Live MB OC Report :: ASUS Rampage Extreme

[Mezzro]

This is very disappointing. Is this really the consensus with this board?

I speak only for myself. I do see more and more posts here and elsewhere with experienced users struggling with the RE paired with quad cores.

As far as I recall Eternal Fantasy was able to run FSB 470 stable with a QX9650.

That's terrific. Perhaps he will share with the class.

Is it a FSB problem or will e.g. 11x400 be fine with a QX9650 (if the CPU can handle it)? I have replaced my QX9650 with one I know can run 4.5 on good water (on a Evolution) and am planing to buy high end water cooling and the Rampage Extreme to be able to run 10x450. My current Evolution maxes in the FSB area around 425 when running memory 1:1. Should I forget about that ambition?

IMHO, forget about it until more mature BIOS releases surface. By then, we all my be using Nehalems. but I digress. I think the board has potential. I also think its shortcomings were eclipsed by the hype. And there's no shortage of the latter. LOL

[Holmer]

My settings are stable for 24/7 as I no longer bench, I game. Therefore around 4Ghz is where I stay. Memory compatibility is a pretty big issue with the RE. I cannot get my CellShock blue DDR3-1866 PC3-15000 to start windows no matter what setting/voltage I tried, where it is absolutely fine in the ME. Obviously it works fine for your board.

Anyway here is my setting for 470FSB

FSB - 470
Strap - 266
DRAM - 1414
CR - 1T
6-5-5-15
Twister - Strong
Booster - PL7
VCore - depends on your CPU and its speed
LLC - Disable
PLL - 1.51
VFSB - 1.31
VMCH - 1.524
VDIMM - 1.90
SB1.5 - 1.51
SB1.05 - 1.06

Setting using kits in my sig, NB watercooled below 40C under load. 10 hour dual ORTHOS Blend stable, OCCT 2 Hour Stable, 3DMark06 2 Hour stable. All voltages lowered until unstable, then upped 3 steps as insurance. So what is 100% stable for my system may require raising voltages a little. The highest clock I've tried and primed at is 470x9, around 1.63V for my QX9650.

I eagerly awaits your review.

Quite some time ago I pointed out that running FSB 450+ with a memory divider (not 1:2) was not extraordinary and you wrote
"FYI my system is running fine 470x8.5 1:2 1880Mhz mem, played TF2 for 3 hours absolutely fine." Does that mean that running you memory 1:2 was not stable in the long run or that you chose your current settings because it gives more performance (I see you have nice and tight timings/strap)?

Full quote from your post I was refering to:

You quote me:
Originally Posted by Holmer
I don't want to argue about how you define a 24/7 stable OC and the FSB you reached is indeed great. However, these FSB are not exceptional with other motherboards (I know for sure on the WS Evolution) and a QX9650 especially with the 4/5 memory divider. Please don't get me wrong but if the settings are only stable to check email and post a SS what's the use (I know it is preliminary tests). As mentioned my point is, it puts a lot more stress on the MB (and naturally the memory) to use the 1:2 memory divider. Therefore to me a FSB of 450+ is only really impressive with memory running DDR 1800 (and preferably 2x2 GB of memory). For instance my MB can prime for 10-20 h at 9x445 but will crap out within minutes in a game. At 426x9.5 I can Prime for 70 h (even I know that is excessive) and games run perfect. If I use the 4/5 memory divider and FSB around 450 games are fine but performance sucks. I would love to see the RE handle FSB 450+ with 2x2GB memory 1:2.
I really don't mean to be a party pooper and I sincerely appreciate your tests with your QX9650, but I am not so excited before I have seen som Orthos/OCCT/Prime/game stability with memory running synced

BTW I use my PC for scientific work sometimes so I require another level of stability. Quote end

Your reply:
Believe it or not, I'm not an Asus employee, and am not trying to impress or showoff what I brought in an attempt to "impress" you into buying the board. To be honest I really couldn't care less. However what I CAN and are happy to do is to try and answer reasonable questions, and try reasonable settings on the board. What I will not do is put my newly installed rig out of commission (try gaming while priming) for a day, sucking juice out of my wall socket, in an attempt to impress a guy over the internet, so he can make up his mind, and be confident about his purchase. As I said before, what you do with your own system is your business, and I will be helpful if the request is resonable. When was the last time you saw an online review site show you a screenshot of a 24H+ primed stable overclocked system? If they won't do it even when they get paied, I as hell won't.

FYI my system is running fine 470x8.5 1:2 1880Mhz mem, played TF2 for 3 hours absolutely fine.

No hard feelings btw, its just how I do things... maybe you can get one of the others that has the board to test it for you. Quote end
(sorry for my inability to multiquote across threads I need to learn that ;-)

I speak only for myself. I do see more and more posts here and elsewhere with experienced users struggling with the RE paired with quad cores.


That's terrific. Perhaps he will share with the class.


IMHO, forget about it until more mature BIOS releases surface. By then, we all my be using Nehalems. but I digress. I think the board has potential. I also think its shortcomings were eclipsed by the hype. And there's no shortage of the latter. LOL

Thank you for answering, I appreciate your posts (clean and informative).

[eternal_fantasy]

Yes I stand by my post, having my memory at 1:2 7-6-5-18 means that I need to have 2.05V VDIMM and raise the VMCH by 0.05V. infact the performance is indeed similer using everest mem&cache bench. I was just showing that I could indeed satisfy having a FSB of 470Mhz using quad while having a much lower VDIMM. Infact I have many settings I can use, just because I didn't post them all don't mean it was not stable/possible for me or that I was posting BS before. Hopefully you'll understand.

[Mezzro]

Quite some time ago I pointed out that running FSB 450+ with a memory divider (not 1:2) was not extraordinary . . . . As mentioned my point is, it puts a lot more stress on the MB (and naturally the memory) to use the 1:2 memory divider . . . . I sincerely appreciate your tests with your QX9650, but I am not so excited before I have seen some Orthos/OCCT/Prime/game stability with memory running synced

BTW I use my PC for scientific work sometimes so I require another level of stability.

I'm of a similar mind, Holmer. Achieving a high FSB holds limited utility and performance gains if the memory is running in geological time. Settings and performance vary given the context within which the hardware is used, of course, but games also benefit from faster RAM clock speeds. Moreover, it's self-defeating to spend $300-$600 on high-end RAM only to run it at one half its spec speed.

When was the last time you saw an online review site show you a screenshot of a 24H+ primed stable overclocked system? If they won't do it even when they get paied, I as hell won't.

In fact, boutique resellers like Hypersonic and Falcon NW commonly bench test their high-end, overclocked rigs for 24hours before shipping to end users.

FYI my system is running fine 470x8.5 1:2 1880Mhz mem, played TF2 for 3 hours absolutely fine.

While running certain games for extended periods at max settings on an overclocked computer is certainly one way to test for rudimentary stability, it is by no means exhaustive nor adequate for one using a computer in a scientific/CAD/engineering setting. More conventional bench tests are required to test for hardware/performance suitability in this context; hence, there is nothing untoward about requesting results from such tests, as this is the accepted industry standard by which stability is indexed.

I didn't hear anyone calling for 24 hours of Orthos. Holmer mentions that he will sometimes strive for 72 hour bench-stable settings; he only requests of others, "some Orthos/OCCT/Prime/game stability with memory running synced." Big difference and not an unreasonable request. While not everyone here uses his/her PC exclusively for gaming or scientific application, there are certain benchmarks that have been accepted by the IT industry as the industry standard by which stability and performance are gauged. TF2 is not one of them.

Once I have arrived at what I believe to be a stable daily overclock, I will run Prime95 and Orthos for an hour or two each. For most here, publishing results from two or three of the established benches like Orthos, Prime, SuperPi, 3DMark06 and PCMark Vantage lends more credence and import to any claimed settings. Since we're not a homogeneous group with members playing the same games or performing identical work related tasks, employing some common and accepted benchmarks when posting specific, successful overclocks imbues them with far great meaning.

[eternal_fantasy]

Right.. I think I'll need to answer these backwards so it makes more sense... Also read with an open mind, or you're just wasting your time.

I didn't hear anyone calling for 24 hours of Orthos. Holmer mentions that he will sometimes strive for 72 hour bench-stable settings; he only requests of others, "some Orthos/OCCT/Prime/game stability with memory running synced." Big difference and not an unreasonable request.

If you want to give your thoughts on a post that was written more then a month ago, in another thread, you might want to read through said thread, or you might get your facts wrong.
Here is his post I was answering to at the time of writing:

Please perform some more long term stability tests soon at FSB 450+ with memory 1:2 with your QX9650 (e.g. Prime blend for 24 h+).

-----

While not everyone here uses his/her PC exclusively for gaming or scientific application, there are certain benchmarks that have been accepted by the IT industry as the industry standard by which stability and performance are gauged. TF2 is not one of them.

Same as above, If you have read posts leading up to the one Holmer quoted in this thread, then you'd know TF2 was not my stability test. This post follows the one above by Holmer:

First I will try and push all my hardware to the limits and see how far they'll go, then an hour or two of ORTHOS blend and I'm happy for my 24/7 settings. I don't have any mission critical tasks to perform on my PC, and 2 hours of priming will be more then enough to ensure stable gaming.

-----

While running certain games for extended periods at max settings on an overclocked computer is certainly one way to test for rudimentary stability, it is by no means exhaustive nor adequate for one using a computer in a scientific/CAD/engineering setting. More conventional bench tests are required to test for hardware/performance suitability in this context; hence, there is nothing untoward about requesting results from such tests, as this is the accepted industry standard by which stability is indexed.

I love how you assume and dismiss my method of stability testing based on one quoted post of a long dialogue between me and Holmer from another thread.

First I will try and push all my hardware to the limits and see how far they'll go, then an hour or two of ORTHOS blend and I'm happy for my 24/7 settings.I don't have any mission critical tasks to perform on my PC, and 2 hours of priming will be more then enough to ensure stable gaming.

Then after posting that I DO stress the PC once at my desired speed/setting, he came and pissed on my post saying "if the settings are only stable to check email and post a SS what's the use"??
Then I gave him a piece of my mind:

Believe it or not, I'm not an Asus employee, and am not trying to impress or showoff what I brought in an attempt to "impress" you into buying the board. To be honest I really couldn't care less. However what I CAN and are happy to do is to try and answer reasonable questions, and try reasonable settings on the board. What I will not do is put my newly installed rig out of commission (try gaming while priming) for a day, sucking juice out of my wall socket, in an attempt to impress a guy over the internet, so he can make up his mind, and be confident about his purchase. As I said before, what you do with your own system is your business, and I will be helpful if the request is resonable. When was the last time you saw an online review site show you a screenshot of a 24H+ primed stable overclocked system? If they won't do it even when they get paid, I as hell won't.

And yes, he DID ask for a 24H+ prime tp prove my stability, as per my first point in this post.

-----

In fact, boutique resellers like Hypersonic and Falcon NW commonly bench test their high-end, overclocked rigs for 24hours before shipping to end users.

Thank you for backing up my point. I can see the 24H stress test can be a selling point for system makers where they are paid to performed these tests. I'd like to help forum members, free of charge of course, but when someone nudges in requesting me to prove my claim of stability by wasting my time and money for 24H+, when he disaprove my stress length, saying it was "only stable to check email", when I can't use my just built PC for what I want to use, so that someone I don't know somewhere on this planet can sleep at night knowing it is "24H+ prime stable", I get a little upset. I'm sorry, but as I said, buy one yourself and prime away.

-----

Once I have arrived at what I believe to be a stable daily overclock, I will run Prime95 and Orthos for an hour or two each. For most here, publishing results from two or three of the established benches like Orthos, Prime, SuperPi, 3DMark06 and PCMark Vantage lends more credence and import to any claimed settings. Since we're not a homogeneous group with members playing the same games or performing identical work related tasks, employing some common and accepted benchmarks when posting specific, successful overclocks imbues them with far great meaning.

Then you'll find these posts intresting:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=121
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=125
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=128
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...6&postcount=68

some people just don't contribute to the community... they take and take, and when they don't get what they want, they dismiss what others has given, then about it on the forums...