Foxconn Quantum Force Black Ops X48 OC Guide (56k Warning)

[GTFouts]

Well, after fighting with this new MB trying to get it to do Something!!!, I was about to give up and put my ASUS Maximus back in, which I did NOT want to do. Then I found this thread and saw that everyone else is having the same issues that I am. Sorry guys, but it did make me feel a little better knowing that all of a sudden I didn't know how to do a simple OC. Been doing this for too many years and I have never been this frustrated with a MB before, came close with the Maximus, but this Blackops has put that frustration to shame....sad. To say the least, I am very disappointed, especially after all the hype and reviews about how sweet and easy it was with this board.....sigh. This post is not a bashing of hate, please understand that. It more like a bashing of frustration, frustration from all the positive reviews and advertisement about the Overclockers Dream MB. As of this moment, it has not justified itself as one of the most expensive MB out there, not to me anyway. But I will give them a chance to fix it, and of course, that takes time.

Anyway, after reading this whole thing and trying all the different things you guys did, I finally got it stable, tho its not much of an OC. Right now I dont care, it is ACTUALLY OC'd and Prime95 & OCCT stable. There are many issues that are so wrong with this board, the Bios mostly, and that still has me shaking my head at Foxconn. I am happy I have an OC, tho I am not happy with the OC I have by any means. With the setup I have this MB should have been itching to start cooking, such is not the case unfortunately. Hopefully they will keep working on the bios, one can only hope because this board has such promise. For those who are curious you can see my setup (Quadzilla) on OCForums in the watercooling section under the thread Quad Crazy.

Ok, these are the settings I have so far in order to get it stable:

Quantum BIOS version G26

Overclock Phase Select - Manual O.C.
CPU Clock Ratio - 10x
CPU Clock Ratio +0.5 - Disabled
CPU Clock (FSB) - 400 MHz
CPU Clock vs Memory Speed - 1 : 2.665
CPU Clock Skew Control - 0 ps
CPU Clock Amplitude CTRL - 800mV
PCI Express Clock - 100MHz
PCI Clock - 33.6 MHz
Spread Spectrum - Disabled
Overclock Recovery - Enabled

CPU Feature

EIST Function - Native Mode
Limit CPUID MaxVal - Disabled
C1E Function - Disabled
Execute Disabled Bit - Disabled
Virtualization Technology - Disabled
Frequency Unlimit - Enabled
Core Multi-Processing - Enabled
Cold Bug Boot Fix - Disabled

Memory Timing Config

ECC Scrubbing - Disabled
DRAM Timing Selectable - by SPD

All Voltage Control

CPU Voltage Multiplier - x1.000
CPU Voltage Setting - 1.5000
CPU Vdroop Compensation - Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage Setting - 1.584304
CPU VTT Voltage Setting - 1.350
CPU GTL Ref. 0 Voltage - +2
CPU GTL Ref. 1 Voltage - +2
CPU GTL Ref. 2 Voltage - +2
CPU GTL Ref. 3 Voltage - +3
NB Voltage Setting - 1.344
NB GTL Ref. Voltage - +3
SB Voltage Setting - 1.538
DRAM Voltage Setting - 1.648
DRAM Pull-up Voltage - Default
DRAM Pull-down Voltage - Default
DRAM Ref. Voltage - Default

OC Gear

Smart Boot Menu - Disabled
Smart Power LED - Disabled
Software Item Selecting - BIOS ROM 1
Auto Detect PCI Clock - Enabled


I do not understand the memory issue. I cannot take it off of SPD or even begin to raise it to the manufacture specified voltage, and that is really jerking my chain. There is no reason that I should have to set my memory to 1066 when I have OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600. If I try to raise it in any way at all it will BSOD. I can get it to boot at 1333, but I cannot go over 9x and 333 FSB. If I take this 400 FSB now and try to raise it, same thing, BSOD. The 333 FSB is not stable anything in windows but the 400 FSB is rock solid, but only because its turned down to 1066 with the 1:2.665 setting. And trust me, I have tried every voltage setting combo you can try short of knowing I would hurt the MB if I went any higher, way into the red. Very disappointed with the memory handling right now. And also I am wondering why they would place the memory slots where they did, it makes no sense what so ever to me. Right now I have 2 of the 3870X2's that have EK waterblocks and the memory clamps are pushing my master video card which is causing it to warp. I just dont understand why they could not have seen this during development. Everyone knows how big and long video cards are now. Foxconn, try paying attention to placement, this is unacceptable. I'm sure its not hurting anything but geez guys.

My second issue is this stupid throttling of the CPU. I cant stand that garbage. When I set a bios to a certain setting, then thats where I want it ALWAYS! I cannot for the life of me turn the stupid thing off. From reading here, it has to be that EIST function, because I have EVERYTHING else turned off! But if I disable it, no matter what I have the bios set too, it reverts to 9x and 333 FSB in windows and stays there. This is just insane. Again, a bios issue thats need fixing. Perhaps I am not doing it right, I am not discounting that, but I dont believe so.

I cant find any program that will show me the correct voltage settings that I have in bios. Not CPUz, OCCT, Everest or Core Temp. They are prolly not coded for X48, or if they are than not for Blackops would be my guess. Would be nice to be able to see proper numbers when in windows.

Havent done my sig yet. I will do that after I post this so you can see what I am using.

Hmmm, sig is not showing up...dont know why...so I'll list it for now

FOXCONN Blackops- Vista 64 Ultimate SP1
Core 2 Extreme QX9650 @ 4.0 GHz - Apogee GTX Waterblock
2 x HIS HD 3870X2's Crossfired - EK Waterblocks - 8.5 CCC
OCZ Platinum DDR3-1600 (4x2GB)
Enermax Galaxy 1000W
2 x WD 320GB SATA II
Plextor SATA DVD+-RW PX-810SA
Blackops Sonar - Gigaworks S705 7.1 Surround Sound System
HP LP3065 30" Flat Screen Monitor
Custom UFO case - Quad W/C Loops - D5 Pumps - XPSC Res's - PA Rad's