Asus Maximus Formula SE X38 - Living Review.

[DMight]

Sadly, Disabling Legacy USB is not the answer for me. Found it in BIOS, disabled it, same problem.

Such a strange thing. After disabling Legacy USB, I played about 5 min. of Gears of War on High settings, played beautifully. Then I quit the game and went to my now standard test...right click on the desktop, select NVIDIA Control Panel, and see if it "stutters". It did.

I also took the step of uninstalling the Windows HD Audio drivers. First I uninstalled SoundMax drivers, then reboot, uninstalled MS HD Audio drivers, then reboot, tried to install SoundMax drivers and received an error message that the HD Audio bus drivers were not present but required.

I think I might be at the point of a complete reformat and re-install...again.

[Clunk]

Yes, in the BIOS.

And yes, if in doubt, disable legacy USB - joking aside though, it has been the cause of hundreds of weird issues on many Asus boards for quite a while now, so it's always worth a try.

Also try disabling everything onboard that you arent using.

[DMight]

After a fresh reformat and reinstall w/bare minimum drivers, the problem is still present. I think there's actually a problem with the PCIE bus as I've tried 3 different PCIE cards now and all have the same issue. I'm going to send this one back, and given my own and others issues with this board and the recent EOL announcement, my confidence in this product is a bit shaken and I'm going to look into alternatives.

Are any of the current X38 boards doing well? They all seemed to have immature BIOS when they came out. In my option the Maximus Formula has yet to resolve it's BIOS issues. Are Abit or Gigabyte faring any better? Am I better off going with one of the late generation P35 boards? What's this BlackPearl I've heard mention of?

Thanks all.

[Nuckin_Futs]

K, I'm back again with some more results. I flashed to BIOS v0701 BETA and got my 5:6 DDR1200 at 500x7. Oddly enough, my previous 500x7 or 8 at 1:1 with 4-4-4-12 was picky getin to load after new BIOS.

Clunk, What did you have to run your Tracers at to hold DDR1200? Did you feel it was worth the difference for you? I didn't really feel a big gain in daily apps as opposed to tighert 4-4-4-9 @ 2.245v in 1:1 at same 500x7. Everest reports 9477 @ 1200 in 5:6 @ same 500x7, but shoews 9869 in 3:4 on same DDR1200 but now 450x8. That was w/ BIOS v0602 if it makes a difference.

@ anybody here, Are OCZ PC2-9200 a god buy at $200.00 to OC to 1200 or a hopefull 1333? Are the PC2-9600 even known to do 1333 at reasonable voltages? Also, I see OCZ specs their 1150 @ 2.34v. What do you know of this on these RAMs as for lasting. I dont question their RMA, I know they cover it, but do you have to keep doing it often at these kind of voltages?

[olliewbnn]

wrong topic

[nick_000000]

I reveived a new bios file from Abit Europe New BIOS file 12b02. I also have the confirmation that the fan mount clips for the pwm's should be included and that the pwm temp can easily be in 100 degrees C ! When i get more info, you will get it to !!!

When you want the bios email me @
nmsystems@chello.nl

The problem with bios freezes is also adressed. This can occur when you press del before the post code 26. They promised this will be resolved...

Err wrong review this is the ASUS Maximus Review

[ginbong]

K, I'm back again with some more results. I flashed to BIOS v0701 BETA and got my 5:6 DDR1200 at 500x7. Oddly enough, my previous 500x7 or 8 at 1:1 with 4-4-4-12 was picky getin to load after new BIOS.

Clunk, What did you have to run your Tracers at to hold DDR1200? Did you feel it was worth the difference for you? I didn't really feel a big gain in daily apps as opposed to tighert 4-4-4-9 @ 2.245v in 1:1 at same 500x7. Everest reports 9477 @ 1200 in 5:6 @ same 500x7, but shoews 9869 in 3:4 on same DDR1200 but now 450x8. That was w/ BIOS v0602 if it makes a difference.

@ anybody here, Are OCZ PC2-9200 a god buy at $200.00 to OC to 1200 or a hopefull 1333? Are the PC2-9600 even known to do 1333 at reasonable voltages? Also, I see OCZ specs their 1150 @ 2.34v. What do you know of this on these RAMs as for lasting. I dont question their RMA, I know they cover it, but do you have to keep doing it often at these kind of voltages?

dude, whats with all the fuss over your memory timings and speed. will you even get a 3% increase in performance over a 800mhz 4-4-4-12 timing?

[egandt]

CPU multiplier control, I'm stuck at 11 with a new QX9650, I know that it should be variable and unlocked so I should be able to select what I want, but I can not do so. With my old Asus DH5 deluxe I need to to have just the right set of options set for the multiplier to work, is it the same here?

Thanks,
ERIC

[Clunk]

K, I'm back again with some more results. I flashed to BIOS v0701 BETA and got my 5:6 DDR1200 at 500x7. Oddly enough, my previous 500x7 or 8 at 1:1 with 4-4-4-12 was picky getin to load after new BIOS.

Clunk, What did you have to run your Tracers at to hold DDR1200? Did you feel it was worth the difference for you? I didn't really feel a big gain in daily apps as opposed to tighert 4-4-4-9 @ 2.245v in 1:1 at same 500x7. Everest reports 9477 @ 1200 in 5:6 @ same 500x7, but shoews 9869 in 3:4 on same DDR1200 but now 450x8. That was w/ BIOS v0602 if it makes a difference.

@ anybody here, Are OCZ PC2-9200 a god buy at $200.00 to OC to 1200 or a hopefull 1333? Are the PC2-9600 even known to do 1333 at reasonable voltages? Also, I see OCZ specs their 1150 @ 2.34v. What do you know of this on these RAMs as for lasting. I dont question their RMA, I know they cover it, but do you have to keep doing it often at these kind of voltages?

They are all different. I have had several sets of ballistix, and all have required a different amount of voltage to hit 1200Mhz.

The difference in performance, is how I said in the earlier post - not much in it.

Please post any more questions like this in the hardware section.

Thanks

[Nuckin_Futs]

dude, whats with all the fuss over your memory timings and speed. will you even get a 3% increase in performance over a 800mhz 4-4-4-12 timing?

No fuss really, In fact I'm fine w/ my current settings for now. It's just that now on BIOS 701, keeping them requires a lot of finessing, and now DDR1200 is like the comfortible spot on the 7 or 8 multi. I now have to set RAM Frequency and Strap to Auto in order to get 1:1 before I can adjust timeings.