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

[spikerules]

I am sorry, but it is not a board, it is you ... and / or components, which have been chosen by you.
I am running my Foxconn rock stable not at 3GHz, but at 4.3 GHz ...
Asus Striker Extreme II is a nice board as well if it runs stable, but it uses 790i chipset, which I don't think is 100% reliable ATM.

And BTW OCZ memory is not on a list of recommended memory for 790i chipset (at least on EVGA website), why should it be recommended / tested for BlackOps?

You still dont understand what I am saying. I can get to 3.6 EASY on the foxconn, but I cant go over 3.0 on the Asus. HOWEVER, the asus does 10x better at 3GHz @3dmark 06 than the foxconn does at 3.6GHz. The memory I have now (OCZ) is actually quite stable on my Asus 790i motherboard @ 1600, but on the foxconn it cant reach over 1066, which is WELL BELOW the preset settings for this RAM.

[Xello]

And BTW OCZ memory is not on a list of recommended memory for 790i chipset (at least on EVGA website), why should it be recommended / tested for BlackOps?

Sorry if i misunderstand you, but are you saying that Foxconn have based their recommendations and tests for memory on the X48 Blackops on the list of recommended 790i memory from the EVGA website?

[GTFouts]

Well, I finally gave up on the OCZ since its been stated that its trash ram and put my Dominators in. I'm not happy about wasting $600 or having to drop back down to 2GB, but I'm sure I'll get over it. I had the same problem with the Corsair at the start. I really dont know what it is you guys are doing to get memory to work and boot with stock settings, I know I sure cant.

Anyway, after hours of more frustration and at least 100 reboots, if not more, it started to come around. I will admit that I did not come across these settings by knoweldge, but more by accident and trying those settings others have used. I have alot of strange settings, most of which I have no idea what they do or what they affect, but it wouldnt boot or would fail Super Pi or prime95 without them. Its Rock Solid now, Prime95, OCCT and 32M Super Pi.

Here is what I had to set to get it this way. I would very much like one of you Guru's to look at them and tell me if I am going to hurt the MB with the settings. Temps are fine, Idling in the high 20's, Prime95 and OCCT maxing at 56. I think thats excellent, so I'm not worried about the temps, but I am worried if I have something set too high or whatever to hurt a chip or something because I dont understand alot of them, mainly the GTL's.

Quantum BIOS Version G26

Overclock Phase Select - Manual O.C.
CPU Clock Ratio - 9x
CPU Clock Ratio +0.5 - Enabled
Target CPU Core Speed - 4278 MHz
CPU Clock (FSB) - 450 MHz
CPU Clock vs Memory Speed - 4 : 333
System Memory Speed - 1800 MHz
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

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 - +10
CPU GTL Ref. 1 Voltage - +5
CPU GTL Ref. 2 Voltage - +10
CPU GTL Ref. 3 Voltage - +10
NB Voltage Setting - 1.673
NB GTL Ref. Voltage - +3
SB Voltage Setting - 1.538
DRAM Voltage Setting - 2.044
DRAM Pull-up Voltage - +3
DRAM Pull-down Voltage - +3
DRAM Ref. Voltage - +3

Memory Timing Config

ECC Scrubbing - Disabled
DRAM Timing Selectable - Manual
CAS Latency Time - 7
RAS# to CAS# Delay - 7
RAS# Precharge - 7
Precharge Delay - 20
Row Refresh Cycle - Auto
Performance Level - 10
Write to Precharge - Auto
Write to Read Delay - Auto
Act to Act Delay - Auto
Read to Precharge - Auto
All Precharge to Refresh - Auto
Refresh Period Ratio - x1
Refresh Period - Auto
Command Per Clock - 2T
R2RD Same Rank - Auto
R2RD Different Rank - Auto
W2RD Same Rank - Auto
W2RD Different Rank - Auto
FSB Gain 1 - Auto
FSB Gain 2 - Auto
FSB Gain 3 - Auto
FSB Gain 4 - Auto
Blue DIMM Clock DLL Adjust - Auto
White DIMM Clock DLL Adjust - Auto
Blue DIMM Ctrl DLL Adjust - Auto
White DIMM Ctrl DLL Adjust - Auto
DRAM Command DLL Adjust - Auto


My next goal is to bump it up to 10x450. If I can get it stable there without going to 1.6V, then I will be tickled pink, for that was the goal of this MB for me. 1.6V ends up at mid 30's idle and high 60's max, and that worries me a bit. I know it shouldnt really, high 60's isnt that bad, and I may have to live with that for 4.5, but I'm hoping not.

Here are a few screen shots....

[Telo]

Here is my 2cents...

Foxconn needs to fess up and admit they dropped the ball by not providing an adequet list of RAM not to buy; and I do not mean a super long list, but Christ man, ASUS has a nice list on the manual that tells you which memory you should look at if you want a certain FSB or RAM speed. I think that was friggin' great on part of ASUS, and they done it with X48 and P45 [at least] motherboards.

Customers need to stop blaming the board, I know I was one of them, but a board can only do what it is allowed to do by its components/BIOS. Yes, Foxconn needs to fix a lot of bugs in the BIOS, but customers also need to provide the board with adequet hardware, I mean, it's a $360-399 board why on earth would you stick cheap @$$ $100 set of RAM in it or a CPU well below an E8400 [not saying anyone in particular, just generalizing]. It just does not make sense to buy the 3rd or 4th most expensive enthusiast motherboard and provide it with crappy components. I'm not saying go out and get a QXxxxx or some other form of super expensive components, but don't get the cheapest things around and come here blasting the board; just because the board is expensive does not mean it will support every RAM stick, CPU, GPU, etc out there.

[spikerules]

Here is my 2cents...
Customers need to stop blaming the board, I know I was one of them, but a board can only do what it is allowed to do by its components/BIOS. Yes, Foxconn needs to fix a lot of bugs in the BIOS, but customers also need to provide the board with adequet hardware, I mean, it's a $360-399 board why on earth would you stick cheap @$$ $100 set of RAM in it or a CPU well below an E8400 [not saying anyone in particular, just generalizing]. It just does not make sense to buy the 3rd or 4th most expensive enthusiast motherboard and provide it with crappy components. I'm not saying go out and get a QXxxxx or some other form of super expensive components, but don't get the cheapest things around and come here blasting the board; just because the board is expensive does not mean it will support every RAM stick, CPU, GPU, etc out there.

Are you joking? How is OCZ cheap RAM? You get different flavors, from value to performance. I have one of the most expensive sets of RAM you can buy, which cost me £294! This RAM is more expensive than the motherboard.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...Z3RPX1333EB4GK)

So, now tell me I am buying cheap RAM? Customers should never stop complaining if they have something to very much valid to complain about. The motherboard doesnt support OCZ memory and it wasnt mentioned by Foxconn. And now we have a reason for it... not because its "trash" ram, but because OCZ didnt give foxconn free memory to test. This is beyong belief.

Sorry if i misunderstand you, but are you saying that Foxconn have based their recommendations and tests for memory on the X48 Blackops on the list of recommended 790i memory from the EVGA website?

Indeed. Xello, gmcg's statement seemed like a fanboy statement to me.

Well, I finally gave up on the OCZ since its been stated that its trash ram and put my Dominators in.

No, No, No. It is not trash RAM. That is what people would have you believe. OCZ RAM is amongst the most popular RAM you can buy and if you look at the link above, you will see they produce for the enthusiast and overclocker too. This all seems to come down to the fact that OCZ wont give out free RAM to foxconn. It's childish to say the least.

[Telo]

Are you joking? How is OCZ cheap RAM? You get different flavors, from value to performance. I have one of the most expensive sets of RAM you can buy, which cost me £294! This RAM is more expensive than the motherboard.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...Z3RPX1333EB4GK)

So, now tell me I am buying cheap RAM? Customers should never stop complaining if they have something to very much valid to complain about. The motherboard doesnt support OCZ memory and it wasnt mentioned by Foxconn. And now we have a reason for it... not because its "trash" ram, but because OCZ didnt give foxconn free memory to test. This is beyong belief.



Indeed. Xello, gmcg's statement seemed like a fanboy statement to me.



No, No, No. It is not trash RAM. That is what people would have you believe. OCZ RAM is amongst the most popular RAM you can buy and if you look at the link above, you will see they produce for the enthusiast and overclocker too. This all seems to come down to the fact that OCZ wont give out free RAM to foxconn. It's childish to say the least.

Your gripe has no foundation, mobo makers don't have to support every RAM brand. Did you ever read a review or advertising stating that this board WILL support such and such Brand? Now with that said, stop your crying (like I did) and do something about it; either drop the board or get components known to work on this board; or like a lot of people, wait for a BIOS revision to take your issue away.

[Xello]

Your gripe has no foundation

Well based on what i've read that's just false.

This is leading nowhere though, unless we can get some genuine responses from someone on Foxconn's behalf there's not much that can be done, Spike. I know a system vendor here in the UK with some ties to Foxconn, and after the trouble they've had so far with this memory they will no doubt be taking it to them, so i'll let you know what comes of it.

[spikerules]

Well based on what i've read that's just false.

This is leading nowhere though, unless we can get some genuine responses from someone on Foxconn's behalf there's not much that can be done, Spike. I know a system vendor here in the UK with some ties to Foxconn, and after the trouble they've had so far with this memory they will no doubt be taking it to them, so i'll let you know what comes of it.

Thanks Xello. UK here too I would appreciate some sort of official response from foxconn.

[Tony]

You will all be pleased to know Foxconn are working with OCZ, specifically Foxconn UK and I have made suggestions to bios that look to have already been implemented.
I have dimms here that run 8-8-8-24 on P5E3 premium and won't do over 1800 9-9-9- on the T3R, I have the same dimms running 8-8-8- on ther S2E 1.8V but will not do 1600 on an MSI p45, does this mean the ram is bad?

Come on guys, all i see here is i will have to spend 2 weeks showing you all how to set up memory, the IC's are the same as corsairs, the PCB is high speed 8 layer, the SPD is full jedec spec, you just need to get ther board to work with it.

[gmcg]

You still dont understand what I am saying. I can get to 3.6 EASY on the foxconn, but I cant go over 3.0 on the Asus. HOWEVER, the asus does 10x better at 3GHz @3dmark 06 than the foxconn does at 3.6GHz. The memory I have now (OCZ) is actually quite stable on my Asus 790i motherboard @ 1600, but on the foxconn it cant reach over 1066, which is WELL BELOW the preset settings for this RAM.

So there is a memory problem or a board problem or a compatibility problem, right? I have no problems using Corsair, you have no problems (well I can't really consider running OCZ memory just at stock speeds, but let's take it as "no problem") using OCZ with Asus, there are only three logical assumptions left here - either there is a compatibility problem or you can't get both memory and motherboard to work together and finally you have a non-operational (faulting) board. It is an easy solution to check some other brand to find out if it is a compatibility problem or faulting board. If you are sure that you did everything right, your competence is not an issue, therefore you either need to replace the board or OCZ memory - depending on your result with other brand of memory.
Such as you are fine with Asus and it's 3 GHz results, get rid of BlackOps, nothing to talk about

Sorry if i misunderstand you, but are you saying that Foxconn have based their recommendations and tests for memory on the X48 Blackops on the list of recommended 790i memory from the EVGA website?

No, I am assuming that such as both boards are directed for OC being positioned as some kind of the best OC solutions, the same or similar components which can handle such conditions, should be OK in both cases, and the same with faulting components.

[gmcg]

You will all be pleased to know Foxconn are working with OCZ, specifically Foxconn UK and I have made suggestions to bios that look to have already been implemented.
I have dimms here that run 8-8-8-24 on P5E3 premium and won't do over 1800 9-9-9- on the T3R, I have the same dimms running 8-8-8- on ther S2E 1.8V but will not do 1600 on an MSI p45, does this mean the ram is bad?

Come on guys, all i see here is i will have to spend 2 weeks showing you all how to set up memory, the IC's are the same as corsairs, the PCB is high speed 8 layer, the SPD is full jedec spec, you just need to get ther board to work with it.

Why Corsair Dominator DDR3-1800C7D and Cellshock DDR3-1866 perform everywhere perfectly?

Are all x48 motherboards the same, if they use the same Intel x48 chipset?

[Telo]

Well based on what i've read that's just false.

This is leading nowhere though, unless we can get some genuine responses from someone on Foxconn's behalf there's not much that can be done, Spike. I know a system vendor here in the UK with some ties to Foxconn, and after the trouble they've had so far with this memory they will no doubt be taking it to them, so i'll let you know what comes of it.

You need to read the whole sentence and not just grab what you like from it. I said that Foxconn never said nor did it advertise which RAM the BlackOps will support. With that said, that's the last I'll talk about it; if you want to keep getting aggrevated ans whine, that's on you.

Anyhow, I just put in my new E8500, and I must admit it is going off the hook . All I did was give the RAM a 7-7-7-15-1T with 1.84v; then set the FSB to 421 [for an even 4Ghz], the vCore was set to 1.20v, the VTT set to 1.25v [1.35v in BIOS], PLL was left alone at 1.5084v, VDroop was enabled, NB set to 1.31v, SB was left alone and everything else was left at auto. RAM divider was set to 1:4:333Mhz, and here is the crazy part, all this is happening with the stock P02 BIOS. I have OCCT running on it as we speak to give it a walk around the block and see what happens.

UPDATE:

For anyone interested, this E8500 is a Q809A655 batch, packed on 04/24/08. With OCCT running at 100% core0 reaches 44c max while core1 reaches 48c max [under watercooling].

[Lu(ky]

Well I am starting to get the board stable now. I did not realize my memory was getting so many errors above a 1800. So now I am debating the CellShocks 15000 (Blue Sticks) and sell a body part or save some cash & body part and get the G Skill or Super Talent 12800 kits? Any recommendations?

[Telo]

Well I am starting to get the board stable now. I did not realize my memory was getting so many errors above a 1800. So now I am debating the CellShocks 15000 (Blue Sticks) and sell a body part or save some cash & body part and get the G Skill or Super Talent 12800 kits? Any recommendations?

If you can't afford it, don't go for the CellShocks, eventhough it will be a great investment; the peace of mind you get alone makes the steep price tag disappear.

[Tony]

Why Corsair Dominator DDR3-1800C7D and Cellshock DDR3-1866 perform everywhere perfectly?

Are all x48 motherboards the same, if they use the same Intel x48 chipset?

No they are not the same, and I know from working with the Foxconn UK rep the corsair and cellshock have not always worked perfectly.

I have the board here and being honest i have been waiting for Foxconn to get their act together with the bios before i started testing, seems now it is time to start spoon feeding info on how to make the board clock memory.

for all, a few things you need to keep in mind while testing.

Anything 2000 and some of the 1800 rated dimms from OCZ are now samsung based, these much prefere cas9 over cas8 at high clocks.

Samsungs usually prefere advanced skew over microns delay

1333EB is the best bang/buck from OCZ if you want Micron based dimms, top bin for speed rebinned for tight timings, kits here for me do 8-8-8-24 at 2000 really easy (1.8V or so) on many boards and respond well to voltage to get tighter timings.

All x48 boards need skew adjustment to work well, no excuses here if you leave it by auto its not going to work well for you.

Now we just have to hope Foxconn have skew adjustment working correctly in bios

[saaya]

I have tested OCZ 1600, Corsair 1333, and cellshock 1800 in the black ops board over the last few days and the OCZ seems to have a definite issue with running over 1066 speeds, no matter of of voltages and settings.

The OCZ will not even run 1 stick at 1333.

but the ocz is a 4gb kit right?
it sounds like we need to tweak the bios for 2gb sticks... did you try the g27 bios?

There is consensus that OCZ ram is to be avoided with this board, then? At least the 2gb dimms?

Perhaps the first post should be updated with this info.

no, i doubt its the ocz memory, its rather that there might be problems with 2gb sticks. then again, at least with an older bios...
i have a set of cellshock 2gb ES sticks and a set of corsair 2gb sticks and they seem to work fine... ill try to do some more testing.
i assume the default subtimings in bios dont work well for 2gb sticks, and if somebody just leaves the timings all at auto, the sticks might not work well...
ill try to get in touch with ocz and check what timings they recommend.

Bashing this nice piece of hardware - who did? Tell me and I will slap em

So back to topic, if this is the right place for.
I got most recent Beta G27 today. Compared to G25/G26 I can see a little improvement of memory stability, but that counts only for the working dividers. I still run into trouble while using Auto, 1:3, 1:3,2, 1:4 (strap 200, 266 and 400). Divider of 1:2, 1:2.4, 1:2.665 and 1:4 strap 333 performing quite well.

So here is what I experienced after a full set of settings with 4 different memory kits. Memory using was Corsair XMS2-1600 CL7 2x2.048 (only kit can run at 1T), Mushkin XP3-14400 2x.1024 (with XMP-Profile), CSX Diablo-2000 2x1.024 and CSXO-CEC3-1333 2x1.024. FSB is set to 500 and thats stable of course (@Auto and 1:4 memory should run at 1.000 MHz). CPU E8500. All memory-modules have been tested to run at 1.000 MHz on a 790i (yes I know and I will not compare to it). VDimm is set to 2.044 and measured with DMM at 2.014.

So here is the first test with Diablo-2000 CL8-24-75 2T:
Divider Auto no boot, error E1
Divider 1:2 fine
Divider 1:2.4 fine
Divider 1:2.665 fine
Divider 1:3 BIOS-Boot shows only 1 Core out of 2
Divider 1:3.2 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 200 no boot, error C1
Divider 1:4 strap 266 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 333 fine and primestable for 45 minutes b4 I skipped testing
Divider 1:4 strap 400 no boot, error C5

Next Test Mushkin XP3-14400 CL8-24-75 2T (XMP-Profile):
Divider Auto no boot, error E1
Divider 1:2 fine
Divider 1:2.4 fine
Divider 1:2.665 fine
Divider 1:3 BIOS-Boot shows only 1 Core out of 2
Divider 1:3.2 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 200 no boot, error C1
Divider 1:4 strap 266 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 333 fine and primestable for 45 minutes b4 I skipped testing
Divider 1:4 strap 400 BIOS-Boot shows only 1 Core out of 2

Next Test CSXO-CEC3-1333 CL8-24-75 2T:
Divider Auto no boot, error E1
Divider 1:2 fine
Divider 1:2.4 fine
Divider 1:2.665 fine
Divider 1:3 BIOS-Boot shows only 1 Core out of 2
Divider 1:3.2 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 200 no boot, error C1
Divider 1:4 strap 266 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 333 fine, but not even benchstable- the memory simply sux
Divider 1:4 strap 400 no boot, error C5

Last Test Corsair XMS3-1600 CL8-24-75 2T:
Divider Auto boot fine
Divider 1:2 fine
Divider 1:2.4 fine
Divider 1:2.665 fine
Divider 1:3 BIOS-Boot shows only 1 Core out of 2
Divider 1:3.2 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 200 no boot, error C1
Divider 1:4 strap 266 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 333 fine and primestable for 45 minutes b4 I skipped testing
Divider 1:4 strap 400 boot fine

same Corsair at CL8-24-75 1T:
Divider Auto boot fine
Divider 1:2 fine
Divider 1:2.4 fine
Divider 1:2.665 fine
Divider 1:3 BIOS-Boot shows only 1 Core out of 2
Divider 1:3.2 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 200 no boot, error C1
Divider 1:4 strap 266 no boot, error E1
Divider 1:4 strap 333 fine, just not stable (you guessed
Divider 1:4 strap 400 boot fine

So what I am asking is if you guys can confirm that especially the 1:3x dividers not working as they should. I think they are pretty important to close the gap between 1:2x and 1:4. Im neither pissed nor upset, the blackops is just great (which other x48 except the evo delivers such big fsb) and even the memory-performance increased alot. But I am unhappy with the dividers. As you can see, there is a difference between memory running at 2T (cannot boot at Auto and strap 400) and the Corsair-Kit, which is able to run at 1T (boots at Auto and strap 400), also. And no, I did not tweak any memory settings in the test (I usually do, when pushing the memory clock beyond 1.000 and thats working well, but divider-problem remains. The blackops here is a media sample with factory testreport included

Any help is much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Steffi

steffi, thanks a lot!!!
thats some eally nice feedback, thanks!
yes, we are aware of the divider problems, but we focussed on getting 1:4 working well first, since thats what most people will use to bench with dualcores. with quads the middle dividers make sense, so ill ask our bios engineers to work on those dividers next.

so basically to summarize your testing:
1. auto divider seems to have issues, but surprisingly works with the corsair kit
2. 1:3 and 1:3.2 dont work at all
3. 1:4 200 and 266 strap dont work at all
4. 1:4 400 fsb strap doesnt work

im running 2100 with the 400fsb strap, so the strap does work... but somehow there are problems at default settings i guess...

you also mentioned something about command rate 2t causing problems?
what exactly is the problem there?

id say 1. is the first we should set our bios engs to work on, im sure its easy to fix as well. then what would you rather prefer as second priority? getting the 1:3 dividers working, or getting the tight straps for 1:4 working?

spikerules, where am i bashing you or anybody else?
i asked you to calm down and focus on reporting the actual problems you have instead of writing endless pots on how dissapointed and upset you are.
and i didnt blame any other manufacturer either, on the contrary, my point was that you should stop looking for the cuplrit and somebody to blame and instead focus on getting the problems fixed.
like i said, if the board is really giving you such a hard time you cant stay focussed anymore and just keep getting that upset, then just get rid of it.

how are comments like this helping anyone?

I guees it comes as no surprise seeing as though saaya has just admitted that foxconn does not test with OCZ memory and wont do until someone GIVES them free stuff.

its not true, we do have ocz memory here and we do test with it.
i personally havent tested a 4gb kit from ocz yet, but im only here for 2 weeks.

if on the other hand you are actually interested in getting it to work, then tell me what exactly is wrong and ill do my best to get it fixed.

Hey is anyone else using the Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)? Anytime I try to run a OC windows will load I run MemTest and get errors within seconds.. I thought I read somewhere this board was having problems with memory with XMP profile? Thinking of trying another memory set. How is the G Skill on this board? Thanks...

just remove the xmp profile in case you think thats the problem.
what settings are you running?

on the foxconn it cant reach over 1066, which is WELL BELOW the preset settings for this RAM.

show me a single board or memory manufacturer guaranteeing 1600 with 4x2gb ddr3 sticks
your using 2 4gb kits, which are rated to run 1600 on their own.
you cant just put them together and expect them to work at full speed.. probably even without adjusting the memory subtimings...

Anyway, after hours of more frustration and at least 100 reboots, if not more, it started to come around. I will admit that I did not come across these settings by knoweldge, but more by accident and trying those settings others have used.

THAT is overclocking.... thats what ALL of us do!
sure, with time you get a better feeling for the hardware and timings, but there is still a LOT of trial and error... thats the fun of ocing! theres always something new you find out

shamino and i will try to drop some more notes and maybe write some quick guides to help you guys out and make it a bit easier, but basically all this trial and error is what overclocking is all about

and you get rewarded with a really fast system, like in your case.
congrats btw, thats a really nice cpu oc

Here is my 2cents...

Foxconn needs to fess up and admit they dropped the ball by not providing an adequet list of RAM not to buy; and I do not mean a super long list, but Christ man, ASUS has a nice list on the manual that tells you which memory you should look at if you want a certain FSB or RAM speed. I think that was friggin' great on part of ASUS, and they done it with X48 and P45 [at least] motherboards.

Customers need to stop blaming the board, I know I was one of them, but a board can only do what it is allowed to do by its components/BIOS. Yes, Foxconn needs to fix a lot of bugs in the BIOS, but customers also need to provide the board with adequet hardware, I mean, it's a $360-399 board why on earth would you stick cheap @$$ $100 set of RAM in it or a CPU well below an E8400 [not saying anyone in particular, just generalizing]. It just does not make sense to buy the 3rd or 4th most expensive enthusiast motherboard and provide it with crappy components. I'm not saying go out and get a QXxxxx or some other form of super expensive components, but don't get the cheapest things around and come here blasting the board; just because the board is expensive does not mean it will support every RAM stick, CPU, GPU, etc out there.

you are right... we need to post a list of tested and recommended sets of memory. and yes, we are stocking up on BIOS eng resources

[raptor1]

hey Saaya or Gmcg

i have decided in the end, that to cool my system properly i will need to get water cooling

i am looking for some advice on watercooling my system - just to change the current subject and ing thats going on at the moment

i am looking at getting a koolance system with south bridge, north bridge, cpu cooling and mosfett cooling blocks

1. if i remove the coolers that come with the board will i void my warranty and do you have a procedure for removing them without causing damage

2. will the mounting holes be compatible with the koolance cooling blocks

thanks in advance
best regards
flanr

[saaya]

yes, its a good idea to move on

im using a koolance watercooling kit myself
the provided spring stuff you pull over the hoses to prevent them from bending too far are really useful.
the koolance fittings are really nice, i like them, very secure... but a little annoying to screw on since they twist the hoses.

do NOT use the koolance fittings on the blackops waterblock, the seal rings are too thin and they wont be completely watertight.
im using screw fastened rings to secure the hoses on the blackops waterblock fittings, which work really well, and they are strong enough to even lift up the board pulling on the hoses

i wouldnt watercool the sb if i were you, theres really no point since it doesnt get that hot, and an aditional block means extra hoses, which means extra work and itll look a bit messy. the blackops waterblock is really good enough to run high vmch, im running 1.8v with a 24-27 degree ambient temp and the nb temp is around 40 celsius under load the blackops block cools the sb and the mosfets through the atached heatpipe, so really, id recommend you to use that block.

no hassle in removing the blocks, no risk of damaging the board by removing the blocks, no risk of losing the warranty (im not sure if you would lose it, gotta check), and you dont need to buy a north and southbridge waterblock and then add a fan and heatsink to cool the mosfets properly.

[Oliver]

As Saaya says, the 4in1 quantum cooler, used with water is working extremely well...

[spikerules]

You will all be pleased to know Foxconn are working with OCZ, specifically Foxconn UK and I have made suggestions to bios that look to have already been implemented.
I have dimms here that run 8-8-8-24 on P5E3 premium and won't do over 1800 9-9-9- on the T3R, I have the same dimms running 8-8-8- on ther S2E 1.8V but will not do 1600 on an MSI p45, does this mean the ram is bad?

Come on guys, all i see here is i will have to spend 2 weeks showing you all how to set up memory, the IC's are the same as corsairs, the PCB is high speed 8 layer, the SPD is full jedec spec, you just need to get ther board to work with it.

Thanks Tony,
Glad to know they are trying to fix the issue. I have been very upset so far at the response from Foxconn. Hopefully Foxconn UK can give us something to sing about in the future Please keep in touch with the results. UK to the rescue again

spikerules, where am i bashing you or anybody else?
i asked you to calm down and focus on reporting the actual problems you have instead of writing endless pots on how dissapointed and upset you are.
and i didnt blame any other manufacturer either, on the contrary, my point was that you should stop looking for the cuplrit and somebody to blame and instead focus on getting the problems fixed.
like i said, if the board is really giving you such a hard time you cant stay focussed anymore and just keep getting that upset, then just get rid of it.

You said you didnt test with OCZ, because they dont send you free memory. I also didnt say I was using a 4GB stick. I even sent you a link to the memory I was using, and you didnt bother to click the link. Now, how are comments like yours helping anyone? If you have been working with 2x2GB, then please tell me of your results... why say you've been testing and not show any results?

Here is the link to the memory, just in case you havent been paying attention. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...Z3RPX1333EB4GK)

[Telo]

yes, its a good idea to move on

im using a koolance watercooling kit myself
the provided spring stuff you pull over the hoses to prevent them from bending too far are really useful.
the koolance fittings are really nice, i like them, very secure... but a little annoying to screw on since they twist the hoses.

do NOT use the koolance fittings on the blackops waterblock, the seal rings are too thin and they wont be completely watertight.
im using screw fastened rings to secure the hoses on the blackops waterblock fittings, which work really well, and they are strong enough to even lift up the board pulling on the hoses

i wouldnt watercool the sb if i were you, theres really no point since it doesnt get that hot, and an aditional block means extra hoses, which means extra work and itll look a bit messy. the blackops waterblock is really good enough to run high vmch, im running 1.8v with a 24-27 degree ambient temp and the nb temp is around 40 celsius under load the blackops block cools the sb and the mosfets through the atached heatpipe, so really, id recommend you to use that block.

no hassle in removing the blocks, no risk of damaging the board by removing the blocks, no risk of losing the warranty (im not sure if you would lose it, gotta check), and you dont need to buy a north and southbridge waterblock and then add a fan and heatsink to cool the mosfets properly.

I got mine under water, and my new E8500 reached 38c under full load from OCCT 2.0 [was read as 48c, but it is 10c off]. I have the whole PC piped into one loop [VGA x2, CPU, NB.. not so many as before when I had the P5E3 Premium running with Koolance NB, SB, and VR x2], my HD2900XTs are overclocked to 900/1200 and they hardly break a sweat as well.

[saaya]

You said you didnt test with OCZ, because they dont send you free memory.

not at all, i said that i havent tried the ocz 2gb sticks myself, which, being here for only 2 weeks isnt really surprising, is it?

and i never said i or FOXCONN would not test ocz memory or anybody elses memory unless they send it to us for free. its common to swap hardware among different mfgs and afaik thats just what foxconn and ocz are doing.

I also didnt say I was using a 4GB stick. I even sent you a link to the memory I was using, and you didnt bother to click the link. Now, how are comments like yours helping anyone? If you have been working with 2x2GB, then please tell me of your results... why say you've been testing and not show any results?

there are no 4gb ddr3 sticks, if i said stick then it must have been a typo and i meant kit.
and i dont take any pictures or screenshots of the the tests im doing here... what for?

now do you want to go on and rant and try to discredit me and foxconn and try to stir up sht between foxconn and ocz, or are you starting to get interested in actually fixing your problems?

have you tried running a single kit of the memory?
does it work? whats the max clockspeed you can reach?
what memory slots did you use?
what timings and memory divider and what vdimm?
what chipset voltage are you using?
how are you cooling the northbridge?
what cpu are you using and how did you configure it?

[gmcg]

hey Saaya or Gmcg

i have decided in the end, that to cool my system properly i will need to get water cooling
i am looking for some advice on watercooling my system - just to change the current subject and ing thats going on at the moment
i am looking at getting a koolance system with south bridge, north bridge, cpu cooling and mosfett cooling blocks

One of the reasons to buy BlackOps is it's 4in1 cooling solution. I see no point in replacing it with a Koolance kit paying additional money if you want to water-cool your board, it is VERY doubtful that the last one will performs better.
Please take in mind that either SB and MOSFETS don't dissipate a lot of power, only NB requires water-cooling if you want to apply 1.7V or something similar to it, therefore in theory BlackOps cooling solution for an engineer looks almost perfect.
This is why so many manufacturers use heatpipes to cool SB and MOSFETS.

The problem is an aluminum cover.
We had a long discussion with sayaa in private messages, arguing about possible galvanic corrosion.
Such as today almost everyone uses some kind of protective/lubricating fluid in their water-cooling loops against algae, the same fluid can be an anti-corrosion inhibitor, therefore the risk of damaging / fast corrosion is pretty low, I have to agree with sayaa regarding this matter.
I have noticed that the aluminum cover has BETTER idea of water flow technically than both planned copper and acrylic covers. Take a look:





As we can see, the previous Foxconn cooling solution had in reality only one point of forced contact between water and water-block in the middle, now the water flow has to go through all pins, which are thinner and have significantly more dissipating surface, design of latest WB (retail BlackOps) is quite similar to design of one of the best available CPU waterblocks - EK supreme:
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._2007_52657934
And:
http://www.aijaa.com/img/b/00917/2061853.jpg
Of course, there is no nozzle, but to cool NB is much easier task than to cool CPU.
Take a look at your WB cover, you will see that it's design doesn't allow water flow to go around the pins, it directs water to go through the pins.

I would recommend to use the existing water-block with let's say Primochill Liquid Utopia (with any dye color you prefer) and some inexpensive 1 12" fan rad + reservoir / pump combo.

At least I am going to do it. Don't worry about some foam while you apply Liquid Utopia, some people went seeing it, but it disappears pretty fast.

[Xello]

The problem is an aluminum cover.
We had a long discussion with sayaa in private messages, arguing about possible galvanic corrosion.
Such as today almost everyone uses some kind of protective/lubricating fluid in their water-cooling loops against algae, the same fluid can be an anti-corrosion inhibitor, therefore the risk of damaging / fast corrosion is pretty low, I have to agree with sayaa regarding this matter.

I'm no expert, but doesn't that last only for so long?

[spikerules]

have you tried running a single kit of the memory?

No, but others here have and had no success.

does it work? whats the max clockspeed you can reach?
what memory slots did you use?

3.6 stable but havent tried more than that. Slots 1 and 4.

what timings and memory divider and what vdimm?
what chipset voltage are you using?

NB 1.5v, tried all the dividers and nothing. 1.844v all the way up to 2v for memory

how are you cooling the northbridge?
what cpu are you using and how did you configure it?

Using watercooling for the NB