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

[Grnfinger]

So has anyone OCed a Q9550 on this board? I'm thinking about buying one to replace my Q6600 when those price drops kick in next week......I see people hitting 4.2 on air with some of these 45nm chips, so I should be able to do some damage with my water setup.

Maximus X38 is 45nm quad limited, rare ocasions you'll break the 425-430FSB wall but I have not seen many chips do it, 425FSB was the max for my X38/Q9550

[chew*]

HHmmmm....I should install 06 on my rig. I haven't even run it since I got my 4870X2.

Bah! I'm getting that openal32.dll error in Vista x64.......I thought I just had to reinstall openal, but it's not working. I'll post results as soon as I get the bench working.

Ok I have it figured out. I'm currently running 06. It seems that it's more stressful on the GPU than vantage, as I have hard locked twice in FireFly Forest at 852 MHz and 842......now I'm backing down to 837. I was stable at least at 852 in Vantage......maybe even higher
Yep it just looks like good old fashioned instability in FireFly Forest. It's a bit strange considering that I'm stable much higher in Vantage, but no worries.

My 4870X2 runs so cool with this block.....it's just begging for voltage. I really don't have the steady hands to volt mod (or the balls TBH), so I guess it's BIOS mod or nothing (which most likely means nothing.)

I need to clock this CPU higher.....score isn't very good compared to others.

Yah you need to turn that bad boy up a notch, If I actually used lod tweaks in 06 I might have yah with a single 512mb

[Grnfinger]

Tisk Tisk
You coverd the res on that screen shot

Some douche at HWBOT flag'd 3 of my submissions claiming that, now when I try to edit so I can add a validation link it wont let me
So I responded with that 22k 3D run.
Going to do a few Vantage runs now at 500FSB,
HAve you tried CC 8.12? I'm still running 8.11 and wondering if there is a performance incease like they say.

[chew*]

thats 8.12, its worth a few points, I did a compare let me see if i can find it.

here' the compare link for that 19k forgot about not covering res, its been awhile.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9627529

8.10 IIRC ( 8.11 caused FO3 to crash )
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9124834

8.12
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9183077

What tool is the best for Lod tweaking now, I haven't used Lod since geez 3d01 and my 9800 pro. I installed ati tool newest version and it loaded all my cores and my GPU and stopped responding

[binormalkilla]

Maximus X38 is 45nm quad limited, rare ocasions you'll break the 425-430FSB wall but I have not seen many chips do it, 425FSB was the max for my X38/Q9550

Well then no thanks! I'm stable at 475 with my Q6600. I suppose it's wiser to just wait until the i7s get cheaper anyhow (not to mention the motherboards......they're outrageous right now.)

I put together a shopping card at newegg with an i7 CPU, 6GB of RAM, and a 'mid-range' ASUS mobo. The card was over $700.......I just can't justify that to the wife considering that I just spent $500 on my graphics card and $120 on my Perc 5/i RAID controller

[binormalkilla]

Yah you need to turn that bad boy up a notch, If I actually used lod tweaks in 06 I might have yah with a single 512mb

WTF........that's insane. Have you tweaked anything, like turned down IQ in CCC? Are you running the default res? I ran mine at 4 GHz and got this


BTW that's on Vista x64 so maybe that's hurting the score a little. IIRC there is a performance hit in 3dmark06 in Vista.

[Grnfinger]

thats 8.12, its worth a few points, I did a compare let me see if i can find it.

here' the compare link for that 19k forgot about not covering res, its been awhile.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9627529

8.10 IIRC ( 8.11 caused FO3 to crash )
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9124834

8.12
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=9183077

What tool is the best for Lod tweaking now, I haven't used Lod since geez 3d01 and my 9800 pro. I installed ati tool newest version and it loaded all my cores and my GPU and stopped responding

8.12 seems not to like my card much, hard locks running Vantage and 3DMark05 when 8.11 did not at same settings....
3D06 is down a few hundred points compared to 8.11 run.
Guess its time to tear the loop apart and run the new card on ....air (ick)
Well maybe one more run on 8.11 to confirm my suspicions

[chew*]

WTF........that's insane. Have you tweaked anything, like turned down IQ in CCC? Are you running the default res? I ran mine at 4 GHz and got this


BTW that's on Vista x64 so maybe that's hurting the score a little. IIRC there is a performance hit in 3dmark06 in Vista.

nah thats at default high performance settings. I don't lose much between vista/xp I ran out of slider bar for ram I need a bios that allows more

Vista 64 + 4870x2 is your issue. I've seen this before, you will score alot higher in vista 32 and XP.

believe it or not if i set mitmap detail to high performance my score actually gets worse.

I got an ati tool version working and the Lod bias settings dont work, cant find where to set it in rivatuner and ati tray tools i'm lost.

[binormalkilla]

nah thats at default high performance settings. I don't lose much between vista/xp I ran out of slider bar for ram I need a bios that allows more

Vista 64 + 4870x2 is your issue. I've seen this before, you will score alot higher in vista 32 and XP.

believe it or not if i set mitmap detail to high performance my score actually gets worse.

I got an ati tool version working and the Lod bias settings dont work, cant find where to set it in rivatuner and ati tray tools i'm lost.

Yea I don't benchmark much for competition, as I just want to make sure my system is running as it should be. I would like to take some time and chill my water loop, then overvolt like crazy......but sadly I don't have as much time since I started school again.

BTW ATI Tool doesn't play well with the 4870X2....I would look around the driver level tweaks in Rivatuner.

8.12 seems not to like my card much, hard locks running Vantage and 3DMark05 when 8.11 did not at same settings....
3D06 is down a few hundred points compared to 8.11 run.
Guess its time to tear the loop apart and run the new card on ....air (ick)
Well maybe one more run on 8.11 to confirm my suspicions

I haven't had any issues with 8.12 in Vista x64 one bit. There is an annoying water artifact bug in Call of DUty World at War, where the border of puddles looks like it has frozen. This sort of flickers on and off at times. Not extremely noticeable, but still annoying.
I found a pic:
http://ninjamonkeys.co.za/wp-content...1/shot0000.jpg

[Grnfinger]

Holy hannah this cards fan is LOUD!!!!
Grn's pc was so nice and quiet you could hear my cats claws on the hardwood as he walks, not anymore



Some benches to follow if I can stand the noise

[zlojack]

Nice setup, Grn!!

[Grnfinger]

Thanks Jack, I think I'm going to need a stronger PSU, seems I hardlock and then quicly reboot if I try anything over 875/1000 but its early, only been playing for hour or so, lots to learn.

[zlojack]

I had a lot of trouble overclocking the 4870 X2 in the short time I had one.

What PSU are you running?

[Grnfinger]

Corsair HX620...me thinks its a tad weak
looking at a HX1000 like yours

Q9550 @ 8.5x500FSB
4870X2 800/975

[zlojack]

Corsair HX620...me thinks its a tad weak
looking at a HX1000 like yours

Q9550 @ 8.5x500FSB
4870X2 800/975

Hmm...the 620 should do the job for a single 4870 X2.

[Grnfinger]

ahh so it might be heat then
This pleases me....guess I got to decide on a block and soon

[chew*]

grn 4870 tips, not sure if you tried it but toss that fan to 100%, that ram should clock to the moon as long as you can keep the core temps down. Icreasing core increases over all temps, ram declines with higher core. aww screw it just get water on it lol.......

[Nuckin_Futs]

Anybody get good FSB OC w/ a Xeon X3350 or simular? I wanna keep my old MF bu want a good quad to OC on it since I too had very little luck w/ my Q9550 to barely get close to 430 and stable. I also have a good stable Q6600 to 3.8GHz but would like to go 45nm and maybe try an X48 for fun. Oh ja, if I do get an X48 DDR3 mobo, will it do anything signifigent for my Q6600 over what I can already do on my X38 DDR2 compared to what the Q9500 can do for me in terms of FSB OC on the X48?

If I have to stick w/ the Q9550, how much further can I expect on an X48 DDR3 version or this mobo? I'd be OK w/ the P5E3 Primeum as well if the cost has come down. I really had my eye on the Rampage Extreme when it came out. Will this do a 45nm quad fair justice and too how much if anybody can share?

[mit78]

what is the best bios for this mobo,original bios,not another.
thx,

[Grnfinger]

grn 4870 tips, not sure if you tried it but toss that fan to 100%, that ram should clock to the moon as long as you can keep the core temps down. Icreasing core increases over all temps, ram declines with higher core. aww screw it just get water on it lol.......

I'm going to play today with it, My 3870X2 clock'd very high on water.
This card pumps the heat, it's a frosty minus 15c here so I might open the window and cool the room down for some overclocking fun.
Lots to learn about this card atleast it will cut down on my heating cost for teh house
Wifes got her eye on my 3870X2

[chew*]

what is the best bios for this mobo,original bios,not another.
thx,

0308 for memory bandwidth.

0701 for 3d benching/games.

grn, i'm debating on grabbing another 4870 and take a chance it will clock as high, if it does i can probably tip over some 4870x2's, although the brand new 4870x2 for $350 is very very tempting....plus after trifire scaling goes out the window.

You have vantage?

[Zucker2k]

Coby,
Sorry for the delay, had to drive all day yesterday under terrible driving conditions. Needless to say, I was busted when I returned home. Anyway, here's a picture from this thread: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ght=MCW60+4870 as mine were too difficult to get to. Yes, the x2's are loud and that's why I threw mine under water. Mind you, I couldn't get higher clocks on mine under water. Waiting for that super bios.

Edit: The difference in the picture below is that I just took off the shell so I didn't have to break anything. One guy in the thread also had a different method; check it out.

[Grnfinger]

0308 for memory bandwidth.

0701 for 3d benching/games.

grn, i'm debating on grabbing another 4870 and take a chance it will clock as high, if it does i can probably tip over some 4870x2's, although the brand new 4870x2 for $350 is very very tempting....plus after trifire scaling goes out the window.

You have vantage?

Yes I have Vantage, I was debating on a Crossfire setup with 2 4870's but then I factored in the waterblock cost and scrapped that idea.
Guess I should head over to the gpu section and educate myself on what others are achieving with this card. According to Gautam the bios is better than Asus TOP bios.

Coby,
Sorry for the delay, had to drive all day yesterday under terrible driving conditions. Needless to say, I was busted when I returned home. Anyway, here's a picture from this thread: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ght=MCW60+4870 as mine were too difficult to get to. Yes, the x2's are loud and that's why I threw mine under water. Mind you, I couldn't get higher clocks on mine under water. Waiting for that super bios.

Edit: The difference in the picture below is that I just took off the shell so I didn't have to break anything. One guy in the thread also had a different method; check it out.

That looks damn good actually.
So no ram sinks just the 2 MCW60's and the stock HS modded for the barbs?
Whats your max stable clocks on your card?
I'm currently testing that today, I might need some ear plugs from the noise

[Zucker2k]

Yes I have Vantage, I was debating on a Crossfire setup with 2 4870's but then I factored in the waterblock cost and scrapped that idea.
Guess I should head over to the gpu section and educate myself on what others are achieving with this card. According to Gautam the bios is better than Asus TOP bios.



That looks damn good actually.
So no ram sinks just the 2 MCW60's and the stock HS modded for the barbs?
Whats your max stable clocks on your card?
I'm currently testing that today, I might need some ear plugs from the noise

Pretty much. Max stable for GRID was 842/1000. The ram can do 1050 but I flashed the asus top and was limited to 1000. What's the max on your card? Can I have the bios?

[Grnfinger]

Pretty much. Max stable for GRID was 842/1000. The ram can do 1050 but I flashed the asus top and was limited to 1000. What's the max on your card? Can I have the bios?

Of course
Let me find something that works with Vista, once I have the bios I'll pm you the link.