UnOfficial Asus Rampage II Extreme Thread

[coldilian]

Can some one plz help me. As soon as i boot the pc everything comes on but i dont see anything. The lcd poster also does nothing but count from 00:00:00. Basically it just gets stuck there. Before this happened i had the pc boot then quickly goes off and reboots. That happed 2 times. I took the cpu off found some small part of a tissue or paste took it off. Pc booted fine went into windows and the pc worked for over 15 hours. After that it crashed due to a bad driver and now iam stuck. Any one got ideas. The cpu has been oced to 3.8 at times to 4. I think either when i lapped it something has gone bad or the motherboard has gone bad.

Extra: if i get rid of the hanging problem then i get on the lcd poster locked and the same thing happens. it either says locked or just counts.

Update-finally got the pc to boot after taking cpu and putting it back in. All seems fine but have my doubts. This problem has me really confused.

Update 2 - right my problem has become even more strange. After lots of testing i have found out my pc only works when i have it horizontal but vertical it want even boot bios.

[affiliate13]

Sounds like something is getting shorted out. I would remount the board and check for metal to metal contact somewhere there shouldnt be any, often it is around the backplate sockets.

[CryptiK]

Having an issue with instability after board has been powered off overnight.

I can have a perfectly stable OC, tested with Linx, Prime 95 etc. After the PC sits overnight switched off, upon a restart the next day it is terribly unstable, and can BSOD just sitting at desktop. Adjusting Vtt, usually lowering it, re-establishes stability.

Anyone else experience this?

I am using BIOS 1406, and have tried 2 different CPU's and the issue happens with both of them so its not CPU related. I have reseated the CPU and reseated the Vtt daughter board, neither helped.

EDIT - I am thinking perhaps the badly designed Vtt daughter board may be overheating or the pins that connect it to the mainboard have bad contact, but I'm not sure why this would suddenly happen on a cold restart and not during hours of benching. Could also be a BIOS issue, but since BIOS1406 is quite a few BIOSes in, they should have sorted any major bugs out by now.

[Salamndar]

Having an issue with instability after board has been powered off overnight.

I can have a perfectly stable OC, tested with Linx, Prime 95 etc. After the PC sits overnight switched off, upon a restart the next day it is terribly unstable, and can BSOD just sitting at desktop. Adjusting Vtt, usually lowering it, re-establishes stability.

Anyone else experience this?

I am using BIOS 1406, and have tried 2 different CPU's and the issue happens with both of them so its not CPU related. I have reseated the CPU and reseated the Vtt daughter board, neither helped.

EDIT - I am thinking perhaps the badly designed Vtt daughter board may be overheating or the pins that connect it to the mainboard have bad contact, but I'm not sure why this would suddenly happen on a cold restart and not during hours of benching. Could also be a BIOS issue, but since BIOS1406 is quite a few BIOSes in, they should have sorted any major bugs out by now.

I have this issue, if I overclock too much for my setup! Try to back off a little.

[CryptiK]

What do you mean, OC too much? If your OC is stable, it's stable, and it should reboot as stable as it was before. If you OC too much for the voltages you're feeding the components, and its actually unstable, of course you can expect to run into issues.

I'm quite sure I'm experiencing the "cold boot" issue this board is well known for. It's not an unstable OC issue, I rigorously test my OC's and its as good as 100% stable, however I turn off the pc overnight, turn off the power outlet, then upon reboot its so unstable it often gives a BSOD sitting on desktop within minutes of loading windows.

I am now trying BIOS 1504, I'll see how it goes.

[Salamndar]

I found Core I7 to bee very unpredictable, one time I was running my C0 920 @ 3.8 with no issues for weeks, then decided to reinstall windows and I was not able to unless I dropped down to 3.7x

Try it out and see what happens with you.

[coldilian]

Right after more looking around. I found out nearly all the mobo screws have come loose! So i tightened them back loosend the cpu cooler and then put it back on tight and it all works now. Really strange issue it was a matter of touching the heat-sink with some force and it would load windows take finger of stuck. If i where to put my finger back on it resumes loading lol.

[Trynity]

i don't know why this error appears, but i have this also, when i power down my pc over night and turn it on next day i get various crashes .......
after a few tests i saw that when i power on after a longer downtime (1-2h+) the board detects only 10GB of my 12 GB Ram,
if i power on and power off after the Bios posts and power it on again the PC works fine as ever

Seems that the crashes after off for more than 1h or 2h are results due to the longer off time

regards

trynity

[Salamndar]

i don't know why this error appears, but i have this also, when i power down my pc over night and turn it on next day i get various crashes .......
after a few tests i saw that when i power on after a longer downtime (1-2h+) the board detects only 10GB of my 12 GB Ram,
if i power on and power off after the Bios posts and power it on again the PC works fine as ever

Seems that the crashes after off for more than 1h or 2h are results due to the longer off time

regards

trynity

Hmmm, this is strange indeed

[CryptiK]

Trynity - what BIOS are you using when you are experiencing this cold reboot instability?

Sounds like exactly the same thing I have been getting on 1406. I'm trialling 1504 now, hope that it solves my issue.

I have put up with bad Asus BIOS for long enough on enough boards, I don't want any ridiculous BIOS issues with this board.

[Salamndar]

Can I ask you guys what PSU are you using ?

[Trynity]

bios 1406 - same issue in 1504

PSU is a beQuiet 700

and i only have the instabillity when i power on and don't switch off - switch on again

[coldilian]

Right as it seems i haven't fixed all my problems gone take pc apart. Can some one give a good way to stop the backplate from shorting out the mobo etc. Its a lapped true black with a backplate and a washer mod.

[Leeghoofd]

I've put some PATEX powertape on the plate... seems to work fine...

[affiliate13]

snip*

EDIT - I am thinking perhaps the badly designed Vtt daughter board may be overheating or the pins that connect it to the mainboard have bad contact, but I'm not sure why this would suddenly happen on a cold restart and not during hours of benching. Could also be a BIOS issue, but since BIOS1406 is quite a few BIOSes in, they should have sorted any major bugs out by now.

If you suspect overheating on the card, try sometihng like this ^

I dont have the cold boot issue on this board, when in the past i have encountered that type of problem on other boards it was often RAM related. Maybe look at the QPI/DRAM and Vdimm again, i am sure you already have and it may just be a BIOS incompatibilty but it may help.

[TechloGoblin]

I just tried changing the BCLK a little bit ago and ran into a problem.

When I changed it to about 215 and upped the CPU voltage to about 1.55 my top most 5870 (which my Display port is usually plugged into) failed to respond..Wouldn't show the bios or anything. I had to plug the display into the bottom 5870 to get video.

When I went back to the bios and reset to the factory default I could then again plug my display into the top card...but I had to go back into the ATI CCC interface and re-enable Crossfire.

I can use the SINGLE bottom 5870 with a 4.6 ghz overclock without issue...but obviously I want Crossfire enabled.

When I try for really high speeds, something is messing with my PCI-E bus I'm assuming.

Any ideas?

Current Crossfire STABLE overclock settings:

AI overclock - manual
OC from CPU level up - auto
OC from Memory level up - auto
CPU Ratio setting - auto
CPU configuration auto
CPU Ratio Setting - auto
C1E Support - disable
Hardware prefetcher - enable
Adjacent Cache line prefetcher - enable
Intel Virtualization tech - disabled
CPU TM Function - disable
Execute Disabled bit - disabled
Intel HT Technology - disabled
Active Processor Cores - all
A20M - disabled
Intel Speedstep tech - enable
Intel Turbo Mode tech - enable
Intel C-STATE tech - disabled

BCLK frequency - 200
PCIE frequency - 100
DRAM frequency - DDR3 1601MHz
UCLK frequency - auto
QPI frequency - auto or
Dram timing control
1st iformation - 8-8-8-24 - 1T
2nd information - auto
3rd information - auto

EPU II phase control - full phase
Load-line calibration - enable
CPU differential amplitude - auto or manuel values
Extreme OV - disabled or enable

Current voltage 1.455 1.812 1.376
Cpu voltage - 1.44375
CPU PLL voltage - auto
QPI-Dram voltage - auto

Current voltage 1.131v - 1.508v - 1.111v - 1.508v
IOH voltage - auto
IOH PCIE voltage - auto
ICH voltage- auto
ICH PCIE voltage - auto

Current voltage 1.64-68
DRAM Bus voltage - 1.65
DRAM REF voltage - auto

Debug mode - string
Keyboard TeakIt comtrol -disabled

CPU spread spectrum - disabled
PCIE spectrum - disabled
CPU clock skew - auto
IOH clock skew - auto

[coldilian]

Ok Is it possible that a cpu can not be stable anymore on default auto settings?. I have not done any crazy oc or voltages,temps. After running linX for about 2 hours the screen goes black and then back to normal happens about 4 times. Then it completely locks up. My question is it a cpu issue or am i looking at mobo, ram, gfx. I don't have any spare parts to check with.

[Silverbullit]

Hi mates,

I'm having a bit of trouble here,
my Internet provider shuts me down (I have to phone in each time)
claiming my Rampage II Extreme spams mac adresses...!?!

How do I solve this?
Is this common/has it happen to anyone else?

Help would be greatly appreciated!!!

/Silverbullit

[CryptiK]

bios 1406 - same issue in 1504

PSU is a beQuiet 700

and i only have the instabillity when i power on and don't switch off - switch on again

1504 seems ok initially - 24 hours powered off at power outlet, switched on and it's stable. I hope it stays this way, will test again tomorrow.

http://msi-it.co.uk/r2e/underqpi.jpg
http://msi-it.co.uk/r2e/overqpi.jpg

If you suspect overheating on the card, try sometihng like this ^

I dont have the cold boot issue on this board, when in the past i have encountered that type of problem on other boards it was often RAM related. Maybe look at the QPI/DRAM and Vdimm again, i am sure you already have and it may just be a BIOS incompatibilty but it may help.

Looks good, how hot does that heatsink get under load? I don' think the Vtt daughter board is overheating, as the system remains stable under constant load.

I am pretty sure it's a bad BIOS issue. Weird thing is Trinity is still getting problems on 1504.

[Brama]

Hi mates,

I'm having a bit of trouble here,
my Internet provider shuts me down (I have to phone in each time)
claiming my Rampage II Extreme spams mac adresses...!?!

How do I solve this?
Is this common/has it happen to anyone else?

Help would be greatly appreciated!!!

/Silverbullit

It happened to me a couple of times after some crashes due to excessive overclock.

As I have the router on the desktop, I noted immediately a very high traffic that you can stop only removing the AC power physically or rebooting the system proprely.

My ISP never claimed about this trouble but this uncontrolled traffic could surely trigger some alarm on ISP side.

[Trynity]

Weird thing is Trinity is still getting problems on 1504.

yes on both Bios Versions the Same problem after a longer power off time .....

Bios Detects only 10GB of 12GB ram - power off/power on again fixes that, i have to do that every morning

another thing: i have C1E & Eist and such things enabled, when idling the frequency goes down as it should, but the Vcore don't goes down,
is that normal or is there a way to OC and let the vcore go down when idling?

i mean, @2,7ghz when idling i don't need vcore @ 1.36 ......

thx

[Silverbullit]

It happened to me a couple of times after some crashes due to excessive overclock.

As I have the router on the desktop, I noted immediately a very high traffic that you can stop only removing the AC power physically or rebooting the system proprely.

My ISP never claimed about this trouble but this uncontrolled traffic could surely trigger some alarm on ISP side.

Well I can explain why your Internet Provider took no notice,
when your R2Ex started handing out mac adresses (mac spam) it was on your side of the router and thus nothing but your main mac adress reached them.
(I saw some explanation like this while surfing frantically for a solution =)

But you mean it probably stops if I reboot properly?

Thanks a bazillion times brama for your help/input!

I will experiment some now!
(And btw, it was no excessive OC, I just got HT working at 4418

/Silverbullit

[affiliate13]

I just tried changing the BCLK a little bit ago and ran into a problem.

When I changed it to about 215 and upped the CPU voltage to about 1.55 my top most 5870 (which my Display port is usually plugged into) failed to respond..Wouldn't show the bios or anything. I had to plug the display into the bottom 5870 to get video.

When I went back to the bios and reset to the factory default I could then again plug my display into the top card...but I had to go back into the ATI CCC interface and re-enable Crossfire.

I can use the SINGLE bottom 5870 with a 4.6 ghz overclock without issue...but obviously I want Crossfire enabled.

When I try for really high speeds, something is messing with my PCI-E bus I'm assuming.

Any ideas?

IOH and PCIe voltage might need a bump, i used a little more to get 4.55Ghz stable on my cards, might not be the same issue though.

Hi mates,

I'm having a bit of trouble here,
my Internet provider shuts me down (I have to phone in each time)
claiming my Rampage II Extreme spams mac adresses...!?!

How do I solve this?
Is this common/has it happen to anyone else?

Help would be greatly appreciated!!!

/Silverbullit

Not happened on mine, are you using a router or a modem?
If a router, does it happen with both LAN ports and do your ISP have a log you can compare to your windows event log? Might be something there to explain it.

Looks good, how hot does that heatsink get under load? I don' think the Vtt daughter board is overheating, as the system remains stable under constant load.

I am pretty sure it's a bad BIOS issue. Weird thing is Trinity is still getting problems on 1504.

No sure, i am waiting for more parts, always more parts , ill stick a probe on it later in the week.

Could one of the PSU rails be overloaded, or possibly try with one stick of RAM see if that makes any difference. Not ideal i know but possibly worth a shot?

[coldilian]

After countless more hours of testing and stress. I'am still not 100 sure what the problem is. As the pc is on it might just flash black screen then back to normal then just freeze. I had found out if the heatsink is pushed a tiny bit to one side(down not up) the pc locks up if i let go it goes back to normal. I did 100 runs on LinX and passed all 100 and then after 10 mins the pc randomly crashed when linX wasnt even on. I'am tempted to try the intel stock cooler tmw and see if the same problems happen. Some one just point me in the right direction could be a pin related problem with the cpu or mobo pins. I can understand the cpu shorting out or something due to contact but can that really cause flashing black screen so randomly. If some one can just at least tell me if the 2 problems are one or they are different problems. I know iam being annoying i'am sorry just need the pc to work days are going by trying to fix it!

[affiliate13]

I dont believe by the description that this is nescessarily a stability issue.
It really does sound like short, last time i had an issue like this i couldnt resolve i just took it all to pieces, all the way apart, then reassembled checking all the connections and replacing anything that looked even mildly out of place, like refitting molexes and washering every screw etc.
I never worked out what it was but it worked fine after that.
If you can drop the board out of its case and maybe test it on it box built up on your desk to see if it keeps happening, its easy to eliminate more things that way.
Either way it sounds frustrating, hope you get it resolved soon.