Commando Results by Tony and Andre (and others...)

I have a Commando on its way to me. I see many tests in this thread but IMHO these tests have been anything indicative of stability. A minimum of an 8hr Orthos blend should be mandatory and 12hrs is even better (I've had Orthos error out 9hr 29min 9sec). I've also found that Orthos should be at a priority of 3 instead of the default of 1 and at the same time the tester should use his PC for normal apps.

I guess if you're testing for benchie numbers only then a 1hr run is fine. But those who claim stability with such tests do others a disfavor.

Even Orthos is not the be-all end-all of bench testing. My brother's ICFX3200 can run a 24hr Orthos blend yet it locks when running one of his intensive Oracle scripts after 15min. My advice: find your max stable overclock with Orthos then bump down 100MHz to be safe. That's what he did and he hasn't had any problems at all.

I have done testing with an eVGA 680i, Gigabyte DS3, Infinity 975, and DFI ICFX3200. So far my max oc was with the ICFX3200 at 3651MHz. I hope to achieve more with the Commando.

One question: Has anyone experienced lockups with a USB mouse with 0803? I've heard it can be an issue.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NLight95

A minimum of an 8hr Orthos blend should be mandatory and 12hrs is even better (I've had Orthos error out 9hr 29min 9sec). I've also found that Orthos should be at a priority of 3 instead of the default of 1 and at the same time the tester should use his PC for normal apps.

I guess if you're testing for benchie numbers only then a 1hr run is fine. But those who claim stability with such tests do others a disfavor.

---

Good luck on that. I don't mean to be harsh but as has been said time and time again on this forum, this is Xtreme Systems not Xtremely Stable Systems.

Running Orthos for x-amount of hours is good for two things, using a lot of electricity and making sure that orthos will run. Stability is what you make of it, if all people want to do is run Superpi or run a game then as long as you can finish a run or play without issues then thats plenty stable enough.

Have any of you tried DQW chips with commando? Any problems?

Mine don´t get further than 450 or so with 4-4-3-5 when I can do around 520 with team xtreme d9 GMH..... Any info about it?

Thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HermS

Good luck on that. I don't mean to be harsh but as has been said time and time again on this forum, this is Xtreme Systems not Xtremely Stable Systems.

Running Orthos for x-amount of hours is good for two things, using a lot of electricity and making sure that orthos will run. Stability is what you make of it, if all people want to do is run Superpi or run a game then as long as you can finish a run or play without issues then thats plenty stable enough.

---

Not harsh at all. I just don't like when I see statements like "completely stable" when in fact it's totally contrary to the truth. Completely stable means just that--100% stable. I see a degradation in stability testing even with high profile sites like Anandtech (which I've discovered considers 30min Orthos stable with various testing). My point: Don't toss around the word "stable" until it has no meaning--leave the word out and let the result speak for itself.

Enthusiasts who play games--perhaps the primary reason why they oc--and then find their PCs locked up will sometimes blame it on the game or Windows or some other software when in fact it's hardware related. This puts an unnecessary burden on tech support staff (I know--I've worked in several for years). To mis-educate people about what stability really is only leads to more confusion and frustration. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but their opinion may not be reality. :D

Now back to the Commando... ;)

I would like to know what BIOS most favor, for stability and not necessarily overclocking. I hesitate on upgrading to 0803 because of some of the issues being reported (I won't repeat them here).

I've seen from a post of Tony that there is eventually going to be a Rev B Infinity 975 board. If you read this Tony perhaps you can comment on the board's availability.

What is best clock gen program for oc.
Thanks in advance

i think SETFSB

http://www13.plala.or.jp/setfsb/

Got my mobo from RMA, for now it's working perfect :D

regards

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NLight95

Not harsh at all. I just don't like when I see statements like "completely stable" when in fact it's totally contrary to the truth. Completely stable means just that--100% stable. I see a degradation in stability testing even with high profile sites like Anandtech (which I've discovered considers 30min Orthos stable with various testing). My point: Don't toss around the word "stable" until it has no meaning--leave the word out and let the result speak for itself.

---

I totally get what your saying, some people run orthos priority 1 for a half hour and say its stable then wonder why they have random reboots. But you also have to understand that stability is subjective.

Just because you have certain standards for what you consider stable doesnt mean thats across the board. For example i run orthos at no less than priority 9. I've had an oc that was unstable after 19hours on priority 9 run for days at priority 1. So like i said its all subjective.

On the flipside though if you can run orthos for 30min to an hour blend with a high priority then thats a good start and it shouldnt take much tweaking to find more stability.

About the bios, i never updated past 0702. I saw alot of posts with people trying to revert so i just took it as a bad sign and havent had any issues with the board.

Has anyone tried the 0803 BIOS yet? I see there weere issues with a bios of the same name when used in the Striker.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrDeeds

I totally get what your saying, some people run orthos priority 1 for a half hour and say its stable then wonder why they have random reboots. But you also have to understand that stability is subjective.

Just because you have certain standards for what you consider stable doesnt mean thats across the board. For example i run orthos at no less than priority 9. I've had an oc that was unstable after 19hours on priority 9 run for days at priority 1. So like i said its all subjective.

On the flipside though if you can run orthos for 30min to an hour blend with a high priority then thats a good start and it shouldnt take much tweaking to find more stability.

About the bios, i never updated past 0702. I saw alot of posts with people trying to revert so i just took it as a bad sign and havent had any issues with the board.

---

Thanks for your insightful reply. My "standard" for testing is in a continuous state of flux, so I try to weigh any suggestions and incorporate those I feel would be benficial. As I mentioned previously, Orthos is not the be-all end-all test; my brother discovered that rather quickly. I wish I had a "run-time executable" of his Oracle script because he's found it to be a superb indication of stability, other than video. I may try your suggestion as I really tire of long Orthos tests and I do agree with HermS that it's a waste of electricity. I'm always on the hunt for a test that yields quicker results but haven't found any yet. Instead of Orthos I've been giving strong consideration to BOINC instead. At least that way the computing cycles are not going to waste. And per your method, I'd run at at high priority.

I finally found all the Commando BIOSes here. Think I'll stay with 0702 as well.

ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/Commando

edit(Forgot to mention have tried 0702 and I'm presently on 0803) Hardware as per sig.

This is driving me nuts. For the life of me I can't get x-fi to install/detect. Have tried various pci slots, and even my old audigy 2, but no joy.

I have setup raid-0(A first for me) with this setup, would that have anything to do with it. Is it SB voltage related?

Basically has any one else come across this problem? If so your help would be appreciated.

Cheers

RLM

@RLM - Have u tried it with Bios PCI Pnp - [Plug & play OS} Enabled the default is disabled.

I've had some problems with the commando soundcard. Progs claim that EAX is not enabled. I've tried two different sound drivers but the problem remains. Ay tricks? Can you check with the latest Everest if it shows the same info as in my case? Many thanks.
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/826/commando2ow1.jpg

Quote:

---

@RLM - Have u tried it with Bios PCI Pnp - [Plug & play OS} Enabled the default is disabled.

---

Thanks Supershanks, I hadn't considered that. That bit of info, may well help in the future.

I have it up and running now. Not positive, but it seems to be a problem either with my new case or the PCI slots. The card, when pushed in doesn't sit flush with the screw hole on the back bracket, if that's the right word. It's a couple of mm's out. You have to use a bit of force to align it and screw it in. This may well of been the problem in that, when screwed in it's pulling the card out a bit.

Now I don't have it screwed in, and it's working.

It's either that or the fact I reset the the cmos, with the card installed.

RLM

nice avatar supershanks..:banana: ...thats all i have to say

keep the good information comming guys :cool: , this might be my next board

peace

Just picked this up to replace a dead P5B after Windows BIOS flash. :( The software package consists not only of GRAW, but Kaspersky AV, and 3D Mark 06 advanced. :D What sort of sinks are you guys using for this board? I've got a Jing Ting for the chipset, but need something for the SB that won't interfere w/ the 8800. Also, cooling the PWM's w/ some Microcool's worth it?

Having a bit of a mess with this board.

Have tried 400x9 vcore 1.45v with a 4:5 divider. Memory 1000 4-4-4-12-42 2.3v. All sorts of voltage settings, but cannot get any stability at all. It doesn't like it.

405x9, 410x9 no problems. I'm new to this strap malarky, but I'm guessing that at <=400 it's on a 1066 strap and 400+ is 1333. Is that right?

Is there any secret to getting stability at 400x9. I've switched off everything on the cpu apart from vanderpool, and in the bios I've switched off cpu spectrum.

I've got to say on the quad GT this was a pretty easy setting.

Any help would be appreciated:)

RLM

@TheReds -

Quote:

---

nice avatar supershanks.. ...

---

Cheers m8 Hehe:D not caught yours b4 either, guess yu don't manage many home matches:)

@RLM I think the strap switches @401 , it's probably memory timings/voltage tweaks to get 4:5, assume 1:1 is stsble ??

Hej guys. What about the soundcard issue? Can anyone please check it for me? It seems f*cked up to buy a $200 mobo and not to have 3D hardware sound. Lack of EAX support is really weird.

Well that was a big old :banana::banana::banana::banana:up. Booted 400x9 fine with looser timings on the memory 5-5-5-15. Then used memset to tighten up to 4-4-4-12. System crashed and one of raid disks failed. Ended up losing a couple of days work. Lesson learnt :slapass:

Didn't realise raid was so fragile.

Quote:

---

Hej guys. What about the soundcard issue? Can anyone please check it for me? It seems f*cked up to buy a $200 mobo and not to have 3D hardware sound. Lack of EAX support is really weird.

---

With my sound card problems, it just wasn't being detected. It wasn't just the way the card was mounted, but I had to reset cmos once installed to sort it out.

Just wonder though is your soundcard okay? I know we don't all have a spare machine lying around, but are you able to test it in another machine.

I know my audigy II progressively failed overtime. It went for about a year without being able to install and run eax presets. eventually I lost volume, before I replaced it with the X-fi.

RLM

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RLM

405x9, 410x9 no problems. I'm new to this strap malarky, but I'm guessing that at <=400 it's on a 1066 strap and 400+ is 1333. Is that right?

Is there any secret to getting stability at 400x9.

RLM

---

You are right, from 401 Mhz you have 1333 strap.

To get stability at 400x9 with a 6600 I have to push vcore at 1.585 (measured by bios 1.5 idle and 1.47 full load); I have nbridge at 1.55 and fsb vcore at 1.45.

With these settings I am rock stable but I am on water and after some hours of Orthos I reach 80 C&#176; on cores.

This is my cpu......I was not lucky but not completely unlucky....

@RLM,

hv u tried disabling HD audio controller in bios....might help

Loving my recently purchased Commando here is what I have so far

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=172585
Vcore 1.6 in bios 1.54 -1.53 load
NB Vcore @ 1.3

all other voltages at lowest setting

I do notice some odd glitches or bugs if I may call them that

when I first had vista installed I was getting all 5.9 except cpu and ram 5.3 and 5.6 being ram, after I corrupted my OS so after all said and done it now reads all 5.9 except the cpu at 4.8 with an OC of 3.6 ghz anyone else get this ?

also after changing settings in the bios, the rig shuts down and starts back up sometimes twice :confused:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RLM

Well that was a big old :banana::banana::banana::banana:up. Booted 400x9 fine with looser timings on the memory 5-5-5-15. Then used memset to tighten up to 4-4-4-12. System crashed and one of raid disks failed. Ended up losing a couple of days work. Lesson learnt :slapass:

---

Try running with cas 5 and other timings as u like/mem can handle. With 1066 strap and 4/5, cas 4 is a no go, regardless volts and mem. It's a chipset limitation, same applies to P5B.

BTW the worst enemy of a raid 0 array, is mem testing... ;)

ATTN ALL COMMANDO OWNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

please check with me where did your Commando PCB was made.

mine was made in China

yet, somehow pictures in this EK block thread shows PCB made in Taiwan ( http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...95#post2039795 )

i've also notice another picture from a PC mag in UK showing PCB made in Taiwan too.

could this mean why some of us Commando owners are having great OC and others not?

maybe someone can post their results with info from where their PCB is made?