ASUS Maximus II Formula - new P45 king?

[Teppo]

Hi, I was wanting to overclock my system a bit, I was looking for 3.6ghz 24/7 and was not quite sure what settings to change in bios, can someone please help me out with the Extreme Tweaker settings to achieve this? Thank you...

System
Vista Ultimate 64
Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA
ASUS Maximus II Formula
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz co
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED
DIAMOND Radeon HD 4870 1GB
CORSAIR Dominator 4GB (4 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series
Logitech G9 Laser Gaming Mouse
Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard
SAMSUNG T240 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen

[nugzo]

Hi, I was wanting to overclock my system a bit, I was looking for 3.6ghz 24/7 and was not quite sure what settings to change in bios, can someone please help me out with the Extreme Tweaker settings to achieve this? Thank you...

System
Vista Ultimate 64
Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA
ASUS Maximus II Formula
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz co
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED
DIAMOND Radeon HD 4870 1GB
CORSAIR Dominator 4GB (4 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series
Logitech G9 Laser Gaming Mouse
Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard
SAMSUNG T240 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen

Welcome to XS. I suggest read through this thread as well as this condensed version.
Get familiar with the board some, i'm sure there are plenty of templates as well for your particular hardware in this thread and the other MIIF thread.

[nugzo]

Hi, I was wanting to overclock my system a bit, I was looking for 3.6ghz 24/7 and was not quite sure what settings to change in bios, can someone please help me out with the Extreme Tweaker settings to achieve this? Thank you...

System
Vista Ultimate 64
Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA
ASUS Maximus II Formula
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz co
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED
DIAMOND Radeon HD 4870 1GB
CORSAIR Dominator 4GB (4 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series
Logitech G9 Laser Gaming Mouse
Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard
SAMSUNG T240 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen

Welcome to XS. I suggest read through this thread some as well as this Asus Maximus II Formula - Problems & Fixes thread.
Get familiar with the board some, i'm sure there are plenty of templates as well for your particular hardware in this thread and the other MIIF thread.

[SiGfever]

Yes, I needed 1.42v for 500 FSB for CT on stronger with SRC & DRT enabled.

And if Asus could make the pullins work it would be awesome. I want the most aggresive chipset timings possible, its the only way to get good clock for clock performance out of the P45. Compared to eva200's gigabyte P45 board the M2F holds its own, I just beat his bandwidth and latency. They should make the timings tighter for each tRD (PL) setting, I don't care if I'd have to run higher vNB to get it stable.



Not bad at all, can you run CT = Stronger? Should drop the latency a bit more and give you a little more bandwidth.

Thanks, I will give it a try. I have the G.Skill DDR2-8800 2x2GB due in mid week which should help some.

Edit:

Here is "Stronger".

[drnick]

Thank you for the info!

CryptiK, I apologize if you stated this and I missed it, but what memory were you using when you posted your findings with Static Read Control & Dram Read Training, and Clock Twister?

[Teppo]

Welcome to XS. I suggest read through this thread some as well as this Asus Maximus II Formula - Problems & Fixes thread.
Get familiar with the board some, i'm sure there are plenty of templates as well for your particular hardware in this thread and the other MIIF thread.

Thanks for the welcome and reply, I have looked over those threads and have found some close to my setup, but not quite the same, so I am not sure if I can set my settings to those, I figured 3.6ghz would be a safe overclock without having to worry to much about heat and so forth. I was thinking about following CryptiK settings which are at 4.0ghz I believe, but he is using 2GB of ram where I have 4 so I didnt try it and wasnt wanting to overclock quite that high.

[CryptiK]

Thank you for the info!

CryptiK, I apologize if you stated this and I missed it, but what memory were you using when you posted your findings with Static Read Control & Dram Read Training, and Clock Twister?

I actually neglected to state that, I used my Team PC-8500 2 x 1GB kit.

Thanks for the welcome and reply, I have looked over those threads and have found some close to my setup, but not quite the same, so I am not sure if I can set my settings to those, I figured 3.6ghz would be a safe overclock without having to worry to much about heat and so forth. I was thinking about following CryptiK settings which are at 4.0ghz I believe, but he is using 2GB of ram where I have 4 so I didnt try it and wasnt wanting to overclock quite that high.

Well if you want 3.8GHz which should be easy, bump the FSB up to 423 using the 9x divider. You may need a little more vcore but I don't know what you're using now. Also use the 4:5 divider, which should put your ram ~1050 MHz and close to its rated speed so if you set the vdimm to the rated vdimm it should be fine. Also with vNB, you will need a little more than me as you have 4GB but just test it find what's stable.

Fill out a template showing your current settings and we can make you an approximate template for 3.8 GHz or whatever you want to have a go at if you need some assistance.

*EDIT - SiGfever - well you gained a bit of bandwidth and lowered the latency going from strong to stronger. It may as I said take a little more vNB for stability now, but you will definitely have better performance.

I really wish the pull-ins worked, enabled they should give about 150 MB/s increase across the board in everest and ~ 1.5ns latency decrease.

**EDIT 2 - I really have to work out a better cooling solution for the NB, benching SPI32M at 533 FSB / DDR 1280 with 1.49 vNB the NB was idling at 54*C, although it is a warm day ~26*C ambient

[Darknezz]

Well i got passed 10 test on LinX now but the memory is only running at 904mhz but well try too push it up later today. But the memory likes too run in the blue slot i can't get them too do it in the white slots


Ratio CMOS Setting: 9.5
FSB Frequency: 453
CPU Clock Skew: Normal
NB Clock Skew: Normal
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 400
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-Mhz 906
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A1: Advance 300
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A2: Advance 300
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B1: Advance 300
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B2: Advance 300
DRAM Timing Control: Manual

1st Information:

CAS# Latency: 5 DRAM Clocks
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay: 5 DRAM Clocks
DRAM RAS# Precharge: 5 DRAM Clocks
DRAM RAS# Activate to Precharge: 15 DRAM Clocks
RAS# to RAS# Delay:
Row Refresh Recycle Time:
Write Recovery Time:
Read to Precharge Time:

2nd Information:

Read to Write Delay (S/D):
Write to Read Delay (S):
Write to Read Delay (D):
Read to Read Delay (S):
Read to Read Delay (D):
Write to Write Delay (S):
Write to Write Delay (D):

3rd Information:

Write to PRE Delay:
Read to PRE Delay:
PRE to PRE Delay:
All PRE to ACT Delay:
All PRE to REF Delay:
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
DRAM Read Training: Disabled
MEM. OC Charger: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister: Moderate
Ai Transaction Booster: Manual

Common Performance Level: 10
Pull-in of CHA PH1: Disabled
Pull-in of CHA PH2: Disabled
Pull-in of CHA PH3: Disabled
Pull-in of CHB PH1: Disabled
Pull-in of CHB PH2: Disabled
Pull-in of CHB PH3: Disabled

PCIE Frequency: 100

CPU Voltage: 1.38
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.56
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.45
DRAM Voltage: 2.19
North Bridge Voltage: 1.37
South Bridge 1.5 Voltage: 1.50
South Bridge 1.1 Voltage: 1.10

CPU GTL Reference (0): +50
CPU GTL Reference (1): +10
CPU GTL Reference (2): +50
CPU GTL Reference (3): +10
NB GTL Reference: Auto
DDR2 ChA Reference Voltage: Auto
DDR2 ChB Reference Voltage: Auto
North Bridge DDR Reference: Auto

CPU Configuration:

Ratio CMOS Setting: 9.5
C1E Support: Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit: Disabled
Intel Virtualization Tech: Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled

Load-Line Calibration: Enabled
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

[Darknezz]

Q: Memory Remap feature should it be Enable or Disabled ???

[IlludiumQ36]

Q: Memory Remap feature should it be Enable or Disabled ???

It should be enabled if you are using a 64-bit OS and you have more than 3GB RAM.

[CryptiK]

Ok, more benches. Just compared the P45 to a DFI X48 board in memory bandwidth and latency in everest. The X48 board bench was done by eva2000.

The general settings were 533 FSB, Ram @ 639.6 MHz, CPU @ 3997 MHz

My boards additional settings were:

Static Read Control: Enabled
Dram Read Training: Enabled
Clock Twister: Stronger
vNB: 1.45v
vdimm: 2.25v

The X48 had ram set to 5-5-5-9, my p45 had ram set to 5-5-5-15

X48 bench:


P45 Bench:


Comparison Table:


Here is SPI32M at my 24/7 settings. Not bad efficiency for a P45 and conservative ram speed and timings:

[Darknezz]

It should be enabled if you are using a 64-bit OS and you have more than 3GB RAM.

Thanks for the info

[Ender3rd]

Looks like the P45 more than held its own in the memory performance comparison with the X48. Interesting results, and not what I would have expected given what people have previously reported.

Nice!

Ok, more benches. Just compared the P45 to a DFI X48 board in memory bandwidth and latency in everest. The X48 board bench was done by eva2000.

The general settings were 533 FSB, Ram @ 639.6 MHz, CPU @ 3997 MHz

My boards additional settings were:

Static Read Control: Enabled
Dram Read Training: Enabled
Clock Twister: Stronger
vNB: 1.45v
vdimm: 2.25v

The X48 had ram set to 5-5-5-9, my p45 had ram set to 5-5-5-15

[e.v.o]

The general settings were 533 FSB, Ram @ 639.6 MHz, CPU @ 3997 MHz

My boards additional settings were:

Static Read Control: Enabled
Dram Read Training: Enabled
Clock Twister: Stronger
vNB: 1.45v
vdimm: 2.25v

The X48 had ram set to 5-5-5-9, my p45 had ram set to 5-5-5-15

Comparison Table:

now thats impressive! .. thanks for all your testing and information about that!
... but 1.45vNB isn't that good
Big differences when SRC/DRT is disabled?

[bito]

Have any of you guys played with the NB GTL Ref ??
I added +20mV to mine today and it has allowed me to lower my VFSB and VNB by a HUGE amount, with a Q9650.
If i put it back to Auto, with lower values for those two settings, the machine will BSOD.
Give it a try and post results here

[Grnfinger]

New G.Skills are in
Running memtest now, crossing fingers they dont fail.
Have some benches shortly after memtest

[nugzo]

New G.Skills are in
Running memtest now, crossing fingers they dont fail.
Have some benches shortly after memtest

Which gskills? I ordered these last week. should be here tomorrow

[nugzo]

Ok, more benches. Just compared the P45 to a DFI X48 board in memory bandwidth and latency in everest. The X48 board bench was done by eva2000.

The general settings were 533 FSB, Ram @ 639.6 MHz, CPU @ 3997 MHz

My boards additional settings were:

Static Read Control: Enabled
Dram Read Training: Enabled
Clock Twister: Stronger
vNB: 1.45v
vdimm: 2.25v

The X48 had ram set to 5-5-5-9, my p45 had ram set to 5-5-5-15

X48 bench:


P45 Bench:


Comparison Table:


Here is SPI32M at my 24/7 settings. Not bad efficiency for a P45 and conservative ram speed and timings:

Nice work. Its crazy though having to push our memory so hard (600+Mhz) to break 10k on theses intel chipsets. I miss hitting 11k+ with nforce @ 400-450mhz. I never even tried anything any higher than link sync. I wonder what 600+mhz would have done. I think i'll order another SIIF and see. I miss SLI and playing everest.

[Codeman05]

Well guys, I've just about had it with this board...

I cannot prime blend for more than 30 minutes without an error.

I have tried 2 different sets of G.Skill 2x2GB F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK PC8500
As well as a set of 2x1 GB A-Data PC6400 that I know performs at 1066.
All 3 sets passed memtest but all fail at the 30-35 minute mark on prime blend.

Even stock clocks, cpu and ddr2....same story. This exact rig was 24hr prime stable on a 780i board @ 474x9.5 & 1:1

Current settings are as follows:

Ai Overclock Tuner: Manual
OC From CPU Level Up: Auto
Ratio CMOS Setting: 9.5
FSB Frequency: 453
CPU Clock Skew: Normal
NB Clock Skew: Normal
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 400
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-906Mhz
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A1: Advance 250
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A2: Advance 250
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B1: Advance 250
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B2: Advance 250
DRAM Timing Control: Manual

1st Information:

CAS# Latency: 5 DRAM Clocks
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay: 5 DRAM Clocks
DRAM RAS# Precharge: 5 DRAM Clocks
DRAM RAS# Activate to Precharge: 18 DRAM Clocks
RAS# to RAS# Delay: 5
Row Refresh Recycle Time: 60 
Write Recovery Time: 6
Read to Precharge Time: 5

2nd Information:

Read to Write Delay (S/D): 10
Write to Read Delay (S): 4
Write to Read Delay (D): 5
Read to Read Delay (S): 6
Read to Read Delay (D): 6
Write to Write Delay (S): 5
Write to Write Delay (D): 6

3rd Information:

Write to PRE Delay: 16
Read to PRE Delay: 6
PRE to PRE Delay: 1
All PRE to ACT Delay: 6
All PRE to REF Delay: 6
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
DRAM Read Training: Disabled
MEM. OC Charger: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister: Moderate
Ai Transaction Booster: Manual

Common Performance Level: 10
Pull-in of CHA PH1: Disabled
Pull-in of CHA PH2: Disabled
Pull-in of CHA PH3: Disabled
Pull-in of CHB PH1: Disabled
Pull-in of CHB PH2: Disabled
Pull-in of CHB PH3: Disabled

PCIE Frequency: 100

CPU Voltage: 1.350
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.50
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.45
DRAM Voltage: 2.1
North Bridge Voltage: 1.35
South Bridge 1.5 Voltage: 1.50
South Bridge 1.1 Voltage: 1.10

CPU GTL Reference (0): +60
CPU GTL Reference (1): +10
CPU GTL Reference (2): +60
CPU GTL Reference (3): +10
NB GTL Reference: Auto
DDR2 ChA Reference Voltage: Auto
DDR2 ChB Reference Voltage: Auto
North Bridge DDR Reference: Auto

CPU Configuration:

Ratio CMOS Setting: 9.5
C1E Support: Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit: Disabled
Intel Virtualization Tech: Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled

Load-Line Calibration: Enabled
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

Any help would be appreciated it. I've got some good advice here on the forum tweaking the board, but so far not much success =/
Starting to think it's faulty...or I'm insane.

Thanks!

[Teppo]

I actually neglected to state that, I used my Team PC-8500 2 x 1GB kit.



Well if you want 3.8GHz which should be easy, bump the FSB up to 423 using the 9x divider. You may need a little more vcore but I don't know what you're using now. Also use the 4:5 divider, which should put your ram ~1050 MHz and close to its rated speed so if you set the vdimm to the rated vdimm it should be fine. Also with vNB, you will need a little more than me as you have 4GB but just test it find what's stable.

Fill out a template showing your current settings and we can make you an approximate template for 3.8 GHz or whatever you want to have a go at if you need some assistance.

Well the only thing I have changed in the bios is the ram to 1066 (4GB pc8500) othe than that everything is set at auto, I am looking to go from stock 3.0ghz to 3.6ghz, so I was going to do the template, but it would just show auto on everything. thanks for your help....

[nugzo]

Well guys, I've just about had it with this board...

I cannot prime blend for more than 30 minutes without an error.

I have tried 2 different sets of G.Skill 2x2GB F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK PC8500
As well as a set of 2x1 GB A-Data PC6400 that I know performs at 1066.
All 3 sets passed memtest but all fail at the 30-35 minute mark on prime blend.

Even stock clocks, cpu and ddr2....same story. This exact rig was 24hr prime stable on a 780i board @ 474x9.5 & 1:1

Current settings are as follows:

Ai Overclock Tuner: Manual
OC From CPU Level Up: Auto
Ratio CMOS Setting: 9.5
FSB Frequency: 453
CPU Clock Skew: Normal
NB Clock Skew: Normal
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 400
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-906Mhz
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A1: Advance 250
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A2: Advance 250
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B1: Advance 250
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B2: Advance 250
DRAM Timing Control: Manual

1st Information:

CAS# Latency: 5 DRAM Clocks
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay: 5 DRAM Clocks
DRAM RAS# Precharge: 5 DRAM Clocks
DRAM RAS# Activate to Precharge: 18 DRAM Clocks
RAS# to RAS# Delay: 5
Row Refresh Recycle Time: 60 
Write Recovery Time: 6
Read to Precharge Time: 5

2nd Information:

Read to Write Delay (S/D): 10
Write to Read Delay (S): 4
Write to Read Delay (D): 5
Read to Read Delay (S): 6
Read to Read Delay (D): 6
Write to Write Delay (S): 5
Write to Write Delay (D): 6

3rd Information:

Write to PRE Delay: 16
Read to PRE Delay: 6
PRE to PRE Delay: 1
All PRE to ACT Delay: 6
All PRE to REF Delay: 6
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
DRAM Read Training: Disabled
MEM. OC Charger: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister: Moderate
Ai Transaction Booster: Manual

Common Performance Level: 10
Pull-in of CHA PH1: Disabled
Pull-in of CHA PH2: Disabled
Pull-in of CHA PH3: Disabled
Pull-in of CHB PH1: Disabled
Pull-in of CHB PH2: Disabled
Pull-in of CHB PH3: Disabled

PCIE Frequency: 100

CPU Voltage: 1.350
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.50
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.45
DRAM Voltage: 2.1
North Bridge Voltage: 1.35
South Bridge 1.5 Voltage: 1.50
South Bridge 1.1 Voltage: 1.10

CPU GTL Reference (0): +60
CPU GTL Reference (1): +10
CPU GTL Reference (2): +60
CPU GTL Reference (3): +10
NB GTL Reference: Auto
DDR2 ChA Reference Voltage: Auto
DDR2 ChB Reference Voltage: Auto
North Bridge DDR Reference: Auto

CPU Configuration:

Ratio CMOS Setting: 9.5
C1E Support: Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit: Disabled
Intel Virtualization Tech: Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled

Load-Line Calibration: Enabled
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

Any help would be appreciated it. I've got some good advice here on the forum tweaking the board, but so far not much success =/
Starting to think it's faulty...or I'm insane.

Thanks!

Most 45nm seem to like negative #'s for GTL. Try:
CPU GTL Reference (0): Auto
CPU GTL Reference (1):-40mv
CPU GTL Reference (2): Auto
CPU GTL Reference (3):-40mv

I know some have good results with your current settings but i mostly see -'s for 45nm and +'s for 65nm.

[Codeman05]

thanks Nugzo I'll get that a shot.

[nugzo]

thanks Nugzo I'll get that a shot.

If that doesnt work for you, try adjusting 1 and 3 in 10mv increments. I know its time consuming but thats what you gotta do. My sweet spot for this 9650 is +10 -45 +10 -45.

[SiGfever]

Which gskills? I ordered these last week. should be here tomorrow

I think that he got these...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231194

[CryptiK]

Nice work. Its crazy though having to push our memory so hard (600+Mhz) to break 10k on theses intel chipsets. I miss hitting 11k+ with nforce @ 400-450mhz. I never even tried anything any higher than link sync. I wonder what 600+mhz would have done. I think i'll order another SIIF and see. I miss SLI and playing everest.

Thanks. Yes, the P45 doesn't produce as high a numbers in everest as chipsets like the 680i, but the superior Everest read & latency performance of the nvidia chipsets does not translate to faster SPI32M times. Clock for clock in SPI32M, the P45 is faster, so is the P35/X38/X48.

Looks like the P45 more than held its own in the memory performance comparison with the X48. Interesting results, and not what I would have expected given what people have previously reported.

Nice!

Thanks mate, I had to really push the board hard to do that, the boards MCH was as tight as it could go, the only way I could get better performance is to increase vdimm and tighten the ram timings, oh and if Asus had made pull-ins that actually work instead of being useless, perhaps I could improve on it a little.

However the X48 was doing that with relative ease, and had more in it for sure, eva just didn't have the time to fully optimize.

now thats impressive! .. thanks for all your testing and information about that!
... but 1.45vNB isn't that good
Big differences when SRC/DRT is disabled?

Thanks. Yes, SRC/DRT makes a very noticeable improvement, I would really recommend enabling them. Also Clock Twister on 'stronger' drops the latency significantly and gives a small bandwidth boost. 1.45vNB is pushing hard, I had it up to 1.49v with other testing and the NB was getting really hot.

Have any of you guys played with the NB GTL Ref ??
I added +20mV to mine today and it has allowed me to lower my VFSB and VNB by a HUGE amount, with a Q9650.
If i put it back to Auto, with lower values for those two settings, the machine will BSOD.
Give it a try and post results here

I have had a brief play with it, and got the best results leaving it on auto, much to my displeasure. However now I using different ram/chipset settings I will have another go.

Well guys, I've just about had it with this board...

I cannot prime blend for more than 30 minutes without an error.

I have tried 2 different sets of G.Skill 2x2GB F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK PC8500
As well as a set of 2x1 GB A-Data PC6400 that I know performs at 1066.
All 3 sets passed memtest but all fail at the 30-35 minute mark on prime blend.

Even stock clocks, cpu and ddr2....same story. This exact rig was 24hr prime stable on a 780i board @ 474x9.5 & 1:1

Unless you have a dodgey board, perhaps your rams are having compatibility problems. Do you have any others, or can you even borrow a kit from a mate and try them? It should not be unstable at 453 FSB 1:1, I can get my board stable at 534 FSB 1:1 and higher, so the 'average board' can do that no problem.

Try different ram, if still a no go, perhaps swap the board.