X48 Rampage Formula Preview.

[SoLoR]

Does this mean that we can save/load overclock profiles directly to the HDD?

yes!

edit: or no NTFS is read only... you can only read profiles from it.

[leo27]

hey SoLoR is your latest 0001 mod BIOS named 1002b or 1001b cause i noticed both in your directory

Cheers

[SoLoR]

hey SoLoR is your latest 0001 mod BIOS named 1002b or 1001b cause i noticed both in your directory

Cheers

1002b... 1001 is latest offical but i didnt updated it with new modules.

[leo27]

So 1002b is the one with the updated ROMS etc

EDIT: Never mind SoLoR i found your description of your BIOS's earlier on in this thread

[Alien Grey]

ye maybe i will in next one if ill remember...

edit: i did fix this as well, also noticed that with updating ezflash module, you also update cmos saving/loading module, so that one also supports ntfs now...

Your last BIOS update doesn't seem to work. It gives the "Bootblock is not valid" message if you try to flash it with ASUS EZ Flash.

[SoLoR]

Your last BIOS update doesn't seem to work. It gives the "Bootblock is not valid" message if you try to flash it with ASUS EZ Flash.

Wierd because i didnt had any issues... ill check again with version on the site in case its case of a broken upload.

[papatsonis]

strange i flashed over the previous version 1002b via eZ flash without problems. (bios file was in a USB stick FAT16 )

[Alien Grey]

I'm trying to flash with ASUS EZ Flash from my NTFS HDD. All other BIOS ROMs don't give an error message but the last one does. The old 0001 MOD BIOS also works so it isn't because of the modification.


I also downloaded and install the latest driver and Creative software and this time I didn't have problems to install the 6620 audio driver. Did you change something and named it version 2 ?

[SoLoR]

About drivers... no i wasnt changing them at all, i did probably updates software pack once or twice in between and thats about it...

about bios... I also get boot block invalid if i download from web and try to flash from ntfs drive. However if i copy bios from my backup (usb key) to my ntfs drive and try to flash, then bios seems to be fine and everything is identical bit by bit... its wierd. Bios on page is fine, just for some reason it seems that flashing from ntfs drive does not work properly every time. Should be fine if you flash from FAT usb key (i personaly have 1GB usb key with freedos and "dos" utils on it, like for flashing and memtest and hdd test tools etc that i always use).

edit: double checked, if i download bios directly from internet to ntfs drive (tryed with chrome and ie) i get bootblock error in ezflash. If i copy this same downloaded bios on to fat usb key it doesnt give error anymore. If i copy then this same bios from usb key back to ntfs drive it still doesnt give error. So even if this updated ezflash gives some kind of support for ntfs it seems it doesnt work properly all the time, so to be on safe side we still need to use fat usb keys

[Alien Grey]

About drivers... no i wasnt changing them at all, i did probably updates software pack once or twice in between and thats about it...

about bios... I also get boot block invalid if i download from web and try to flash from ntfs drive. However if i copy bios from my backup (usb key) to my ntfs drive and try to flash, then bios seems to be fine and everything is identical bit by bit... its wierd. Bios on page is fine, just for some reason it seems that flashing from ntfs drive does not work properly every time. Should be fine if you flash from FAT usb key (i personaly have 1GB usb key with freedos and "dos" utils on it, like for flashing and memtest and hdd test tools etc that i always use).

You're right. The ASUS EZ Flash II V3.36 is a little buggy if you try to flash from NTFS. I also burn the latest BIOS and a recovery BIOS on CD-RW and I can flash from CD-RW without problems.

Thanks a lot.

[SoLoR]

You're right. The ASUS EZ Flash II V3.36 is a little buggy if you try to flash from NTFS. I also burn the latest BIOS and a recovery BIOS on CD-RW and I can flash from CD-RW without problems.

Thanks a lot.

There are newer versions of ezflash as well (few 3.3x, few 3.4x and few 4.2x), but 3.36 is latest one that recoginzed RF motherboard (more precisly bios chip), i tryed most of versions over 3.36 without luck...

[JohnZS]

I'm not sure but I think that JohnZS also updates the Option ROMs in the ASUS Rampage Extreme BIOS. Maybe he already has one with BIOS 0002.

That is correct

Although I am nowhere near as clever as SolaR is at the BIOS Option Rom updating.

I only have 3 revisions of the 002 BIOS kindly provided by you

1) Original and untouched (No good for me as I cannot use my X-25's in RAID)
2) Modded with last Official ICH9R Option Rom, 8.9.0.1023 extracted from DX48BT2 BIOS
3) Modded with ICH10R Option ROM 10.0.0.1046 (extracted from DX58SO BIOS)

I do not have a clue about Ez-Flash ROM modifying, nor do I touch the SLIC ACPI tables

John

[Alien Grey]

A picture says more than a thousand words.


Q9650@4.22GHz - DDR 1250MHz - tRD 6 - tREF 16120T - MOD BIOS 1002

[kuebk]

What voltages?

[Alien Grey]

These are the BIOS settings that I'm using for 4.22GHz and DDR 1250MHz with tRD 6 and tREF 16120T. I still have to try if it's possible to lower some of the voltages but it isn't bad for the first try with MOD BIOS 1002.

Ai Overclock Tuner [Manual]
CPU Ratio Setting [9.0]
FSB Strap to North Bridge [400MHz]
FSB Frequency [469MHz]
PCIE Frequency [100MHz]
DRAM Frequency [1250MHz]
DRAM Command Rate [2N]
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A [Normal]
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B [Advance 50ps]
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 [1.37500V]
CPU PLL Voltage [1.50V]
North Bridge Voltage [1.43V]
DRAM Voltage [1.92V]
FSB Termination Voltage [1.28V]
South Bridge Voltage [1.05V]
SB 1.5V Voltage [1.50V]
Loadline Calibration [Disabled]
CPU GTL Voltage Reference [0.65X]
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 200ps]
NB Clock Skew [Delay 100ps]

I've tried to lower the CPU Voltage to run at 4.05GHz but it's still not possible to keep it stable and I can only run a few passes LinX stable before I run in to a BSOD.


Does anyone know if it's possible to use a higher multiplier with a QX9650 or QX9770 on the Rampage Formula? Or do you also have the VID failing to match CPU ratio error?

[m4gg0t]

Alien Grey, i used to run the Q9650 on the RF @ 4.05GHz 1.35v, men @ 1128MHz 1.85v fully stable and that was on bios 0802.

if i were you i would jump ship and go for the i7 LGA 1156 CPU much better and easier to OC. ASUS has stopped supporting all the LGA 775 boards. Kinda sucks really but thats the facts. Since i changed i really happy with it.

[Alien Grey]

Alien Grey, i used to run the Q9650 on the RF @ 4.05GHz 1.35v, men @ 1128MHz 1.85v fully stable and that was on bios 0802.

if i were you i would jump ship and go for the i7 LGA 1156 CPU much better and easier to OC. ASUS has stopped supporting all the LGA 775 boards. Kinda sucks really but thats the facts. Since i changed i really happy with it.

I wish I was rich but I'm not.


But do I really need a new board, CPU and memory?





I don't think so.

[m4gg0t]

Actually, my i7 upgrade wasn't even close to the price of my Q9650 and Rampage Formula was when i got them.

I always felt my Q9650 bottleneck my GTX 480 a lot. Now with the upgrade I can play AoC in full HD settings with everything on with no lag at all. So i absolutely happy with my upgrade. But if your happy with yours then thats good.

[vulcZ]

I'm sadly setting my Q9450/RF combo for an i7-950/Classified combo. It makes me kind of sad The RF is by far the best board I've ever owned. It's now going into the family PC, where I'm sure it'll serve a good purpose running WoW all day for my little brother.

[m4gg0t]

It was such a good board, kinda sad that ASUS stopped supporting it when the i7 came out.

[Alien Grey]

Over 3 hours stable.

[Trust13]

Nice Alien Grey
the newest Mod-Bios makes the difference to run the memory at >1200Mhz stable??

[Alien Grey]

Nice Alien Grey
the newest Mod-Bios makes the difference to run the memory at >1200Mhz stable??

Yes, it does.

It's strange that it's stable with tREF 16120T with a cold boot but not anymore after a restart. The Dram Clock Fine Delays change after a restart and I can't seem to get them to the same timings anymore like they were with a cold boot. With a cold boot they are 7-5-6-4 with DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A Normal and DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B Advance 50ps but after a restart they are 12-10-11-10 and Prime95 starts failing.

The good news is that changing tREF from 16120T to 15600T seems to fix that and it doesn't matter anymore that the DRAM Clock Fine Delays are at 12-10-11-10 and it doesn't have any influence on the bandwidth.

I don't know why it can't be always stable with tREF 16120 but I think it's because the BIOS is build around 3120T and with using 15600T the refresh starts at the same time as it would be with 3120T only 5 times later.

I'm still running some tests but if it's really stable at DDR 1250MHz and tREF 15600T than my only concern is to try to convince ASUS to release an official BIOS with the DRAM Refresh Period added so when there's a BIOS update we can update the BIOS without having to loose the DRAM Refresh Period.

[SoLoR]

BTW yesterday i updated 1002bMOD.rom again. With Intel OROM 10.1.0.1008.

[dctokyo]

BTW yesterday i updated 1002bMOD.rom again. With Intel OROM 10.1.0.1008.

Hi SoLoR, where can I download it?