Foxconn Quantum Force Black Ops X48 OC Guide (56k Warning)

[Planet]

Foxconn Black Ops X48 OC Guide

I have had the board for a while and thought I would share some of the basic settings on OCing this board. This was using the G17 bios and I am not sure if it will be the retail bios but it should be pretty close. First picture is of the standard bios page.

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/2922/img3162copyqo5.jpg

I recommend you go into Advanced Chipset Features and disable the System Bios Cacheable.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5867/img3166copyla3.jpg

Under Integrated Peripherals I disable anything that I will not be using. In this case it’s the floppy drive controller, serial port, and IrDA device.

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/6967/img3167copybx5.jpg

I also go into the onboard device control under Integrated Peripherals and disable the HD audio, 1394, and both Ethernet ports.

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7779/img3168copyst2.jpg

Here is the basic system monitor screen where you can set fan speeds and monitor temperatures and voltages.

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/8369/img3169copyzg9.jpg

Here is the bottom half of the screen. Note the voltages are reported wrong because this is an ES board running retail bios.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3433/img3170copyng5.jpg

Next we go into the Quantum bios this is where the overclocking starts.

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/5632/img3173copydx2.jpg

In the CPU Features the frequency unlimit is for the Extreme CPUs with unlocked multipliers. The cold bug boot fix should be left disabled unless you are sub zero. If you enable this on air or water and for some reason your CPU over heats the board will not shut down.

Air/Water:

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/894/img3176copyob7.jpg

Phase change/dry ice/LN2:

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8903/img3175copywq0.jpg

In order to change the memory timings we need to change the Overclock Phase Select to Manual O.C. Then we can go into the memory timings.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4316/img3177copymi3.jpg

These are just some basic ram settings you can try

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/856/img3179copyba2.jpg

The following are the timings I am running on my ram at 1800MHz 2.2v and a few have run up to almost 2000MHz with similar settings.

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5389/img3180copynu3.jpg

Here is the Voltage control. You see the CPU voltage goes up to 1.6v but there is also the voltage multiplier.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1549/img3181copyuh2.jpg

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7766/img3183copykx8.jpg

This allows for up to 2.4V!!!!!! to your CPU. Voltages were tested in the labs rock stable at 2.2v for the vcore. However that kind of voltage will kill your CPU. Make sure you use the vdroop option as well to remove the vdroop.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/553/img3184copycn5.jpg

Here are the rest of the voltages I use for a 24/7 system. If you are going to be running that voltage on the NB, I highly recommend you use the supplied fan or water cooling.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5194/img3186copycg9.jpg

Here we have the FSB, Multiplier, and Memory speed options. I found with a quad core around 450FSB is the max. The dual cores go a lot higher unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to test.

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/4597/img3189copyvm8.jpg

For me the 1:4 333 Strap ram divider worked best. Also make sure you enable Overclock recovery incase the Overclock fails.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/2461/img3190sb4.jpg

The board allows you to store your overclocking settings with OC gear. It also shows what bios you are storing it to because this board has dual bioses in case one gets messed up.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9776/img3188copyiy0.jpg

Since clockgen hasn’t been updated you can use SetFSB with this board. Here is the following PLL to use. ICS9LPRS509HGLF

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8784/setfsbwo3.jpg

Feel free to ask any questions.

Special thanks go to Peter and the Quantum Force Scholars as well as Gautam for the ram settings. I will also be posting a guide on insulation and prepping the board for sub zero action.

[hersounds]

excelent! nice info ...some items are valid to use in foxconn mars bios.

[saaya]

sweet! :toast:

[Harshal]

Very informative :up:
Should help the guys who are starting afresh or have just moved to Foxconn boards.

[Deanzo]

Nice work, just the info I'm looking for.
I hope it won't be long till I can get my hands on one of these.

[Planet]

Sorry bout that two of the images were not working. The advanced ram timings should be showing now.

[coolice]

as mention last night,here you go jake:)
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3726/p1180236hl7.jpg

[Planet]

Hmm what works in SetFSB?

[coolice]

i use 9LPRS919BKL,not sure if it will have prob by pulling pcie as i only touch the fsb:)

[WhiteFireDragon]

how come you decided to go with foxconn as opposed to more reputable brands?

[Planet]

how come you decided to go with foxconn as opposed to more reputable brands?

:rofl: Your not serious are you? The board has one of the top 3 benchmarkers in the world working on it and about 25 other top benchers helping him fix issues and beta test. This is the X48 board to have its as simple as that. The Beta board at CES did 5.9ghz through 3dmark06

[WhiteFireDragon]

haha oops guess im a noob when it comes to x48 boards. i only know of the nvidia chipsets or p35s

[Planet]

haha oops guess im a noob when it comes to x48 boards. i only know of the nvidia chipsets or p35s

They have a 790i coming out pretty soon that should be on par with this board. I know Shamino has been working hard on it.

[WhiteFireDragon]

ah so i guess foxconn is upping their quality on the enthusiast boards huh?

[Smoicol]

They have a 790i coming out pretty soon that should be on par with this board. I know Shamino has been working hard on it.

hello, you who have tried this product you can say exactly what I expected if the purchase?
in the sense I have a top range or is only appearance?
I cpu as a qx9650 or a e8500 tested to 4.5 mhz, the problem is to find a mainboard that have the characteristics to be able to climb up to that frequency, saying that with this mainboard can I do?

[Planet]

hello, you who have tried this product you can say exactly what I expected if the purchase?
in the sense I have a top range or is only appearance?
I cpu as a qx9650 or a e8500 tested to 4.5 mhz, the problem is to find a mainboard that have the characteristics to be able to climb up to that frequency, saying that with this mainboard can I do?

Sorry having some trouble understanding your post. This is one of the best performaning boards hands down. Multiple of the top overclockers have said that even HiPro5. The board should definitely do 4.5ghz no sweat. I have personaly tested at 5.3+(with ln2) and witnessed 5.9ghz 3DMark06 runs on the board. It really depends on your cpus and cpu cooling though. The board is a little hard to get dialed in at first but using this guide it should make it pretty simple.

[THRASHER2]

Sweeeet Guide Jake :up:

If i do buy this sweeet board this guide would be a great Help :clap:

[Smoicol]

excuse me if my English is not very clear, I am Italian, you wonder if the limits language can explain the pros and cons of this mainboard, I 790th with a triple-sli, I do not want to change mainboard then reciprocate
I try performance and stability, crysis game and call of duty and hope that ati face vga competitive for the crossfire, say that I could be happy in this mainboard?

[Smoicol]

my dream is able to try before you buy it, but I see this difficult thing, after the experience with nvidia 790th now buy hardware enthusiast makes me afraid.

[camouflage]

:confused: Anyone tested with a WOLFDALE >500 FSB.......:confused:

[Planet]

:confused: Anyone tested with a WOLFDALE >500 FSB.......:confused:

Yes A few people have to my knowledge. Let me see if I can find some screenshots.

Tibbors maxed out at 555 with a E6700 and E8500. A few others were in the same range

[aoch88]

I thought with DDR3, it should be able to hit higher FSB and Prime stable?

[massman]

:confused: Anyone tested with a WOLFDALE >500 FSB.......:confused:

This board is not perfect for subzero 45nm wolfdale runs as it's especially tuned for extreme quadcore overclocking :).

[Eldonko]

Nice one Jake. :)

[Planet]

This board is not perfect for subzero 45nm wolfdale runs as it's especially tuned for extreme quadcore overclocking :).

Yea its not as most high end chipsets and boards arent.


Nice one Jake. :)

Hey thanks. Havent seen you around in a while

[camouflage]

This board is not perfect for subzero 45nm wolfdale runs as it's especially tuned for extreme quadcore overclocking :).

;) I don't run subzero, but with chilled water.

[fireice2]

where can you get this board?

[camouflage]

where can you get this board?

:( Nowhere these days..........

[Nosfer@tu]

It is op for preorder in an english store.
They overcharge BIG time though. 399 Pound if I remember and that is just pure stealing!

[Lu(ky]

Great thread, I just bought mine from the egg about 2 hours ago. I had to send back the S2E to many problems. Looking forward to see what this board can do with my QX9650 on water...

[Solarfall]

hey Cpt.Planet i was just wondering, do you know what would be the best bios for Dual core cpus.. im hitting the fsb wall at 565 with my E8500 ???

[M3kk]

I cant hit 450, lol :D.
I will try GTL tweaking, but.. :D

[Solarfall]

I cant hit 450, lol :D.
I will try GTL tweaking, but.. :D

try different straps.. that helped with me :up:

[M3kk]

From jumper, or BIOS?
What are u using over 500? :D

[Planet]

Try using the jumper. I havent been able to test the retail board yet with a dual core so its hard to say. The GTL tweaking should give you some extra FSB try +1 at first then +2

[Solarfall]

From jumper, or BIOS?
What are u using over 500? :D

well i did it from the bios.. :yepp::yepp: what do you mean what im using over 500.. voltage settings ??? or what

[M3kk]

Yes, settings, and ALL :).
I need and want to know every little setting.

[M3kk]

I`m n00b? I really cant find the strap selection in the bios.
Or the FSB : Ram ratio CPU 266, 333, 400 is that? So only with 1:2 i can select the FSB?

If i set with a jumper 450, then boot, i can put with setfsb to 500, but in the bios i cant ajust the voltages, etc. ( the OC - Manual is inactive :( ).

Bios G21 . Will try 17 now..

LE : If i put 500 with 1:2 Cpu 400, then the rams could be at 1000, no? I got 666 :D.

[Lu(ky]

Hey Cpt Planet which BIOS should I use when I get my board on Wednesday for a QX9650? Use the newest BIOS online from there site or do you have any Beta BIOS?

Thanks

[Planet]

Hey Cpt Planet which BIOS should I use when I get my board on Wednesday for a QX9650? Use the newest BIOS online from there site or do you have any Beta BIOS?

Thanks

G20 is the latest last I heard. Some have had an issue with it so you might want G19. I dont have a retail board yet so its hard to say.

[Lu(ky]

Ok how do I disable the CPU FAN when system boots giving me a warning.. I am on water so no need for it.. And under CPUZ it shows a multi x6 with my QX9650? I went and disabled everything on the 1st page of this thread. This BIOS is way different then a Nvidia BIOS coming from a S2E board. I am using the P02 BIOS now. I have not tried any OCing yet. I want to burn in for a day or two, and I would like to get the x6 and CPU FAN warning fixed before I start OCing.. Any help would be great...

Thanks..

[LardArse]

disable the CPU FAN warning from quantum bios, oc gear, foxconn function, smart led disabled and the other one disabled too.

for higher multipliers than default for qx, just leave cpu feature at native mode and frequency unlimit enabled and its ok!

[Lu(ky]

disable the CPU FAN warning from quantum bios, oc gear, foxconn function, smart led disabled and the other one disabled too.

for higher multipliers than default for qx, just leave cpu feature at native mode and frequency unlimit enabled and its ok!

Thanks LardArse..

I fixed the multi problem and now I will search to fix the fan now. And from there I will try the new G22 BIOS...

[Telo]

Quick question...

Has anyone been able to signup for the BIOS updates at www.quantum-force.net? I have tried many times and after I finish inputting all my info it just freezes [the site] on the "loading" process.

[Planet]

Dont put in your dog tag number in. I know they were having some issues. If you still cant drop me a Pm and I will host them on a server for you.

[FuriousSalesman]

I had issues registering too. If I tried to register my name and motherboard at the same time, the site would hang indefinitely. Everything worked when I just put in my regular information and not register my board.

[Telo]

I had issues registering too. If I tried to register my name and motherboard at the same time, the site would hang indefinitely. Everything worked when I just put in my regular information and not register my board.

I will try that next, thanks.


Dont put in your dog tag number in. I know they were having some issues. If you still cant drop me a Pm and I will host them on a server for you.


If the idea Furious gave me does not work, I will PM you. Thanks for the offer.

[The Asgard]

Can someone confirm that the chipset block is made from Alu and not Copper ?

[Telo]

Can someone confirm that the chipset block is made from Alu and not Copper ?
The body is made out of copper. Now, the top is of a black color and I do not want to scratch it to verify the material. I doubt they would say its copper and make out of aluminum instead.

One thing though, the extra barbs it comes with felt a little funny to me. They felt like plastic [not saying they are plastic], so i decided to remove the stock ones and use my leftover 3/8 D-Tek barbs, if they can be attached that is. As you might noticed, I've looked at it but I have not really messed with it.

[Telo]

I had issues registering too. If I tried to register my name and motherboard at the same time, the site would hang indefinitely. Everything worked when I just put in my regular information and not register my board.


Thanks man, tried it your way and I finally got registered.
Question again, which one of the Beta BIOS'es is the most current one? I'm interested on the "tightened timings" one.

[clone38]

£242 delivered in the UK :)

[Telo]

The body is made out of copper. Now, the top is of a black color and I do not want to scratch it to verify the material. I doubt they would say its copper and make out of aluminum instead.

One thing though, the extra barbs it comes with felt a little funny to me. They felt like plastic [not saying they are plastic], so i decided to remove the stock ones and use my leftover 3/8 D-Tek barbs, if they can be attached that is. As you might noticed, I've looked at it but I have not really messed with it.


The block is made out of copper, but the top is made out of anodized aluminum. The barbs are a little lite for my taste, so I removed them and went with the D-Tek barbs I had leftover.

If you don't have extra barbs or just don't mind using the ones provided, you need not do anything, the block is built with the gasket is already in place [the one you see in the accessories box is an extra].

[Telo]

I finally finished installing the board in my case. :clap: Currently testing the watercooling loop since it changed drastically [I had to remove my Koolance NB, SB, and VR blocks]. Which brings me to my current problem [stupid problem I may add, and if it is not supposed to be posted here I apologize in advanced!], I was taking some pictures of my work, when I realized, I haven't uploaded pictures in years and do not know how you guys get yours uploaded. :shrug: With that said, could someone point me in the right direction so that I could upload my pictures? Thanks a bunch fellas, I have only dealt with you guys for just over a month, but I'm having a ball here. :D

[Telo]

I just tried booting up my PC for the first time with the BlackOps in it. No matter what I do, it just freezes when it hits Windows; and I'm not even overclocking it. I tried using just the defaults, then I tried using the default but change my RAM timing and voltage, nothing works so far.

[Lu(ky]

So far on my setup is working like a charm. I am using the G22 BETA BIOS and seems to be working fine at a 400FSB x 10 with my QX9650. :) Only thing I see is on CPUZ it shows a weird core voltage is at 0.920v? But in the BIOS I am at 1.375 vcore. Anyone know where I can double check this setting on the vcore?

Thanks

[loonym]

So far on my setup is working like a charm. I am using the G22 BETA BIOS and seems to be working fine at a 400FSB x 10 with my QX9650. :) Only thing I see is on CPUZ it shows a weird core voltage is at 0.920v? But in the BIOS I am at 1.375 vcore. Anyone know where I can double check this setting on the vcore?

ThanksSounds like speedstep is kicking in.

[Telo]

So far on my setup is working like a charm. I am using the G22 BETA BIOS and seems to be working fine at a 400FSB x 10 with my QX9650. :) Only thing I see is on CPUZ it shows a weird core voltage is at 0.920v? But in the BIOS I am at 1.375 vcore. Anyone know where I can double check this setting on the vcore?

Thanks

How did you get that Beta G22 BIOS? The lastest one on the site is G21.

[Lu(ky]

How did you get that Beta G22 BIOS? The lastest one on the site is G21.

I think I got it from the RETAIL BlackOps Thread. Someone added it there for us to use. I would link it but I can not find it now because I am unable to use my User CP I keep getting error messages. I will link it when I find it.. But so far 400x10 multi solid as a rock at a 1.375v. But I need to adjust some other setting in memory..

[eternal_fantasy]

I'm currently running my QX9650 at 450x9 Strap333 900Mhz RAM at 7-6-5-18 1t PerformanceLV6, ORTHOS blend stable :D BIOS G22:up:

[Lu(ky]

I'm currently running my QX9650 at 450x9 Strap333 900Mhz RAM at 7-6-5-18 1t PerformanceLV6, ORTHOS blend stable :D BIOS G22:up:

Question enternal_fantasy did you change the jumper pins on the board itself from AUTO/default to pin 9-10 to reach the FSB of 1800? Or was it in the bios itself?

[Telo]

I'm currently running my QX9650 at 450x9 Strap333 900Mhz RAM at 7-6-5-18 1t PerformanceLV6, ORTHOS blend stable :D BIOS G22:up:

That is the second time someone mentions the G22 BIOS, where can I get it please?

[eternal_fantasy]

Question enternal_fantasy did you change the jumper pins on the board itself from AUTO/default to pin 9-10 to reach the FSB of 1800? Or was it in the bios itself?
I just left jumper on AUTO and set 1:4 333 in BIOS.



That is the second time someone mentions the G22 BIOS, where can I get it please?

Here is the link: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3025530&postcount=203

Enjoy :up:

[FuriousSalesman]

Which slots are people using for their memory? Is there a difference?

[Zaskar]

The block is made out of copper, but the top is made out of anodized aluminum. The barbs are a little lite for my taste, so I removed them and went with the D-Tek barbs I had leftover.

If you don't have extra barbs or just don't mind using the ones provided, you need not do anything, the block is built with the gasket is already in place [the one you see in the accessories box is an extra].

They go and make a solid copper block, and then ruin it by making the top cap from aluminum?

Thats really a shame.

[Telo]

I finally got it to boot into Windows with default settings without a hitch. Now, I need some help to get some OC'ing going please. I'm happy with getting to run at 400-450FSB with the RAM running at 1:2. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[FuriousSalesman]

I can get my board to post at 4.0ghz and ram at 2000mhz but everything is unstable with bsod's at every turn. Is it because I am using a wolfdale?

[Telo]

I apologize in advanced if my frustration gets ahead of me.
But all I keep reading is that "once you undertand this board, there is no going back". Now my question is this, how can a person that is not used to this kind of BIOS get to "understand" it if the people that DO understand it do not provide more insight that the settings they are currently using? I mean, it is nice to see you can jack this board and run your QX9xxx CPU at over 5Ghz; but what about the people that don't have LN2 or a Phase Change setup and just want a lite overclock [compared to the results of the pros]?

Now, I'm not asking for someone to figure out the settings I need, all I want is for someone to point me in the right direction. I've tried the usual overclocking procedures, like raising the FSB 10Mhz at a time, but a mere 10Mhz raise stops this board from posting, even if I raise the voltage and dial in the required settings for the RAM. Even the crappy [my opinion] P5E3 Premium allowed me to be stable at 3.2Ghz without having to get to the point of throwing this whole system out the window and calling it the day.

[FuriousSalesman]

you asked for the G22 bios earlier in the thread, did you update to that bios?


I am not sure at what point my overclock becomes unstable. But I really want to run my ram at stock speed stable, which is 1866mhz, but is not possible.

There seems to be a difference between the engineering samples and the retail boards.

[eternal_fantasy]

I apologize in advanced if my frustration gets ahead of me.
But all I keep reading is that "once you undertand this board, there is no going back". Now my question is this, how can a person that is not used to this kind of BIOS get to "understand" it if the people that DO understand it do not provide more insight that the settings they are currently using? I mean, it is nice to see you can jack this board and run your QX9xxx CPU at over 5Ghz; but what about the people that don't have LN2 or a Phase Change setup and just want a lite overclock [compared to the results of the pros]?

Now, I'm not asking for someone to figure out the settings I need, all I want is for someone to point me in the right direction. I've tried the usual overclocking procedures, like raising the FSB 10Mhz at a time, but a mere 10Mhz raise stops this board from posting, even if I raise the voltage and dial in the required settings for the RAM. Even the crappy [my opinion] P5E3 Premium allowed me to be stable at 3.2Ghz without having to get to the point of throwing this whole system out the window and calling it the day.

Before BlackOps release - 4-5 Quantum Force Members posted results and praises pretty much every day of the week.

After BlackOps release - Occasional post, mainly about new BIOS and how great it was.

I guess they have now moved on to promote the Dreadnought... while we help ourselfs... :rolleyes:


Anyway here are my settings for 450x9 on QX9650, 1800-7-6-5-18 1t
BIOS G22

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3051/2549166776_ee3571bf82_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3190/2549212876_3b8ff70909_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/2548337073_8ae2afd628_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3010/2549161922_66f13a730f_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2295/2549159224_acb4390f14_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/2549156532_b17b16c3a2_b.jpg

Hope that helped. :up:

[Telo]

Hope that helped. :up:

You're the man my friend!

[Telo]

I have notice something about this board [at least specific to mine], if I change the RAM voltage to the one defined by the RAM's manufacturer, the system hangs. So, right now with the BIOS' default voltage [1.64v], I've been messing around and have gotten to 400FSB so far. I will keep pushing it to see what is the max FSB that I can get; more than likely I will stop at about 450FSB as that is all I'm after.

[ceevee]

This board has been the most frustrating experience I have ever had building a PC.

I am not going to go into how unstable this thing is, but basically this board is in a "beta" state imho.

[ceevee]

I have notice something about this board [at least specific to mine], if I change the RAM voltage to the one defined by the RAM's manufacturer, the system hangs. So, right now with the BIOS' default voltage [1.64v], I've been messing around and have gotten to 400FSB so far. I will keep pushing it to see what is the max FSB that I can get; more than likely I will stop at about 450FSB as that is all I'm after.

I had the same problem. I bought 8GB OCZ 1600Mhz RAM and got pissed when it would ONLY run at 1.64V and 1066Mhz.

So I assumed it was a RAM problem and RMAed the RAM back to Newegg.

I bought some very expensive 8GB Corsair Intel XMB SPD certiifed profile sticks at 1600Mhz 7-7-7-20.

I thought for sure these would work at the rated settings since the Foxconn board is advertised as supporting this XMB RAM out of the box.

Guess what? The board won't post now at all. I have tried 1 stick, I have tried 2 sticks, I have tried 4 sticks.

It won't post no matter what I do.

I replaced the power supply with a bigger 1000W unit and checked that there were NO grounding issues or shorts.

Guess what? The board still won't post. :down:

Not only that but every time it doesn't post the board gives a different error code! And there is no list of what the error codes mean in any of the documentation or online. :mad:

I have always used ASUS boards for years now and am starting to think I made a huge mistake to listen to the XS hype about Blackops.

[Lu(ky]

Well I sold my QX9650 and a Q6600 SLACR GO yesterday on ebay. I bought a new e8400 wolfdale today. So now I will start OCing this cpu later tonight. Question though I still have this problem only on the CPUZ on the CORE VOLTAGE. See attached picture, also I checked everywhere in the BIOS to make sure things were enabled and disabled like the above pictures supplied from eternal_fantasy. Any ideas I would appreciate. Thanks


http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj252/russb3n/cpu-3003.jpg

[Telo]

Well I sold my QX9650 and a Q6600 SLACR GO yesterday on ebay. I bought a new e8400 wolfdale today. So now I will start OCing this cpu later tonight. Question though I still have this problem only on the CPUZ on the CORE VOLTAGE. See attached picture, also I checked everywhere in the BIOS to make sure things were enabled and disabled like the above pictures supplied from eternal_fantasy. Any ideas I would appreciate. Thanks


http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj252/russb3n/cpu-3003.jpg


This board droops like a mofo. And the vdroop compensation does not do jack about it. But, the Aegis panel shows the actual voltage and the BIOS voltage with a lite droop. I do not know if it is just a gimmick to say the compensation works, or if it in fact works and CPU-Z is just reading the wrong thing from this board.

[ceevee]

I put in some really cheap 1333Mhz CAS9 DDR3 RAM.

And now the board posts again, but only at 1.64V and 1066Mhz.

I went into the BIOS and set everything to run my 1600Mhz RAM, saved and swapped them out for my expensive 2GB sticks.

Guess what? The board won't post AGAIN.

As far as I can tell this board will not run nice RAM at rated settings or at all.

[Solarfall]

I put in some really cheap 1333Mhz CAS9 DDR3 RAM.

And now the board posts again, but only at 1.64V and 1066Mhz.

I went into the BIOS and set everything to run my 1600Mhz RAM, saved and swapped them out for my expensive 2GB sticks.

Guess what? The board won't post AGAIN.

As far as I can tell this board will not run nice RAM at rated settings or at all. This thing is a complete POS.

WTF

what bios are you using ??? :confused:

[ceevee]

what bios are you using ??? :confused:

Stock BIOS. I checked their website and it appears to be the only one available.

Also I have gotten it up and running again and am typing on it now. I am using a full 8GB of the XMB cert DDR3, but it will only run at 1066Mhz, 7-7-7-18, when it should be running at 1600Mhz at those timings. This is the exact same problem I had with the OCZ RAM that I RMAed.

Some issues:

1) Sleep mode doesn't work. It will put the computer to sleep but when I try to go back to the desktop it crashes and reboots.

2) FSB doesn't seem to want to OC hardly at all using QX9770.

3) It won't run nice RAM anywhere near stock settings. Why will it run super cheap ($90!) 2x1GB sticks at 1333Mhz, but won't run 4x2GB of $1400 XMB certified sticks past 1066Mhz??

4) It is the longest posting motherboard I have ever owned, get ready to twiddle your fingers while the board cycles through about 30 codes on its little LED number display before finally you see the post screen.

Sorry for the rant but this board has been EXTREMELY finnicky and unstable.

I will probably look to replace it in the coming months if BIOS updates do not make significant improvements.

[FuriousSalesman]

Telos, I too ran into problems using the stock bios. I would really give a chance to the beta bios. They are better. Things are still rocky but are better since I upgraded the bios.

[eternal_fantasy]

The origional BIOS were quite limiting with FSB overclocks, but using BIOS G22 seems to be very much better.

Also next time you were able to get into BIOS try manually raising the NB to around 1.6V and see if you can post after that. The BIOS seems to undervolts the NB, and I had the no POST problems until I raised it. Lower it if need be after you have sucessfully POST.

CPUZ is incorrect in the VCore in this instance, I'm rock stable at 4.05Ghz using 1.45V set in BIOS on my board with Droop conpensation enabled, yet CPUZ VCore is hovering around 0.9V.

[Telo]

Telos, I too ran into problems using the stock bios. I would really give a chance to the beta bios. They are better. Things are still rocky but are better since I upgraded the bios.

I'm using the G22 BIOS and it still stops POSTing if I do any kind of voltage change to the RAM. With the RAM set to 1:2 and the stock voltage I'm able to jack up the FSB passed 450. Once I do any modification to the RAM, since all I wanted was a 3.8Ghz OC, the system will not POST. I'm looking into buying some CellShock RAM and getting it over with; although I will go from 4GB to 2GB since they cost $400 a kit and I already spent over $500 for the current ones I own. If I get to recover some of the money I spent on the OCZs, then I will definetly go for the other kit.

Question:

Has anyone run 4GB of CellShocks on this board and have it stable at 1800Mhz?

[Planet]

I think the main issue is you guys are trying to overclock with 4 sticks of ram. Its known to hurtyour ram ocing no matter what board or chipset your running. The 1:4 266 and 1:4 333 are the best dividers for the board.

[Telo]

I think the main issue is you guys are trying to overclock with 4 sticks of ram. Its known to hurtyour ram ocing no matter what board or chipset your running. The 1:4 266 and 1:4 333 are the best dividers for the board.

I've been doing 2 stick OC'ing trying to find the sweet spot and then gonna try to add the other 2.

[ceevee]

I think the main issue is you guys are trying to overclock with 4 sticks of ram. Its known to hurtyour ram ocing no matter what board or chipset your running. The 1:4 266 and 1:4 333 are the best dividers for the board.

Actually I am just trying to get 8GB (4x2GB) to run anywhere near its rated settings. I am not trying to overclock.

What I don't understand is why cheapo crappy 2GB (2x1GB $90) sticks will run at 1333Mhz, but some of the best Corsair 8GB (4x2GB $1400) sticks will not run at 1333Mhz even though they are rated at 1600Mhz 7-7-7-18 and they are Intel XMB SPD certified for those settings?

I am not trying to overclock, I would be thrilled at this point to get this board to run even anywhere close to the stock settings for this RAM.

When are we going to see some new BIOS releases and stability fixes? Are they going to adress the fact that high performance 2GB DDR3 sticks (4x2GB) will barely run on this board?

Seems like this is a great board if you want to put in 2GB of RAM (total) and run SuperPI. However if you want to do 4GB-8GB and actually use it for Vista 64/gaming/workstation its not very good at all.

Hopefully they will support this product with a vastly improved BIOS to address some of these issues.

I am concerned though about the comments that people are leaving that suggest Foxconn has a reputation for basically hyping a product and then ditching its customers. Is this true? Or are these guys going to actually support this and improve it??

[HDCHOPPER]

this MARS is great ! buttttttttt cant wait till my BLACK OPS comes in

[FuriousSalesman]

Im not sure which nerve ending elicits which action, but I believe I am stable at 4.0ghz and 2gb of ram at 1800mhz. The missing key seemed to be PL6, leaving everything in the memory else stock.

I try to run super pi mod, but it crashes most of the time. Every odd time it works and I can get a result. I think I may need to run Orthos and be sure that it is stable.

I'm still looking to taking it further. Maybe I should get a quadcore.

[clone38]

Sorry if this has been asked but what way is best to update the bios,i did see a thread about a usb stick but i cant fint it now.

Thanks.

[raptor1]

Anandtech have a short preview on their site of the blackops:up:

a full review will come later

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/default.aspx#459

the site is very slow this evening for some reason, so be patient

best regards
flan

[Planet]

Anandtech have a short preview on their site of the blackops:up:

a full review will come later

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/default.aspx#459

the site is very slow this evening for some reason, so be patient

best regards
flan

Awesome probably all the Nehalem stuff they just posted.

[ceevee]

Anandtech have a short preview on their site of the blackops:up:

a full review will come later

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/default.aspx#459

the site is very slow this evening for some reason, so be patient

best regards
flan

Why are they only using 2x1GB (for 2GB total in the review)????

[Praz]

Why are they only using 1x2GB (for 2GB total in the review)????
Because everyone is fixated with high clocks.

[ceevee]

Because everyone is fixated with high clocks.

Actually it looks like that RAM is the exact same RAM that is used on other reviews of this board. (seems like they are being sent together to reviewers)

It kind of begs the question, why?

Why isn't there a review of this board with 8gb (or even 4gb) in it? Could it be because it barely currently works at all with 8gb?

[Telo]

Why are they only using 1x2GB (for 2GB total in the review)????


You got it backwards, even the picture shows you two sticks of CellShock DDR3-1866.

[ceevee]

You got it backwards, even the picture shows you two sticks of CellShock DDR3-1866.

typo on my part. I obviously meant 2x1GB.

[Telo]

typo on my part. I obviously meant 2x1GB.

X38/X48 FSB limitations will stop you from running 4 sticks. Now, the reason why the 2x 1GB sticks and not 2x 2GB sticks, is because CellShock does not make 2GB sticks in the DDR3-1800+ range. At this current time, CellShock is regarded as one of the [if not THE] top performing RAM in the DDR3 arena. You will probably see 90% of the motherboard reviews done with this RAM [either the 1800{black kit} or the 1866 {blue kit}].

[ceevee]

X38/X48 FSB limitations will stop you from running 4 sticks. Now, the reason why the 2x 1GB sticks and not 2x 2GB sticks, is because CellShock does not make 2GB sticks in the DDR3-1800+ range. At this current time, CellShock is regarded as one of the [if not THE] top performing RAM in the DDR3 arena. You will probably see 90% of the motherboard reviews done with this RAM [either the 1800{black kit} or the 1866 {blue kit}].

I sent an email to Rajinder and asked him to put 8GB in the board. I don't know if he will or not, but guess we will soon find out.

[Telo]

I sent an email to Rajinder and asked him to put 8GB in the board. I don't know if we will or not, but guess we will soon find out.

My best guess is, depending on the board, the max 4x 2GB sticks will go is 1600Mhz. I was able to get 4x 1GB to 1600Mhz on my old P5E3 Premium [old because I sent it back]; I don't think 2GB will put that much of a strain that it wouldn't get them that high, especially since 2GB sticks have a lower voltage rating.

[ceevee]

UH. :mad:

I just made the mistake of trying "sleep mode" in Vista 64 again.

It crashed the motherboard and now it won't post at all again. Doesn't matter what I do, remove the battery, reset the CMOS, it won't post and I don't have those cheap crappy sticks here anymore to try get it to post and then swap in my regular RAM.

This is absolutely unacceptable in a "finished" product.

[Telo]

UH. :mad:

I just made the mistake of trying "sleep mode" in Vista 64 again.

It crashed the motherboard and now it won't post at all again. Doesn't matter what I do, remove the battery, reset the CMOS, it won't post and I don't have those cheap crappy sticks here anymore to try get it to post and then swap in my regular RAM.

This is absolutely unacceptable in a "finished" product.


Do any of the onboard LEDs light up at all?

[ceevee]

Do any of the onboard LEDs light up at all?

Yes. It starts to boot and then freezes at error code 54 and just beeps over and over.

[Telo]

Yes. It starts to boot and then freezes at error code 54 and just beeps over and over.

Are you holding down the Clear CMOS button [without the power cable in] for at least 5 seconds?

[ceevee]

Are you holding down the Clear CMOS button [without the power cable in] for at least 5 seconds?

Yes absolutely. (and repeatedly :D)

This was the exact same problem before, it will not post with these 2GB sticks, and every time the board resets itself to the stock defaults the board will not post.

The ONLY way I got it up and running before was to put in cheap 2x1GB RAM and then go into the BIOS and set everything for my 4x2GB RAM. Then I hit "save & Exit"

Right after "Save & Exit" when it had shut down I pulled the plug, then I pulled out the cheap RAM and swapped in my nice 2GB sticks.

Then I plugged in back in and turned on and it booted.

But sometimes it seems now when it crashes it is setting the board back to defaults and then there is nothing that can make it post short of the swap trick I used before.

The problem is that that cheap RAM is no longer here so Im screwed.

if anyone can help that would be great.

[Telo]

Yes absolutely. (and repeatedly :D)

This was the exact same problem before, it will not post with these 2GB sticks, and every time the board resets itself to the stock defaults the board will not post.

The ONLY way I got it up and running before was to put in cheap 2x1GB RAM and then go into the BIOS and set everything for my 4x2GB RAM. Then I hit "save & Exit"

Right after "Save & Exit" when it had shut down I pulled the plug, then I pulled out the cheap RAM and swapped in my nice 2GB sticks.

Then I plugged in back in and turned on and it booted.

But sometimes it seems now when it crashes it is setting the board back to defaults and then there is nothing that can make it post short of the swap trick I used before.

The problem is that that cheap RAM is no longer here so Im screwed.

if anyone can help that would be great.

You can try just one 2GB stick then, can't lose nothing more than a mere 10 seconds of your time.

[ceevee]

You can try just one 2GB stick then, can't lose nothing more than a mere 10 seconds of your time.

I tried this before the other day and it didnt work, but tried it again just now anyway.

1x2GB in the white slot = freezing on error code "26" or "2b" (not sure which it is supposed to be saying)

1x2GB in the blue slot = freezing on error code "26" or "2b"

So same thing in either slot.:(

oh and its not beeping like crazy anymore.

[loonym]

Unfortunately it's not only the foxconn having that problem with certain corsair ram. For some reason they require more voltage to post than a lot of mobo defaults provide.

[ceevee]

Unfortunately it's not only the foxconn having that problem with certain corsair ram. For some reason they require more voltage to post than a lot of mobo defaults provide.


When I got it working before I set the RAM to 1.9V and then swapped it in and it posted.

However it is not just the Corsair, I also had this problem with the 8GB of OCZ 1600Mhz RAM before. I RMAed the OCZ ram because I thought that the OCZ was broken and bought the Corsair. Little did I know the same problems would continue... :p:

Seems like the higher end 2GB sticks need more voltage to post and this MB is not giving it to them.

---edit---

I'm calling a buddy and going to lean on him to loan me a stick of RAM out of his PC. :p:

[Telo]

Unfortunately it's not only the foxconn having that problem with certain corsair ram. For some reason they require more voltage to post than a lot of mobo defaults provide.

SHlT, if that is the case, I'm out of ideas man. Sorry.

[FuriousSalesman]

This board has an error checker, but I can't see to find an error list? Did I inadvertently lose it?

[ceevee]

This board has an error checker, but I can't see to find an error list? Did I inadvertently lose it?

Nope, its not in any of the documentation, and its not posted online either.

I think we are supposed to somehow guess what they mean. :p:

Also I have gotten the board up and running again after I stole a stick of RAM from a friend.

All I had to do to get it to post was put the RAM at 1.81V, save, exit, and swap.

They need to update the BIOS to automatically put more volts. This board is only volting the memory at 1.63V default, which apparently is not enough to get high end 2GB sticks to post.

---edit---

And I have gotten it to 6-6-6-18 1T @ 1066Mhz which is actually pretty tight timings for 8GB of DDR3, even though it won't let me increase the Mhz much.

[Tony]

The bios needs to get off 1T default, 2T is needed for dual rank 128x8 IC's even just using 1 if booting at 1333 or higher.

[ceevee]

I have been able to get the board more stable but am getting different readings from different utilities.

I have set the BIOS to 400FSB (1600Mhz), 9X multiplier (3.6Ghz), 1:2.665 RAM ratio (1066Mhz).

EIST is OFF. C1E is OFF.

Here is what cpu-z and coretemp show (they both disagree with the BIOS):

http://planetimagehost.com/images/4527_oc1.jpg

So cpu-z is showing VERY low volts when cpu is set at 1.32v in BIOS. It is not showing ANY overclock, when BIOS says 3.6Ghz.

Coretemp is showing same 3.6Ghz as BIOS, but it is showing the wrong multiple (8x when it should be 9x). It is also showing the wrong FSB (450 when it is set at 400 in BIOS).

Does anyone with more knowledge know what is actually happening in this scenario? Which of the three (BIOS, cpu-z, coretemp) is wrong here?

[Telo]

I have been able to get the board more stable but am getting different readings from different utilities.
I have set the BIOS to 400FSB (1600Mhz), 9X multiplier (3.6Ghz), 1:2.665 RAM ratio (1066Mhz).
EIST is OFF. C1E is OFF.
Here is what cpu-z and coretemp show (they both disagree with the BIOS):
So cpu-z is showing VERY low volts when cpu is set at 1.32v in BIOS. It is not showing ANY overclock, when BIOS says 3.6Ghz.
Coretemp is showing same 3.6Ghz as BIOS, but it is showing the wrong multiple (8x when it should be 9x). It is also showing the wrong FSB (450 when it is set at 400 in BIOS).
Does anyone with more knowledge know what is actually happening in this scenario? Which of the three (BIOS, cpu-z, coretemp) is wrong here?

I don't use CoreTemp, but I have had the BIOS show a FSB/multiplier setting and then CPU-Z show a differrent set as well. I'm leaning towards CPU-Z giving you the right info. Did you reboot to verify the BIOS again?

[Telo]

I'm going to try real hard this weekend to get this PC working how I want it. I've given this setup crazy relaxed times and higher voltage than what I know work on the hardware I got, and still this POS just will not comply. I tell you this though, I'm not going to reward this board with a $400 set of CellShock memory for all the grief it has given me. If anything, I will just RMA it and hold out until the new P45 boards or the Maximus II Formula are released.

[Telo]

Quick question, has BIOS recovery ever worked for any of you? I have never seen it work for me so far. It does change the settings back to default, but it just keeps doing a reboot loop.

[ceevee]

Quick question, has BIOS recovery ever worked for any of you? I have never seen it work for me so far. It does change the settings back to default, but it just keeps doing a reboot loop.

BIOS recovery was a huge part of the PROBLEM for me.

I could not get the board stable until I completely disabled overclock recovery.

The overclock recovery would constantly screw up the settings and lock up the board so that it would no longer post.

[ceevee]

I don't use CoreTemp, but I have had the BIOS show a FSB/multiplier setting and then CPU-Z show a differrent set as well. I'm leaning towards CPU-Z giving you the right info. Did you reboot to verify the BIOS again?


Yes, if that is the case then the BIOS basically doesn't work then.

[ceevee]

I tell you this though, I'm not going to reward this board with a $400 set of CellShock memory for all the grief it has given me. If anything, I will just RMA it and hold out until the new P45 boards or the Maximus II Formula are released.

Heh. Its good to know I am not the only one.

We need to get the word out about this board. Where are all the people that were hyping this here on XS?

Its like they have all gone into hiding.

[Planet]

If you guys are having issues with the board. I suggest you post on the Quantum Force forums that way they can get the Bios Developer to fix it. I had the same issue with the CPU-Z showing something different. Its a multiplier issue in the bios as far as I know. Try disabling the 1/2 multis and it should go away.

[ceevee]

If you guys are having issues with the board. I suggest you post on the Quantum Force forums that way they can get the Bios Developer to fix it. I had the same issue with the CPU-Z showing something different. Its a multiplier issue in the bios as far as I know. Try disabling the 1/2 multis and it should go away.

Hi Cpt Planet. Thank you for your response. I have been to the Foxconn forums but saw very little response there to people's problems. 80% of the threads were unanswered by technical support. I will go there and post anyway though. What really makes me sad is that Newegg will not accept a RMA of this board. SO it looks like I am stuck with it.

Anyway back to my ongoing problems. Here is what I set in the BIOS:
http://planetimagehost.com/images/45438_BIOSoc1.jpg

Here is what the Aegis panel, Foxconns own utility says:
http://planetimagehost.com/images/70743_FCAegis.jpg


So what is the problem here? Aegis panel agrees with CPU-Z, which does not agree with the BIOS. Why doesn't the BIOS work?

[Planet]

What happens when you enable the 9.5,10,10.5 multis. I was having a similar issue with my 9650 and a early beta bios.

[ceevee]

What happens when you enable the 9.5,10,10.5 multis. I was having a similar issue with my 9650 and a early beta bios.


Hi Cpt. Planet. I followed your advice to try the .5x setting. I set it to 8.5x because I am very afraid at this point of anything too high that will make this board crash. When it crashes it doesn't recover and I do not have any cheap RAM here to jumpstart it and do the swap trick that will make it post.

In other words if any setting makes me have to clear the CMOS back to defaults then I will not be able to post again.

Anyway here is the BIOS setting:
http://planetimagehost.com/images/75317_BIOSoc2.jpg

Here is what speedfan says:
http://planetimagehost.com/images/64689_OC4.jpg

Here is what cpu-z, aegis panel, and coretemp say:
http://planetimagehost.com/images/72112_OC2.jpg

Here is what Vista says:
http://planetimagehost.com/images/66181_OC3.jpg

I really belive cpu-z at this point because I have run some benchmarks and there is no performance inprovement between setting the processor at 3.2Ghz in the BIOS and setting it at 3.8Ghz in the BIOS. As far as I can tell the BIOS is completely and utterly broken.

I have put in a special request to Foxconn for techinical support. Also aren't there XS members who have worked on this board and helped create it? Where did they go?

[loonym]

The bios needs to get off 1T default, 2T is needed for dual rank 128x8 IC's even just using 1 if booting at 1333 or higher.So it's really a command rate issue and not voltage? I've seen a couple other boards do this same thing with certain corsair ddr2 kits.

[Kensek]

@CeeVee - I got Newegg to issue me a Full Refund yesterday on my BlackOps. It is on its way back to them and they paid for the shipping back too.

Maybe it's because I buy $5-$7K worth of stuff from them yearly they allowed it. But stick to your guns and demand a Full Refund. I also mentioned I spent some time on the phone with FoxConn's Tech Support and they couldn't help me either. Foxconn even provided me with a new P03 Bios version, but it didn't help any.

[Kensek]

The sad thing is, I now have $600 of DDR3 ram, and no great X48 Mobo to put them in.

[ceevee]

@CeeVee - I got Newegg to issue me a Full Refund yesterday on my BlackOps. It is on its way back to them and they paid for the shipping back too.

Maybe it's because I buy $5-$7K worth of stuff from them yearly they allowed it. But stick to your guns and demand a Full Refund. I also mentioned I spent some time on the phone with FoxConn's Tech Support and they couldn't help me either. Foxconn even provided me with a new P03 Bios version, but it didn't help any.

Thank you for this advice. I have spent $6k in the last two weeks at Newegg so hopefully they will help me out.

I guess I will call back on Monday and ask to talk to a manager.

This is BY FAR the worst motherboard I have ever encountered in about 5 years of building systems, including all the AMD boards I have used too.

[Telo]

If you guys are having issues with the board. I suggest you post on the Quantum Force forums that way they can get the Bios Developer to fix it. I had the same issue with the CPU-Z showing something different. Its a multiplier issue in the bios as far as I know. Try disabling the 1/2 multis and it should go away.


I posted on the Foxconn forum last week... you want to know what I got from it so far? 50+ views of the thread and no replies whatsoever.

[ceevee]

I posted on the Foxconn forum last week... you want to know what I got from it so far? 50+ views of the thread and no replies whatsoever.


Yep its like the lights are on but no one is home at Foxconn.

---edit---

If anyone in the community here knows people at Foxconn please ask them to come and read this thread.

[Telo]

Yep its like the lights are on but no one is home at Foxconn.


Cee, go read what I posted on the retail version thread; you'll get a kick out of it.
Here: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=187156

[Telo]

I feel bad for you Cee, you spent $1,500 on a CPU, over $1,000 on RAM and God only knows what kind of GPUs your system is packing and this POS board won't even get off its @$$ and work.

[ceevee]

I feel bad for you Cee, you spent $1,500 on a CPU, over $1,000 on RAM and God only knows what kind of GPUs your system is packing and this POS board won't even get off its @$$ and work.

Actually I really wanted a 790i but didn't buy it because of some of the issues that users had experienced. Ironically a 790i would probably have been a walk in the park compared to this Blackops. (at least it would have posted!) Having to swap in 1GB sticks to even get a post is ridiculous.

Anyway with the recent fix of the corruption issues, I am probably going to switch to 790i.

[Telo]

Yeah I will never purchase another Foxconn product of any kind ever again.

Actually I really wanted a 790i but didn't buy it because of some of the issues that users had experienced. Ironically a 790i would probably have been a walk in the park compared to this Blackops. (at least it would have posted!) Having to swap in 1GB sticks to even get a post is ridiculous.

Anyway with the recent fix of the corruption issues, I am probably going to switch to 790i.

I'm 90% sure that I will return to my previous board [ASUS P5E3 Premium], worst case scenario, I can OC the PC up to 400FSB and it WILL allow me to run all 4 sticks at 6-6-6-18-2T. Only reason I left that board was actual physical defects [short in a RAM slot, power switch jumper was malfunctioning, Express gate was missing {BTW 3 cases on 3 different boards}], not poor BIOS coding. I'm bound to get a 100% solid board even if I got to return 100 of them.

[gmcg]

IMO Foxconn BlackOps is over-stabilized to get the best results for OC at sub-zero temps. It is designed for benching, not for normal operations (as we know, air cooling of NB or water cooling with copper-aluminum design is a joke).

I could run qx9650 with 1.392V rock-stable on 780i at 4.2GHz, and for the same stability I have to apply 1.45V WITH Vdroop compensation enabled! on BlackOps for the same CPU and the same 4.2GHz.
I had been able to run 460MHz FSB with the same QX9650 on 790i (unfortunately, te motherboard was not prime-stable), on BlackOps I can run 420 FSB stable with safe voltages, not crazy ones, posted by Cpt. Planet in his overclocking guide.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3156&p=6

Our recommendation is never to exceed the manufacturer's maximum specified voltage. With that said, values in excess of ~2.2V with DDR3 are a death sentence.

The following are the timings I am running on my ram at 1800MHz 2.2v [-as we can see in BIOS picture, it is 2.21V actually] and a few have run up to almost 2000MHz with similar settings.

1.81V CPU Vcore (according to a BIOS picture) for 4.278 GHz on CPU 24/7? That is insane!

If you guys want to sell Foxconn products, you need to make your forum active with professional responses and provide some REAL OC guides, not something like this ...

[Planet]

IMO Foxconn BlackOps is over-stabilized to get the best results for OC at sub-zero temps. It is designed for benching, not for normal operations (as we know, air cooling of NB or water cooling with copper-aluminum design is a joke).

I could run qx9650 with 1.392V rock-stable on 780i, and for the same stability I have to apply 1.45V WITH Vdroop compensation enabled! on BlackOps for the same CPU. I had been able to run 460MHz FSB with the same QX9650 on 790i (unfortunately, te motherboard was not prime-stable), on BlackOps I can run 420 FSB stable with safe voltages, not crazy ones, posted by Cpt. Planet in his overclocking guide.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3156&p=6


1.81V Vcore (according to a BIOS picture) for 4.278 GHz on CPU 24/7? That is insane!

Reread the section there. I said the bios is reporting the wrong voltages for my board because its a ES board running a retail bios. I run under 1.5 daily check out the voltage section.

[gmcg]

Reread the section there. I said the bios is reporting the wrong voltages for my board because its a ES board running a retail bios. I run under 1.5 daily check out the voltage section.

Well, we all bought the board with RETAIL BIOS ...

[Planet]

Well, we all bought the board with RETAIL BIOS ...

There's nothing different just simply the voltage is reported wrong with my board. :shrug:

[Nosfer@tu]

IMO Foxconn BlackOps is over-stabilized to get the best results for OC at sub-zero temps. It is designed for benching, not for normal operations (as we know, air cooling of NB or water cooling with copper-aluminum design is a joke).

I could run qx9650 with 1.392V rock-stable on 780i at 4.2GHz, and for the same stability I have to apply 1.45V WITH Vdroop compensation enabled! on BlackOps for the same CPU and the same 4.2GHz.
I had been able to run 460MHz FSB with the same QX9650 on 790i (unfortunately, te motherboard was not prime-stable), on BlackOps I can run 420 FSB stable with safe voltages, not crazy ones, posted by Cpt. Planet in his overclocking guide.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3156&p=6


1.81V CPU Vcore (according to a BIOS picture) for 4.278 GHz on CPU 24/7? That is insane!

If you guys want to sell Foxconn products, you need to make your forum active with professional responses and provide some REAL OC guides, not something like this ...

Nobody here works for Foxconn dude!
Be happy he bothered helping you out with a guide ?

Give us some REAL comparison here ? So you cant run 460 fsb with a Quard on the Blackops :D
Set your bios better dude ;) It is EASY.

Why is air and water cooling a Joke ? I dont get that ? Ever heard of anti corrosion ?
Why did you buy the board then ?



Well, we all bought the board with RETAIL BIOS ...

If that is the biggest problem, Maybe you should by an Asus board ;)

ALL new boards have issues in the biginning!

Be happy with your new board, And show us some results ?

[ceevee]

If Foxconn really wanted to break into the enthusiast market they sure have done a bad job of it.

If they had a representative who would read and respond either here or on their forums, and let us know how they are fixing the massive massive problems with the Blackops it would go a long way towards creating goodwill.

At this point I would say from reading here and other overclocking forums they are starting to get a pretty bad reputation based on this product. There are a lot of people having fundamental problems with this board even working at all and all we get from Foxconn is silence.

[Nosfer@tu]

Actually I really wanted a 790i but didn't buy it because of some of the issues that users had experienced. Ironically a 790i would probably have been a walk in the park compared to this Blackops. (at least it would have posted!) Having to swap in 1GB sticks to even get a post is ridiculous.

Anyway with the recent fix of the corruption issues, I am probably going to switch to 790i.

Move your mem to the other slot ?
Give your mem the volt they need and then put nr 2 stick in ?

[ceevee]

If that is the biggest problem, Maybe you should by an Asus board ;)

ALL new boards have issues in the biginning!

Be happy with your new board, And show us some results ?

Did you read this thread? Here are few of the issues:

The board will not post on default settings with many 2GB sticks. To get it to post you have to swap in 1Gb sticks.

The board will not overlock a QX9770 no matter what multiplier you set in the BIOS it will always run at 3.2Ghz.

Sleep mode in Vista crashes the motherboard when you try to "wake up"

Overlock recovery must be disabled or it will reset the board to default settings and then it won't post.

The board will not run 2GB sticks anywhere near the rated settings, I am using Intel XMB SPD certified sticks for 1600Mhz 7-7-7-18, they will only run at 1066Mhz to 1200Mhz. I also tried OCZ 1600Mhz sticks and they won't run past 1200Mhz either.

The board takes about 30-45secs after pushing the power button to actually get to a post screen.

I am sure I forgot some things but this is unaceeptable in a retail product.

[ceevee]

Move your mem to the other slot ?
Give your mem the volt they need and then put nr 2 stick in ?

Please read the whole thread. I have been through every basic troubleshooting option already.

[Lu(ky]

Did you read this thread? Here are few of the issues:

The board will not post on default settings with many 2GB sticks. To get it to post you have to swap in 1Gb sticks.

The board will not overlock a QX9770 no matter what multiplier you set in the BIOS it will always run at 3.2Ghz.

Sleep mode in Vista crashes the motherboard when you try to "wake up"

Overlock recovery must be disabled or it will reset the board to default settings and then it won't post.

The board will not run 2GB sticks anywhere near the rated settings, I am using Intel XMB SPD certified sticks for 1600Mhz 7-7-7-18, they will only run at 1066Mhz to 1200Mhz. I also tried OCZ 1600Mhz sticks and they won't run past 1200Mhz either.

The board takes about 30-45secs after pushing the power button to actually get to a post screen.

I am sure I forgot some things but this is unaceeptable in a retail product.

Before I buy my stuff I will watch other guys buy and try it out before I do for the sake of headaches, but I didn't do that with my Asus S2E board and regretted it. I tried to OC my QX9650 for the life of me on that board all I would get is memory dumps and data corruption every time I tried. So I sent it back to the egg, and got this board and I was able to OC it to 4GHz with no problems. Now I sold my QX9650 and bought a e8400 and still trying to OC it. My point is every part is different when you combine them together. So just because you spend $$$$ does not mean it will be compatible, specially the 8gb thing is just crazy. I see guys having problems with 4gbs. And why do you really need 8GBs of ram are you a photo/video editor or something? Because in gaming it will not help you... maybe it is time for a RMA on the board itself...

[Nosfer@tu]

Did you read this thread? Here are few of the issues:

The board will not post on default settings with many 2GB sticks. To get it to post you have to swap in 1Gb sticks.

The board will not overlock a QX9770 no matter what multiplier you set in the BIOS it will always run at 3.2Ghz.

Sleep mode in Vista crashes the motherboard when you try to "wake up"

Overlock recovery must be disabled or it will reset the board to default settings and then it won't post.

The board will not run 2GB sticks anywhere near the rated settings, I am using Intel XMB SPD certified sticks for 1600Mhz 7-7-7-18, they will only run at 1066Mhz to 1200Mhz. I also tried OCZ 1600Mhz sticks and they won't run past 1200Mhz either.

The board takes about 30-45secs after pushing the power button to actually get to a post screen.

I am sure I forgot some things but this is unaceeptable in a retail product.

I have sent of an email to Foxconn, the folks there I have contact with.
I agree, That is NOT acceptable.
I dont know, But I hope they contact you and ask you for more info.

I know that they give great support, I just dont think they understood the amount of manpower need for a end user board and not big distributers.

Lets hope they give this propper attention!



Please read the whole thread. I have been through every basic troubleshooting option already.

Sry mate, I read it yesterday. My mistake

[ceevee]

Well I think I have discovered what some of the RAM problems might be from. Again there is a situation where what you set in the BIOS does not actually happen.

Look here at my BIOS setting for memory timings (you can see CAS9 and 2T):
http://planetimagehost.com/images/61793_BIOSoc3.jpg


Here is what actually happens:
http://planetimagehost.com/images/75823_OC5.jpg

Why won't the BIOS set 2T CR? I think this may be what is holding back my memory. It is supposed to run at 1600Mhz 2T, but I cannot get the motherboard to actually run 2T. Am I missing anything here? (and why is it running CAS8 when I put CAS9??)

[Planet]

What happens when you set them in memset does the board crash or does it not apply?

[ceevee]

What happens when you set them in memset does the board crash or does it not apply?

It does not apply. I select the 2T option then it automatically goes back to 1T.
What do you think this means?

[Planet]

Prolly an issue with the bios. As far as the multiplier thing. They said change the EIST to something other than native save and exit. Then go back in and make all your changes and the last thing you should change is the EIST to Native.

[ceevee]

As far as the multiplier thing. They said change the EIST to something other than native save and exit. Then go back in and make all your changes and the last thing you should change is the EIST to Native.

Well that works.

But why do I want EIST in native? With EIST in Native mode Vista will underclock the CPU to 2.4Ghz to save power most of the time.

I checked CPU-z and it says 2.4Ghz, but then I ran p95 and it shot up to 3.6Ghz.

http://planetimagehost.com/images/62126_OC6.jpg

Is there no way to overlock with EIST turned OFF? I don't want to see this most of the time:
http://planetimagehost.com/images/13321_OC7.jpg

[Planet]

EIST has to be set to Native if you are running an unlocked multiplier. Thats why its set that way in the guide. You should beable to use CrystalCPUID to change the multiplier in windows and it should stay locked there.

[ceevee]

EIST has to be set to Native if you are running an unlocked multiplier. Thats why its set that way in the guide. You should beable to use CrystalCPUID to change the multiplier in windows and it should stay locked there.

Hi, I had tried it that way before when first setting up, but I did not realize that EIST must be turned on for it to overclock at all. I thought this was merely "recommended" setting.

---edit---

Starting to make some progress in spite of the bugs.

Got 8GB DDR3 @ 1345Mhz 8-9-9-24 1T, qx9770 @ 3.785Ghz @ 1.30v

http://planetimagehost.com/images/97412_OC8.jpg

I am feeling confident that if the BIOS will let me go to 2T and CAS9 that I can get all 8GB to 1600Mhz.

Also Cpt. Planet do you know how hot is too hot for the QX9770. At 3.8Ghz I am getting 65C under full Prime95 load in Coretemp. Is 65C too hot for max load (I belive it is the Tjunction reading)? (this is on air atm btw)

[Planet]

Hi, I had tried it that way before when first setting up, but I did not realize that EIST must be turned on for it to overclock at all. I thought this was merely "recommended" setting.

EIST must be set to Native if you wish to set your multiplier to over a stock setting.

[ceevee]

EIST must be set to Native if you wish to set your multiplier to over a stock setting.


Ok thanks, I never had to do that on my old ASUS P35 so this is new to me :)

Also if you look at the post above (i edited) what do you think of 65C temp?

[Planet]

65C is starting to get a little hot. I would see about trying to get those down a bit. 55C should be good.

[gmcg]

What temps are we talking about here, +15C Aegis panel funny ones or Real Temps? Does anyone believe that with 2.4 CPU my idle temp with watercooling (high flow, D-Tek Fuzion with quad nozzle) can be at 47C while both Real Temp and Everest show 32C, and my water temp is 28.4C? 65C "Aegis" is not "a little hot", it is around 50C Real Temp ...

As you can see, EIST is in native mode ... my Real frequency is 4.2Ghz ...

[gmcg]

Nobody here works for Foxconn dude!
Be happy he bothered helping you out with a guide ?
Give us some REAL comparison here ? So you cant run 460 fsb with a Quard on the Blackops :D
Set your bios better dude ;) It is EASY.
I did, I am running it at 4.2 GHz pretty stable. It is definitely easy though I have expected lower voltages to reach such results. I know people can run 482MHz FSb on this board, but with what voltages? I used SAFE voltages to run 460 MHz FSB on 790i, here is the difference.


Why is air and water cooling a Joke ? I dont get that ? Ever heard of anti corrosion ?
Why did you buy the board then ?
I bought it as a replacement for 790i, I never heard that advertised copper cover would be replaced with aluminum one. In this case I wouldn't buy it probably, and I can't return it such as it was sold through newegg only, and newegg has 30 day non-refund policy.
It is a joke caz I can't use nor water cooling nor aircooling on it without modification. Air cooling is way ineffective and noisy.
Anticorrosion - why should I use such stuff if on my box it is stated that I've got 4in1 all copper cooler?


If that is the biggest problem, Maybe you should by an Asus board ;)

I don't buy anything from Asus, period. Actually, there are not so many choices left, you are right. I would love to have a stable 790i but can't spend time on several boards to find a stable one.


ALL new boards have issues in the biginning!
Be happy with your new board, And show us some results ?
Which results? I have a stable running Foxconn BlackOps board now at 4.2 GHz with good safe voltages and mediocre speed results, do you think it makes sense to publish those? I am still working on the board, may be will get something good enough to publish later ...
I had quite similar results (as todays) with 780i and DDR2 (was happy enough, such as ALL volatages were in the SAFE area) ... nothing to be proud of spending in addition +$1k on memory and board ... those old results can be found here http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2860845&postcount=129
You can download the reports ... they are attached.
Here is my 4.4GHz result on 780i with 1.456V Vcore on it ONLY http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=75950&stc=1&d=1207362016 , it is exactly the same CPU and watercooling system, and now I need to use such Vcore for 4.2Ghz on Foxconn BlackOps which supposed to be an UPGRADE? I see people around using the same or higher Vcore for 4.2GHz , therefore it is kinda doubtful that it is only my incompetence to set the BIOS correctly to reach lower voltages ... for example can you show me such results as 4.4GHz with 1.456 Vcore for QX9650 on BlackOps?

You know the story about pessimist and optimist? Is our glass half-full or half-empty? ;)

[ceevee]

What temps are we talking about here, +15C Aegis panel funny ones or Real Temps? Does anyone believe that with 2.4 CPU my idle temp with watercooling (high flow, D-Tek Fuzion with quad nozzle) can be at 47C while both Real Temp and Everest show 32C, and my water temp is 28.4C? 65C "Aegis" is not "a little hot", it is around 50C Real Temp ...

As you can see, EIST is in native mode ... my Real frequency is 4.2Ghz ...


Hi I am getting 65C from Coretemp program (I believe that is Tjunction measure?) at 3.8Ghz under full Prime95 load.

I am asking is 65C in Coretemp program too hot for full Prime95 load?

I am not going to put this CPU under water until I finalize the components (blackops or 790i).

[gmcg]

Hi I am getting 65C from Coretemp program (I believe that is Tjunction measure?) at 3.8Ghz under full Prime95 load.

I am asking is 65C in Coretemp program too hot for full Prime95 load?

I am not going to put this CPU under water until I finalize the components (blackops or 790i).

Hi, I would recommend to use Real Temp, it's data has been corrected with beam digital termometers. 2.60 version has a convenient temp on-screen data in the top right corner. You will see a HUGE difference comparing with Core Temp. Everquest Beta 1383 is fine as well.

[ceevee]

Hi, I would recommend to use Real Temp, it's data has been corrected with beam digital termometers. 2.60 version has a convenient temp on-screen data in the top right corner. You will see a HUGE difference comparing with Core Temp. Everquest Beta 1383 is fine as well.

I switched to RealTemp and now I am only getting 55C maximum.

That should give me room to try for 4Ghz on air. :)

[gmcg]

I switched to RealTemp and now I am only getting 55C maximum.
That should give me room to try for 4Ghz on air. :)
I had been running 4.14 GHz on AC with 790i for a while ...

[rdrash]

I wanted to publicly thank you for the BO insulation template Cpt.Planet....when I get my replacement board it will be very useful!! I appreciate the assist.

[LardArse]

please leave EIST native and c1E disabled and you should have the higher multipliers

[Nosfer@tu]

I did, I am running it at 4.2 GHz pretty stable. It is definitely easy though I have expected lower voltages to reach such results. I know people can run 482MHz FSb on this board, but with what voltages? I used SAFE voltages to run 460 MHz FSB on 790i, here is the difference.


I bought it as a replacement for 790i, I never heard that advertised copper cover would be replaced with aluminum one. In this case I wouldn't buy it probably, and I can't return it such as it was sold through newegg only, and newegg has 30 day non-refund policy.
It is a joke caz I can't use nor water cooling nor aircooling on it without modification. Air cooling is way ineffective and noisy.
Anticorrosion - why should I use such stuff if on my box it is stated that I've got 4in1 all copper cooler?


I don't buy anything from Asus, period. Actually, there are not so many choices left, you are right. I would love to have a stable 790i but can't spend time on several boards to find a stable one.


Which results? I have a stable running Foxconn BlackOps board now at 4.2 GHz with good safe voltages and mediocre speed results, do you think it makes sense to publish those? I am still working on the board, may be will get something good enough to publish later ...
I had quite similar results (as todays) with 780i and DDR2 (was happy enough, such as ALL volatages were in the SAFE area) ... nothing to be proud of spending in addition +$1k on memory and board ... those old results can be found here http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2860845&postcount=129
You can download the reports ... they are attached.
Here is my 4.4GHz result on 780i with 1.456V Vcore on it ONLY http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=75950&stc=1&d=1207362016 , it is exactly the same CPU and watercooling system, and now I need to use such Vcore for 4.2Ghz on Foxconn BlackOps which supposed to be an UPGRADE? I see people around using the same or higher Vcore for 4.2GHz , therefore it is kinda doubtful that it is only my incompetence to set the BIOS correctly to reach lower voltages ... for example can you show me such results as 4.4GHz with 1.456 Vcore for QX9650 on BlackOps?

You know the story about pessimist and optimist? Is our glass half-full or half-empty? ;)

What is your VPPL and Vfsb ?
These migth be to blame.
ALSO member you cannot trust any volts read in bios, On the blackops the volt is VERY stable. And the CPU power capabilities are truly golden on blackops. Even at 5 Ghz Quardcore it is stable and dosent fluctuate.

AND Im not sure how one can compare I790 to X48 regarding voltages. I really dont know.

Everybody in Denmark ditched the board after problems with past 900 Mhz om mem

[ceevee]

Wow i heard back from my special request for support from Foxconn.


Some of our motherboard modules include features, which facilitate or otherwise assist customer with extending the performance of their system beyond the specification of the cpu, chipset, or other components.



Some memory manufactures sell high performance rating memory; please contact them for assist with their “rating setting”.



Example: Industry standard DDR memory uses 2.5V, DDR2 uses 1.8V and DDR3 uses 1.5V. There is no standard for memory timing, but the lower the number the more aggressive it is.



Foxconn Technical Support (CISG1) provides assist to customer in resolving problems with “default” setting.

Results of overclocking can cause system crashes, data corruption, peripheral life span is shortened. This is for advanced computer uses that know and understand the risk involved, proceeds at your own risk. Foxconn does not recommend nor indorse in taking such action- not support by Foxconn CISG1.

EPIC FAIL IMO. :mad:

So they have not even acknolwedged that not being able to set 2T at all is a problem. :down:

[Praz]

Pretty much standard statement for motherboard manufactures. Kind of expected something different from a company advertising the following though.



Unique accessories for enthusiasts

BLACKOPS includes a range of accessories designed to provide additional convenience and performance enhancements for overclockers. In addition to the 4in1 Quantum Cooler accessories (which include a NB fan,extension tower for LN2 cooling and water cooling block), BLACKOPS owners will also receive variable resistors for volt-modding,

[Telo]

I know I'm getting way ahead of myself, but has anyone tried running this board at 450FSb while using 4 sticks of CellShock 1866 [Blue kit]? I ask because if this RAM actually gets to run at 1800Mhz, I'm sure interested on getting another set. Thanks in advanced.

PS: RAM will be arriving either tomorrow or Wednesday, it's coming straight out of Ireland, bought at Memoryc.com for 254 EUR plus 18 EUR for shipping [roughly $425 for everything]. Tankguys has the 1800Mhz kits for $420, and for what I saw no one sells the blue kits in the USA.

[LardArse]

G25 BIOS with Clock Skew (+300 works good for Wolfdale overclocking)
:
http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=48887A3F1G25.rar

2T works , now fixing multiplier under Vista

[ceevee]

G25 BIOS with Clock Skew (+300 works good for Wolfdale overclocking)
:
http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=7A3F1G25.rar

2T works , now fixing multiplier under Vista

Thank you very much. :)

Downloading now.

[Tony]

G25 BIOS with Clock Skew (+300 works good for Wolfdale overclocking)
:
http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=7A3F1G25.rar

2T works , now fixing multiplier under Vista

is the board defaulted to this or still an option to set it manually?

If the board still defaults to 1T you have an issue that needs changing ;)

[LardArse]

slightly more updated:

http://www.mediafire.com/?zydjtdtd3ze

[yiancar]

Hey everybody , I just joined the blackops club :D

i was just looking in the mobo when i found this

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/302/pict0416largewn5.jpg

Ready points for vmod?:P

[M3kk]

What is the difference about the GXX and P0X bioses? :confused:
Can someone share the P04 ?

[Lu(ky]

What is the difference about the GXX and P0X bioses? :confused:
Can someone share the P04 ?

The G Bios is BETA and the P is normal online Bios. I will try both of them soon.

Has anyone tried the CellShock DDR3 15000 (blue sticks) on this board? And are they any deferent then the black ones meaning better OCing?

[M3kk]

Can you link me the p04? :)
I cant find that :(

[yiancar]

Can you link me the p04? :)
I cant find that :(

log into http://www.quantum-force.net then go to downloads and public bios , its the first one there ;)

[M3kk]

LOL, i searched it at Beta bios section, thanks :).

[yiancar]

in the beta bios are only the G one :)

[M3kk]

Ok-ok, i got it.
Lets see if i can boot with 500 fsb and rams at 1000.

[M3kk]

Look what i got today with P04 :D.

http://valid.x86-secret.com/ccpuz.php?id=373466&nocache=1

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=373466

I had 585, but corrupted :(.

http://forum.crazypc.ro/attachment.php?attachmentid=31001&d=1213100098

Everest at 550 FSB.

http://forum.crazypc.ro/attachment.php?attachmentid=31002&d=1213100140

And some max PI 1M`s at 560 and 566 FSB :).

http://forum.crazypc.ro/attachment.php?attachmentid=31003&d=1213100522

http://forum.crazypc.ro/attachment.php?attachmentid=31004&d=1213100522

With new bioses and with every time, when i use the board i start to love it :D.
The HW is SUPER, just the bioses are wrong, but with time they will come out, i`m sure :).

I cant use 1:4 266 333 or 400 even with 500 FSB :(.
So i cant test 500 FSB with rams at 2000, but i will try more settings.

Congrats Foxconn :).

[raptor1]

PS: RAM will be arriving either tomorrow or Wednesday, it's coming straight out of Ireland, bought at Memoryc.com for 254 EUR plus 18 EUR for shipping [roughly $425 for everything]. Tankguys has the 1800Mhz kits for $420, and for what I saw no one sells the blue kits in the USA.

Hey Telo

i too ordered my cellshocks pc3-15000 blue from memoryc and got them today - at work atm - will try this evening when i get home - i cant wait to see if i can get this board to work at last :D;)

flanr

[yiancar]

o thats very ipresive M3kk i wish i could try too but my ram dont work , wrong spd and i have to find a new pare boot change voltages and flash the spd so my cellshock will finaly work :D

Also how many v on the ram?

[FuriousSalesman]

What this about flashing Cellshock memory. Can anyone elaborate?

[yiancar]

the spd is like a memory which says to the mobo what ram are you those which volt to put to bootup etc. because i bought by cellshock once they went out they have old spd and they dont boot properly so i have to "update" it so the mobo will correctly understand the ram :)

[spikerules]

Hi all!
I recently exchanged my Asus Striker II Extreme (which you can read all about why on the overclockers forums) but now I'm having issues getting ANY overclocking done with this board! Firstly, the bios seems to be undervolting my memory to 1.6v, when my memory runs at 1.85v. This doesnt cause a problem for boot up and windows loading, but when I try to up the voltage (to the right voltage) and overclock I only get to a windows blue screen, or checksum error, or if I'm REALLY lucky loads of beeping with "checksum error, no keyboard" and then the good ole' reboot or just a blank screen with extreme beeping.

I have tried all the settings I can find with the some help with the really nice folk at overclockers.com, but nothing is working! I have even tried going into the red "danger" settings for voltage of NB, SB, memory (even though the red it actually normal voltage for my RAM) @ 400fsb 1:4 333 divider.

Please look at my sig for the complete spec of my PC. The settings I have tried are as follows: -
*where I say "AND" I mean I have tried both and/or all ways listed and not at the same time, obviously:)

400fsb
1:4 333
CPU voltage @ 1.5 AND 1.6
NB @ 1.5 and stock
SB @ 1.6 and stock
Memory voltage @ 1.84 and 2.0v AND stock (which was way under at around 1.6v)
PL7

I have even tried it at 333 where I get to post, but then I either get a windows corrupt error with "please put windows disc in for repair" or a stall at the first screen. I'm kinda out of idea's atm and I dont know what I can do:( All the usual things are disabled, like speedstep etc!

Any advice would be VERY helpful! I would also be very interested if someone has managed to O/C with this motherboard who has the same memory and/or CPU.

Thanks in advance and sorry if I have stolen the thread!
Spike

[raptor1]

after purchasing some cellshock pc3-1866 2 x 1gb blue modules and updating the bios to p04 and setting the settings from anandtechs preview article in the bios and also the clock skew settings to +300, i can now complete post and boot in to windows at 8.5 x 500 but am not stable

i get an intermittent bsod of error stop 0x0000007 and super-pi crashes

i have ran memtest+ 2.01 and it passes all 8 tests once but on the second pass it fails on test 4

also in the bios i have set 8 as the cpu multipler but during the post and in
everest and cpu-z it shows up as 8.5

has anyone any ideas where i go from here

i will post bios settings tomorrow as it is quite late and i have work tomorrow

thanks
flanr

[Planet]

Try loosening the memory timings a bit. The guide when I posted are pretty tight. Also if the memory is being undervolted by what is set in the bios go up to the next option.

[LardArse]

400fsb
1:4 333
CPU voltage @ 1.5 AND 1.6
NB @ 1.5 and stock
SB @ 1.6 and stock
Memory voltage @ 1.84 and 2.0v AND stock (which was way under at around 1.6v)
PL7

I have even tried it at 333 where I get to post, but then I either get a windows corrupt error with "please put windows disc in for repair" or a stall at the first screen. I'm kinda out of idea's atm and I dont know what I can do:( All the usual things are disabled, like speedstep etc!

Any advice would be VERY helpful! I would also be very interested if someone has managed to O/C with this motherboard who has the same memory and/or CPU.

Thanks in advance and sorry if I have stolen the thread!
Spike

will u try this:
G25 BIOS:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zydjtdtd3ze

and take a look at the settings used here:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=190667

[Telo]

The CellShocks arrived, so I proceeded to installing them in place of the OCZ3P18002GK kit that I was using. Just did a quick 400FSB, all auto but the 7-7-7-20-1T timings and 1.8xv [to test the issue where it would lock up if you provided more than the default value], and like a rocket this thing got all the way into Windows. I did a quick 4M SuperPI to test and it did it without a hitch. I'm still trying to find the sweet spot on this thing, but I'm afraid my Q9450 is not welcomed on this board, it used to do 450+FSB on the P5E3 Premium before and now it can't even get to 450FSB. I might do an even trade with a co-worker for his brand new E8500.

PS: Anyone know if this board undervolts regular Quads? Even with the droop compensation enabled, and the vCore set to 1.3625v, CPU-Z shows the current voltage at 0.91xx.

[Planet]

CPU-Z is reporting wrong. Its a known issue. 450FSB takes some time to tweak to get it there.

[Telo]

CPU-Z is reporting wrong. Its a known issue. 450FSB takes some time to tweak to get it there.

I wasn't really OC'ing, I was trying to locate the max FSB. With the RAm set to relaxed timings and a 1:2 ratio, it should be able to get passed 450FSB. If I remember correctly I believe I've done it on this board as well before.

[spikerules]

will u try this:
G25 BIOS:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zydjtdtd3ze

and take a look at the settings used here:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=190667

I installed G25 and have managed a 3.6GHz O/C, but was only able to do this by keeping memory at the motherboard "stock" speed. I use "" as the motherboard is still undervolting my memory and wont let me change it:confused:. When I try I get a pre windows cheksum error with a screen telling me I need to repair windows:(

Anyways, I now have a score of 5.9 for my CPU @ 3.6GHz on Vista... not sure if it had that score before, but I will take it now:) Lets see if its stable! Fingers crossed!

Update: I only had 10 mins to try Prime95 (4.50am here in UK!) but it all looked good... now if only I can get 24/7 results:)
I am also not happy with my 3DMARK score. With my Striker II Extreme at 3.6GHz and 1600MHz RAM (when it ran steady - only one test then wham CRASH) I managed a score of almost 15k, but with this board I am only getting 12k. Maybe I need to defrag my HD and try XP. My 12k score with this board is under Vista, whereas my 15k score was under XP. Would XP make THAT much difference?

[gmcg]

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=373850
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/kepaa/

Bravo, Foxconn! With G25 I can run it perfectly stable 24-7 at 430 MHz FSB@4.3GHz QX9650 (WC) and the same Vcore 1.465V as with G22 at 4.2Ghz! CPU temp under full 4 core load is below 61C (spikes), it is fluctuating between 54C and 59C, and all my voltages are in pretty safe area!
It looks that the hardware is definitely perfect (except of those discussed minor issues), we just need some good BIOS, and G25 is definitely a good try ... keep it going! Now I am almost happy ... and no way I would return this board ... 790i " nervously smokes" ... Don't also forget about the HUGE difference in RAID transfer rates ... Thanks guys!
(I took my words about "over-stabilized" back, it was with G22, it is not anymore with G25!)

1-hour 100% 4-core load Everest Lavalys Ultimate stress test is attached (more or less similar to Prime95 though with temps graphs). "Motherboard" is actually a NB temp reading (modified air cooling). My Noctua P12 were in 1200RPM mode during the test, not in normal 900 RPM ULNA mode. Memory temp was below 32C during the test (aircooled, stock Dominator cooler @3000RPM).

[gmcg]

My 12k score with this board is under Vista, whereas my 15k score was under XP. Would XP make THAT much difference? Yep, I have noticed a huge difference for 3dmark06 as well.

[spikerules]

Yep, I have noticed a huge difference for 3dmark06 as well.

What do you mean? A huge difference between XP and Vista or 790 board and this board? Is there a setting I may be missing in the bios for my PCIE slot?

[gmcg]

What do you mean? A huge difference between XP and Vista or 790 board and this board? Is there a setting I may be missing in the bios for my PCIE slot?

A huge difference between XP and Vista results, no matter which board do you use. I don't know how to explain it. With SP1 on Vista it looks better though, but still I had like 10% (or more) higher results under XP.

[spikerules]

A huge difference between XP and Vista results, no matter which board do you use. I don't know how to explain it. With SP1 on Vista it looks better though, but still I had like 10% (or more) higher results under XP.

Isnt 3000 difference a little more that 10% difference! I think on stock settings on the Asus I was getting 13677. I still cant get anywhere with the memory overclocking:( If someone with a little more experience could try 4GB of OCZ ReaperX memory on this board, I would be very grateful!

[yiancar]

today i tested max boot fsb with my old qx6700

with 1:4 divider and 333strap

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8155/shot0002hq6.jpg

any commends from the pros?:D

[ceevee]

It seems that alot of my problems were BIOS related and not hardware related.

I think I have changed my mind and will keep this MB.

Please keep the updates coming and also I would agree with someone who said before that the board should default to 2T not 1T (but obviously still have the option to select 1T later.)

Thank you :)

[Planet]

today i tested max boot fsb with my old qx6700

with 1:4 divider and 333strap

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8155/shot0002hq6.jpg

any commends from the pros?:D


Nice. Most quads wont do that kinda FSB. I think I saw one of team Japan at 480 on a York. Nuts

[systemviper]

I love it, it seems like it jsut keeps gettign better, i hope in 3 weeks when i
start my foxcon build that it will be even better..

:woot:

[LardArse]

It seems that alot of my problems were BIOS related and not hardware related.

I think I have changed my mind and will keep this MB.

Please keep the updates coming and also I would agree with someone who said before that the board should default to 2T not 1T (but obviously still have the option to select 1T later.)

Thank you :)

Kinda following Intel's Memory Sizing codes on this... did you find higher Memory speeds with 2T? I didn't seem to get anymore with 2T.

[gmcg]

Here are my 4.3GHz QX9650 (L739A555) 24-7 rock stable settings, if anyone is interested (BIOS G25):
Memory: 7-6-5-18-1T-L6, everything else is AUTO
Voltages: Vcore (BIOS) 1.4625V (shows 1.4464 current Vcore in BIOS), Vdroop=enable
V PLL 1.546582V
VTT 1.35V
GTL0 +2
GTL1 +2
GTL2 +2
GTL3 +3 (that is my CPU I guess, I added +1 to compensate core 4 failure in Prime95 and it worked)
V NB 1.438V
GTL NB +3
V SB 1.5V
V DRAM 2.099V, DRAM compensations:
+3 step
+3 step
+3 step

FSB 430 MHz
0 ps
800mV
100 MHz PCi
Spread = disable

That's it, may be it is not uber, but it finally beats my old 780i and in two tests beats 8x Xeon E5462, which it not bad I guess for 24-7 operations, good silence / good temps /pretty safe voltages.

[Planet]

Good to hear GMGC. Good to see the rest of you guys have most of the errors taken care of. Foxconn does care about there customers no board is perfect bios wise and thats why they are always updating. I know Shamino and his team was working hard on getting these issues resolved.

[FuriousSalesman]

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/155/furiousattempt4bq1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
By furioussalesman (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/furioussalesman)


Is this good? Is it bad? I was trying to get my Cell Shock 15000 blue to 2000mhz 8-8-8-24 1T PL8 to no avail. I got a lot of system service exemption bsods, Irql not equal, memory management. I checked memory benchmarks when I could at 2000, but the scores were terrible compared to other people. I lowered my clocks and tried to tighten my timings. This is what I could do tonight. If anyone has advice, I would like to have it.

I really love the PO4 bios.

edit: Memset is wrong on the frequency. I think it is more like 690mhz. editii. I think some of my crashes could be attributed to Vista "ready boost". Right now that is just a theory.

[saaya]

dont know what you mean about bad perf, those everest results look eally good to me? :confused:
no idea about pi tho...

im playing with the blackops as well now, so i should be able to drop you some hints :D
atm this is all new to me tho, and it takes a bit to get used to the way the settings are arranged on this board.

[StellaNor]

Trying G25-BIOS now and performs way better. With CR2 bandwidth of possible good memory-modules is growing ;-)
No finetuning, no tweaking, no nothing - just plain memory into the slots and run it.
Here is a 1.000 MHz Result with G25-Bios and Compustocx CSX Diablo03-2000:

D9JNL 2.044 Volt Bios (1,980 with DMM)
80281

and 940 MHz Result with Mushkin XP3-14400:

D9JNM 1.955 BIOS (1,930 with DMM)
80282

[FuriousSalesman]

dont know what you mean about bad perf, those everest results look eally good to me? :confused:
no idea about pi tho...

im playing with the blackops as well now, so i should be able to drop you some hints :D
atm this is all new to me tho, and it takes a bit to get used to the way the settings are arranged on this board.

Oh no, the bad perf was at 8-8-8-24 @ 2000. I couldn't get more than 10,000 on the first row.

but, I jumped the gun. This wasn't as stable as I hoped.

[Telo]

Stupid question... I set the RAM divider to 1:4 400FSB while running the CPU at 8x 400FSB and when I get into windows and bring up CPU-Z and Aegis pannel, they both tell me the RAM has been set to 1:2... So my question is this, does this happen to any of you as well?

[Telo]

BTW, just like CeeVee, I have decided to keep the board. I will, however, send it back for a replacement since I believe there is something wrong. I will stick around with the BlackOps platform just not this particular speciment I have.

PS: Has anyone tried using 2x 2GB kits of CellShock on this board at 450FSB+? If you have please let me know because I REALLY would like to run my PC with 4GBs and the CellShock seems to be running perfectly at the moment. Once I trade my Q9450 for an E8500, I'm interested on getting it running at 500FSB+ with a lower multiplier [so that I can run the CellShocks at 2000Mhz or so].

[LardArse]

BTW, just like CeeVee, I have decided to keep the board. I will, however, send it back for a replacement since I believe there is something wrong. I will stick around with the BlackOps platform just not this particular speciment I have.

PS: Has anyone tried using 2x 2GB kits of CellShock on this board at 450FSB+? If you have please let me know because I REALLY would like to run my PC with 4GBs and the CellShock seems to be running perfectly at the moment. Once I trade my Q9450 for an E8500, I'm interested on getting it running at 500FSB+ with a lower multiplier [so that I can run the CellShocks at 2000Mhz or so].

2 x 2gb what model/chipset, I know saaya has a pair of 2GBs Cellshock, He'll test them tomorow, with the 8500 you will be using.

[LardArse]

Stupid question... I set the RAM divider to 1:4 400FSB while running the CPU at 8x 400FSB and when I get into windows and bring up CPU-Z and Aegis pannel, they both tell me the RAM has been set to 1:2... So my question is this, does this happen to any of you as well?

from my experience 1:4 FSB333 runs better, and CPUZ reports actual MHz , not multiply by 2 so 1:2 is 1:4

[Telo]

2 x 2gb what model/chipset, I know saaya has a pair of 2GBs Cellshock, He'll test them tomorow, with the 8500 you will be using.


I'm sorry for the confusion, I meant to say 2 kits of 2x 1GB CellShock 1866.

[LardArse]

I'm sorry for the confusion, I meant to say 2 kits of 2x 1GB CellShock 1866.

ok 4 x 1gb, as for chipsets saaya would prolly know this

[Telo]

ok 4 x 1gb, as for chipsets saaya would prolly know this

If by chipset you mean the kind of Micron chips used on that particular RAM, I believe they are Micron D9JNL.

[spikerules]

If someone could try out some OCZ ReaperX memory (2x 2GB) with bios G25, I would be much appreciated. I cant get ANY memory overclocks done with this board. In fact, the board is actually running the memory SLOWER than it should, and whenever I try to get it to 1333 (which is what the memory should run at) the power shuts off and then it wont run again until I reset the board! Its becoming REALLY annoying. I also have an issue where CPUZ is telling me I am running at 2.4... but when I put some load on the CPU it goes up to 3.6! I have turned speedstep off in the bios, so why is this happening?

[raptor1]

Hi! All

before i post my settings and screenshots which i am in the middle of getting ready i have a few queries that i hope some one can answer

these queries are in relation to air cooling

1. if any one is using a thermalight ultra 120 extreme cpu cooler which orientation is best north/south or east/west, the reason been is of the size of this cooler in relation to the NB

2. suggestions for cooling the nb

3. what criteria is there for claiming that a system is stable, how many times should a stress program be run, if it passes once is that enough, because i can get memtest+2.01 to run all 8 tests once but on the second pass it fails, the same goes for super pi

any answers to the above questions would be welcome

thanks
flanr

[Planet]

If someone could try out some OCZ ReaperX memory (2x 2GB) with bios G25, I would be much appreciated. I cant get ANY memory overclocks done with this board. In fact, the board is actually running the memory SLOWER than it should, and whenever I try to get it to 1333 (which is what the memory should run at) the power shuts off and then it wont run again until I reset the board! Its becoming REALLY annoying. I also have an issue where CPUZ is telling me I am running at 2.4... but when I put some load on the CPU it goes up to 3.6! I have turned speedstep off in the bios, so why is this happening?

Disable everything in the CPU Config except for the Core Multi Processing. That will take care of the CPU throttling. As far as the memory. Switch the board to Manual OC mode. Set the memory voltage to the voltage as close to 1.85V as possible. You might hafta go to like 1.91. Then set the memory timings to 6-5-5-18-1T. If thats unstable you might need to loosen the timings try like 7-7-7-18-1T. You might need to try using some of the different memory dividers.

[spikerules]

Disable everything in the CPU Config except for the Core Multi Processing. That will take care of the CPU throttling. As far as the memory. Switch the board to Manual OC mode. Set the memory voltage to the voltage as close to 1.85V as possible. You might hafta go to like 1.91. Then set the memory timings to 6-5-5-18-1T. If thats unstable you might need to loosen the timings try like 7-7-7-18-1T. You might need to try using some of the different memory dividers.

Thanks for the CPU answer, as for the memory information well, lets just say I've tried all the things you are suggesting, and no go for me:(

Update.. well just tried it again and I get to the same screen with a warning telling me that my hardware has changed and it gives me a windows file to repair. Is this a ploy by MS to stop people changing hardware with Vista, is this still and unstable memory problem? I just ask because I heard MS wanted to stop people from using the same copy with different machine and the same goes for hardware changes.

[gmcg]

Good to hear GMGC. Good to see the rest of you guys have most of the errors taken care of. Foxconn does care about there customers no board is perfect bios wise and thats why they are always updating. I know Shamino and his team was working hard on getting these issues resolved.
Thanks


Hi! All

before i post my settings and screenshots which i am in the middle of getting ready i have a few queries that i hope some one can answer

these queries are in relation to air cooling

1. if any one is using a thermalight ultra 120 extreme cpu cooler which orientation is best north/south or east/west, the reason been is of the size of this cooler in relation to the NB
With any Air cooler and especially TUE 120 due to it's size the additional cooling of NB becomes to be kinda problematic. You probably need to figure out by yourself how to do it.


2. suggestions for cooling the nb
The same as above.


3. what criteria is there for claiming that a system is stable, how many times should a stress program be run, if it passes once is that enough, because i can get memtest+2.01 to run all 8 tests once but on the second pass it fails, the same goes for super pi
To be sure that your system is stable UNDER load you need to run either Prime 95 ver 25.6 or Everest Stress test or wprime during an hour or more and see if your temps are stabilized after raising, some people run it during 8 hours+
My guess is that one hour for 2 or 4 cores 100% loaded is good enough to say that the systems is stable because under a real situation it is doubtful that cores will be loaded such high unless you do HD rendering or something similar.

There are some exceptions though. I had 2 hours of prime 95 on 790i and after it it froze with good temps ... another person reported about the same situation after 14 hours of prime 95 ...

[saaya]

telos, 4x1gb at 2000 cas8 wont be easy...
i have 4 sticks here so let me give it a try :)



2. suggestions for cooling the nbuse the waterblock :D
works great for me :)


3. what criteria is there for claiming that a system is stable, how many times should a stress program be run, if it passes once is that enough, because i can get memtest+2.01 to run all 8 tests once but on the second pass it fails, the same goes for super pii always used test 5 which worked great for me. sometimes other tests error out first, but test5 is reliable and fast, so id recommend that one.

but memtest is really only a chipet/mem thing, and more mem than chipset even. so to make sure the board is really stable run some 3d like the crysis benchmark, that really stresses all the hardware a lot.

[gmcg]

Regarding the HUGE difference in RAID transfer rates ... here is the picture
It is from this article http://www.presence-pc.com/tests/Nvidia-Intel-X48-790i-22787/26/
What is the reason to have WD Raptors RAID 0 on Nvidia 790i, if I can reach the same or pretty close transfer rate with just ONE Seagate 7200.11 1Tb HDD (ST31000340AS), which costs almost the same as one Raptor, and has x6 capacity?
RAID 0 today looks like a joke on 790i IMO.

[saaya]

interesting... i didnt know the intel integrated raid blows the nvidia and amd solutions out of the water like that...

[raptor1]

should there be much of a difference between the 790i and x48 chipset

i have noticed that when i had an SEII 790i, the few times it did manage to get in to windows with out crashing i got an everest score of 12006 read and 15806 in 3d mark 06

on my blackops i am getting a read 11114 in everest and a 3d mark 06 score of 11110

surely this can't be right

any suggestions please

flanr

Edit: Answered my own question - Should Have RTFM - i had my graphics card in was the white PCI Express slot which only runs at 4x, was using this slot to make room to use a fan to keep the nb cool

i have moved it to the red slot which runs at x16 and now i am only down 60 fps from the 790i

[spikerules]

should there be much of a difference between the 790i and x48 chipset

i have noticed that when i had an seII the few times it did manage to get in to windows with out crashing i got an everest score of 12006 read and 15806 in 3d mark 06 with 7-7-7-21

on my blackops with the same memory settings i am getting a read 11114 in everest and a 3d mark 06 score of 11110

surely this can't be right

any suggestions please

flanr

Ditto! I am getting the exact same problem from swapping the SEII. I was getting 15k with the SEII (although I managed a higher memory speed) and with my blackops I'm only just reaching 12k. I noticed the difference in framerate the moment I opened 06, within the first demo I was getting like 10fps less in some sections!

Lucky I kept my SEII and didnt send it back. Might swap em back again, considering I could only get to 3.0GHz stable on the SEII (but I could get 1600MHz out of my memory) but at least I got a 3k difference in performance, which is just silly! Especially when I am getting a higher clock speed with this board!

Want to know the strangest thing? My CPU score is around 1000 LOWER (on 06) on the blackops, with 600MHz LOWER difference on the CPU speed. Now thats what I call dumb! This, combined with the fact I cant clock my memory, is a board killer for me.

It's just NOT on. Yeah I can show people I have 3.6GHz... WOOOOWAHH WOOO, but when it equates to poor frame rates, silly bios's and the inhability for the board to detect my true memory settings, well, let's say I can do with out it. Especially when this board is silly expensive compared to other boards which reach higher 3DMark scores. I am going back to my SEII and sending this board back, at least until someone explains to me why this is happening, and without the normal "oh its the bios, wait for the next one" nonsense. Because, with all due respect, this isnt what we paid for, and it certainly isnt what we were told from reviews, including this site I might add.

Rant over... I hope someone proves me wrong, I really do! I see the potential in this board, but thats the problem... potential! This is a final release, therefore potential doesnt come into the picture... we should be talking settings and who got to what speed and how. Not, "oh hang on, this doesnt make sense" or "my memory doesnt match the voltage", or "I had to put poorer spec memory to get this board running" etc.

Rant really over now! ;)

Edit - glad the guy above me sorted out his problem, but I am still running mine in the top BLUE slot ( I guess flanr meant BLUE as the red slot is the lower second slot furthest away from the NB), which means I still have no answer! And XP doesnt equate to 3k difference, sorry.

[gmcg]

I had the same problem as you have guys.

IMO Nvidia uses more aggressive basic memory settings in it's BIOS because they wanted to show that 790i is "a fastest motherboard in the world". Having stability problems with P02 BIOS in P03 they removed P1 and P2 settings, and the memory speeds became to be significantly lower with the same timings. People started to complain and use BETA BIOS P03R02, such as it had P1 and P2, but that BIOS had a corruption problem. They have created several new BIOSes such as P04 and then P05, but the stability problem is still present. They have a problem - they showed high memory settings to people, and everybody wants those settings, but those settings lead to instability in many cases, they can't lower the rates as they did in P03, therefore they need to find some kind of "golden middle".

Foxconn was created to reach the top benchmark results using LN2 - and it definitely broke several world records. Those settings (and BIOSes) are mostly designed for uber clocks and top level (it means very experienced and knowledgeable) overclockers. Now with the retail release Foxconn started to take care about regular users and new BIOSes P04 and G25 are much better for air colling and water cooling overclocking.

Foxconn is much more adjustable comparing to 790i, you can reach any results you want with it. But we don't have enough information to follow someone's settings yet, which we like, therefore we either need to wait or find those on our own. One can use Captain's settings, posted in this thread, though for me - for example - those have too high voltages used.

I guess you need to find more aggressive timings and raise you FSB clock as much as possible. Currently I can't reach a stable 460 MHz FBS (QX9650), as I had in 790i - with Foxconn, max what I have for now is 430 MHz even with G25 BIOS, of course the test results are a bit lower than with 790i, but I would always trade that difference for stability, which I didn't have with 790i (I am talking about my particular board, some people report that they have their boards stable) and now have with Foxconn(we are talking about safe voltages/safe temps here for 24-7 operations). I am planning to spend more time adjusting the board to get better results, of course.

I would recommend you several steps:
1. Use G25 BIOS (or P04)
2. Get your FSB clock as high as possible .
3. Use 177.26 driver for you videocard. It requires some modification of nv_disp.inf file, described in 3D guru thread.
4. Tighten your memory settings - look which ones people use

[spikerules]

gmcq,
I would recommend you several steps:
1. Use G25 BIOS (or P04)
Done that

2. Get your FSB clock as high as possible .
Done that

3. Use 177.26 driver for you videocard. It requires some modification of nv_disp.inf file, described in 3D guru thread.

And why? I used the same drivers as I am now under the Asus and was getting excellent scores

4. Tighten your memory settings - look which ones people use
LOL - this board wont even let me go one step up from 1066, when my memory is 1333 capable.

[raptor1]

Thanks


With any Air cooler and especially TUE 120 due to it's size the additional cooling of NB becomes to be kinda problematic. You probably need to figure out by yourself how to do it.


The same as above.


To be sure that your system is stable UNDER load you need to run either Prime 95 ver 25.6 or Everest Stress test or wprime during an hour or more and see if your temps are stabilized after raising, some people run it during 8 hours+
My guess is that one hour for 2 or 4 cores 100% loaded is good enough to say that the systems is stable because under a real situation it is doubtful that cores will be loaded such high unless you do HD rendering or something similar.

There are some exceptions though. I had 2 hours of prime 95 on 790i and after it it froze with good temps ... another person reported about the same situation after 14 hours of prime 95 ...


use the waterblock :D
works great for me :)

i always used test 5 which worked great for me. sometimes other tests error out first, but test5 is reliable and fast, so id recommend that one.

but memtest is really only a chipet/mem thing, and more mem than chipset even. so to make sure the board is really stable run some 3d like the crysis benchmark, that really stresses all the hardware a lot.



Thanks for your suggestions - all help is appreciated

[raptor1]

should there be much of a difference between the 790i and x48 chipset

i have noticed that when i had an SEII 790i, the few times it did manage to get in to windows with out crashing i got an everest score of 12006 read and 15806 in 3d mark 06

on my blackops i am getting a read 11114 in everest and a 3d mark 06 score of 11110

surely this can't be right

any suggestions please

flanr

Edit: Answered my own question - Should Have RTFM - i had my graphics card in the white PCI Express slot which only runs at 4x, was using this slot to make room to use a fan to keep the nb cool

i have moved it to the red slot which runs at x16 and now i am only down 60 in 3D Mark06 from the 790i

Update: After a bit of tweaking i have now a read of 11408 in everest and a score of 15960 approx in 3D Mark 06:D

[systemviper]

So is this board worth keeping or should i sell it and concentrate on the Evga Ultra Sli
I am interested in getting rid of one of them and i thought it was the Evge. but this
conversation is really making me think.

[Lu(ky]

For some reason I can not get my new Everest Ultimate to work. It keep saying "Invalid floating point operation" and I just bought it 3 days ago?

[spikerules]

So is this board worth keeping or should i sell it and concentrate on the Evga Ultra Sli
I am interested in getting rid of one of them and i thought it was the Evge. but this
conversation is really making me think.

Others would probably tell you different, but I would get rid of this one. Another silly design fault I have noticed is the second PCI X port blocks 2 SATA connections if you install a large GPU in the socket... hmm great idea! lol

[gmcg]

gmcq,

3. Use 177.26 driver for you videocard. It requires some modification of nv_disp.inf file, described in 3D guru thread.

And why? I used the same drivers as I am now under the Asus and was getting excellent scores
Caz I got +900 point with it in 3dmark vantage (P13084 vs P12178), for example. If you don't like some more points use whatever you like. Get rid of this board and use Asus, it is up to you.


4. Tighten your memory settings - look which ones people use
LOL - this board wont even let me go one step up from 1066, when my memory is 1333 capable.
Add some voltage to your memory, it is pretty safe to use 1.8 or 1.9V, with some cooling I would say it is pretty safe up to 2.1 V on DDR3. My memory has in specification 2.0V


Update: After a bit of tweaking i have now a read of 11408 in everest and a score of 15960 approx in 3D Mark 06:D

:welcome: here you are :clap:


So is this board worth keeping or should i sell it and concentrate on the Evga Ultra Sli
I am interested in getting rid of one of them and i thought it was the Evge. but this
conversation is really making me think.

Such as you can't use SLI with BlackOps and according to your signature you want to use SLI, get rid of BlackOps and use 790i (good luck to get it stable) or try Dreadnought.


For some reason I can not get my new Everest Ultimate to work. It keep saying "Invalid floating point operation" and I just bought it 3 days ago?

Use Everest Ultimate BETA 1383 or upper (1403, for example http://download.softpedia.ro/dl/17a056440f7da4a2775eeee1ab7b1b11/48546402/100030373/software/SYSTEM/INFO/everestultimate_build_1403.zip), it should help.
Some boards are too new for a release version ...

[spikerules]

Caz I got +900 point with it in 3dmark vantage (P13084 vs P12178), for example. If you don't like some more points use whatever you like. Get rid of this board and use Asus, it is up to you.

Yeah and If I used the Asus, I woul be getting 3k more +900. I dont think you're getting my point.



Add some voltage to your memory, it is pretty safe to use 1.8 or 1.9V, with some cooling I would say it is pretty safe up to 2.1 V on DDR3. My memory has in specification 2.0V

Again not getting my point.... My memory has heatpipes on it. So you would assume I could get to a higher voltage, especially as my basic voltage should be 1.85v! Yet the motherboard undervolts my memory at 1.64v and whenever I try to get it to the right voltage and settings, the system goes nuts and starts to beep like a psycho on caffeine! Now does this explain my problem?


Such as you can't use SLI with BlackOps and according to your signature you want to use SLI, get rid of BlackOps and use 790i (good luck to get it stable) or try Dreadnought.

You DO realise you can get SLI on one card nowadays? If not, then I'm not sure if I, or anyone else for that matter, should be taking your advice.

Update - Tried the drivers you suggested and I get around 400+ more and not the 900+ you claim, and that was WITH a GPU overclock, whereas before the GPU with in preset.

[raptor1]

Hi All

I know i keep saying i will post my screenshots and settings but i promise by tomorrow evening i will have - its just that every time i make a change i have to create new screenshots as i will be only posting one set and i dont want numerous posts with only minor changes

these settings and screenshots will be my only and final ones as i have reached my target and am very happy:D - i know i could go higher on the overclock but to be honest, after taking taking this long to get this far i don't have the time as i have a load of other work to catch up on that fell behind while i was working on my blackops

i too was going to give up on this board as it is a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: compared to other boards to setup correctly, but i kept at it until I succeeded

thanks to everyone here and the anandtech preview article, i used a combination of settings from different people and now i am there:D

my settings can be used if anyone wishes but i cannot guarantee they will work for every one

the only remainig issue is the method i'll use to cool the nb

good luck to the rest of you

flanr

[gmcg]

Yeah and If I used the Asus, I woul be getting 3k more +900. I dont think you're getting my point.
I've got your point of course. Only you can answer why you've got more points on Asus than on this board, caz we all don't know what did you do with it :D


Again not getting my point.... My memory has heatpipes on it. So you would assume I could get to a higher voltage, especially as my basic voltage should be 1.85v! Yet the motherboard undervolts my memory at 1.64v and whenever I try to get it to the right voltage and settings, the system goes nuts and starts to beep like a psycho on caffeine! Now does this explain my problem?
Well, Foxcoon is not designed for inpatient people ... or you've got a faulting board.


You DO realise you can get SLI on one card nowadays? If not, then I'm not sure if I, or anyone else for that matter, should be taking your advice.
If you will take a look on my signature, you will find out that I currently have 9800GX2, which uses inner SLI, but it is not equal to SLI for 8800GT and/or 8800GTS cards, used in systemviper's signature. If he wants to replace them to 9800GX2, that is another story, but he has never told us about such intention.


Update - Tried the drivers you suggested and I get around 400+ more and not the 900+ you claim, and that was WITH a GPU overclock, whereas before the GPU with in preset.
I claim it on overclocked 9800GX2 - and that is MY SCORE difference, not yours, lol ... here are my scores:
Former one with 175.80: http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dmv=166556
Current one with 177.26 http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dmv=167675

Man, lets finish this discussion, I wanted to help you and now I don't want it anymore ... OK?

[saaya]

spikerules, i know what its like to run into problems with hardware and how frustrating it can be, but please calm down man. if its really giving you such a hard time then just send it back, but please stop bashing it here and poking at people who like the board and are happy with it.

1. about the memory performance, your comparing 790 with x48 here, thats not a board thing, its a chipset thing
memory wise 790 is faster. if you check out reviews you will see that this advantage in memory performance doesnt really translate into faster system performance... unfortunately... i think the fsb is limiting here.
well, im pretty sure actually, seeing as single channel on nehalem gets you 50% more mem perf than dual channel on x48 :D

2. thats why god invented 90 degree sata cables :D
but yeah, we will hopefully have 90 degree plugs on the board there in future

3. everything else you ranted about i didnt really understand.
please post more details in a calm way so i can try to help you fix those problems :P



Because, with all due respect, this isnt what we paid for, and it certainly isnt what we were told from reviews, including this site I might add.
what are you referring to? what did a website or review show or say about the blackops that is not true or not possible etc?



4. Tighten your memory settings - look which ones people use
LOL - this board wont even let me go one step up from 1066, when my memory is 1333 capable.could you please post more details about this?


Update: After a bit of tweaking i have now a read of 11408 in everest and a score of 15960 approx in 3D Mark 06:Dcongrats! :toast:


For some reason I can not get my new Everest Ultimate to work. It keep saying "Invalid floating point operation" and I just bought it 3 days ago?
everything else works fine? try to reinstall... if that doesnt work them pm "fiery" ,he works for lavalys and migh be able to fix it :)

[Lu(ky]

Use Everest Ultimate BETA 1383 or upper (1403, for example http://download.softpedia.ro/dl/17a056440f7da4a2775eeee1ab7b1b11/48546402/100030373/software/SYSTEM/INFO/everestultimate_build_1403.zip), it should help.
Some boards are too new for a release version ...

Thank you very much :up:

[FuriousSalesman]

In the Everest memory benchmark, which is more important? A Higher Read, Copy, Write score, or, A better L1 and L2 cache score?

[raptor1]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=204133

[Telo]

Flanr, I'm guessing you assigned the VTT a 1.50v value because it is "not really 1.50v but 1.40v"? Do we have any updates on this? I have seen a lot of BIOS versions coming out lately, is it guaranteed to be off by .10v even in the newer BIOS versions?

[raptor1]

Flanr, I'm guessing you assigned the VTT a 1.50v value because it is "not really 1.50v but 1.40v"? Do we have any updates on this? I have seen a lot of BIOS versions coming out lately, is it guaranteed to be off by .10v even in the newer BIOS versions?

i tried a few diferent settings and found 1.50 was right for me

[Telo]

i tried a few diferent settings and found 1.50 was right for me


Since at least 3 BIOS revisions have been released in the last 2 weeks, I wouldn't advise you to set the VTT that high as it will fry your CPU if it is in fact a real 1.50v going through it. You should really bring it down a notch and even run your PC slower if you have to until HiPro or Lard tell us that it is indeed off by 0.10v at the VTT.

[saaya]

In the Everest memory benchmark, which is more important? A Higher Read, Copy, Write score, or, A better L1 and L2 cache score?drawing conclusions from everest or other memory benchmarks to real world performance is not easy... the fsb a bottleneck once again, just like in the p3 days where ddr wasnt really any faster on p3 compared to sdr since the p3s fsb couldnt make use of the bandwidth.

just look at nehalem, single channel is 50% faster than x48 dc :D

from what ive seen read and latency are the important scores.
copy and write dont seem to have that big of an impact on gaming perf or other real world apps.

[saaya]

Since at least 3 BIOS revisions have been released in the last 2 weeks, I wouldn't advise you to set the VTT that high as it will fry your CPU if it is in fact a real 1.50v going through it. You should really bring it down a notch and even run your PC slower if you have to until HiPro or Lard tell us that it is indeed off by 0.10v at the VTT.
it is, i just checked it :)
its spot on .1v less than what you set in bios for 45nm cpus.
for 65nm the vtt setting in bios is spot on

hes running a 45nm cpu, so real vtt is indeed only 1.4v when he sets 1.5v in bios

[LardArse]

Check out some of Raja's settings for 2100MHz Memory:

http://www.benchtec.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1423&page=8

[gmcg]

Check out some of Raja's settings for 2100MHz Memory:

http://www.benchtec.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1423&page=8
Hmm, will 1.71V Vnb be possible with a stock air cooling?

[saaya]

depends on the temperature...
are you using an open stand or case?

[gmcg]

depends on the temperature...
are you using an open stand or case?

Case, but I modified my NB cooler a bit ... Of course I will use WC as soon as will get a copper cover ... or make an acrylic one. Even with this pretty good mod (at stock clocks and voltages temps are lower than 42C under load) with 1.35V, 430 MHz FSB and Prime95 long run load NB temp is around 57C ... with 1.5 V it is around 62C (Prime95 or Everest stress test long run), that is why I have asked ...
With open stand it should be another story though, you are right, saaya.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3022221&postcount=143

[saaya]

what nb temps do you get according to the bios?

[gmcg]

what nb temps do you get according to the bios?
Both BIOS and Everest show me 50C with 1.35V and 430MHz FSB with more or less idle mode - standard operations like browsing, etc.
I also have a temp sensor right on NB cooler, it shows 10-11C less, i.e. 39-40C while Everest shows 50C.
During load test Everest NB temp goes up to 57C and stabilizes there for hours ... but it takes like 15 min to get
there.

Such as I used to have pretty high temps with 780i and 790i on a NB (up to 67C), the above mentioned temps don't worry me at all, but 1.71V on a NB ... hmmm, may be with WC or using an open stand.

[saaya]

at cellshock i always ran the asus p5k3 deluxe boards at 1.7v nb voltage with a 80mm fan blowing on the mem and the stock heatsink.
i ran them like that for months... like 8 months i think?
and they didnt degrade at all...

then again, this was on open stands and not inside a case...
your nb temps sound really high considering you have a fan blowing on the heatsink :confused:
what case temp do you have?
is that fan on the nb blowing at full speed?

[gmcg]

at cellshock i always ran the asus p5k3 deluxe boards at 1.7v nb voltage with a 80mm fan blowing on the mem and the stock heatsink.
i ran them like that for months... like 8 months i think?
and they didnt degrade at all...

then again, this was on open stands and not inside a case...
your nb temps sound really high... what case temp do you have?
is that fan on the nb blowing at full speed?
Case temp - I think it is below 32C (temp of my memory), it should be fine. That fan is blowing at full speed, it is 1800RPM only (to lower the noise) though it has like 32CFM (twice more comparing to a stock one) ... should be enough. I hope to use WC for NB soon anyway.

Regarding ASUS - well, may be it has a different construction of NB cooler with more dissipating surface? And you have used a stand, here is a huge difference ... If I would locate my case on the floor instead of close to the ceiling, it should make a huge difference as well.