Asus Striker II Extreme: Corruption/Freezes Troubleshooting Thread

[Cibic]

PSU ( Power Supply Unit ) = Corsair HX1000 ( 1000W )
CPU = Intel QX9650
RAM = OCZ DDR3-16000 Platinum Edition 4GB Kit ( OCZ3P20004GK )
HDD = Western Digital Raptor ( 300GB x2 Raid 0)
VGA1 = PNY GeForce 280GTX 1GB
VGA2 = none
VGA3 = none
SPU ( Sound Card ) = AuzenTech Auzen X-Fi Prelude
NorthBridge Cooling = Bitpower water block
SouthBridge Cooling = Bitpower water block
CPU Cooling = custom water cooled with Swiftech water block
RAM Cooling = OCZ Memory Cooler
nFORCE Chipset Drivers Version = nVIDIA nFORCE Drivers v15.23
ForceWare/GeForce Drivers Version = nVIDIA ForceWare v177.83
Sound Card Drivers Version = X-Fi Prelude RC7
BIOS version 0901

BIOS Settings
Extreme Tweaker
CPU Level Up = Auto
Memory Level Up = Auto
AI Overclock Tuner = Manual
CPU Multiplier = 9.0
FSB - Memory Clock Mode = Linked
FSB - Memory Ratio = Synch
FSB (QDR) MHz = 1800
MEM (DDR) MHz = 1800
LDT Frequency = 5x
PCIE Bus Slot 1 & 2 MHz = 125 There's a minor performance gain but so not worth it, will need more NB,SB voltage thus gets your mainboard hot.
PCIE Bus Slot 3 MHz = 100
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, MHz = 200
SLI-Ready Memory = Disabled

Memory Timing Setting
P1 = Disabled
P2 = Disabled

I have the same ram at 1800MHz also. This option is vicious, at 1800MHz of ram you might have corruptions which windows corrects for you. The erros are detectable in memtest86+ (10+ loops), note that it needs more vNB rather than vDimm.

tCL ( CAS Latency ) = 8
tRCD = 8
tRP = 8
tRAS = 28
Command Per Clock (CMD) = 2T
tRRD = Auto
tRC = 46
tWR = Auto
tWTR = Auto
tFAW = Auto
tRD = Auto
tRTP = Auto
tRFC = 102
tREF = 7.8us

I know these settings are quite relaxed for your taste (from what I can tell) but if you want 100% stability, the settings above are tested for 22 loops memtest86+ and 24h prime95 blend. Been playing lots of games, much encoding for a month now and no corruptions whatsoever.

Over Voltage
CPU Voltage = 1.36250V (actual 1.41)
Loadline Calibration = Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage = 1.60V
CPU VTT voltage =1.4V
Memory Voltage = 1.88 averaging actual should be 1.9
NB Core Voltage = 1.56 with 1800FSB
SB Core Voltage = You can safely run this at 1.5v if you revert PCIE Bus Slots to 100, SPP<->MCP Ref Clock to 200. Note that I am running raid 0 stripe at 1800FSB and I don't need more than that.
CPU GTL REF0 Ratio = -36mv
CPU GTL REF1 Ratio = -40mv
CPU GTL REF2 Ratio = -40mv
CPU GTL REF3 Ratio = -36mv

I'm curious, do you get load drop while 100% load on prime95 blend with these cpu gtl refs?

NB GTL REF Ratio = auto
DDR3 CHA1 Ref Volt = DDR3_REF
DDR3 CHB1 Ref Volt = DDR3_REF
DDR3 CHA2 Ref Volt = DDR3_REF
DDR3 CHB2 Ref Volt = DDR3_REF

You don't have to change these, but auto stands for that.

CPU Configuration
CPU Internal Thermal Control = Enabled
Limit CPUID MaxVal = Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E) = Disabled
Execute Disable Bit = Enabled
Virtualization Technology = Disabled
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(tm) Tech. = Disabled
CPU Core 2 = Enabled
CPU Core 3 = Enabled
CPU Core 4 = 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

If your cpu temps are fine then you can run 2000FSB with ram at 9-9-9-30-2T, tRC 50, tRFC 110 and voltage at 1.9,1.92 (actual 1.92,1.95), vNB 1.6 (actual 1.62)

Other than that, you can say hello to utmost stability.

[neo mike]

Your on the max vtt 1.4 anymore you risk frying you cpu, and why do u disable p1 p2 that totally kills the performance, bandwidth.

Do you really need a 50 trc for 2000, im running a 40 trc, at 2040mgz linked n synced, no p1 p2 high trc, kiss performance goodbye, just my opinion. I can pass memtest 1000 times with trc of 40, p1 p2 enabled, no data corruption at all.

[Cibic]

Your on the max vtt 1.4 anymore you risk frying you cpu, and why do u disable p1 p2 that totally kills the performance, bandwidth.

Do you really need a 50 trc for 2000, im running a 40 trc, at 2040mgz linked n synced, no p1 p2 high trc, kiss performance goodbye, just my opinion. I can pass memtest 1000 times with trc of 40, p1 p2 enabled, no data corruption at all.

VTT can go higher without any issues, oc 45nm cpus quite some times. Overclocked a qx9650 with 1.44vCore and VTT, lapped at 4.5GHz and he's been running it for a year now, no issues, yet.

Yeah but you are running 2x1GB dimms, 2x2GB is another story. More density = much harder to stable. Besides, i would say quality weights to crucial compared to ocz, they clock a bit better.
These timings are loosened for 2GB (2x1GB) I know. But trust me they are ok for 4GB. P1 and P2 disabled for the same reason, though if I had 2x1GB dimms I would enable them, tight timigs more along with 1T command rate.

[neo mike]

Just from what i have read higher than 1.4 vtt not good. Plenty of people with this board with 4 gigs of ram linked n synced with p1 p2 enabled, check your everest bandwidth with p1 p2 on auto, no bandwidth at all, have to have p1 p2 enabled. Yes 4 gigs 2x2 is harder, guys here have 8 gigs linked n synced at 1800mgz with p1 p2 enabled, so no problem to do.

[Cibic]

Just from what i have read higher than 1.4 vtt not good. Plenty of people with this board with 4 gigs of ram linked n synced with p1 p2 enabled, check your everest bandwidth with p1 p2 on auto, no bandwidth at all, have to have p1 p2 enabled. Yes 4 gigs 2x2 is harder, guys here have 8 gigs linked n synced at 1800mgz with p1 p2 enabled, so no problem to do.

With proper cooling I might add. I must agree you get performance but does it worth corruption?

I can run 2080MHz with 9-9-9-30-2T tRC: 50, tRFC: 110 with 1.95v auto P1 & P2. I even get corruption at 1600 MHz with P1 and P2. Once a week I got game crash, or corrupted file on a flash memory etc. Small things, nothing major but still unstable in my opinion.

You see, those settings I gave that guy is for him only, he can follow them or ignore them. I know this, they should be disabled while overclocking, once you find a stable clock you can enable them unless corruption is present.

[neo mike]

Ok, i never get corruption, data corruption only comes from trying to overclock your memory to far, i have no corruption at all, i can run 2090mgz 8-7-6-21 1t, with 0 corruption. To me you have to enable p1 p2, you just lose way to much performance when is on auto, your a smart guy, im sure you can get p1 p2 to work, your the only one i know having corruption, and what bios you running ?

[Cibic]

1104, you really think its because of the bios?

[neo mike]

well not sure, but i went from 1104 to 1202, not sure if thats it, but you could try 1202.

[Cibic]

I'm quite hesitant to update to beta bios, I struggled to get as I am now. Did you use adwflash, or ezflash?

[ozgunkara]

Hi cibic
i tried to increase memory voltage and i am stable with prime95 and memtest when i set 1.76 memory and everything on auto at stock 10x multiplier. However when i try to set 1333 fsb with 8x i can't get stable. Maybe it's the CPU's problem, that it doesn't overclock but windows doesn't seem to freezze anymore when i am at stock settings. I ordered the OCZ3N1800SR4GK RAM i mentioned, i will get them in 3-5 days. i want to use 1600 fsb. Which CPU would you recommend for 1600 fsb and do you think it would be possible to use the new RAM with my current Q6700?

[neo mike]

i used ezflash, who said its a beta bios ? its not even on asus website, i like 1202.

[Cibic]

Precisely its not on their website. Tried enabling them anyway, now I get failing cores everytime on cores 2 and 4 at 49 minutes with 1.58 to 1.64vNB and adequate vDimm that can run 2080 MHz (1.95v), since system passed 24h blend the only change I did is P1 and P2, motherboard liquid cooled, NB at 55 degrees Celsius on load (1.64v), Corsair dominator on top of ram. Proves once more that they are unstable with my system, anyhow got a list of settings I tried before and these are marked as a failure. But I pass if I disable 2 cores

One important thing I forgot to mention, OCZ forums say that its because of quad core systems; they tend to strain the system more.

Do you get undetectable ram on CAS 9 when you link and sync your ram, or is it just 1104?

[neo mike]

1202 runs fine in everyway, no issues that i can see. Well your first problem is your using OCZ memory, it has know issues with all 790i boards. Your stable, but enable p1 p2 and fail on certain cores, then its your OCZ bro, read the early part of striker thread, read the evga forums, OCZ major known issues with 790i, i wouldnt run it on this board. Trigger just got his overclock stable 4.0 ghz q9650, 8 gigs of ram 1800mgz linked n synced stable, but its patriot memory, with p1 p2 enabled.

[Cibic]

There was an issue with OCZ and s2e but with earlier bios. I believe it was fixed, I was surfing OCZ's forums and people managed P1 and P2 with dual cores. I just might try bios 1202 but the problem is I haven't got a floppy drive or a floppy. The thing is I used to have OCZ DDR3 1600 but turned out they were defective so I RMA'ed them then exchanged them with OCZ DDR3 2000 with 50 pounds more. I thought of getting crucial or patriot but the difference was quite bigger so I skipped.

[neo mike]

You can flash the bios on a usb flash driver also, i dont use floppys.

[Cibic]

Ok, I'll do it then and I will post my results

[ozgunkara]

Hi cibic
i tried to increase memory voltage and i am stable with prime95 and memtest when i set 1.76 memory and everything on auto at stock 10x multiplier. However when i try to set 1333 fsb with 8x i can't get stable. Maybe it's the CPU's problem, that it doesn't overclock but windows doesn't seem to freezze anymore when i am at stock settings. I ordered the OCZ3N1800SR4GK RAM i mentioned, i will get them in 3-5 days. i want to use 1600 fsb. Which CPU would you recommend for 1600 fsb and do you think it would be possible to use the new RAM with my current Q6700?

[Cibic]

Of course mate, OCZ DDR3-1800 will do 1600 with tight timings at stock voltage. If you have proper cooling on cpu and fan flow on top of ram you should be okay. I can help you even with your new ram. Now, you need to decide what cpu speed you want to achieve, with 1600 FSB and 10x multi results to 4GHz, 9x 3.6GHz and 8x 3.2GHz. But from what I understand your CPU doesn't like 8x isn't that right? My cpu goes up to 9x but hates 7x.

[Cibic]

neo mike bios 1202 rock. P1 & P2 Enabled, 8-8-8-28-2T, tRC:38, tWR:10, tRFC: 80, 1900MHz at just 1.94v and stable; I've seen a kick in performance too.
ozgunkara with your new OCZ memory it might be best to flash your board to version 1202.

[owcraftsman]

Precisely its not on their website. Tried enabling them anyway, now I get failing cores everytime on cores 2 and 4 at 49 minutes with 1.58 to 1.64vNB and adequate vDimm that can run 2080 MHz (1.95v), since system passed 24h blend the only change I did is P1 and P2, motherboard liquid cooled, NB at 55 degrees Celsius on load (1.64v), Corsair dominator on top of ram. Proves once more that they are unstable with my system, anyhow got a list of settings I tried before and these are marked as a failure. But I pass if I disable 2 cores

One important thing I forgot to mention, OCZ forums say that its because of quad core systems; they tend to strain the system more.

Do you get undetectable ram on CAS 9 when you link and sync your ram, or is it just 1104?

First it took 1202 for me to get QX9650 stable and I might add proper GTLREF voltage adjustments.
If core 1 and 3 ("cores 2 and 4") are failing at 49 min it could be heat related though.
IF not heat you may need to dial in a better GTLREF voltage not sure where you are at in this regard but the rule is if Core 0 or 1 fail increase GTLREF lanes 0 and 2 or if cores 2 or 3 fail raise GTLREF lanes 1 and 3 seeing your issue I'd say all your GTLREF voltages are set wrong. You need to find the high and the low that it will boot to then average them rounding up for a starting point for testing without changing your NB voltage if you change your NB voltages so changes your GTLREF voltage adjustment. So you'll need to test with a static NB voltage and resist bumping it + or - until you find the right GTL setting.

[Cibic]

First it took 1202 for me to get QX9650 stable and I might add proper GTLREF voltage adjustments.
If core 1 and 3 ("cores 2 and 4") are failing at 49 min it could be heat related though.
IF not heat you may need to dial in a better GTLREF voltage not sure where you are at in this regard but the rule is if Core 0 or 1 fail increase GTLREF lanes 0 and 2 or if cores 2 or 3 fail raise GTLREF lanes 1 and 3 seeing your issue I'd say all your GTLREF voltages are set wrong. You need to find the high and the low that it will boot to then average them rounding up for a starting point for testing without changing your NB voltage if you change your NB voltages so changes your GTLREF voltage adjustment. So you'll need to test with a static NB voltage and resist bumping it + or - until you find the right GTL setting.

Good luck tweaking your gtl refs.
My cpu gtl ref's are fine. From 1.36 to 1.6 VTT it should be +56 +52 +52 +56 for 65nm with this board. They don't work the way you say nor you "find" them, its more like calculate and round them, as simple as that.

On my case though, after upgrading to bios 1202, all I needed was more vNB (1.62v) to run 1900FSB then I passed the 4 hour barrier. After I tighten the timings abit and got failing core again, increased vDimm and tested for 12h, guess what, rock solid stable without even touching gtl refs. With my system, if anything is unstable it crashes/core fails within 49 minutes to 1 hour and 10 mins.

[Cibic]

... i can run 2090mgz 8-7-6-21 1t, with 0 corruption. To me you have to enable p1 p2, you just lose way to much performance when is on auto ...

I was wondering, what does everest memory benchmark report on yours? I am curious, well more like comparative if that's alright with you.

[neo mike]

You mean the score at 2090mgz ? i get 13,750.

[ozgunkara]

hi cibic
i got the ocz RAM i mentioned and everything is running on stock settings right now. which settings would you recommend for RAM and CPU for 1600 mhz fsb? I updated the list for you. I look forward for your help.
P.S. i also want to ask if the cooling would be a problem. i used to water cool my ram,cpu,nb, hard discs. Right now i water cool cpu,nb,hard discs. I left the original heatsinks on the RAM for cooling. Do you think that my ram would overheat as i use them at 1600mhz?

PSU ( Power Supply Unit ) = Hiper 780watt
CPU =intel Q6700
RAM = 2x 2gb OCZ Sli Ready 1800mhz RAM
HDD ( the one where you have your windows installation on ) = 2x Samsung hd250hj 250gb
VGA1 = Zotac GTX 285
VGA2 ( if you have ) = none
VGA3 ( if you have ) = none
SPU ( Sound Card ) = none
NorthBridge Cooling = stock, water
SouthBridge Cooling = stock
CPU Cooling = koolance cpu-340 water
RAM Cooling = none
nFORCE Chipset Drivers Version = 15.23
ForceWare/GeForce Drivers Version = 182.04
Sound Card Drivers Version = none
BIOS version 1202 REQUIRED 1202

BIOS Settings
Extreme Tweaker
CPU Level Up = Auto
Memory Level Up = Auto
AI Overclock Tuner = auto
CPU Multiplier = 10.0
FSB - Memory Clock Mode = auto
FSB - Memory Ratio = auto
FSB (QDR) MHz = 1066.7
MEM (DDR) MHz = 1777.8
LDT Frequency = 5x
PCIE Bus Slot 1 & 2 MHz = 100
PCIE Bus Slot 3 MHz = 100
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, MHz = auto
SLI-Ready Memory = CpuOC 0%

Memory Timing Setting
P1 = auto
P2 = auto
tCL ( CAS Latency ) = auto 8
tRCD = auto 8
tRP = auto 8
tRAS = auto 27
Command Per Clock (CMD) = auto 2T
tRRD = auto 7
tRC = auto 32
tWR = auto 12
tWTR = auto 19
tFAW = auto 33
tRD = auto 10
tRTP = auto 7
tRFC = auto 98
tREF = auto 7.8uS

Over Voltage
CPU Voltage = auto 1.31
Loadline Calibration = disabled
CPU PLL Voltage = auto 1.52
CPU VTT Voltage = auto 1.23
Memory Voltage = auto 1.88
NB Core Voltage = auto 1.45
SB Core Voltage = auto 1.48
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 = auto
Limit CPUID MaxVal = Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E) = Enabled
Execute Disable Bit = Enabled
Virtualization Technology = Enabled
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(tm) Tech. = Enabled
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

[Cibic]

PSU ( Power Supply Unit ) = Hiper 780watt
CPU = Intel Q6700
RAM = 2x 2gb OCZ Sli Ready 1800mhz RAM
HDD = 2x Samsung hd250hj 250gb
VGA1 = Zotac GTX 285
SPU ( Sound Card ) = none
NorthBridge Cooling = stock, water
SouthBridge Cooling = stock
CPU Cooling = koolance cpu-340 water
RAM Cooling = none
nFORCE Chipset Drivers Version = 15.23
ForceWare/GeForce Drivers Version = 182.04
Sound Card Drivers Version = none
BIOS version 1202 REQUIRED 1202

BIOS Settings
Extreme Tweaker
CPU Level Up = Auto
Memory Level Up = Auto
AI Overclock Tuner = Manual
CPU Multiplier = 9
FSB - Memory Clock Mode = Linked
FSB - Memory Ratio = Sync Mode
FSB (QDR) MHz = 1600
MEM (DDR) MHz = 1600
LDT Frequency = 5x
PCIE Bus Slot 1 & 2 MHz = 100
PCIE Bus Slot 3 MHz = 100
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, MHz = 200
SLI-Ready Memory = Disabled

Memory Timing Setting
P1 = Enabled
P2 = Enabled
tCL ( CAS Latency ) = 7
tRCD = 7
tRP = 7
tRAS = 24
Command Per Clock (CMD) = 2T
tRRD = auto
tRC = auto
tWR = auto
tWTR = auto
tFAW = auto
tRD = auto
tRTP = auto
tRFC = auto
tREF = auto

Over Voltage
CPU Voltage = Actual 1.42 (in hardware monitor)
Loadline Calibration = Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage = 1.54
CPU VTT Voltage = 1.4
Memory Voltage = 1.88
NB Core Voltage = 1.48
SB Core Voltage = 1.5
CPU GTL REF0 Ratio = +56
CPU GTL REF1 Ratio = +52
CPU GTL REF2 Ratio = +52
CPU GTL REF3 Ratio = +56
NB GTL REF Ratio = auto
DDR3 CHA1 Ref Volt = DDR3_REF
DDR3 CHB1 Ref Volt = DDR3_REF
DDR3 CHA2 Ref Volt = DDR3_REF
DDR3 CHB2 Ref Volt = DDR3_REF

CPU Configuration
CPU Internal Thermal Control = auto
Limit CPUID MaxVal = Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E) = Disabled
Execute Disable Bit = Enabled
Virtualization Technology = Enabled
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(tm) Tech. = Disabled
CPU Core 2 = Enabled
CPU Core 3 = Enabled
CPU Core 4 = 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

The ram will be fine, but if you decide to overclock it some airflow would do the trick. I have some settings in mind that require better ram cooling, you will still run it at 1800MHz but with tighter timings. With 1800FSB and 9x multi that means that your cpu will be running at 4GHz which will require 1.55v at least.
These settings are quite relaxed and should be stable. Make sure you pass at least 4h prime95 blend then post your results.

EDIT: Would really help if you told me your VID in coretemp, without running any other monitoring/overclocking programs in the background.