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

**kup** · 08-04-2008, 11:53 AM

Right, I'm back after being homeless for a while (long story)...

If someone can point out to me (or write out) the biggest additions/alterations needed on the front page, I'll get to work on updating it.

Sorry for the delay!

**~~Grnfinger~~** · 08-04-2008, 12:15 PM

Good to have you back m8

Aside from the 2 bios releases 408 and 406 there has not been to much that I can recall.

408 is in my sig and I'll post a link for 406 if you dont have it already,
There has been some slight discussion on Clock Skew, it really helps ram stabilty but I cant think of anything else atm

Rampage 406

**kup** · 08-04-2008, 12:20 PM

Cool. How are the new bios working out? Do you have a link for 0406?

**~~Grnfinger~~** · 08-04-2008, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by kup

Cool. How are the new bios working out? Do you have a link for 0406?

I just added it to my previous post

406 I did not like much kinda buggy, 408 I will test tonight but others have reported it being crap.
308 is still the best to date imo and a few others

**jorgito05** · 08-04-2008, 05:31 PM

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ampage+extreme

Check this guy out!

**ante_ante** · 08-05-2008, 01:34 AM

I´m using rampage 0403 bios, anyone know if this bios supports Intel E8600. Will recieve the new cpu today and later this week i will get my new rampage extreme

**t_ski** · 08-05-2008, 07:31 PM

OK, I have a new PSU I am trying to get to work. It's a Thermaltake 1200W W0133RU. Actually, this is an RMA replacement for another PSU (same model) that had problems powering up after BIOS changes and cold boots. That problem was, after powering on the unit and running it, if I cold booted it immediately afterwards (or did a BIOS change that required a cold reboot), the unit would briefly flash the power light then not start. After receiving the replacement and installing it, I tested to see if the problem I was having with the original unit was fixed.

Since this is the second PSU with the same issue, I was wondering if there is something else you could suggest. I am running the following setup:

Thermaltake 1200W W0133RU
Intel QX9650
Asus Maximus Formula
2 x 2GB G.Skill PC2-1000
HIS Radeon 3870X2
BFG PhysX card
4 x 250GB Seagate 7200.10 drives in Raid 0/5
Plus fans, optical drives, etc.

All of the connectors are firmly seated into their corresponding locations. I tried using the 8-pin motherboard connector on the PSU as well the 4+4pin. I am using two red connectors for the VGA card (one 6-pin and one 8-pin), once SATA cable for 4 drives and one Molex cable for the opticals, PhysX, fan controller and floppy. I tried the VGA power cables in the red sockets (12V rail #3) and the blue sockets (12V #4).

Any suggestions would be welcome.

**Dostoyevsky77** · 08-06-2008, 05:14 AM

Holy hell! I had the EXACT same problem with that EXACT same PSU! I even started a thread here about how I've totally blacklisted Tt because of it! Well, I would like to recommend PC Power & Cooling. Also, Silverstone is a good second. I have a Tagan that died after 12 months, but their RMA was rock solid and VERY fast (and the customer service was excellent).

I would stick it to Tt. Send them back their garbage, but this time let them keep it! They probably sent you the one I RMA'ed, LOL!

Originally Posted by t_ski

OK, I have a new PSU I am trying to get to work. It's a Thermaltake 1200W W0133RU. Actually, this is an RMA replacement for another PSU (same model) that had problems powering up after BIOS changes and cold boots. That problem was, after powering on the unit and running it, if I cold booted it immediately afterwards (or did a BIOS change that required a cold reboot), the unit would briefly flash the power light then not start. After receiving the replacement and installing it, I tested to see if the problem I was having with the original unit was fixed. (SNIP!)

**~~Zucker2k~~** · 08-06-2008, 08:01 AM

Bios 0407 on Asus ftp, this may be the next stable release, who knows.... ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/so...rmula-0407.zip

**MarcusFoX** · 08-06-2008, 08:13 AM

Good find tucker ill give it a try and let everyone now.. so far the best performance ive gotten was with the 308 and 403 bios's.

**aledsav1** · 08-06-2008, 08:20 AM

can the extreme be converted to the rampage version?
also seem to be hitting a wall with my extreme and e8400=481fsb 4.3g vcore 1.53 any ideas only changed the fsb term voltage/sb voltage

**MarcusFoX** · 08-06-2008, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by Zucker2k

Torturing your hardware for 16 hours straight at levels you're never ever going to use your system is a little bit e-penis wagging in imho. This is the highest I ever bothered priming.

For me its not that at all..... its more that if Im going to overclock somthing I want to actually use it day to day it hasnt to be stable im a competive gamer and I have to have a stable clock... as long as the voltages stay with in safe ranges.

yah the 4.6 prime is pritty tight.

Feed me some bios setting im interested to see if there is somthing I need to tweak to get the extra mile out of this E8400...

**t_ski** · 08-06-2008, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by Dostoyevsky77

Holy hell! I had the EXACT same problem with that EXACT same PSU! I even started a thread here about how I've totally blacklisted Tt because of it! Well, I would like to recommend PC Power & Cooling. Also, Silverstone is a good second. I have a Tagan that died after 12 months, but their RMA was rock solid and VERY fast (and the customer service was excellent).

I would stick it to Tt. Send them back their garbage, but this time let them keep it! They probably sent you the one I RMA'ed, LOL!

So they Tagan you have now is working fine? Did you ever contact Tt support and get any suggestions other than RMA?

**Dostoyevsky77** · 08-06-2008, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Zucker2k

Bios 0407 on Asus ftp, this may be the next stable release, who knows.... ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/so...rmula-0407.zip

Wow, crazy! Nice catch. I just checked the other FTP this morning (ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socke...mpage_Formula/). It has a lot less stuff. Here I thought the .tw was the mirror. I'll give it a try ASAP (next few days) and report back if nobody beats me to it.

Originally Posted by t_ski

So they Tagan you have now is working fine? Did you ever contact Tt support and get any suggestions other than RMA?

Well, as I said the Tagan I had died after 12 months. The one they sent back is technically the exact same model, but it has the 6+2 PCI-E that mine did not have. I did some research, and apparently they overhauled the internal components as well... same model number (TG1100-U95), but radical changes. In a way, it was really good luck it died. I contacted Tt for RMA, but they took too long to approve it (I had bought it as a replacement when my Tagan died). My RMA'ed Tagan came back before they approved the RMA, so I just sent it back to NewEgg for refund. I will never buy another Tt PSU for the rest of my life!

**Dostoyevsky77** · 08-06-2008, 01:39 PM

At first blush, it appears that 0407 > 0403. 0308 is between the two. The differences will seem minimal at first, but pay less attention to RAM bandwidth than to latency and L1/L2 performance. Also, the enhancements (memory module compatibility) might be significant if you own the affected modules (I might, but am too lazy to check the QVL). Since it's a work day, I can't go into too much more testing, but here is what I have so far:

0407:

0403:

0308... keep in mind, I did a LOT of trials to get all my scores over 10GB/s:

**~~Grnfinger~~** · 08-06-2008, 01:46 PM

I find the new bios a dog, dont like it at all.
308 is still king for me and my hardware. My 8600 is in tomorrow so maybe that might change my mind but I highly doubt it.
Once the Rampage Extreme is available this board is gone to ebay and I can start the process all over again

**Dostoyevsky77** · 08-06-2008, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by Grnfinger

I find the new bios a dog, dont like it at all.
308 is still king for me and my hardware. My 8600 is in tomorrow so maybe that might change my mind but I highly doubt it.
Once the Rampage Extreme is available this board is gone to ebay and I can start the process all over again

I was going to drop this board a while ago, but now I'm split between two paths: Crossfire on MF/RF or SLI'ed 280GTX'es on the EVGA 780i reference. I will probably not move to DDR3 until Nehalem. Think about making ANOTHER jump in 6 months... it may be worth it to you, but that's going to be a whole new ball game...

**~~Grnfinger~~** · 08-06-2008, 03:10 PM

I'm looking to build 2 rigs here soon and I have been wanting to make the ddr3 jump for along time now.
Nehalem is my excuse for the second rig to be built you see.... Its what cpu to buy now is my problem, I have a 8600 on the way ( hope to hell its a good clocker ) but I dont know what to buy right now for a 45nm quad, 9550 is going to price drop in a week or so but the 9650 is looking very nice except for the price tag. Local shop is selling for $609.99CDN which is going to hurt the walett but damn I'm tempted.