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

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

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

It will recognize it right away.

But what is with the junk gfx card?

[OBR]

430mhz for you? for me its 450.

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

if you set higher FSB, multiplier NB/RAM needs to switch to another one (with Linked and Unlinked too), latencies are with higher multis worst - performance is lower ... with nForce is important to fing best ratio NB/RAM/FSB Frequency for maximum mem performance, High FSB is not too important ...

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

if you set higher FSB, multiplier NB/RAM needs to switch to another one (with Linked and Unlinked too), latencies are with higher multis worst - performance is lower ... with nForce is important to fing best ratio NB/RAM/FSB Frequency for maximum mem performance, High FSB is not too important ...

Do you think LDT multi has anything to do with it?

[REVHEAD]

I dont want to rain on any ones party , but after reading this thread , the Striker 2 seems like it has the same problems as the 680i had ,and that was it was a poor overclocker, and sometimes took pple days even weeks to get a half decent over clock , is this the Asus striker 680i revisited? I am beginning to think so.

But dont come down on me guys I dont own Striker 2, I am just baseing my comments off this thread and I was a Striker Extreme 1 Onwer.

[zakelwe]

Don't worry about raining on anyones parade, the 680i and 780i have some, lets call them "interesting features" to overcome ( or fail!). They have memory holes, they don't have as high an FSB and clock for clock perhaps are slower than the Intel chipsets. They do let you do SLi easily though.

As regards comments above on low memory performance as it goes higher. I have not got my Striker yet but from my experience of the 680i, although you could do massive RAM speeds all would be slower than keeping it linked and in sync and with the tightest memory possible, at least in Pifast and 3dmark lobby. I was running with an X6800 with unlocked multiplier which allowed me to run 3-3-3-6 1T and then really right subtimings. The subtimings really knocked the performance up again.

I'm expecting the same again for this 780ione. Problem is I have now got a locked E8500 so of couse to get cpu speed I might have to loosen off the memory.

Regards

Andy

[OBR]

Do you think LDT multi has anything to do with it?

no, i am talking about internal NB frequency/RAM frequency multiplier switcher ... in NB are lot of multis, because you have Unlinked mode, and NB needs to have many options for frequency you want ... and every multi has own latencies and performance rating ... this multi you can change only thru WPCREDIT utility ...

[nuclearjock]

Could someone post a link to the 1001 beta bios??

[jvandecar]

Hey guys. I bought this board from ZipZoomFly, along with an E8400.

I cannot get the board to post at all. The little LCD screen just says CPU INIT. I've educated myself on the ways to get around this problem, and I've tried the following options. I don't know if this is common, but before the power button is even hit, the LCD screen displays the CPU INIT.

I've swapped CPUs; I dropped in an Intel 3.00ghz 531 that I know works.

I've ensured the board was grounded, all 9 screws tightly fastened. Board removed and reinstalled, case is a Lian Li PC-S80.

I've tried using all four RAM slots, with two different sticks of RAM, DDR2-800.

I've used two different power supplies, both 600W Enermaxes, SLI certified.

I bought a molex to 8pin connector and used that instead of the 4pin connector for the P8 power connector.

I've reset the BIOS using the switch on the back of the board, several times.

I've taken the battery out, let the board sit overnight with the power disconnected and the power button held down.

I've tried booting with the video card in, and out.

I'm out of ideas.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

no, i am talking about internal NB frequency/RAM frequency multiplier switcher ... in NB are lot of multis, because you have Unlinked mode, and NB needs to have many options for frequency you want ... and every multi has own latencies and performance rating ... this multi you can change only thru WPCREDIT utility ...

Yeah, even when I keep a 3:2 multi it has this problem. one mhz over 450fsb and its kaput.

[QuadSLI]

This Nvidia Board seems got lot of problems, right?

May be i should keep my X38 and go Dual 3870x2 for quad GPU, although i like Geforce better, buy what can i do?

[REVHEAD]

This Nvidia Board seems got lot of problems, right?

May be i should keep my X38 and go Dual 3870x2 for quad GPU, although i like Geforce better, buy what can i do?

Well this is the path I am heading down ,I just gotta sell my 8800 gtxs

[gmod]

I dont have any these problems With my XFX version..I also dont have any of the problems some have had with the EVGA version...Personally I think the 780i is a awesome mobo. A lot better than the Pita striker extreme board I retired..Ive had this board at 510fsb wasnt prime stable but did get into windows...

[asp6000]

Put everything together last night. Had to manually install Vista64 patch KB929777 to run 4GB of ram w/o bsod's.

[golfjam]

This Nvidia Board seems got lot of problems, right?

May be i should keep my X38 and go Dual 3870x2 for quad GPU, although i like Geforce better, buy what can i do?

Man, I did the opposite. X38 was my best mobo so far but HD3870 Crossfire sucks big time. I don't know about HD3870x2 but I guess it's just as bad. Horrible driver support. Same crappy perfomance in CF after 7.11, 7.12 and 8.1, single card can't keep up w/ 1920x1200 resolution. Reviews say it scales better but they omit the fact "when it works or is supported". SLI may not increase a lot of perfomance but a single 8800GTS 512mb can hold pretty well. Luckly, COD4 loves SLI. I still get occasional BSOD's on my EVGA but I know it's the Nvidia driver. Whatever, I'm still happy.

[Anemone]

Sigh... X48 or 790i...

Don't think the signs are looking good for the Str II. CF still having issues.

Single GT200 & X48 ftw?

/sigh

[Jeremy617]

I just found out something interesting with this board.

Something under the heatpipes is apparently very sensitive to heat. I unplugged my 110cfm fan blowing on the nb/mosfets and found out that it immediatly made my compter so unstable i couldn't even boot into windows. Plugging the fan back in I could then immediately boot into windows at 8 x 500 with 1.3vtt and 1.3nb and prime 100% stable.

My NB temp in bios, with the fan plugged in @ 1.3v is 54c, with the fan unplugged, it was 63c.

So if you're having trouble try hanging a fan in front of your NB.

[nuclearjock]

This Nvidia Board seems got lot of problems, right?

May be i should keep my X38 and go Dual 3870x2 for quad GPU, although i like Geforce better, buy what can i do?

That's what I did:




I like the consecutive serial numbers.....



No crossfire drivers for for XP yet, they are soon to come according to HIS tech support.

For what it's worth, my framerates do increase though when I enable CF with current 8.1's though.

[QuadSLI]

Nice, Just got my 3870x2, drop out my 8800GTX which cannot Play GearOfWars, soon as i put in the 3870x2 (Firmware 8.45 Beta), it runs the game smoothly. Will get another one when the FireX driver comes out, i think this is not too bad than the Nvidia solution.

BTW, it still has the same problem with dual core card jus like my old 7950GX2. When i use my apple 2560x1600, when game switch from window to game screen, there will be lots of green dots, i have to set game no full screen and reset the resolution again. Anyone know wuts the problem really..

[jvandecar]

I've RMAed my board. And bought a Striker Extreme.

Anyone want's to buy my replacement S2F, or trade, PMs are

[ppcli]

had a 780i evga cmos died the 1st week and after a month of waiting for evga and there rma dept. i grabbed a striker 2.i should have a 2nd tommorow the unpluging and pluging the ps to post it alittle bit of a pain in the ass.the whole 780i chipset has just helped my grey hair.

[zakelwe]

Mine arrived yesterday but I have not set it up yet. The main heatsink is screwed down which is a first, can somebody tell me what the quality of the thermal paste thickness is under there so I can decide whether to unscrew it or not? In the past Asus have been a bit blob happy with their heatsinks but as this is screwed down I wonder if they have been more careful this time.

I like the idea of a reset button for CMOS, the LED lights showing voltages seems a waste of time, I have never seen so many fan connectors on a motherboard ( none of which I am going to use, not even the cpu one ) and in general it looks pretty good. Of course it hides a 780i chipset which need a lot of effort to bend to your will, if similar to 680i so I guess I will have a few tough days ahead.

The BIOS makes me laugh, all those voltages! There must be a billion permutations. I've taken some benches on my P35 P5k to give a comparison in SuperPi, Pifast and 3dmark2001 lobby and will post them up when I get the Striker II working.

Regards

Andy

[zakelwe]

I love this motherboard

Slow to boot after changes but the button to boot and the reset and clrcmos buttons for out of case benching are a real boon.

I had zero problems setting up, all went smoothly. Hits 480FSB with a few voltage increases and is rock solid. Here's a Superpi all air cooled.

http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/780.jpg


Not bad for one evening, can probably get it below 10s like my Asus Intel P5K with a bit more effort, so this talk of 780i being slower than Intel is not really valid I think.

And of course it does SLI .. blew away the top 8600GT 3dmark2001 score without even trying ...74k....

Two things to note though, my E8500 will only do half mulitpliers apart from x6, so setting x8 inthe BIOS will result in 8.5. Also, the northbridge or MCP or whatever it is called still gets warm to the touch, which is good in that it shows that it is working, but it also shows that if it gets warm to the toucn with ambient in my shed of 5C and 200cfm blowing over it then it will get a lot wamer at room temp and those small included fans.

Great all round board though.

Regards

Andy

[Justifire]

Mine arrived yesterday but I have not set it up yet. The main heatsink is screwed down which is a first, can somebody tell me what the quality of the thermal paste thickness is under there so I can decide whether to unscrew it or not? In the past Asus have been a bit blob happy with their heatsinks but as this is screwed down I wonder if they have been more careful this time.

I like the idea of a reset button for CMOS, the LED lights showing voltages seems a waste of time, I have never seen so many fan connectors on a motherboard ( none of which I am going to use, not even the cpu one ) and in general it looks pretty good. Of course it hides a 780i chipset which need a lot of effort to bend to your will, if similar to 680i so I guess I will have a few tough days ahead.

The BIOS makes me laugh, all those voltages! There must be a billion permutations. I've taken some benches on my P35 P5k to give a comparison in SuperPi, Pifast and 3dmark2001 lobby and will post them up when I get the Striker II working.

Regards

Andy

Same rubbish thermal paste as on the Striker I.
They even didnt remove the plastic covering the thermal tape on the mosfets.
Remount is a good thing.

[asp6000]

there's a fsb hole from 1730 to about 1809MHz

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

there's a fsb hole from 1730 to about 1809MHz

I dont have it. And most people here seem to run at 1800mhz.