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

[RobinL]

Can someone help me? I can't get the cpu much higher.

I've iam trying @329mhz the system freezing.

What did i already tried?

Cpu voltage on 1.3volt
Higer NB Core voltage on 1.4 and 1.5 doesn`t work
Cpu PLL on 1.55 volt doesnt work
Cpu VTT volt on 1.3volt doesnt work.
South bridge Core on 1.55 doesnt work
Lower Multiplier (8) doesn`t work.
The new 1001 beta bios doesn't give me more preformance.

[Webrider]

asp6000 ok i have seen my boad boot back up, I didn't understand what I was seeing. That makes sense now. Thanks for the help.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Can someone help me? I can't get the cpu much higher.

I've iam trying @329mhz the system freezing.

What did i already tried?

Cpu voltage on 1.3volt
Higer NB Core voltage on 1.4 and 1.5 doesn`t work
Cpu PLL on 1.55 volt doesnt work
Cpu VTT volt on 1.3volt doesnt work.
South bridge Core on 1.55 doesnt work
Lower Multiplier (8) doesn`t work.
The new 1001 beta bios doesn't give me more preformance.

What chip do you have?

If you have an e8400, you will need 1.4v VTT and 1.6v PLL.

At least mine did, also needed 1.5volts on the NB.

Also, set CPU GTL to 30mv, and NB GTL to 30mv. Set Mem controller to +30mv, and DDR channel I and channel II to DDR_REF.

Also, disable load line calibration, and set HTT voltage to 1.3v.

[Webrider]

Does anyone use Ntune app?

Westside your setup is very close to mine, what are your settings and how fast have you got your 8400 ?

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Does anyone use Ntune app?

Westside your setup is very close to mine, what are your settings and how fast have you got your 8400 ?

I run 450x9=4050mhz.

Once I set fsb higher than 1800 it takes a HUGE hit in mem performance.

I've ran my chip up to around 4.35 stable though.

I use the settings listed above.

Just to note, 45nm chips DO degrade, i used to run 450fsbx9 with 1.4vcore (actual much lower) but then i ran 1.575v trying to get 4.5ghz stable, and now i need 1.475vcore to run 450x9.

These chips are held back by the 780i chip.

[asp6000]

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Scores a lil bit low. But that could be Vista.

Knock your FSB back to an even 1800(450).

Once you pass 1800fsb, the mem controller goes to hell, and latency shoots up by about 30%.

So far there isn't a way to get around it.

Bench 450x9, and I bet your system will feel more responsive, and bench better than 452x9.

Also, see if you can set your TWTR to 8. This greatly improves mem copy performance. Going from auto to 8 gained me 600mb/s in copy speed. Also try to get TRC and TRFC to 26 and 32. Changing those three timings alone gained me 900mb/s copy at ddr1200 5-4-3-18.

Went from 8000mb/s to 8900mb/s. While read and write speed remained fairly the same.



EDIT:

Here is my best at 450x9.

My GT's were clocked at 700/1000

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=5230043

[Jeremy617]

What chip do you have?

If you have an e8400, you will need 1.4v VTT and 1.6v PLL.

At least mine did, also needed 1.5volts on the NB.

Also, set CPU GTL to 30mv, and NB GTL to 30mv. Set Mem controller to +30mv, and DDR channel I and channel II to DDR_REF.

Also, disable load line calibration, and set HTT voltage to 1.3v.

Thats alot of extra voltage.... I'd say test each out yourself carefully, theres a fairly big variance in these boards I guess. For 500x8 I only need 1.3v NB 1.3v VTT 1.3v CPU, everything else is stock. ( It's linpack 64 stable)

[polar bear]

Thanx for posting your settings, WeStSiDePLaYa.

I cannot run my E6600 higher than 3756 (417*9). Seems to be limited by heat output as Vcore=1.58250 is required to go higher. This again leads to temp>82 degress and throttling. Probably this chip has reached its limit - it has served well though for 1.5 years and perhaps degraded some even which could explain the massive voltage required to hit 3800.

Thinking to make the switch to 45nm, but so far unsure what chip would best complement the 780i chipset. Initially thinking to get the QX9650 as I thought an unlocked multiplier would fare well as FSB can be kept lower - as we know this chipset is severely limited by FSB wall.

Still - tried the Q6600 and couldnt go higher than 3200. Not sure if this would be the same with the Penryn quads though (quad limitation in general in combination with 780i?).

The alternative is E8400 which is due to arrive in about 1 week in my country. Any suggestions?

Also - anyone else running 3-sli here? Seems that there is some scaling issue currently in 3DMark06 as only additional 400 is gained going from 2 to 3-SLI.

[nuclearjock]

Also, see if you can set your TWTR to 8. This greatly improves mem copy performance. Going from auto to 8 gained me 600mb/s in copy speed. Also try to get TRC and TRFC to 26 and 32. Changing those three timings alone gained me 900mb/s copy at ddr1200 5-4-3-18.

Went from 8000mb/s to 8900mb/s. While read and write speed remained fairly the same.



EDIT:

Here is my best at 450x9.

My GT's were clocked at 700/1000

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=5230043

Dude!!

I have OCZ FLEX XLC 1150 I was running @5-5-5-12 2T all subs [AUTO].

Dialed in your subs recommended above and -> 5-4-3-18.

Dude, you rock...

Passed memtest no probs, bandwidth (Sisoft) ~8700 -> ~9000

But system seems alot "snappier". I never had the patience to mess with the sub timings before. Tried these and they WORKED.

You da man...

[Webrider]

alright I have a very stupid question. In AI boost you raise the cpu clock, that I understand, What is the cpu clock called in BIOS? spp<->mcpRefclock?
I tried raising the multiplier to 10 it won't take guess it's locked? E8400.

[Linchpin]

What do you mean entered a number into the CMOS?

[Mhill2029]

H guys,

Could someone give me some info on getting my Quad to around 3.2Ghz using an 8x Multi? I don't want super high overclocks as i'll be picking up a Q9550 at some point. See system in sig. Thanks.

[Mhill2029]

Erm my post seems to have gone to the start of the thread.

[Linchpin]

What exactly did you change?

[Webrider]

alright I have a very stupid question. In AI boost you raise the cpu clock, that I understand, What is the cpu clock called in BIOS? spp<->mcpRefclock?
I tried raising the multiplier to 10 it won't take guess it's locked? E8400.
What do I raise in BIOS to act like the cpu clock in AI boost, is it the FSB speed 1333, does that back into the cpu clock speed?

[polar bear]

OK, first overclocking is not complicated but you still have to do some reading on the subject; have you read some introductory guides? Here's a few good ones:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...&enterthread=y

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...beginners.html

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...s-p5k-add.html

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=115765

But anyways here's a quick guide to get you up and running. First of all you need to keep in mind:

CPU clock freq. = FSB (front side bus) x multiplier.

For all but the xtreme editions of C2D/C2Q, the multiplier is locked, usually above 9 (like with E8400), depending on the processor. This means that if you want to overclock the CPU freq., you need to raise the front side bus. E.g. for 3600MHz you want to raise FSB to 400 which gives 400*9=3600. Alternatively, you can use 450*8 but in general overclocking gets harder and harder the higher the FSB becomes (especially with the striker ii lol!). Hence, it is easier to OC extreme edition CPUs as you can keep the FSB lower and instead raise the multiplier above 9, but you also pay a massive price premium for this!

Actually, as the FSB for C2D/C2Q CPUs is "quad-pumped" (QDR), the actual front side bus clock in the BIOS is sometimes listed as 4*FSB i.e for FSB 400 you actually need to enter FSB (QDR) = 1600 MHz in the striker ii bios.

You do this under "extreme tweaker"; first set "ai overclock tuner" to manual. Then enter "FSB and memory config" and set the desired FSB (QDR).

For FSB (QDR) = 1333 as you mention, you get a CPU freq. of 3000MHz if you leave the multiplier alone (default=9). Get it?

You also have to set the memory clock, and i recommend if you are a beginner you set this independent from the FSB i.e. use "unlinked" then choose the native clock frequency of your memory, e.g. 1066MHz for DDR2-8500.

You can also set the memory timings (and also CPU multiplier) under "overclocking". Either set the default memory timings e.g. 5-5-5-12 (as listed by your memory manufacturer) or if you are unsure just set to "auto". As for the "command per clock" it's probably best to leave this one to auto. The advanced memory timings are better left alone except for advanced users...

There is more - much more! Hope this helps clarify things a little. Read through some of these guides then if you still have issues post them here. Good luck!

[Webrider]

Thanks Polar Bear, Crystal clear, I was confused with the fsb (QDR) = 1333 which makes sense. CPU clock in AI bios is 333 = 333x4 = 1333fsb(QDR) or 333 x 9 for 3ghz cpu clock speed. You also explained why my multiplier is locked. I'm good to go now. I want a modest overclock where I don't have to do much with voltages. I will wait for a faster processor when the prices drop a bit. Thanks West side for the memory timings, they worked with no modifications to voltages necessary. Guess I could push them a bit since I am not going as high as you did with the frequency. The guides are a great help.

[polar bear]

Thanks Polar Bear, Crystal clear, I was confused with the fsb (QDR) = 1333 which makes sense. CPU clock in AI bios is 333 = 333x4 = 1333fsb(QDR) or 333 x 9 for 3ghz cpu clock speed. You also explained why my multiplier is locked. I'm good to go now. I want a modest overclock where I don't have to do much with voltages. I will wait for a faster processor when the prices drop a bit. Thanks West side for the memory timings, they worked with no modifications to voltages necessary. Guess I could push them a bit since I am not going as high as you did with the frequency. The guides are a great help.

Great. I guess to reach 3000 you should be able to leave all voltage settings on auto. As you go higher you often have to bother with only Vcore and V_NB. I know that every chip is different, but I have my E6600 stable at 3600 (400*9) with all voltages to auto.

[nuclearjock]

Does anyone know what the three on board temperature sensors,
2-pin opt_temp 1/2/3 are for?? what do they monitor??

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Does anyone know what the three on board temperature sensors,
2-pin opt_temp 1/2/3 are for?? what do they monitor??

The monitor anything you want. Because you hook up temp sensors to them, and then place them wherever.

[asp6000]

Scores a lil bit low. But that could be Vista.

Knock your FSB back to an even 1800(450).

Once you pass 1800fsb, the mem controller goes to hell, and latency shoots up by about 30%.

So far there isn't a way to get around it.

Bench 450x9, and I bet your system will feel more responsive, and bench better than 452x9.

Also, see if you can set your TWTR to 8. This greatly improves mem copy performance. Going from auto to 8 gained me 600mb/s in copy speed. Also try to get TRC and TRFC to 26 and 32. Changing those three timings alone gained me 900mb/s copy at ddr1200 5-4-3-18.

Went from 8000mb/s to 8900mb/s. While read and write speed remained fairly the same.



EDIT:

Here is my best at 450x9.

My GT's were clocked at 700/1000

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=5230043

anything between 1730 and 1803-ish and either i get no post or windows kernal start-up error.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

anything between 1730 and 1803-ish and either i get no post or windows kernal start-up error.

Really?

I think it might be mem related then.

Since over 1800, the mem controlled really relaxes itself, and then that is why the big performance drop.

Maybe the mem controller can't handle 4gb well.

Have you tried just one 2gb stick? or 2x1gb sticks at 1800?

[bingo13]

Really?

I think it might be mem related then.

Since over 1800, the mem controlled really relaxes itself, and then that is why the big performance drop.

Maybe the mem controller can't handle 4gb well.

Have you tried just one 2gb stick? or 2x1gb sticks at 1800?

Memory controller handles 8GB just fine - 8GB Results - key is to run in sync mode, keep voltages under control, and do not go above 450FSB as stated.

[RAID]

could any kentsfield quad users post their settings / voltages?