X48 Rampage Formula Preview.

[Zucker2k]

There's only one doubt to be removed; supercool your cpu/nb and see if you still fail linx, then you'd be able to tell if it's heat/voltage or a timing issue. Linx will stress your (total) system more than MCI memtest ever could. As you can see from the ss you provided, your cpu isn't working as hard. With linx all your components are operating at full power, even the integrity of your power supply comes into play.

[Alien Grey]

There's only one doubt to be removed; supercool your cpu/nb and see if you still fail linx, then you'd be able to tell if it's heat/voltage or a timing issue. Linx will stress your (total) system more than MCI memtest ever could. As you can see from the ss you provided, your cpu isn't working as hard. With linx all your components are operating at full power, even the integrity of your power supply comes into play.

Yes I know that MemTest isn't stressing the CPU to hard. It's just to know that the memory is really stable in our OS. The problems starts when you stress the CPU really hard. That makes me think that the delay between the CPU and the NB isn't good. With the 100ps delay difference it could be to much or to little.

Without a delay between the CPU and the NB it isn't possible to run with DDR 1239MHz. You will end up with a system crash. With a delay of only 100ps on the CPU and normal on the NB we have the same problem that it's to much or to little when we are using DDR 1239MHz.
It is also possible that it isn't the delay difference that creates instabilitys but that the time of the CPU and NB Clock Skew delays is to late or to early for DDR 1239MHz.

This is something that ASUS should try out to see what's happening when they do some corrections on the CPU and NB clock Skew. This is the only thing that I can think of that makes it fail.

[RedBull1985]

Am facing a strange problem after upgrading to BIOS 0902.Once an OC fails, one of the Hard Disks(a WD 500gb one, which is just a dump disk) disappears and the CMOS Date/Time gets reset with the OC settings also getting cleared.I have to manually disconnect and reconnect the SATA cable to have the HDD detected again.

[Alien Grey]

Am facing a strange problem after upgrading to BIOS 0902.Once an OC fails, one of the Hard Disks(a WD 500gb one, which is just a dump disk) disappears and the CMOS Date/Time gets reset with the OC settings also getting cleared.I have to manually disconnect and reconnect the SATA cable to have the HDD detected again.

Did you do a Clear CMOS after flashing your board?

[Roger_D25]

In regards to the flash process guys, how do you usually do it? I don't know if this is correct or not but this is what I've been doing,

1. Go into BIOS and set everything to default after clearing the CMOS (so that there are no stability issues while flashing).
2. With new BIOS on thumb drive I enter the flash utility via BIOS.
3. Load new BIOS file and allow computer to restart.
4. After the computer starts I let it go through the bootup process and manually shut it down before Windows starts to load.
5. After the computer shuts down I pull the power plug and hit the power button a few times.
6. I manually clear CMOS.
7. Reboot computer, go into BIOS, load default settings, and reboot.
8. Only now do I go back into BIOS and manually change to the settings I want.

Granted everyone does their own thing when it comes to flashing the BIOS but does my process seem alright to you guys? Have I missed any important steps or taken steps I shouldn't have? Thanks very much for the help!

[Alien Grey]

In regards to the flash process guys, how do you usually do it? I don't know if this is correct or not but this is what I've been doing,

1. Go into BIOS and set everything to default after clearing the CMOS (so that there are no stability issues while flashing).
2. With new BIOS on thumb drive I enter the flash utility via BIOS.
3. Load new BIOS file and allow computer to restart.
4. After the computer starts I let it go through the bootup process and manually shut it down before Windows starts to load.
5. After the computer shuts down I pull the power plug and hit the power button a few times.
6. I manually clear CMOS.
7. Reboot computer, go into BIOS, load default settings, and reboot.
8. Only now do I go back into BIOS and manually change to the settings I want.

Granted everyone does their own thing when it comes to flashing the BIOS but does my process seem alright to you guys? Have I missed any important steps or taken steps I shouldn't have? Thanks very much for the help!

No, it's good.

I don't do a Clear CMOS before the flash I only load setup defaults.
After flashing the board I enter BIOS setup and load setup defaults again.
I let it post and shutdown my computer with the power switch on my PSU to do a Clear CMOS.
I enter BIOS Setup again and put al my settings back.
I never load old OverClock Profiles from the previous BIOS.

[Roger_D25]

Great, thanks for posting how you do it A-Grey! I forgot to add it but I also never load old "Overclock" profiles from a previous BIOS even though some say it works just fine (its a good way to have problems in my opinion)!

[greg.m]

A-Grey your errorfree memtest is @ 1240mhz or 1117? If its @ 1240 is that with settings you gave me?

[Alien Grey]

A-Grey your errorfree memtest is @ 1240mhz or 1117? If its @ 1240 is that with settings you gave me?

It's with DDR 1239MHz and with the settings I posted for you. I can probably lower the NB Voltage a bit and still stay stable. I should try it again with 1.37 or 1.39V but it isn't really important because it isn't the Memory or the NB that creates the random instabilities.

[RedBull1985]

Did you do a Clear CMOS after flashing your board?

yep indeed.Loaded Setup defaults, rebooted to Windows, shut down and hit the CMOS reset button in the mobo, reboot and then flashed.

But whats most strange abt the problem now is that its the same HDD that gets undetected each time the CMOS gets reset.All the other HDDs are fine and when i clear CMOS, it gets detected again and works perfect until the next hang when the HDD again disappears and CMOS settings get cleared.

I even tried changing the SATA cable, the power connector to the HDD but to no avail.If its int he 4th SATA port, it gives

"4th SATA HDD error
Press F1 to resume" message in POST.If its int he 3rd SATA port, message becomes

"3rd SATA HDD error
Press F1 to resume"

Sometimes, there will be a " CMOS Date/Time not set" message along with the above one too...


Am absolutely frustrated with this error.Any help wud be highly appreciated.

PS: Checked the HDD with HDTune thoroughly for any sorta errors and it just is as good as day 1 when it is getting detected.

[neo_rtr]

nob question, in Prime Small FTT i have BSOD due to the 4th core is left behind about 1-2 cycles.
Any pointers? pls

[mikeyakame]

There's only one doubt to be removed; supercool your cpu/nb and see if you still fail linx, then you'd be able to tell if it's heat/voltage or a timing issue. Linx will stress your (total) system more than MCI memtest ever could. As you can see from the ss you provided, your cpu isn't working as hard. With linx all your components are operating at full power, even the integrity of your power supply comes into play.

It's like talking to a brick wall

Linpack calculation errors like in his pic are more than likely CPU GTL1/2 or NB GTL related, I've told him this too. Since CPU GTL1/2 can't be adjusted seperate of CPU GTL0/3, he is screwed basically so he needs to back off settings till its stable.

CPU GTL1/2 wants to be high, CPU GTL0/3 wants to be low, you can't dial both in low and expect stability, only other alternative is raising Vtt and balancing it out.

I can replicate those type of Linpack errors on my DFI board simply by changing GTLs by as little as 0.0008v sometimes, and this means one of two things. First most likely my Vtt needs some minor adjustment, or second I've found where the max or min threshold for logic receiver GTL sampling lies.

You can't test GTLs with a tight PL as well, need to be done with at least PL-2 lower than aimed. That way takes strain off MCH, and if Vnb was too low it won't trash your results. CPU multi should be dropped as well by 1 or 2x. To give a frequency that'll work on VID for testing.

A-Grey, your Vtt is too low to use 0.63x CPU0/1/2/3. I use the following at 425fsb on my Q9550, 3.61ghz, PL7.

Vcc = 1.21v, Vtt = 1.19v, Vnb = 1.39v, CPU GTL1/2 = 101 (~0.6665x), CPU GTL0/3 = 87 (~0.648x), NB GTL = 81 (~0.662x). On top of these i use MCH Vref1-3 and MCH Slew Rate Offset which are MCH registers for compensating insufficient circuit resistance. Basically they give additional resistor impedance adjustment within a limited range, for circuit level slew rate/voltage crossing point correction, when at higher FSB both voltage noise and clock jitter/shifting/skewing gradually get worse and require compensation at logic receiver to bring them back within limits.

[Alien Grey]

yep indeed.Loaded Setup defaults, rebooted to Windows, shut down and hit the CMOS reset button in the mobo, reboot and then flashed.

But whats most strange abt the problem now is that its the same HDD that gets undetected each time the CMOS gets reset.All the other HDDs are fine and when i clear CMOS, it gets detected again and works perfect until the next hang when the HDD again disappears and CMOS settings get cleared.

I even tried changing the SATA cable, the power connector to the HDD but to no avail.If its int he 4th SATA port, it gives

"4th SATA HDD error
Press F1 to resume" message in POST.If its int he 3rd SATA port, message becomes

"3rd SATA HDD error
Press F1 to resume"

Sometimes, there will be a " CMOS Date/Time not set" message along with the above one too...


Am absolutely frustrated with this error.Any help wud be highly appreciated.

PS: Checked the HDD with HDTune thoroughly for any sorta errors and it just is as good as day 1 when it is getting detected.

Try to flash it again but this time only load setup defaults before and after you flashed the board. After you flashed the board and loaded setup defaults, let it post and shutdown your computer with disconnecting the power from the PSU with the power switch or removing the power cable. Do a Clear CMOS with the power still disconnected. Don't load old OverClock Profiles.

If want to do a Clear CMOS before flashing the board you still have to load setup defaults before flashing it.

[kuebk]

nob question, in Prime Small FTT i have BSOD due to the 4th core is left behind about 1-2 cycles.
Any pointers? pls

Here: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=3184 you can read about core throttling.

[neo_rtr]

Here: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=3184 you can read about core throttling.

Great Thanks for that.

Just flashed back to 803. SO HAPPY. Works like a charm! testing already but no sign of any problems what to ever..

[Alien Grey]

It's like talking to a brick wall

Linpack calculation errors like in his pic are more than likely CPU GTL1/2 or NB GTL related, I've told him this too. Since CPU GTL1/2 can't be adjusted seperate of CPU GTL0/3, he is screwed basically so he needs to back off settings till its stable.

CPU GTL1/2 wants to be high, CPU GTL0/3 wants to be low, you can't dial both in low and expect stability, only other alternative is raising Vtt and balancing it out.

I can replicate those type of Linpack errors on my DFI board simply by changing GTLs by as little as 0.0008v sometimes, and this means one of two things. First most likely my Vtt needs some minor adjustment, or second I've found where the max or min threshold for logic receiver GTL sampling lies.

You can't test GTLs with a tight PL as well, need to be done with at least PL-2 lower than aimed. That way takes strain off MCH, and if Vnb was too low it won't trash your results. CPU multi should be dropped as well by 1 or 2x. To give a frequency that'll work on VID for testing.

That's why I use FSB 465MHz. The CPU and NB GTL Voltage reference and the FSB Termination Voltage are exactly the same as the one I used before with my 8 X 465MHz DDR 1117MHz and tRD 7 setup that was 100% stable.

I tried different CPU and NB GTL Voltage Reference settings and different FSB Termination Voltage. This isn't the problem it only gets worse and I fail Prime95 immediatly.

With the settings I posted I can run hours stable in Prime95 or fail it in a few minutes. I can run a few passes stable in Linx or already fail the second pass like in that screenshot.

There are 4 guys among us that are running with this memory and nobody can run it stable with DDR speeds higher than 1200MHz.

If there is one brick wall you can talk to it's the one called ASUS.

[kuebk]

It's like talking to a brick wall

Linpack calculation errors like in his pic are more than likely CPU GTL1/2 or NB GTL related, I've told him this too. Since CPU GTL1/2 can't be adjusted seperate of CPU GTL0/3, he is screwed basically so he needs to back off settings till its stable.

CPU GTL1/2 wants to be high, CPU GTL0/3 wants to be low, you can't dial both in low and expect stability, only other alternative is raising Vtt and balancing it out.

I can replicate those type of Linpack errors on my DFI board simply by changing GTLs by as little as 0.0008v sometimes, and this means one of two things. First most likely my Vtt needs some minor adjustment, or second I've found where the max or min threshold for logic receiver GTL sampling lies.

You can't test GTLs with a tight PL as well, need to be done with at least PL-2 lower than aimed. That way takes strain off MCH, and if Vnb was too low it won't trash your results. CPU multi should be dropped as well by 1 or 2x. To give a frequency that'll work on VID for testing.

That's exacly what I meant before, quads with high clock + mem with high clock + low performance level probably will no go.

[mikeyakame]

That's exacly what I meant before, quads with high clock + mem with high clock + low performance level probably will no go.

Definitely mate.

On my previous RF i ran a Q6600 G0. It walled at 481mhz FSB, I ran that every day...but I only ran on 7x multi so 3.36ghz, PL7, and 1158mhz ddr freq. Board threw fits if i tried 8x and 481. It didn't like it period.

[Armored_Kech1]

I have an E8400 from a rather poor batch (3.6GHz @ 1.22v yet anything higher like 3.8GHz or 4GHz requires huge doses of voltage) and am still using bios 308. Is there any risk from using bios 308 since it maxes out tREF? System is stable but I'm convinced that a tREF of 16383 on DDR2 800 is somehow going to cause problems for me in the future. Will my stubborn C0 E8400 failbatch benefit from flashing to the newer bios versions?

[kuebk]

I have an E8400 from a rather poor batch (3.6GHz @ 1.22v yet anything higher like 3.8GHz or 4GHz requires huge doses of voltage) and am still using bios 308. Is there any risk from using bios 308 since it maxes out tREF? System is stable but I'm convinced that a tREF of 16383 on DDR2 800 is somehow going to cause problems for me in the future. Will my stubborn C0 E8400 failbatch benefit from flashing to the newer bios versions?

You can always adjust tREF using MemSet, and imo upgrading to 803 is a good option.

[Alien Grey]

That's exacly what I meant before, quads with high clock + mem with high clock + low performance level probably will no go.

There is one among us with a C2D and he has the same problem.

Ooh... If this is the problem ASUS would have told me that.
I tell you ASUS is trying to fix this problem but doesn't really know how to. BIOS 0902 should have been released a few weeks ago but they didn't because the problem isn't fixed. They only released it because of the fan mail that they received lately.

[kuebk]

There is one among us with a C2D and he has the same problem.

With 2x2 or 2x1?

[Alien Grey]

With 2x2 or 2x1?

With the G.SKILL F2-9600CL5D-4GBPI of course.

[greg.m]

Il run some tests and ill be back... asta la vista...

[Fritz_the_germ]

Yoh guys,
I am the one with the C2D having the same problems. I am not able to run my system (prime or LinX) stable using a higher freq, than 1,200 Mhz memory speed.
So I tried to talk to the ASUS brick wall in this way:

I have some serious problems running my memory more than 1,200 MHz.
The board is running excellent with 9 X 450MHz, memory speed at 1199MHz and tRD 6. Every time I try to increase the speed and I run my Memory above DDR 1,200 Mhz, the board starts randomly failing. No matter what I do. No setting in the BIOS that I've got available can help me to stabilize the board.

For example:

I tried to run it at 9 X 465MHz, memory at DDR 1239MHz and tRD 6.

The memory is MemTest86+ V2.11 stable at DDR 1239MHz tRD 6 and my CPU is
stable at 4.185 GHz. I know that because I tested my CPU at that speed with a different strap and my memory running at DDR 1117MHz and tRD 7.
With the memory at DDR 1239MHz I can run Prime95 Blend Mode but it will randomly fail. This can be in small FFT's or in Large FFT's. It can be stable for a few hours or it can fail in a few minutes.
I can run IntelBurnTest or Linx for a few passes stable before it randomly starts failing.

I tried DDR 1239MHz and tRD 7 with no Phase Pull-Ins enabled but I still can't get it 100% stable.

It's strange that I've got to delay DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B with 50ps while Channel A is on Normal with the Memory running at 1199MHz and tRD 6 to be able to run IntelBurnTest or Linx for a few passes stable.
I don't have to delay Channel B with 50ps when I'm using tRD7.

Many friends of mine are having these random stability
problems too when they are trying to run the memory faster than DDR 1200MHz and I am (or better we are) blaming the BIOS for those random failures. Because of the fact that the Intel X48 Chipset is designed to run at DDR 1600MHz.

Is there a memory limitation on this board of 1200MHz or is that just coincidence?

I find this very strange because in the QVL I can find X 1 Giga Corsair 1250MHz 5-5-5-15 that seems to be compatible with the ASUS Rampage Formula.


ASUS replied and feeds me some sweet talking bulls***:
"Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is Lyn and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.

We cannot assure you can run the RAMs over its rated frequency(1200MHz).
There is no such limitation for the memory frequency on this motherboard. But to overclock, you need to try it yourself.
In fact, even DDR2 1200 is O.C. speed. The motherboard supports 4 x DIMM, Max. 8 GB, DDR2 1200*/1066/800/667 ECC,Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory.

Welcome to refer Troubleshooting & FAQ for ASUS products in ASUS website:
http://support.asus.com/troubleshoot...Language=en-us
http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

If having any problems, please don't hesitate to let me know. Let's discuss this
issue together.
Thank you for using ASUS products and enjoying ASUS services!

Lyn"

I will reply in a harder way. But what do you guys think about that? Isn´t it a shame to react like that?