Asus Rampage Formula (X48) Thread

[glenbuck1914]

Originally Posted by RPIJG

I'm currently on tRD 9, because I haven't started tinkering yet. What BIOS are you running supposedly the newer BIOS were supposed to fix some of the quirky RAM compatibility issues.

I'm on 0403 at the mo, and it's nice and stable. Gradually learning what the myriad of clocks & timings are all about. I came from a simpler P5W DH mobo. That was as easy as FSB, multiplier, Ram Freq & Cas timings .

Loving this mobo though.. quirks and all, you can spend hours tinkering with it

[ParaSwarm]

Originally Posted by RPIJG

no graphics stability problems...

Suggestion, though you weren't soliciting. If you can find a copy of WinXP x86 try that and see what happens. I just feel like the "quirky" nature of the XP x64 might be hassling you. Try Vista x86. Don't have to buy just download one of the many evaluation unactivated versions, I just don't think it's your card. Most all of the cards that came out in the "first wave" were all made by AMD/ATI. My card doesn't say visiontek, if it wasn't for the box, it would just look like it came from AMD/ATI directly.

Okay, I just might do that. I have a spare raptor that I could throw another OS onto. Honestly, I probably will end up replacing this with the Visiontek just for the awesome warranty. I hear you though; my card also has the stock "Radeon" sticker on the heatsink. I shouldn't have bought this so quickly. Damn my impatience! Thank you for the suggestion.

In an effort to contribute to the thread... I've built a few computers in my time, and the Rampage is by far the most stable board I've ever had. The amount of features it has is great. I've owned this board for a month and a half and I've not regretted it at any time.

The Rampage NB/SB are known for getting quite hot; replacing the crappy stock pads lowers your temps atleast 10C. I've replaced the stock thermal paste and pads on the northbridge and southbridge and I took step-by-step photos of the procedure if anyone would like some information on this.

[RPIJG]

Originally Posted by ParaSwarm

The Rampage NB/SB are known for getting quite hot; replacing the crappy stock pads lowers your temps atleast 10C. I've replaced the stock thermal paste and pads on the northbridge and southbridge and I took step-by-step photos of the procedure if anyone would like some information on this.

Yes please! That would be a great addition to this thread. I'm thinking about doing that at some point. Though a little spot fan over the NB dropped my temps down about 5ºC as well.

[Robilar]

Curious mate. I just switched out the Asus P5E for the Rampage Formula. I tried a boot up and windows runs fine. I am running orthos currently.

Doesn't look like I will have to do a reload.

What are your thoughts? Should I bother? I am going to run an hour of orthos with the same overclock I had on the P5E and then run 3dmark06 and see if there are any stability issues but so far so good.

[Robilar]

This board seriously overvolts the nb when left on auto. 1.6? Also my nb temps are in the 55c range which is about 10c higher than the P5E.

[RPIJG]

Originally Posted by Robilar

This board seriously overvolts the nb when left on auto. 1.6? Also my nb temps are in the 55c range which is about 10c higher than the P5E.

yup, that was my finding for the auto setting on the NB, I can set mine at the lowest setting and I'm perfectly stable at 400FSB at the moment. Helps with temps too.

As for drivers, you may have been close enough, I don't know. The two boards are practically identical, the fact that you can burn the Rampage BIOS onto the P5E tells you that. I'm going to be shooting for some FSB to see how high I can tap that out soon here. I'm hoping for at least 500FSB.

[Robilar]

What kind of temps are you getting on the nb and what do you have your nb voltage set to? I turned it down to 1.41 which is stable but temps are 53-55C (mind you my office ambient is hot today, around 25C).

Big jump in temps over the P5E though. I have the same cooling setup for both (200mm fan in door and a 60mm fan right on the nb held down with zip ties).

I ran a 3dmark06 run and its pretty much identical to the P5E. I am also running an orthos low at 9x400 (1.2125 vcore heh heh) which so far has been dead stable.

[ericeod]

Originally Posted by Robilar

Curious mate. I just switched out the Asus P5E for the Rampage Formula. I tried a boot up and windows runs fine. I am running orthos currently.

Doesn't look like I will have to do a reload.

What are your thoughts? Should I bother? I am going to run an hour of orthos with the same overclock I had on the P5E and then run 3dmark06 and see if there are any stability issues but so far so good.

I dont think you need to reload. I was able to switch from a P5E with the Rampage bios, to the Maximus Extreme without a reload. I ended up doing one a few months later becasue I switched to a pair of WD640AAKS HDDs.

[Robilar]

Originally Posted by ericeod

I dont think you need to reload. I was able to switch from a P5E with the Rampage bios, to the Maximus Extreme without a reload. I ended up doing one a few months later becasue I switched to a pair of WD640AAKS HDDs.

Looks ok as well. Tried COD4, ran a 3dmark06 and an hour (so far) of orthos without a hiccup.

[RPIJG]

1.25V on my NB without any issues. Temps run about 45 at idle, 50-55 under load. I'm sure if I cleaned up the TIM it would drop lower.