Foxconn Renaissance X58 Digital Life -Retail- (Core i7, Nehalem)

[Blacklash]

I've got my Thermalright installed and I still can't get much beyond 3626MHz. I think I'm doing something wrong with uncore. I've been leaving that to auto. Anyone have an idea what range it should manually be set to for a swing at 3.9GHz?

[cloned]

So is that thing on the NB really a speaker?

[Blacklash]

I tried 19 x 190 and every time I have to clear the CMOS to post again no matter how tame the other system settings and no matter how high the voltage. So a based clock of higher than 183 = no post for me. I haven't experimented with turbo mode as of yet. Perhaps that will work.

EDIT:
Yep that's it. If I want to get 3.8GHz I'm going to need to use turbo mode. It works fine like that though.

[Ch3ck5um]

I tried 19 x 190 and every time I have to clear the CMOS to post again no matter how tame the other system settings and no matter how high the voltage. So a based clock of higher than 183 = no post for me. I haven't experimented with turbo mode as of yet. Perhaps that will work.

EDIT:
Yep that's it. If I want to get 3.8GHz I'm going to need to use turbo mode. It works fine like that though.

Thanks for the info Blacklash , I have the same board and cpu as you so I am going to have a go at overclocking this weekend as soon as I get my waterblock on.

[Blacklash]

Yes.. I can't speak about that, cause there may be some "cheap" X58 motherboards, which might not support SLI.

But this thread is all about Renaissance and SLI will work on this motherboard for sure. I have tested both CF and SLI Is that clear enough now

Ok I got my flexible SLi bridges and there is nothing I can do to get GTX 260 SLi working properly in this motherboard.

I've tried the BIOS at default settings and setting the PCI-e slots to enabled with port 0 as high priority. The reason I did that is I get no signal from the card in slot 0 with two cards installed and rather get a signal from the second orange slot card before driver installation.

I've switched the cards around and tried a host of BIOS settings. Including default, PCI-e high priority disabled, with other slots to auto. PCI-e high priority disabled plus other slots enabled, PCI-e high priority set to slot 0, and others enabled, and PCI-e high priority set to slot 0 and other slots auto.

After I install the nVidia drivers I can get a signal from the top slot card and not until windows is prompting me for my password.

When I start the nVidia CP there are no options available for SLi.

It treats my card much like my BX2 did my 8800GT I used as a PhysX card. However these are not different cards. They're twin Evga GTX 260s. Same BIOS, same core, memory and shader clock.

Any ideas would be appreciated. I've been playing with this thing for hours switching cards around, reinstalling drivers and fiddling with the BIOS. No luck.

This mobo is behaving like my BX2 did with two cards, or that is no SLi support.

[Ch3ck5um]

Ok I got my flexible SLi bridges and there is nothing I can do to get GTX 260 SLi working properly in this motherboard.

I've tried the BIOS at default settings and setting the PCI-e slots to enabled with port 0 as high priority. The reason I did that is I get no signal from the card in slot 0 with two cards installed and rather get a signal from the second orange slot card before driver installation.

I've switched the cards around and tried a host of BIOS settings. Including default, PCI-e high priority disabled, with other slots to auto. PCI-e high priority disabled plus other slots enabled, PCI-e high priority set to slot 0, and others enabled, and PCI-e high priority set to slot 0 and other slots auto.

After I install the nVidia drivers I can get a signal from the top slot card and not until windows is prompting me for my password.

When I start the nVidia CP there are no options available for SLi.

It treats my card much like my BX2 did my 8800GT I used as a PhysX card. However these are not different cards. They're twin Evga GTX 260s. Same BIOS, same core, memory and shader clock.

Any ideas would be appreciated. I've been playing with this thing for hours switching cards around, reinstalling drivers and fiddling with the BIOS. No luck.

This mobo is behaving like my BX2 did with two cards, or that is no SLi support.

Hi Blacklash,

I have 2 x GTX 280's in SLI using a flexible bridge and the 180 drivers.

I dont want to teach granny to suck eggs but check all cards are seated properly and the SLI bridge is free from visible defects as SLI definatly works on this board.

[Ch3ck5um]

Has anyone tested 6 x 2GB yet on this board? I'd love to get 2 6GB DDR3 kits if possible.

I have corsair XMS3 3x 2GB and it works fine, its rated at 1.65v 1600

[Ch3ck5um]

I tried 19 x 190 and every time I have to clear the CMOS to post again no matter how tame the other system settings and no matter how high the voltage. So a based clock of higher than 183 = no post for me. I haven't experimented with turbo mode as of yet. Perhaps that will work.

EDIT:
Yep that's it. If I want to get 3.8GHz I'm going to need to use turbo mode. It works fine like that though.

Could you list the changes you made to the bios to get to 3.8ghz?

[Blacklash]

Hi Blacklash,

I have 2 x GTX 280's in SLI using a flexible bridge and the 180 drivers.

I dont want to teach granny to suck eggs but check all cards are seated properly and the SLI bridge is free from visible defects as SLI definatly works on this board.

Interesting. Any ideas why I lose my video signal from my primary orange slot when installing a card in the second orange slot? I tried another SLi bridge from a friend and it still doesn't work properly for me.

Also what are your settings in the PCI-e area. Do you have the "high priority" option enabled etc?

It would have been nice for Foxconn to include a functional SLi bridge with this mobo. nVidia do not include bridges with their graphics card like ATi do with theirs.

I've used SLi and Crossfire before. I've also been building my own rigs since 1996.

I'd appreciate it if you or anyone else using this board could post a shot of a completed 3dmark06 run with SLi enabled. It would be good to include a shot from CPU-Z showing the mobo identification with the 06 bench cap.

When I get my Evga mobo up and running I am going to test these same cards and bridges on it. With the Foxconn I tried; one bridge installed towards the front, then one bridge installed towards the rear, then two bridges installed. Nothing I did would allow me to enable SLi.

It is possible I have faulty cards or bridges. These cards are fine separately and if the bridges are faulty it means I got three bad ones in a row. Again, the cards share the same BIOS, core clock, shader clock and mem clock.

[Blacklash]

Could you list the changes you made to the bios to get to 3.8ghz?

Just enabled turbo. CPU volts were raised to 1.35v and NB is just under 1.4v. CPU VTT is 1.35v. Ram is 1.65v. VT is disabled.

I am going to try the Evga mobo. I like the slot layout better and it should work well with dual slot Tri-SLi.

[Ch3ck5um]

Interesting. Any ideas why I lose my video signal from my primary orange slot when installing a card in the second orange slot? I tried another SLi bridge from a friend and it still doesn't work properly for me.

Also what are your settings in the PCI-e area. Do you have the "high priority" option enabled etc?

It would have been nice for Foxconn to include a functional SLi bridge with this mobo. nVidia do not include bridges with their graphics card like ATi do with theirs.

I've used SLi and Crossfire before. I've also been building my own rigs since 1996.

I'd appreciate it if you or anyone else using this board could post a shot of a completed 3dmark06 run with SLi enabled. It would be good to include a shot from CPU-Z showing the mobo identification with the 06 bench cap.

When I get my Evga mobo up and running I am going to test these same cards and bridges on it. With the Foxconn I tried; one bridge installed towards the front, then one bridge installed towards the rear, then two bridges installed. Nothing I did would allow me to enable SLi.

It is possible I have faulty cards or bridges. These cards are fine separately and if the bridges are faulty it means I got three bad ones in a row. Again, the cards share the same BIOS, core clock, shader clock and mem clock.

Everything is default in the bios.

3DMARK SLI first result:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9144893

Foxconn are sending out SLI bridges to their distributors as I have already spoken to them about it, they say contact your reseller and they will send you one for free.

I had the same issue with quad crossfire on this board with 4x3870's it disabled all DVI's apart from the bottom one.

3DMARK Crossfire:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9056785

[Ch3ck5um]

Just enabled turbo. CPU volts were raised to 1.35v and NB is just under 1.4v. CPU VTT is 1.35v. Ram is 1.65v. VT is disabled.

I am going to try the Evga mobo. I like the slot layout better and it should work well with dual slot Tri-SLi.

Thanks for that I will give it a go

[Ch3ck5um]

Strange I cant seem to find "Turbo Mode"

Are you using "Fox One" as I cannot get it to run as it states it not compatible with my motherboard.. hmm...

[Ch3ck5um]

Ahh.. found it

Under Intel PPM Configuration:

--> EIST Function enables turbo mode.

[Ch3ck5um]

Something I have noticed is this board does not like having 120mm fans plugged into the fan headers, although they are well within spec the bios has issues booting when they are installed.

So it seems that its not just Asus that cant get on board fan control sorted, time to dig out the Zalman fan mate.

[Blacklash]

It is possible I got three bad SLi bridges in a row. I'll test others on it when I have the chance.

I ordered two from Asus. One should arrive with my Evga mobo too. I'll try them all on the Foxconn mobo out of curiosity.

Sunbeam Rheobus and Zalman fan mate are good options for fan control. I don't jack mine into the mobo either. I've been using the below one from FrozenCPU for a while.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/10...17&id=XJ2bmruU

I can't test SLi with default BIOS settings because it disables RAID. So I have to set default then enable RAID. I wouldn't be able to boot otherwise.

Is it possible Intel RAID borks SLi on this mobo?

[Ch3ck5um]

It could be if its the only thing thats not default.

Btw I haven't had any luck at all overclocking this board I think I am either doing it all wrong or I cant get a result from any clock other than default settings... all I get is black screen and have to reset bios to defaults to get back in, im sure its me doing something wrong, so could you put together a quick procedure of how best to overclock on this board to preserve my sanity?

Cheers

Ch3ck5um

[Blacklash]

I can tell you what has worked for me.

Let's speed up your boot first. If you aren't using the marvel RAID controller.

Go Adv. Settings>Onboard Device Config>SAS Controller-Disabled

Go to Fox CCU>Memory Timing Config>Perf. Tuning Mode-Manual>DRAM Freq 1066MHz 9-9-9-24

Go All Voltage>Memory, manually set the correct voltage here. For me it's 1.65v.

Save and exit.

Go right back into the BIOS.

Disable turbo

Go Fox CCU>Clock Mode>Manual
CPU Freq 160

Save and exit. You should have 3.2GHz

3.6GHz = as above but set the following under All Voltage first-

CPU Vcore Volt +0.07, CPU VTT +0.07, NB Volt 1.294v (Your CPU may need more vcore, adjust as needed)

Save and exit to let it apply the voltages.

Go back in the BIOS-

Under Fox CCU>CPU Freq, now set 180. Save and exit.

You should have 3.6GHz.

Once you are sure it's stable you can try tightening timings to 8-8-8-24. Leave uncore to automatic for all of these.

Usually when I OC on any mobo, I apply all my elevated voltages first. Save and exit. Then I put my memory where I wish it to be. Save and exit. Then the last thing I do is enter the BIOS and raise my CPU clock. Save and exit.

It could be if its the only thing thats not default.

Btw I haven't had any luck at all overclocking this board I think I am either doing it all wrong or I cant get a result from any clock other than default settings... all I get is black screen and have to reset bios to defaults to get back in, im sure its me doing something wrong, so could you put together a quick procedure of how best to overclock on this board to preserve my sanity?

Cheers

Ch3ck5um

[Ch3ck5um]

Your a star!

I will report back tonight hopefully with good news

[Ozzfest05]

So is that thing on the NB really a speaker?

lol this is the most commonly asked question when it comes to this mobo the speaker lol it will only play music once you reach over 6ghz then the sounds of "We Are The Champions" comes from the north bridge speaker heatsink

[Ch3ck5um]

Well that worked, thanks Blacklash

Stage 1: 3.2Ghz
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9169305

[Ch3ck5um]

Stage 2: 3.4Ghz

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9170283

[Blacklash]

Glad to help.

My EVGA X58 mobo arrived and the first thing I did was pull the flexible SLi bridge from the box. I tried it on the Foxconn mobo with my GTX 260s. Installed to the front = no options to enable SLi in the nVidia CP, installed to the rear = no options to enable SLi in the nVidia CP. I used default BIOS settings and stock system settings save having Intel RAID enabled.

I did uninstall the nVidia drivers in safe mode and clean my prefetch folder before adding the second card.

Based on my personal experience I can't recommend this mobo. The caveat there would be if my GTX 260s don't function in SLi with the EVGA X58 mobo.

Good luck and for now mine is being shelved. If the cards fail to work in SLi with my new mobo, I'll update.

[qube]

SF3D can you give me some good addreses to stores in Finland that sells WC gear and hardware.
Hardware in Sweden is so expensive and hard to find.

[Ch3ck5um]

Well it appears using 20x175 is the best stable clock for this combo without overvolting too much. This gets me 3.5ghz which is not too shabby for a non overclockers board.

Although I was hoping for more

It does seem like as soon as I hit 180 (err FSB) it defiantly pukes!

3.2GHz with no voltage changes is nice though