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

[crash2k]

hi guys,
i need an info about E8500 on Maximus Formula.

A friend bought an E8500 and tried it on the Maximus, when he put it on it was giving 50°C as CPU temperature both in the bios and on Asus Probe (idle temp). He checked if he placed a wrong amount of thermal paste on the cpu, but it was ok, tried to change kind of paste too (MX-2, Zalman) but the result was the same. He tried to check the core temps (with RealTemp and Coretemp with 95°C of TJMax) and they were lower than what Asus Probe was showing. He wrote to the shop's assistance and they told him it was because of the Maximus Formula's sensors, and that if he would RMA it they would send him the cpu back because of no problems in it. The previous owner had it on a P35 board (don't know which brand) but he said he didn't have this problem. Trying the Sensor Test in RealTemp the sensors seem to work fine both @default and in overclock, just the idle temp is a little bit high (expecially for a 45nm cpu with just 1.03volts), in the Bios and Asus Probe (and everest too, but just in the CPU temp, not in the cores).

so the question is: is it true that this depends on the Maximus Formula sensors as the shop said? or it's something about the cpu? need some reply from someone with E8x00 cpu on Maximus thanks in advance.


EDIT: reading in the previous page it seems that it's not just my friend's case... as someone else said, maybe what the shop said is true and maybe Asus Probe and Bios reports the temp with a TJmax of 105°C (65nm value)... and this is why the temps are reported so high.

[Grnfinger]

hi guys,
i need an info about E8500 on Maximus Formula.

A friend bought an E8500 and tried it on the Maximus, when he put it on it was giving 50°C as CPU temperature both in the bios and on Asus Probe (idle temp). He checked if he placed a wrong amount of thermal paste on the cpu, but it was ok, tried to change kind of paste too (MX-2, Zalman) but the result was the same. He tried to check the core temps (with RealTemp and Coretemp with 95°C of TJMax) and they were lower than what Asus Probe was showing. He wrote to the shop's assistance and they told him it was because of the Maximus Formula's sensors, and that if he would RMA it they would send him the cpu back because of no problems in it. The previous owner had it on a P35 board (don't know which brand) but he said he didn't have this problem. Trying the Sensor Test in RealTemp the sensors seem to work fine both @default and in overclock, just the idle temp is a little bit high (expecially for a 45nm cpu with just 1.03volts), in the Bios and Asus Probe (and everest too, but just in the CPU temp, not in the cores).

so the question is: is it true that this depends on the Maximus Formula sensors as the shop said? or it's something about the cpu? need some reply from someone with E8x00 cpu on Maximus thanks in advance.

Well now I have a 8400 running on MF bios 1102 temps are very good and acurate 30c idle and 55c load 478x9@1.40vCore. Everest and coretemp both read the temps correctly. Asus anal probe is crap, if you have an older version of everest it will read them wrong. Version 4.50.1330 is very acurate for 45nm cpu's, coretemp can be adjusted to the proper tjmax by editing the settings file tjmaxoffset= ( add whatever value )

[ZenEffect]

ok, so if anybody here is wondering if when you flash your motherboard to a rampage will asus honor a rma if it goes dead? the answer is YES. just dont tell them you flashed it

new mobo on its way to me now

[Grnfinger]

This is good news.

[ante_ante]

bios 0406 is not compatible with raid-controller adaptec 3405. computer does not start, the inscription on the LCD poster CPU init, and all.

Have flashed now. And running 500x8 without any problems. Haven´t tried the bios more then that.

[NeoRecon]

Another vote for the 1201 beta bios to be a dud. I had constant memory errors and blue screens with that bios. Rolled back to 1102 and its been smooth running since. Is there any advantage of switching to the rampage for me if 1102 has been working OK? I'm not currently overclocking the CPU, but would like to eventually.

[Grnfinger]

Another vote for the 1201 beta bios to be a dud. I had constant memory errors and blue screens with that bios. Rolled back to 1102 and its been smooth running since. Is there any advantage of switching to the rampage for me if 1102 has been working OK? I'm not currently overclocking the CPU, but would like to eventually.

I find that 1102 is about as fast as Rampage 403, if your running 4GBs or more and want to overclock your ram alot Rampage will be a better choice for maximum performance / bandwidth. If your looking for a average overclock then I see no benifit. Others will disagree I'm sure but I have spent the last week comparing closely MF1102, MF1202 and RF403 and with exception to 1201 being a pos 1102 is right on

[cadaveca]

Heh, so delusional. Maybe you don't have the right ram for 1201...I've been using it since day one without single issue.

You must realize by now that most bios releases are for compatibility issues, so don't knock the only bios that works with 2GB Micron sticks, PLS!!!(1201 provides a TREF change that accounts for the poorer performance, also sorts mem compatibility issues)




I'm still awaiting a bios for 2gb Hynix DIMM support.

[Dostoyevsky77]

I find that 1102 is about as fast as Rampage 403, if your running 4GBs or more and want to overclock your ram alot Rampage will be a better choice for maximum performance / bandwidth. If your looking for a average overclock then I see no benifit. Others will disagree I'm sure but I have spent the last week comparing closely MF1102, MF1202 and RF403 and with exception to 1201 being a pos 1102 is right on

I checked 1201 and 0403. Even 4GB is about the same. They are close enough that if I did several tests, the averages would be about the same. I get almost exactly 10GB/s on R/W/C with either at sigged E8400. At this time, I do not see a benefit with my setup on Rampage. I don't see any penalty either, so I'm still running Rampage.

[Robilar]

Can anyone recommend a program that will read my voltages? I have an older beta of everest that is not showing much and asus pc probe is useless.

[cadaveca]

Check the beta everest thread here...everest has been detecting all voltages as pc probe does for some time now.

BUt everest will use lots of cpu-time for that monitoring...pc probe seems the "lightest" app so far...in other words, stability testing while everest is open is not test stability..it's testing stability with everest running!

[Robilar]

which version of pc probe? 1.04.29 shows very little info.

[Grnfinger]

Heh, so delusional. Maybe you don't have the right ram for 1201...I've been using it since day one without single issue.

You must realize by now that most bios releases are for compatibility issues, so don't knock the only bios that works with 2GB Micron sticks, PLS!!!(1201 provides a TREF change that accounts for the poorer performance, also sorts mem compatibility issues)




I'm still awaiting a bios for 2gb Hynix DIMM support.

I have 2x2GB power chips and 2x1GB D9's so I see no reason to fault my hardware.

I have recently went back to MF bios the tref change has been present since bios RF401 and is not there with MF1102, the only reason for MF1201 I believe is compatability with Crucial ram altho I could be mistaken.

I checked 1201 and 0403. Even 4GB is about the same. They are close enough that if I did several tests, the averages would be about the same. I get almost exactly 10GB/s on R/W/C with either at sigged E8400. At this time, I do not see a benefit with my setup on Rampage. I don't see any penalty either, so I'm still running Rampage.

I felt the same as you no real benifit or penalty, but I was going to part with my board and flashed back to MF, so playing around with MF bios 1102 I noticed I need less voltage for my Q6700 to be stable so I went with that untill there is a real performance benifit with Rampage.

[JKad]

Can you comment on experience with MF1102 and S3 sleep state? I've read of some problems with some of the bios and would appreciate your first hand experience. Currently running with 907 and have problems with some hardware coming out of S3--CF card reader not recognized and MF included soundcard not working. No other real issues but I am not overclocking either.
Thanks in advance.

[dexaroni]

Question that maybe someone can help me out with-

My comptuer will run stable for two days, then at random times, it will just crash... doesn't shut down, the USB and video just dies along with audio, however the comptuer still stays on and all the fans keep spinning. When this happens, if I remove the RAM from its slots and swap them around, it boots up fine and will run perfectly again.

I ran Orthos Stable at stock settings with a QX9650 for 4 hours, MEMtest comes up fine. The RAM is Corsair Dominator DDR-800 4-4-4-12... all settings are proper in bios.

This isn't killing me, but its a bit annoying. Any ideas?

[HermS]

Just wanted to say thanks to all the contributors on this thread, so much sound advice and good ideas floating around Especially want to thank grnfinger, you've put an astonishing ammount of work into this thread and motherboard, you ought to be very proud of what you've done here.


Anyway, I had this old Q6600 G0 for quite some time now and its always been a right pain to get it to clock, but after inspecting the results and ideas you guys have been putting forward I finally achieved an OC I'm happy with, the temps are on the high side due to the 32c+ ambient and I think the loop needs to be cleaned and maintained. Theres still a lot of work to do, I'm sure I can get a higher clock speed from the CPU and/or pull the timings down a bit, but I think I have a good starting point. If anyone can see an obvious area to improve then please let me know.


Once again, thanks and keep up the good work.

[NeoRecon]

Well I think I may need new memory. My Crucial Ballistix Tracer's are not stable regardless of settings. Is one set more stable than the others? I'm currently running them at 800Mhz.

2 - 8500's
2 - 8000's

I've set the DRAM at about 2.14 which tests out at about 2.2V (the recommended voltage) I've also left it set at auto.

I can go anywhere from 4-12 hours and then I'll bluescreen with a 'memory' error.

I've been looking at the G.Skill options that are 2GB sticks so I'd drop down to 2 instead of 4 stick and still maintain 4GB.

I've also read that the Crucials that are single sided are the issue? and that If I can get the double sided ones I'll be in better shape.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[Shiranui Gen-An]

Have you run memtest to see if one or more of the sticks is bad?

[AquaRelliux]

Hello

I just swapped my 4x1gb Ballistix PC8500 ram to 2x2gb Dominator PC8500 ram to fix my system hang problems. But it still dident slove it I always get 1 crash when the system hangs and I need to force reboot no bsod nothing like that just freeze screen. I have been trying 1 millon settings and still no go I having the feeling that it might be a good idea to get a X48 moderboard but I am not sure. Always after 1 hang it runs fine horus after that the system is:

Q9450@3600mhz 1.23v(100% prime blend and small ffts stable even tryied OCCT ran smooth for 2 hours) max temp around 50c with realtemp it is watercooled.
Asus maximus X38 modded to rampage 0403 bios
2x2gb Dominator PC8500 ram
2x Powercolor 3870s in crossfire only one with modded bios might this be it?, both run @850/1271 and I always get the damn atikmdag problem in same games.
Tagan Easycon 580watt PSU should be enough I heard alot of times.
3x hdds, 1x velociraptor 300gb, 1x 500gb WD sata, 1x 250gb WD sata
1x Samsung Dvd recorder

Bios settings:

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 103(tried 100-110 not diffrence over 110 and it dosent boot)
DRAM Frequency: DDR2- 1081
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 4
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 60
Write Recovery Time : 4
Read to Precharge Time : 4

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : Auto
Write to Read Delay (S) : Auto
Write to Read Delay (D) : Auto
Read to Read Delay (S) : Auto
Read to Read Delay (D) : Auto
Write to Write Delay (S) : Auto
Write to Write Delay (D) : Auto
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled(tried Enable no diffrence)
Ai Clock Twister : Strong
Transaction Booster : 7 (tried alot of other settings but only boots in 7 otherwise blackscreen)

CPU Voltage : 1.23785v(1.23v load) (tried up to 1.3 no diffrence)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.5v
North Bridge Voltage : 1.59v(tried from 1.4v-1.65 no diffrence)
DRAM Voltage : 2.04(2.1v real) (tried 1.90v and that makes the system completly unstable)
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.36v(Everest and bios says 1.26v so it should be fine or should I not trust Everest and bios?)
South Bridge Voltage : 1.5v
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : Auto(tried 0.63x but crashed on windows vista boot logo)
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67x( Tried alot of diffrent but still crashing)
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR REFF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR REFF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5v

NB LED Selection : FSBT Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU Volt
Voltiminder LED : Enabled

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Plz anyone got any ideas är should I just sell the crap and by a P5Q that seems really good, plz guys I am getting crazy here and I dont really have the money to buy a new mobo, also forgott to mention both gfx and NB is watercooled max NB temp os around 40c max load and gfx around 45c load?

//Aqua

[Grnfinger]

Hello

I just swapped my 4x1gb Ballistix PC8500 ram to 2x2gb Dominator PC8500 ram to fix my system hang problems. But it still dident slove it I always get 1 crash when the system hangs and I need to force reboot no bsod nothing like that just freeze screen. I have been trying 1 millon settings and still no go I having the feeling that it might be a good idea to get a X48 moderboard but I am not sure. Always after 1 hang it runs fine horus after that the system is:

Q9450@3600mhz 1.23v(100% prime blend and small ffts stable even tryied OCCT ran smooth for 2 hours) max temp around 50c with realtemp it is watercooled.
Asus maximus X38 modded to rampage 0403 bios
2x2gb Dominator PC8500 ram
2x Powercolor 3870s in crossfire only one with modded bios might this be it?, both run @850/1271 and I always get the damn atikmdag problem in same games.
Tagan Easycon 580watt PSU should be enough I heard alot of times.
3x hdds, 1x velociraptor 300gb, 1x 500gb WD sata, 1x 250gb WD sata
1x Samsung Dvd recorder

Bios settings:

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 103(tried 100-110 not diffrence over 110 and it dosent boot)
DRAM Frequency: DDR2- 1081
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 4
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 60
Write Recovery Time : 4
Read to Precharge Time : 4

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : Auto
Write to Read Delay (S) : Auto
Write to Read Delay (D) : Auto
Read to Read Delay (S) : Auto
Read to Read Delay (D) : Auto
Write to Write Delay (S) : Auto
Write to Write Delay (D) : Auto
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled(tried Enable no diffrence)
Ai Clock Twister : Strong
Transaction Booster : 7 (tried alot of other settings but only boots in 7 otherwise blackscreen)

CPU Voltage : 1.23785v(1.23v load) (tried up to 1.3 no diffrence)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.5v
North Bridge Voltage : 1.59v(tried from 1.4v-1.65 no diffrence)
DRAM Voltage : 2.04(2.1v real) (tried 1.90v and that makes the system completly unstable)
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.36v(Everest and bios says 1.26v so it should be fine or should I not trust Everest and bios?)
South Bridge Voltage : 1.5v
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : Auto(tried 0.63x but crashed on windows vista boot logo)
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67x( Tried alot of diffrent but still crashing)
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR REFF
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR REFF
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5v

NB LED Selection : FSBT Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU Volt
Voltiminder LED : Enabled

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Plz anyone got any ideas är should I just sell the crap and by a P5Q that seems really good, plz guys I am getting crazy here and I dont really have the money to buy a new mobo, also forgott to mention both gfx and NB is watercooled max NB temp os around 40c max load and gfx around 45c load?

//Aqua

No need to sell the board just yet

A little more info if you dont mind, what bios version are you running?
I think the Dominators need 2.2 volts ( or atleast mine do) so if you set 2.12 in bios you should get 2.2volts actual, try that and see if it improves
anything.

Your timings looks alittle off, try 5-5-5-15-3-55-6-3

Please post back results, with alittle effort I'm sure stability is right around the corner.

[zlojack]

The 2GB modules shouldn't need that much voltage.

I have run 8 gigs of it at 5-5-5-15-3-60 PL=7 on the 266 strap with 1128 MHz with the volts set to 2.0 in bios. Try that (sometimes a different strap can actually help)

[Grnfinger]

The 2GB modules shouldn't need that much voltage.

I have run 8 gigs of it at 5-5-5-15-3-60 PL=7 on the 266 strap with 1128 MHz with the volts set to 2.0 in bios. Try that (sometimes a different strap can actually help)

I have tried the 266 strap a few times with little to no success

would you mind posting the first half of your bios settings?
I would like to squeeze a few drops more from my ram 4GBs at 1080 is kinda slow

Anyways the chip is out and siting on my desk, it will be sadly missed but the Q9550 will definately help me get over my sorrow.

[zlojack]

I have tried the 266 strap a few times with little to no success

would you mind posting the first half of your bios settings?
I would like to squeeze a few drops more from my ram 4GBs at 1080 is kinda slow

Anyways the chip is out and siting on my desk, it will be sadly missed but the Q9550 will definately help me get over my sorrow.

Good news I'm looking forward to it!

Anyway, let me check those bios settings for you and post them. I'll have to remember which ones passed Memtest86+ (I should really write this stuff down)

[AquaRelliux]

No need to sell the board just yet

A little more info if you dont mind, what bios version are you running?
I think the Dominators need 2.2 volts ( or atleast mine do) so if you set 2.12 in bios you should get 2.2volts actual, try that and see if it improves
anything.

Your timings looks alittle off, try 5-5-5-15-3-55-6-3

Please post back results, with alittle effort I'm sure stability is right around the corner.

I use 0403 bios, but is freeze screen always becuase of ram and reboots because of cpu or did I get something wrong here?

[zlojack]

Here's what I used:
Bios settings:

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8.5
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 266
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2- 1128
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 60
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 8
Write to Read Delay (S) : 3
Write to Read Delay (D) : 5
Read to Read Delay (S) : 4
Read to Read Delay (D) : 6
Write to Write Delay (S) : 4
Write to Write Delay (D) : 6
Then the extra sub-timings for the Rampage: 14-5-1-6-6
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled(tried Enable no diffrence)
Ai Clock Twister : Moderate/Strong
Performance Level : 7 (I had it at 6 for FSB at 425 + 1133MHz RAM on my QX9650, but for 450 it had to go to 7)
All pull-ins disabled.

These settings were pretty decent and stable, but I hadn't really played with them enough in terms of tightening timings to squeeze a bit more out of the sticks.