ASUS Crosshair Formula IV OC Discussion

[Forsaken1]

Heres what ive been up to with this combo.Cpu on water.

Wondering what your north bridge temps are on air.Im at 50c idel,low 60c load accoding to pc probe.




Board has some unusal voltage readings.
Volts set in bios turbo v picture below.
Fluke 87 meter was used to obtain readings on motherboard via probeit.Load line enabled.

cpu 1.534v
vddnb1 1.325v
sb 1.216v
ht 1.318v

mb 1.320v
dram1 1.671v
cpu pll 2.581v
cpu1 1.53v

[mngdew]

Do you leave the LLC on or off?

[mngdew]

By the way, have you installed the Asus PCProbe II? It installs fine, but I keep getting memory access error.

[Forsaken1]

LLC=Enabled at that time.

PC Probe working ok for me in win7 64bit.Its a little slow to load.

"New" bios at asus Beta Version 0701
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_I...sXG&templete=2

[Lightman]

PCProbe loads fine for me.

If you will leave voltages in BIOS at auto then CF IV will adjust them for you and overvolt everything!!!!

I've set them manually and all is in line now. CPU-Z and PC-Probe voltage readings are quite accurate.
Obviously it's quite important to remember that Voltages set in BIOS as offset will increase vCore for example above CPUvid value. So setting in BIOS offset +0.1V results in 1.4V in case of my Phenom 1090T with Turbo enabled this brings total to 1.575V on poorly threaded loads. Asus TurboV will still show only 1.4V but CPU-Z and PC-Probe will reflect close to real value.

I'm on a 0707 BIOS BTW.

[mngdew]

LLC=Enabled at that time.

PC Probe working ok for me in win7 64bit.Its a little slow to load.

"New" bios at asus Beta Version 0701
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_I...sXG&templete=2

There was already 0707 available. Search this forum for a download link.

[Dyn0miteMat]

I always try to avoid the crapware that you get on cd's, but is the asus turbov alright to use?

[Forsaken1]

I always try to avoid the crapware that you get on cd's, but is the asus turbov alright to use?

Runs well.

[bingo13]

PCProbe loads fine for me.

If you will leave voltages in BIOS at auto then CF IV will adjust them for you and overvolt everything!!!!

I've set them manually and all is in line now. CPU-Z and PC-Probe voltage readings are quite accurate.
Obviously it's quite important to remember that Voltages set in BIOS as offset will increase vCore for example above CPUvid value. So setting in BIOS offset +0.1V results in 1.4V in case of my Phenom 1090T with Turbo enabled this brings total to 1.575V on poorly threaded loads. Asus TurboV will still show only 1.4V but CPU-Z and PC-Probe will reflect close to real value.

I'm on a 0707 BIOS BTW.

The Thubans work a little differently than the other AMD processors. Yes, using offset with Turbo mode enabled will create a situation where the voltages will increase above the offset limit. The reason for this is that even with C1E/CnQ disabled, the first CPU core still implements power saving features which will also explain why you will see the multiplier and voltages reduced in certain situations even with the PM features disabled.

It causes a few weird situations as you might imagine so having LLC enabled and setting CPU VID and CPU/NB Vid manually is the preferred solution. In regards to CPUZ and other utilities we are working with the authors to ensure each core is recognized properly in regards to voltages and multipliers. We are still working with AMD on some additional tuning and power management features as the latest AGESA code has some additional changes in it.

Hopefully I will be able to start an official thread on this board shortly and will be able to list this stuff and provide official support. We should have another BIOS release shortly and Auto settings will tighten up the voltages applied in these type of situations. At this point the voltages might seem a little high but it is to ensure stability on Core 1.

[Apokalipse]

Heres what ive been up to with this combo.Cpu on water.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p...hotos/44pi.png

You should try tweaking your NB & memory timings more (higher memory frequency doesn't usually have as much effect as lower timings. Also, with low NB clocks the higher memory bandwidth is probably not even utilized anyway)

I got this on a 965 with water:
http://sites.google.com/site/apokali...perpi44312.PNG
My board is pretty poor for overclocking (M4A79XTD EVO).
BIOS has a limit of 1.7V, and it also has a vdroop of about ~0.04V.
Won't POST at HTT speeds much higher than I used either (even with lower memory divider, higher HTT volts).

So I will probably replace it with a Crosshair IV sometime after I get a 1090T.

[mngdew]

This really pisses me off. The first CH IV I got had northbridge chipset overheating issue because of the heatsink making poor contact with the chipset. I've got the second one, and it still has the same issue. The first board went over 90C within 5 minutes in the bios hardware monitoring screen. The second one was a bit better, but it went upto 83C within 5 minutes.

[Apokalipse]

Usually when I get a new motherboard I replace the thermal pads/paste

[Titan7171]

This really pisses me off. The first CH IV I got had northbridge chipset overheating issue because of the heatsink making poor contact with the chipset. I've got the second one, and it still has the same issue. The first board went over 90C within 5 minutes in the bios hardware monitoring screen. The second one was a bit better, but it went upto 83C within 5 minutes.

2 in a row? I dont know how that could happen....thats pretty weird.

[CrimInalA]

I'm really looking forward to a new bios which has better support for turbo CORE . (running 0707 now)
That's the only thing which is lacking for me at the moment , for the rest this board is near perfect .

[Rol-Co]

Anybody with some pi 32m skills who tried the ch4 on that.....?

[Lightman]

The Thubans work a little differently than the other AMD processors. Yes, using offset with Turbo mode enabled will create a situation where the voltages will increase above the offset limit. The reason for this is that even with C1E/CnQ disabled, the first CPU core still implements power saving features which will also explain why you will see the multiplier and voltages reduced in certain situations even with the PM features disabled.

It causes a few weird situations as you might imagine so having LLC enabled and setting CPU VID and CPU/NB Vid manually is the preferred solution. In regards to CPUZ and other utilities we are working with the authors to ensure each core is recognized properly in regards to voltages and multipliers. We are still working with AMD on some additional tuning and power management features as the latest AGESA code has some additional changes in it.

Hopefully I will be able to start an official thread on this board shortly and will be able to list this stuff and provide official support. We should have another BIOS release shortly and Auto settings will tighten up the voltages applied in these type of situations. At this point the voltages might seem a little high but it is to ensure stability on Core 1.

That's great news Bingo13!
I'm looking forward to your thread on this forum as well as new BIOS release.

It took me only few hours to work out how the board behaves regarding voltages and multis. and since then I'm pretty much on top of my setup.
Really good board and great BIOS for tweaking.

One question though.
I'm hearing crack every time singular sound is played and then after few minutes of silence I hear another quieter crack in my speakers (discharging capacitors). It sounds like you would plug in jack in the connector every time sound is played. After the crack sound is fine and as long as music is played it's ok till you stop it and try to play again after few minutes.
Is it just my motherboard or every one is having this issue?
BTW it's not my speaker set from Creative because I've used it with 3-4 onboard sound cards as well as SB Live! and it was perfectly fine.

Thanks for any hints

[Baulten]

I don't have any screenies (I'll get some... someday), but I'm really liking this board. So far in my tweeking I've taken my CPU to 4.15 GHz (about 150 mhz higher than my MSI could go) and I've been running 2H prime95 stable at 4.0 GHz. The HT went to 345 before I couldn't boot (which makes me happy; I'll probably pick up at 1055T in the future), and I was able to take my RAM (which wouldn't do rated settings on my MSI) to 1750 MHz, and can probably go higher. Haven't messed with the CPU-NB frequencies yet, but I'll be getting around to that soon. I'm using an old C2 965, but I'm still very impressed.

As for NB heat issues, I've had none. Mine stays under 40C most of the time.

[Forsaken1]

You should try tweaking your NB & memory timings more (higher memory frequency doesn't usually have as much effect as lower timings. Also, with low NB clocks the higher memory bandwidth is probably not even utilized anyway)

I got this on a 965 with water:
http://sites.google.com/site/apokali...perpi44312.PNG
My board is pretty poor for overclocking (M4A79XTD EVO).
BIOS has a limit of 1.7V, and it also has a vdroop of about ~0.04V.
Won't POST at HTT speeds much higher than I used either (even with lower memory divider, higher HTT volts).

So I will probably replace it with a Crosshair IV sometime after I get a 1090T.

Looks goood.

That ss was done on 3rd boot.

Little to warm here lately to lean on it.

Removed the heat pipe on mobo.

No thermal paste from factory.All pads.Had poor contact on voltage reg and nb.

Idled at low 50's c on nb before replacing thermal pads.Now 39-40c according to pc probe.

[Daveburt714]

That's great news Bingo13!
I'm looking forward to your thread on this forum as well as new BIOS release.

Me too! It's nice to have Bingo13 around to help work out the little quirks...

It took me only few hours to work out how the board behaves regarding voltages and multis. and since then I'm pretty much on top of my setup.
Really good board and great BIOS for tweaking.

Your the Man... I've had mine longer than you and I'm still trying to get my head around all the options... It's coming along and I really haven't seen any hateful problems but I still can't say I'm on top of the settup..

One question though.
I'm hearing crack every time singular sound is played and then after few minutes of silence I hear another quieter crack in my speakers (discharging capacitors). It sounds like you would plug in jack in the connector every time sound is played. After the crack sound is fine and as long as music is played it's ok till you stop it and try to play again after few minutes.
Is it just my motherboard or every one is having this issue?
BTW it's not my speaker set from Creative because I've used it with 3-4 onboard sound cards as well as SB Live! and it was perfectly fine.

Thanks for any hints

FWIW, I haven't had those problems Lightman, in fact the audio from this board has been very impressive! My connection is SPDIF and it's been beautiful! Are you using the analog outs?

[mngdew]

Finally, the third one has the heatsink making full contact with the chipset.

[Supershanks]

Thought I'd give this thread a deserved bump & share my stuff so far with the Crosshair IV
Asus Crosshair IV Formula Living Review

[wez]

Thought I'd give this thread a deserved bump & share my stuff so far with the Crosshair IV
Asus Crosshair IV Formula Living Review

Cheers
Very good overview of the board

[Supershanks]

Cheers
Very good overview of the board

Thanks wez, it's a very decent board

[Forsaken1]

Always enjoyed clunks overviews.

Question on crosfire with physx card.

Pcie16 slots 1 and 2(ATI) and phsx in pcie16 4?

Mobo manual states crossfire in pcie 16 slots 1 and 3.No room for physx card then.

[Supershanks]

I'm not running crossfire this time round. I would think though it's down to the pci-e configuratioms of the 32 dedicated graphics lanes:-
Crossfire with 2 cards = 2x16 (slots 1 & 3 as you say)
1 & 3 are each x16 width.

Crossfire with three cards = 1x16 (Slot 1) with 2x 8, so it doesn't really matter which slots you use as 2nd card & physx card./ 3rd card, will be both x8 as slot 3 will be running the same speed as slot 2 x8. (Maxing out the 32 lanes as 16+8+8)

four cards would each pull x8 lanes. (32=+8,+8,+8,+8)