***Asus Rampage III Extreme Owners Thread***

[SkOrPn]

Ok, donmarkoni, I tried the template you suggested and it did not post, never even came back on. So I tried the below template from page 3 and it also did not post, did not even power back on. So, I downloaded bios 1401 (was on 1208) flashed it and retried, and the same thing. So, I looked around and realized that I had set my multi to 20 and left BCLK at 200. Set multi to 21 and still didnt post, so then I realized QPI Loadline Calibration was still disabled via the jumper, so I decided I did not have any interest needing to use a jumper, so I looked at a few guides on i7-920 overclocking and decided to use the CPU Level up feature just to get me some ideas on reference voltages/settings etc. After setting voltages manually (and anything else in your template), it then booted just fine and I have ran Prime95 for an hour before the CPU warning went off. I stopped prime just because the warning from PC Probe kept going off. I installed probe before running any overclocks, and it was complaining of all kinds of things, mostly voltages. It would say that cpu voltage has droped to 0.00 or that cpu pll has droped to 0.02 or that dram bus voltage has droped to 0.23 (also claims IOH pcie volts has dropped to 0.23v, lol, seems fishy to me) or that dpi volts has dropped to 0.03 and many more similar warnings but the system kept running just fine. Constantly going off for about 5 seconds and then returning to normal and repeating itself a few minutes later or so. This happens with or without overclocking, on both bios 1208 and 1401, so I can only assume PC Probe is crap (or my windows install is borked) and I need to uninstall it, lol... CPU Temp hit 70c so I halted Prime95 and it then recovered to 44c... and yes I know 70c is still safe but I need this cpu to last a very long time. (by the way, I am preparing to replace my cpu hold down as one of the 4 swiftech screws is stripped, so it may not be getting full pressure from the block)

I'm am perfectly Ok with a mediocre overclock of 3.5ghz but not Ok with all the warnings. Do you see anything in my template below that I need to change asap? Everything in bolded parenthesis below is my actual current setting and the only thing that differs from your template on page 3. Thank you for any guidance you may be willing to share with this OC noob. lol

Also, for reference my memory is the cheap Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D 6gb kit. Oh and one last thing, if anything in my current settings scream out how noob I really am at this please forgive me, I already know this as a overclocker friend of mine rubs it in all the time, lol...

(CPU Level UP to i7-965 for reference settings)

Target CPU Frequency            4000MHz  (3570)
Target DRAM Frequency           1603MHz  (1704)
LN2 Mode:			[Disabled]
QPI Loadline Calibration:	[Disabled]
Sync Mode			[Enabled]
AI Overclock Tuner		[Manual]
OC From CPU level Up	        [Auto] (i7-965)
2D Performance Booster	        [Disabled]
CPU Ratio Setting		[21.0]
CPU Turbo Power Limit	        [Disabled]
>CPU Configuration----------------------------
CPU Ratio Setting		[21.0]
C1E Support			[Enabled]
Hardware Prefetcher		[Enabled]
AdjacentCacheLinePrefetcher	[Enabled]
MPS and ACPI MADT ordering	[Modern]
Intel(R) Virtualization Tech	[Enabled]
CPU TM Function		        [Disabled]
Execute Disable Bit		[Enabled]
Intel(R) HT Technology	        [Enabled]
Active Processor Cores	        [All]
A20M				[Disabled]
Intel(R) SpeedStep(TM) Tech	[Enabled]
Performance/Watt select	        [Power]
Intel(R) C-STATE Tech		[Enabled]
C State package limit setting   [Auto]
C1 Auto Demotion		[Enabled]
C3 Auto Demotion		[Enabled]
----------------------------------------------
BCLK Frequency		        [200] (170)
PCIE Frequency		        [105]
DRAM Frequency		        [1603] (1704)
UCLK Frequency		        [4009] (3408)
QPI Link Data Rate		[7218] (6135)
Memory Recheck                  [Disabled]
MemoryConfigurationProtect      [Disabled]
>DRAM Timing Control----EVERYTHING BELOW ON AUTO
CAS# Latency		      6	[6] (AUTO)
RAS# to CAS# Delay	      7	[7] (AUTO)
RAS# PRE Time	              6	[6] (AUTO)
RAS# ACT Time	             18	[18] (AUTO)
RAS# to RAS# Delay	      4	[4] (AUTO)
REF Cycle Time	             72	[72] (AUTO)
WRITE Recovery Time	     10 [10] (AUTO)
READ to PRE Time	      6	[6] (AUTO)
FOUR ACT WIN Time	     24	[Auto] (AUTO)
Back-To-BackCAS# Delay        0	[Auto] (AUTO)
Timing Mode		     1N	[1N] (AUTO)
Round Trip LatencyonCHA      59	[59] (AUTO)
Round Trip LatencyonCHB      61	[60] (AUTO)
Round Trip LatencyonCHC      62	[61] (AUTO)
WRITEToREAD Delay(DD)         8	[Auto]
WRITEToREAD Delay(DR)         8	[Auto]
WRITEToREAD Delay(SR)        18	[Auto]
READToWRITE Delay(DD)         7	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(DR)       7	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(SR)       7	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DD)        7	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DR)        6	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(SR)        4	[Auto]
WRITEToWRITE Delay(DD)        7	[Auto]
WRITEToWRITE Delay(DR)        7	[Auto]
WRITEToWRITE Delay(SR)        4	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------
CPU Differential Amplitude	[Auto]
CPU Clock Skew		        [Auto]
IOH Clock Skew		        [Auto]
------------ Extreme Engine Digi+ ------------
Digi+ PWR Mode		        [T-Balanced]
PWR Volt. Control		[Auto]
Load-Line Calibration		[Full]
CPU Voltege OCP			[Enabled]
CPU PWM Frequency		[Auto]
Extreme OV			[Enabled]
Extreme OC			[Auto]
CPU Voltage	       1.343	[1.33750] (1.25)
CPU PLL Voltage        1.349    [1.35150] (1.81)
QPI/DRAM Core V        1.429	[1.43750] (1.35)
DRAM Bus Voltage       1.654 	[Auto]    (1.51)
>DRAM REF Voltages----------------------------
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHA	[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHB	[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHC	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------
IOH Voltage	       1.111	[Auto] (1.11)
IOH PCIE Voltage       1.508	[Auto] (1.51)
ICH Voltage	       1.111	[Auto] (1.11)
ICH PCIE Voltage	       	[Auto] (1.51)
*QPI Voltage OCP		[Enabled]
*IOH Voltage OCP		[Enabled]
*DRAM Voltage OCP		[Enabled]
*QPI PWM Frequency		[Auto]
*IOH PWM Frequency		[Auto]
*DRAM PWM Frequency  	        [Auto]
---------- Spread Spectrum Control -----------
CPU Spread Spectrum		[Disabled]
DRAM Spread Spectrum	        [Disabled]

[CryptiK]

It's common knowledge that Asus cannot make software. PC Probe is a crappy buggy essentially useless piece of junk. Temp warnings of CPU at 200*C, vcore at 50v, vdimm at 0.00v etc are common place. Uninstall it. Forget about it.

If you want to monitor voltages etc, AIDA64 (or cpuz for vcore) is popular and it actually works.

Go from there and see how you go.

[SkOrPn]

It's common knowledge that Asus cannot make software. PC Probe is a crappy buggy essentially useless piece of junk. Temp warnings of CPU at 200*C, vcore at 50v, vdimm at 0.00v etc are common place. Uninstall it. Forget about it.

If you want to monitor voltages etc, AIDA64 (or cpuz for vcore) is popular and it actually works.

Go from there and see how you go.

Thanks CryptiK, for that information about AIDA64, I will give that a try. However, I uninstalled that POS PC Probe just minutes after I posted yesterday, lol. I could not handle all the BS warnings, telling me my CPU has dropped to 0.02v, when I have it manually set LOL... Will AIDA64 show me voltages of components such as DRAM, ICH, IOH PCI-E, QPI and etc? The only monitoring apps Im using currently are Tweaker, GPU-Z, CPU-Z and I tried Speedfan, but none of them show me mobo components like ICH, IOH, QPI etc. Will hunt down my copy of Everest and see if that will show me what I want to see, lol....

Thanks

[donmarkoni]

@SkOrPn:

Why don't you try dropping RAM multi to 8x and UnCore to 16x and try raising BCLK? Maybe your memory is limiting factor, if it stays at 8-8-8-X while overclocking.

[CryptiK]

It's not that the CPU drops to 0.02v when you have it set manually to whatever you set it to - its that if this occurred the CPU would not be able to function and the OS would lock or crash. It's not possible for it to run at 0.02v even for a moment. Ass probe is just bad software period.

As Don suggested, try dropping the ram and uncore multi's and take them out of the equation, use the 21 multi and at least get 3.8-4GHz stable. 70*C is nothing for an i7, they go way over that on the stock coolers and hardly ever see that kind of simulated load in real world use. Once you have the core stable, bring the rest up and optimize.

[Hardware_Hank]

Hello folks, im new here and I just kinda browsed around a bit. I do have this board and I had 4.2 stable on my i7 950 for a bit but it tends to spike and crap out on occasion D: here is my CPU-Z Validation http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1912382

[spoolindsm127]

Will AIDA64 show me voltages of components such as DRAM, ICH, IOH PCI-E, QPI and etc?

Thanks

To answer your question, yes AIDA64 will show you all these voltages plus more i.e. PSU, GPU. It also comes with a neat Windows Sidebar Gadget which displays all the information you want like core clock, multi, memory speed and timings, temps, volts, fan speeds, etc.

And I'm sure you know Everest was taken over by AIDA64. So no more Everest, but if you have a valid Everest key it can be used with AIDA64

[SkOrPn]

To answer your question, yes AIDA64 will show you all these voltages plus more i.e. PSU, GPU. It also comes with a neat Windows Sidebar Gadget which displays all the information you want like core clock, multi, memory speed and timings, temps, volts, fan speeds, etc.

And I'm sure you know Everest was taken over by AIDA64. So no more Everest, but if you have a valid Everest key it can be used with AIDA64

Yes, I discovered this this morning and it blew my mind about Everest/AIDA64. Using AIDA64 now, so thanks. BUT, hmm, I didnt know about the gadget lol....

[idahosurge]

It also comes with a neat Windows Sidebar Gadget which displays all the information you want like core clock, multi, memory speed and timings, temps, volts, fan speeds, etc.

I have Aida64 and I have seen a reference to this sidebar gadget, I have looked for it and could not find it. How do you activate the sidebar gadget? My version of Aida64 is 1.70.XXX something.

[enkie]

Aida on the G19 is excellent , it's my favorite monitoring software .

[donmarkoni]

To answer your question, yes AIDA64 will show you all these voltages plus more i.e. PSU, GPU. It also comes with a neat Windows Sidebar Gadget which displays all the information you want like core clock, multi, memory speed and timings, temps, volts, fan speeds, etc.

And I'm sure you know Everest was taken over by AIDA64. So no more Everest, but if you have a valid Everest key it can be used with AIDA64

Yes, I discovered this this morning and it blew my mind about Everest/AIDA64. Using AIDA64 now, so thanks. BUT, hmm, I didnt know about the gadget lol....

I have Aida64 and I have seen a reference to this sidebar gadget, I have looked for it and could not find it. How do you activate the sidebar gadget? My version of Aida64 is 1.70.XXX something.

Noooo.... Please people, don't use those stupid things, called Windows Gadget and Sidebar. Just use On Screen Display from AIDA64.

One of the first things I remove from my Win7 installation are Gadget Platform and Sidebar. They are stupid and take memory and CPU cycles.

[SkOrPn]

Noooo.... Please people, don't use those stupid things, called Windows Gadget and Sidebar. Just use On Screen Display from AIDA64.

One of the first things I remove from my Win7 installation are Gadget Platform and Sidebar. They are stupid and take memory and CPU cycles.

Im using AIDA64 SensorPanel myself, its built in and recommended by AIDA64 support. Only needs to be enabled via Preferences, and then you can customize it to your hearts content, which I've already done.

[spoolindsm127]

Noooo.... Please people, don't use those stupid things, called Windows Gadget and Sidebar. Just use On Screen Display from AIDA64.

One of the first things I remove from my Win7 installation are Gadget Platform and Sidebar. They are stupid and take memory and CPU cycles.

Wow I feel like an idiot thanks a lot for pointing that out. I agree I do not like using Windows Sidebar either as I also find to be memory and resource heavy. The only reason why I was using it (in screenshots only, not 24/7) was because I saw you "using" it in your screenshots. I had NO idea it was the OSD feature

Glad you were already on the right track SkOrPn

[zoson]

I like the sidebar gadgets. They do seem to use between 50 and 60MB of ram, so I shut the sidebar off when I bench/stability test.

Other than bench/stressing though, I see no reason to keep them off. I like being able to monitor my thread load as well as network and disk...

[spoolindsm127]

Have you guys noticed the new EK-FB RE3 Acetal blocks with pure copper base? Acetal and acrylic versions. Why so late with these versions I have no clue. I'd get the Acetal copper

And they have new 'EN' (Electroless Nickel Plating) versions of all their blocks. Basically very high quality nickel plating to be resistant to all sorts of coolants and additives. RMA for 'old' nickel blocks now unlimited also.

I saw EK has released specific EK-FB RE3 Black MB blocks. Most probably knows this but just in case.

[CryptiK]

Hmm I have an 'old' nickel and acetal EK block, but no issues with it so far. I just run distilled and a few ppm CuSO4 though, no other additives or dyes. Would hate to have to pull down my loop and RMA too.

What are the situations in which old nickel blocks exhibit issues?

[zoson]

Hmm I have an 'old' nickel and acetal EK block, but no issues with it so far. I just run distilled and a few ppm CuSO4 though, no other additives or dyes. Would hate to have to pull down my loop and RMA too.

What are the situations in which old nickel blocks exhibit issues?

I also have an old nicke/acetal ek block and am wondering what causes the issues. I'm running distilled with some PC-ICE for anti corrosive. I've never opened mine up to see if it's damaged at all... I guess now I have to... Really annoying since EK blocks are such a PITA to attach. Stupid little plastic washer standoffs.

[hodgy1971]

Whats the problem with the blocks? I also have the old one and not seen an problems with it!

[spoolindsm127]

I think people who are running serious additives i.e. Colored UV coolants + anti-corrosive agents are having these issues. Like here. So if you run pure distilled + silver killcoil like me and many others, you should be fine.

That was my first thought also, that the people with Acetal blocks will have no clue IF there was any corrosion unless the took the blocks off and apart, which is the biggest PITA. I have the acrylic ones and they seem fine. I think there may be buildup in the RAM block but I do not believe that is corrosion, maybe that stuff that comes off the hoses accumulated there..

[CryptiK]

Ah ok, hope mine is ok. I have acetal block and black tubing so the only way I have of monitoring water quality is the res. However if there's surface corrosion going on in the block I probably wont see it. I am using pure distilled laboritory grade water (resistivity >18MOhms, conductivity <2us/cm, 0.5 micron filtered) so unless the CuSO4 causes issues I should be good.

[AKHandyman]

Okay guys ... been absent from here for awhile due to many things going on up in Alaska ... summers are short but plenty of daylight!! I just recently added a second Crucial C300 64GB SSD to my setup and moved both of them over to the Marvell controller/Drive Xpert Config. Using the RAID 0 function, I was able to get both of them working in the Drive Xpert Configuration, but now, it's crashing quite often, with the newer drive always dropping off the array. Only a power off/reboot causes the drive to come back. And it seemed to most often crash during a windows update. At first, I thought it might be my win install, but uninstalled it and tried again. Same thing ... So the question is this ... could the fact that one of my C300 SSDs has a different firmware revision be the culprit? One is 0002 and the newer one is 0006. Could the two not be playing together nice? Or is it just this crappy Marvell 91xx controller? I have already RMAed this board because I was having problems with the controller dropping drives. If this is the case, I am gonna scream!!!

AK

[BranFB]

The controller is a problem.
I'm having the same crashes with vertex 3.
The only way to fix this is to wait till get's up again and going or just REBOOT.
I'm buying now RevoDrive X2 220GB cuz this is the only thing that will work at high speed. Every sata3 SSD will be screwed. Better get G1. or R3EBE mobo if you want to use the sata3 controller in full potential

[fmsam]

Rev 7 is now available for the C300, I have just upgraded all 3 of mine and the procedure was fairly straight forward and easy to do, all drives had data on them, no harm done and working well.
As for the Marvell, forget you even have it ! run them on the ICH10R.
Those of us who stepped up from RE2 to RE3 thinking we would get Sata 3 6gb/s were ripped off, it does not work.

[AKHandyman]

Okay ... now since I last posted about an hour and half ago, I decided to see if maybe it was the way the drives were set up in the BIOS of the Marvell controller (Ver. 1.0.0. 1019) as opposed to just using the Drive Xpert Configuration ( I know ... I know... ) I had successfully gotten through a full custom install using my USB stick and then I further went through my custom setup of Win7. Went to windows updates and downloaded them and went to restart and now I have a BSOD about a failed boot mount. WHAT THE F***!!?? Even Win7 repair can't fix this ... sheesh! I give up on this Marvell controller ... I just hate to have to pull one of my RAID arrays off the Intel to try to run these two C300 in a RAID 0 config. I suppose I should just get a 128GB SSD and use that for my OS and just scrap using that damn Marvell controller all together ...

EDIT: Just tried restarting this pig and the OS came back like as if nothing was wrong ... gotta be some gremlins in my shop ...

[idahosurge]

This may or may not help. Try updating your R3E BIOS to 1301 that includes updated Marvell 9128 controller Rom/Firmware (Bios: 1.0.0.1029 - F/W: 2.2.0.1113)
See the post by p4spooky on 4/30 @ 8:06 PM for a download link for the modified 1301 R3E BIOS.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...Support/page18

If you have not already you can also try updating your Marvell drivers to 1.2.0.1003.
http://www.station-drivers.com/page/marvell.htm