ASUS Maximus II Formula - new P45 king?

[CryptiK]

If I had to say why that is, I'd say it is due to the fact you are using Patriot Viper's. Memory incompatibility manifests itself in many different ways, and it is probably your issue. Ket simply replaced the M2F memory table with the P5Q-Premium memory table, so I'd say that's what it is.

500 FSB for a 9550 is going to be a real challenge, if it's not an E0 stepping I'd say it's not going to get there.

Some people run up to 1.4 Vtt, but personally I think that's a bit high for 24/7 use.

[bito]

Thx Bito.

Nice CPU you got there BTW. Really nice vcore.

Those temp are in case? Is it WC setup? If not which cooler do you use?

Yep .... in case. Side door open.
I am using watercooling for the cpu and GTX280 in same loop

[Rocks]

I really don't understand why the flagship board of the P45 series from Asus would have a worse Memory table...What is Asus doing man? That is kind of upsetting. To be honest though I have been through countless gigabyte boards and find Asus to be better.

How do XFX boards hold up? They are pretty much Nvidia right? I don't want to do Nvidia again. IMO SLI is a joke when it comes to stablility; a single card suits me best.

[CryptiK]

Not sure mate, I've never owned an XFX board. The last Nvidia chipset I used was back in 2003 on my AMD system.

Price wise, the P5Q-premium is the flagship P45 board, but it would be nice to see Asus do a better job of their BIOSes.

Gigabytes current boards (EP45-Extreme & UD3P) have great BIOS & a full suite of relevant BIOS options designed for the overclocker, and are undergoing constant development. DFI is also doing a very good job of this, and the sheer number of their BIOS options are second to none.

[fido_dido]

you get only multi.9 with bios 1702 and 1602
A big ugly bug.

Correct. I can only get multiplier 9 whatever I set 6-8 multiplier in bios.

[Grnfinger]

And this is why I still feel the Rampage is a superior board compared to the Maximus II

Quad 9550 506FSB!!!

http://www.xtremesystems.org/Forums/...postcount=7473

[CryptiK]

In terms of max screen that's good, but not overly impressive. UD3P does 540 FSB+ with quads. It's a powerful little board.

[Grnfinger]

oh agreed the UD3P is a definately a solid board, but comparing the rampage to max II the rampage ( which is what I was doing ) is far superior in every aspect.
Alot of ppl are hitting 500FSB for quads on other boards, I just dont see many high fsb quads on this board.
I'm still holding out for a bios that corrects all the issues with the MIIF, but I see no light at the end of the tunnel.

[CryptiK]

From what I can see there are more people with good quads capable of 500 FSB with the rampage formula, most people with the MIIF have duals, or C0/C1 quads that dont clock. If we had more guys with 9650's and E0 9550's I think we'd be seeing a lot more people doing 480 FSB+.

The RF is a decent X48 board, but it wouldn't be my choice if I had to pick an X48 (which I'm considering doing). The average max FSB for it is 495, over which few get any stability at all. 470 - 475 appears to be its max stable FSB on average.

[SkOrPn]

@ Cryptik,

got a question for you. I am "thinking" of getting myself another 4gb kit of G.Skill F2-8800CLD5-4GBPI for a total of 8gb. I currently have the E8600 E0 and would like to run a modest 4ghz @ 500 FSB. I already know this combination does it easily since I was there for several weeks without a hiccup but I am wondering about longevity. Is it safe 24/7 to run 500 FSB on this board, or should I sacrifice some fsb and up my multi? I plan to stick with this system as my main rig for at least a year, so I really don't want to damage anything if it can be avoided. The CPU is watercooled but the chipset is not.

Also, I plan on using a Adaptec 5405 and 4 SSD drives here soon and wondering if the overclock will negatively effect my storage raid system.

Also, what is the best bios for the Dual E0's?

Thank you
SkOrPn

[SiGfever]

From what I can see there are more people with good quads capable of 500 FSB with the rampage formula, most people with the MIIF have duals, or C0/C1 quads that dont clock. If we had more guys with 9650's and E0 9550's I think we'd be seeing a lot more people doing 480 FSB+.

The RF is a decent X48 board, but it wouldn't be my choice if I had to pick an X48 (which I'm considering doing). The average max FSB for it is 495, over which few get any stability at all. 470 - 475 appears to be its max stable FSB on average.

Which one would you choose? I am tempted to get a UD3P for an interim board until i7 comes down in price and the boards have a chance to mature. I am not very impressed with this MFII, I almost chose the RF and wished I had of.

[The Water Dog]

My max-stable fsb is 486 with Q6600, no big tweakings, just vcore and nb...i hope i get some more, but 489 on this board is not bad=)
I hope my Blackops is better on fsb

[Grnfinger]

Which one would you choose? I am tempted to get a UD3P for an interim board until i7 comes down in price and the boards have a chance to mature. I am not very impressed with this MFII, I almost chose the RF and wished I had of.

I'm in the same boat, I was going to get a Rampage but then went MIIF and wish I had not.

I would disagree with Cryptik's last statement regarding max FSB for Rampage.
There are much higher clocks than 475 on average, and stability is not an issue its new users who are experiencing problems with stability. My only hesitation for the UD3P is the sudden death of the board and taking some chips / ram with it...DFI looks interesting as I have never had one b4 but alot of ppl jump'd ship with the LP UT X48-T2R claiming bios options were to complicated iirc

[xoldboyx]

can please post a 500FSB for Q9550 cpu?
I want 4ghz with 8x multi for 24/7.

[JoeBar]

Which one would you choose? I am tempted to get a UD3P for an interim board until i7 comes down in price and the boards have a chance to mature. I am not very impressed with this MFII, I almost chose the RF and wished I had of.

I'm in the same boat, I was going to get a Rampage but then went MIIF and wish I had not.

I would disagree with Cryptik's last statement regarding max FSB for Rampage.
There are much higher clocks than 475 on average, and stability is not an issue its new users who are experiencing problems with stability. My only hesitation for the UD3P is the sudden death of the board and taking some chips / ram with it...DFI looks interesting as I have never had one b4 but alot of ppl jump'd ship with the LP UT X48-T2R claiming bios options were to complicated iirc

My opinion on this is "sit back and relax". i7 is the future which everyone of us will follow. We're talking about ppl who had enough of 775 boards so, if u ask me, i would say enjoy your Maximus II (with it's quirks) and wait for the next REAL step.

As for other 775 boards i don't think that there's a so much better solution out there. Don't tell me about Gigabyte boards, i've had enough of them. My last was a P35-DS4, glad that i got rid of it...
They still can't convince me as oc'ers boards. They've come a long way but still i don't like them. Not to mention the colors

[SiGfever]

I'm in the same boat, I was going to get a Rampage but then went MIIF and wish I had not.

I would disagree with Cryptik's last statement regarding max FSB for Rampage.
There are much higher clocks than 475 on average, and stability is not an issue its new users who are experiencing problems with stability. My only hesitation for the UD3P is the sudden death of the board and taking some chips / ram with it...DFI looks interesting as I have never had one b4 but alot of ppl jump'd ship with the LP UT X48-T2R claiming bios options were to complicated iirc

I too have never owned a DFI product and the Gigabyte P35-DS3R that I have for one of my Crunchers is a solid worker but a favorite, no. I have been also tempted to try the DFI and was warned, "they have way to many things to adjust". The MFII has quite a few options and if the DFI has a lot more?

[JoeBar]

I too have never owned a DFI product and the Gigabyte P35-DS3R that I have for one of my Crunchers is a solid worker but a favorite, no. I have been also tempted to try the DFI and was warned, "they have way to many things to adjust". The MFII has quite a few options and if the DFI has a lot more?

DFI is for ppl with a lot of free time...

Back in the days of VIA KT133A it was interesting but now I'm too old for this....

[Grnfinger]

My opinion on this is "sit back and relax". i7 is the future which everyone of us will follow. We're talking about ppl who had enough of 775 boards so, if u ask me, i would say enjoy your Maximus II (with it's quirks) and wait for the next REAL step.

As for other 775 boards i don't think that there's a so much better solution out there. Don't tell me about Gigabyte boards, i've had enough of them. My last was a P35-DS4, glad that i got rid of it...
They still can't convince me as oc'ers boards. They've come a long way but still i don't like them. Not to mention the colors

perhaps you are right, I already have my i7 920 cpu & waterblock, just waiting for my ram. Mobo is undecided and I'll need a PSU and case.

I guess I'm just dissapointed with the MIIF in general, maybe I expect to much once I make the jump to i7 any issues with the maximus will be an afterthought.
I have a Gigabyte P35 DS3L for my son's rig, it overclocks ok, got the 8400 to 4.0GHz with little effort. My only gripe with the board is its very particular with ram..

[JoeBar]

perhaps you are right, I already have my i7 920 cpu & waterblock, just waiting for my ram. Mobo is undecided and I'll need a PSU and case.

I guess I'm just dissapointed with the MIIF in general, maybe I expect to much once I make the jump to i7 any issues with the maximus will be an afterthought.
I have a Gigabyte P35 DS3L for my son's rig, it overclocks ok, got the 8400 to 4.0GHz with little effort. My only gripe with the board is its very particular with ram..

I totally understand your point. I too had high hopes for Maximus II but still it needs bios work and with asus history, i don't think that there would be a bugfree bios.

However it's still a good oc'ing board. I have mine @ 530mhz fsb 24/7 and it's totally stable and problem free. I don't think that there's another 775 board that will give us something significantly better.


BTW when are u planning on setting up your i7 rig? If it will be in more than a month i would advise u to return/sell your 920. In my opinion the 940 is the bottom choice with 965 the preferable. But prices will come down...

[Grnfinger]

I totally understand your point. I too had high hopes for Maximus II but still it needs bios work and with asus history, i don't think that there would be a bugfree bios.

However it's still a good oc'ing board. I have mine @ 530mhz fsb 24/7 and it's totally stable and problem free. I don't think that there's another 775 board that will give us something significantly better.


BTW when are u planning on setting up your i7 rig? If it will be in more than a month i would advise u to return/sell your 920. In my opinion the 940 is the bottom choice with 965 the preferable. But prices will come down...

I was going to toss my 8400 in the MIIF with my Dominators tomorrow and see what I can do. You are right in terms of stability its a solid board that only requires a solid bios to mate with. Maybe my rma experience with Asus has tainted my opinion on this board.

I got the 920 for a really good price, no where near the 400 bucks canadian there asking for them here. I am shooting for a 4.2GHz + 24/7 setup
I'm going to build the rig shortly just dont want to make a hastey mobo purchase I wll regret and Cryptik just saved me from one the other night

I was looking at maybe selling the 920 on ebay and grabbing a 965 once my xmas bonus arrives, 4.2GHz+ would be very nice

[JoeBar]

I was going to toss my 8400 in the MIIF with my Dominators tomorrow and see what I can do. You are right in terms of stability its a solid board that only requires a solid bios to mate with. Maybe my rma experience with Asus has tainted my opinion on this board.

I got the 920 for a really good price, no where near the 400 bucks canadian there asking for them here. I am shooting for a 4.2GHz + 24/7 setup
I'm going to build the rig shortly just dont want to make a hastey mobo purchase I wll regret and Cryptik just saved me from one the other night

I was looking at maybe selling the 920 on ebay and grabbing a 965 once my xmas bonus arrives, 4.2GHz+ would be very nice

Hmm the "maybe selling the 920 on ebay and grabbing a 965 once my xmas bonus arrives, 4.2GHz+ would be very nice" point is really interesting...

Personally, i'm thinking of jumping to the i7 train after xmas, or when they'll fix the Rampage II Extreme...

[seban]

I'm in the same boat, I was going to get a Rampage but then went MIIF and wish I had not.

I would disagree with Cryptik's last statement regarding max FSB for Rampage.
There are much higher clocks than 475 on average, and stability is not an issue its new users who are experiencing problems with stability. My only hesitation for the UD3P is the sudden death of the board and taking some chips / ram with it...DFI looks interesting as I have never had one b4 but alot of ppl jump'd ship with the LP UT X48-T2R claiming bios options were to complicated iirc

DFI is always the same - beta product for whole life cycle. PPL here complain about this or that in ASUS bios but if you will go DFI route you will have real reasons to complain.

Unless you want to bench only than probably you will not care and you will be fine with DFI.

I was also choosing between UD3P Rampage DDr2 and MF2. So far I do not know if I like MF2 as I was fighting with hardware side of it - no real clocking yet done.

I am tired but happy after endless reseating / lapping I managed to lower CPU NB and SB temps... all this effort because it will be my new 24h/7d rig for next - until it will die / or / and CPU will be not enough for gaming (vid card will be changed regularly ofc).

Anyway my current MF2 is made from two I have currently in house . Cooling from old MF2 in new one.
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EDIT:

BTW guys you realize that current steping of I7 has some major i think cash bug... which if solved same way as for opterons can cost those CPU 20% performance hit in some cases...

PS. hyhy I do not know why I am doing all of this as I do not have too much time to play games any more - well I guess when I will have time I want to be ready . Old habits

[Zucker2k]

EDIT: BTW guys you realize that current steping of I7 has some major i think cash bug... which if solved same way as for opterons can cost those CPU 20% performance hit in some cases...

Dude, that is not true. That FUD news was squashed by INTEL before it even became news; FUD apparently mistook Core 2 erratas for Nehalem erratas; erratas that Nehalem had, had been fixed prior to launch.

Here's my take on the x48 debate; as a proud owner of a Rampage Formula, and one who has worked with two other rampage formulas with the same results, the RF is a stellar board. It is fast, tweakable and stable. Yes, the dfi x48 has more tweaks, but they don't translate into higher overclocks; in fact, the dfi x48 is actually an average quadcore clocker. At least the results that I've seen on this forum are many and they all point to limitations in quadcore clocking. Before I upgraded to a Q9550, my stable 24/7 clocks with my E8600 was 7.5 x 560 FSB. Before that, it was my E8400 at 8 x 533 and 8GB G.Skills running at DDR2 1066 for 24/7. The RF is very stable, and it is second to none on the 775/DDR2 platform imo.

I'm also interested in seeing what Cryptic's choice of a better DDR2 x48 board would be because imo there's none.

[radaja]

grnfinger,joebar,or cryptik.could you please post an everest cachemem bench running 8x500fsb or better yet 8.5x500fsb with mem running 4-4-4-10 3-3-6-30-3 w/ 1:1divider pl10. i want to compare it to this UD3P at pl8,cause im wondering whether gigabyte got this right or did they just switch pl10 with pl8.or somrthing like that.i dont have my board right now and dont have any maxII benches saved.THANK YOU.

[Rocks]

Max CPU v = ~1.40v
MaxCPU VTT = ~1.30v
Max CPU PLL v = ~1.57v
Max NB v= 1.4 - 1.5v depending on load temps

**********************************

I have been trying to get this board to do 541 FSB / 650 MHz and it does not want to do it. I think I'd have to use around 1.60 vNB on PL10 and I doubt the cooling could handle it.

Prime 95 core1 failed after 6 hours. I am at the max voltage for all you mentioned.

I guess I need to do something with my mem.