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

[Grnfinger]

My Rampage arrived yesterday.......DOA!

[Zucker2k]

My Rampage arrived yesterday.......DOA!

That's gotta suck; pulled battery and reset bios?

[Grnfinger]

That's gotta suck; pulled battery and reset bios?

No will try the suggestions and see if that works.

had the whole afternoon set aside for tweaking and testing, now what will I do

[RCG_Bex]

That actually sucks

I really wanna get my MF out and rip the cooler off it but I can't until the rest of my stuff arrives because I need my PC for clan practice and the guest PC isn't up to it

~Bex

[MaXXimus]

Ok found time to do the Rampage conversion using RF0308 and all went fine. Problem is that even with all stock settings I got a BSOD within 30 seconds of getting into COD4, the only changes I made within the BIOS were for memory which were exact as within the default bios. I dont know what the deal is here... bum board? bum cpu? I reverted back to the Formula and tinkered a little with the multi and fsb and damned if I can get a stable 3.8 or 4.0 which is suppose to be so easy.

[RCG_Bex]

Sorry to be dumb, but which RAM is it that this board doesn't like. I know it's fussy with the Crucial - is it just the Ballistix? Or is there any others that I should be aware off - I don't recall off the top of my head there being any others that cause an immediate problem...

~Bex

[HousERaT]

Sorry to be dumb, but which RAM is it that this board doesn't like. I know it's fussy with the Crucial - is it just the Ballistix? Or is there any others that I should be aware off - I don't recall off the top of my head there being any others that cause an immediate problem...

~Bex

I've benched on this board with an assortment of D9GMH memory; OCZ, Crucial, & Teamgroup with no problems. I can't speak on the stuff that's out now.

[MaXXimus]

Grrrrrrr... I did 12*333 and upped my vcore to 1.375 and this POS wont even post, I dont understand.

[les_paulde]

Ok found time to do the Rampage conversion using RF0308 and all went fine. Problem is that even with all stock settings I got a BSOD within 30 seconds of getting into COD4, the only changes I made within the BIOS were for memory which were exact as within the default bios. I dont know what the deal is here... bum board? bum cpu? I reverted back to the Formula and tinkered a little with the multi and fsb and damned if I can get a stable 3.8 or 4.0 which is suppose to be so easy.

I had a similar problem with RF0308 and my ballistix tracers pc8500, I could just not for the life of me get them to run stable on this bios. Tried skew, relaxed performance level, tRFC, etc, but nothing would stop the BSODs and crashes. On my P5E deluxe they were rocksolid with all the settings on auto, and only after I flashed 0401 did the ram become stable again. Perhaps this could be an issue your dealing with as well? What memory are you running?

[MaXXimus]

Dominator PC8500... think I should try the 0401? Im not quite sure what to do other then be happy with all stock or toss it out the window.

[Grnfinger]

Ok found time to do the Rampage conversion using RF0308 and all went fine. Problem is that even with all stock settings I got a BSOD within 30 seconds of getting into COD4, the only changes I made within the BIOS were for memory which were exact as within the default bios. I dont know what the deal is here... bum board? bum cpu? I reverted back to the Formula and tinkered a little with the multi and fsb and damned if I can get a stable 3.8 or 4.0 which is suppose to be so easy.

List your hardware.
I have 3 kits of ram and they all play nice on the Maximus. I'm running 407 for E0 support otherwise I would use 308.
Also it dosent hurt to update to the latest chipset drivers.
If your running Raid then the latest Matrix Storage manager is also a benifit.

I found on my conversion that a clean OS install was in order, my machine has some slight issues after the conversion and a re install of Vista was the remedy.

[les_paulde]

the reason i discovered this was that I noticed the difference between the bioses by the stability, and when i checked the different timings using memset, I saw the tREF values were different between the two, and when I set the tREF to 3120 (the one from 0401) using memset and the 0308 bios, it suddenly became stable. I dont know if this was the only thing that made it stable but might be worth a shot i guess.

Also, what about your NB voltage?

[MaXXimus]

List your hardware.
I have 3 kits of ram and they all play nice on the Maximus. I'm running 407 for E0 support otherwise I would use 308.
Also it dosent hurt to update to the latest chipset drivers.
If your running Raid then the latest Matrix Storage manager is also a benifit.

I found on my conversion that a clean OS install was in order, my machine has some slight issues after the conversion and a re install of Vista was the remedy.

Not sure exactly what hardware ya want but here is a complete list...

Mother Board - ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38
Processor - Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz LGA 775 130W Quad-Core
Case - (Self Modified) Lian Li 343B
PSU - Tagan BZ Series 1300W Modular
Memory - (2*2Gig) 4 Gig Corsair Dominator PC8500 DDR2 1066
Hard Drives 4x (2T) Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB
Video Cards - VisionTek Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB
Mouse - Logitech G5 Laser
Mouse Surface - Cyber Sniper Tracer
Keyboard - Saitek Eclipse II
Burners - 2x ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
Card Reader - SUPER TALENT All-in-one USB 2.0 4 Slot
Floppy Drive - SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5"
OS - Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit
Speakers - Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1
Sound Card - Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro
Headset W/Mic - Sound Blaster Fatal1ty Pro
CPU Cooler - Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Cam - Logitech QuickCam AF
Monitor - Gateway HD 22" WS

No RAID installed, I dual boot with XP 32bit and Vista 64bit and its a fresh install of not more then 1 week, also all drivers such as Chipset are latest version.

[MaXXimus]

Also, what about your NB voltage?

I never touched my NB volts when I did the 0308, all I did was the conversion... went into bios and only set my memory to 1066 2N 5-5-5-15 and upped the dram volts to the recommended 2.10 volts and that was it. I booted fine and was messing around a bit talking to some buds on Ventrillo and then started up my COD4 and BSOD... got ticked and converted back to the Formula bios.

Seriously wondering if it the board, because my first Formula I had some help to OC and no issues but my system wasnt in a case yet because the case was out of stock... when it finally came in I had some issues seating my video cards and like a noobstick used a screwdriver to to try and pry it into place and mesed up soem trace... I purchased this mobo then and it just doesnt seem to want to do anything I attempt.

[Grnfinger]

This is a stable setting for Q9550 Corsair Dominators PC8500 Ver 1.2
Using bios 308,
But maybe you should start with the prying on your mobo with a screwdriver first next time.

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 110
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 : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 30
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 CHA PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH5 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH5 Disabled

CPU Voltage : whatever your cpu needs
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.35
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.65X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

[Talonman]

Do you guys have a stable setting I could print off for my Maximus SE, that would pritty much garentee my Q6600 booting after the Rampage 308 conversion? It dosen't have to be my 3.8GHz, just good enouigh to re-install my OS and boot. I could fine tune later...

I am going to 380, and I can't afford to not be able to boot up and ask for help if need be...

I am using the Gskills ram that allot of us Maximus boy's are running.

[Grnfinger]

Do you guys have a stable setting I could print off for my Maximus SE, that would pritty much garentee my Q6600 booting after the Rampage 308 conversion? It dosen't have to be my 3.8GHz, just good enouigh to re-install my OS and boot. I could fine tune later...

I am going to 380, and I can't afford to not be able to boot up and ask for help if need be...

I am using the Gskills ram that allot of us Maximus boy's are running.

Just use my template above and change teh multi to 8.
run 8x450 or 425 and your pretty much safe to boot/install.

[les_paulde]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to get the max stable OC out of my G0 Q6600, but am running into a somewhat strange phenomenon. Currently, I'm 8+ hrs small FFT stable at 3770Mhz, with the following settings:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9
FSB Frequency : 419
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1046
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: AUTO
CAS# Latency : AUTO
RAS# to CAS# Delay : AUTO
RAS# Precharge : AUTO
RAS# ActivateTime : AUTO
RAS# to RAS# Delay : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

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

Write to PRE Delay : AUTO
Read to PRE Delay : AUTO
PRE to PRE Delay : AUTO
ALL PRE to ACT Delay : AUTO
ALL PRE to REF Delay : AUTO

DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
Ai Clock Twister : AUTO
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : 1.58v
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.60
North Bridge Voltage : 1.55
DRAM Voltage : 2.14
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.42
South Bridge Voltage : 1.1
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : AUTO
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Even though my Vcore is quite high, the core temps do not exceed 65C when fully priming, thanks to the H2O system i'm using. The strange thing is that 419Mhz fsb is fully stable, whereas 420mhz tends to crash my PC after about 10-15 mins when priming. It's not like 1 core craps out, no, the whole computer reboots. I've tried upping the PLL, VTT and Vcore voltages a little more, but to no avail, and I've even added a fan to the motherboard's heatpipe assembly, so I doubt it is a temperature issue. Also, my RAM is now fully memtest86+ stable, so I can be pretty sure it's not my RAM. Am I just at the limit of my Q6600 or is there something i'm forgetting? I've read people using the GTL reference setting, but I've not been able to find a description of how to successfully use this setting during overclocking. Anyone has any suggestions, I would really like to make this a solid 3,8Ghz overclock and it just seems weird that 1 extra mhz can make the whole system completely unstable, i would have maybe expected a core crapping out during priming but not a full-on crash...

Thanks for any input!

[Zucker2k]

This is a stable setting for Q9550 Corsair Dominators PC8500 Ver 1.2
Using bios 308,
But maybe you should start with the prying on your mobo with a screwdriver first next time.

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 110
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 : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 30
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 CHA PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHA PH5 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH1 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH2 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH3 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH4 Disabled
Pull-In of CHB PH5 Disabled

CPU Voltage : whatever your cpu needs
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.53
DRAM Voltage : 2.12
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.35
South Bridge Voltage : 1.050
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.65X
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67X
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2-REFF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

Grnfinger, where did you get your Blue Edition Q9550? I want some, it has a 9x multi.

[MaXXimus]

Only Rampage BIOS I could use that was stable at stock is 0410 which is what I am running now. Still trying to get 3.8 stable with not much luck so if anyone can look over my settings and tell me where to go next:

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9.5
FSB Frequency : 400
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1066
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 : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

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: AUTO
Ai Clock Twister : AUTO
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : 1.375
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
North Bridge Voltage : 1.55
DRAM Voltage : 2.10
FSB Termination Voltage : AUTO
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : AUTO
CPU GTL Reference : AUTO
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

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 : Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled

[les_paulde]

Have you ruled out your ram as the problem yet? ie. ran a memtest86+ for a night? Otherwise maybe try some suggestions in bold, but for the VTT perhaps you might wanna read this article about killing your chip with too high a voltage, especially VTT: http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=428. Also keep in mind this board likes to overvolt to some extend, you can watch this under 'hardware monitor' in the bios.
Also, maybe only enabling loadline calibration is needed as your Vcore drops under load otherwise, perhaps causing your problems?

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9.5
FSB Frequency : 400
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1066
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 : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

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
Ai Clock Twister : AUTO
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : 1.375
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50 (I read somewhere not to go over 1.6 with 45nm and 1.7 with 65nm, please correct me if I'm wrong)
North Bridge Voltage : 1.55
DRAM Voltage : 2.10
FSB Termination Voltage : Read the posted link
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : AUTO
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

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

Good luck!

[zlojack]

Has that VTT theory ever been corroborated?

[Utnorris]

No, there was no follow up or any investigation as to what caused their chip to die. They just made an educated guess, unfortunetely, this seems to be viewed as a fact on many forums, but no one has shown that VTT voltage is what killed their chip. This has been heavily discussed on several forums, including the Max II thread and the Q9650 thread where NapalmV5 is throwing all types of voltages at his chip and has not killed it and he is on air. However, from what I can gather he does keep the vcore voltage under 1.45v, so maybe that is what can really kill a chip. Personally, I don't understand why all of a sudden VTT voltage would start killing chips just because they are 45nm. There were no issues with any of the previous generations or chipsets with VTT over volting. It has always been the temperatures that were the issue, not the voltages when it came to overclocking. Keep your temps low and add whatever to your chip. This of course is just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Grnfinger]

Grnfinger, where did you get your Blue Edition Q9550? I want some, it has a 9x multi.

Me to
I adjusted the multi for his purpose

[MaXXimus]

Have you ruled out your ram as the problem yet? ie. ran a memtest86+ for a night? Otherwise maybe try some suggestions in bold, but for the VTT perhaps you might wanna read this article about killing your chip with too high a voltage, especially VTT: http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=428. Also keep in mind this board likes to overvolt to some extend, you can watch this under 'hardware monitor' in the bios.
Also, maybe only enabling loadline calibration is needed as your Vcore drops under load otherwise, perhaps causing your problems?

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9.5
FSB Frequency : 400
FSB Strap to North Bridge : AUTO
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1066
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 : AUTO
Row Refresh Cycle Time : AUTO
Write Recovery Time : AUTO
Read to Precharge Time : AUTO

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
Ai Clock Twister : AUTO
Transaction Booster : AUTO

CPU Voltage : 1.375
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50 (I read somewhere not to go over 1.6 with 45nm and 1.7 with 65nm, please correct me if I'm wrong)
North Bridge Voltage : 1.55
DRAM Voltage : 2.10
FSB Termination Voltage : Read the posted link
South Bridge Voltage : AUTO
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : AUTO
North Bridge GTL Reference : AUTO
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : AUTO
SB 1.5V Voltage : AUTO

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

Good luck!

Good stuff so far man, thanks a heap... not out of the woods yet but for sure on the way and crossing fingers. I took 1 step at a time and tried Loadline Calibration and no go... kept that enabled and then disabled DRAM Static Read and Prime95 failed again but lasted about a minute. Core 2 is being a pain and was failing within seconds... so again I kept those settings and opted to increase vcore a notch (now 1.38125) and Prime95 is going on 10 minutes without an error... WOOT WOOT.

Is it still typical to have to run Prime for 8+ hrs or? And also... anyone have any thoughts on the Intel Linpack versus Prime95?