Asus Striker II Extreme: Corruption/Freezes Troubleshooting Thread

[EnemyWithin]

hmm, so you maybe figured out by now what causes the laggs? @ benchz?

Yeah i already noticed myself that laggs still occure even when i got 1t commandrate

[BenchZowner]

Never had any lags.

[EnemyWithin]

hm,
strange! so it doesnt matter if i choose 1t or 2t?! oO

[jcool]

Hey guys/BenchZowner,

having issues with a build here. I've had a few of these mobos before and never had any trouble getting them stable, but this one is really getting on my nerves.
I get funny red/blue fragscreens and freezes while trying to install Vista64. HDDs are Mtron Mobis (3500 series I think) on a Highpoint 3510, so we can rule out crappy NV southbridge as a source.
Ram is 8GB CSX 1600 CAS9 (Samsung ICs), rated 9-9-9-24 at 1,8V which passed memtest fine (running FSB 400 linked 1:1, CPU is a QX9650 running 400x9 - CPU not new, CPU OC is known to be stable). With auto MCH (~1,31V) I get a red screen immediately when Vista starts expanding, when setting MCH manually to ~1,45V it holds until 5-10% then gives a blue frag screen (no BSOD). Setting ram down to 1333Mhz didn't help either so I removed 4GB, loaded bios defaults and now it seems it went through (will be finished in 5 minutes or so).

So what do you guys recon I could try? Timings are already loose at CAS9, I set 2T ofc, latest bios 1104 flashed. TRFC already at 88 on auto which shoulkd be more than high enough even for 8GB... oh yeah, it is not a mem incompatibility as I have used that mem on the mobo before (even in 8GB config)

Thanks in advance

Edit: Lol.. it finished, rebooted, and now says boot disk failure - omg what is wrong with this mobo...

[EnemyWithin]

Hi at all!

i finally got my pc stable!

I just set my memory to 1600mhz without "linked" and "synched" and memory voltage on auto! (value set bei mobo:1,81-1,82V)
Timings: 7-7-8-25 2T

Now i get only freezes when i set memory voltage myself.
I set it to 1.82V and 1.84V (mushkin says that it should be stable on 1,85V)
but so far its not stable with both values!
Even at 1.82V set in bios everest says memory voltage is at 1,86-1,87V kinda strange!

[Deathspine]

Hi at all!

i finally got my pc stable!

I just set my memory to 1600mhz without "linked" and "synched" and memory voltage on auto! (value set bei mobo:1,81-1,82V)
Timings: 7-7-8-25 2T

Now i get only freezes when i set memory voltage myself.
I set it to 1.82V and 1.84V (mushkin says that it should be stable on 1,85V)
but so far its not stable with both values!
Even at 1.82V set in bios everest says memory voltage is at 1,86-1,87V kinda strange!

Glad to hear we have another stable Striker II Extreme

[jcool]

Ya, and I fixed it my build here as well.. turned out the CPU wanted totally different values on the 790i than anywhere else, lol.
Had to use 1,55V MCH though for FSB 1700/DDR3-1600 with 8GB (FSB 1600/1600 didn't even post lol... still FSB hole/divider problems I guess)

[Deathspine]

Still stable at 4GHz, will be adding a 280 GTX next weekend with the prices dropping. I suspect with the board I will be good for another year. Will add the next generation video card(s) when it arrives in six months or so. I enjoy this board. For gaming video cards are the key and will just wait until my CPU becomes the weak link before considering an upgrade.

Actually I was just rambling to keep this thread alive.

What's up , is every body running smoothly now?

[neo mike]

Im running butter smooth, and finally got my nb, sb cooled way down.

[EnemyWithin]

@Deathspine: Im so far stable here, but im going to test some new settings the next days (some better timings at first)

I changed some settings last time, no settings on memory or cpu, just some unimportant things (floppy off, changed boot device priority etc) and i wondered myself as it freezed again Oo

But thanks to myself i saved my stable bios profile before

From now on i write down every change i make, maybe someday we can set up a complete list of possible setting failures!

greetz EnemyWithin

[Deathspine]

I am thinking a little crazy, I just got another 4G of memory for this machine. This week I plan to start testing Anandtech reviews of how stable this machine was with 8G memory running at 2000MHz. I will be happy at 1800MHz my current setting.

Also purchased another 280 GTX which should be here for a weekend update.

[Mathieas]

Hey all I am back with my freezeing issues. I am wondering if i need to adjust my CPU voltages and the GTL reference tweaks. Has anyone had a non OCed stock QX9650 with repear 1333 ram working stable? I am useing Medeval total war as a test(it seems to freeze quite redily when there are voltage issues. i have had it run 2.5hours at the most with some other corisair ram, but each of my OCZ alone 2GB chip or together in dual channel cuase freezes hafter 1hr.) Any help would be wonderful. If i need to OC to get a stable system i will i just have no idea what the limits of the chip are. Thanks all!

Originally Posted by Mathieas
Required System Specifications
PSU ( Power Supply Unit ) = Zalman ZM1000-HP
CPU =Intel Extreme Core Duo QX9650
RAM =OCZ Reaper 1333mhz 2X 2Gig 6-5-5-20
HDD ( the one where you have your windows installation on ) = Raid 0 2X WDAKKS750 SATA(or somthing similar)
VGA1 = BFG Geforce 280GTX OC2
VGA2 ( if you have ) = BFG Geforce 280GTX OC2
VGA3 ( if you have ) =
SPU ( Sound Card ) = Sound Blaster X-Fi Faility ed PCI-E
NorthBridge Cooling = Stock fustion block with Big water 760i Liquid cooling
SouthBridge Cooling =Stock
CPU Cooling =Intel retail stock
RAM Cooling = Reaper Ram heat spreaders
nFORCE Chipset Drivers Version = 9.64
ForceWare/GeForce Drivers Version =181.20 Sound Card Drivers Version = Latest
BIOS version 0801 REQUIRED--- i am using 1205 beta

BIOS Settings
Extreme Tweaker
CPU Level Up = Auto
Memory Level Up = Auto
AI Overclock Tuner = Manual
CPU Multiplier = 9X
FSB - Memory Clock Mode = Linked
FSB - Memory Ratio = Synch Mode
FSB (QDR) MHz = 1333
MEM (DDR) MHz = 1333
LDT Frequency = 5x
PCIE Bus Slot 1 & 2 MHz = 100
PCIE Bus Slot 3 MHz = 100
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, MHz = 200.0
SLI-Ready Memory = Disabled

Memory Timing Setting
P1 = Auto
P2 = Auto
tCL ( CAS Latency ) =
tRCD =7
tRP =7
tRAS =22
Command Per Clock (CMD) =2T
tRRD = 5
tRC = 29
tWR =12
tWTR =25
tFAW =29
tRD =8
tRTP =8
tRFC =74
tREF = Auto

Over Voltage- setting on the left, hareware volt reading on the left
CPU Voltage = Auto - Auto
Loadline Calibration = Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage = Auto
CPU VTT Voltage = Auto - 1.10V
Memory Voltage = 1.8
NB Core Voltage = 1.44V
SB Core Voltage = 1.55V
CPU GTL REF0 Ratio =Auto
CPU GTL REF1 Ratio =Auto
CPU GTL REF2 Ratio =Auto
CPU GTL REF3 Ratio =Auto
NB GTL REF Ratio =Auto
DDR3 CHA1 Ref Volt = Auto
DDR3 CHB1 Ref Volt = Auto
DDR3 CHA2 Ref Volt =Auto
DDR3 CHB2 Ref Volt =Auto

CPU Configuration
CPU Internal Thermal Control = Disabled
Limit CPUID MaxVal = Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E) = Disabled
Execute Disable Bit =Disabled
Virtualization Technology = Disabled
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(tm) Tech. = Disabled
CPU Core 2 = Enabled
CPU Core 3 ( Ignore this setting, unless you have a Quad-Core CPU ) = Enabled
CPU Core 4 ( Ignore this setting, unless you have a Quad-Core CPU ) = Enabled

Spread Spectrum Control
CPU Spread Spectrum = Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum = Disabled
MCP PCIE Spread Spectrum = Disabled
SATA Spread Spectrum = Disabled
LDT Spread Spectrum = Disabled

[MajorFU]

[code]Required System Specifications
PSU ( Power Supply Unit ) = TT Toughpower 1200
CPU = QX9450
RAM = G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3 PC3-12800
HDD Veliciraptor 300GB =
VGA1 = Leadtek 9800gx2
VGA2 ( if you have ) =
VGA3 ( if you have ) =
SPU ( Sound Card ) = asus supreme sfx II thingy that came with the board
NorthBridge Cooling = stock
SouthBridge Cooling = stock
CPU Cooling = arctic freezer pro
RAM Cooling = corsair dominator
nFORCE Chipset Drivers Version = Newest on ASUS Site 9.46
ForceWare/GeForce Drivers Version = 181.20
Sound Card Drivers Version = soundmax 5.10.01
BIOS version 0801 REQUIRED 1104

BIOS Settings
Extreme Tweaker
CPU Level Up = Auto
Memory Level Up = Auto
AI Overclock Tuner = Manual
CPU Multiplier = 8
FSB - Memory Clock Mode = Linked
FSB - Memory Ratio = Auto
FSB (QDR) MHz = 1600
MEM (DDR) MHz = 1600
LDT Frequency = x5
PCIE Bus Slot 1 & 2 MHz = 100
PCIE Bus Slot 3 MHz = 100
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, MHz = Auto
SLI-Ready Memory = Disabled

Memory Timing Setting
P1 = Auto
P2 = Auto
tCL ( CAS Latency ) = 9
tRCD = 9
tRP = 9
tRAS = 28
Command Per Clock (CMD) = 2T
tRRD = AUTO 5
tRC = AUTO 40
tWR = AUTO 12
tWTR = AUTO 18
tFAW = AUTO 25
tRD = AUTO 11
tRTP = AUTO 6
tRFC = AUTO 88
tREF = AUTO 7.8us

Over Voltage
CPU Voltage = 1.3000 Actual 1.340
Loadline Calibration = Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage = 1.58 Actual 1.61
CPU VTT Voltage = 1.18 Actual 1.21
Memory Voltage = 1.82 Actual 1.88
NB Core Voltage = 1.44 Actual 1.45
SB Core Voltage = 1.55 Actual 1.55
CPU GTL REF0 Ratio = Auto
CPU GTL REF1 Ratio =Auto
CPU GTL REF2 Ratio =Auto
CPU GTL REF3 Ratio =Auto
NB GTL REF Ratio =Auto
DDR3 CHA1 Ref Volt =Auto
DDR3 CHB1 Ref Volt =Auto
DDR3 CHA2 Ref Volt =Auto
DDR3 CHB2 Ref Volt =Auto

CPU Configuration
CPU Internal Thermal Control = Disabled
Limit CPUID MaxVal = Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E) = Disabled
Execute Disable Bit = Disabled
Virtualization Technology = Disabled
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(tm) Tech. = Disabled
CPU Core 2 = Enabled
CPU Core 3 ( Ignore this setting, unless you have a Quad-Core CPU ) = Enabled
CPU Core 4 ( Ignore this setting, unless you have a Quad-Core CPU ) = Enabled

Spread Spectrum Control
CPU Spread Spectrum = Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum = Disabled
MCP PCIE Spread Spectrum = Disabled
SATA Spread Spectrum = Disabled
LDT Spread Spectrum = Disabled

PC Works fine mostly but playing games causes random freezes where pc locks up and needs reset or sometime a full power down due to the dreaded codeinit. Also yeaterday after a smooth game of COD4 i quit normally and it BSOD on me. COD4 seems to be the real test!!

Any advice is welcome

[Mathieas]

I have started increaseing the NB GTL Reference as well as my CPU voltage(i know i know two varibles does not allow me to lock in the true cuase in stability changes but I will hash that out after i get a fully stable system)_. This increased my medeveal II total war running time (leaveing it run on the generals speech and setup from a quick battle ) from 1hr to 2hr 20min at +10mv and i plan to test +20mv this evening. My feeling is that this NB GTL reference may be the soultion to the Reaper ram issue. I am currently at 7-7-7-18 2T timing at 1.84v.

PS: Med II is the only game i have found to really push the issues cuasesing freezes on these MBs. Crysis will run hours befor freezeing,WoW hours till a freeze(sometimes 6-10hrs), Prime 95 8-10hrs no issues and memtest no errors. Med II on the other hand will run mere minutes with the exzact same freeze charcaterisitics(the hard crash with repeating sounds). After i started making changes to the NBv,Ramv,CPUv,NB GTL Ref I have increased the freeze time from 3mins to 2hr 30mins. I recommend that if you are haveing stability issue strying DLing the demo(granted i am using a fully updated reatail copy so the demo is untested for sensitivity) to this game and give it a shot.

[Mathieas]

OK all new update. Finally got my system stable! After 4 months! It was the stupid GTL NB Ref voltage.. +10mv for me and a reduced NBv of 1.44 and a mem voltage of 1.86. I was priming for 11hours and medieval total war for 10hrs (last record was only 2.5hrs). I dont know is this was particular for my MB or for everyone with 1202 and 1333 reaper memory@7-7-7-18(rest auto) cept tRFC 110(this could prolly come down). This is simply the first setup that gave me a stable run.. a few more weeks of testing will get everything locked down to their lowest tightest voltages/timings. I intend to leave well enough alone for now. Let me know if this fixes issues for anyone else.

Mathieas

[Deathspine]

OK all new update. Finally got my system stable! After 4 months! It was the stupid GTL NB Ref voltage.. +10mv for me and a reduced NBv of 1.44 and a mem voltage of 1.86. I was priming for 11hours and medieval total war for 10hrs (last record was only 2.5hrs). I dont know is this was particular for my MB or for everyone with 1202 and 1333 reaper memory@7-7-7-18(rest auto) cept tRFC 110(this could prolly come down). This is simply the first setup that gave me a stable run.. a few more weeks of testing will get everything locked down to their lowest tightest voltages/timings. I intend to leave well enough alone for now. Let me know if this fixes issues for anyone else.

Mathieas

Great news, I am glad you have found the stable point for your system. This is a difficult motherboard to get stable. As you found out it takes a lot of patience. It took me over a week to get stable at stock settings and another month or more to reach a decent overclock. Once you get the hang of it you will found it easier to find that stable point as you attempt to overclock the board. Hope you enjoy the board now.

[Mathieas]

Thank you Deathspine. I was been following your progress from sometime now. After reading over your post I tried to emulate your settings while makeing some minior changes. It is thanks to you that i was able to get this far. Thank you!!!

Mathieas

[MajorFU]

i think i have found some of my problems, for my ram it says cas 9 for 666 and cas 10 for 740 so maybe this explain why using cas 9 right now at 1333 linked with cpu its fine. I copied this from pc wizard:

Supported Frequencies : 444 MHz, 518 MHz, 592 MHz, 666 MHz, 740 MHz
CAS Latency (tCL) : 6 clocks @444 MHz, 7 clocks @518 MHz, 8 clocks @592 MHz, 9 clocks @666 MHz, 10 clocks @740 MHz
RAS to CAS (tRCD) : 6 clocks @444 MHz, 7 clocks @518 MHz, 8 clocks @592 MHz, 9 clocks @666 MHz, 10 clocks @740 MHz
RAS Precharge (tRP) : 6 clocks @444 MHz, 7 clocks @518 MHz, 8 clocks @592 MHz, 9 clocks @666 MHz, 10 clocks @740 MHz
Cycle Time (tRAS) : 16 clocks @444 MHz, 19 clocks @518 MHz, 22 clocks @592 MHz, 24 clocks @666 MHz, 27 clocks @740 MHz
Min TRC : 22 clocks @444 MHz, 26 clocks @518 MHz, 30 clocks @592 MHz, 33 clocks @666 MHz, 37 clocks @740 MHz

does this mean the mem should run at 1480mhz set to 10 10 10 27 for optimal performance?

i also dropped the mem volt and its showing 1.84/5 and put the cpu to auto but upped the lowest of the 3 to deliver 1.14 instead of 1.13 on auto. these rates are taken from the hardware monitor in bios after reboot. the cpu on auto shows 1.29 and is very cool and stable but its at standard 1333 linked with ram

also the clock command on ram was blue screening on 1t so manually put to 2t

oh yeah i did up the NBGTL thing to +10 as you did and i dont think it hurt lol

sorry for noob questions

[Mathieas]

MajorFU

Have you tried the new beta bios? I had issues getting it to work at first. Once i did though it started me down the path of stable. Here is what i did to get it installed.

1)DL the file and place it on a USB jumpdrive
2)reboot and load bios.
3)Save your bios profile position 1 or 2
4)save and exit bios and power down computer.
5)Clear the bios, Put the MB into clear bios mode (switch on bottum left hand side of MB looking at it from the top) then bios press the clear bios button on the back of the MB(near the network card output on the BACK of the MB)
6)reboot and enter bios
7)Flash the bios using the utility in bios.
8)load profile 1
9)reboot and reload bios and check your settings
10)Test full boot.

As for your timming issues i am not sure about that ram. I would use whatever links/syncs with your CPU first. If we can get it stable there then try to do a little OCing(if you want, i personaly dont do this). I will need to do some research to see what you have. Befor i do that though, have you ran memtest,prime 95, intel Burn Test (this was the frist program that let me see memoery issues wihtin mins and not hours, get it from guru3d.com) also try OCCT and medevial total war 2 demo (i kid you not running a quick battle and just letting it sit there is the best test i have found for this MB, dont click deploy or anything just let the general talk and let the program run.) If Intel Burn test fails you have a gross voltage/timming issue most likely. Once fixed there is a good chance Med 2 will still fail. i was using 1.54v on the NB water cooled and this too cuased issues. It was not untill i hit 1.44v that i had what seems like 100% stability.(turth be told i have alot of work ahead of me to get everything finalized, but once you have the starting point the rest is easy.) I will keep checkiung back here once a day to see your progress and we can work through getting this working. Wrost case you may need to spend 70$ at frys for some QVL RAM from corsair, but lets fiddle with what you got first.

Forgive my typoes i put this together real quick at work lol.

Mathieas

[MajorFU]

well first of all i have ditched latest nvidia drivers and physix as i think this is one of the problems

i have gone back to the mfr suported version

i test from there, pc is on auto so its 1333 linked and the ram is 9-9-9-24, some volts are boosted like cpu vtt, nb and ram but at sensible levels

not sure about this new bios will fix my problems

will post over the weekend as i test game play and tweak further

[MajorFU]

oh yer i also have a spare 2 x 1 gb ocz platinum which worked well, also should i try my current ram in the white slots?

[neo mike]

Is your ram rated for 1333 speed ? what is the top speed your ram will do ? cause running 1333 at cas 9 is a joke. Your running way to much mcp voltage, 200. is to much, you shouldnt run your cpu on auto voltage , the bios over volts.

[Deathspine]

I am having an unexpected problem. My second 280 GTX arrived today (as we all know they are on sale). I do not seem to be able to get the second video card recognized by Vista (device manager), Nvidia control panel etc. I have checked the connections i.e. power & SLI connectors and so far am having no luck. It is getting late and I was hoping to avoid major time consuming changes. I have run two 8800 GTX on SLI on this motherboard without ever having a problem. Anything different with the 280 GTX?

I suspect I may have to ensure the new card is good and run it by itself. I attempted to do just that on my test rig an Abit 680i motherboard only to find out the 280 GTX will not fit in the first PCI-E slot.

Anyone with a few trouble shooting tips for SLI with 280 GTXs?

[MajorFU]

Is your ram rated for 1333 speed ? what is the top speed your ram will do ? cause running 1333 at cas 9 is a joke. Your running way to much mcp voltage, 200. is to much, you shouldnt run your cpu on auto voltage , the bios over volts.

i posted my ram ratings above:

Supported Frequencies : 444 MHz, 518 MHz, 592 MHz, 666 MHz, 740 MHz
CAS Latency (tCL) : 6 clocks @444 MHz, 7 clocks @518 MHz, 8 clocks @592 MHz, 9 clocks @666 MHz, 10 clocks @740 MHz
RAS to CAS (tRCD) : 6 clocks @444 MHz, 7 clocks @518 MHz, 8 clocks @592 MHz, 9 clocks @666 MHz, 10 clocks @740 MHz
RAS Precharge (tRP) : 6 clocks @444 MHz, 7 clocks @518 MHz, 8 clocks @592 MHz, 9 clocks @666 MHz, 10 clocks @740 MHz
Cycle Time (tRAS) : 16 clocks @444 MHz, 19 clocks @518 MHz, 22 clocks @592 MHz, 24 clocks @666 MHz, 27 clocks @740 MHz
Min TRC : 22 clocks @444 MHz, 26 clocks @518 MHz, 30 clocks @592 MHz, 33 clocks @666 MHz, 37 clocks @740 MHz

the cpu volt is now around 1.30 in the hardware monitor on auto and this seems fine when the cpu can handle up to 1.37 before degradation, ram is set to give 1.85 in the monitor

out today but will test tonight and see if the driver change made a difference

[Mathieas]

Deathspine,

I dont know if this will help at all but I too had issues getting my 280GTX to run in SLI. THey were both installed and windows did see them but my PSU(even a 1200W thermaltake PSU or OCZ 1000W) did not have enough A on its 12v rail. In the of the OCZ it was not insufficent amps that killed it but instead the cards spiked too many amps which cuased the PSU to go into safe mode and shut down. I am now using a Zalman with 6 seperate rails. If your PSU is not at least 1000W with muti 12v rails you will most likely find an issue there. Also, the GTX is fussy abotu which rials you install them to, try doing cross rail install, IE lets say you have Rail 1 and 2 each with a 8pin and 6pin connection, place rail 1's 8ping and rail 2's 6pin into one card and flip that for the other. As for not seeing the card, can you install your working card to the same slot and turn it on?(the card you know is working installed only). How about the new card in the slot that is working?(single card again). If both of these circumstances work your MB slot is good and your vid card is good, and we need to dig a bit deeper.

Mathieas