ASUS Maximus II Formula - new P45 king?

[loonym]

I'm not looking for an argument, as defensive as you wish to become. Your rather broad statement specifically said "any other" and if you want to cheer and wave pom poms for a mediocre board with lackluster support that's your business. My machines all run 100% load around the clock for months on end so I get a chance to see real stability at work and I'm merely relaying my experience. Good day and keep pushing, that's a superior 6700 you have there, good show.

[andressergio]

Well guys i made it to the 4140 on 1227 PL7 Stronger still need some fine tuning on my GTLS as they are close but to enough



Cheers
Sergio

[radaja]

simps,i know that english is not your first language but you keep making sweeping statments about this board(being the best p45, best 24/7 stability,best quad core board, best voltage,best temps,best pwm design)but you really have nothing to base it on.i dont want to offend you but this is just your opinion from using the maxII,from what ive read in your post you have not tried any other boards.(but maybe im wrong)for one i think that the UD3P has 6 phase digital pwm,where as the maxII has 16 phase analog pwm(on this i could be wrong also)and if you would take the time to read the UD3 thread they are OCing quads very very well.the biostar p45 has some amazing dual core OC's.the asus P5Q-deluxe is probally the one of the best all around 24/7 board for quads and dual cores,mind you i said one of the best.dfi's p45's are also doing quite well.but remember these are just opinions base on my limited knowledge of these other boards.for instance i cant really make any solid opions about quad cores at all, since ive never owned or used an intel quad.all boards have thier own set of problems from my experience.you have to be careful of what you post.there are people that might check in these threads that dont have the experience that some of us have,and are looking for advice as to what to buy,whats best and so on.and i can tell you that the maxII is far from being the best p45 board.it has a whole host of problems.as does every board out there.nothing in this world is perfect(except for me)just kidding.

[Simps]

radaja,

I understand and sorry if I have pushed this too far. I won't continue this debate. If someone would like to reply on it, based on something I have said, I see no problem with it, but I will just not say anything about this anymore.
Also, no, that on your UD3P is not a digital pwm.

[]'s
Simps

[Grnfinger]

X48 is not p45 so. And about the Gigabyte UD3P. You should go for it then, and compare it to your MIIF. I doubt that board can make a better stable overclock on quads at high FSB's then MIIF. That board has a cheap 6 phase power design. Entry-level board these days uses 4 - 6 phase design, maybe that is why these gigas cost 100 bucks? That is a mistake for people running high FSB and 4GHz quads. That will for sure jeopardize your stability. There is a huge huge difference from 16 phase to 6 phase. Like I said, you shoud go for it, and compare yourself. That board is a nice bench board. You can boot up to windows up to 560FSB on quads, and therefore the mem bandwidth will be a lot better, and you will never manage to do that with a MIIF. That is because of the Rev03 chipset those giga use, and they allow much higher voltage. Now that is only good for entering windows, bench, taking a SS. That's it. I am talking 24/7 board.

Also, I went to the UD3P thread, I post a SS of what it takes for the MIIF to make 500FSB stable on quads. The voltages and board load temps. I asked for them to post the same overclock, with their UD3P, so we can compare MIIF and UD3P, and see what are the volts both boards needs, and their temps, at the same overclock. So far, no UD3P matched it, and one UD3P user called me a cheater, that the voltages MIIF needed were "impossible". You can see for yourself here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...205132&page=54

I don't have a special board, and I don't have a special CPU. My CPU is a 1st revision B3 65nm quad. I think that says it all.

Just because there are people with UD3P pushing 1.7PLL and 1.7VTT on their quads, breaking WR's of highest clock on Q9650, doesn't mean anything of how solid the board is. Don't get yourself fooled.

I have never had a giga board before, but I know some people here on XS lost a lot of ram sticks on giga boards. I don't know if they kill ram or not, like I said, I never had one, but I have read here on XS a lot of people getting D9 ram killed by giga boards. Good luck. Also good luck on having some BSOD or freezes once in a while =/

I have been looking at all the P45 threads here and on other forums. I can tell you that Maximus II Formula is the best P45 board for a quad solid stable 24/7 use.

[]'s
Simps

Your arogance is blinding you
When you have tested more than 1 board come back and report on your findings in the mean time walk over to HWBOT and check on loonym's acomplishments b4 shoving your opinion down his throat

[radaja]

ok thanks i wasnt sure but i thought i read about it being digital.and any ways no hard feelings ok.you can post whatever you want,but when you make definitive statements it going to get noticed.and by the way you should be proud of what youve acomplished with your board and cpu,it is truley amazing.not all boards and cpu's are the same.i doubt many will be able to do what youve done(same setup ,cpu with those volts and temps)great job!

[Simps]

Ok radaja, again, sorry for anything.

Grnfinger, fair enough.

Lets move on!

[loonym]

I'm sorry if I offended you Simps, surely not my intent. Your contribution to this thread and helping me understand the mf2 bios is invaluable. I gained a few fsb points on my oc and for that I'm in your debt. Grnfinger, the hwbot stuff is really just a game I play for boredom but thanks for your kind words. I'm much prouder of my wcg work and the m2f is turning into a very reliable producer.

[Simps]

I'm sorry if I offended you Simps, surely not my intent. Your contribution to this thread and helping me understand the mf2 bios is invaluable. I gained a few fsb points on my oc and for that I'm in your debt. Grnfinger, the hwbot stuff is really just a game I play for boredom but thanks for your kind words. I'm much prouder of my wcg work and the m2f is turning into a very reliable producer.

Hey relax. I read all that I wrote again, and really, it was me crossing the line. I guess this things happens on the internet. I am pretty sure if we were all talking together in the front of each other, none of this would have happen.

Lets keep moving.

[Grnfinger]

agreed simps lets not ruin this with silly non sense

[chiman2]

hey everyone. im thinking about running windows 7 beta and was wondering what i would do about drivers? would i just install 64 bit vista ones or not instal drivers at all? advice would be appriciated.

[andressergio]

Hey Simps

I tested for 4,5hours on memtest the 2x2Gskills at 1240 PL7 Stronger 5-5-5-15-5-65-8-5 just loose them a bit on 2,15vdimm and then decided to go for this

4185(465x9) MEMS 1240 PL7 Stronger

This time i tuned GTLS the right way

[Simps]

andressergio,

Holy crap! I think you just achieved some insane good 24/7 memory clocks!
2x2GB DDR2-1240 CL5 PL7 STRONGER for 24/7 at 2.15v!
Looks like for some reason, your mem loves that divider.
That 50.3ns latency is a killer for 24/7 usage!

Well, you made it my friend
It is the first time I see someone do that kinda mem o/c at PL7 on Maximus II Formula with reasonable volts for 24/7.

Big congrats, you deserve it!

[]'s
Simps

[andressergio]

andressergio,

Holy crap! I think you just achieved some insane good 24/7 memory clocks!
2x2GB DDR2-1240 CL5 PL7 STRONGER for 24/7 at 2.15v!
Looks like for some reason, your mem loves that divider.
That 50.3ns latency is a killer for 24/7 usage!

Well, you made it my friend
It is the first time I see someone do that kinda mem o/c at PL7 on Maximus II Formula with reasonable volts for 24/7.

Big congrats, you deserve it!

[]'s
Simps

Thanks mate i've been testing 1200 PL7 for a week now on memtest and tough i passed 2500% i couldn't pass IBT 10 test on max mem, it just need more vcore on the combo to achieve that, pll has no effect, vtt has its normal effect (i can do it on less but i want to keep vtt near vcore)

But i made it

[CryptiK]

Hey Simps

I tested for 4,5hours on memtest the 2x2Gskills at 1240 PL7 Stronger 5-5-5-15-5-65-8-5 just loose them a bit on 2,15vdimm and then decided to go for this

4185(465x9) MEMS 1240 PL7 Stronger

This time i tuned GTLS the right way

Very nice Sergio, that is a very capable 24/7 setup

[ndGreg]

OK, I up'ed the FSB and Memory clock as u stated on thread #2823,pg113.
I found that FSB 460, multi 9, Dram freq 1105 became my best testing area.
@465, my temps in everest went crazy. Showing 255 on a few when I started prime.
Retested ALL NB GTL's again, however, I have 3 that made it to 9 mins.
[-40],[-60],and[-65].
Any suggestions on how to determind which would be best?

Multipier 9
FSB 460
FSB Strap 333
DRAM Freq DDR2-1105MHz
Ai CLK Twister Stronger
PL 8
CPU Volt. 1.275
PLL 1.553
FSB Term 1.312
Dram Volt. 2.10475
NB Volt. 1.45775

CPU GTL Ref 0&2 Auto
CPU GTL Ref 1&3 -40mv

[CryptiK]

Did a bit more testing.

Orthos custom run 4096K
vcore 1.263/1.268 - 1.272 (idle/load)
vNB 1.20v
PL8



When I ran linpack it was not quite stable so increased vNB one notch, which gave me stability.

[Grnfinger]

Good looking chip you have there, what kinda temps are you hitting on load?
Last low volt chip I had produced alot of heat.

[Simps]

OK, I up'ed the FSB and Memory clock as u stated on thread #2823,pg113.
I found that FSB 460, multi 9, Dram freq 1105 became my best testing area.
@465, my temps in everest went crazy. Showing 255 on a few when I started prime.
Retested ALL NB GTL's again, however, I have 3 that made it to 9 mins.
[-40],[-60],and[-65].
Any suggestions on how to determind which would be best?

Multipier 9
FSB 460
FSB Strap 333
DRAM Freq DDR2-1105MHz
Ai CLK Twister Stronger
PL 8
CPU Volt. 1.275
PLL 1.553
FSB Term 1.312
Dram Volt. 2.10475
NB Volt. 1.45775

CPU GTL Ref 0&2 Auto
CPU GTL Ref 1&3 -40mv

It is a good thing that all the best values you found for your GTL NB, are close to each other. [-40],[-60],and[-65].
I have run into that problem when I have tunned my GTL's too. You can try to put more stress on the system, to see if a single value of NB GTL will come out. You can do that by raising the FSB a bit and the mem clock, and testing the 3 values again. Or, you can just keep those 3 values for you, and randomly pic one. When you finish the guide, and have you tunning completed, then you can try to push the system harder, and again, test those 3 NB GTL's. Maybe after all the other settings are tunned, there will be a single best NB GTL value. I have done the second option. For me, NB GTL of +20mV and +30mV were the same. So I moved one, picking 30mV, and till these day, I couldn't find a difference between +20mV and +30mV for me.

Hope it helps.

[]'s
Simps

[Simps]

Did a bit more testing.

Orthos custom run 4096K
vcore 1.263/1.268 - 1.272 (idle/load)
vNB 1.20v
PL8

When I ran linpack it was not quite stable so increased vNB one notch, which gave me stability.

Looking good CryptiK.

Here is what I have found it is best and takes less time to test a system for full stability.
I found out that you only need to run IBT and PRIME BLEND.
I start with IBT 20 loops on max stress. If it don't pass it, then I don't even bother with PRIME. If it passes, then I go for prime blend for 4 hours.
If it passes, its done.

I have never had a single setting that passed 20 loops IBT on max stress, and 4hours prime blend to crash on me. All the other stress programs like OCCT, PRIME SMALL FFT's, memtest, etc, will pass too.

[]'s
Simps

[CryptiK]

Good looking chip you have there, what kinda temps are you hitting on load?
Last low volt chip I had produced alot of heat.

Thanks. It's around 58*C in IBT with a lapped TRUE, MX-2 and 54cfm fan. This was in ~20*C ambients, so it will get even hotter on a warm day.

Looking good CryptiK.

Here is what I have found it is best and takes less time to test a system for full stability.
I found out that you only need to run IBT and PRIME BLEND.
I start with IBT 20 loops on max stress. If it don't pass it, then I don't even bother with PRIME. If it passes, then I go for prime blend for 4 hours.
If it passes, its done.

I have never had a single setting that passed 20 loops IBT on max stress, and 4hours prime blend to crash on me. All the other stress programs like OCCT, PRIME SMALL FFT's, memtest, etc, will pass too.

[]'s
Simps

I was just testing a theory so I ran the tests in that order on purpose. I find that 4096K test is harder on ram/NB than blend/large FFT's are, and I was specifically trying to load the ram/nb during those tests.

EDIT - can anyone get the 1:2 divider to work on this board? I have tried multiple times and no go. My ram is good for 700MHz+ on P35 but cannot get 666MHz+ to work on this board, 620MHz is its limit.

[Shiranui Gen-An]

I got an RMA approved for my MIIF today, they're going to do the cross-ship method. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the replacement or not as I'm having a lot of fun with my DFI LT P35 and my Gigabyte EP45 UD3P...

[Simps]

EDIT - can anyone get the 1:2 divider to work on this board? I have tried multiple times and no go. My ram is good for 700MHz+ on P35 but cannot get 666MHz+ to work on this board, 620MHz is its limit.

I can give it try for you...
You mean 1:2 divider, as a 400FSB giving DDR2-1600?
Is that right?

[Codeman05]

guys, I have a likely stupid question that I hope you can help me out with real quick since your input helping my O/C on this board vastly

Not O/C related this time, but related to this mobo none the less, and no one else has had must input to offer.

I just bought a new HDTV and have a blu-ray drive in the mail to me that I want to output to the TV.
I have a 4870x2, so I'm HDCP compliant there. However, I want to output the audio via the onboard Optical SPDIF to my 7.1 receiver.

Am I going to be able to do that with the onboard X-FI...is that "card" HDCP...or does that even matter in this scenario?


Thanks guys

[Jor3lBR]

Just to reply Simps on Gigabyte Thread, I won't be answering any questions here only there to avoid people getting upset. This is Asus thread so discussions should be Asus only...

More results just click on my signature down there

This board allows people to boot and enter windows @ 650FSB on duals, and 560FSB on quads. That is probably because of the Rev.A3 chipset. But due to its 6 power design only, I haven't seen people doing good stable FSB on this board, neither on dual or quad cpu's. Also, this board needs more volts then other good p45 boards, to perform the same overclock, and it heats way more.
For this reasons, I believe so far this is a good board to bench with, but for 24/7, I have my doubts. Maybe it needs better bios or so.

I know it's not a competition there is nothing to compete for, but sometimes it sounds like you underestimate engineers, if they build something to work with 6 Phase it's because they know what they are doing. Just because Asus has 16 Phase doesn't mean they can hold anything better. In fact as far as I'm concern the smallest route between to points is still a straight line...

Here:

[System Setup]
CPU: Q9650@3500Mhz 500x7
Voltages:
VCORE=1.29V
VTT=1.20V
VPLL=1.5V
VNB=1.26V
VSB=1.1V
VDIMM=2.24V
Mobo: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
Cooler: Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer
Ram: 2 x 2Gb - 4gb G.Skill Pi 9600 @1200 5-5-4-15
Video: X1300
PSU: OCZ Powerstream 520w Adj


[Stability and Memory Benchmark Testing]
I can't show Prime95 now as I don't have 7hrs of the day, but testing was done using IBT Max and HCi Memtest 3.8 150%. If my systems passes those 2they can Prime95 all year. But I can Prime95 during the week if you insist.

Another note is that Everest OSD doesn't show much info on this board only the stuff is on screen so you have to see all voltages on ET6 (Easy Tuner 6).


IBT 35 Loops Maximum Stress starting - LOAD (I can only see pics of your system on Idle)



IBT 35 Loops Maximum Stress ending -IDLE



HCI Memtest 3.8



DDR2 500x7 FSB 1200Mhz Bandwith


This board is pretty much a joy to use, so easy you can hit and tweak and you can get the job done.

No matter how low volts you use this board will use less and remain stable and no matter how high fsb you want this board will keep breaking records with Quads.

Hope that settles the friendly inter-thread challenge