ASUS Maximus II Formula - new P45 king?

[kamieldehond]

Increasing the TRFC memory timing is supposed to help a lot with 4 sticks, have you tried vaues over 50?

tried it and it worked a little. got further trough memtest v2.11 but it craps out at test 5: random moves.

only running my d9gmh at 2.1 volts as im a little scared to destroy them (as i did with my previous pair of d9gmh at only 2.2 volts ) but i do have a memory cooler installed so that will help

[In-Fluence]

It now transpires that going back to the 1307 bios has made this board behave how I believe it should! I've no idea why, but my Quad and reapers seem to prefer this one to 1901 & 2104. I've now got it prime blending for more than an hour at 410x9 with the same CPU VTT and RAM voltages I had on the P5B, (1.45/1.2/2.1) and with some half-decent memory speeds too. I'm getting hangs as I would have expected with given voltages & speeds and everything is making a lot more sense to me now. Once the skews and GTLs are tuned I hope to drop some temps & raise the FSB a little - damn this hot weather though, it's really holding me back at the moment!

For the record, an afterthought occurred about the whole matter with possible bad bios flashes from USB as a result of having my printer plugged in at the same time (which wasn't when I flashed to 1307). This may have caused an issue which I intend to investigate further as in my hastiness it never really crossed my mind. If it turns out that this was the cause and the newer bios behaves in the same way as 1307 does now, I'll stick with 2104 as I got less hangs on reboot. (I'll also feel a bit stupid too)

What kind of NB voltages are you running Kamieldehond? Perhaps fill out an entire setings template with the most stable ones you got so far....

[humeyboy]

I seriously doubt having any other USB devices plugged in and powered up will cause any issues flashing the Bios.

1307 is said to be better, some claim its the best, 1901 is said to be good and the 2 newer ones (1 was pulled) are said to be crap.

[In-Fluence]

That's exactly what I thought, but I'm wondering what might actually be the issue. I've left 2104 priming on the same settings as I did with 1307, and it had done 10 mins before I left it. When I return from work, I shall see if this may have affected it, but I would expect to be returning to a restarted/hung computer. If not then perhaps I could be right as I've done nothing different other than that.

I booted from the USB stick as well as flashed from it, and the printer is one of those lexmark all in one scanner/copier things (which I hate, but it was free), and it uses a weird driver. It wouldn't suprise me if it used some kind of sub-standard hardware that could possibly interfere with it, but then again, I could have just had a few unlucky flashes!

[Grnfinger]

I seriously doubt having any other USB devices plugged in and powered up will cause any issues flashing the Bios.

1307 is said to be better, some claim its the best, 1901 is said to be good and the 2 newer ones (1 was pulled) are said to be crap.

What bios are you running?
I have 1802 on bios 1 and 1901 on bios 2 I may revert back to 1307 to test some ram clocks...seems on 1901 my 8800's wont clock as high

[kamieldehond]

Ai Overclock Tuner: Manual
OC From CPU Level Up: auto
Ratio CMOS Setting: 9.5
FSB Frequency: 450
CPU Clock Skew: Auto
NB Clock Skew: Auto
FSB Strap to North Bridge: auto
DRAM Frequency: 1128mhz

DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A1: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A2: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B1: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B2: Auto
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
1st Info: 5-5-5-15
2nd Info: Auto
3rd Info: Auto



DRAM Static Read Control: Auto
DRAM Read Training: Auto
MEM. OC Charger: Auto
Ai Clock Twister: Auto
Ai Transaction Booster : Auto


PCIE Frequency : 100

CPU Voltage: 1.375
CPU PLL Voltage:1.553
FSB Termination Voltage:1.24575
DRAM Voltage: 2.10475
North Bridge Voltage:1.32525
South Bridge 1.5 Voltage: Auto
South Bridge 1.1 Voltage: Auto

CPU GTL Reference (0): Auto
CPU GTL Reference (1): -40mv
CPU GTL Reference (2): Auto
CPU GTL Reference (3): -40mv
NB GTL Reference: -60mv
DDR2 ChA Reference Voltage: Auto
DDR2 ChB Reference Voltage: Auto
North Bridge DDR Reference: Auto

Load-Line Calibratie: Enabled
both Spread Spectrum Disabled

but ill probably will sell the board as i have a week spot for DFI and will buy a UT P45-T2RS as they are pretty cheap new

[humeyboy]

What bios are you running?
I have 1802 on bios 1 and 1901 on bios 2 I may revert back to 1307 to test some ram clocks...seems on 1901 my 8800's wont clock as high

2104

[In-Fluence]

Hello again - Here's my suggestion going by my limited experience of this board -

Ai Overclock Tuner: Manual
OC From CPU Level Up: auto
Ratio CMOS Setting: 9.5
FSB Frequency: 450
CPU Clock Skew: Auto
NB Clock Skew: Auto
FSB Strap to North Bridge: auto
DRAM Frequency: 1128mhz

DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A1: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A2: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B1: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B2: Auto
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
1st Info: 5-5-5-15 - Fill out the rest rather than leaving on auto and set TRFC to 55 or maybe a lot more
2nd Info: Auto
3rd Info: Auto (and the same for these two)


Most of the following settings are pretty important in order to rule out memory issues:
DRAM Static Read Control: Disable
DRAM Read Training: Disable
MEM. OC Charger: Enable
Ai Clock Twister: Moderate
Ai Transaction Booster : Manual
Performance level: 10 (maybe 11 or more too)

PCIE Frequency : 100

CPU Voltage: 1.375
CPU PLL Voltage:1.553
FSB Termination Voltage:1.24575
DRAM Voltage: 2.10475 - [try 2.11 too, this should be ok for 24/7]
North Bridge Voltage:1.32525 - Perhaps nudge this up to 1.35-1.45
South Bridge 1.5 Voltage: Auto
South Bridge 1.1 Voltage: Auto

CPU GTL Reference (0): Auto
CPU GTL Reference (1): -40mv
CPU GTL Reference (2): Auto
CPU GTL Reference (3): -40mv
NB GTL Reference: -60mv
DDR2 ChA Reference Voltage: Auto
DDR2 ChB Reference Voltage: Auto Test these as a pair & see if values between +/- 25 help
North Bridge DDR Reference: Auto Test this too but with +/-50 as your limit

Load-Line Calibratie: Enabled
both Spread Spectrum Disabled

As you can probably tell, I'm making rapid progress with this board now, and hope to have some half decent, fully stable settings soon

[Kayso]

Latest bios:

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9
FSB Frequency : 475
CPU Clock Skew : Auto
North Bridge Clock Skew : Auto
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1141
Dram Clock Skew CH1 A1 : Auto
DRAM Clock Skew CH1 A2 : Auto
Dram Clock Skew CH1 B1 : Auto
Dram Clock Skew CH1 B2 : Auto

DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 15
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 3
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 55
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

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: Enabled
Dram Read Training : Enabled
MEM OC Charger : Disabled
Ai Clock Twister : Stronger
Transaction Booster : Manual

Common Performance Level [8]

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

PCIE Frequency : 101

CPU Voltage : 1.4375
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.55
FSBT : 1.325
DRAM Voltage : 1.96
North Bridge Voltage : 1.45
South Bridge Voltage 1.5 : 1.55
South Bridge Voltage 1.1 : 1.15

CPU GTL Reference 0 : Auto
CPU GTL Reference 1 : Auto
CPU GTL Reference 2 : Auto
CPU GTL Reference 3 : Auto
North Bridge GTL Reference : +60mv
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
North Bridge DDR Reference : AUTO

Load Line Calabration : Enabled
CPU Sread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled


Those are mine 24/7 settings for now. Anything above 475 FSB fails Prime, no matter on what voltages or GTL's neither Skew's... And it is not my CPU, because I have the same problems on 6*480 as an example, on 960 Mhz memory. So it is the motherboard or NB.
But I'm happy with those 475 after all

[kamieldehond]

ok played around with the bord and the memory a little

Ai Overclock Tuner: Manual
OC From CPU Level Up: auto
Ratio CMOS Setting: 9.5
FSB Frequency: 450
CPU Clock Skew: Auto
NB Clock Skew: Auto
FSB Strap to North Bridge: Auto
DRAM Frequency: 1200mhz

DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A1: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A2: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B1: Auto
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B2: Auto
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
1st Info: 5-5-5-18-5-60-5-3
2nd Info: 8-3-5-4-6-4-7
3rd Info: 13-5-1-5-5



DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
DRAM Read Training: Disabled
MEM. OC Charger: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister: Moderate

Preformance lvl: 10


PCIE Frequency : 100

CPU Voltage: 1.375
CPU PLL Voltage:1.553
FSB Termination Voltage:1.24575
DRAM Voltage: 2.21075
North Bridge Voltage:1.40475
South Bridge 1.5 Voltage: Auto
South Bridge 1.1 Voltage: Auto

CPU GTL Reference (0): Auto
CPU GTL Reference (1): -40mv
CPU GTL Reference (2): Auto
CPU GTL Reference (3): -40mv
NB GTL Reference: -60mv
DDR2 ChA Reference Voltage: Auto
DDR2 ChB Reference Voltage: Auto
North Bridge DDR Reference: Auto

Load-Line Calibratie: Enabled
both Spread Spectrum Disabled

This passes memtest running 4xd9gmh

I must admit i like the board

[Grnfinger]

Those are mine 24/7 settings for now. Anything above 475 FSB fails Prime, no matter on what voltages or GTL's neither Skew's... And it is not my CPU, because I have the same problems on 6*480 as an example, on 960 Mhz memory. So it is the motherboard or NB.
But I'm happy with those 475 after all

are you running GSkill ram still? your sig list GSkill thats why I ask...if you are running GSkill what version and kit?

[Kayso]

I don't know what version, but my memory model is [PI] F2-8800CL5D-4GBPI: http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=165

Why are you asking

[Grnfinger]

I have the same kit and they used to run 1145/1150MHz now they seem to top out at 1130MHz wondering if its the bios 1901 I'm on

[LennyRhys]

I've been priming at 4GHz, 1.21625v in BIOS, and after 30mins the PC just restarts. I'm amazed the CPU is stable at 1.216v under load, but something is making it give up...

I'm using BIOS 907... haven't flashed since I got the board but I will if there is a better BIOS. What's the best BIOS for Q9650, in people's experience?

[Grnfinger]

I've been priming at 4GHz, 1.21625v in BIOS, and after 30mins the PC just restarts. I'm amazed the CPU is stable at 1.216v under load, but something is making it give up...

I'm using BIOS 907... haven't flashed since I got the board but I will if there is a better BIOS. What's the best BIOS for Q9650, in people's experience?

ewww 907 was a dog get off that bios...1307 1802 and 1901 were very good, I have not tested anything recent
If prime is restarting I would bump your vCore up a few notches, I need 1.325 for 4.2GHz

[Badmuts]

Hi Guys,

I've some problem with my board (I think) Now I'm DICE benching with my Maximus II Forumla and QX6700 the Vcore voltage won't boot above 1.7000v (BIOS) but anything below works perfect. (like 1.69v)

Sorry for my bad English but I hope you understand and you can help me.

[Grnfinger]

What bios version?

[Badmuts]

Just updated to 2104 and still the same problem (Updated from: 1901)

[LennyRhys]

ewww 907 was a dog get off that bios...1307 1802 and 1901 were very good, I have not tested anything recent
If prime is restarting I would bump your vCore up a few notches, I need 1.325 for 4.2GHz

Yeah I worried that's what it was... bumped vcore from 1.225 to 1.2375 in BIOS, reads 1.240 in CPU-Z under load, blend stable for 1 hour so it's definitely an improvement.

I'll flash to a newer BIOS and see if I get any improvement.

[Kayso]

I have the same kit and they used to run 1145/1150MHz now they seem to top out at 1130MHz wondering if its the bios 1901 I'm on

Mine is almost the same. 1145-1150 are maximum. But memory is not the problem. With GSkill 1200 mhz I have the same issues. Over 475 Fsb - impossible to make it stable, no matter voltages and skew's... LOLL I boot in windows at 500 FSB, I can make screens, do some benching, but when I start Prime Blend... errors on the same second.

[LennyRhys]

Something I forgot to mention - since replacing the motherboard TIM with my own Zalman STG1 paste, the NB and SB temps have dropped by about 10C.

[Stormad]

Hi guys, i've finally been accepted in your forum so now I can thank you all for your generous contributions in my overclocking adventure with the MaxFormII, especially the simps guide to finetune all the settings and it also took me a better processor for getting higher clocks because my first processor was a E8400 C0 and the max stable was 3880Mhz even at 1.47V. And with my new E8500 E0 I'm running 4302Mhz 24/7 at 1.38V it will even go 4555Mhz at around 1.42V. But I'm very happy with the 4302Mhz. I'll try to post a screen of everest too.

[In-Fluence]

Grrrr! I'm getting really frustrated with this board now. Seems it was prime blending for 6 1/2 hours last night, but woke up to it restarted again. There was more than enough Vcore for 456x8 (1.4625), northbridge at 1.4, vtt at 1.32 (have tried higher but seems to fail quicker), and PLL at 1.59.. Ram was well within limits, and my CPU GTLs are tuned. CPU temps were 30° idle and 65° load and it happily blended at the same volts and higher temps on the p5b-dlx (which has no GTL tuning).... This was with 2104 so I think I'm gonna try moving back to 1901 or 1307. Other than that - any hints?

That's a nice o/c you got there Stormad - I'm might borrow an E8500 this weekend which I got to 548 FSB stable on my P5b - if the board doesnt handle that too well either I'm gonna be very dissappointed and might even move back to my P5b dlx!

[WhiteFireDragon]

Something I forgot to mention - since replacing the motherboard TIM with my own Zalman STG1 paste, the NB and SB temps have dropped by about 10C.

that's quite a nice drop in temps just for TIM replacement. what were your temps now? and do you think you can do a quick screen shot of showing all the PC probe values?

Hi guys, i've finally been accepted in your forum so now I can thank you all for your generous contributions in my overclocking adventure with the MaxFormII, especially the simps guide to finetune all the settings and it also took me a better processor for getting higher clocks because my first processor was a E8400 C0 and the max stable was 3880Mhz even at 1.47V. And with my new E8500 E0 I'm running 4302Mhz 24/7 at 1.38V it will even go 4555Mhz at around 1.42V. But I'm very happy with the 4302Mhz. I'll try to post a screen of everest too.

glad the tuning gave you some pretty nice improvements . most important for dual cores is nb gtl and cpu/nb skews. i only found that the cpu gtl mattered for quads, and did nothing for dual cores

[LennyRhys]

I'm currently trying to get 478FSB stable, using the 7.5 multi for now (3585 mhz). Will be working on it for a while I think...