**Official DFI LanParty UT 790FX-M2R Review/Overclock/Guide Thread**

[nanohead]

remember AOD shows yellow default for B3's and is fast, Red is even faster though.

regards the reapers im beta testing a new spd, im thinking of letting you and Campbell have a play with it to see what you think.

9750 and 8650X3 arrived today, more testing soon

Thanks Tony,

BTW, I duplicated precisely what Nico did over at TTR. (only real diff is my memory is A-Data DDR800 2x2g, but I also have a set of Crucial Ballistix PC8500 2x1g I may play with before my Reapers show up)

Same exact behavior Nico cites, whereby I cannot boot reliably into windows at multi 15, but need to use AOD to get it to 3Ghz via a 15 multi whence I'm already booted successfuly.

It appears that lowering the HT freq to 1.4Gh actually does something for stability.

There is something awry in the system in general, something out of balance (a tremor in the force) that needs to be ironed out. Not sure if its BIOS based, or something simply based on behavior of Phenom. The thing just doesn't feel right to me. BE 5000 was rock solid at 3.3Ghz. This Phenom thingy is out of reach at the moment in terms of consistency

There is a consistent inconsistency around performance. I'm having trouble getting repeatability with setup. Sometimes, it will boot fine with a 15 multi and a voltage boost to CPU. Other times, exact same settings will BSOD. Sometimes, AOD works, other times, it hangs the system completely. Smart Guardian is neither smart, nor a guardian, but its better than nothing I guess. And AOD for me at least, with SG loaded seems to conflict with Everest. I'm gonna ask Fiery at Lavalys if there is anything they've detected at the kernel driver level that is clashing with AOD.

I have to believe that our DFI friends will have to do some more work with Firmware vis-a-vis Phenom in general in order to iron out these inconsistencies. I imagine some core of the firmware comes from AMD anyway, and hopefully those guys are in the game also now that B3 is out.

If we could just get some consistency around labeling and terminology between AOD, BIOS, memory, and DFI SG, that would go a long way toward diagnosing and optimizing (CPU, CPU VDDC, CPU VID anyone?, mean different things to each piece of software)

[Brother Esau]

Thanks Tony,

BTW, I duplicated precisely what Nico did over at TTR. (only real diff is my memory is A-Data DDR800 2x2g, but I also have a set of Crucial Ballistix PC8500 2x1g I may play with before my Reapers show up)

Same exact behavior Nico cites, whereby I cannot boot reliably into windows at multi 15, but need to use AOD to get it to 3Ghz via a 15 multi whence I'm already booted successfuly.

It appears that lowering the HT freq to 1.4Gh actually does something for stability.

There is something awry in the system in general, something out of balance (a tremor in the force) that needs to be ironed out. Not sure if its BIOS based, or something simply based on behavior of Phenom. The thing just doesn't feel right to me. BE 5000 was rock solid at 3.3Ghz. This Phenom thingy is out of reach at the moment in terms of consistency

There is a consistent inconsistency around performance. I'm having trouble getting repeatability with setup. Sometimes, it will boot fine with a 15 multi and a voltage boost to CPU. Other times, exact same settings will BSOD. Sometimes, AOD works, other times, it hangs the system completely. Smart Guardian is neither smart, nor a guardian, but its better than nothing I guess. And AOD for me at least, with SG loaded seems to conflict with Everest. I'm gonna ask Fiery at Lavalys if there is anything they've detected at the kernel driver level that is clashing with AOD.




I have to believe that our DFI friends will have to do some more work with Firmware vis-a-vis Phenom in general in order to iron out these inconsistencies. I imagine some core of the firmware comes from AMD anyway, and hopefully those guys are in the game also now that B3 is out.

If we could just get some consistency around labeling and terminology between AOD, BIOS, memory, and DFI SG, that would go a long way toward diagnosing and optimizing (CPU, CPU VDDC, CPU VID anyone?, mean different things to each piece of software)

Hmmmmm..........Interesting I also notice something amiss with the X15 Multi myself! Glad you brought this up with the X15 Multi kinda not very friendly with that multi at all and noticed that the other day and this board most certainly Does Not do well on that Multiplier at all and serious boot issues do occur

DFI seriously need to pull the hooks out of their asses and get the proper AMD Overdrive support working with the Bios for it!!!!

[nanohead]

Its puzzling actually. The main issue I see with the whole system is consistency at this point. My gut (which is substantial ) is telling me that there is something awry inside AOD, maybe its the low level filter driver that loads at runtime... Dunno.

What I've noticed is that if I use AOD stability test, when I come out of it, and try to then go do something else in windows, the system will hang, and the screen will become distorted. But if I boot, don't use AOD for anything, the system behaves much more consistently. I also asked Fiery at Lavalys about AOD, plus I installed the 4.5 version just now, and it hasn't crashed yet.

I saw this same behavior with NTune and early NForce 590 boards. Actually, very few Nforce board partners prepared their BIOS so that NTune would work properly, with the possible exception of EVGA/Foxconn, who don't really do software at all.

[Brother Esau]

I would seriously avoid 2.0.17 ver of AMD Overdrive if I were you! Someone on dficlub said that AOD Version 2.0.14 works but have not tried that myself as of yet. Kinda AOD gun shy at this point!

[Rammsteiner]

Since a while I dont believe anymore in software OCíng. It's only usefull if you go with the very best, most unstable clocks and have to make 25 boot attempts to get one lucky shot and verify with CPU-Z.

Anyway, received my Phenom 9850BE. Stepping is this:
JAAFB AA 0810APBW
Im curious, although I got to solve some crap on my current hardware. Regarding this, Brother, please check your PM's.

[nanohead]

AOD 2.017 actually works pretty well now that I have a Phenom installed. It seems to do what it is supposed to do (whatever that is ) But I have very low expectations for it

There is definitely some tightening up that needs to be done with AOD and Genie, that could make it quite nice. I am wondering if AOD was some kind of AMD test product, that someone said "Hey, the modder crazies would love that thing"

Anyway, you just can't make this stuff up. So after the crashfest, that was this morning, I set the multi to 15 in BIOS, just for grins, as well as Nico's exact settings from his TTR post. Wouldnt ya know it, the thing ran perfectly, as long as no AOD. Also ran Everest 4.5 full on, and zero problems. No smart guardian either. Just vista, a couple of drivers for all my tidbits (Razer sound, CCC, Steam, etc) and everest 4.5.

The thing ran like a champ, ran Hellgate for 2 hours, no crashing, nutin. Just ran perfectly.

Now I'm gonna try a test. I shut the machine off, gonna let it cool down for a while, then try and restart it and see if it comes back to life like I left it, or if it will lose its marbles again. If it blows up again after a cold start, then there is some state somewhere that is getting lost or corrupted. Could be my install of windows thats messy after weeks of jerking around, dunno. I might pull another raptor off the shelf, and do a clean install and see what happens.

Fingers crossed

[Rammsteiner]

What's the best (beta) BIOS atm for M2R and Phenom B3 btw?

[Brother Esau]

What's the best (beta) BIOS atm for M2R and Phenom B3 btw?

Keep it to the basics if you want my help and install 1/30/08 Official please

[nanohead]

Well, remarkably, it decided to reboot, load windows and just run fine, after a 1 hour nap. Now I'm priming all 4 cores, and its doing dandy. And I though I was moody

Been at Prime for nearly an hour now. Go figure.

Maybe there was a bigfoot sighting in sioux falls

[nanohead]

Truly the Flake-O-Matic this thing. Prime all 4 cores perfectly for nearly 2 hours. Also played an hour of Hellgate before that. Thing ran perfectly.

Now, I restart, and BANG ... BSOD.

I'm thinking that Windows might need a lobotomy. Something important might have become corrupted deep down inside during all my shenanigans.

Gonna do a fresh install, but keep my existing disk untouched and see what happens

[nanohead]

OK. Here's the results of playing with this whole setup most of the day, aside from a flare up of reboot fatigue syndrome

The 9850BE seems to have no trouble running at 3Ghz all day. Its the DFI 790FX-M2R that seems to be having a schizophrenic time handling the 9850.

1. The system will consistently RUN at 3Ghz.
2. As Nico pointed out in his TTR post, it does NOT always like to BOOT to 3Ghz
3. I can get it to boot to 3Ghz by having CPU voltage set to 112.82%, yielding 1.45V, which is somewhat high, but not ridiculous (I'm on water, although I'd be dubious about doing this on air)
4. There is definite MISMATCH between AOD, Smart Guardian and Everest on many IMPORTANT readings to tweakers and modders. A variety of voltages are simply inconsistent
5. One PECULIAR item of note, is that I boot using the BIOS voltage setting of 112.82%, which yields 1.45-1.47 volts in SG and Everest. the MINUTE I start up AOD, the voltage DROPS to 1.38-1.39 in SG and Everest.
6. AOD definitely has value now with Phenom, but the BIOS and AOD do not agree. Voltages are clearly not the same in both.

All in all, my confidence with the Phenom is starting to grow. Its pretty obvious that more experience and testing is needed to further the development of Firmware for these motherboards, and to tighten up integration between AOD and BIOS.

Its clear to me that there is something that happens at boot time, that is different than run time as it relates to CPU state. My simple mind might drift towards there being some kind of voltage drop during boot up that causes the CPU to not be able to tolerate 3Ghz at bootstrap, causing BSODs. But after about a minute of steady state, the system runs just great and will Prime all night.

[Brother Esau]

Sounds like allot of you guys come out like a six shooter with this Phenom and board Not really the logical approach to doing this at all

Not that I put myself on a pedastal by saying this but.....why is it that I am at 2800mhz @ 1.23v and have yet to have a BSOD in over a weeks time with the Phenom? I can tell you all why because I am using my common sense with the way I approach this and I also realize that before you can walk you must crawl and so forth with the progressive order of things

You fellas need to slow down and keep in mind there is allot of unchartered territory with whats being done on this forum as well as others so at the risk of getting shunned for being practical and patient with this whole Phenom process just keep in mind if you blow you're up just remember I told you so.

[nanohead]

Sounds like allot of you guys come out like a six shooter with this Phenom and board Not really the logical approach to doing this at all

Not that I put myself on a pedastal by saying this but.....why is it that I am at 2800mhz @ 1.23v and have yet to have a BSOD in over a weeks time with the Phenom? I can tell you all why because I am using my common sense with the way I approach this and I also realize that before you can walk you must crawl and so forth with the progressive order of things

You fellas need to slow down and keep in mind there is allot of unchartered territory with whats being done on this forum as well as others so at the risk of getting shunned for being practical and patient with this whole Phenom process just keep in mind if you blow you're up just remember I told you so.

Huh All I was doing was posting a day's worth of testing observations. 2.8Ghz runs great for me too all day long, but I've been trying to figure out how to get 3Ghz to boot consistently, which it will not do, much as NicoOCZ has posted as well at TTR. Thats kinda all I wanted to show

[informal]

Heya Brother,glad to see you post about your 9850 .Call me crazy(not really ) but i'm with you on this random BSOD thing people are experiencing with Phenoms.

Anyhow,report your findings Brother(and all of you Phenom ppl ),i'm on the verge of buying one x50 chip for myself .

[Brother Esau]

I'm not trying to rain on anyones parade with what I said and its not directed to anyone in particular its just some words of advice spoken generally from personal observation is all I am not the King of overclock by any means but I also have never fried a Motherboard , CPU , or Ram for that matter and I get what allot of people get on allot less voltage then people with the same overclock. Do I plan on having this stuff for 5 years hell no! I have changed systems like 10 times just this past year But the fact is that I get what I want from what I have without sending it to the Electric Chair in the process and all of my stuff when sold and usually to members on the Forum here is all cherry and in Mint condition because I don't hit my stuff over the ass with high voltage.

I see allot or most on the entire forum Reaching for the Voltage with this more is better mindset and guess what generally happens? The point I am making with this Psycho Babble is that the Voltage is the last thing you should reach for and only after all else and available options have failed

[Brother Esau]

I need some verification on some stuff from Members that have Hitachi Drives

Oddest thing my DFI Expert Board has gone bye bye and need to get it RMA'ed so I decided to Run Hitachi Drive Fitness Test on all of My Hitachi Drives today or at least 4 of them anyway and what I found after a 2 1/2hr session of attempting to Run the tests on the Drives on both the SB600 & Silicon Image v=controller is that Hitachi Drive Fitness Test as well as my $100.00 SPIN RITE6 Program thatss the standard in the IT Induastry and Pinacle of HDD Testing Software cannot and will not acknowledge either onboard controller and refuses to see any of the Hitachi Drives ....$^%^%#@#$^&^&* F@$R$$T$ ing SB600 ...POS

Can anyone with a Hitachi Drive please verify this Finding with Hitachi Drive Fitness Test in DOS? Now I don't expect any of you to own SpinRite6 as it costs $100.00 for the HDD testing Program vs the "FREE" H.D.F.T

[GenTarkin]

are you just looking for another testing program that sees the drives....brother esau??
If so, I would recommend MHDD one of the most comprehensive free testing programs out there, it runs in DOS...its one of the many testing HDD tools on the ultimate boot CD...dos version I think its 4.1.1 right now.
Its awesome in my experience and it should be able to see your drives.

[Jaivan]

@nanohead: I had problems running at x15 multi too in order to get it to boot stable I needed almost .5v more for a total of 1.44v (still testing ~19h running BOINC) when at x14.5 multi I only needed 1.39 for it to be stable (~28h running BOINC).

Anything higher than x15 multi is a no go though tested until 1.525v in BIOS and it would boot until the windows orb and then BSOD.

I think that i'll try some HTT overclocking a little later just want to "break-in" my phenom right now.

[Brother Esau]

are you just looking for another testing program that sees the drives....brother esau??
If so, I would recommend MHDD one of the most comprehensive free testing programs out there, it runs in DOS...its one of the many testing HDD tools on the ultimate boot CD...dos version I think its 4.1.1 right now.
Its awesome in my experience and it should be able to see your drives.

Actually no that was not my intention as I have the Best HDD Diagnostic proram there is. What I am looking for is someone to verify on there end with a Hitachi drive that Hitachi Drive Fitness Test Does Not work on the controllers on this Motherboard, Raid Controllers such as mine are not supported by anything as far as I know for HDD Diagnostic Testing and you always have to use the one of the onboard ports for doing diagnostics with HDD's that reside on Dedicated Hardware Raid Controllers

[Final8ty]

Things are looking up today. got 4 hours Orthos stable on my 6400BE @ 3520 1.425v which would fail before.

see if i can out do Brother Esau 6400Be which was been passed on i see.
15 mins into Orthos @ 3550 1.425v ATM

[Oese]

you don't even have a chance! i got hands on a corsair dhx set yesterday and will be flying 3600mhz in a few hours...

[Final8ty]

you don't even have a chance! i got hands on a corsair dhx set yesterday and will be flying 3600mhz in a few hours...

LOL bring it on man

[Oese]

OK perhaps a few days would have been more accurate...

[Final8ty]

OK Orthos @ 3550 1.425v failed 25mins

[Final8ty]

Cant see my sig ?
Rrright v