X48 Rampage Formula Preview.

[Roger_D25]

Thanks again Ghostleader, I didn't realize that the SLI String Installer was so user friendly! Nice results BTW!

[Ghostleader]

Here´s some more with Stalker Clear Sky

Rampage Formula / Q9650@3,0GHz / 2x2 OCZ Blade LV PC-9600@1066 555 15

Single


SLI

[Alien Grey]

@Ghostleader

You just turned your X48 into an X58. I see in your pictures that CPU-Z thinks that too.

Nice results with your GTX 9800 SLI setup.

[leo27]

great results Ghostleader

off topic here but is there any difference between the memory slots, i.e. are the white slots better to use or the blue ones.

[kuebk]

No, there is no difference.

[Earzz]

Ok guys im kinda stuck atm, got my systems 8 hours OCCT stable and 25 passes Linx stable but i cant get any higher.
Here are some details with the system stable.

Ai Overclock Tuner [Manual]
CPU Ratio Setting [AUTO]
FSB Strap to North Bridge [333Mhz]
FSB Frequency [435MHz]
PCIE Frequency [100MHz]


DRAM Frequency [1045MHz]
DRAM Command Rate [AUTO]
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A/B [AUTO]
DRAM TimingControl [Auto]

DRAM Static Read Control [Auto]
Ai Clock Twister [Auto]
Ai Transaction Booster [Auto]

CPU Voltage [1.32500V]
CPU PLL Voltage [1.56V]
North Bridge Voltage [1.43V]
DRAM Voltage [2.10V]
FSB Termination Voltage [1.20V]
South Bridge Voltage [1.075V]
SB 1.5V Voltage [1.50V]
Loadline Calibration [Enabled]
CPU GTL Voltage Reference [0.63X]
NB GTL Voltage Reference [0.67X]
DRAM Controller Voltage REF [Auto]
DRAM Channel A/B Voltage REF [Auto]


CPU Spread Spectrum [Disabled]
PCIE Spread Spectrum [Disabled]
CPU Clock Skew [Delay 200ps]
NB Clock Skew [Delay 100ps]

CPU Ratio Setting [AUTO]
C1E Support [Disabled]
CPU TM Function [Enabled]
Vanderpool Technology [Disabled]
Execute Disable Bit [Disabled]
Max CPUID Value Limit [Disabled]

So i bumped up my fsb towards 440 and tryed raising the VCore, FSB VTT and NB Voltage with decent voltages but all without results.
Am i missing something in my bios settings or am i just doin something wrong?

[Ghostleader]

Thanks again Ghostleader, I didn't realize that the SLI String Installer was so user friendly! Nice results BTW!

@Ghostleader

You just turned your X48 into an X58. I see in your pictures that CPU-Z thinks that too.

Nice results with your GTX 9800 SLI setup.

great results Ghostleader

off topic here but is there any difference between the memory slots, i.e. are the white slots better to use or the blue ones.

Thank you guys

Someone else want to try, a free harddisk, Windows 7 RC 64-bit and two Nvidia VGA card is what you need.



Here´s some more Crysis bench

Rampage Formula / Q9650@4,05GHz / 2x2 OCZ Blade PC-9600@1200 555 15 Strong tRD6

Single


SLI



and here´s some 3DMark06

Single


SLI

[Alien Grey]

Someone else want to try, a free harddisk, Windows 7 RC 64-bit and two Nvidia VGA card is what you need.

I would like to try but I've got some problems.

I've got a free harddisk.

I don't have 2 Nvidia cards that are the same. This can be solved. My wife's brother and his friends should have some cards that are the same.

I don't have a SLI bridge and I can't use the second PCIE slot because of the Thermalright HR-05 IFX cooler on the SB.

It doesn't matter that I can't try it because tomorrow I'm going to have my EVGA GTX 285 Hydro Copper and my FSP Booster X3 to play with.

[Roger_D25]

Ghostleader - More impressive results, thanks for taking the time to share your results with us it is greatly appreciated!

A-Grey - If you get a chance give us an update once you get the GTX285 and FSP Booster up and running, I am quite interested in how it works for you (should make a big difference in the graphics department)! By the way I've got a few SLI bridges (3-way version, a couple fixed length bridges, and a couple flexiable bridges), let me know if you want one (I'll give it to you for free so you could test SLI)!

[alexlyc]

How did you do it Ghostleader?? I want to try SLI 9800GX2+9800GTX on mine.

[3lfk1ng]

Whoa.. my thread is still going strong.

[Roger_D25]

It is indeed going strong almost 6 months later!

alexlyc - Go back and check post #3046 on page 122, Ghostleader posted a linky to the information he used to modify his board to run SLI. Its seems fairly straight forward for the most part and there is no soldering involved! Keep us posted if you end up trying this, I'm curious how you make out with it.

[3lfk1ng]

It is indeed going strong almost 6 months later!

18months (Started in March 2008) haha.

Sad to say I am selling my setup to a fellow forum member later today. It's time for me to save up for a new rig.
This motherboard treated me really well though.

[Earzz]

Still no suggestions for my problems?

[Roger_D25]

Opps, after a quick look at the date in your first post I must have just assumed it was March of 2009! I got this motherboard much later than most of you guys did, like you however I'm getting ready to make the switch to X58 and DDR3 (are you also planning to make the switch to X58 or P55, or something completly different)?

Earzz - Sorry to have missed your above post, after taking another look I noticed I couldn't figure out what RAM timings and sub-timings your using (if their all set to "AUTO" than that might be a good place to start)? Then again the Rampage Formula seems to default to fairly loose "AUTO" timings and sub-timings so maybe its just fine at "AUTO". If you get a chance could you post your main DRAM settings (sorry if you have posted them earlier in the thread, if so could you post a quick linky to them or let me know the Post #)?

[Earzz]

Here are the settings, timings look loose indeed.
I left them in auto because i wanted to work on that later.



Thanks.

[Alien Grey]

A-Grey - If you get a chance give us an update once you get the GTX285 and FSP Booster up and running, I am quite interested in how it works for you (should make a big difference in the graphics department)! By the way I've got a few SLI bridges (3-way version, a couple fixed length bridges, and a couple flexiable bridges), let me know if you want one (I'll give it to you for free so you could test SLI)!

Here's an update.

The EVGA GTX 285 Hydro Copper that they send to me is a complete different graphics card than the one that you can find on EVGA's website.

The cooler is competely different and to my surprise the card was also wet. There was some kind of liquid stuff on the top plate of the card.



The 1/2" fittings aren't included in the box. I can't connect it to my watercooling setup without them.



There is no way you can run these cards in SLI because the top plate blocks the opening for the fittings. You can only connect the tubes from your watercooling on the bottom side. This isn't possible for me they should be connected on the top side.



The opening for the waterflow is to small and there's also little pieces of plastic blocking the already to small openings.



What's going on with EVGA?

I have to pay 500+ Euro for that graphics card and they give me something that I wouldn't like to buy for half the money.

I've got some pictures. I'll add them later because if you didn't see it you can't believe it.

I didn't try the FSP Booster X3 yet. I'm pissed and was to busy to start the RMA procedure.

[Alien Grey]

Here are the settings, timings look loose indeed.
I left them in auto because i wanted to work on that later.



Thanks.

You have to up the FSB Termination Voltage. Sometimes more than you think you would need.

With my Q9450 at 8 X 450MHz I needed 1.14V and for 8 X 465MHz, a CPU speed increase of 120MHz, I needed 1.22V.

Also lock your CPU GTL Voltage Reference to 0.63X and your NB GTL Voltage Reference to 0.67X if you didn't do that already.

[Roger_D25]

A-Grey - Wow that totally sucks man, it must be so disappointing (there is nothing worse than anticipating new hardware only to have it be the wrong part or completely different than what you thought it would be)! Its very rare that I've had any major issues with eVGA hardware and certainly nothing like your experiencing. Thankfully they have amazing customer service so at the very least the RMA procedure should go smoothly and quickly (then again you may be RMA'ing with the retailer you bought the stuff from instead of eVGA directly)? I'll be looking forward to pictures of this monstrosity, lol!

Earzz - If you get a chance could you post a screen-shot of Everest with the "Motherboard/Chipset" page open (this page will show a more detailed list of your RAM/NB settings)? In your earlier post above you mentioned that you tried increasing your CPU, FSB Vtt, and NB voltages after increasing your FSB but that it didn't help. I'm not sure how much you increased those voltages but on my board I needed more NB voltage than A-Grey did to get my system stable at 450Mhz x 9.0x (I needed to set the NB BIOS voltage to 1.55v where A-Grey needed far less)? Then again he has probably tuned his system better (or simply has a better chip than me) than I have and therefore needs less voltage to be stable at a given overclock (finesse over just cranking the voltages up until things get stable), lol!

[Alien Grey]

A-Grey - Wow that totally sucks man, it must be so disappointing (there is nothing worse than anticipating new hardware only to have it be the wrong part or completely different than what you thought it would be)! Its very rare that I've had any major issues with eVGA hardware and certainly nothing like your experiencing. Thankfully they have amazing customer service so at the very least the RMA procedure should go smoothly and quickly (then again you may be RMA'ing with the retailer you bought the stuff from instead of eVGA directly)? I'll be looking forward to pictures of this monstrosity, lol!

I've Added the pictures. You need one of these cards to completely blow up your rig.

It's going back to my retailer.

[Roger_D25]

Thats crazy man, it looks to me that some type of fluid leaked out of the block during transport and leaked onto the back of the card? Does it look like any fluid leaked onto the actual PCB, or was it only on the backplate? It was difficult to see from the pictures you posted but what exactly is blocking the inlet/outlet holes, you mentioned pieces of plastic inside? All of these things are bad enough (and I'd RMA the card for any one of them let alone all of them together) but I'm most surprised about the SLI issue? I wonder what Quality Inspector at eVGA let that card pass through testing (the darn block is clearly blocking both the outlet and inlet! With this all said A-Grey did you purchase this card brand new in a sealed package or was it a used card (given what you paid for it I imagine it was brand new)? If it was a sealed package than the issue most likey lies with eVGA, if it was used than the retailer is most likely to blame? If eVGA is to blame I'd pass it off as a one-time mistake and I'm sure they will take care of the problem with no issues for you (then again I'm not sure how eVGA handles their European product warranty issues, it might be far more involved than it is here in the States)? Please keep us posted if you would regarding this!

[Alien Grey]

It's brand new. It came in a sealed package. There is only EVGA to blame for this.

The fluid is all over the graphics card. The inlet and outlet are both to small and the little pieces of plastic block the waterflow. This is probably the reason why the card is wet. You would have to remove the cover from the cooler to drain all the fluid.

If this is the best they can give me I just want my money back.

[leo27]

@A-Grey
That totally sucks A-Grey i haven't head of that happening before and wouldn't expect this of evga. If you would like to try another brand i have had nothing but success with bfg and they have water cooled models as well.

After i tweaked my memory timings (Settings on page 121) i have had two system stops. The system just locks up and i have to hard reset. Now it obviously is the memory however the settings i posted where 11 passes HCI memtest stable and 50 passes linX stable. I have stopped using memtest to adjust the tWTR and the tREF and the system has been fine.

Why wasn't this instability picked up in testing i was sure the testing was adequate??

[Roger_D25]

I wonder A-Grey if it would be a better idea (in regards to both cost and performance) to just buy a regular air-cooled card along with a separate waterblock (from EK, Danger Den, etc...)? I imagine that you would get far better performance with one of these blocks instead of the far cheaper blocks that come installed on factory watercooled cards? These companies are trying to make money so I assume they use a separate block than ones you can purchase separately through retail channels? Keep in mind this is just my opinion and I could be wrong but I've always opted to purchased my GFX blocks separatly (and its usually cheaper as well)? Please let me know if I'm wrong, it was tough to see from the posted pictures above if that block is one that you could purchase separatly?

[Alien Grey]

@A-Grey
That totally sucks A-Grey i haven't head of that happening before and wouldn't expect this of evga. If you would like to try another brand i have had nothing but success with bfg and they have water cooled models as well.

After i tweaked my memory timings (Settings on page 121) i have had two system stops. The system just locks up and i have to hard reset. Now it obviously is the memory however the settings i posted where 11 passes HCI memtest stable and 50 passes linX stable. I have stopped using memtest to adjust the tWTR and the tREF and the system has been fine.

Why wasn't this instability picked up in testing i was sure the testing was adequate??

My first choice was a BFG GTX 285 H2O but they aren't available in Belgium. The only European country that sells them is the UK.

I wonder A-Grey if it would be a better idea (in regards to both cost and performance) to just buy a regular air-cooled card along with a separate waterblock (from EK, Danger Den, etc...)? I imagine that you would get far better performance with one of these blocks instead of the far cheaper blocks that come installed on factory watercooled cards? These companies are trying to make money so I assume they use a separate block than ones you can purchase separately through retail channels? Keep in mind this is just my opinion and I could be wrong but I've always opted to purchased my GFX blocks separatly (and its usually cheaper as well)? Please let me know if I'm wrong, it was tough to see from the posted pictures above if that block is one that you could purchase separatly?

The problem is that there are different revisions available for the GTX 285 so you can't know what cooler is going to fit your card or you have to buy the card first and then look for a cooler.

This is also going to void the warranty and clever as they are EVGA puts a sticker on one of the screws on the top plate so they always know when you removed it to put a different cooler on it.

I've got my FSP Booster X3 up and running. My graphics card only needs one six pin power connector so it only uses one rail.

The fan doesn't make much noise. I can't hear it with all my other fans running but that could change when I also need the second six pin power connector and need more watts.