Live MB OC Report :: ASUS Rampage Extreme

[WhiteFireDragon]

CPU and NB skews are very sensitive so it wasn't hard for me to find the optimal skew settings. i found that delay 200 and delay 100 was the best and anything different than this would either not post higher than 485fsb or crashes right away. i'm pretty sure it's not the skews but i'll try playing with this again. i have not touched my memory settings, so could i get some help on this? i think that's what's limiting the last reach for 500fsb.

[ci2kla]

Maybe it's a BIOS issue...what version of BIOS you're using?
I've tried using 0901 and 1003 and seems 1003 is slightly better but still freezes.
If you stress it, the freeze will come quicker. The best I've achieved so far was passed 10 loop IBT @ 500FSB but after that it freezed.

[WhiteFireDragon]

i'm on 0901 right now. perhaps i should flash to an earlier bios version? and where are people getting the 1001, and what's the change from 1001 to 1003?

[ci2kla]

i'm on 0901 right now. perhaps i should flash to an earlier bios version?

Yeah you can try that but I don't think any version of BIOS will solve this issue ATM...the freeze seems in random unless you run stress test. Maybe you can try 400 Strap, higher VTT, or higher PLL and see if you can get any luck.

1001 is replaced by 1003. So there's no way you can download it unless you ask for people that downloaded it ealier.

EDIT: uploaded to rapidshare. here you go
http://rapidshare.de/files/45709030/...-1001.ROM.html

[ragheb]

Hi Everyone,
All you guys getting 550FSB & higher on the E8600 can you please tell us which batch or FPO# your proc is.
Reason for asking is not all E8600 are created equal and some if us are really struggling getting our overclock to 450 let along 500 & more.
I personally have the Q822A438 which has been extremely disappointing. From scouring on the web it looks like the best batches have the no. Q820A606 or Q822A435.
Thanks to all for contributing.

[ci2kla]

Hi Everyone,
All you guys getting 550FSB & higher on the E8600 can you please tell us which batch or FPO# your proc is.
Reason for asking is not all E8600 are created equal and some if us are really struggling getting our overclock to 450 let along 500 & more.
I personally have the Q822A438 which has been extremely disappointing. From scouring on the web it looks like the best batches have the no. Q820A606 or Q822A435.
Thanks to all for contributing.

Q820A593/597/599 are good as well.
Why disappoint? Can you tell me what's wrong with your chip? Even my E8500 VID 1.25 can clock to 600+ FSB I believe yours can do 600 just fine. Just require a bunch of tuning.

Oh by the way, you can try my BIOS setting out and see if it fits you. But what I can tell is every chip is different so things like CPU and NB skew, GTLs you will need to spend time and find the sweet spot of yours

[Ozzfest05]

pretty much all E8xxx chips will do 550+fsb on the right boardive had a 84 85 and 86 all which work well over that speed

[ragheb]

Thank you ci2kla & Ozzfest05 for the info. I hope I am wrong in my assessment and I will give your setting a go ci2kla and see what happens.

[ci2kla]

Thank you ci2kla & Ozzfest05 for the info. I hope I am wrong in my assessment and I will give your setting a go ci2kla and see what happens.

Yes feel free and please report back so that we can do some trobleshooting

[cheapseats]

hey ci2kla, i did a quick IBT test on 333strap @ CL8 with tRD9 - also interested to compare everest scores
with your 266strap settings...but i can't get into windows at all on 266strap with CL7/tRD8 at this FSB.
not solved it yet with skews/refs/voltage etc.

5:8/CL7/tRD8 gives ~ 13.3K Read / sub 40ns at 600x7.5, and doesn't cause same problems (just mem instability with cellshocks).
can you confirm CL7/tRD8 on 266/2:3 is ok ? and what is Read and Latency like ?

not much to my settings and i think vNB and vTT might be able to go lower. But only did one IBT run and no orthos test.
Gflop range is quite tight, so maybe ok without too much fiddling.

btw still using cellshock here, not tested my corsair yet....if they're good for 960mhz, will run this again @ CL7/tRD8

AI OVERCLOCK TUNER =========================MANUAL
OC FROM CPU LEVEL ==========================AUTO
OC FROM MEMORY LEVEL UP ====================AUTO
FSB FREQUENCY ==============================600
CPU RATIO SETTING ==========================07.5

CPU CLOCK SKEW =============================AUTO
NB CLOCK SKEW ==============================AUTO
FSB STRAP TO NORTH BRIDGE ==================333
PCIE FREQUENCY =============================101
DRAM FREQUENCY =============================1920
DRAM COMAND RATE ===========================1N
DRAM TIMING CONTROL ========================MANUAL
CAS LATENCY ================================8
RAS TO CAS DELAY ===========================8
RAS PRE TIME ===============================8
RAS ACT TIME ===============================16
RAS TO RAS DELAY ===========================AUTO
REF CYCLE TIME =============================72
WRITE RECOVERY TIME ========================AUTO
READ TO PRE TIME ===========================AUTO
READ TO WRITE DELAY S/D ====================AUTO
WRITE TO READ DELAY S ======================AUTO
WRITE TO READ DELAY D ======================AUTO
READ TO READ DELAY S =======================AUTO
READ TO READ DELAY D =======================AUTO
WRITE TO WRITE DELAY S =====================AUTO
WRITE TO WRITE DELAY D =====================AUTO
WRITE TO PRE DELAY =========================AUTO
READ TO PRE DELAY ==========================AUTO
PRE TO PRE DELAY ===========================AUTO
ALL PRE TO ACT DELAY =======================AUTO
ALL PRE TO REF DELAY =======================AUTO
DRAM STATIC READ CONTROL ===================AUTO
DRAM DYNAMIC WRITE CONTROL =================AUTO

DRAM SKEW CONTROL
DRAM CMD SKEW ON CHANNEL A = AUTO
DRAM CLK SKEW ON DIMM A1 = AUTO
DRAM CLK SKEW ON DIMM A2 = AUTO
DRAM CTL SKEW ON DIMM A1 = AUTO
DRAM CTL SKEW ON DIMM A2 = AUTO

DRAM CMD SKEW ON CHANNEL B = AUTO
DRAM CLK SKEW ON DIMM B1 = AUTO
DRAM CLK SKEW ON DIMM B2 = AUTO
DRAM CTL SKEW ON DIMM B1 = AUTO
DRAM CTL SKEW ON DIMM B2 = AUTO


AI CLOCK TWISTER ===========================MODERATE
AI TRANSACTION BOOSTER =====================MANUAL
PERFORMANCE LEVEL ==========================09

PULL-IN OF CHA PH1 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHA PH2 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHA PH3 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHA PH4 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHA PH5 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH1 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH2 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH3 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH4 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH5 =========================DISABLED

EPU II PHASE CONTROL =======================AUTO
CPU VOLTAGE ================================1.375V
LOAD-LINE CALIBRATION ======================ENABLED
CPU PLL VOLTAGE  ===========================1.55V
FSB TERMINATION VOLTAGE  ===================1.39V (might go lower)
CPU GTLVREF 0 ============================== +40
CPU GTLVREF 1 ==============================AUTO
CPU GTLVREF 2 ==============================AUTO
CPU GTLVREF 3 ==============================AUTO
NB GTLVREF =================================AUTO
NORTH BRIDGE VOLTAGE =======================1.61V (might go lower)
DRAM VOLTAGE ===============================1.86V
NB DDRVREF =================================+12.5
DDR3 CHANNEL A VREF ========================+12.5
DDR3 CHANNEL B VREF ========================+12.5
SOUTH BRIDGE 1.5 VOLTAGE ===================1.55V
SOUTH BRIDGE 1.05 VOLTAGE ==================1.07V
CPU SPREAD SPRECTRUM =======================DISABLED
PCIE SPREAD SPECTRUM =======================DISABLED

[ragheb]

Hello ci2kla, ozzfest05 & cheapseats,

Following on the bios settings of ci2kla with his E8500 I have finally managed to crack the 600Mhz with my RAM. Please see the pictures.
On testing for stability SuperPi & wPrime went well but IBT failed on 1 iteration and I kind off wanted to post and did not want to upset the hardware..only kidding.
Can you guys recommend some specific bios parameters for improving on the stability. i did up the volts slightly from c2ikla recommendation (RAM 2.10) as I am not worried about temps because all is watercooled except for RAM & at full load on wPrime 1024 max CPU was at 40C & RAM temp probe was on 32C.
Thank you again all & mostly ci2kla.

[WhiteFireDragon]

Exactly what's happening to me when I'm playing with this Quad core.
Try upping CPU clock skew to 300ps and see if it improves.

i just tried changing the NB and CPU skew to combinations of delay 100, 200, and 300 and it won't boot. it wants exactly 200 CPU and 100 to even boot at 500fsb.

i upped the vtt, pll, and NB voltage and it's not locking anymore. however, core 2 still fails prime after an hour but the other 3 cores were stable for over 7 hours. perhaps if you get lock ups too, try upping some of the voltages

[cheapseats]

thanks ragheb , you've answered both my questions to ci2kla... though it seems that 266 strap/2:3/tRD8 is relatively inefficient: 333strap/5:8 gives same performance even with CL8/tRD9, but less vNB needed.

At this clock with CL7/tRD8 on 333strap, the Read difference is quite large.
2.1V vDIMM could be enough for that..

[ragheb]

Glad to be of service cheapseats. Perhaps I have motivated you now to move to the Dominators which for me run incredibly cool at 2.1v.
What you said about the 266 & 333 strap..so do you recommend I change to 333 CL8 & tRD9 instead and save a bit of volts on the NB?

[cheapseats]

yes, but not CL8: try the 333strap/5:8 with tRD8 and CT moderate, and mems @ CL7 / 960mhz, 1.61V vNB. hopefully you won't need higher vDIMM than 2.1V unless you run tighter timings.

then run everest again.. you should get a nice result

it's the same settings i posted earlier but CL7/tRD8 - guess i should get mine going too...

[WhiteFireDragon]

what does the EPU II phase control do? is that best left on auto or should i change it?

[ci2kla]

what does the EPU II phase control do? is that best left on auto or should i change it?

It's the Energy saving thingy and I don't think it's directly related to overclocking as you set manually EPU will be automatically disabled.

EDIT: Guys will get to you soon and I'm testing on volts~
@Cheapseats: I think I'm running 266 Strap @600 FSB 4.5Ghz rock stable now (Pass 10 loop IBT) while ram running @ 1800Mhz 7-6-5-18 1T @2v, tRFC 72, tRD 8. CT @ Auto.
Everest memory read only gives 12.7K and with tREF @16383T gives 12.8K IIRC.

[cheapseats]

up and running with corsair now - and some gentle testing. first did some quick tests in 86+ at 450fsb/1:2,
and went in low @ 1.90V (set) for rated clocks/timings - turned out to need 1.92V so not bad at all

on 0403 BIOS

900mhz / 7-7-7-20 (subs Auto) @ min 1.92V (set): 3 x 86+ pass ok

900mhz / 7-6-5-15 (subs Auto) @ min 1.92V (set): 3 x 86+ pass ok

900mhz / 7-6-5-15 (tRFC 60) @ min 1.93V (set): 3 x 86+ pass ok

enough testing to confirm 32M stable volts for 900mhz and also GTR IC....


vDIMM 1.93 (set) / vNB 1.48V (set) / normal memory size / no copy waza




@ci2kla

thanks ci2kla, same sort of Read and Latency as ragheb got - but doesn't really seem worth the extra volts over 563FSB/5:8.
tested 563fsb/tRD8 with (2x1) cellshock and vNB is 1.48V (set) for 50xIBT and 4hours Orthos custom 4096k (cstkl1's test)

higher clocks coming soon

[ci2kla]

up and running with corsair now - and some gentle testing. first did some quick tests in 86+ at 450fsb/1:2,
and went in low @ 1.90V (set) for rated clocks/timings - turned out to need 1.92V so not bad at all

on 0403 BIOS

900mhz / 7-7-7-20 (subs Auto) @ min 1.92V (set): 3 x 86+ pass ok

900mhz / 7-6-5-15 (subs Auto) @ min 1.92V (set): 3 x 86+ pass ok

900mhz / 7-6-5-15 (tRFC 60) @ min 1.93V (set): 3 x 86+ pass ok

enough testing to confirm 32M stable volts for 900mhz and also GTR IC....


vDIMM 1.93 (set) / vNB 1.48V (set) / normal memory size / no copy waza




@ci2kla

thanks ci2kla, same sort of Read and Latency as ragheb got - but doesn't really seem worth the extra volts over 563FSB/5:8.
tested 563fsb/tRD8 with (2x1) cellshock and vNB is 1.48V (set) for 50xIBT and 4hours Orthos custom 4096k (cstkl1's test)

higher clocks coming soon

Good results cheapseats!
I'm currently trying to lower the vDIMM and vNB and keep 600FSB stable.
Will post more later when I've got more results
(Will try tweaking Clock Twister as well)

[ragheb]

Sorry guys didn't get back to you ealier. My web access is playing up.
Great results cheapseats and now that you're on the corsairs we can exchange results..
Can you explain a bit the bios settings for 333 strap on a 5:8 ratio? Does it mean I select RAM FSB at 1800 roughly?

[ragheb]

Just to show you my latest attempts which admittedly are not 100% stable.
Anyone can figure out what must I do to stabilise the system with volts & mem settings. I am happy with this so long as I get stability.
Sorry the pictures doesn't show it but i am running at CR1..Well actually it is in the Lavalys window.
Cheers...

[cheapseats]

ragheb, not quite sure what you mean about 5:8 divider, but the easiest thing if you want, is to try my settings
for 563/5:8 from scratch, but use your own vcore, and find minimum working vDIMM using memtest86+ before windows.
it'll be quite easy to work up from this point to 600FSB only need to change vNB and vDIMM as you go up..

these are the settings for the 32M i posted @ 563x8 with corsair:
note - only stress tested with my previous cellshock D9JNL @ 7-7-7-14 and x7 cpu multi


(BIOS 0403 / 2x1GB / E8600)

AI OVERCLOCK TUNER =========================MANUAL
OC FROM CPU LEVEL ==========================AUTO
OC FROM MEMORY LEVEL UP ====================AUTO
FSB FREQUENCY ==============================563
CPU RATIO SETTING ==========================08

CPU CLOCK SKEW =============================AUTO
NB CLOCK SKEW ==============================AUTO
FSB STRAP TO NORTH BRIDGE ==================333
PCIE FREQUENCY =============================101
DRAM FREQUENCY =============================1803
DRAM COMAND RATE ===========================1N
DRAM TIMING CONTROL ========================MANUAL
CAS LATENCY ================================7
RAS TO CAS DELAY ===========================6
RAS PRE TIME ===============================5
RAS ACT TIME ===============================15
RAS TO RAS DELAY ===========================AUTO
REF CYCLE TIME =============================60
WRITE RECOVERY TIME ========================AUTO
READ TO PRE TIME ===========================AUTO
READ TO WRITE DELAY S/D ====================AUTO
WRITE TO READ DELAY S ======================AUTO
WRITE TO READ DELAY D ======================AUTO
READ TO READ DELAY S =======================AUTO
READ TO READ DELAY D =======================AUTO
WRITE TO WRITE DELAY S =====================AUTO
WRITE TO WRITE DELAY D =====================AUTO
WRITE TO PRE DELAY =========================AUTO
READ TO PRE DELAY ==========================AUTO
PRE TO PRE DELAY ===========================AUTO
ALL PRE TO ACT DELAY =======================AUTO
ALL PRE TO REF DELAY =======================AUTO
DRAM STATIC READ CONTROL ===================AUTO
DRAM DYNAMIC WRITE CONTROL =================AUTO

DRAM SKEW CONTROL
DRAM CMD SKEW ON CHANNEL A = AUTO
DRAM CLK SKEW ON DIMM A1 = AUTO
DRAM CLK SKEW ON DIMM A2 = AUTO
DRAM CTL SKEW ON DIMM A1 = AUTO
DRAM CTL SKEW ON DIMM A2 = AUTO

DRAM CMD SKEW ON CHANNEL B = AUTO
DRAM CLK SKEW ON DIMM B1 = AUTO
DRAM CLK SKEW ON DIMM B2 = AUTO
DRAM CTL SKEW ON DIMM B1 = AUTO
DRAM CTL SKEW ON DIMM B2 = AUTO


AI CLOCK TWISTER ===========================MODERATE
AI TRANSACTION BOOSTER =====================MANUAL
PERFORMANCE LEVEL ==========================08

PULL-IN OF CHA PH1 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHA PH2 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHA PH3 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHA PH4 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHA PH5 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH1 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH2 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH3 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH4 =========================DISABLED
PULL-IN OF CHB PH5 =========================DISABLED

EPU II PHASE CONTROL =======================AUTO
CPU VOLTAGE ================================1.3750V
LOAD-LINE CALIBRATION ======================ENABLED
CPU PLL VOLTAGE  ===========================1.55V
FSB TERMINATION VOLTAGE  ===================1.259V
CPU GTLVREF 0 ============================== +40
CPU GTLVREF 1 ==============================AUTO
CPU GTLVREF 2 ==============================AUTO
CPU GTLVREF 3 ==============================AUTO
NB GTLVREF =================================AUTO
NORTH BRIDGE VOLTAGE =======================1.48V
DRAM VOLTAGE ===============================1.93V
NB DDRVREF =================================AUTO
DDR3 CHANNEL A VREF ========================AUTO
DDR3 CHANNEL B VREF ========================AUTO
SOUTH BRIDGE 1.5 VOLTAGE ===================1.55V
SOUTH BRIDGE 1.05 VOLTAGE ==================1.07V
CPU SPREAD SPRECTRUM =======================DISABLED
PCIE SPREAD SPECTRUM =======================DISABLED

here's where i got to so far for clocks and timings with some 'higher' vDIMM and 1.60V vNB (set)

595x7.5 / 5:8 / no maxmem or copy waza

[ci2kla]

Man....I was unable to boot to Windows @600 FSB using CT Moderate...
Ram @7-6-5-18 1T 1800Mhz @1.97v tRD 8...

[emvella]

While you guys are having good fun playing around with core 2 duos here are some settings which I finally managed for Q9550 (C1) and the G. Skills 2x2GB:

1. 450 x 8.5 @ 1800 8-8-8-20 PL7

2. 475 x 8.5 @ 1584 7-7-7-18 PL7

I have the old Q9550 (C1) and it requires quite high voltages to run at high fsb's. Anyone with the newer (EO) cpu should achieve the above scores with much lower Vcore and Vtt.

Both cases ran 20 IBT max stress and 9 hr+ Prime Blend stable.
The higher fsb one should only be tried on water cooled systems as core temp peaked to 86C during IBT max stressing.

[emvella]

Oh btw the 450 x 8.5 was tested on both 0501 and 1003 bios.
The 475 x 8.5 tested only on 0501. will check whether it works on 1003 when I have time.