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

[ZenEffect]

hey grnfinger, did you ever rma your board and or got it back yet? ive been out of the country for the last month so im kinda out of the loop atm...

[Grnfinger]

hey grnfinger, did you ever rma your board and or got it back yet? ive been out of the country for the last month so im kinda out of the loop atm...

Asus has the board, just waiting for the Email of no stock.
Hopefully I can get a decent upgrade out of this.

[CBird28]

says on the crucial site that my rams IS compatible http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpar...8620C6A5CA7304

my new ram turns up on monday. If i still get bsod's after that, its gotta be the board thats causing it.

My Raid0 setup is now saying one of the drives has an error again for the 2nd time (after replacing the previous drive which had an error)

[Draculea]

Recomendations in bold, I'm sure Grn can help you more though, that's just what I'd try...

Seems more FSB Term improves my Orthos time to 7 min average.

Any new ideas where to adjust?

[GiN]

Hello all! Could someone give me some input over my settings?

CPU: 8400 VID-1.225 Water cooled
RAM: Mushkin 2x2 Gb 8500 (991599)
GPU: ATI Asus HD3870x2 WC no OC
MB: Asus Maximus Formula ( MOD Rampage Formula ) Bios 403
PSU: Thermaltake Quatro 850w
HDD: 2x Samsung 640Gb Raid 0
OS: Vista x64


Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9.0
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 105
DRAM Frequency: 1081
DRAM Command Rate : 2N
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A : Advance 250 or 300
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B : Advance 250 or 300
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 : 55
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

Write to PRE Delay : 14
Read to PRE Delay : 5
PRE to PRE Delay : 1
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : 5
ALL PRE to REF Delay : 5

DRAM Static Read Control: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : Manual
Common Performance Level 7
Pull-In of CHA PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled

CPU Voltage : 1.45 - 1.432 CPU-z
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.51
DRAM Voltage : 2.02
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.2
South Bridge Voltage : 1.05
South Bridge 1.5v Voltage: 1.50
Loadline Calibration : Enable
CPU GTL Reference : x.65 tried x.067
North Bridge GTL Reference : x.67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : DDR2 Ref
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : DDR2 Ref
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2 Ref
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

NB LED Selection : NB Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU VOlt
Voltiminder LED :

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Advanced CPU Configuration
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting :
C1E Suppport : Disabled
CPU TM Function : Disabled
Vanderpool Technology : Disabled
Execute Disable Bit : Enabled ..........??????
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled

Boots fine in Windows. Can run any benchmark, no problems. Can run any game for hours with no trouble at all. Tried relaxing the memory settings, no go. PLL is as high as i would go. FSB Term makes no difference. NB Volts also none.

Any stress test will fail after 5-30 sec: Orthos, OCCT, Prime 95.

Thank you!

Try to put more dram voltage. My default dram voltage is 2.20 and i need 2.25 to get stable with rampage formula

[Lestat]

guys anyone running crucial ballistix that is single sidded ram (ram chips are only on 1 side) this has N O T H I N G to do with the motherboard.
this is 100% the fault of the ram.
crucial ballistix single sided ram is known to be bad. period end of story, no arguing about it. there are TONS of threads here about this ram and every single person using it is going to get problems when overclocking the ram and some at stock.

the one and only cure is to try and rma it and hope crucial sends back double sided ram, or ebay the ram or throw it away and get something else.

again the issues with crucial ram IS NOT the mobo or compatability, it is the ram itself.

this is 100% fact and proven many times in this very forum.

lastly the ram DOES NOT LIKE VOLTAGE. period. anything above 2.0v is going to make the ram go freaky weird.

random blue screens, random occt failures, ramdom memtest errors. (1 time its ok, the next time it gives errors)

get rid of the ram and your problems will go away.

the 1066 ram cant even run at stock because of these issues.

[M13]

Ok all you Formula x-perts, got a question for ya.

My MF board will not stay stable, even when running at total stock (auto) settings. Keeps reseting. At times won't even stay up long enough to change things in bios. Just resets. Sometimes it will even reset the bios to default. My question is: Could it be something other than the MB? CPU, GPU, a usb port? etc. or do I have another bad board... It's not the PS, tried one I'd trust with my life. It's not getting hot, everything is WC, and temps are great (everything less than 40c full load, GPU = 45c full load, room temps about 23c). Not audio, had onboard, x-fi, and nothing, still resets. Not ram, tried three different sets, slots, etc.

You need full specs I'll post them if you need em.

Please tell me I'm missing something really dumb... I really don't want to drain the cooling again...

[CBird28]

guys anyone running crucial ballistix that is single sidded ram (ram chips are only on 1 side) this has N O T H I N G to do with the motherboard.
this is 100% the fault of the ram.
crucial ballistix single sided ram is known to be bad. period end of story, no arguing about it. there are TONS of threads here about this ram and every single person using it is going to get problems when overclocking the ram and some at stock.

the one and only cure is to try and rma it and hope crucial sends back double sided ram, or ebay the ram or throw it away and get something else.

again the issues with crucial ram IS NOT the mobo or compatability, it is the ram itself.

this is 100% fact and proven many times in this very forum.

lastly the ram DOES NOT LIKE VOLTAGE. period. anything above 2.0v is going to make the ram go freaky weird.

random blue screens, random occt failures, ramdom memtest errors. (1 time its ok, the next time it gives errors)

get rid of the ram and your problems will go away.

the 1066 ram cant even run at stock because of these issues.

sounds good, finally my pc will be stable again as of tommorow when i get my corsair dominator 8500. cheers grn and lest

[Harvestor]

Hey where can I get the latest 1207 bios, the asus site only has up to 1201 listed.

[kwalker]

Hey where can I get the latest 1207 bios, the asus site only has up to 1201 listed.

here you go
ftp://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/s...rmula-1207.zip

[Harvestor]

Thank you

[kwalker]

I hope you have better luck with that Q9550 than I did
the 1207 bios didnt help matters with the C1 revision 9550

[kup]

here you go
ftp://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/s...rmula-1207.zip

Link is dead now?

[kwalker]

Link is dead now?

Thats Asus site for you
I'll try to fix it

[kwalker]

Site is swamped
try again later
heres the ftp ftp://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/s...ximus_Formula/

[kwalker]

Here's as far as I could get on XP Pro bios revision 1004 which lasted a few days before Vista 64bit spit it out


the E7300 on the other hand just clocks

[Furiøùs]

Ok all you Formula x-perts, got a question for ya.

My MF board will not stay stable, even when running at total stock (auto) settings. Keeps reseting. At times won't even stay up long enough to change things in bios. Just resets. Sometimes it will even reset the bios to default. My question is: Could it be something other than the MB? CPU, GPU, a usb port? etc. or do I have another bad board... It's not the PS, tried one I'd trust with my life. It's not getting hot, everything is WC, and temps are great (everything less than 40c full load, GPU = 45c full load, room temps about 23c). Not audio, had onboard, x-fi, and nothing, still resets. Not ram, tried three different sets, slots, etc.

You need full specs I'll post them if you need em.

Please tell me I'm missing something really dumb... I really don't want to drain the cooling again...

Put the LCD Poster on the board and see what it reads when its running through post cycles etc.

if you want, bend the USB port slot things out a bit so they wont touch the board and you have no chance of shorting something out.
Also, the CPU could possibly be throttling etc. maybe the waterblock is not mounted 100% ??

[nama]

hi guys am having trouble getting my maximus formula stable with my ram.
am at 3.6ghz working my way up and 400x9 and 450x8 cpu passes prime 12 hrs but nothing i change will get the ram past 512k. th most it runs is 1hr 10minutes...

am using g-skill 1066 2x2gb kit @ 1066 and 1080 and no go so far. tried 1:1 divider and same thing happened. tried both rampage and mf bioses same results. reflashing to 0602 to see how it goes but if anyone has any tips specially fsb and fsbt please help.

had my previous MF + Q6600 rig @ 3.8 @ 1200mhz with a pair of crucials tracers but my current rig isnt playing nice. am either missing something or i got a bad board from rma!!!.... tried a pair of tracer instead of my g-skill and crapped out large fft's too.

Q6600
Maximus Formula SE
2x2gb g-skill 8500 @ 5-5-5-15
600w OCZ Xtreme
Swiftech 220 compact cooling(cpu+nb loop)

note cpu is stable but ram stressing juss wont play nice @ 3.6ghz

[Lestat]

hi guys am having trouble getting my maximus formula stable with my ram.
am at 3.6ghz working my way up and 400x9 and 450x8 cpu passes prime 12 hrs but nothing i change will get the ram past 512k. th most it runs is 1hr 10minutes...

am using g-skill 1066 2x2gb kit @ 1066 and 1080 and no go so far. tried 1:1 divider and same thing happened. tried both rampage and mf bioses same results. reflashing to 0602 to see how it goes but if anyone has any tips specially fsb and fsbt please help.

had my previous MF + Q6600 rig @ 3.8 @ 1200mhz with a pair of crucials tracers but my current rig isnt playing nice. am either missing something or i got a bad board from rma!!!.... tried a pair of tracer instead of my g-skill and crapped out large fft's too.

Q6600
Maximus Formula SE
2x2gb g-skill 8500 @ 5-5-5-15
600w OCZ Xtreme
Swiftech 220 compact cooling(cpu+nb loop)

note cpu is stable but ram stressing juss wont play nice @ 3.6ghz

use a DMM to check for ram voltage fluctuations.

i would contact asus again also, they send out used/refurbed boards for rma unless its the 2nd or 3rd rma then they send you a new one.

just tell them that the same hardware and settings isnt stable anymore.

BUT

no 2 boards are the same, what you had before may not work now....

but if you cant even run your ram at stock then thats a good sign something is wrong.

[nama]

thanks, noted. i will do some further testing and see how it turns out. the nb doesnt like anything past 1.6. reboots after a while.as to voltages i dont have a dmm but i will find one and test. i think i got a bad apple back from asus. @ stock eveything is fine but when oc'd thing get icky. will post back findings.

[chawks2]

@ stock eveything is fine but when oc'd thing get icky. will post back findings.

If you're not having any problems at stock then the problem is with your oc/timings/temps/voltages/strap.

[Lestat]

If you're not having any problems at stock then the problem is with your oc/timings/temps/voltages/strap.

not really, it could easily be the board given that asus send refurb boards for rma, or the ram itself could just not be very good overclocking.

set the strap down low so the ram runs at like 800mhz and then start raising the fsb.

this will determine if the ram is the problem or not. given that yes you do have the voltages setup properly.

you shouldnt need 1.6v on the NB until you get over 470mhz FSB on a Quad.

400-450 only needs stock voltage to 1.45v (for 450mhz) on a dual core you really dont need that much until maybe 500mhz fsb.

[Grnfinger]

hi guys am having trouble getting my maximus formula stable with my ram.
am at 3.6ghz working my way up and 400x9 and 450x8 cpu passes prime 12 hrs but nothing i change will get the ram past 512k. th most it runs is 1hr 10minutes...

am using g-skill 1066 2x2gb kit @ 1066 and 1080 and no go so far. tried 1:1 divider and same thing happened. tried both rampage and mf bioses same results. reflashing to 0602 to see how it goes but if anyone has any tips specially fsb and fsbt please help.

had my previous MF + Q6600 rig @ 3.8 @ 1200mhz with a pair of crucials tracers but my current rig isnt playing nice. am either missing something or i got a bad board from rma!!!.... tried a pair of tracer instead of my g-skill and crapped out large fft's too.

Q6600
Maximus Formula SE
2x2gb g-skill 8500 @ 5-5-5-15
600w OCZ Xtreme
Swiftech 220 compact cooling(cpu+nb loop)

note cpu is stable but ram stressing juss wont play nice @ 3.6ghz

post your current settings and we can see if anything is wrong there.
I have the same gskill kit and they require 2.2volts for 1080 anything less and they randomly fail.

Ok all you Formula x-perts, got a question for ya.

My MF board will not stay stable, even when running at total stock (auto) settings. Keeps reseting. At times won't even stay up long enough to change things in bios. Just resets. Sometimes it will even reset the bios to default. My question is: Could it be something other than the MB? CPU, GPU, a usb port? etc. or do I have another bad board... It's not the PS, tried one I'd trust with my life. It's not getting hot, everything is WC, and temps are great (everything less than 40c full load, GPU = 45c full load, room temps about 23c). Not audio, had onboard, x-fi, and nothing, still resets. Not ram, tried three different sets, slots, etc.

You need full specs I'll post them if you need em.

Please tell me I'm missing something really dumb... I really don't want to drain the cooling again...

You will need to provide more information.
Hardware and bios setup please

[nama]

vcore=1.425( 12hrs small fft stress)
nb=1.45 longest run stable for large fft, max i can set without reboot is 1.59(1.6v bios)
ram passes 12hrs memtest @ 1.98(2.0vbios but have it @ 2.1v) @ 5-5-5-15-3-52-6-3
fsbt=1.4 bios set is the most stable so far, anything else fails in minutes
cpu ppl is @ auto = 1.6 bios read

450x8 @ 3600 cpu stable ram the most i can get it is 512k large fft's ie 1hr 10 minutes almost. if the north bridge is set higher it reboots at this very point. lower juss gives a rounding error. ram is @ 1081mhz @ the timings above also 8hr memtest stable

400x9 @ 3600/1066 no go for ram either.

as to temps from the previous post. my cores never go above 63c, cpu is 50-54c, nb=41max, sb=38, watercooled cpu and nb loop. plus 120mm fans blowing over the ram and mosfets

if it helps am using xp64 and prime95 64bit
2x2gb g-skill 8500 ram
Maximus formula se mb(from rma)
600w xtreme psu

temps are quite good considering its summer rite now in toronto.
and to the guy before i dont think its my oc but i might be wrong coz the north bridge seem to have a mind of ts own. i hope am wrong coz i hate rma's takes to long to get junk back.

i tried 1:1 but i needs more volts at the nb juss to post which leads to a reboot when priming ram.

the gtl stuff didnt seem to help so i left it at auto as i have done on previous maximus boards. i love the ram but it doesnt scale too well though i dont mind as i wanna keep it +/-1100mhz as this system iam putting together is for my video editing for school so i want it stable for use over the next yr or less if i get more cash..

[nama]

not really, it could easily be the board given that asus send refurb boards for rma, or the ram itself could just not be very good overclocking.

set the strap down low so the ram runs at like 800mhz and then start raising the fsb.

this will determine if the ram is the problem or not. given that yes you do have the voltages setup properly.

you shouldnt need 1.6v on the NB until you get over 470mhz FSB on a Quad.

400-450 only needs stock voltage to 1.45v (for 450mhz) on a dual core you really dont need that much until maybe 500mhz fsb.

i agree with the nb voltages. it just wont play nice tho. even at 1:1 once its past 400mhz fsb