X48 Rampage Formula Preview.

[Alien Grey]

It looks like ASUS are keen to fix the BITS issues as i've had constant contact with ASUS support over the issue and have given them all the results on this forum.

If they could fix it in BIOS 0001 and release it as an official BIOS that would be great.

How can i help? I have a x38 converted, but use the 1002b bios.

Run BITS and compare your results with the results that I've posted. It would be nice to see more results with different CPU's.

[JohnZS]

Ok ASUS have given me a BIOS for the Rampage Extreme which finally fixes the CPU VID Ratio Error for the QX9650 from a COLD BOOT and also addresses a few SATA issues too. However they do not seem quite so keen to resolve the BIOS BITS MSR and SMI Latency issues.

If that, please keep the 003 BIOS for your motherboard.
And about MSR errors, may I ask you about something more? As we did not use the tool you mentioned before, so we still could not confirm what the detailed function of the tool, and what the actual purpose you would like to get.
If now the 003 BIOS could solve the VID error, do you still need us to support you about the MSR error? And are the error affect your operation on the motherboard? What could not work well? What do you need us to support?
Thanks for your cooperation and sorry for any inconvenience.

Best Regards,

What would my best response be to this message?

John

[Alien Grey]

Ok ASUS have given me a BIOS for the Rampage Extreme which finally fixes the CPU VID Ratio Error for the QX9650 from a COLD BOOT and also addresses a few SATA issues too. However they do not seem quite so keen to resolve the BIOS BITS MSR and SMI Latency issues.



What would my best response be to this message?

John

I don't know. Give it a try with that BIOS and tell them that you're going to give them an answer on that question later.

[JohnZS]

Thanks. Well I have tried the 003 BIOS and it fixes the CPU VID error when adjusting the multiplier on QX9650.
All SATA issues are fixed too...HOWEVER BITS still fails the same 5 MSR tests and also has 638us latency on SMI latency test.

I am not sure how I can convey this to Asus and request the fix it .

Thanks again.

John

[Alien Grey]

Thanks. Well I have tried the 003 BIOS and it fixes the CPU VID error when adjusting the multiplier on QX9650.
All SATA issues are fixed too...HOWEVER BITS still fails the same 5 MSR tests and also has 638us latency on SMI latency test.

I am not sure how I can convey this to Asus and request the fix it .

Thanks again.

John

I don't know if it's going to be the same with the Rampage Extreme BIOS but I can tell you that there's a problem with the CPU. The CPU should be stable with less voltage but that's impossible to do with the Rampage Formula board. You need a lot of voltage and there's still no guarantee that it's going to stay stable.

This is very bad if you use it for running BOINC. Every now and then I've got computing errors or freezes and reboots. It's better with a little more CPU Voltage but it doesn't really fix it.


Maybe ASUS should ask Intel what these MSR fails are and why they should fix them. Something isn't right and it's possible that some of the CPU features doesn't work well and results in failure.


All I can say is that I've learned to live with these issues but I won't buy another ASUS product if I don't see it fixed before I make the move to a new build.

[Spyrus]

Too lazy to read now previous post, but i have the feeling that 1002 moded vs 1001 needs a notch in Vcore (had it 1.32 now it is 1.34 V) keeping other settings to same.
I got random reboots with Machine Check error once in a week and i did this to test it.
Maybe is there any other setting for fine-tuning this ? (e.g. Skew)

[Counter CS]

Asus is alive ?!

Well i already made my mind on my new Motherboard.

There she is !

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/3122/djrp4503jp1.jpg

Purshased with the first BIOS, now she is with the last one.
This is the fix end adds that it get.

Major Reasons of Change:

- Added DRAM timing fine tune function.
- Adjust WDT for AC shutdown free.

- Support DRAM Speed 266/1066 and 333/1066.
- Patch for JMB368 and ICH10 SATA not in native mode hang"75".
- Fixed Can not detect CPU name when use Q9xxx CPUs

-The BIOS enhanced the 16GB memory compatibility issue.

-Update new kernel for SSD device compatibility issue.

-The BIOS fixed system memory can’t run DDR II 1066MHz when DRAM Speed set to 266/1066 or 333/1066

Now i´m going to make some research for some decent OC.
This last BIOS comes with skew settings
No more Asus

[traveler]

You got a new motherboard that runs DDR2 and not DDR3???

Why?





__________________
Asus X48 Rampage Formula / Intel Q9450 2.66 @ 3.2 / 2 x 2GB OCZ Reaper HPC PC2 8500 /
Asus Radeon HD4870X2 Tri-Fan 2GB graphics card / 24" DeLL Ultrasharp 2408WFP monitor /
Western Digital Raptor X Hard Drive / Two Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5001ABYS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives /
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 / Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 Speaker System /
Lian Li 343B cube case / PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Crossfire Edition /
IOGEAR GCS1782 GCS1782 Dual-Link DVI KVMP switch with 7.1 audio

[neven]

Asus is alive ?!

Well i already made my mind on my new Motherboard.

There she is !

Best two MBs I ever owned were DFI LPs. And I would be very happy if any of their new boards are even half as good but imho DFI died with DFI Street.

[Counter CS]

You got a new motherboard that runs DDR2 and not DDR3???

Why?

Because i have those G-Skill trident PC8500 DDR2

I´m not selling it.

[Spyrus]

Deleted the last 2 posts.
Seems that the problem is the tRFC which was set to 50 instead of 52.
Either way i reverted back to 1001 official with 3120T to be sure that i am ok and then i might retry 1002b with same settings and 16120T

[DrTeal]

This is my first post on these forums but I have been following this thread for probably 2 years. I just want to say a huge thank you to Alien Grey for all of your insights into this board. I'm still using it and probably will be for a while longer.

I remember a few weeks ago reading that you guys needed someone with a 65nm chip for some tests. I'm still running a q6600 so if I can be of assistance let me know.

[JohnZS]

Hi DrTeal
Yeah Alien Grey rocks the socks off. He posts a lot of useful information, not only on here, but on the ASUS forums too.
Alien Grey, you Rock

I think the test Alien was talking about was the BIOS BITS tool (A BIOS Implementation Test Suite released by intel to test the BIOS for any faults or programming inconsistencies).
You can download BITS here

Particular interest is the MSR test suite and the SMI Latency test.

We have found so far that us with Quad Core 45nm CPU's have 5 fails, those with Dual Core 45nm CPU's have 4 fails. I am curious (and I think Alien is too), to see if a 65nm fairs better, if so it may suggest that ASUS have been quite lazy with their BIOS programming and have not specifically programmed their BIOS for the 45nm CPU's, they have simply patched compatibility, but not gracefully.

John

[Spyrus]

Apparently the problem is on CPU - degradation happened. Need to lower my overclock.

[DrTeal]

Currently waiting on my video card to be back from RMA (supposed to be delivered by end of the day on Wednesday) so I'll test this on Wednesday night.

[JohnZS]

Apparently the problem is on CPU - degradation happened. Need to lower my overclock.

Degredation
What PLL, vCore and FSB Termination Voltage were you pumping into your E8400?
John

Cool I look forward to that DrTeal
Good luck with your RMA

[Alien Grey]

This is my first post on these forums but I have been following this thread for probably 2 years. I just want to say a huge thank you to Alien Grey for all of your insights into this board. I'm still using it and probably will be for a while longer.

I remember a few weeks ago reading that you guys needed someone with a 65nm chip for some tests. I'm still running a q6600 so if I can be of assistance let me know.

Yes, you can. I would like to see the results from the MSR test with a 65nm CPU.

Hi DrTeal
Yeah Alien Grey rocks the socks off. He posts a lot of useful information, not only on here, but on the ASUS forums too.
Alien Grey, you Rock

I think the test Alien was talking about was the BIOS BITS tool (A BIOS Implementation Test Suite released by intel to test the BIOS for any faults or programming inconsistencies).
You can download BITS here

Particular interest is the MSR test suite and the SMI Latency test.

We have found so far that us with Quad Core 45nm CPU's have 5 fails, those with Dual Core 45nm CPU's have 4 fails. I am curious (and I think Alien is too), to see if a 65nm fairs better, if so it may suggest that ASUS have been quite lazy with their BIOS programming and have not specifically programmed their BIOS for the 45nm CPU's, they have simply patched compatibility, but not gracefully.

John

I was thinking the same thing and I also wonder why the hell ASUS didn't already run the BIOS Implementation Test Suite and released a BIOS to fix the fails.

Apparently the problem is on CPU - degradation happened. Need to lower my overclock.

Hmm... It could be room temperature. At around 10° Celsius or lower my Q9650 can run stable at 4.22GHz with DDR 1250MHz. The failure starts at around 15° Celsius. I also know that around 25-30° Celsius it's going to fail Prime95 Blend at 4.05GHz.

The reason could be the MSR inconsistency and that's why I would like to see BIOS 0001 without the MSR fails.

[JohnZS]

Alien, do you also find that your CPU seems to require more voltage on this board than say... a different branded board?
I have temporarily stopped overclocking as I find my QX9650 seems to need a lot of juice, even for basic clock changes. I.e. x10 multi (3.33Ghz) wants you to lump in 1.32V....surely that is not right?!
There was a time when I could run @ 3.6Ghz (1600FSB) @ 1.36V But my NB could not handle this speed with 8GB. (not sufficiently as some games would always crap out, despite Linx, OCCT, PRIME, wPI etc being stable).
John

[m4gg0t]

Its time to upgrade guys. ASUS has drop support for us. I've moved on and so should you guys. Sadly but its the truth.

[Spyrus]

Lowered my overclock to 50 MHz (9x445) vs 9x450 and it passes LinX.
When i bought this CPU 3 years ago have it at 4.050MHz for 2 yrs@ 1.3V.
Last year without touching anything or change the bios (0902) needed to pump it to 1.31V
This year even with 1.34 cannot be 9x450. But with 9x445 and 1.31V (maybe lower i try that) it is ok.
PLL/FSBT at minimum (1.5./1.2) - i have benched at 4.5GHz by only raising Vcore + Vnb

[DrTeal]

Its time to upgrade guys. ASUS has drop support for us. I've moved on and so should you guys. Sadly but its the truth.

Are you willing to front the cash for my upgrade? I'm kind limited on spare money at the moment.

[DrTeal]

OK, here are my results with the Q6600 (at stock speed atm - not sure if that matters, turned it down when I was troubleshooting my vid card, BIOS 0902):

SMI Latency Test

Testing SMI latency...
Warning: touching the keyboard can affect the results of this test.
Starting pass #1.  Calibrating the TSC.
Starting pass #2.  Wait here, I will be back in 15 seconds.
0     < t <=     1us; average =   86ns; count = 173314353
  Times between first few observations:   153ns   116ns   104ns   93ns   97ns
100us < t <=     1ms; average =   762ns; count = 59
  Times between first few observations:   256ms   256ms   256ms   256ms   256ms

Summary of impact: observed maximum latency =   765us
SMI latency < 15us to minimize risk of OS timeouts FAIL
Risk of OS timeouts exists with this observed latency.
Summary: 0 passed, 1 failed

Does this mean I could get random crashed because of this? Haven't had problems like that before and I've owned this board since August 2008. Once I get things prime/linx stable I haven't been seeing random crashes.

MSR Consistency Test Suite:

Runing MSR consistency test suite...
(MSR 0x2a consistent):   FAIL (2 different values)
2 CPUs 0x0000000042480800:   0x0 0x1
2 CPUs 0x0000000042580800:   0x3 0x2
(MSR 0x40 consistent):   FAIL (3 different values
1 CPU 0x00000000cfec3b90:   0x0
1 CPU 0x00000000cfec3e63:   0x3
2 CPUs 0x00000000cfec373e:   0x1 ox2
(MSR 0x118 consistent):   FAIL (2 different values)
2 CPUs 0x00000000000e5a57:   0x0 0x1
2 CPUs 0x0000000000013ceb:   0x3 0x2
(MSR 0x19e consistent):   FAIL (2 different values)
2 CPUs 0x0000000006db0000:   0x0 0x1
2 CPUs 0x00000000091b0000:   0x3 0x2
(MSR 0x400 consistent):   FAIL (2 different values)
2 CPUs 0x0000000042480800:   0x0 0x1
2 CPUs 0x0000000042580800:   0x3 0x2
Summary: 4707 passed, 5 failed

Hmm... 5 fails so maybe its not a 65nm vs 45nm thing but a quads vs duals thing. Hope this info helps you guys out.

[leo27]

I'll send that result to ASUS since they do seem interested in fixing the BITS failures. The only issue is weather they are going to fix the problem on the Rampage Formula.

[JohnZS]

Interesting results DrTeal
Thanks for running the test. This suggests that ASUS have dropped the ball entirely as opposed to just dropping the ball...
I am curious now to see what Conroe (65nm dual core) results are.
John

[JohnZS]

Are you guys aware that ASUS started to work on EFI BIOS for their P45 boards and then "put the project on hold"?
Apparently an EFI BETA BIOS was released for the P5Q series board
Shame they never got around to releasing this for the Rampage Forumla and Rampage Extreme
John