X48 Rampage Formula Preview.

[Spyrus]

Ok, the name was misleading then. I am ok with my old settings and only changed the tREF. Thx mate for helping.

[mistargill]

Does tREF value being higher increase performance?

How do you figure the correct value to use?

I currently use

3.6ghz

with 400fsb

ram speed is 1066

[Spyrus]

Well , refresh period is a time the memory waits to refresh data. Because the value here is in period T means high value = less secs to wait before refresh.
But, if the time is small, the data might not actually refreshed. So, in that case a bottleneck is created. So, fine tuning might needed.
A test will show the optimal value for specific memory timings configuration.

If you know how an Ethernet works with packet size, (MTU) then you will understand what i am saying.
Greater packet size will increase bandwidth. But if it is too big, some packets will be dropped and so re-sent over network, that means bottleneck.

That bottleneck in memory term might cause instability or higher latency in general ( i am not sure if also both)

http://www.overclock.net/faqs/96478-...verclocks.html

[papatsonis]

i think you describe it wrong, i c/p from here
"TREF is the # of clock cycles between RAM refreshes. (Information in RAM is stored in capacitors and decays/disipates over time.. requiring periodic refresh of information before it disappears)"
If you refresh data too often you "bother" memory controller/ram and loose a bit of performance, (the time they need to complete the refresh), on the contrary, if you refresh too sparse (dont know if its correct word) you take the risk of data corruption, if the capacitor discharges before a complete refresh cycle (and by forcing/using 15600 or 16120 ~ 39us or 40,3us respectively, we already push them too much...)

[Spyrus]

Right ^^

[Alien Grey]

I edited my post about changing the MCH Read ODT. I forgot to add the second register FED14690 and I also made a mistake in the first register. It should be FED14290 like in the picture and not FED14920.

[Fritz_the_germ]

Yo guys,
long time no hear. I haven't read in this thread for a long time so it seams a little dusty for me. But I remember the discussions about the Rampage Formula BIOS. Which one is actually the latest ?
Does ASUS still support the Rampage Formula?

[Alien Grey]

Yo guys,
long time no hear. I haven't read in this thread for a long time so it seams a little dusty for me. But I remember the discussions about the Rampage Formula BIOS. Which one is actually the latest ?
Does ASUS still support the Rampage Formula?

Latest Official BIOS 1001.

Latest Unofficial BIOS 0001 (With tREF timing).

Latest MOD BIOS 1002 (BIOS 0001 with updated Option ROMs by SoLoR).


If there's going to be a new BIOS release is something that I don't know. They told me that the board is EOL and with saying that they refuse to add the ODT timings and these timings are necessary to have a stable running board. It's the On Die Termination that randomly fails and this can't be fixed with using more voltage. This can only be fixed with adjusting the timings.

[Spyrus]

Stable board for high clocks. Not for default settings , right? I have no issues all these 3 yrs, so that i need ODT timings, except the problem is with Quads.

[Fritz_the_germ]

Latest Official BIOS 1001.

Latest Unofficial BIOS 0001 (With tREF timing).

Latest MOD BIOS 1002 (BIOS 0001 with updated Option ROMs by SoLoR).


If there's going to be a new BIOS release is something that I don't know. They told me that the board is EOL and with saying that they refuse to add the ODT timings and these timings are necessary to have a stable running board. It's the On Die Termination that randomly fails and this can't be fixed with using more voltage. This can only be fixed with adjusting the timings.

That's no good news
How is the idea to find a programmer in XtremeSystems Forums who could create the stuff you guys need in your BIOS ?
Programming just the ODT timings in a right way should not be a big deal.

[Alien Grey]

Stable board for high clocks. Not for default settings , right? I have no issues all these 3 yrs, so that i need ODT timings, except the problem is with Quads.

Yes, the problem is with Quads and the amount of memory.

That's no good news
How is the idea to find a programmer in XtremeSystems Forums who could create the stuff you guys need in your BIOS ?
Programming just the ODT timings in a right way should not be a big deal.

To many different combinations to find the right settings that you would need.

[Wega52]

Hi all.
Pretty new with this board, and wondering if there is any bios out there that is "best" for quadcores? I have a q9550 that is begging to be overclocked, so i need to get high FSB speeds. Anyone got 500Mhz+ FSB stable?

[Alien Grey]

Hi all.
Pretty new with this board, and wondering if there is any bios out there that is "best" for quadcores? I have a q9550 that is begging to be overclocked, so i need to get high FSB speeds. Anyone got 500Mhz+ FSB stable?

There isn't a "Best" BIOS for Quads only "Less Worse".

The only BIOS worth flashing is SoLoR's MOD BIOS 1002. But if you really want to go the official way use BIOS 0902 or 1001. These BIOS releases don't have the tRD issue that all other BIOS releases are going to bug you with.

You won't find anyone that has a Quad running stable at FSB 500MHz. It's "Mission Impossible" with ASUS boards. The ASUS Rampage Formula has BIOS issues going from MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION/0X124 BSOD at around FSB 450MHz with 9 multi or above to On Die Termination at around FSB 465MHz.

For a while I thought that these MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION/0X124 BSOD's are CPU related but they're not because at FSB 469MHz and MCH Read ODT 11T the problem is gone and you don't have to use more CPU Voltage than necessary.

If you ask me. I think that the problem is more "ASUS Engineer" related because they think they are so smart but they don't know how to fix these issues.

[Wega52]

There isn't a "Best" BIOS for Quads only "Less Worse".

The only BIOS worth flashing is SoLoR's MOD BIOS 1002. But if you really want to go the official way use BIOS 0902 or 1001. These BIOS releases don't have the tRD issue that all other BIOS releases are going to bug you with.

You won't find anyone that has a Quad running stable at FSB 500MHz. It's "Mission Impossible" with ASUS boards. The ASUS Rampage Formula has BIOS issues going from MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION/0X124 BSOD at around FSB 450MHz with 9 multi or above to On Die Termination at around FSB 465MHz.

For a while I thought that these MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION/0X124 BSOD's are CPU related but they're not because at FSB 469MHz and MCH Read ODT 11T the problem is gone and you don't have to use more CPU Voltage than necessary.

If you ask me. I think that the problem is more "ASUS Engineer" related because they think they are so smart but they don't know how to fix these issues.

Hmm, that wasnt really what I was hoping to hear...

So how about 500Mhz+ FSB benching stable? Is that also impossible with this board?

[Spyrus]

When i flashed my Maximus to the Rampage one, i had problem with running PL7 + PHASE Enabled at FSB 450 with RAM at DDR1180 (333 Strap)
I had tested PL7 + disabled vs PL8 + Enabled and found that the second gave me better results, so i have keep that.

Now with this bios ( i have put SoLoR's moded) should i go test the PL7 + Enabled (or Even PL6 +Disable)?
Or is the problem only hardware , since i remember that Rampage X48 is a handpicked X38 capable of running with tighter memory timings?

[Alien Grey]

Hmm, that wasnt really what I was hoping to hear...

So how about 500Mhz+ FSB benching stable? Is that also impossible with this board?

If you're not afraid to destroy your board you can give it a try.

You are going to need 1.70+ Volt at FSB 500MHz to have it running with BIOS default MCH Read ODT 8T. You're going to have to keep the NB very cool and you're going to have to keep to room temperature very low. But that shouldn't be a problem if you take your system outdoor this time of the year.

Or you can try to tweak the MCH Read ODT with BAR_Edit to find better stability and lower volts.

When i flashed my Maximus to the Rampage one, i had problem with running PL7 + PHASE Enabled at FSB 450 with RAM at DDR1180 (333 Strap)
I had tested PL7 + disabled vs PL8 + Enabled and found that the second gave me better results, so i have keep that.

Now with this bios ( i have put SoLoR's moded) should i go test the PL7 + Enabled (or Even PL6 +Disable)?
Or is the problem only hardware , since i remember that Rampage X48 is a handpicked X38 capable of running with tighter memory timings?

If you could boot with lower tRD with a BIOS release before BIOS 0902, but couldn't run it stable, than you should give it a try.

[Fritz_the_germ]

I hope you guys do not mind if I ask you after all those negative facts one question:
Why don't you look around for another -better- board ?

[leo27]

As far as I can find a EP45-UD3P can't be bought any more, if i could find one I'd probably go with it since they're quite cheap

[greg.m]

As far as I can find a EP45-UD3P can't be bought any more, if i could find one I'd probably go with it since they're quite cheap

have tried ebay:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=EP4....c0.m270.l1313

or even here in XS

[leo27]

Cheers Greg but that one on ebay doesn't ship outside of the states.

[greg.m]

I got my new q9650 and here is some results:

Stable @ 4050 - 9 x 450


Stable @ 4320 - 9 x 480


I think i got a nice chip

[Fritz_the_germ]

Congratulations Greg !
How high is your PL at a FSB-frequency of 480 MHz ?
Is it like your sig. says PL 7 ?

[greg.m]

Congratulations Greg !
How high is your PL at a FSB-frequency of 480 MHz ?
Is it like your sig. says PL 7 ?

Thanx mate

Yes i use pl7 and act moderate, ill post later my bios settings also.

[Fritz_the_germ]

And as I see did you oc your grafic monster HD 5970 as well.
Did you flash the VGA-BIOS like I did or are you using the MSI-Afterbuner?

[greg.m]

And as I see did you oc your grafic monster HD 5970 as well.
Did you flash the VGA-BIOS like I did or are you using the MSI-Afterbuner?

I also have my 5970 flashed with another bios och it works like a charm