X48 Rampage Formula Preview.

[leo27]

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?

Actually BFG only uses danger dan water blocks.That's why i recommended them its a shame that you can't get them though A-grey.

[Roger_D25]

Good point regarding the issues surrounding getting a separate waterblock (instead of just buying card brand new with block installed). Just so you know I've only owned eVGA graphics cards over the last 4 years and I've installed waterblocks on most of them (despite the fact that they strategically place the serial number sticker over the heatsinks screws) and I've never had any issues regarding warranty even though I had installed after market heatsinks and waterblocks. Granted they probably handle it on a case by case basis but for the most part they allow aftermarket coolers as long as you keep the stock heatsink and re-install when RMA'ing. This is another reason why eVGA is always my first choice. With that all said glad to hear you got the FSP Booster X3 up and running, it should be a nice addition. So whats going on with the GTX285, have you tried to RMA or get a refund through retailer?

[Alien Grey]

Actually BFG only uses danger dan water blocks.That's why i recommended them its a shame that you can't get them though A-grey.

Good point regarding the issues surrounding getting a separate waterblock (instead of just buying card brand new with block installed). Just so you know I've only owned eVGA graphics cards over the last 4 years and I've installed waterblocks on most of them (despite the fact that they strategically place the serial number sticker over the heatsinks screws) and I've never had any issues regarding warranty even though I had installed after market heatsinks and waterblocks. Granted they probably handle it on a case by case basis but for the most part they allow aftermarket coolers as long as you keep the stock heatsink and re-install when RMA'ing. This is another reason why eVGA is always my first choice. With that all said glad to hear you got the FSP Booster X3 up and running, it should be a nice addition. So whats going on with the GTX285, have you tried to RMA or get a refund through retailer?

It's going back from where it came.

My retailer asked them why this isn't the same graphics card and cooler like the one on the EVGA website?

I have to wait till next week for an answer.

There is only 10mm X 2mm space for the fluid in the inlet and outlet and I bet that if you screw the fittings in the cooler that you don't have a 2mm opening anymore.

[leo27]

Can anyone explain the purpose of static read control, i've always had it enabled as it supposedly increases ram bandwidth but i have no clue what it does

I just found that asus has updated the drivers for the rampage formula for windows 7 here http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=MyJtSWUgzptSqKFN

[leo27]

I just flashed to bios 902 and it seems the problem i had of only being able to run a tRD of 8 with all pull-ins is fixed. I'm now running a tRD of 7 perfectly fine. So it seems that bios 902 fixed more than just adding ddr2 1200mhz support.

[Alien Grey]

I just flashed to bios 902 and it seems the problem i had of only being able to run a tRD of 8 with all pull-ins is fixed. I'm now running a tRD of 7 perfectly fine. So it seems that bios 902 fixed more than just adding ddr2 1200mhz support.

Maybe you just needed to delay the DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B with 50ps to run with a tRD of 7 in BIOS 0803.

This was my solution to run DDR 1239MHz stable with a tRD of 6 with BIOS 0803.

BIOS 0902 fixes that problem and it's the best BIOS for my G.SKILL F2-9600CL5D-4GBPI memory.

It's good to know that it also fixes the problem for you.

[Ghostleader]

@A-Grey

I feel for you mate, that´s not the way one want it when one look forward to a new hardware gear.

Hope you sort it out so that you´re pleased with what you get.


BTW, have you thought about get a 5870 card, they seems to do quite well and the price is okey.

[Alien Grey]

@A-Grey

I feel for you mate, that´s not the way one want it when one look forward to a new hardware gear.

Hope you sort it out so that you´re pleased with what you get.


BTW, have you thought about get a 5870 card, they seems to do quite well and the price is okey.

I don't expect much form the EVGA Support. I've mailed someone form EVGA that saw my post in the Liquid Cooling forum.

All I've got from them is "Where are you located?".
I replied with "I'm from Belgium...".

And than you don't hear from them again.

That's the support you've got in Belgium from EVGA.

I'm going to give them some time to try to find a solution. At the end of the week I'm going to ask my money back and wait for the Nvidia GTX 380.

I don't want to buy an ATI card because the support in Linux is a little bit better with Nvidia.

[Ghostleader]

@A-Grey

Good luck


I did a bit of a endurance test, Rampage Formula / Q9650@4,05GHz / 2x2 OCZ Blade PC-9600@1200 555 15 Strong tRD6 / XFX 9800GTX in SLI

99 loop of Crysis Benchmark Tool, Assault Harbor on Very High, AAx0, 64-bit, DX10 @ 1680x1050, took ~3hours.

Overall average fps of 38,22, pretty good for a pair of 9800GTX




Now I´m ending this SLI adventure and go back to my CrossFireX, it was both interesting and fun though.

[Roger_D25]

Once again thanks Ghostleader for taking the time to post your Rampage Formula SLI results and also for letting us know how to modify our own boards if we wanted to!

[leo27]

I'm suprised how well SLI seems to run on this board. BTW have you found the SLI scaling to be on par with the OFFICIAL SLI boards?

I also just installed an Antec SpotCool (fan on High) as close to the NB as i could and the difference is staggering. Before on full load on LinX the NB was 57C (no NB fan at all) now at full load on LinX the NB is 37C this is with the same voltage and room temp. So if any of you have NB heat problems i recommend this.

[Alien Grey]

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)?

The EVGA support isn't as good anymore as you think. Have a look in the Liquid cooling forum in my thread.

[alexlyc]

Thx for the step by step guide Ghostleader. It seems 9800GX2 + 9800GTX SLI doesn't work... I can't even run the LHALMod in Vista 64bit.

[big_mc]

0902-SLI BIOS for Rampage Formula
EZ Flash shows message "Boot block in file is not valid", use AFUDOS.

[Alien Grey]

0902-SLI BIOS for Rampage Formula
EZ Flash shows message "Boot block in file is not valid", use AFUDOS.

Where did you get this BIOS?

[SoLoR]

Where did you get this BIOS?

you create it, with amitool 1.38

[Alien Grey]

you create it, with amitool 1.38

I know but didn't you kill your board trying to flash it with a modded BIOS trying to add SLI support?

[Ghostleader]

Once again thanks Ghostleader for taking the time to post your Rampage Formula SLI results and also for letting us know how to modify our own boards if we wanted to!

You´re welcome

I'm suprised how well SLI seems to run on this board. BTW have you found the SLI scaling to be on par with the OFFICIAL SLI boards?

I also just installed an Antec SpotCool (fan on High) as close to the NB as i could and the difference is staggering. Before on full load on LinX the NB was 57C (no NB fan at all) now at full load on LinX the NB is 37C this is with the same voltage and room temp. So if any of you have NB heat problems i recommend this.

Yes, it runs very well, I don´t know if it´s on par with for example NForce 750i and 780i but I should be surprised if it doesn´t beat the NForce, why, because X48 have better abilitys regarding memory and tRD tuning.

Thx for the step by step guide Ghostleader. It seems 9800GX2 + 9800GTX SLI doesn't work... I can't even run the LHALMod in Vista 64bit.

You´re welcome

I think you need two similary cards to do SLI, 9800GX2 and 9800GTX aren´t similary.

I´m not sure that it works for Vista 64-bit, just for Win 7 64-bit.

0902-SLI BIOS for Rampage Formula
EZ Flash shows message "Boot block in file is not valid", use AFUDOS.

The link is broken.

[SoLoR]

I know but didn't you kill your board trying to flash it with a modded BIOS trying to add SLI support?

i did that however was some very early version. I asked andyp to add this in to his tool and i was kinda first test subject. However this latest tool already had success on maximus formula and maximus II formula, so its big chance that is safe for rampage as well. I know ill try it once i get my board back

[Alien Grey]

i did that however was some very early version. I asked andyp to add this in to his tool and i was kinda first test subject. However this latest tool already had success on maximus formula and maximus II formula, so its big chance that is safe for rampage as well. I know ill try it once i get my board back

Yep, and you can call ASUS the next day if you screwed it up again because they didn't fix the problem with your board.

[Engage]

hello all.. i joined this forum because i have this board and i am a complete noob. i have been having problems when starting up applications it freezes and then starts up.. i want to buy some ram .. what is the best and stable ram i can get for this board 1066 and up as i am a hard core gamer i would like 8 gigs. my set up is as follows
thermaltake tsunami case
asus rampage formula intel x48
sapphire radeo hd 4870 gddr5 pci express
corsair 750 watt cross fire ready atx12v/eps12v power supply
intel core 2 duo e8500 wolfdale
corsair 4gb ddr2 sdram 1066 pc2 8500 twin2x4096-8500c5
western digital velociraptor 150 gb sata
seagate barracuda 750 gb
samsun 22 inch
g5 logi mouse
2 samsung 22x dvd burners
creative 7.1 channels pci expresss sound blaster x-fi titanium
ty vista 64 bit business
bios version 902

[Alien Grey]

Test your memory with MemTest86+ to see if it's error free.

Test each stick individual in the slot you are going to use it. Also test them in dual channel mode.


Try with enabling ACPI 2.0 in the BIOS. You probably need a fresh install of Windows Vista 64 Bit if you enable it.

[Engage]

what is acpi and what does it do... ive read alot of reviews on my ram and alot of people said it has problems stock and more with 8 gigs so im just gonna buy a brand new set of 8 gigs and start fresh. and i wanted to buy windows 7 professional for 30 dollars student price so im just trying to figure out what ram i should buy that will be stable and good for gaming and my set up. what do you suggest?

[Alien Grey]

OCZ Blade PC2-9600. These sticks can run stable at 1200MHz with 8 Giga and a Core2Duo.

If you look a few pages back you'll find a post from Ghostleader with some screenshots with 8 Giga OCZ Blade PC2-9600.


ACPI -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Configuration_and_Power_Interface

[Engage]

thanks man so i will reformat and enable acpi 2.0 and intall the new ram thanks for your information and i will be back for any other issues or just to learn.