Asus Maximus Formula SE X38 - Living Review.

[Clunk]

Originally Posted by intelx38

What would be a safe voltage increase by?

As previously stated I have it set as below:

................Set.....Bios.....Vista
Vcore:.......1.42.....1.36.....1.35

VID in CoreTemp is showing about 1.2v

Which voltage application should I trust as being the proper one to follow?...

Looking forward to comments!

There is no "safe" voltage - on the box it should say something like 1.35v max, so anything over that, is potentially dangerous, according to Intel - Many people add much more than this, but do it at your own risk

Up the voltage a notch at a time until stable

[Beckett]

Received my second board back from Novatech this weekend. They managed to get it to POST using some shitty generic memory and flashed the BIOS to 0602 for me.

When I got it back it came up with corrupted BIOS on the first boot so i chucked 0701 onto a memory stick and used the built in BIOS recovery to reflash it.

After that it POSTED using the Ballistix memory with no trouble (at the default 1.8v). It seems this board's initial BIOS releases have major memory compatibility issues (even with memory on the QVL list).

Set the memory to 2.1v (BIOS reports 2.2v - massive stupid overvolt) and chucked in all four sticks. Vista 64 installed with no problems and everything was looking good...

..until 30 minutes later where it restarted and came back up with a corrupted BIOS again. For bonus stupidity the BIOS recovery will complete a re-flashing but when restarted will still be corrupt.

Anyone know of any reason that a working BIOS could corrupt itself for any reason other than the motherboard itself being faulty?

System spec for reference

Q6600
4GB (4x1GB) Cruical Ballistix PC2 6400
700watt FSP PSU
8800GTX

[Clunk]

Originally Posted by Nuckin_Futs

ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA SE Purchaced 10-11-07. Wow, I am very suprised of the not so good luck a lot of you are experiencing with this mobo.

How many users haveing average or good luck with theirs? I am running mine on air with same set up as Clunk but w/ E6750. Crucial Tracers PC2-8500 2x 1 GB,Lapped both ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme and CPU IHS. I cnat claim I got any better then other OC's for this same CPU on any of my other mobos as Abit IP-35 Pro, ASUS P5K Deluxe and even Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R. I can just say it is doing fine as so far to at least the same as the other models I used to date for this CPU (P35 based). I have no other X38 to compare it to yet, but am waiting for the ASUS P5E-WS Pro

Clunk, I am doing 500FSB just fine on air and with decent temps so far, but then dont have any X38 refference temps to go by. I get 3.50GHz as 500x7 @ 1.376v in 1:1 DDR1000 @ 4-4-4-12 @ 2.26v. NB: 1.5v @ 43c, SB: 1.10v @ 39c, SB2: 1.58v

How did you if so, get the DDR1200? I can't get 5:6 at 500FSB, so so if down to 450FSB. What area should I give attention to add chances of getting to boot as 5:6 DDR1200 at 500FSB? I am away but will try movig RAM to white slots when I return to see if it helps.

Also, did you get to play with the FSB strap outside of "Auto"? I used fixed strap of 333 when new on BIOS v0401 and was good to 500FSB @ 7x. But now on v0602, 8x works but nt in manual FSB strap. I have to set to "Auto" in order to boot @ 8x as 500FSB, but does goto 515FSB now just like on P5K.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forums

I suspect you got a higher FSB because its not a quad core, that seems to be the limiting factor.

Yes, I experimented with all the NB straps, but I couldnt get it any higher than 4382Mhz.

How high can you go with the 9x multi?

[newhit]

Originally Posted by Clunk

Welcome to the forums


How high can you go with the 9x multi?

Not sure but.........is the max multi 8x on the E6750 ?

[Clunk]

It's 8 I think...I read it wrong oops

[fatty5000]

Clunk mate help me out here

In pc probe I got

Fsbt 1.46v
dram ref 1.14v of which I don't know what either of these are
dram 2.29v
nb 1.63
I know what these 2 are

and, mb temp 40c
nb temp 62c
sb 52c

These are what are setting of alarms in pc probe like i say the first 2 are a mystery to me can you shed some light on them for. I think the nb temp is linked to the voltage so i'll change that now.
Do you think it's worth me lowering the ram voltage in bios although it set at 2.2v

Cheers mate

[Nuckin_Futs]

Originally Posted by Beckett

Anyone know of any reason that a working BIOS could corrupt itself for any reason other than the motherboard itself being faulty?

Q6600
4GB (4x1GB) Cruical Ballistix PC2 6400
700watt FSP PSU
8800GTX

If just after flashing, this is normal, just follow instructions to enter or set to defult values and enter to see how it does. Then I usually actually clear CMOS to start fresh and restart and set as I want and save my known good settings to aprofile save on floppy or Profile Save 1 or 2.

It is clear from using "Auto" voltages that this mobo overvolts on its own. So I set below to a degree or so, restart, and go directly to power/Hardware Monitor, and check BIOS reported right away and repeat till I see what I want. Lotf of overvolting happens to NB, FSBT and thus causes lots of PLL voltage.

Just what works for me on this and the ASUS CROSSHAIR.

[Nuckin_Futs]

Anybody, I want to stay withthe higher FSB but want a quad. I might want a Q6700, but are they known to hit a lesser or higher FSB then the Q6600 @ any multi on the right mobo. Oh ya, what mobos are getting those higher FSB's for say an E6850?

Can someone here confirm the average ceiling on some of the early batched E6750's as I get 516FSB on 1 and 515FSB on this here on each of better P35 and new X38 mobo?

[Nuckin_Futs]

I had a few moments to play round with memory deviders againngot a little bit further by moving the Crucial Tracers PC2-8500's to white slots. I increased PCI-E to 111 for now and got a 3:4 @ 450x8 as DDR1200 but loosened to 5-5-5-18 @ 2.32v and then a 4:5 @ 475x8 @ DDR1186 @ 5-5-5-18 but @ 2.288v. I then shot for a 4:5 @ 479x8 but with CPU still @ 1.476v as when @ 475x so maybe need more vcore and need to retry cause it crashd with BSOD and now is taking too long to detet RAID disc. I need to repair and go at it again tomorrow.

I will also give the beta BIOS a try to see if it helps.

I know these Tracers can do 1200MHz cause of my mK Deluxe. So I ask, what settings in this mobo are returning DDR1200 at any ratio other then 1:1? I like to use 500Xbut I am open to try other settings.

I set relax to 4 (was on 0), twister to "Auto" (was on moderate). Also, I see so many people afraid to take these RAMs over 2.2v, so how are you expecting to get anything over 1100 or hold 4-4-4-12 at 1066 if so then? Just curious?

What other RAM is proven to keep 1200 at less vdimm on these X38 or P35's?

[Clunk]

You are asking some impossible questions, thats probably why no-one has replied. I will try.

Originally Posted by Nuckin_Futs

Anybody, I want to stay withthe higher FSB but want a quad. I might want a Q6700, but are they known to hit a lesser or higher FSB then the Q6600 @ any multi on the right mobo. Oh ya, what mobos are getting those higher FSB's for say an E6850? You should know by now that pretty much every CPU is different. Many times, I've seen that XX stepping is performing brilliantly, and gone out an bought one, only to find that it wasnt a great performer after all. It is mostly down to the luck of the draw.

Can someone here confirm the average ceiling on some of the early batched E6750's as I get 516FSB on 1 and 515FSB on this here on each of better P35 and new X38 mobo? Again, another impossible question that no-one can answer with any factuality, unless of course, they had tested every single E6750 with every combination of hardware themselves. What might work well in one board, might not work so well in another.

Originally Posted by Nuckin_Futs

I had a few moments to play round with memory deviders againngot a little bit further by moving the Crucial Tracers PC2-8500's to white slots. I increased PCI-E to 111 for now and got a 3:4 @ 450x8 as DDR1200 but loosened to 5-5-5-18 @ 2.32v and then a 4:5 @ 475x8 @ DDR1186 @ 5-5-5-18 but @ 2.288v. I then shot for a 4:5 @ 479x8 but with CPU still @ 1.476v as when @ 475x so maybe need more vcore and need to retry cause it crashd with BSOD and now is taking too long to detet RAID disc. I need to repair and go at it again tomorrow.

I will also give the beta BIOS a try to see if it helps.

I know these Tracers can do 1200MHz cause of my mK Deluxe. So I ask, what settings in this mobo are returning DDR1200 at any ratio other then 1:1? I like to use 500Xbut I am open to try other settings. Again, impossible to say what will work for your hardware. I found that the maximus wasn't as good as my P5K for memory overclocking/tweaking, and a few of the dividers were very unstable, but things might change as the BIOS matures.

I set relax to 4 (was on 0), twister to "Auto" (was on moderate). Also, I see so many people afraid to take these RAMs over 2.2v, so how are you expecting to get anything over 1100 or hold 4-4-4-12 at 1066 if so then? Just curious? As you probably know, the Ballistix are D9xxx based. They can be very easy to kill, if you over do it with the voltage, and especially if you dont have any active cooling. Thats probably why *some* people are scared to over volt them. I did manage well over 1300Mhz with my Ballistix, but they were a bit special - now dead

What other RAM is proven to keep 1200 at less vdimm on these X38 or P35's? PC2-9600 is probably what you are looking for.