Asrock P67 Extreme4 UEFI & Drivers thread [Extreme6 & Pro3 owners welcome]

[Ket]

No no. I know the molex 4-pin header is for extra juice for SLI/Xfire.
But you stated as follow:

1. The CPU fan headers are controllable, the 4 pin header is there for the benefit of the intel stock coolers mainly but can be used with just 3 pin fans too.
2. AFAIK, the PWM fan header isn't controllable. Using Speedfan might work on it.

The bold part that I'm confused about.
Since there are 2xCPU Fan header in Extreme4, one with 4-pin, other with 3-pin.
I thought the 4-pin CPU fan header is PWM since it's 4-pin. no?
According to you it is different between the 4-pin CPU fan header and PWM header?
Maybe I'm taking this "PWM" wrong...
I'm confused...

Oh and btw, what do you do to make you think your system is stable?
I'm asking this because the term "stable" I've seen on lots of forum posts but everyone does it different way.
Of course it depends on what each person do and wants from their computer, though.

This is what I do for now.
For quick test, I run LinX w/AVX "ALL" setting (6000MB+ for me since I have 8GB) run that 3 times.
And/or run Prime95 custom setting similar to "In place large FFTs" with "Run ffts in-place" checked.
Also make the min fft size to "1024". Run it for 20 min or so.
If it passes those tests and happy with the OC settings I have, I run Prime95 "blend" test for 10+ hours.
For RAM OC, just run Prime95 Blend for as long as it takes.
For GPU, I run 3Dmark11/vantage, Heaven 2.5, and just play BFBC2 max setting on 32ppl server.

Check your manual There is a diagram a few pages in listing what is what. The 3 and 4 pin fan headers are listed as CPU fan headers, where the fan header near the 8 pin ATX connection is listed as the power fan connector (PWM). For stability I run BOINC, specifically, SETI to check for stability. I just load up a bunch of SETI tasks to make sure all 4 cores are 100% loaded and let it run while I do other general day to day stuff on the system. I use HCI memtest to check the stability of any memory OC and I sometimes use IBT w\ AVX using the maximum amount of memory my system has available.

I'm using a 64 bit OS so I guess I won't touch the MMIO then (since it's apparently set to default to 1024 which is optimal for 64 bit systems right?)

Oh and I'm guessing the XMP profile will also load the voltage setting?

Check MMIO is indeed 1024, but even with it set at 64 its not going to do any harm. Correct voltage for your memory should be applied by default without having to load the XMP but this will depend on the speed data the manufacturer has pre-programmed to the memory modules, so setting the voltage manually might be required.

[Nw0rb]

Sorry ket but i agree with Radier... people in this thread either A dont bother to read past post before asking the question or FAIL hard at using google somthing they use everyday. I think thats all he ment by getting short with people who dont wanna help themselfs.

[Ket]

I know what he meant, but theres no need to be rude in the process.

[Tunagoblin]

Check your manual There is a diagram a few pages in listing what is what. The 3 and 4 pin fan headers are listed as CPU fan headers, where the fan header near the 8 pin ATX connection is listed as the power fan connector (PWM). For stability I run BOINC, specifically, SETI to check for stability. I just load up a bunch of SETI tasks to make sure all 4 cores are 100% loaded and let it run while I do other general day to day stuff on the system. I use HCI memtest to check the stability of any memory OC and I sometimes use IBT w\ AVX using the maximum amount of memory my system has available.

Check MMIO is indeed 1024, but even with it set at 64 its not going to do any harm. Correct voltage for your memory should be applied by default without having to load the XMP but this will depend on the speed data the manufacturer has pre-programmed to the memory modules, so setting the voltage manually might be required.

Thanks again Ket. Yes I'm aware of the PWM header but I thought any 4-pin fan headers are for using PWM fans.
And controllable whether it says CPU or PWM since they are the same 4-pin connection.
Maybe I'm taking this all wrong... Sorry I'm at work right now but I'll look thru the manual again when I get home.

I'll try HCI Memtest. I haven't tried it yet.
Also BOINC and Folding@Home are pretty much the same thing?
I'm really a newb at this whole folding thing... I've only tried it like twice in my life for only an hour or so...

btw, my MMIO was set to 64 as default. I'm not sure it's been set to 64 from the beginning or changed when I updated BIOS to 1.80.
But I just changed it to 1024 yesterday.

[Ket]

I think you are getting a little turned around on the issue. I was just saying the PWM fan isn't controllable, at least not without something like speedfan For anyone thats interested, I found out from one of my contacts that future Asrock boards will use a different PCH heatsink. A new design is planned

[Tunagoblin]

I think you are getting a little turned around on the issue. I was just saying the PWM fan isn't controllable, at least not without something like speedfan For anyone thats interested, I found out from one of my contacts that future Asrock boards will use a different PCH heatsink. A new design is planned

O OKie... Now I understood what you meant. Sorry about that!

I guess they heard you kept saying the extreme4 PCH heat sink sucks. lol

[Ket]

lol nothing like that, I just mentioned what a odd design the "V8" heatsink is and how it basically does everything Thermodynamics says not to do I suggested a good old fashioned low profile finned heatsink with a large base area. I don't know what new design Asrock are going to use though.

[Tunagoblin]

I hope we can buy the new heat sink only and be able to replace it.
Probably not gonna happen, though..

[Ket]

I don't think thats likely to happen, but its no big deal. With some good TIM, screws and washers, and some sandpaper you can improve the "V8" thermal efficiency. Theres just no getting around its finless with a small base area that inevitably just turns it into a hot lump of metal.

[swampy]

@Ket, how did you get the voltage down? 4.5GHz 1.28v from your sig.

[Ket]

That would be curtosy of the new UEFI released for the Z68, I put it down to the new CPU table. Sadly I have had to revert back to UEFI 1.4 though as while I can push the limits of the CPU further, even with more vcore at my usual OC it fails IBT Once I reverted back to UEFI 1.4 everything returned to normal. This by no means signals that UEFI 1.5 for the Z68 E4 is bad, just that because I have a early revision 2500k the new / updated CPU microcode in the latest UEFI plays silly buggers with my CPU. Perhaps its time to buy a new 2500k

Because I get asked it a lot, here are the specifics on how I test for stability;

CPU Testing: Intel Burn Test with the latest intel binaries to enable AVX with Win7 SP1. I set IBT to run for 20 passes while under "Stress Level" selecting "Custom" and setting all available RAM to be used.

CPU Testing phase 2: BOINC. Or more precisely, I run BOINC: SETI@Home project. I make sure all 4 cores are 100% loaded with BOINC tasks, then go about day to day activities or gaming on the system while BOINC tasks run in the background.

RAM Testing: HCI Memtest. Without paying for HCI the most you can set each instance of HCI to run is 1024MB, so I just open up 4 instances of HCI, set 3 of them to test 1024MB, and leave the 4th at "test all available RAM". Doing this loads the RAM to between 99%-96% (Windows compensates a bit moving stuff to the swap file, hence slight variability) and just let the test run for at least a few hours.

[Nw0rb]

Any idea when this buggers gonna come out i cant freakin wait beat mode 16x 16x gen 3 slots say its gonna be the z68 extreme 7
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php...type=1&theater

[Ket]

Asrock have the "Fatality" version of the board on their website already. I would suspect the E7 is one of the boards I'll get to lay eyes on at the event I've been invited to in London

[swampy]

Voltage down to 2.8@4500 on P67 Extreme 4, latest UEFI 1.9

[Nw0rb]

ya i cant wait. I would have bought it if it was out. I really wanted a 16x 16x board from asrock didnt want the ud7 thats some fantastic news Have loads of fun in londo and keep us posted.

[Ket]

It'll be a great day for sure. Getting to meet one or two of my contacts in person for the first time, talk to various people from top tech sites, maybe play with some new up and coming hardware, a fun day out

[Ket]

Updated link on first page with new drivers.

[radier]

Latest Marvell Drivers are ver:1.2.0.1002

[Ket]

I left that driver out because both the P67 and Z68 boards use the Marvell 9120 controller. When I decompiled the 1.2 Marvell driver I only saw references in the ini file to the 9123 controller and (I think) the 9173 controller, so I can't be certain there won't be unforseen problems. If somebody wants to try the Marvell 1.2.0.1002 driver though (Clicky) and verify the driver works properly with the 9120 controller then I'll switch the driver.

[Strike@ps3]

Thumb up for the asrock effort for releasing a new bios update for the users who are still on the P67 chipset motherboard ... not forgetting us when the Z68 had released over a month .

[Strike@ps3]

Any idea when this buggers gonna come out i cant freakin wait beat mode 16x 16x gen 3 slots say its gonna be the z68 extreme 7
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php...type=1&theater

this is the photo of a extreme7 board
http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...5830/Z68E7.jpg

do notice the Z68 chipset heatsink ..



it is identical heatsink design ... thus it is a extreme7 board.

[Poohead]

There's actually a newer Marvell driver: 1.2.0.1003 - http://station-drivers.com/page/marvell.htm

Been using it for the past few weeks without issue.

[Ghostleader]

Any idea when this buggers gonna come out i cant freakin wait beat mode 16x 16x gen 3 slots say its gonna be the z68 extreme 7
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php...type=1&theater

Don´t know when but it most be close, this is what I found over at Tweak Town


A1.jpg

A2.jpg


Source

[Ket]

There's actually a newer Marvell driver: 1.2.0.1003 - http://station-drivers.com/page/marvell.htm

Been using it for the past few weeks without issue.

Consider the driver updated with the next package then. Hopefully that driver supports more controllers than the 1002 version.

[jd299]

Just wanted to say thank you to Ket and others for being so helpful. My board's all set now.

The MMIO is actually set to 64 by default, so I guess I'm gonna have to change that one manually to 1024