TheNix

Hey guys, just thought i'd start a thread for all of us running a Maximus be it a Formula or Extreme, watercooled or not as there are a few running about.
What i'd like from you is help and information with Bios revisions, settings, and anything to do with the Maximus really

Im running a Maximus Formula non-water cooled version myself, on which i removed the heatsink and added my own watercooling solution to get better results.

Im still running on Bios 401 () and havent had the need/time to upgrade to a newer revision, any information regarding this would be appreciated.

Waiting for your input y'all

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TheNix

Latest stable bios version: 1201
Latest beta bios version: 1004
As with all beta products, please use the beta bios with extreme caution as it could make or break your board.
Latest Rampage Formula Bios: 0401 (Big thank you to ericeod)

Information on removing and cleaning the heatsink/pipe solution here
P.S. The poster mentions not having to heat up the heatsink and only applied pressure, in the case of your motherboard having a pretty well stuck on heatsink, do NOT apply excessive force! Use a hair dryer to heat up the heatsink to enable the Asus applied paste to break off, excessive force may damage your board

Asus P5E thread with loads of information here
Many thanks to ericeod and XxSilent22xX for this!
(The Maximus and the P5E are very similar boards, both running the same chipset and very similar options, so this is a good look!)

XtremeSystems threads on the Maximus here, here, and here
Excellent information with links to bios revisions, Maximus vDroop pencil mod, suggested setups and more!

Ram overvolting
The Maximus overvolts ram by approximately 0.04v+, especially when running auto settings, thus it is recommended to set the settings by yourself (e.g. when needing 2.1 volts set it manually to 2.06) This may be specific to your board, check your Ram voltage by using a program like Everest to check your voltages

Small stability issues
There have been reports that disabling the onboard LED's and removing the Post display can matter for slight stability problems

Maximus vdroop pencil mod and information here (Scroll a bit down in the post to view which resistor to mod)
The Asus Maximus board has a vdroop problem (the voltage supplied to the cpu is not stable when under load, drops by a small amount which can require you to run a slightly higher voltage to get it stable, by using a pencil on the resistor shown there with a few strokes you can stabilise the voltage to be the same as under load and when idle, this will drop your idle temps slightly)

Direct downloads of bios revisions here (XtremeSystems)

Direct link to Asus Drivers site for the Maximus Formula here

Turn your Maximus into a Rampage! Check it out here

Further info to follow

HappyVirus

Hm..we should add a RAM section for this...as RAM gives trouble for many

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BigKriss

Good one Nix..+rep..
I have had the same problem of multi`s not being changed within bios ..This came about with vers.0906.
I have just found version 1003 on the Asus forum and will flash it after this.
As for the watercooling of the NB,Asus themselves macjine the top off the std NB and fit an aftermarket waterblock..I might do the same as I have some real old school NB and SB waterblocks from some ancient kit I had ..

For those who want the new version bios,linky here...
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=412708&da=y

I must say I have found my ram on auto to be very hot ! Almost shoeshoes when touching by hand..I now have a fan permanently blowing on them..
Cheers,K

Ravin

Yup...mine came off pretty easy, although the board had never been powered on. Heat may assist in setting what ever epoxy ASUS used, so if you have already been running your board removal may be difficult.
Agreed- if Ericoed's thread has helped you out spread the Rep+.
Both of those threads are a great place to look for info on the Maximus.

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Maximus Overhaul *Updated 03/05/08*

CPUz Valid 400x9CPUz Valid 450x8
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TheNix

The SB doesnt really need a WB, a small heatsink with a fan will suffice i believe, indeed a ram section is needed for this mobo as it can be picky (and fry ram due to overvolting!)

Im currently searching around the forum for more information posted by members and errors occured to make a good list, thanks for the input to you all!

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ericeod

I dont think you even need a fan on the SB. I have an HR-05-SLI (fanless)on my SB and it is fine. When I had the same one on my 680i, the SB temps never went over 36°C

As for the ram, it is important to note that the boards overvolt the ram by +0.04v!

Great thread by the way!

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eVGA 680i Overclocking guide .......... ASUS P5E/Maximus Thread.......... 4.4GHz CPU-Z

Ravin

I found that I get better performance at 800MHz with tighter timings than I do with 1100MHz+ and looser timings. I do lose about 2% bandwidth @ 800MHz, but my latencies are cut almost in half.

I tipped Cyberdruid off to this, Going from 3.6GHz(900x4) @DDR1100ish to DDR800 4-4-4-12 shaved 5 minutes/% completion off his quad-core SMP folding.

Running 800MHz seems to be a real sweet spot for RAM, unless you can break 1200+MHz DDR- Likely due to MCH latencies.

__________________
Maximus Overhaul *Updated 03/05/08*

CPUz Valid 400x9CPUz Valid 450x8
Ask me about my private DII Battlenet server.

Ravin

I'll second all that. The SB is fairly low power....4-8W I think? The NB is beefier 36-38W.

Yea, my Vdimm OVs by 0.10-0.12, my VNB by 0.06. My Vcore droop is only 0.024 with load line cal on.

__________________
Maximus Overhaul *Updated 03/05/08*

CPUz Valid 400x9CPUz Valid 450x8
Ask me about my private DII Battlenet server.

ericeod

I agree with your explanation on the ram. My stance is that 1:1 with lower timings will get you the best performance. Since the system clock is the FSB speed, why try to run your ram faster? The chipset latency will come into effect when the FSB is increased. So it does get to a point where you dont want to go too high with the FSB. This is especially true with the NVIDIA chipset. But the X38 allows you st set the chipset strap, but I cant get stablity on anything besides 400 once I go above 400 FSB...

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eVGA 680i Overclocking guide .......... ASUS P5E/Maximus Thread.......... 4.4GHz CPU-Z