X48 Rampage Formula Preview.

[Alien Grey]

There is one thing that we know and that is that the Rampage Formula has no problems to run with 2 X 2 Giga DDR 1200MHz 5-5-5 timings so there's a good chance that they can run at that speed on the Rampage Formula.

[Fritz_the_germ]

@greg.m,
thank for posting your oc results. As I see do you have a Q9650 and a ATI 4820X2 video card.
Many friends of mine told me that the X48 chip plus a quad needs a hell of a lot voltage to the nb being prime95 or LinX 0.5.8 stable.
This "hell of a lot voltage" should be about 1.5v and more.
Would you say that´s true?
How much voltage did you take on the NB to get your oc stable?

[Ghostleader]

There is one thing that we know and that is that the Rampage Formula has no problems to run with 2 X 2 Giga DDR 1200MHz 5-5-5 timings so there's a good chance that they can run at that speed on the Rampage Formula.

I don´t doubt that the RF can handle the speed, more that can the RF run those IC at that speed (Elpida, Samsung, Micron ), probably no problem but you never know.

[Ghostleader]

@greg.m,
thank for posting your oc results. As I see do you have a Q9650 and a ATI 4820X2 video card.
Many friends of mine told me that the X48 chip plus a quad needs a hell of a lot voltage to the nb being prime95 or LinX 0.5.8 stable.
This "hell of a lot voltage" should be about 1.5v and more.
Would you say that´s true?
How much voltage did you take on the NB to get your oc stable?

Depends on how high FSB, high ram speed, low tRD (Performace Level) or aggresive AI Clock Twister you want to run.

If you don´t want to lose to much performance due to the above I would say yes you need more then 1,50v on that NB.


Here´s my Q9650@450 4,05GHz 4x2 ram@1080 555 15 tRD7 Strong with bios 0802.

It´s stable with 50 loop LinX (5+hrs, max problem size and max memory use).

It´s not an over the hill OC but it´s a decent 24/7 OC setup in my opinion but I needed 1,51v (in bios, 1,49v Everest read)

If you want to push for higher FSB, ram speed, lower tRD or more aggresive AI Clock Twister you need higher NB volt.

[Fritz_the_germ]

Thx for your reply Ghostleader,
I am planing to run 450 MHz fsb@600MHz ram speed and a PL of 6.
That means I should fire up 1.35v to the cpu and 1,51v to the nb.
Water cooling might reduce the electromigration too.
(I hope I translate this right; electromigration means that the electrons hit wholes through the tiny transistors so they won´t work anymore. Good cooling shloud prevent that {?})

[greg.m]

Thx for your reply Ghostleader,
I am planing to run 450 MHz fsb@600MHz ram speed and a PL of 6.
That means I should fire up 1.35v to the cpu and 1,51v to the nb.
Water cooling might reduce the electromigration too.
(I hope I translate this right; electromigration means that the electrons hit wholes through the tiny transistors so they won´t work anymore. Good cooling shloud prevent that {?})

Are you talking about e8500 or q9650? If i remember well i could run 450x9@1199 with very low voltage. nbv arround 1.25 and vcore 1.25 both real volts. Ican try once more and come back with the results.

Now i run 480x9@4320@1200pl7 with the volts you see on the screens. Cpu skew@200, nbskew@100. Its prime95small - blend and memtest stable but i havent tried linx and ibt.


and some benches AFTER i set everything in catalyst settings @ factory defaults settings - except clocks, 800-1000. If you go back to my previous screens youll see that i was about 2000 points worst @ vantage with the same cpu and fsb speed!!!

[greg.m]

Now i run 480x9@4320@1200pl7 with the volts you see on the screens. Cpu skew@200, nbskew@100. Its prime95small - blend and memtest stable but i havent tried linx and ibt.

I was wrong not prime95small ftp stable only blend 2 cycles error free

[Fritz_the_germ]

Yo greg.m,
I was talking about the q9650 that should run on my board in future.
My e8500 is running 450MHz@600MHz ram speed very fine right now so I am interessted if the q9650 will do the same job too

[kuebk]

Thx for your reply Ghostleader,
I am planing to run 450 MHz fsb@600MHz ram speed and a PL of 6.
That means I should fire up 1.35v to the cpu and 1,51v to the nb.
Water cooling might reduce the electromigration too.
(I hope I translate this right; electromigration means that the electrons hit wholes through the tiny transistors so they won´t work anymore. Good cooling shloud prevent that {?})

To run my ram stable @ 600mhz I need 1.45v on MCH.

[RedBull1985]

Is LinX 20 runs @ prob Size 20k a good enough stability test while still trying to achieve the lowest stable vCore?

[RedBull1985]

I have a query: I have seen 800Mhz ram kits hitting the same speeds as a 1000 or 1200 Mhz memories - say 9k-10k in Read/Write/Copy.So, why pay the extra premium for the faster rated rams if 800Mhz can do the job?

EDIT: Is there anything to consider between Residual and Residual(norm) values in LinX being close together or being far apart?

[kuebk]

Is LinX 20 runs @ prob Size 20k a good enough stability test while still trying to achieve the lowest stable vCore?

When I was o/cing my ram it used to fail around 40-50 loop, so imo 20 loops is not enough - I'm using 100 loops to test stability.

[RedBull1985]

When I was o/cing my ram it used to fail around 40-50 loop, so imo 20 loops is not enough - I'm using 100 loops to test stability.

All mem for 100 loops? thats gonna take an awful lotta time for quick testing.....I just wanna see how low vcore i can attain for the 490x 8.5 FSB and need some quick LinX settings to test stability for that.Once it starts failing these, i will up the vCore a notch and run extensive tests.

[Alien Grey]

When I was o/cing my ram it used to fail around 40-50 loop, so imo 20 loops is not enough - I'm using 100 loops to test stability.

For me 25 passes is enough than I move to Prime95 Blend for 6 hours.

[Alien Grey]

Is LinX 20 runs @ prob Size 20k a good enough stability test while still trying to achieve the lowest stable vCore?

To find your lowest stable vCore it's more than enough. When your one notch to low of vCore you'll fail LinX in a few passes

[Alien Grey]

I received some information today from the ASUS Engineer about our problems with BIOS 0902.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?...e=en-us&page=3

When you want to reply with something do it in that thread on the ASUS Rampage Formula forum to keep everything around BIOS 0902 and the problems/issues together.

It's easier for us and for the ASUS Tech Support that everything can be found in one thread.

[Fritz_the_germ]

Yoh guys,
I couldn´t get along with the reply that ASUS gave me about the random failiors overclocking my memory more than 1,200 MHz.
Here is the ASUS reply:
Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is XXX and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.
The motherboard supports DDR2 1200 RAMs under overclocking.
So, to make the RAMs work at 1200MHz or above, you may need to adjust the RAM voltage and timings. But we cannot provide you the settings. Meanwhile, we suggest you use the RAMs in our QVL list. They have been tested by our relative department.

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!


Here is my argument:
O.K. Thank you for your reply.
I regret that you missed the point again. I am overclocking computers for many years. So I don´t need any repetitional lessons how to ajust the RAM voltage, timings or anything else about this.
If you are not able to handle my detailed problem report why don´t you just send it to the department that has to do with bios programming?
There is no sens to ignore all these ASUS customers, except you want to get rid of them. Just read the following sites and realize the topic by yourself: http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?...Language=en-us

At last I want to please you in the name of all the customers: Send my mail including the link to the bios department of ASUS. We all hope the engineers will take notice of this problem to create a better bios.

With the best regards

Please tell me your opion about it

[Alien Grey]

Dont know what is going on. On a previous good and stable system after the move to 0902 then back to 0803 with the same settings iam having probs to get it stable.

Iam going up and down volts all over the place with no luck.
i will start taking down the OC to 3.4ghz now to see what happends

Since I flashed my BIOS to 0902 I have a similar issue. When I flash my board back to BIOS 0803 I can't get my system stable anymore with 8 X 465MHz and DDR 1117MHz.

If this is caused by the G.SKILL F2-9600CL5D-4GBPI memory.
Or is this because of the crappy BIOS 0902.

[neo_rtr]

Since I flashed my BIOS to 0902 I have a similar issue. When I flash my board back to BIOS 0803 I can't get my system stable anymore with 8 X 465MHz and DDR 1117MHz.

If this is caused by the G.SKILL F2-9600CL5D-4GBPI memory.
Or is this because of the crappy BIOS 0902.

I very sorry to hear that.

The Asus tech, probably 1st line support, will have to escalate to 3rd line or even better to programmers directly.

Escalate is the key word. IF they do not escalate it, there will not be a solution.

Most likekly will have to sent it to a TL (Team Leader) who will have to pass it on as DRQS is the term we use, (they might use a different one) to the programmers/Bios engineers

[greg.m]

The last few days im testing higher fsbs. Until now i see that running memory-fsb 10:8 its easy thats why im trying 490-495 fsb to see how it goes @ 1225 and 1235. I did 20 runs linx with these volts:



I couldnt do more than 4-5 passes with nbv@1.45 so i raised it@1.49 and it went well. Fritz i see that you have an E8500. Can you do 500fsb? If yes you should try running your mem. @ 1250 and see what happens.

[Fritz_the_germ]

Yoh greg,
Tank you for your post.
I think I can run fsb of 500 MHz. But how should I run a memory speed @1250?
Using a divider of 6:5 by running a fsb of 500 MHz I will receive a mem. speed of 1200 MHz and a PL of 7.
At last using a fsb@468 MHz and a divider of 4:3 I will be able to run 1250MHz mem. speed. But I am not having a fsb of 500 MHz though- maybe I ve got you wrong.

Anyway I never lose the PL running a high fsb out of sight:
[tRD-(tCL/N)]>[x/N]
N=Divider (strap)
X=2 @ fsb @400-465 MHz
X=2.75 @ fsb@465 MHz or greater

Edit: You mean the 10:8 divider, don´t you? Is it in the 333 or 400 strap?
Edit:Edit: I have got it. This divider is in the 266 strap

[Alien Grey]

It looks like ASUS didn't do their tests right. There are already 2 guys having problems with BIOS 0902 on the ASUS Rampage Formula forum.

I'm waiting for a new BIOS release that improves memory compatibility or whatever they're going to call it.

[greg.m]

Yoh greg,
Tank you for your post.
I think I can run fsb of 500 MHz. But how should I run a memory speed @1250?
Using a divider of 6:5 by running a fsb of 500 MHz I will receive a mem. speed of 1200 MHz and a PL of 7.
At last using a fsb@468 MHz and a divider of 4:3 I will be able to run 1250MHz mem. speed. But I am not having a fsb of 500 MHz though- maybe I ve got you wrong.

Anyway I never lose the PL running a high fsb out of sight:
[tRD-(tCL/N)]>[x/N]
N=Divider (strap)
X=2 @ fsb @400-465 MHz
X=2.75 @ fsb@465 MHz or greater

Edit: You mean the 10:8 divider, don´t you? Is it in the 333 or 400 strap?
Edit:Edit: I have got it. This divider is in the 266 strap

Yes youre right its 266 strap. For me its very very hard to do 500fsb. I have to go to crazy nbv and fsbv - i think. Now im trying 490 fsb but i have to stabilize my cpu first and then find out what happens with our memory

[Fritz_the_germ]

Yoh greg,
It´s the very same with my system. To get it startet I need to fire 1.55v to the nb and 1,38v to vttfsb. A lower nb voltage ends with DET|RAM
I can run 1250 MHz though but I doubt if it´s gonna be stable just because of the nb temp.
I´m afraid to mess up my nb for a 24/7 use.


P.S. I´ve sent you´r pm...? Thank you!

@Alien Grey,
I realy don´t know how I got this issue with my avatar picture straight

[Alien Grey]

Yes youre right its 266 strap. For me its very very hard to do 500fsb. I have to go to crazy nbv and fsbv - i think. Now im trying 490 fsb but i have to stabilize my cpu first and then find out what happens with our memory

FSB Strap 266MHz is to tight for FSB 500MHz that's why you need so much voltage on the NB and have difficulties to get it stable.