, which gets me just shy of 9K write and 57.2ns in Everest. I came from a 4GB Geil Esoteria kit that ran DDR2-1128 at really high voltage (something like 2.4V, but it warrantied up to 2.5V.) I was in the 9s with that kit IIRC.

[ZenEffect]

333 strap, pl7, clock twister to moderate. you will probalby want to drop your fsbt and nb volts. your computer is crying in pain from those volts. also i have not ever had to exceed 200 skew. it could be that your ram does not want to clock that high.

you could always buy my dfi too... that is supposed to cruise 8gb no problem.

[binormalkilla]

333 strap, pl7, clock twister to moderate. you will probalby want to drop your fsbt and nb volts. your computer is crying in pain from those volts. also i have not ever had to exceed 200 skew. it could be that your ram does not want to clock that high.

you could always buy my dfi too... that is supposed to cruise 8gb no problem.

Yea I only have my NBV that high for testing. I have it on water so it loads in Prime blended at 32C. I'll try turning down the FSBT, but IIRC it needed to be fairly high....maybe not that high though :p

BTW I'll try moderate, but I wouldn't even post at lighter at PL7 IIRC. I tried 333 strap as well. I'll give it another shot though. Thanks!

PL7 is still a no go with those settings :(

[ZenEffect]

Yea I only have my NBV that high for testing. I have it on water so it loads in Prime blended at 32C. I'll try turning down the FSBT, but IIRC it needed to be fairly high....maybe not that high though :p

BTW I'll try moderate, but I wouldn't even post at lighter at PL7 IIRC. I tried 333 strap as well. I'll give it another shot though. Thanks!

PL7 is still a no go with those settings :(

my guess is your ram is not going to clock as high as hoped.

[binormalkilla]

my guess is your ram is not going to clock as high as hoped.

Yea I don't think it will either.....however my tRD should be able to be tightened independently of the RAM from what I've read.
Maybe I'll try another BIOS version.

[Grnfinger]

Yea I don't think it will either.....however my tRD should be able to be tightened independently of the RAM from what I've read.
Maybe I'll try another BIOS version.

try 4GBs and see if you can clock the ram a little higher.
I have never needed anything above 1.53 for vNB and that was at 485+FSB
bios 308 is still the best imo

[Flameout]

Hi I need help please to overclock Q9450 which I have managed to overclock to 3.21GHZ but cannot go any higher as really I am not sure what I need to do, and unfortunatly I dont have the time to do the trail and error approach as I have a young family and my wifes giving me what for for spending hours on my pc!
I have flashed my Maximus formula to Rampage and I am using bios 601 .
I have Corsair Dominator ddr2 1066 ram

I would like to get 3.4 or 3.6 ghz is this possible on air cooling?
Any help or settings would be greatly appriciated!

My settings

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8.0
FSB Frequency : 400
FSB Strap to North Bridge :400
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1066MHz
DRAM Command Rate : auto
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 : 55 DRam clocks
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 : auto
CPU PLL Voltage : auto
North Bridge Voltage : auto
DRAM Voltage : 2.1v
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 : enabled

CPU Spread Spectrum : Auto
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Auto

Advanced CPU Configuration
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8.0
C1E Suppport : Disabled
CPU TM Function : Auto
Vanderpool Technology : Enabled
Execute Disable Bit : Enabled
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled


USB Configuration
USB Functions: Enabled
Legacy USB Support : Auto
vDroop Mod / vCore Mod / EPU Mod

[chew*]

Tested extensively with OCZ ddr 1066, don't expect anything more than 1110 out of them for 24/7 stable. Tried every option in bios save slack timings which would be pointless.

From a different point of view this is better than those who bought OCZ ddrII 1200 that can't reach 1200 speeds with this board, IIRC they max out at 1150.

[xxDayTrader]

Ugh...... I'm about to throw in the towel after yet another Prime failure last night.

CPU : 1.575 (actual 1.56)
PLL : 1.52
NB : 1.49
FSB T : 1.52 (actual 1.62)
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww136/TheMowler/fail.jpg

Before I go crazy I think I need to get some clarification. As you can see, I've got my voltages pretty high as it is (max temps were 80 in 2 cores with 15 degrees to tjmax) and I think I'm at the level where pushing my cpu or vtt with any more juice might start doing some damage (although, I may be off base here).

Is it likely that the 48k error I had was due to something else like my RAM, graphics card, PCI-E frequency, or maybe even Windows? I ask because when I woke up and turned my monitor on to see how the night went with Prime, Windows was acting "funny." I was as if someone was hitting Alt/Tab all the time because every time I'd click on the prime window, the realtemp window, or even the start "button," within a few seconds that window would de-select itself. Just shutting down without resorting to holding in the power button took some quick finger speed to key the windows key, arrow down and hit enter to get "shut down." This may have been because of a Tivo Server program that I had installed because there were half a dozen Tivo Server error boxes open as well - I uninstalled it this AM.

Hell, I dunno. I'm frustrated and not sure what to do next. I don't drink anymore so getting bombed isn't an option like it used to be. :D

Lay it on me fellas. Would a reformat / window reinstall do any good? (I hesitate because, like an idiot, I have a lot of data on my c-drive and I'm not sure I have enough space on my other drives to hold it all......not to mention tracking down all my firefox favorites, password saves, game sign-ons and saves, and so forth) Should I continue to raise voltages? Should I just call it "close enough is good enough" with 9hrs stable and leave things alone? Should I go back to 9x400 and see how that works? Should I sell this rig on ebay and go buy a Dell and quit bothering all of you? ;)

[Zucker2k]

Yea I don't think it will either.....however my tRD should be able to be tightened independently of the RAM from what I've read.
Maybe I'll try another BIOS version.So are you running 950 or 1140?


Ugh...... I'm about to throw in the towel after yet another Prime failure last night.

CPU : 1.575 (actual 1.56)
PLL : 1.52
NB : 1.49
FSB T : 1.52 (actual 1.62)That chip is too hot. What cpu gtls are you running?

[chew*]

Day how new is your Q6xxx series chip?

Mine is from an old batch and a year old. Older batches clocked better. The newer batches are ok at best might just be your chip holding you back. Heard a lot of experienced guys feeling like chumps at overclocking with the newer batch Q6xxx.

[xxDayTrader]

Day how new is your Q6xxx series chip?

Mine is from an old batch and a year old. Older batches clocked better. The newer batches are ok at best might just be your chip holding you back. Heard a lot of experienced guys feeling like chumps at overclocking with the newer batch Q6xxx.

I bought it in Feb 08 +/- direct from Intel (through an Intel employee).

[xxDayTrader]

That chip is too hot. What cpu gtls are you running?

CPU GTL : .67
and NB GTL : .67

[Zucker2k]

CPU GTL : .67
and NB GTL : .67With your fsbt at 1.6+ you should drop your cpu gtl to x63 or even x62.

[xxDayTrader]

With your fsbt at 1.6+ you should drop your cpu gtl to x63 or even x62.

All-rightey-then..... will give each a try. ;)

[Commander_HK47]

xxDayTrader;

What are your North, south bridge, and motherboard(i do mean motherboard) temps when you stress test?

[xxDayTrader]

xxDayTrader;

What are your North, south bridge, and motherboard(i do mean motherboard) temps when you stress test?

According to Probe II (and this is only about 7 minutes into Prime Small FFTs):

NB: 42
SB: 37
MB: 31

I've seen the NB hit 44 before but I think that was with different settings.

[binormalkilla]

So are you running 950 or 1140?

That chip is too hot. What cpu gtls are you running?

950. I can't POST at 1140 (even if I remove 2 sticks.)

[Zucker2k]

950. I can't POST at 1140 (even if I remove 2 sticks.)For FSB 450 you should be able to run PL8 1:1 but try running everything tight; DRAM Clock Skews advanced 300 A/B, DRAM Static Read = Enabled, Ai Clock Twister = Stronger. If you jump to 1140, you should be able to run PL7 with same settings above. You can try decreasing FSB until it runs and then start bumping fsb up to see where it stops and try balancing nb and other settings to see if you can go past that point.

[MJR]

any suggestions on upgrading to a Maximus II or Rampage x48 for the 45nm quad? Is it worth it over the maximus formula x38?

[Renegade5399]

Man this thread is still kicking. I just wanted to point out that it appears this board likes the 45nm dual cores. 4.4GHz on my new 8600, no sweat.

[ChaosMinionX]

Has anyone tested whats the next best BIOS compared to 0308 since it doesnt have Q9550 E0 support in it?

[MJR]

Has anyone tested whats the next best BIOS compared to 0308 since it doesnt have Q9550 E0 support in it?

0701 wasn't any better for the 45 nm quads.

[binormalkilla]

For FSB 450 you should be able to run PL8 1:1 but try running everything tight; DRAM Clock Skews advanced 300 A/B, DRAM Static Read = Enabled, Ai Clock Twister = Stronger. If you jump to 1140, you should be able to run PL7 with same settings above. You can try decreasing FSB until it runs and then start bumping fsb up to see where it stops and try balancing nb and other settings to see if you can go past that point.

I'll see what the max FSB I can run PL7. I can POST and bench PL8 (no pull-ins) but it fails Prime blended after ~45miniutes. I'll report back tomorrow most likely.....too busy to play today :shakes:

Before I do any of this I'm going to revert to 0308 (best BIOS?)

[ZenEffect]

Man this thread is still kicking. I just wanted to point out that it appears this board likes the 45nm dual cores. 4.4GHz on my new 8600, no sweat.

4.5ghz 1.352v e8500 :p:

ram at 1200 5-5-5-5 pl7

indeed one of my favorite boards. been through some p45s, have a dfi x48 and i keep coming back to this board. it clocks my ram higher at less volts than anything else and same w/ cpu. plus bandwidth could not be matched on any other board.

[Zucker2k]

4.5ghz 1.352v e8500 :p:

ram at 1200 5-5-5-5 pl7

indeed one of my favorite boards. been through some p45s, have a dfi x48 and i keep coming back to this board. it clocks my ram higher at less volts than anything else and same w/ cpu. plus bandwidth could not be matched on any other board.Shhh, don't tell any dfi fanboy that. I've had a few skirmishes with them on my Maximus and needless to say, it kicked ass! :clap:

[ZenEffect]

Shhh, don't tell any dfi fanboy that. I've had a few skirmishes with them on my Maximus and needless to say, it kicked ass! :clap:

the dfi has a whole lot more bios options. the cpu voltage stepping is supposed to be finer however i think its a sham after further testing. it can go 1.34 vor 1.36v but no matter what i did it would not go to 1.35v. the board however is supposed to be the "king" of clocking 8gb of ram but im not running that much... in the end, it was more hassle than i was willing to put up with. just trying to figure out the proper gtl's for my nb/cpu was a few hours affair.

maximus/rampage ftw all the way. my dfi is listed in the for sale section :rofl:

[Grnfinger]

Alotta guys jump'd on the DFI wagon, then quickly jump'd ship as the bios was over there heads.

I didnt buy one but got a chance to play with a UT, it was interesting to say the least.
I got the 9450 to 3.8 with decent bandwidth, but it was alot of fighting for something not overly hard to reach.

[orbiter]

Hi guys,

I hope you can me please?

Today I got my new Q9650 and shoved it into my Maximus Formula (Latest BIOS 1302.) Everything is ok (well apart from 2 temp sensors only working over 37*C) but that's not a problem. I just can't for the life of me though get this thing past 3.81GHz :( It will boot at 4GHz but as soon as I poke it with Prime 95, it just either freezes or BSOD's with an error "a clock interupt was not received on a secondary processor within the allocated time interval".

Now as far as I can tell this is not a CPU issue as prime95 isn't showing a fail at the time of the lockup. I've tried a load of BIOS settings within spec for this 45NM chip and my settings are currently as follows.....

FSB 422MHz
FSB-NB strap 333MHz
DRAM 1014MHz
CPU 1.30000v
DRAM 1.94v

Thanks in advance guys for your help

Regards

Orb

[ZenEffect]

Alotta guys jump'd on the DFI wagon, then quickly jump'd ship as the bios was over there heads.

I didnt buy one but got a chance to play with a UT, it was interesting to say the least.
I got the 9450 to 3.8 with decent bandwidth, but it was alot of fighting for something not overly hard to reach.

the bios was never over my head by any means, once you get it its pretty fast to set up as well. its just was not as fast as this board w/ my setup. on different hardware it could be a completely different story however. the gtl settings were retarded imho. they are impossibly hard to understand as it does not go by a % scale and each value will change if you change fsbt. so 1.2fsbt with 110gtl for all cores *there are 3 settings, 01, 23, and nb* would have a different voltage if it were 1.3fsbt 110gtl neither the scale of the gtl settings nor the voltage make any logical sense. you HAVE to rely on the charts or measure the voltage yourself with a voltmeter. retarded to me, grits and gravy to others i guess.


Hi guys,

I hope you can me please?

Today I got my new Q9650 and shoved it into my Maximus Formula (Latest BIOS 1302.) Everything is ok (well apart from 2 temp sensors only working over 37*C) but that's not a problem. I just can't for the life of me though get this thing past 3.81GHz :( It will boot at 4GHz but as soon as I poke it with Prime 95, it just either freezes or BSOD's with an error "a clock interupt was not received on a secondary processor within the allocated time interval".

Now as far as I can tell this is not a CPU issue as prime95 isn't showing a fail at the time of the lockup. I've tried a load of BIOS settings within spec for this 45NM chip and my settings are currently as follows.....

FSB 422MHz
FSB-NB strap 333MHz
DRAM 1014MHz
CPU 1.30000v
DRAM 1.94v

Thanks in advance guys for your help

Regards

Orb

you do realize that once we help you you will go mod it to the rampage bios and the whole process will start all over again. :p

also you are leaving out a lot of other settings that are vital to the oc.

[Zucker2k]

the dfi has a whole lot more bios options. the cpu voltage stepping is supposed to be finer however i think its a sham after further testing. it can go 1.34 vor 1.36v but no matter what i did it would not go to 1.35v. the board however is supposed to be the "king" of clocking 8gb of ram but im not running that much... in the end, it was more hassle than i was willing to put up with. just trying to figure out the proper gtl's for my nb/cpu was a few hours affair.

maximus/rampage ftw all the way. my dfi is listed in the for sale section :rofl:About the 8GB bit, I'm yet to see any board do what I've done with both my Maximus/Rampage.

[ZenEffect]

About the 8GB bit, I'm yet to see any board do what I've done with both my Maximus/Rampage.

i dont have 8gigs to test it with. thats why the "king" was in quotes because supposedly thats what it does well.

[Zucker2k]

Hi guys,

I hope you can me please?

Today I got my new Q9650 and shoved it into my Maximus Formula (Latest BIOS 1302.) Everything is ok (well apart from 2 temp sensors only working over 37*C) but that's not a problem. I just can't for the life of me though get this thing past 3.81GHz :( It will boot at 4GHz but as soon as I poke it with Prime 95, it just either freezes or BSOD's with an error "a clock interupt was not received on a secondary processor within the allocated time interval".

Now as far as I can tell this is not a CPU issue as prime95 isn't showing a fail at the time of the lockup. I've tried a load of BIOS settings within spec for this 45NM chip and my settings are currently as follows.....

FSB 422MHz
FSB-NB strap 333MHz
DRAM 1014MHz
CPU 1.30000v
DRAM 1.94v

Thanks in advance guys for your help

Regards

OrbI have gotten that a few times. Up vdimm a little.

[chew*]

Well I've come to the realization that this PSU can just not handle the load of this cpu over 3.6 and my 4870 oced.......

I have never ran into a problem where a pc just literally reboots, no error in prime just black screen reboot so its got to be a hardware issue. Had the same issue with my seasonic trying to get past 3.4, this one has just a tad higher amps per 12v rail so If i grab a really high dual 12v rail or single 12v rail psu hopefully my issues will be solved.

I should have bought a larger seasonic or a PC p&c but i was in a rush and needed a psu right away. Guess this antec can server duty to power on my mach 2 from now on.

Any reccomendations? MY seasonic was specced at 1 16A 12v rail and one 17A 12v rail, the trio got me stable to 3.6 with 3 19A 12v rails but i'm guessing i need higher amperage and less rails at this point.

[Flameout]

Hi I need help please to overclock Q9450 which I have managed to overclock to 3.21GHZ but cannot go any higher as really I am not sure what I need to do, and unfortunatly I dont have the time to do the trail and error approach as I have a young family and my wifes giving me what for for spending hours on my pc!
I have flashed my Maximus formula to Rampage and I am using bios 601 .
I have Corsair Dominator ddr2 1066 ram

I would like to get 3.4 or 3.6 ghz is this possible on air cooling?
Any help or settings would be greatly appriciated!

My settings

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8.0
FSB Frequency : 400
FSB Strap to North Bridge :400
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1066MHz
DRAM Command Rate : auto
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 : 55 DRam clocks
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 : auto
CPU PLL Voltage : auto
North Bridge Voltage : auto
DRAM Voltage : 2.1v
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 : enabled

CPU Spread Spectrum : Auto
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Auto

Advanced CPU Configuration
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8.0
C1E Suppport : Disabled
CPU TM Function : Auto
Vanderpool Technology : Enabled
Execute Disable Bit : Enabled
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled


USB Configuration
USB Functions: Enabled
Legacy USB Support : Auto
vDroop Mod / vCore Mod / EPU Mod

[orbiter]

you do realize that once we help you you will go mod it to the rampage bios and the whole process will start all over again. :p

also you are leaving out a lot of other settings that are vital to the oc.

Yes I understand :) Although is flashing the BIOS to Rampage anymore difficult than a normal flash?

Also please advise which settings are required for your help, I will supply all that's needed.

Thank you

Regards

Orb


I have gotten that a few times. Up vdimm a little.

I've actually had the cpu voltage up to max (1.3625v) but I don't think it's the chip that's giving up the ghost as the moment my computer freezes Prime95 is still showing green icons for each core.

Regards

Orb

[chew*]

Flashing the bios is rather easy, Go to page 1 for info on how to and files you will need for flashing, 0308 is better for memory bandwidth, 0701 seems to give better video performance although it may just be better for ATI.

The only bios that oced halfway decent for me in the maxximus variant was 0907, rampage clocks higher and offers more memory performance/stability tweaks. Going from maxximus to rampage is reversible should you so choose to go back.

[orbiter]

Flashing the bios is rather easy, Go to page 1 for info on how to and files you will need for flashing, 0308 is better for memory bandwidth, 0701 seems to give better video performance although it may just be better for ATI.

The only bios that oced halfway decent for me in the maxximus variant was 0907, rampage clocks higher and offers more memory performance/stability tweaks. Going from maxximus to rampage is reversible should you so choose to go back.

I just tried to flash the my bios following the instructions however im having problems in that when i get to the DOS prompt in input the code I keeps saying BIOS file not readable. I also tried via EZFLASH which I've done many times previous and that didn't work either. Something about incorrect BIOS :( I was trying to update to BIOS 0403.

[chew*]

I just tried to flash the my bios following the instructions however im having problems in that when i get to the DOS prompt in input the code I keeps saying BIOS file not readable. I also tried via EZFLASH which I've done many times previous and that didn't work either. Something about incorrect BIOS :( I was trying to update to BIOS 0403.

You are using afudos.exe right? Make sure you are at stock settings when you DL the bios and try to flash it and use this command in afudos.

AFUDOS /iRF0219.rom /pbnc /n

Obviously you will want to insert your bios files name in place of RF0219.rom or rename it to that......

You could have a bad floppy, I flashed from a bootable USB. If your not sure what the name of your bios file is while in dos just type DIR and hit enter.
EZ flash will not work until you force the rampage bios with afudos...........And under no circumstances should you flash from windows and never ever power off while flashing, sometimes it will seems like it hangs, just wait.

You have to use afudos because you are doing a force flash. If your using a floppy the problem you are having is a floppy is 1.44mb and the bios file is 2.0mb........

[orbiter]

You are using afudos.exe right? Make sure you are at stock settings when you DL the bios and try to flash it and use this command in afudos.

AFUDOS /iRF0219.rom /pbnc /n

Obviously you will want to insert your bios files name in place of RF0219.rom or rename it to that......

You could have a bad floppy, I flashed from a bootable USB. If your not sure what the name of your bios file is while in dos just type DIR and hit enter.
EZ flash will not work until you force the rampage bios with afudos...........And under no circumstances should you flash from windows and never ever power off while flashing, sometimes it will seems like it hangs, just wait.

You have to use afudos because you are doing a force flash. If your using a floppy the problem you are having is a floppy is 1.44mb and the bios file is 2.0mb........


Many Thanks chew :up:

I was using the wrong file name for BIOS :eek: I'm running the 0701 bios now thanks, so I'll check all my voltages and give this BIOS some stick to see if I can get 4GHz+ anymore stable on the Q9650. If not I'll be back on to you guys :yepp: :)

Thanks again

Orb

[orbiter]

OK fellas, still having problems after flashing to BIOS 0701 :( Same Issues really as with the Maximus 1302 BIOS. Got everything reasonably good at 3.81GHz but at 3.9GHz or above the system either just doesnt boot or crashes as soon as I poke it with Prime95 etc. Here are the BIOS settings I'm using right now....Hope you guys can spot something in there? I greatly appreciate your assistance :)


Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
CPU Ratio Control : auto
FSB Frequency : 422
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2- 1014
DRAM Command Rate : 2n
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 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 : 1.30000v (tried max also 1.3625v)
CPU PLL Voltage : auto
North Bridge Voltage : 1.45v
DRAM Voltage : 1.94 (tried aslo 2.1v)
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 : Enabled

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

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


USB Configuration
USB Functions: Enabled
Legacy USB Support : Auto

Thanks for your help

Kind Regards

Orb

[19*12 gamer]

Hey guys,

I flashed my Maximus Formula to Rampage a while ago to get higer oc and I did. (533*8 @1.38v)
I was just wondering which (mobo-)drivers would be best? (Rampage or formula, if there is any difference)

[Zucker2k]

I've actually had the cpu voltage up to max (1.3625v) but I don't think it's the chip that's giving up the ghost as the moment my computer freezes Prime95 is still showing green icons for each core.

Regards

OrbVdimm is memory volts; you either have an unstable ram oc or your ram is defective. Test the failing oc with memtest 86+ and see if it passes.

[orbiter]

Vdimm is memory volts; you either have an unstable ram oc or your ram is defective. Test the failing oc with memtest 86+ and see if it passes.

Hi zucker2k

I can't find Vdimm in my bios it just says DRAM volts which i have set at 1.94v. I have treid them at 2.1v but that makes no difference to the OC failing. Everest is reporting DIMM as 2.05v and DIMM VTT at 1.02v.

Am I just looking in all the wrong places for this Vdimm?

Thanks again

PS just tried 2GB brand new Corsair ram still no luck :(

Orb

[chew*]

Here are a few things to try......First lets set cpu ratio control to manual and set it to 8.

You said your cpu is stable at 3.6 so lets see if we can get it stable at 3.6 with higher FSB, etc process of elimination. Try 450 FSB X 8 multi.

Also OCZ ram should be set to advance 300ps channel A and B.

Static read = disabled

AI clock twister = Lighter.

Transaction booster = manual

Performance level = [7]

set Vdimm 2.12-2.14 aka dram volts

Zucker is correct, I'm willing to bet without those memory settings above you will fail memtest in test 5 ;)

[orbiter]

Here are a few things to try......First lets set cpu ratio control to manual and set it to 8.

You said your cpu is stable at 3.6 so lets see if we can get it stable at 3.6 with higher FSB, etc process of elimination. Try 450 FSB X 8 multi.

Also OCZ ram should be set to advance 300ps channel A and B.

Static read = disabled

AI clock twister = Lighter.

Transaction booster = manual

Performance level = [7]

set Vdimm 2.12-2.14 aka dram volts

Zucker is correct, I'm willing to bet without those memory settings above you will fail memtest in test 5 ;)

Trying those settings now. Also can i run memtest on vista x64?

Regards

Orb

[orbiter]

System wont boot with those suggested settings my friends :( not even with ram lowered to 901MHz.

[chew*]

With all those settings or just the ram, settings, etc 450 fsb x 8

Memtest runs in dos........

[orbiter]

With all those settings or just the ram, settings, etc 450 fsb x 8

Memtest runs in dos........

System won't boot with all those settings chew :(

[carepolice]

System won't boot with all those settings chew :(

Increase Performance level to 8 or 9, should boot after that

[chew*]

Increase Performance level to 8 or 9, should boot after that

Nope I think its the FSB go back to your tested stable OC or change to 9x400 and use those settings for the ram and let me know if you boot ok. If it boots fine then its likely cpu/motherboard holding you back with fsb and we will have to tweak voltages to get it stable at a higher fsb.

[xxDayTrader]

I was this close to throwing in the towel on this oc, going back to my 9*400 setup and just leaving it (because I could run lower settings and got lower temps). Instead, with some new-found confidence from some articles on Anand, I'm gonna stick in there (for now ;) ).

Before I go nuts, I have a couple questions I'd like some opinions on:

1. Asus ProbeII - is it reliable for mobo and NB temps and, if so, what should be my target temp to keep them both under?

2. Is it likely that Vista64 "issues" could cause failures in Prime95? If not "cause" them, could it be a contributing factor?
I ask because on and off for the past couple weeks I've had an issue where it's as if Vista is alt-tab'ing my keyboard. For instance I could be typing this reply then my cursor disappears, the boarder around this window ghosts out {like they do when you jump from one window to another} then it would jump back again and part of the word/sentence I was typing wouldn't be there from when this window was 'deselected.' - When I'd go into taskmanager, all the tasks in the applications tab would be jumping around as well. It's probably time for a format/OS reinstall anyway but I wonder if it could have anything to do with my cpu crapping out during Prime. EDIT: i double checked my established run-time for defrag and that's not it.....even though my pc kinda acts like that's what's happening. Re-EDIT: I might have tracked it down to a PDA/Outlook appointment reminder/sync. problem.

3. Does increasing FSB Term. Voltage (VTT) impact CPU temps and NB temps or mostly just one or the other?

.....as always......thanks. ;)

[binormalkilla]

Well I went ahead and flashed 0308, but I still can't POST at 475 with PL7. Tonight I'm going to test other FSBs with PL7 and go from there.
I was 1 hour OCCT stable with PL8 at 475*8 with lower VDIMM and NBV. I'm going to try lowering voltages on NBV and FSBT until I'm unstable, and begin tightening RAM timings as well.
After finding a fully stable low voltage solution I'll start testing PL settings.
I guess it's possible that some Maximus Formulas don't have a high enough binned X38 to run as high of a performance level as the native Rampage Formulas/other flashed MFs.

[orbiter]

OK guys, I've loaded my max OC (3.81GHz) with all my previous settings apart from the new ones you advised chew and still booted ok with those.

Currently temps are good although NB is a bit warm at 50*C idle.

BIOS - vcore 1.25000v / Everest 1.26v
BIOS - Dram 2.04v / Everest 2.16
NB - 1.49v
SB - 1.09v

Thanks for help chew..What next my friend?

Regards

Orb

[chew*]

OK so now it wasn't the ram timings holding you back, its cpu/mobo.....

There are a few voltages that can get you stability. I will list them all.

Leave SB voltage alone.

NB voltage up to 1.55 *edit* if your chip is 45nm use max 1.45v

Cpu PLL up to 1.7

FSB term voltage ( I don't need this but maybe one of the other guys have some input and max safe setting ) it hasn't done anything for me...

Cpu voltage up to 1.55

Try all those volts at those settings and try to boot, If you do boot start backing off each voltage again until you cant boot, this will help you determine which voltage is the culprit limiting your OC. Once you find the culprit you can fine tune it to pass prime.

[Grnfinger]

OK guys, I've loaded my max OC (3.81GHz) with all my previous settings apart from the new ones you advised chew and still booted ok with those.

Currently temps are good although NB is a bit warm at 50*C idle.

BIOS - vcore 1.25000v / Everest 1.26v
BIOS - Dram 2.04v / Everest 2.16
NB - 1.49v
SB - 1.09v

Thanks for help chew..What next my friend?

Regards

Orb

Maximus X38 is 45nm quad limited.
425-430 FSB seems to be the limit, there are few rare exceptions but not many. Thats why I bought a MIIF
Rampage bios will not resolve this issue......

[orbiter]

Thanks chew, please note though that I am using a 45nm cpu so should that be it's max voltage of 1.3625v? also I'm not even sure myself of max safe PLL? please advise.

Regards

Orb

[chew*]

Thanks chew, please note though that I am using a 45nm cpu so should that be it's max voltage of 1.3625v? also I'm not even sure myself of max safe PLL? please advise.

Regards

Orb

I think save voltage for any cpu is .20-30 over stock vid....temps depending. Not sure what 45nm is for VID.

/\
I think grn knows something i don't, never used 45nm myself.

[orbiter]

Maximus X38 is 45nm quad limited.
425-430 FSB seems to be the limit, there are few rare exceptions but not many. Thats why I bought a MIIF
Rampage bios will not resolve this issue......

Ahh so it's my mobo you think Grnfinger and not the chip?

If so would it be worth me buying a Maximus Formula II and how much more could I possibly expect from it and my new Q9650? I was actually hoping for 4.1GHz out of this system before I paid £440 for the cpu so I'm a tad dissapointed to be honest.

Regards

Orb

[orbiter]

Hi again guys,

After running Prime95 again with new Rampage BIOS just to test for any stabilty changes, I'm finding that I can't run Prime now for half the time I could with the Formula BIOS (1302) :( and I can't seem to flash back, as I keep getting an error saying "ROM file size does not match existing BIOS size". I've got the maximus BIOS file on the same flash drive I used to flash to Rampage and have inputed the correct code, but still get the error. Please could you advise?

Thanks

Orb

[chew*]

Hi again guys,

After running Prime95 again with new Rampage BIOS just to test for any stabilty changes, I'm finding that I can't run Prime now for half the time I could with the Formula BIOS (1302) :( and I can't seem to flash back, as I keep getting an error saying "ROM file size does not match existing BIOS size". I've got the maximus BIOS file on the same flash drive I used to flash to Rampage and have inputed the correct code, but still get the error. Please could you advise?

Thanks

Orb

are you using afudos and following these steps?

AFUDOS /i**INSERT*BIOS*FILENAME*HERE** /pbnc /n

[orbiter]

are you using afudos and following these steps?

AFUDOS /i**INSERT*BIOS*FILENAME*HERE** /pbnc /n


Yes... Exactly the same procedure as I used to flash it to the Rampage and from the same USB drive with the same files on it + the 1302.ROM

Orb

[Grnfinger]

Ahh so it's my mobo you think Grnfinger and not the chip?

If so would it be worth me buying a Maximus Formula II and how much more could I possibly expect from it and my new Q9650? I was actually hoping for 4.1GHz out of this system before I paid £440 for the cpu so I'm a tad dissapointed to be honest.

Regards

Orb

My Q9550 would not boot past 426FSB on MAximus X38 board...
My Q9550 will boot on 490FSB on Maximus II Formula, thats why I bought it.

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

[chew*]

Yes... Exactly the same procedure as I used to flash it to the Rampage and from the same USB drive with the same files on it + the 1302.ROM

Orb

Try grabbing an older different bios from asus's site and reflash, make sure it's a bios that supports 45nm however. make sure you DL it at default clocks....

[MJR]

Maximus X38 is 45nm quad limited.
425-430 FSB seems to be the limit, there are few rare exceptions but not many. Thats why I bought a MIIF
Rampage bios will not resolve this issue......

I've finally given in to this fact and I'm shopping the Maximus II and Rampage x48. How does the Rampage x48 fare with the 45nm quads? I'd rather get that than a p45.

[orbiter]

Try grabbing an older different bios from asus's site and reflash, make sure it's a bios that supports 45nm however. make sure you DL it at default clocks....

OK chew thanks.. Still fiddling with 0701 right now though just incase there's something I've missed :)

Regards

Orb

[Grnfinger]

I've finally given in to this fact and I'm shopping the Maximus II and Rampage x48. How does the Rampage x48 fare with the 45nm quads? I'd rather get that than a p45.

Both board have there strengths and weakness.
Rampage will serve you well, If cost is not a factor then grab a Rampage for sure.

[orbiter]

I've now got a tad higher guys with the rampage BIOS... 3.82GHz with a bit of extra CPU voltage 1.3200v and Primed for 1hour without fail :)

Grnfinger.. Do you think the Rampage Formula or Extreme board would hold up better than the Formula II for a Q9650 when going for 4+GHz?

Kind Regards

Orb

[ZenEffect]

I've now got a tad higher guys with the rampage BIOS... 3.82GHz with a bit of extra CPU voltage 1.3200v and Primed for 1hour without fail :)

Grnfinger.. Do you think the Rampage Formula or Extreme board would hold up better than the Formula II for a Q9650 when going for 4+GHz?

Kind Regards

Orb

the nb and pwm area are better suited for quad 45nm on mfII however the rampage x48 has been known to clock 45nm quad beyond 500fsb as well. i guess its really the choice should boil down to whether you are going to run crossfire or not. personally i would take the rampage as you can run tighter settings.

[orbiter]

the nb and pwm area are better suited for quad 45nm on mfII however the rampage x48 has been known to clock 45nm quad beyond 500fsb as well. i guess its really the choice should boil down to whether you are going to run crossfire or not. personally i would take the rampage as you can run tighter settings.


Thanks for the info there Zen :up:. Is the Rampage Formula a better bet than the Rampage Extreme? I'm not really bothered about Xfire or Sli as I'm quite happy with a single card. I just want the best board I can afford right now as I'm gunna give i7 a miss especially after just buying my Q9650.

Thanks again

Orb

[Grnfinger]

Thanks for the info there Zen :up:. Is the Rampage Formula a better bet than the Rampage Extreme? I'm not really bothered about Xfire or Sli as I'm quite happy with a single card. I just want the best board I can afford right now as I'm gunna give i7 a miss especially after just buying my Q9650.

Thanks again

Orb

Rampage Xtreme is DDR3
Rampage is DDR2

Both are stellar boards, Xtreme is the top dog for sure, if you can afford the board and ram, get it.

Rampage vs Maximus II Formula..

Zen is correct it boils down to personal choice,
Clock for clock they perform about equal, BUT MIIF runs cooler so for air its a wise choice. NB, FSBT, PLL and vCORE all require less volts on a MIIF.

Rampage runs much hotter, the NB requires alot more juice, Ram can be run alittle tighter...My secong MIIF was supposed to be a Rampage but Asus drop'd the ball on my RMA, so I cant do my side by side:shakes:

Bottom line, take some time to educate yourself about the pros/cons of both boards. Decide what you want out of the board and make your choice based on YOUR opinion, in the end thats all that matters...your happy with your hardware.

[chew*]

Grn can you suggest a ram kit that excelled really well with this board? 2x2g preferably

[Grnfinger]

Grn can you suggest a ram kit that excelled really well with this board? 2x2g preferably

Best kit I used on this board was Corsair Dominators vers 1.1 handpicked Micron D9GMH ic's :D

GSkills' 8500 kit is good to about 1140-1150MHz, 1170MHz if you relax the timings and pump the volts to 2.25
There 8800 kit it very good, 1.8volts for 1130MHz, they max out avout 1150 or so, alittle higher if you get a cherry kit.
Muskins XP-2 8500 max out at about 1175MHz
I hear good things about Mushkin Redlines but never bought them :shrug:
ZenEffect might be a better person to ask, he has done some nice things with a few different kits.

[MJR]

Both board have there strengths and weakness.
Rampage will serve you well, If cost is not a factor then grab a Rampage for sure.

If all goes as planned, I should have a Rampage soon... this 430fsb wall is killing me!

EDIT: Damn!!! I went to get the open-box Rampage I saw on newegg and they were gone! Guess I'll be getting a full retail version, huh. Either way, no turning back now.

[Grnfinger]

If all goes as planned, I should have a Rampage soon... this 430fsb wall is killing me!

EDIT: Damn!!! I went to get the open-box Rampage I saw on newegg and they were gone! Guess I'll be getting a full retail version, huh. Either way, no turning back now.

I might be interestd in your board, you ship to Canada ?

I'll hit you up on PM when there working

[orbiter]

the nb and pwm area are better suited for quad 45nm on mfII however the rampage x48 has been known to clock 45nm quad beyond 500fsb as well. i guess its really the choice should boil down to whether you are going to run crossfire or not. personally i would take the rampage as you can run tighter settings.

Ok brilliant, thanks for the advice Zen :up: I'm not going Xfire or SLi however I might upgrade to a XFX GTX 280 XXX if I can find one or go GTX295 in after I get the new board.

Thanks again

Orb


Rampage Xtreme is DDR3
Rampage is DDR2

Both are stellar boards, Xtreme is the top dog for sure, if you can afford the board and ram, get it.

Rampage vs Maximus II Formula..

Zen is correct it boils down to personal choice,
Clock for clock they perform about equal, BUT MIIF runs cooler so for air its a wise choice. NB, FSBT, PLL and vCORE all require less volts on a MIIF.

Rampage runs much hotter, the NB requires alot more juice, Ram can be run alittle tighter...My secong MIIF was supposed to be a Rampage but Asus drop'd the ball on my RMA, so I cant do my side by side:shakes:

Bottom line, take some time to educate yourself about the pros/cons of both boards. Decide what you want out of the board and make your choice based on YOUR opinion, in the end thats all that matters...your happy with your hardware.

Yea I for got a about the Extreme being DDR3, so I'll take a closer look at the Formula II and the Rampage, see how the cash situation pans out :) although I like the idea of less voltage and heat on the Formula II.

Thanks again very much for all your help you guys, you've helped a lot. I'm sure your see me again once the new board arrives in a few weeks.

Kind regards

Orb

[ZenEffect]

Best kit I used on this board was Corsair Dominators vers 1.1 handpicked Micron D9GMH ic's :D

GSkills' 8500 kit is good to about 1140-1150MHz, 1170MHz if you relax the timings and pump the volts to 2.25
There 8800 kit it very good, 1.8volts for 1130MHz, they max out avout 1150 or so, alittle higher if you get a cherry kit.
Muskins XP-2 8500 max out at about 1175MHz
I hear good things about Mushkin Redlines but never bought them :shrug:
ZenEffect might be a better person to ask, he has done some nice things with a few different kits.

what did you get your dominators up to? i was able to max my crucials out at 1333 5-5-5-5 :D now its time to pull my mushkins out of the freezer.


Ok brilliant, thanks for the advice Zen :up: I'm not going Xfire or SLi however I might upgrade to a XFX GTX 280 XXX if I can find one or go GTX295 in after I get the new board.

Thanks again

Orb



you should consider what kind of board you are going to get though whether it be xfire or sli, the reason is you can always add another video card once they become obsolete and you would most likely catch up to the newest revision (whenever that is) as far as performance without having to spend alot of money all over again.

[t_ski]

I can't even post at PL7 at 423*9 :(. I've tried a few different pull-ins on PL9 and it's not stable. I reboot after ~45minutes of Prime blended. The same with PL8. I suppose it's the 8GB holding me back.

Has anyone had success with overvolting the MCH with +10mV (or 20, 30?)

EDIT:
I'm going to try testing with 2x2GB sticks later.
Are you using the blue slots or white? Have you tried the other? What about going tighter on the PL (6)?


Tested extensively with OCZ ddr 1066, don't expect anything more than 1110 out of them for 24/7 stable. Tried every option in bios save slack timings which would be pointless.

From a different point of view this is better than those who bought OCZ ddrII 1200 that can't reach 1200 speeds with this board, IIRC they max out at 1150.

I think I asked this before, but don't remember if you responded (I'm sorry if I missed it): which OCZ do you have? AFAIK there are different revisions, and they use different vdimm. I didn't see a revision number on mine, but the rated vdimm is 2.2v. Are yours the same?

[binormalkilla]

Are you using the blue slots or white? Have you tried the other? What about going tighter on the PL (6)?



I think I asked this before, but don't remember if you responded (I'm sorry if I missed it): which OCZ do you have? AFAIK there are different revisions, and they use different vdimm. I didn't see a revision number on mine, but the rated vdimm is 2.2v. Are yours the same?

I tried both slots when I tested 2 sticks. I didn't try PL6.....I would be certainly surprised if it would post at 6 but not 7. I guess it's worth a shot though....

[ZenEffect]

Ok brilliant, thanks for the advice Zen :up: I'm not going Xfire or SLi however I might upgrade to a XFX GTX 280 XXX if I can find one or go GTX295 in after I get the new board.

Thanks again

Orb




i know where u can get a dfi lt x48 for cheap :p:

[t_ski]

I tried both slots when I tested 2 sticks. I didn't try PL6.....I would be certainly surprised if it would post at 6 but not 7. I guess it's worth a shot though....

Everybody keep saying this board likes the memory tight. I was able to get my ram up to 1081 at PL6 :D I had to drop down to PL7 when I tried to get it over 1100 :(

[chew*]

Are you using the blue slots or white? Have you tried the other? What about going tighter on the PL (6)?



I think I asked this before, but don't remember if you responded (I'm sorry if I missed it): which OCZ do you have? AFAIK there are different revisions, and they use different vdimm. I didn't see a revision number on mine, but the rated vdimm is 2.2v. Are yours the same?


Mine are 2.2v rated dimms, they are rather new....., 6 will not post with this ram, I have only used the slots closest to cpu for now as i'm on bios 0701 and working on my 3d scores, I will go back on 0308 and tackle bandwidth with ram once i'm done and try both slots.


Here's all air 18K 3d06 with cpu @ 3.6 and single card 512mb 4870........Still running untweaked OS.
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9583276

[t_ski]

Thanks chew*

[crash2k]

hi guys,
long time since i don't look for this and hope anything came out.. is there any heatsink which fits the Maximus/Rampage Formula SB? thanks in advance for your help :)

[chew*]

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/40-2.jpg

Checkmate grn ;) although your ram bandwidth has me blown away, 0701 sux for memory bandwidth....so bad I didn't even screenshot everest....I'll retry with 0308.

http://members.cox.net/chewxs/4124%20PIi%201m%20done.JPG

[Grnfinger]

Checkmate grn ;) although your ram bandwidth has me blown away, 0701 sux for memory bandwidth....so bad I didn't even screenshot everest....I'll retry with 0308.



Mine was done on 308 bios.
I wish I still had the board, I might buy one from the for sale section here, I miss my Maxi-Page:rofl:

On a brighter side got a nice package today

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/DSCF0201.jpg

[chew*]

Mine was done on 308 bios.
I wish I still had the board, I might buy one from the for sale section here, I miss my Maxi-Page:rofl:

On a brighter side got a nice package today



Nice how much that run you? I was offered one new never used for $350, so freaking tempted. My single 4870 is a beast, Hopefully the OC gods are with you and that clocks like my 4870, 875/1100 air ;)

BTW was just messing with yah above I was a hair slower than you at same clocks ;) Likely ram, I needed like 75mhz cpu speed to beat ya or the os tweaked to hell and SP1. 75mhz was easier.

[Grnfinger]

Card cost a cool 385 shipped, bought it from Gautam figured it was a safe deal.
Itching like a junkie to test the card out but sadly no waterblock yet...I might run it on air (sacrilege) to see what it can do for a few days.

[chew*]

Looks like it's Xmas time all over again for both of us grn, Look what AMD sent me ;)

http://members.cox.net/chewxs/week48.jpg

[ZenEffect]

Looks like it's Xmas time all over again for both of us grn, Look what AMD sent me ;)

http://members.cox.net/chewxs/week48.jpg

thinking about going green here...

do me a favor chew and take a pic of the back of the cpu. i want to verify that 920's and 940's have 940 pins and not 938 like the am3 parts.

[chew*]

ive got a 925es am3 but no motherboard. :p:

thinking about going green here...

do me a favor chew and take a pic of the back of the cpu. i want to verify that 920's and 940's have 940 pins and not 938 like the am3 parts.

I got a couple pics of the internet from a reliable source take a look, when I open the box I'll take another. That gigabyte board looks sweet for that chip btw ;)

AM2 left AM3 right. Even though the socket is pinned in the corner for AM3 they arent using it, at least not yet.

http://images.hardware.info/news/phenom-am3-back.jpg

[Grnfinger]

Looks like it's Xmas time all over again for both of us grn, Look what AMD sent me ;)



Lets see some pr0n

I have been waiting to see what AMD can do this time around.
My FX-60 was the last AMD chip I bought and it kick'd a$$

[ZenEffect]

ah, good.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f210/icon22976/Picture002-4.jpg

pr0n mabye tonight or tomorrow.

[chew*]

Lets see some pr0n

I have been waiting to see what AMD can do this time around.
My FX-60 was the last AMD chip I bought and it kick'd a$$

Yah I will have pr0n soon, board wasn't avaialble that I wanted to use..will be here monday...I will have pr0n in the highest sense as well, sockets easier to insulate :D

[chew*]

Its lonely in here grn maybe this will convince you to grab another board.

http://members.cox.net/chewxs/4230%20pi%201m.JPG

[binormalkilla]

Hey Grnfinger have you run Vantage with your shiny new 4870X2 yet? When you get your waterblock installed I'd like to see what OC you get on it. BTW, check out my little mini-review of the XSPC Delrin full coverage block. I have quite a bit of temp data there.
My max bench stable OC is 862/1000 (maybe more on memory, haven't tried yet.) I'm still testing 24/7 gaming stability...I originally thought I was good at 852/1000, but I'm getting a hard lockup and artifacts every so often.

[Grnfinger]

Its lonely in here grn maybe this will convince you to grab another board.



I'm thinking real hard on grabbing one from the 4sale section, I really miss the board, it was alot of fun


Hey Grnfinger have you run Vantage with your shiny new 4870X2 yet? When you get your waterblock installed I'd like to see what OC you get on it. BTW, check out my little mini-review of the XSPC Delrin full coverage block. I have quite a bit of temp data there.
My max bench stable OC is 862/1000 (maybe more on memory, haven't tried yet.) I'm still testing 24/7 gaming stability...I originally thought I was good at 852/1000, but I'm getting a hard lockup and artifacts every so often.

I hope to atleast run it this weekend on air, I will look at the block you recommended today.

[Zucker2k]

I have 2x mcw60s on my 4870 x2; benching at 842/1000 and closing in on 25k '06. See sig.

[chew*]

I have 2x mcw60s on my 4870 x2; benching at 842/1000 and closing in on 25k '06. See sig.

zucker is that a 1gig or 2g, any idea how much diff it makes point wise?

[Zucker2k]

zucker is that a 1gig or 2g, any idea how much diff it makes point wise?It's the 2GB x2 card, I have no idea what 2x 4870 1GBs do.

[les_paulde]

would prolly not make a difference unless you're gaming at > 1920x1080, but I guess with GPUs its always the more, the merrier. I didn't even know there were 1Gb versions, isn't the standard amount on the 4870 1Gb meaning the X2 would need at least 2Gb to rival 2 seperate HD4870s?

[chew*]

would prolly not make a difference unless you're gaming at > 1920x1080, but I guess with GPUs its always the more, the merrier. I didn't even know there were 1Gb versions, isn't the standard amount on the 4870 1Gb meaning the X2 would need at least 2Gb to rival 2 seperate HD4870s?

Heh, the 4870 512mb is the standard version, the 1gb is the step up.....I just looked though, I guess they don't make a 1gig 4870 x2.....I was assuming they did based on single 4870's :(

[Grnfinger]

I have 2x mcw60s on my 4870 x2; benching at 842/1000 and closing in on 25k '06. See sig.

If not to much hassle would you mind taking a pic of the card with the MCW60's mounted.
I'm block shopping now and I have 1 MCW60 on the shelf so another would do untill I grab a full coverage.
And whats your opinion on the CoolerMaster HAF case? I see you have one and I'm looking for a new case for my i7 build, looking to mount a PA120.3 and PA120.1 internally

Thanks

[Zucker2k]

If not to much hassle would you mind taking a pic of the card with the MCW60's mounted.
I'm block shopping now and I have 1 MCW60 on the shelf so another would do untill I grab a full coverage.
And whats your opinion on the CoolerMaster HAF case? I see you have one and I'm looking for a new case for my i7 build, looking to mount a PA120.3 and PA120.1 internally

ThanksI'll do that sometime tonight or early tomorrow morning, it's really a straight forward strip and slap on kinda mount, except for removing the outer mounting shell of the mcw60s. The card is naked and actually running way cooler than before as it seems the heat from the cores were spreading to the metal shell of the stock cooler. About the HAF, I couldn't recommend a better case for either aircooling ([HAF is actually High Air Flow) or water cooling, in the price category. Highly recommend and you'll be blown away by how much space you have to work with. I got loads of crap in mine. :up:

Edit: How do you guys get your wives to become overclockers? Please, please do tell. :)

[zlojack]

If not to much hassle would you mind taking a pic of the card with the MCW60's mounted.
I'm block shopping now and I have 1 MCW60 on the shelf so another would do untill I grab a full coverage.
And whats your opinion on the CoolerMaster HAF case? I see you have one and I'm looking for a new case for my i7 build, looking to mount a PA120.3 and PA120.1 internally

Thanks

Grnfinger, just to warn you, i7 is like a nuclear reactor.

I recommend a dedicated loop for the CPU with a 120.3

I'm on a 120.2 in a dedicated loop right now and at 1.43v I'm getting up to 80C under Linpack full load.

Crazy hot!

[chew*]

Grnfinger, just to warn you, i7 is like a nuclear reactor.

I recommend a dedicated loop for the CPU with a 120.3

I'm on a 120.2 in a dedicated loop right now and at 1.43v I'm getting up to 80C under Linpack full load.

Crazy hot!

Looks like its time to shift from computer watercooling equipment to High powered pumps with performance car radiators and window sized fans. It's been done before. Works better IMO anyway, larger surface area for cooling and makes a longer pass ( has more time to be cooled ).

[Grnfinger]

I'll do that sometime tonight or early tomorrow morning, it's really a straight forward strip and slap on kinda mount, except for removing the outer mounting shell of the mcw60s. The card is naked and actually running way cooler than before as it seems the heat from the cores were spreading to the metal shell of the stock cooler. About the HAF, I couldn't recommend a better case for either aircooling ([HAF is actually High Air Flow) or water cooling, in the price category. Highly recommend and you'll be blown away by how much space you have to work with. I got loads of crap in mine. :up:

Edit: How do you guys get your wives to become overclockers? Please, please do tell. :)

Thanks for your time, if the blocks look decent I'm going MCW60's
I like the case as well wanted to hear some feedback from an actual owner, now you have convinced me.
Getting the wife to play ball was easy, she actually wants to spend time with me :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Last run of my 3870X2....well maybe last run;)


http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/3d06_495FSB_22127.jpg



Grnfinger, just to warn you, i7 is like a nuclear reactor.

I recommend a dedicated loop for the CPU with a 120.3

I'm on a 120.2 in a dedicated loop right now and at 1.43v I'm getting up to 80C under Linpack full load.

Crazy hot!

Thanks for teh info, looking at 120.3 for CPU and full coverage block for mainboard, and then a PA120.1 or a MCW220 for teh gpu depending on temps is the plan, if required I can make concessions.
Is that Mushkin Tri Channel ram any good Jack?

[binormalkilla]

Here (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=212946) Grnfinger, I forgot to post a link of the mini-review on the XSPC block. I'm really enjoying it....especially for the price. I already had 2 MCW60s, but after buying the Caldera block it would only be ~50 away from the XSPC, so I opted for it.
I'm really glad I did too, as it keeps all of the components very cool.

Here are some pics:
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3258/clipboard01yk0.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/1889/clipboard01te3.jpg

[Zucker2k]

Thanks for your time, if the blocks look decent I'm going MCW60's
I like the case as well wanted to hear some feedback from an actual owner, now you have convinced me.
Getting the wife to play ball was easy, she actually wants to spend time with me :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Last run of my 3870X2....well maybe last run;)


Thanks for teh info, looking at 120.3 for CPU and full coverage block for mainboard, and then a PA120.1 or a MCW220 for teh gpu depending on temps is the plan, if required I can make concessions.
Is that Mushkin Tri Channel ram any good Jack?No problem, and impressive run with that quad of yours, and a 3870x2. I have 25k in my firm clutches now. A little bump in clocks should push me over the edge.

[binormalkilla]

HHmmmm....I should install 06 on my rig. I haven't even run it since I got my 4870X2.

Bah! I'm getting that openal32.dll error in Vista x64.......I thought I just had to reinstall openal, but it's not working. I'll post results as soon as I get the bench working.

Ok I have it figured out. I'm currently running 06. It seems that it's more stressful on the GPU than vantage, as I have hard locked twice in FireFly Forest at 852 MHz and 842......now I'm backing down to 837. I was stable at least at 852 in Vantage......maybe even higher :confused:
Yep it just looks like good old fashioned instability in FireFly Forest. It's a bit strange considering that I'm stable much higher in Vantage, but no worries.

My 4870X2 runs so cool with this block.....it's just begging for voltage. I really don't have the steady hands to volt mod (or the balls TBH), so I guess it's BIOS mod or nothing (which most likely means nothing.)

I need to clock this CPU higher.....score isn't very good compared to others.
http://www.overclock.net/attachments/ati/94274d1232177213-ati-hd4870x2-owners-thread-4870x2-3dmark06-842-940-475x8-pl9.jpg

[Nuckin_Futs]

"Bigger Rads" Exactly what I was talking about all last year. I did most of my water cooling test on a chiller based on American GM big block heater cores. I used one big one from my 64 Eldorado in a series w/ a few more of same size. I also set a few in a water bath chiller. So my 2nd thought was exactly the big block 4 row flat tube copper. Now these get rid of so much heat that the next step is now to take in outside fresh air and exchaulst right back out. In the summer the heat was too much for me in a 12x16 office so I can imagine a smaller 10x12 room.

I'm building one of these i7's now and it does look like a hot overclocker.

[binormalkilla]

So has anyone OCed a Q9550 on this board? I'm thinking about buying one to replace my Q6600 when those price drops kick in next week......I see people hitting 4.2 on air with some of these 45nm chips, so I should be able to do some damage with my water setup.

[les_paulde]

I'm in the process of overclocking my new E0 Q9550 on a rampaged P5E dlx (x48) and hit 4Ghz quite painlessly (471*8.5). I'm afraid temperatures seem not to be the limiting factor on these 45nms but your mobo's fsb capabilities instead, but keeping her cool is always a good idea I guess... ;) Now I need quite a lot of voltage to get her up further but I'm really curious how far I can push it. Currently at 1.36v for 4 Ghz, so I should have some headroom... I am happy in comparison to my Q6600 though, that chip was a dog that wouldnt go over 3700mhz..

What kinda temperatures are people getting here with which voltages under water as I'm not sure if mine are normal for water (idling ~41C, load ~60C)? Also I was wondering what vCore and FSB VTT should be considered safe for 24/7 use, as people's opinions on this seems to vary greatly.
cheers!