The Maximus Formula Thread - Help/OCing/Guide/Rampage conversion

[Grnfinger]

Thanks for the template Zen,
Going to test them shortly.

[Dynacore]

Installed a rampage formula last week, must say I really like the board so far. Got my E6850 running at 3,6 (9x400 / 1,42v) which wasn't possible with the P5N32-e SLI plus I had before. Of course nothing extreme, but my pc6400 OCZ memory won't even OC if I buy a separate dieselpowergenerator and hook em up to that.
Still running stock bios so far, thinking about upgrading but satisfied for now, maybe when i get some faster mem and a 45nm CPU :P
Does enabling loadline calibration function really drop de vdroop? Read about being carefull with it on 45nm cpu's. Also applied to VTT voltage I believe...
Dont know about my 6850?
Also wondering if setting the command rate to 1 could help improve some performance, some reviews say it's mostly totally stable. But I remember earlier intel chipsets didn't really like/support it.

Anyway, will be following this thread closely...

[aicjofs]

i will update the pics with full timings etc when i get off work if you want more proof. the everst play was taken into account, 0308 is clearly faster.

Oh I'm not doubting you at all, wasn't meant like that...I don't need proof just clarifying what we are seeing. i.e I notcied one of the 5 or so settings I leave auto had a different default which did affect memory performance, if you were using anything auto that could have explained the difference, but since you clarified you are on manual for everything I got all the info needed.

[ZenEffect]

Oh I'm not doubting you at all, wasn't meant like that...I don't need proof just clarifying what we are seeing. i.e I notcied one of the 5 or so settings I leave auto had a different default which did affect memory performance, if you were using anything auto that could have explained the difference, but since you clarified you are on manual for everything I got all the info needed.

i didnt mean it like that i thought you were doubting me. i should post the pics up anyways so its very clear to see.

*edited*

0401


0308

same exact settings in bios. you are right, tref changed

[Grnfinger]

Priming now while it sits on my desk, cutting up my case now for the second rad

[ZenEffect]

Priming now while it sits on my desk, cutting up my case now for the second rad

very nice.

but once again... bandwidth. what gives?



im on performance level 6, no pull ins. for the $45 i spent on this ram, i got one great deal me thinks.

[Grnfinger]

very nice.

but once again... bandwidth. what gives?



im on performance level 6, no pull ins. for the $45 i spent on this ram, i got one great deal me thinks.

I have PL 7 atm and running bios 401 so that could account for the bandwidth issues.
I will adjust to PL6 shortly, I'm trying to drop a few volts NB and FSBT

And I gotta run to Home Depot and grab some down cut blades for my jig saw, the up cut blades are leaving some burs I'm not overly pleased about.
Yes I'm too freaking lazy to file the burs down

[ZenEffect]

I have PL 7 atm and running bios 401 so that could account for the bandwidth issues.
I will adjust to PL6 shortly, I'm trying to drop a few volts NB and FSBT

And I gotta run to Home Depot and grab some down cut blades for my jig saw, the up cut blades are leaving some burs I'm not overly pleased about.
Yes I'm too freaking lazy to file the burs down

i see. im on 0401 just to test the differences between the 2 again. this time taking proper screen shots. the settings i sent you were done on 0308, 0401 is a performance hit. they probably relaxed some timings you cant set in bios to make the motherboard 2x2gig friendly.

[Grnfinger]

This quad with bios 308 dosent seem to like high FSB, 401 on the other hand will hit 508FSB on the 8 multi.
anything above 440FSB with bios 308 and the quad would not post with not matter what volts I gave it, now I have a golden 8400 chip sitting here collecting dust......to sell it or build another rig to fold or something

[Nuckin_Futs]

any body test S3 in any bETA afet 1004? And especially for the hack Rampage ones? Does the Rampage offer everything the Maximus had, such as auxilery probe headers to be detected by C prove II? Does it do anything better for the "Real world" daily used stuff like setting in PC Probe set up and monitoring? Since our Maximus had no eSATA or Wi-Fi, does it still show up in the hacked BIOS or just greyed out? Does it do anything for OS and software performance?

I see so much mention of RF bETA being faster. Faster where? What apps will show it's gains, "excluding" synthetic benchmarks? Can we see results improvements in transcoding as in autoGK DVD Vob/Ifo to Xvid compression? is it significantly less like minutes, or just seconds? Same given file and profile? What about quicker loading or RAID disc array and program start ups and entering and resuming of S4?

Does S3/STR work in any of the Rampage BETA's or finals for the Maximus? And before somebody blabs out "Who uses...?" YES, I and many others, actually use ACPI features and especially S3/S4. Here in the states, energy is not free, nore is our time or PC components, so getting in and out of the PC is essential for real world daily use. I have no need nor any desire to leave my PC in full throttle 24/7 365 days (if it last that long) for a higher core. I ask these questions as for myself and others, some of us will actually end up sing our overclocked PC for work or personal business.

[eternaljammer]

I just bought on of these boards today! Hmmm. I can't wait to check it out. I hope the Ups guy hurries!

[yobi]

new beta bios for MF 1201
ftp://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/s...ximus_Formula/

[Nuckin_Futs]

Who has tested the effects of the Static Read Control in more depth? I tested just yested ay again but in actual aps in use for editing. and Disabled it. Now I didnt run any kind of RAM test to confirm. What Windows based app is best for checking RAM for read write and overall performance with Windos and apps? I did notice, not sure if it had to do with Disabling Static Read, but I got several Windows Delay erros and cannot save errors. I actuall just lost 1 scratch drive. I am now back to Enabled. till I learn more. Remember, I am speaking of FSB of 480 min up to 525. So is this something spacific to the FSB and chipset internal timings as a given strap? I am 333 strap since I can use 266 in this BIOS 9BETA v1004).

@Nuckin_Futs:

At what Voltage do you get 8 x 475 stable??

For the E6600, was somewhere close to 1.50 w/ PLL to 1.63v and FSBT to 1.47.

[masska]

masska - what do you have your ballistix clocked to ? My 6400 errors badly at anything over 400 , so I got some team extreem 6400 which raised my clock ceiling to around 445mhz before they error badly too . I have some team 1066 on the way but Im starting to think my mobo is stuffed.

I hear ya,memtest returned more than 400 errors for me. Played arround with timings for ages with these sticks and nearly did my head in. Are yours Tracers, I didn't notice.
These are the settings that worked the best for me;
DRAM Frequency: [800]
DRAM Command Rate: [2T]
DRAM Timing Control: [Manual]
CAS# Latency: [5]
RAS# to CAS Delay: [5]
RAS# Precharge: [5]
RAS# Active Time: [15]
DRAM Voltage: [2.20v]

Everything else was left to auto.Ran and stressed fine for a while, then they died.I'm still waiting for the returns.Yesterday I was speaking to the guy from Crucial and after a long discussion about the issues these sticks have with the Maximus, he recommended to replace my sticks with 5300's.I told him 'no way'. He basically admited there has been a lot of issues with x38 and Maximus and that it was due to an incompatible bios. After all that he then went on to say that he would replace my red tracers with the black ones, as they have slightly lower lat. It doesnt make any sense to me because on their website specs, they are both the same.
Also just before mine RIPIECES, did a validation http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=349653 (check out slot 3).
Something dodgy going on here

[ZenEffect]

This quad with bios 308 dosent seem to like high FSB, 401 on the other hand will hit 508FSB on the 8 multi.
anything above 440FSB with bios 308 and the quad would not post with not matter what volts I gave it, now I have a golden 8400 chip sitting here collecting dust......to sell it or build another rig to fold or something

hmm. 0308 wont do 477 on my rig... perhaps i should give 0401 another try.

[Grnfinger]

hmm. 0308 wont do 477 on my rig... perhaps i should give 0401 another try.

I find 401 ALOT better bios than 308, I might toss my 8400 back in for fun tonight and see what the max is, I'll compare bandwidth shortly.
seems I might be a few inches short of tubing

[ghost_recon88]

So clock for clock BIOS 0308 is faster then 0401? However in terms of overclocking, 0401 is better?

[theonlybabyface]

i didnt mean it like that i thought you were doubting me. i should post the pics up anyways so its very clear to see.

*edited*

0401


0308

same exact settings in bios. you are right, tref changed

tREF is different in both examples though. That would explain any differences in bandwidth wouldn't it?

[cadaveca]

Makes 45nm quad FSB better, anyway.

[aicjofs]

tREF is different in both examples though. That would explain any differences in bandwidth wouldn't it?

That's what I was saying here:

Is it really faster? or is it that they just changed some of the "auto" timings to different defaults?


I have almost all of my timings set manually, but I did notice Tref changed default from 16383 to 3120 for example when moving from 308 to 401

However I used memset to change it back and it still wasn't quite as fast as before. Should have Zen change his Tref back and see his results.

[chawks2]

Not sure if anyone can help me out, but figured I would shout out.

Fridged my MF to take the stock cooler off, but in the process appears to have killed PCIe_1. Video card stock fan stays at high speed, SB & NB volt leds are all lit for approximately 15s. Board appears to post properly, but no video.

Does anyone have any "technical documents" OR could point me in a direction to determine where the problem resides? PCIe_2 works with no issue.

Tried the following:

1. Flashed back to MF.
2. Reset CMOS
3. Pulled battery.
4. Flashed back to MR.
5. <suggestions plz>

[ZenEffect]

Not sure if anyone can help me out, but figured I would shout out.

Fridged my MF to take the stock cooler off, but in the process appears to have killed PCIe_1. Video card stock fan stays at high speed, SB & NB volt leds are all lit for approximately 15s. Board appears to post properly, but no video.

Does anyone have any "technical documents" OR could point me in a direction to determine where the problem resides? PCIe_2 works with no issue.

Tried the following:

1. Flashed back to MF.
2. Reset CMOS
3. Pulled battery.
4. Flashed back to MR.
5. <suggestions plz>

are you sure there is no condensation in the slot? give it a good over with a hair drier to make sure its completely dry.

[jVIDIA]

very nice.

but once again... bandwidth. what gives?



im on performance level 6, no pull ins. for the $45 i spent on this ram, i got one great deal me thinks.

What's your voltages on this timmings ?

[Renegade5399]

Well all his "timmings" (spelled timings) are listed there. Not sure about the voltage though.

[jVIDIA]

No voltages my friend