ASUS Maximus Formula SE

[Warboy]

Well, that's it. I think I'm going to just take this entire worthless pile of silicon outside and smash it to ing pieces with a hammer. I can't take this bull anymore, it's just too much.

I have tried everything from adding extra cooling, to trying every bios known to man, to replacing the CPU, RMA'ing the board, replacing the RAM, replacing the PSU, reformatting Vista multiple times, and pumping tons of volts through everything.

I CAN NOT get this board stable, it is impossible. Last night I got OCCT to run for over 8 hours without any errors. I was so relieved, I thought that perhaps my troubles were finally over. Nope.

Now I'm getting errors in Memtest within the first pass... Everytime... Even though I'm running the memory completely at stock settings (400 mhz, 4-4-4-12). And yes, I'm giving it the full 2.2v too (it's Ballistix).

I can't take this anymore. I have spent well over $1000 trying to get my computer to work right over the last 4 months, and I thought that with this motherboard all that would end. Well, I RMA'd the first one and this is my second and everything is still ed up. I'm completely at the end of my rope.

At this point it looks like I'll just have to abandon the entire computer and give up. There goes $2700 straight down the drain, weeee!

.......I have nothing to say to these post.

Like its said...You can't help the ones that will not accept the help.

[Renegade5399]

Well, that's it. I think I'm going to just take this entire worthless pile of silicon outside and smash it to ing pieces with a hammer. I can't take this bull anymore, it's just too much.

I have tried everything from adding extra cooling, to trying every bios known to man, to replacing the CPU, RMA'ing the board, replacing the RAM, replacing the PSU, reformatting Vista multiple times, and pumping tons of volts through everything.

I CAN NOT get this board stable, it is impossible. Last night I got OCCT to run for over 8 hours without any errors. I was so relieved, I thought that perhaps my troubles were finally over. Nope.

Now I'm getting errors in Memtest within the first pass... Everytime... Even though I'm running the memory completely at stock settings (400 mhz, 4-4-4-12). And yes, I'm giving it the full 2.2v too (it's Ballistix).

I can't take this anymore. I have spent well over $1000 trying to get my computer to work right over the last 4 months, and I thought that with this motherboard all that would end. Well, I RMA'd the first one and this is my second and everything is still ed up. I'm completely at the end of my rope.

At this point it looks like I'll just have to abandon the entire computer and give up. There goes $2700 straight down the drain, weeee!

My world became bright and shiny when I switched to OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066's. This board ate my Ballistix too. They are one the way back from RMA now. I bought the Reapers just to try something different and haven't had one issue.

[Sly Fox]

.......I have nothing to say to these post.

Like its said...You can't help the ones that will not accept the help.

If you'd like to offer me some help I would be more than happy to receive it, and most appreciative of it as well. However, thus far despite countless hours searching Google and reading damn near every page in this thread, I have been completely SOL.

I'm just so unbelievably frustrated right now, you have to understand. I've poured such an immense amount of money and time into this rig, and it just does not work period.

[Warboy]

If you'd like to offer me some help I would be more than happy to receive it, and most appreciative of it as well. However, thus far despite countless hours searching Google and reading damn near every page in this thread, I have been completely SOL.

I'm just so unbelievably frustrated right now, you have to understand. I've poured such an immense amount of money and time into this rig, and it just does not work period.

Well, I dump around 300 dollars into my rig every single month.

Do me a fav, tell me the CPU your trying to push and what stepping it is.

[Sly Fox]

My world became bright and shiny when I switched to OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066's. This board ate my Ballistix too. They are one the way back from RMA now. I bought the Reapers just to try something different and haven't had one issue.

I had some DDR2 800 G.SKILL in prior to buying the Ballistix last night. It was getting errors in memtest so I assumed it was simply somewhat faulty. However having now spent $200 + tax on the Ballistix and still getting errors... It's just rather infuriating.

I don't mean to come off as a raving lunatic, but at the moment I feel like my blood pressure is through the roof. Sorry.

[Warboy]

I had some DDR2 800 G.SKILL in prior to buying the Ballistix last night. It was getting errors in memtest so I assumed it was simply somewhat faulty. However having now spent $200 + tax on the Ballistix and still getting errors... It's just rather infuriating.

I don't mean to come off as a raving lunatic, but at the moment I feel like my blood pressure is through the roof. Sorry.

Well lets try to work these out, I'm going to talk to you on AIM, is that cool?

[Sly Fox]

Well, I dump around 300 dollars into my rig every single month.

Do me a fav, tell me the CPU your trying to push and what stepping it is.

Granted, but you do probably have a better income than I do . Being a poor college student doesn't make constantly replacing PC parts all that easy.

Anyways, enough of my moaning.

The CPU is a G0 Q6600.

The RAM is 4X 1 gb DDR2 800 Crucial Ballistix.

PSU is 700 watt OCZ

I'm running 0802 bios on the Maximus right now, but I've also tried 0401, 0505, 0602, and 0701.

[Sly Fox]

Well lets try to work these out, I'm going to talk to you on AIM, is that cool?

AIM would be great, I'm having a bit of a problem with my internet right now it seems, but I'm going to reset the router.

[ChaosMinionX]

Went back to 0802.... 0901 didnt seem stable to me after running it for a bit, passed memtest/Prime95 but something didnt seem right about it. Would get random booting issues, vista wouldnt load sometimes, would lose RAM settings in this order .... failed OC type no boot (DETDRAM) then turn off ----- power on, power off (to change settings to something bootable) and after the first double boot it does on a failed OC it resets again, and I have to use a cheap stick of DDR2 to boot again.

[Warboy]

Went back to 0802.... 0901 didnt seem stable to me after running it for a bit, passed memtest/Prime95 but something didnt seem right about it. Would get random booting issues, vista wouldnt load sometimes, would lose RAM settings in this order .... failed OC type no boot (DETDRAM) then turn off ----- power on, power off (to change settings to something bootable) and after the first double boot it does on a failed OC it resets again, and I have to use a cheap stick of DDR2 to boot again.

Maybe I should try 0802 with my OC of 440x9 again. Because, my system rebooted when i was sleeping and got stuck at "DET MEM"

[Sly Fox]

My internet is running now. Slowly... But it is working right now. Hopefully it doesn't disconnect from AIM, I'm on now though.

[kup]

Maybe I should try 0802 with my OC of 440x9 again. Because, my system rebooted when i was sleeping and got stuck at "DET MEM"

If 440x9 is definitely unstable and the only change is Bios 0901 then it couldn't hurt to go back to Bios 0802 and give it a try? I'm on Bios 0901 and I like it, but I too have lost some stability.

Cooling the Northbridge with an 80mm fan has done the world of good for my board though, much more receptive to voltage and FSB changes now, in a good way!

Oh, does anyone know if using my GFX in the lower 16x slot would change much? Is the top slot controlled by the North Bridge and the lower by the South Bridge? Or are they both on the North Bridge?

[Warboy]

My internet is running now. Slowly... But it is working right now. Hopefully it doesn't disconnect from AIM, I'm on now though.

alright, if you can, can you shoot me a message on aim, I can't add you for some reason.

[Warboy]

If 440x9 is definitely unstable and the only change is Bios 0901 then it couldn't hurt to go back to Bios 0802 and give it a try? I'm on Bios 0901 and I like it, but I too have lost some stability.

Cooling the Northbridge with an 80mm fan has done the world of good for my board though, much more receptive to voltage and FSB changes now, in a good way!

Oh, does anyone know if using my GFX in the lower 16x slot would change much? Is the top slot controlled by the North Bridge and the lower by the South Bridge? Or are they both on the North Bridge?

The lower 16x is just fine, I'm using it right now.

[NoobCake]

hey guys, i am wanting to get a new board, and looking at this board to buy, but reviews say its not that good for ddr2, and a blitz formula is a much wiser choice. What do you guys think?

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...and_extreme/15

[devilhood]

Went back to 0802.... 0901 didnt seem stable to me after running it for a bit, passed memtest/Prime95 but something didnt seem right about it. Would get random booting issues, vista wouldnt load sometimes, would lose RAM settings in this order .... failed OC type no boot (DETDRAM) then turn off ----- power on, power off (to change settings to something bootable) and after the first double boot it does on a failed OC it resets again, and I have to use a cheap stick of DDR2 to boot again.

I haven't had any of those issues with 0901 so far... but I did have similar problems to what you describe with 0701.

[Warboy]

hey guys, i am wanting to get a new board, and looking at this board to buy, but reviews say its not that good for ddr2, and a blitz formula is a much wiser choice. What do you guys think?

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...and_extreme/15

If you can find a blitz, It might be a better deal, But If you wanna stick with a X38 Chipset and see where it leads, Grab a Maximus.

[Nuckin_Futs]

Great idea lets all RMA our boards.

Then when the price is doubled on the next version we all know why it's because we RMA mobo's just because we want a new revision.

I got the same rev. 1.02 G and baught new in store, @ Fry's Electronics in CA, USA on 10-11-07.

ASUS has changed such items as caps, plugs, and sinks without notice and doesn't usually count as a major rev. difference unless it directly effects the performance, such as newer chipset and ic revisions. So I don't see anything to support this new revision noted as "V2".

If you RMA later on down the road, then yes, you'd likely get the current rev of the same model as "SE" Not likely anything else (such as an "E", "E Deluxe", "E" Premum etc. or eledged "V2").

[Grnfinger]

I have been reading this thread for about a week now, have tried many different setting 425x8 is the best I can do
I run these settings all day long stable

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 425
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1133
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (S) : AUTO
Read to Read Delay (D) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (S) : AUTO
Write to Write Delay (D) : AUTO
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
Ai Clock Twister : Strong
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : 1.450
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.61
DRAM Voltage : 1.98
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.40
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : Auto
North Bridge GTL Reference : Auto
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

NB LED Selection : NB Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU VOlt
Voltiminder LED : Disabled

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Advanced CPU Configuration
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
C1E Suppport : Disabled
CPU TM Function : Enabled
Vanderpool Technology : Disabled
Execute Disable Bit : Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled


USB Configuration
USB Functions: Enabled
Legacy USB Support : Disabled


I would really like to get to 3.6, perhaps someone could offer alittle insight as to where I need to focus, everything I try I either cant boot to Vista or I cant post at all

My specs are

Asus Maximus Formula SE bios 802
Q6600
2GB Corsair Dominator PC8500 5-5-5-15-2T
Corsair 620HX
BFG 8800GTS
Everything is watercooled ( cpu, gpu, north and south )
Vista Ultimate x86

[CERO]

I get really mixed feelings, I can get the Maximus Non-SE and the SE for a good price but I want to run 4GB , I got already some nice Ballistix , but should I buy another pair or grab some G.Skill 8000 4GB kit? Is it really bad the ballistix on this board :X, I mean I can do 1200 5-5-5-12 @ 2.05v and 1175 @ 5-5-4-9 @ 2.05v.@ P5K deluxe all day stable. I know running 4GB is a different story.

[Budwise]

this board runs Ballistix just fine... I dont know of any boards who really dislike D9, but if there are any i would stay clear. Im running 4X1Gb of the Ballistix PC8500 and am not having any problems...

[safan80]

my B3 doesn't like anything above 3.6Ghz. even if I try 1.65vcore I can't get 3.7Ghz stable in any combination. I can at least post at 4.0Ghz in many different combinations which is something I couldn't do on my p5k deluxe with this chip. most of the ratios seem to work with 0901 which is good. now if they'd fix the areca bios issue. Here's a vista x64 1M superpi. I wonder how a yorkfield will work

[TheSamurai]

RENEGADE5399, thanks for the settings. i'll try it out and see what i can do!!

[ElEctric_EyE]

Wow, this is indeed the mother of all threads. I am just assembling my system now, hope to mildly OC to maybe 9 x 400/425 on air.
One thing I learned while installing Vista64... DO NOT INSTALL EPU DRIVERS OR THE AI SUITE from the disk that comes with the MoBo. It turns your keyboard into a lethal weapon, causing numerous applications to freeze up in Vista. Go to the ASUS website, and find the latest AI Suite there (version 15, I think). I have come across a few posts in this forum from other users who have encountered this problem, but it definitely merits repeating because I was stumped for two days trying to figure out what was happening.

I had the same prob, I thought it cuold've been alot of things, I finally decided to install one program at a time and finally got to the EPU drivers then typing on the keyboard would lock the system up tight. You're not the only 1!

[ElEctric_EyE]

RENEGADE5399, thanks for the settings. i'll try it out and see what i can do!!

Ditto, thanks alot for that. I'm on 0901 and some basic 1st time OC settings I've had on 0401 don't seem to work in 0901. Gonna try some more tonight and tomorrow...