**Official ASUS Striker II Formula Discussion/Review/Overclock/Guide/BIOS Thread**

[Phil The Greek]

I have been playing with one of these over the weekend, kit as in my signature. Using the 0902 bios: a few observations

1. My 2 sticks of OCZ 9200 runs 5-5-5-18 at 1200mhz @ 2.34volts fine, but won't do much more than that. Westsideplaya - I'll check on your latency change when I get chance.

2. The board has an odd glitch with the voltage (I don't have a voltmeter to check beyond what software is reporting). With 1.6925 selected in the bios and loadline calibration enabled, it gives 1.60 according to CPUID under win XP. Set the voltage to 1.70, and CPUID then gives 1.712. This means that, at least for me, I cannot get a VID between 1.60 and 1.712.

3. Northbridge temps in bios get to 50-60c with an 80mm fan pointing at it, I'm running 450FSB with 1.48volts for NB set in bios. The NB runs hot, but hasn't got a lot hotter as I have raised the voltage a bit and added a fan.

4. The 0902 bios seems pretty stable, but after a day or so of playing I'm a bit underwhelmed by what I have so far under phase - my QX9650 ES is prime stable at 4.5ghz with 1.60v, losing stability up to 4.75ghz, and given the cost of this CPU I don't have balls to be playing with volts above 1.71 at this stage (once I forget how much it cost me I might...)

QX9650ES
Asus Striker 2 Formula 780i 0902 bios
2 X 1GB OCZ 9200
2 X 8800GTX SLI
Thermaltake toughpower 750w
Toshiba 47wlt66

Can you set a multiplier higher than 13 with QX9650?

[71 (Bryan)]

ordering mine 2morrow =)

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Anyone else find the n/2 setting does not work with an e8400?

[Justifire]

Hi bud just had this Mobo put it in, mind you I,m not that hot at OC but put it straight to 1333 and put v core volts to 1.3, Bios 901

It posts then goes to blue screen and keep saying hardware malfunction contact vendor.

Lowered the fsb to 1200 and it would load, what am I doing wrong ??????.

Anyway took mobo back out and put other mobo back in, what shall I do any help would be great please .

Help £200 mobo just sat here

Check the speed of your mem.
Try running unlinked, see if thats helps.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Westsideplaya - I'm getting something similar in memory perfromance around 1200, but not as marked:

As set in bios
1200mhz 5-5-5-18 Everest mem latency: 44.7, mem read: 11786
1227mhz 5-5-5-18 Everest mem latency 45.7, mem read 11660
Boot at 1200 then raise FSB so mem at 1227 gives latency 43.5, mem read 12101

Jeremy 617 - have you checked those voltages with a volt meter? I was under the impression that CPUID was usually pretty accurate (something I could easily be wrong about).

I think the problem is that the bios is setting the extended timings way too lax.

You can't control very many of them, and that would explain why it is an all of the sudden drop, and not gradual.

The auto settings on this board suck.

[barza]

Jeremy 617 - Okay, you have convinced me for now. This is bad news for me: it means I am having to give this chip 1.68v under phase to stabilise it at 4.5ghz on this board, while I am informed by Johnny Bravo (who I bought the chip from) that it would run happily at that sped on an ABIT quadGT with just 1.58V on AIR.

Phil the Greek - I had a quick go at setting higher multipliers (didn't have much time I'm afraid), and couldn't get the board to post with a multiplier at 13 or above regardless of how low I put the FSB. I started checking the 12 multiplier, and got no dice there either, although I ran out of time to test it thoroughly. So up to an 11.5 multi is best I can confidently confirm thus far with the 0902 bios and my QX960ES.

[Family man 72]

I have been playing with one of these over the weekend, kit as in my signature. Using the 0902 bios: a few observations

1. My 2 sticks of OCZ 9200 runs 5-5-5-18 at 1200mhz @ 2.34volts fine, but won't do much more than that. Westsideplaya - I'll check on your latency change when I get chance.

2. The board has an odd glitch with the voltage (I don't have a voltmeter to check beyond what software is reporting). With 1.6925 selected in the bios and loadline calibration enabled, it gives 1.60 according to CPUID under win XP. Set the voltage to 1.70, and CPUID then gives 1.712. This means that, at least for me, I cannot get a VID between 1.60 and 1.712.

3. Northbridge temps in bios get to 50-60c with an 80mm fan pointing at it, I'm running 450FSB with 1.48volts for NB set in bios. The NB runs hot, but hasn't got a lot hotter as I have raised the voltage a bit and added a fan.

4. The 0902 bios seems pretty stable, but after a day or so of playing I'm a bit underwhelmed by what I have so far under phase - my QX9650 ES is prime stable at 4.5ghz with 1.60v, losing stability up to 4.75ghz, and given the cost of this CPU I don't have balls to be playing with volts above 1.71 at this stage (once I forget how much it cost me I might...)

QX9650ES
Asus Striker 2 Formula 780i 0902 bios
2 X 1GB OCZ 9200
2 X 8800GTX SLI
Thermaltake toughpower 750w
Toshiba 47wlt66

Have you tried LL calibration disabled. Few boards run better when it's disabled.

[barza]

Hi Family Man - yes I have tried with LL calibration enabled and disabled.

[@rne]

I've a problem here: Yesterday, i put in my e6700 into the Board (bios 0501). It wasn't set right, wanted to run @ 3500MHz, i changed all settings to default no overclock etc. I installed windows and drivers and turned off the sys.
Today i wanted to start it and nothing: Lights are on, display says CPU INIT. This dump error like the striker 1 had too. I've here Crucial Ballistix Rams 8500er and Mushkin EM2. One dimm, two, (tried both sort) nothing. CPU replaced, nothing. Whats up here? Neither CMOS CLR nor combined without battery works.

[@rne]

Ok guys, its working again. After a long time without battery i was able to boot again und flash 901.

[markost]

Can you set a multiplier higher than 13 with QX9650?

Seems high vcore for 4.5 Gig stable. I run 1.44v (real) at the same speed with full stability (custom watercooled the complete board) but used the 11x multi rather than 10x.

[OBR]

This is my setup, Striker II Formula + E8400 + GT SLI ...

BIOS looks like Striker Extreme, options are the same ... because nF680i NB this mobo has FSB holes again ... around 400MHz FSB is biggest problem with stability ... i am now at 420MHz with E8400 at 3780MHz ... with stock Box cooler ...

This board hate higher voltages to chipset, special Thermal protection (under orange heatsink with Asus logo) shut down the mobo, when temp of NB is higher then 90 ... and this temp is easy to reach ...

This mobo is again pretty hot, and without water setup is not possible to reach high OC ...

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

This is my setup, Striker II Formula + E8400 + GT SLI ...

BIOS looks like Striker Extreme, options are the same ... because nF680i NB this mobo has FSB holes again ... around 400MHz FSB is biggest problem with stability ... i am now at 420MHz with E8400 at 3780MHz ... with stock Box cooler ...

This board hate higher voltages to chipset, special Thermal protection (under orange heatsink with Asus logo) shut down the mobo, when temp of NB is higher then 90 ... and this temp is easy to reach ...

This mobo is again pretty hot, and without water setup is not possible to reach high OC ...

You have the same rig as me, except my wolfdale under water, and my GT's have S1's.

I find my board needs high nb volts for stability.

[zakelwe]

I've ordered one of these. The memory holes don't worry me but the reboot problems are a concern. Having to remove one DIMM is a new one

I like machines that boot and reset easily after going too far, it saves a lot of hassle. Oh well, we shall see. Shame my E8500 only ha a 9.5x multiplier and is not higher.

Regards

Andy

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

I've ordered one of these. The memory holes don't worry me but the reboot problems are a concern. Having to remove one DIMM is a new one

I like machines that boot and reset easily after going too far, it saves a lot of hassle. Oh well, we shall see. Shame my E8500 only ha a 9.5x multiplier and is not higher.

Regards

Andy

I have found it is only my D9's which that happens. My other mems it doesn't happen.

[Justifire]

This is my setup, Striker II Formula + E8400 + GT SLI ...

BIOS looks like Striker Extreme, options are the same ... because nF680i NB this mobo has FSB holes again ... around 400MHz FSB is biggest problem with stability ... i am now at 420MHz with E8400 at 3780MHz ... with stock Box cooler ...

This board hate higher voltages to chipset, special Thermal protection (under orange heatsink with Asus logo) shut down the mobo, when temp of NB is higher then 90 ... and this temp is easy to reach ...

This mobo is again pretty hot, and without water setup is not possible to reach high OC ...

Have you flashed to 0902?
No FSB holes here
Exactly what i hated most on Striker I.

[OBR]

yes, last bios flashed but hole at 400 is there ... now i am pretty stable at 475MHz! With only little NB voltage ...

[Jeremy617]

This is my setup, Striker II Formula + E8400 + GT SLI ...

BIOS looks like Striker Extreme, options are the same ... because nF680i NB this mobo has FSB holes again ... around 400MHz FSB is biggest problem with stability ... i am now at 420MHz with E8400 at 3780MHz ... with stock Box cooler ...

This board hate higher voltages to chipset, special Thermal protection (under orange heatsink with Asus logo) shut down the mobo, when temp of NB is higher then 90 ... and this temp is easy to reach ...

This mobo is again pretty hot, and without water setup is not possible to reach high OC ...

Or you could just hang a fan over the NB. I have mine set to 70c shutdown temp, with 1.3v to NB, never had a problem.

[zakelwe]

I have found it is only my D9's which that happens. My other mems it doesn't happen.

What max FSB are you getting with the Wolfdale?

Regards

Andy

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

What max FSB are you getting with the Wolfdale?

Regards

Andy

My max prime stable is 481 x 9.

But I've found that any FSB over 450 results in huge drops in memory performance.

I lose about 2000mb/s on read, and latency goes up by about 20ns.

I have yet to resolve this issue. Different mem, different timings, volts, none has worked.

And it is like an abrupt wall, 450mhzx9 with mem at 1200 is about 11.5gb/s read and 45ns latency. 451x9mhz mem at 1200 is 9.5gb/s read, and 65ns latency.

Even at lower or high memspeed, the performance is still cut drastically on mem.

Even with the latest 1001 beta bios.

[Xevipiu]

This is my setup, Striker II Formula + E8400 + GT SLI ...

BIOS looks like Striker Extreme, options are the same ... because nF680i NB this mobo has FSB holes again ... around 400MHz FSB is biggest problem with stability ... i am now at 420MHz with E8400 at 3780MHz ... with stock Box cooler ...

This board hate higher voltages to chipset, special Thermal protection (under orange heatsink with Asus logo) shut down the mobo, when temp of NB is higher then 90 ... and this temp is easy to reach ...

This mobo is again pretty hot, and without water setup is not possible to reach high OC ...

415Fsb 4cores (415x10 QX9650)


SLi 8800GT
3D06

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

415Fsb 4cores (415x10 QX9650)


SLi 8800GT
3D06

You quad spanks my setup. Even though my cards are clocked higher.

[OBR]

Over 430MHz memory performance rapidly decrease ... it normal on every nF680/780 boards ... because higher multipliers in NB/MEM ... best settings are below 430MHz ...

[gomcse2002]

Hi there

I will soon to be a owner of Striker II Formula, I just have one quick question for you guys.

I am currently using a E8400, may I know do I need to flash / upgrade the BIOS of my new Striker II Forumula in order to make it can recognize mty E8400 when I receive it next week ?

Also do you guys know which BIOS will be included when the board is coming out from the ASUS factory ?

Please kindly advise.

My rig config :

MB: Striker II Formula
CPU: Core 2 Dual E6400
HSF: Arctic Cooling Freeze Pro 7.0
Video Card: Asus GeForce 8600
HDD: WD Raptor 74GB
PSU: OCZ 700W PSU
RAM : 2 X Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 DDR2-800
CL4-4-4-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
Optical Drive : Samsung 16X DVD/RW
Case : Lian Li PC-60 Aluminum Case
OS : Windows Vista 32 bits

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Over 430MHz memory performance rapidly decrease ... it normal on every nF680/780 boards ... because higher multipliers in NB/MEM ... best settings are below 430MHz ...

430mhz for you? for me its 450.

I don't think it has to do with dividers. Because increasing mem speed doesn't help.