ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional ThReAD

[Opteron146]

Well, if you need higher mem clocks, then just raise the reference clock ;-)

[Vladutz20]

1866 is the highest memory frequency that you can set in bios. I have tested this mainboard with 1.3 ,1.44 and 1.47 bios version.
Other brands has in bios by default 2133 and 2400 mhz. I don't want to raise anything !!! I want to have 2133 mhz by default . I have Patriot Sector 5 2400 mhz 9-11-9-27 memory kit

[Opteron146]

In short, you bought OC RAM but you dont know how or are too lazy to overclock ... bad luck then.

[Vladutz20]

Mister Opteron ! For example Asus Crosshair V Formula has by default 2133 and 2400 memory frequency. Asrock 990 FX Professional has a maximum of 1866... That is the problem.
I Know how to overclock my memory but i don't want to raise anything ...

[Opteron146]

Yes I know that there is a multiplier on other boards, I just wonder why you make that BIIIG problem out of it. Who cares, if there is a problem try to solve it yourself that's the fun with oc, to tweak and tune until you get a satisfying performance. If you know how to oc your memory then do it. Why wouldn't you want to raise anything? Anything above DDR3-1866 is not officially supported. It does not matter, if you oc by HTT or by Multiplier. I really don't get it. Don't complain and help yourself. Oc HTT to 250, use the multiplier of 1866 and you will get DDR3-2333.
Anyhow, that mode could be quite useless, because the uncore might limit the bandwidth as with the K10. As long as you dont oc the NB clock, it would be easier to run your memory @1600 with (very) low latency, e.g. CL5/CL6.

Good luck.

[Alex-Ro]

Good luck hitting 1600 with cas 5

[BeepBeep2]

Good luck hitting 1600 with cas 5

Hypers with 1.8v+ might do 5-6-5 XD
5-8-5 is doable on PSC...

[P.A.D>]

New UEFI is on the web: 1.30.

Lacking some features of 1.44.

Anyone know what's with the 1.30 dated 10/20? I emailed them asking what is the difference from the older dated version and never got a response. The only thing I noticed that i didn't see before was the updated mouse support which is sorely needed, but other than that if it's a revision why not call it 1.30b or something?

[jedm33]

Been using the 1.44 uefi update and the nb multiplier doesn't seem to work and thanks for the 1.47 version it is now corrected. Still memory multiplier option is missing hope they'll include it in the next update.

[Warwian]

Hello XS!

I just bought this board along with a FX-8150 and I'm having some weird problems.

I made a small overclock to 4200 MHz (21x200) at 1.3375V and whenever I shutdown my computer completely and turn it on again the frequency changes from 4200 to 4080 (21x194.6). In other words, whenever I shutdown and turn it on again the bus speed changes. If I restart after getting the 4080MHz frequency, the baseclock changes back to 4200MHz (21x200) again, in other words: the base clock returns to what I set it to in the BIOS.
The frequency change can be observed in CPU-Z, under computer properties and in F-Stream.

I should probably also tell you that I've tested many different BIOS versions: 1.20, 1.30 and 1.47 and the problem is apparent in all of them. I've also tried all the different LLC-settings aswell as C6, C1E etc and the problem remains.

What should I do? Is something broken? Am I missing something?

Please help me!

Edit:

Even at stock settings it changes to 194.3 MHz Bus Speed after a coldboot. One of the Cool'n'Quiet profiles for 1400 MHz (200x7) changes to 1360.2 MHz (194.3x7), also the RAM settings which I set to 1866 MHz in the BIOS change after a coldboot sometimes, to 647.7 MHz instead of 933 MHz. What am I supposed to do? Is there something wrong with my motherboard?

[Ramguy]

Warwian, try to disable all te CPU power management function(Cpu Feature), disable also spread spectrum. Or try hitting the F9 key in bios, save the bios, and test it agian.

[Warwian]

Warwian, try to disable all te CPU power management function(Cpu Feature), disable also spread spectrum. Or try hitting the F9 key in bios, save the bios, and test it agian.

I think I've localized the source of the problems now. Because they seem to have vanished when I left the RAM settings alone. In other words: when I left the RAM at 1333 MHz CL9. I'll see if I can get them running at 1866 tomorrow with a bit looser timings or something.

[jedm33]

I think I've localized the source of the problems now. Because they seem to have vanished when I left the RAM settings alone. In other words: when I left the RAM at 1333 MHz CL9. I'll see if I can get them running at 1866 tomorrow with a bit looser timings or something.

Try running at 1866 then manually set the mem timings according to your ram specs, the 1.47v bios has a better and detailed ram configurations, try to save your settings as automatic and not on default mem profile. Set all your overclocking config to manual it may correct the issues you have encountered.

[raisethe3]

So I asked this a few weeks back and no one owns this board knows? I was under the impression that someone here owns it would like to give some details about the BIOS?

How are the voltage increments/steppings on this board?

Ex. ASUS Sabertooth 990FX all starts at .005v increments.

Thanks for the reply.

[Warwian]

Try running at 1866 then manually set the mem timings according to your ram specs, the 1.47v bios has a better and detailed ram configurations, try to save your settings as automatic and not on default mem profile. Set all your overclocking config to manual it may correct the issues you have encountered.

I will try that when I get home. I'd just like to summarize my problems in a few sentences first:

Basically any changes I make in the BIOS (for example changing RAM frequency to 1600 MHz or upping the CPU multiplier) ends up with me getting a black screen telling me that the systems has failed to boot several times before and that I may enter the BIOS to change settings. This always happens after shutting down and turning on the computer again. If I ignore this message and enter Windows, I get these strange values. For example, I set the CPU frequency to 4200 MHz and the memory to 1600 MHz with very loose CL9 (almost CL10 timings which my memory use for 2133 MHz) and turned it off and on again. I now got the black screen which I ignored and the CPU frequency had changed from 4200 (200x21.5) to 3705 (190x19.5), the voltage had changed from 1.3325V to 1.432V and the RAM frequency had changed back to 1333 MHz with auto CL9 settings (9-9-9-24) when I entered Windows.

If I were to simply restart after getting these strange values the correct ones I'd set in the BIOS would have been loaded (for example 4200 MHz, 1.3325V and 1600 MHz on the RAM) but they become strange again if I shutdown the computer and turn it on again.

I also noticed that if I restart and try to run Prime95 with the correct BIOS values (for example 4200 MHz, 1.3325V and 1600 MHz on the RAM) the CPU tends to clock itself down after a while to 3300 MHz. Even though I have turned off CnQ, C1E, C6 etc.

Does anyone have any more help? It's true that I have left some values on auto when trying these overclocks, I'll try to put in everything manual when I get back home.

[jedm33]

If I were to simply restart after getting these strange values the correct ones I'd set in the BIOS would have been loaded (for example 4200 MHz, 1.3325V and 1600 MHz on the RAM) but they become strange again if I shutdown the computer and turn it on again.

I also noticed that if I restart and try to run Prime95 with the correct BIOS values (for example 4200 MHz, 1.3325V and 1600 MHz on the RAM) the CPU tends to clock itself down after a while to 3300 MHz. Even though I have turned off CnQ, C1E, C6 etc.

What bios version are you using? 1.20, 1.30? or the modded 1.44, 1.47?...There are few users of fatality in this thread that carry the fx-8150 as of now that's why we can't get any feedback yet. If manual overclock and mem settings can't fix these issue then it might be a bios related problem after all. Or better yet try using the latest officially released bios update version 1.30 it has some cpu code updates according to the website. Btw, the 1.44v is a bit buggy so I won't recommend it using with your fx-8150. Goodluck ^_^

[Warwian]

What bios version are you using? 1.20, 1.30? or the modded 1.44, 1.47?...There are few users of fatality in this thread that carry the fx-8150 as of now that's why we can't get any feedback yet. If manual overclock and mem settings can't fix these issue then it might be a bios related problem after all. Or better yet try using the latest officially released bios update version 1.30 it has some cpu code updates according to the website. Btw, the 1.44v is a bit buggy so I won't recommend it using with your fx-8150. Goodluck ^_^

These problems occured with the 1.30 BIOS but I also experienced them with the 1.47 one. I'm going to try the 1.47 BIOS again when I get back home, I'm also going to try different RAM.
The only settings which reliably work after a complete shutdown are the UEFI defaults, with RAM at 1333 MHz.

The big question to me here is why my settings change after a complete shutdown (when logging into Windows after the black screen I explained above, which tells me that the system has failed several times before and that I may change my settings in the BIOS). For example depending on which RAM settings I chose the baseclock seems to change. For example:
The 1866 MHz RAM setting seem to change my bus speed to 194 MHz and the 1600 MHz RAM setting seem to change the bus speed to 190 MHz (I'm not completely sure of this but I've seen it a couple of times). And also the CPU voltage is very different from what I set it to. For example as I said before I set my CPU to 4200 MHz with 1.3325V and RAM at 1600 CL9 and it booted in with the CPU at 3705 MHz with 1.432 V and the RAM at 1333 MHz.

I almost feels like it's changing my OC settings after a complete shutdown to some sort of fail-safe settings. I also had a theory that there might be some automatic overclocking function that is disturbing my settings. What else could it be that changes volts and frequencies? Worth mentioning again is that if I enter Windows with strange values after a shutdown (for example 3705 MHz) they correct themselves to what I set them to in the BIOS after a simple restart (back to 4200 MHz which I set in the BIOS). But if I turn off and turn on the computer again they change back to 3705 MHz and I have to restart to get my 4200 MHz back again.

[jedm33]

The big question to me here is why my settings change after a complete shutdown (when logging into Windows after the black screen I explained above, which tells me that the system has failed several times before and that I may change my settings in the BIOS).

Hmmmm, I think your problem is in the mem timings. I've experienced that too with incorrect or invalid ram timings, try setting it to 1866 as I've said above and experiment with different ram timing until it boots correctly without the black screen nags, mine worked at 8-8-8-24-31 ddr3 1600 cl8 1.5v ripjaws it's intel optimized I can't get it to work on cl6 timing though.

[Warwian]

Hmmmm, I think your problem is in the mem timings. I've experienced that too with incorrect or invalid ram timings, try setting it to 1866 as I've said above and experiment with different ram timing until it boots correctly without the black screen nags, mine worked at 8-8-8-24-31 ddr3 1600 cl8 1.5v ripjaws it's intel optimized I can't get it to work on cl6 timing though.

I tried a different kit of RAM this time with no improvements what so ever. Instead of the Mushkin 8GB 2133MHz CL9-kit which I used before I tried an older Corsair XMS3 4GB 1600MHz CL9-kit.

I also took some pictures this time!

This is a picture with the correct settings which I set in the BIOS:



Better picture that I sadly did not manage to link:

http://imageshack.us/f/685/beforeshutdown.png

And this is what happened with the very same BIOS configuration after I shut down the computer and turned it on again and got the blackscreen:



Better picture:

http://imageshack.us/f/18/aftershutdownandblacksc.png

Can anyone explain this?

I don't understand what's going on, there seems to be something wrong with this motherboard and I'm regretting buying it in the first place. God I miss my old Gigabyte-board now!

EDIT: The only way to make the computer boot with my Mushkins at 1866 is with the timings at CL10. I tried some really loose and weird ones and they seem to work: 10-10-10-30-40, even after a shutdown without getting a black screen. Worth mentioning again is that my XMS3s didn't make their rated specs either after a shutdown as you can see on the pictures above. The 1600 MHz CL9 changed to 1333 MHz CL9 after a shutdown and getting the black screen.

Another EDIT: I just sent a message to ASRock support to see if they have any ideas. It might just be a question about BIOS maturity after all, considering FX-8150 is fairly new and all.

[BeepBeep2]

ASRock has always been behind as well as Biostar for overclocking ram on AMD platforms...
Seems they have some compatibility issues to work out, ASUS and Gigabyte boards are doing fine.

ASRock boards almost always look good on paper though...but until Ket got on things about BIOS support and become the official fanb...I'll quit there...

I dunno, their intel boards have been doing a lot better so I can see why they are gaining respect. This board looks pretty.

[jedm33]

ASRock has always been behind as well as Biostar for overclocking ram on AMD platforms...
Seems they have some compatibility issues to work out, ASUS and Gigabyte boards are doing fine.

I agree, my gigabyte a75 ud2h is doing well with my ram configs before. I hope ASrock fixes the RAM issues ASAP, this board OC's so well and voltages are rock stable.

[Warwian]

Right, so after doing some more testing with the 1.47 BIOS I decided it was time for an update!

Here are some pictures of some of the many different OC settings I tried today (I know the pictures are worse than horrible and almost impossible to read but it's the best I could do for now):







Please note that this was just an example and I have no idea if those voltages are perfectly stable or not. It was just to show what happens with those settings after a complete shutdown.

Anyways, here are the very same settings after returning to Windows:



Looks great huh? Yeah.... but wait! This is what happens after shutting down the computer and turning it on again (after getting the black screen I've mentioned so many times before, remember that the black screen only appears if I turn off and on the computer and never during a normal restart):



Wath? What trickery is this? Bus speed yet again set to 194 MHz for some reason? And what about the DRAM frequency? 772 MHz at CL6? Lol :p

I figured that there might be something wrong with my OC settings, so I decided to have a go with CPU stock settings but trying for 1866 MHz on the RAM.

Here comes some more horrible pictures of the settings I used:



As you can see in this picture the 1.47 BIOS was able to read my RAM's SPD settings and load them correctly:



And as usual they worked perfectly before turning on and off the computer:



But once again they fail horribly after a complete shutdown:



Bus speed changes to 194 MHz yet again and the RAM returns to the same fail-safe 1333 MHz CL9 auto setting I've mentioned before.

Lastly, I decided to try to take a picture of the black screen I've mentioned so many times. There is nothing special about it really, you have probably all seen it before. Many times! The strange thing with is of course that is shown after only changing the RAM settings to a mere 1866 MHz which should be cake for Bulldozer.

The camera had immense problems focusing on the screen so the picture is absolutely horrible, but still:







After doing these tests I saw that ASRock support had posted a new BIOS on Tweaktown (http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/4...tml#post408002)
I tried this aswell, but it seems to be identical with 1.47. The reason why I think it might be identical to 1.47 is that my computer sometimes fails to show even the BIOS screen at all after turning off the C6 states setting. This problem doesn't exist on 1.30 but has happened on both the 1.35 and the 1.47.

And of course, as it is identical to 1.47 the same OC/RAM problems were happening there too, I tried for 1866 MHz there aswell but with no results.

[Valg]

Warwian -

Insert an USB stick into your MBO,
and in the UEFI press F12 to take a screenshot.

[Warwian]

Warwian -

Insert an USB stick into your MBO,
and in the UEFI press F12 to take a screenshot.

Thanks for the tip!

I actually decided to give the new 1.35 BIOS ago again and to also get a chance to take some new proper pictures. It seems the 1.35 isn't quite like the 1.47 BIOS after all! There are even more problems!

First of all! Here are the settings I used for the 4300MHz tests above (taken in the 1.35 BIOS instead of the 1.47 BIOS though, not that there is any difference; they still don't work. And yes! I have tried other settings and the results are similar: doesn't work properly (I did some more tries after these by just changing the voltages, multipliers, base clock around aswell as trying on many values on "auto" etc)!
The settings in the pictures were just an example!







As you can notice on the last picture the DRAM Frequency is at DDR3-1333, but that's just because I booted into BIOS with that. As you might have guessed. But these are the settings that I used on the pictures above running the 1.47 BIOS. You can also see the results of these settings in those screenshots above.

Anyways, I tried to boot Windows with these OC settings (I never tried any real OC settings when I tried the 1.35 BIOS before, I only tried to get the RAM to 1866 MHz while keeping the CPU at stock)
And of course, they didn't work at all. I got the black screen after the computer was turned on off again by changing the CPU/DRAM frequency settings (the computer of course shuts itself down after saving and exiting the BIOS depending on what settings I've set) and I was welcomed by the black screen yet again. This time I didn't bother to boot up Windows but instead went back into the BIOS. And as you can see on my next picture the DRAM Frequency settings had changed from 1866 MHz (that I set it to) to 800 MHz:



Yet again, the system has problems with the settings I chose in the BIOS. This time the strange values were actually shown in the BIOS though. I've only seen them in Windows before and they've always looked correct in the BIOS. Until now of course!

When I tried to have a look what the BIOS had changed the timings to after reverting to DDR-800 MHz I was met by this error:



Anyone know what that means? It just stopped being able to read my SPD profiles after that and it would only show that whatever changes I tried to make to the RAM.

[Warwian]

Any thoughts?