X48 Rampage Formula Preview.

[Emperor]

anyone knows whether can the cathar G4 water block fit onto the cpu socket without any issues?

[Deathspine]

sobih25 most impresssive overclock on air. Could you share your bios setting to get that result.

[Shadowthor]

It seems 0406 isn't on asus ftp server yet , hopefully soon . (Usually it would be there if it is a beta and not released officially)

[saxovtsmike]

Hi guys.
I´m having serious trouble after the change from my P5B to the Rampage Formula.
Whatever FSB I enter in the bios the board boots up at 266mhz. For some settings I´ve tested now i can get some more mhz out of the board but I´m far far away from the leven I could achieve on my p5b.
Cpu is a G0 Q6600, which was running 360x9, mem 4x1gig SuperTalent DDR-2-800 :4-4-3-8, which where running fine at 450mhz with 4-4-4-8 timings on 2.1V on the P5b
The strange thing now on the rampage is that starting from standard settings (266fsb, strap auto,mem Devider 3:2 mem Voltage and timings set manual to known values ) I can start pushing the fsb to 280,290,300 which works fine till xp (SP2) where it´s stable.
While POST i can read Q6600 2.40Ghz @ 2.70ghz 4 Cores
When I change the mem devider to 5:4 to lower the mem frequency (in order to raise the fsb even more) the system rebootes but then I can see while POST it normally Writes out Q6600, 2.40Ghz, @2.41Ghz (!!) which ends in having a quite unstable windows with the fsb running at 266mhz.

The really bad thing is that when I switch back to the 3:2 divider, fsb still on 300, nothing changes.
The board still bootes with 266mhz and lists 2.41Ghz while post..
The actual bios used is 403, b4 I had 308, no change in the situation wether having 4 dimms or only 2 instaled.
One thing I´ll test 2day evening is putting the dimms in slot 1&3, as cpu-z shows 2&4 .
Slowly I´m thinking that the board is fcuked cause of the strange fsb behavior AND tha fact that set-fsb (latest version, can´t find a older on) shows cracy values..
Anyone on here had a similar problem ?

[sobih25]

It seems 0406 isn't on asus ftp server yet , hopefully soon . (Usually it would be there if it is a beta and not released officially)

feel free to get it - http://kielbaski.com/pmp/MB/ASUS_X48...rmula-0406.zip

[Bootsy]

feel free to get it - http://kielbaski.com/pmp/MB/ASUS_X48...rmula-0406.zip

Is this a beta version?

[Brama]

Is this a beta version?

It is an early beta given to us before the publication on ftp site for everyone.

[sobih25]

even as beta - works great for me.

[bigslappy]

even as beta - works great for me.

both of my Rampages are on this BIOS 0406, haven't got the Q9450 o/c'd much yet (3.2 GHz right now ) & that was just the level up & memory settings /twister on medium .. seems like it (o408)works great !

[Brama]

even as beta - works great for me.

Good for you.

If you have an external disk controller with BIOS, don't use it as it locks the PC at first cpu init stage.

I have an LSI controller on PCIe (4x electric), plugged on second PCIe 16x slot.

I had to unplug it to flash back to 403.

I hope that the guy that posted it will report to Asus BIOS engineers this big bug of 406.

[Brama]

It seems 0406 isn't on asus ftp server yet , hopefully soon . (Usually it would be there if it is a beta and not released officially)

I think we will never see it on Asus ftp site as it has a bug that prevents the PC startup, if you have plugged a disk controller on a slot.

[Shadowthor]

Interesting, will wait for official release as I don't have two rampage formulas like bigslappy. To saxovtsmike, haven't had a problem with fsb changing. I have it at 450fsb x 8 and has been prime95 stable for 24 hours.

[GAR]

Which slots are better for higher clocks, white ones or blue ones???? thanks.

[DEFLORATOR]

Good for you.

If you have an external disk controller with BIOS, don't use it as it locks the PC at first cpu init stage.

I have an LSI controller on PCIe (4x electric), plugged on second PCIe 16x slot.

I had to unplug it to flash back to 403.

I hope that the guy that posted it will report to Asus BIOS engineers this big bug of 406.

I hate 0406. I had the same issue with adaptec 3405 raid controller. Good to hear that I was not alone. Since 0406 has incompatibility issue not only with adaptec, i hope asus will solve the problem quickly.

[Shadowthor]

Hopefully they fix the issues with this beta bios.

[bigslappy]

Which slots are better for higher clocks, white ones or blue ones???? thanks.

err! both ! i got 8 gb in of ddr2-1000 & they are o/c'ed at 1066 in one board & 1066 in the other mobo that is at 1154 also 8gb,

G.Skill's Rock!

manuel says use the a1 & b1 slots 1st

BUT & this is a big BUT..... put a fan on the stix as they do get HOT when O/C'ed .................................
mine have a 120mm fan laying on them now as the MoBo is on the test bed right now & they are cool to the touch as soon as i put the fan on them

[bigslappy]

anyone who has this board check your stock cooling assy ! as i was removing one from one of R/F mobo's removed the screws & cut off the push pins ends (suckers are b*tch to out ) & the whole * Cooler Fell Off * in my hands both s/b n/b & memory controller only had a dime size TIM paste on each & s/b,n/b had also a small very thin thermal tape that was in peices . that was crap paste Too ! as it scraped off with my finger nail !!


I was doing all this in prep to put water blocks on everything . the mosfits had a thick thermal tape but contact was not great .... i'll be doing the other MoBo also soon

[bigslappy]

I hate 0406. I had the same issue with adaptec 3405 raid controller. Good to hear that I was not alone. Since 0406 has incompatibility issue not only with adaptec, i hope asus will solve the problem quickly.

I did have D/L the newest driver for the intel chipset to get things to work right , but i'm not useing any added Raid card sooo that issue never popped up for me. interesting ! \
Soo I expect another BIOS is on the way , that's Way cool !

the more ASUS attn We get on the BIOS the better , in the long run ... I did notice that i have less options on setting the memory speed on 0406 & I was getting a higher O/C on the QX9770 that was stable ( that's the board that the water is going on soo it'll be down awhile...
...... tonite i think i'll flash to 401 on the Q9450 board & see what that does ...

[003]

anyone who has this board check you stock cooling assy ! as i was removing one from one of R/F mobo's removed the screws & cut off the push pins ends (suckers are b*tch to out ) & the whole * Cooler Fell Off * in my hands both s/b n/b & memory controller only had a dime size TIM paste on each & s/b,n/b had also a small very thin thermal tape that was in peices . that was crap paste Too ! as it scraped off with my finger nail !!


I was doing all this in prep to put water blocks on everything . the mosfits had a thick thermal tape but contact was not great .... i'll be doing the other MoBo also soon

Yeah the stock board cooling looks nice from the outside, but under the hood it's a load of junk.

The mosfet cooler does not make good contact with the mosfets in the middle, the NB cooler uses extremely crappy TIM, it's like CA based superglue, and the SB cooler has almost zero surface area, and it's thermally coupled to the heat monster x48 NB via a heatpipe to boot.

I have HR-09s on my mosfets (make perfect contact), a DD MPC-Universal on the NB and an Enzotech CNB-S1L on the SB. I purchased a DD MPC-X38 to go on the NB, and I have it here, but it looks like its top may interfere with the pro mount on the d-tek fuzion unfortunately. It might fit, I'll just have to find out.

[bigslappy]

Yeah I purchased a DD MPC-X38 to go on the NB, and I have it here, but it looks like its top may interfere with the pro mount on the d-tek fuzion unfortunately. It might fit, I'll just have to find out.

i got that block also(DD MPC-X38 with the optional brass top ,what a rip that brass is as it only sits on top of the plexi) .. but I got a EK block to match the others soo i'll check the clearance tonite & get back at ya .. when I do a check of all the blocks for any fitting issues before any final assy ....

did you see this post about the TRUE backing plate that has collars to keep from bending the PCB ? It works way better that the Veetec Pro-mount , lets you attach the back plate to the mobo & not have it move & makes swapping out blocks WAY easy .. I put a small grommet & nut on the top of the screws to hold the mount on better right at the PCB this keeps the PCB from flexing & you can tighten the block down hard without fear of warpage ... here's da link



http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=191257

sidewinder has them as does Cyber Druid (he'll send the right screws )

http://cyberdruidpc.com/catalog/prod...c20f3d7841695a

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/lgbowiscsp.html

the screws are throw aways as u want the 3 inch 3mm screws that comes with VeeTec V2 uni mount not the pro mount

[003]

i got that block also(DD MPC-X38 with the optional brass top ,what a rip that brass is as it only sits on top of the plexi) .. but I got a EK block to match the others soo i'll check the clearance tonite & get back at ya .. when I do a check of all the blocks for any fitting issues before any final assy ....

did you see this post about the TRUE backing plate that has collars to keep from bending the PCB ? It works way better that the Veetec Pro-mount , lets you attach the back plate to the mobo & not have it move & makes swapping out blocks WAY easy .. I put a small grommet & nut on the top of the screws to hold the mount on better right at the PCB this keeps the PCB from flexing & you can tighten the block down hard without fear of warpage ... here's da link



http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=191257

sidewinder has them as does Cyber Druid (he'll send the right screws )

http://cyberdruidpc.com/catalog/prod...c20f3d7841695a

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/lgbowiscsp.html

the screws are throw aways as u want the 3 inch 3mm screws that comes with VeeTec V2 uni mount not the pro mount

That mount kit at sidewinder looks like its exactly the same as the d-tek pro mount, and the d-tek fuzion v2 stock mount.

It'd be great if you could test clearance with the MPC-X38 and post a pic of it. Once I confirm it will fit, I will swap it in, as well as swap in my brand new Fuzion V2 with quad plate. I got the V2 just for the sake of having the two barbs spaced farther apart, so I can use clamps on both of them.

I know some people who can get clamps on both barbs of the V1. I however simply can't do that, they are just better than me I guess

[doodah10]

I've had good luck with 406. With 219 I was able to get into Windows long enough to get screen capture of 3.92 GHz CPU-Z. Then things got slower as I tried to get stable, replaced the TIM under the NB heatsink, dealt with one or both monitors going black or pink or orange. I know one of my RAM sticks is weak, I can't boot with either one in a white slot, in a blue slot one stick will freeze at Windows start sound and one will get completely into windows. Last few weeks I've run at 3.5 GHz and RAM at 1051Mhz. 403 seemed to run worse so went back to 219. Installed 406 a week or so ago and right now I'm at 3.8 GHz and RAM's running at 1141 MHz. I'm not Prime stable, core #2 keeps falling out.

I built this machine with a purpose. I work where they use and teach CAD/CAM programs like Catia and Solidworks. I use a machining app called Mastercam X2 and they have a very good forum site where there is a thread on benchmarking one of the very large sample files that comes with MC. A year ago I held the record with a P5B-Dlx running a C2D 6420 OC'd to 3.5 GHz. Every so often someone would post a time 1 to 5 seconds faster than the last best time. I was in 5th place when someone posted a time 45 seconds faster going from 5 min. flat to 4 min. 15 sec. How could this be, a near 20% decrease overnight from a Dell T7400 with a slower CPU clock and RAM speed than my P5B?

Research showed me that in Mastercam the Xeon's always were better than equiv. C2D's and quads. The leader had 2 Xeon quads with a 1600Mb FSB and 12Mb cache. A friend told me how Xeon's use their cache differently. A benchmark run by a Xeon machine and similar C2Q machine with task manager running plainly showed a difference. So I built the rig in my sig. and retook the lead by 10 sec. and still have it. I have $1300 in my Rampage and the Dell guy is in second and only spent $6800 Canadian's. The real surprise was that I can run 2 instances of the benchmark simultaneously with NO DEFFERENCE in time.

[bigslappy]

That mount kit at sidewinder looks like its exactly the same as the d-tek pro mount, and the d-tek fuzion v2 stock mount.

Nah the backing plates are different .. the V-Tec on is just threaded & punched out the TRUE plate has alu collars a nut enbedded in it

i'll do a pix

as i had the VeeTec one on the mobo & that's when i noticed the bend in the PCB .. it was soo bad that the center mosfits were not in contact due to the bow ... I'm soo glad i got the test bed things that you never see once a mobo is in a case

[bigslappy]

here both back plates

[bigslappy]

here where i noticed i needed some nuts/gromments to seat the plate flush on the PCB ... anyway it works for me & really works well on my test bed CPU block which is a DD TDX