zlojack

LOL good point

I'm not seeing the bios version anywhere. That would also help.

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Taikero

Yeah, if he's using a pre-0501 version (probably), then Load Line Calibration could potentially be contributing to the instability (Because apparently something with the calculation was fixed in 0501.....I'm still on 0301 though. XD ).

It could also be that the RAM just didn't "lock in" right, or there's some dust in between the RAM and the connectors in the socket, or.....Blah.

LazyEngineer

Thanks! I upped the Common Performance Level to 11, (I assume this is the tRD zlojack was talking about?)

Other change specifics:
RAM timings have now been loosened all the way to 9-9-9
CPU Voltage dropped to 1.2437
CPU PLL dropped to 1.511
Northbridge dropped to 1.365
DRAM upped to 1.855
CPU and PCIE Spreads both disabled (thanks for the description btw, was wondering what those ment).

I also disabled the 3.5" Legacy thing, since I'm not using that anyway.

BIOS is 0501 for Bearlake Chipset, 8/28/2008

On another note, I have to tell Vista that yes, it's OK to run CPUZ every time I launch it. Damn that's annoying, how do I turn off that feature for this program?

I launch Crysis, before even playing I lauch CPUZ:
Slot1: Empty, no data (uh oh)
Slot2: Lets good, but part number is garbled
Slot3: Looks good, but serial number is blank
Slot4: Specifically says "Empty"
All slots (That say anything) says 1.50V (whereas PC Probe II is telling me DRAM VTT is 0.92 and DDR is 1.85)
Yet under Memory it's still saying I've got 8 GB of RAM

this can't be good.

Close and relaunch CPUZ (That's it, still haven't launched the game):
Slot1:Looks OK, no serial number or Command Rate though
Slot2:Looks OK, Part Number is a bit Garbled
Slot3:Looks OK, but no Serial Number
Slot4:"Empty"
If slot 4 is "Empty", what is it saying I have 8GB of RAM??

spigen

Well I guess I can join the party. I've had this board for a couple weeks know. Its been interesting setting it up, since it was a my first build ever. The bios have been the biggest pain. Since its made for an overclocker....i've had to catch up on studing manual bios adjusting. (The auto settings never worked for me) First issue was the ram settings and the right slots to stick them in. I've pretty much worked out all the issues. except for one thing, my Northbridge runs hot. At stock 400 fsb, well not stock, but stock for my ram. 60C, I had it over clock to 480 fsb and it would heat up to 70-72C under load...tooo hot. So I put it back down to 400 and reliezed something has to be up, so I took off the heat sink to the northbridge and found only a small section of it has touching the northbridge...The AS5 only showed the contact there. So I reapplied more, and then put it back together. The temp dropped almost 10C.

After reading this thread I adjusted my bios so more (the CPU PLL voltage, northbridge voltage, loadline off)

set my fbs to 450 x 8.5, I had the choice of either down clocking my ram or overclocking it. I downclocked it to 1500.

After running Prime for an hour or so the highest one of my CPU cores got was 60c, which I thought was good on air cooling (Xig Rifle 120mm) Northbridge didn't get over 59-60c.

So....I have a stable clock with my Q9550 at 3.85, 1.272 vcore, cpupll 1.55v, NB 1.35v

Questions:

-what is the common performance in bios? I have mine set to 10? should I change it.
-what are your thoughts on the volts and temps?
-Finally do you have any suggestions for the NB temps? I was thinking about taking the motherboard out of the case and taking apart the complete heatsink and applying AS5? I ask because I see temps for other peoples boards a lot lower than mine.

thanks.

zlojack

I would say look at the washer mod for the NB to see if you can get better pressure. The general consensus that I've seen is that aftermarket cooling is the way to go on this board (sucks for such an expensive board, but it works)

For 450 you should try for a performance level of 7. That would get you much better bandwidth, but you'd have to up voltage to probably 1.45 or so on the NB. Your voltages look great, but the temps on the NB with aftermarket cooling can stay in the 40ish range.

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spigen

lol yeah I tried that little fan they give you...didn't do much. I wouldn't mind a quick fix to get the NB to some more reasonable temps. I know further overclocking needs watercooling on the NB (or thats what it acts like it needs) watercooling=more money. which I don't have at the moment.

What kind of aftermarket cooling are you talking about.

washer mod??

Also my 120mm rifle cooler seems to work better vertically on the board instead of horizontal? is that because it was blowing hotter air from the northbridge thought it?

zlojack

Washer mod = some nylon washers on the back of the board to make the heatsinks fit tighter. Check Robilar's posts in this thread.

Aftermarket doesn't necessarily mean water. Thermalright stuff works well.

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OpTicaL

zlojack, I'm trying to help a buddy of mine overclock his rampage extreme but I have a few things I'd like to clear up first.

My buddy is using 8GB (2GBx4) of OCZ Gold DDR3 1800Mhz. Does installing 4 sticks of RAM automatically reduce the RAM frequency? Is the memory still running in dual-channel mode when using 4 sticks of memory?

Under the Extreme Tweaker tab -> DRAM Frequency, Is this Asus's new way of labeling CPU to DRAM Freq. Ratio? DDR3-1333, DDR3-1600, etc instead of the using the old 1:1, 5:4, 3:2, etc. If so which setting is 1:1? would it be DDR3-1333? since my buddy's QX9650 fsb is 1333? and if my buddy was using a QX9770, would selecting DRAM freq of DDR3-1600 be 1:1 ratio?

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zlojack

Wow... there are a lot of things to address here.

The ratios are determined by the FSB, the FSB strap and the final DRAM freq you select.

So, for 1:2 (which is like 1:1) on 333 FSB with the 333 or 400 strap, you would get 1333. If you bump your FSB to 400, you can then get 1600 DRAM on those same two straps. Each strap has certain dividers it allows you to enable. You can also leave it on AUTO and it will show you the full range of DRAM speeds available on any given FSB.

Now, as to the 1600 MHz, my RAM won't do it on this board. I've been trying since I got it to get some sort of stability with the 400 FSB and the 333 and 400 strap to get my RAM to 1600 and it's not working. So I'm running it at 1333 until such time as I can get some of the G.Skill PI 1600 MHz 2x2GB sticks, which have shown to be more compatible with this board at this time (I'm on bios 0601 and have tried 0503)

Also, from what I've seen so far, 8GB of RAM are tough to clock on this board. I would suggest trying 4GB to start and see what you can get stable, then maybe upping to 8.

There are a lot of adjustments that need to be made, which I am still learning about.

It also doesn't help that I'm on stock cooling right now while I rebuild my LC loop, so I'm not able to push the CPU much.

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OpTicaL

I'm still confused with the 1:2 ratio. Does 1:2 mean for every 1 fsb I get 2Mhz increase * (whatever my multiplier is)? or vice versa? In additional, with all four DIMMs used does his RAM still run in dual-channel mode? I don't manual in front of me or I could look it up.

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