X48 Rampage Formula Preview.

[lhmk]

Hallo, can you send me the link to this test bios, please? Thank you

[Antineutrino]

Whoever will still get this bios please do me a favor. Do couple (3 or so) passes with with 0902 linx (intelburntest) and just check top gflops (use fixed memory value not max). Then after you change bios to 0001 redo settings and do another 3 passes and check top gflops again. Not sure but i have feeling something was changed preformance wise. If i rememeber correctly i got around 50k gflops with 0902 using 2.5GB of memory and im geting only about 48.8k with 0001. This is using exactly same settings ofc, but i dont know if memory serves me well regarding my 0902 gflops

I got 54.2 GFlops with 0902 Q9650@4185Mhz....

[SoLoR]

I got 54.2 GFlops with 0902 Q9650@4185Mhz....

you also have almost +700mhz... i have chip, i cant push it more... not like i care anymore, but i did like a year ago, never came around to change it. When you get 0001 check with that as well and report... Also gflops are depended on amount of memory you assign, so its not really comparable unless everyone tests with same amount of memory. I once went thrue every "preset" amount from 512MB and up to 4GB and its a big difference at maximum gflops (as low as ~40ish and as high as ~50 for me) and max temperatures (+-8 degrees) you are reaching. For me 2.5GB assigned memory gave me maximum gflops and produced maximum temperatures.

[Alien Grey]

Major changes in BIOS 0001. If you still have your old overclock profiles from BIOS 0902 you should just load them for fun but don't save it and have a look in the Extreme Tweaker menu how you settings look.

I did this because I wasn't sure anymore what the CPU Voltage was that I used for 4.185GHz.


I'll run my first test now to see if the gflops are the same and then I'll try to lower the CPU Voltage to see if they fixed the MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION BSOD.

[leo27]

It's awesome that they finally gave us a new bios to play with.

@A-Grey
Would you be able to check if AI Clock Twister is now working correctly i.e. stronger is actually stronger
And also could you check and see if the JMicron rom has been updated.
Thanks

[OLDcomer]

Using profiles from previous bioses is not recommended. I quit using profiles long time ago when I found that sometimes they make my board act strange even when I haven't changed my bios. My standard procedure to apply new settings includes loading setup defaults, saving and restarting and then applying the new settings.

[Alien Grey]

It's awesome that they finally gave us a new bios to play with.

@A-Grey
Would you be able to check if AI Clock Twister is now working correctly i.e. stronger is actually stronger
And also could you check and see if the JMicron rom has been updated.
Thanks

The bandwidth is exactly the same and my gflops are also exactly the same.

I don't know if it's really a problem with Ai Clock Twister. It's probably because using anything else than Lighter doesn't have any impact on the performance if you use FSB/Memory 3:4.

Perhaps we can't push more out of the FSB with 3:4 and using anything else can't give us better performance.

[Alien Grey]

There's no difference in performance changing Ai Clock Twister or enable DRAM Static Read in the BIOS if you use FSB/Memory 3:4 so it's exactly the same as BIOS 0902.

I can live with that.


It doesn't seem to be a problem to have your stable clocks back with the same settings as with BIOS 0902 but you should test it of course.

[Alien Grey]

The MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION BSOD is still there if you try to lower the CPU Voltage.

But I don't panic and maybe we need the Special 133 Mode feature to fix this.



Currently testing MemTest for Windows stability with refresh period 16120T at 4.185GHz with DDR 1239MHz and tRD 6.

[Alien Grey]

So far everything is looks good.






That's it for today.

[OC_Newbee]

Using profiles from previous bioses is not recommended. I quit using profiles long time ago when I found that sometimes they make my board act strange even when I haven't changed my bios. My standard procedure to apply new settings includes loading setup defaults, saving and restarting and then applying the new settings.

Same here, using profiles actually mixes up all my settings and causes system instablility more than good. Never uses it since I've found out.

[Alien Grey]

I use the overclock profiles all the time.

It's very simple. Change your settings and save them in the BIOS. Enter BIOS Setup and save your overclock profile. Power off and remove the PSU power cable and hit the Clear CMOS button for a 10 seconds or more. Power on and hit F1 to enter BIOS Setup and load your overclock profile.

It works great like that and I only have to put them back myself if I flash it to a different BIOS.



So does anyone know if they updated the BIOS option ROMs in BIOS 0001?

I didn't really look if they did and I don't know what the latest versions are.

[SoLoR]

So does anyone know if they updated the BIOS option ROMs in BIOS 0001?

no they didnt and dont think asus ever does it... i did however update this for my self, so if you want i can send you moded bios... (jmicron rom updated, raid rom updated and asus slic 2.1).

[Alien Grey]

no they didnt and dont think asus ever does it... i did however update this for my self, so if you want i can send you moded bios... (jmicron rom updated, raid rom updated and asus slic 2.1).

I don't need them right now so I leave it like that.

I think that they don't update them to cut the costs. They probably can't update them for free so they are going to ask you to do it.

[leo27]

thanks for looking A-Grey.
Here's to a beta build (i'm sure with a version number of 0001 this bios is very alpha)

[Alien Grey]

It sure is. I think that they just added the tREF timings to the BIOS and released it for testing to give us something to be quiet and give us the proof that they are working on a BIOS improvement.


I was hoping to have a stable running 9 X 470MHz with DDR 1253MHz and tRD 6 with this test BIOS but I don't think I'm going to make it. It's already hard enough to keep the 9 X 465MHz and DDR 1239MHz with tRD 6 stable.

[OLDcomer]

As I said - 0902 clone with added TREF option. I prefer 0802 because with 0902 this is not possible. But 0902 overclocks my memory slightly higher (1280MHz@1.9V Memtest stable).

[Trust13]

wow i just came back from vacation...and the new BIOS is arrived!

@Alien Grey: why didn´t you try the 266Mhz strap and go straight for 480Mhz+ FSB? I´m stable at 4.275GHz with 475Mhz, Memory at 1188MHz. Maybe with the new Bios it´s stable above that.
The memory will be at 1200Mhz+, but with PL7. The higher FSB brings more performance.
You have water-cooling right? So 4.3Ghz+ won´t be a problem.
btw you have PM :P

[Alien Grey]

wow i just came back from vacation...and the new BIOS is arrived!

@Alien Grey: why didn´t you try the 266Mhz strap and go straight for 480Mhz+ FSB? I´m stable at 4.275GHz with 475Mhz, Memory at 1188MHz. Maybe with the new Bios it´s stable above that.
The memory will be at 1200Mhz+, but with PL7. The higher FSB brings more performance.
You have water-cooling right? So 4.3Ghz+ won´t be a problem.
btw you have PM :P

I always start with something that I know is stable to test a new BIOS to find out if it stays stable with the same settings as the previous BIOS.

Check your PM to find the link to download the test BIOS.

[Alien Grey]

Here's something to try out with the test BIOS.


Change the tREF timing in the BIOS and see if it also sometimes triggers the "Overclocked Failed" when the board tries to post with the new setting.

If you get the message just hit F1 to enter BIOS Setup and then F10 to save it again.

[BCBC]

I have E8400, Asus Maximus@Rampage 0902 bios, Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066@1100Mhz.
Computer can reach&stable at 8x550Mhz FSB with 0902 but it couldn't reach that high frequencies with the "new test bios" anymore.
And also as Alien Grey reported, I got very often "overclock failed" messege, and "black screen" at boot initialization

[Alien Grey]

I have E8400, Asus Maximus@Rampage 0902 bios, Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066@1100Mhz.
Computer can reach&stable at 8x550Mhz FSB with 0902 but it couldn't reach that high frequencies with the "new test bios" anymore.
And also as Alien Grey reported, I got very often "overclock failed" messege, and "black screen" at boot initialization

I raised the North Bridge Voltage from 1.35V to 1.37V and now I'm stable at 9 X 465MHz and DDR 1239MHz with tRD 6 and tREF at 16120T.

I also noticed that tREF at 16120T gives a small increase in bandwidth than using 16383T.


I'm now running a 100 pass LinX test. After the test I'm going to change tREF again in the BIOS to see if I still get the "Overclock Failed" message.

I also had the black screen running Prime95 and UT2004 together but I didn't have it anymore when I raised the North Bridge Voltage with 0.02V.


We should also test this BIOS at stock speed. It isn't important for us but it's very important for the guys that don't overclock. I don't think that you're going to find anyone that doens't overclock using this test BIOS so let's do that for them.

[Alien Grey]

I finished my tests with my Q9650@4.185GHz and my G.SKILL F2-9600CL5D-4GBPI@1239MHz with tRD 6 and tREF at 16120T.



100 passes LinX.






4 hours Prime95 and UT2004 together.






EVEREST Cache & Memory Benchmark.






BIOS settings test BIOS 0001.

Ai Overclock Tuner [Manual]
CPU Ratio Setting [9.0]
FSB Strap to North Bridge [400MHz]
FSB Frequency [465MHz]
PCIE Frequency [100MHz]
DRAM Frequency [1239MHz]
DRAM Command Rate [2N]
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A/B [Auto]
DRAM TimingControl [Manual]
Refresh Period [16120T]
DRAM Static Read Control [Disabled]
Ai Clock Twister [Lighter]
Ai Transaction Booster [Manual]
Common Performance Level [06]
Pull-In of CH A/B all disabled
CPU Voltage [1.32500V]
CPU PLL Voltage [1.50V]
North Bridge Voltage [1.39V]
DRAM Voltage [1.86V]
FSB Termination Voltage [1.28V]
South Bridge Voltage [1.05V]
SB 1.5V Voltage [1.50V]
Loadline Calibration [Disabled]-> Pencil Mod
CPU GTL Voltage Reference [0.63X]
NB GTL Voltage Reference [0.67X]
DRAM Controller Voltage REF [Auto]
DRAM Channel A/B Voltage REF [Auto]
CPU Spread Spectrum [Disabled]
PCIE Spread Spectrum [Disabled]
CPU Clock Skew [Delay 300ps]
NB Clock Skew [Delay 200ps]

Finally 100% stable at DDR >1200MHz.

[Alien Grey]

I posted the download link for test BIOS 0001 on the ASUS Rampage Formula forum.

You can find it in this thread: New BIOS for the ASUS Rampage Formula Post #34.

[Trust13]

Thanks Alien Grey for providing the Bios!
I´m too busy atm to test it a little longer. On a short run I tested 9x478Mhz= 4.3Ghz with 266Mhz strap, looks promising. But on the other side, a short test of your settings at 465Mhz was not stable. It always failed at Prime95 Large 768k.
Hopefully i will find time in a week or so to test it further.
One notice: I never had the "Overclock Failed" message, when i changed the tREF.