Asus Rampage III Extreme - results thread

[vilkoyote]

Hi everybody I'm brand new to the World of overcloking and sorry if I do some grammar mistakes (as English is not my primary language).

I just bought this new baby :

For the computer components parts :
• Tower Antec 1200
• Power : Corsair HX1000W - ATX 12V 2.2/EPS
• ASUS Rampage III Extreme
• Intel Core i7 920 Rév. SLBEJ
• G.Skill Trident Series 2 kits 2 x 2 Go (total 8 Go) DDR3-SDRAM PC3-17066 (9-9-9-24 1.65 v)
• 2 x XFX ATI Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition 2 GB - 2 Go Dual DVI/Mini (crossfire enabled)
• Primary HD : Kingston SSDNow V+ Series - SSD 64 Go Serial ATA II
• Secondary HD : Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 - 2 To 7200 RPM 32 Mo Serial ATA II (bulk)

For the water cooling part :
• XSPC Double Bay water tank + Pump X2O 750 DUAL - 12 Volts.
• Full WaterBlock EK-FB RE3 Nickel - Rampage III Extreme.
• WaterBlock CPU Apogee XT Sockets 775, 1156 & 1366.
• Radiator CoolStream RAD-XT 480.
• 4 x ventilator SLIP STREAM - 120*120*25mm - 24dBA - 68.5CFM.
• Akasa Fan controler 5"1/4 AK-FC-0.
• Akasa ventilator AK-191-SM ( directly on the memories ).

The actual system is running smoothly at native speed and memory settings (CPU / 2.66 Ghz - DDR3 / 9-9-9-24 1.65 V 2133 Mhz; so faultless assembly) and the temperature is pretty good ( cpu 32°C and IOH ICH 33°C under some gaming ) Only the graphic cards are burning like hell under some heavy charge....

First Problem : as soon I try to do some tweaking (mem speed, bclk ....) I'm loosing some memory size randomly 2 or 4 Gb / 8 ,even with the last 704 bios (the only solution I found was to put away the fourth memory module to get the issue removed). Any Idea where the problem is coming from ? (should work on the paper).

My purpose is to reach a 4.1 / 4.3 ghz stable system running the memories at their maximum speed (around 2133 MHz). I tried many settings posted here but I can't get the system stable ( frozen boot or BSOD under windows 7 ultimate x64).

Could any one give me some good basic bios settings (working with an I7 920) to begin with ?

Thank you for your time.
Best regards.

Vilkoyote aka Famishius Overclockus Idioticus

[donmarkoni]

Hi! Welcome!
I like your avatar.
Don't worry, you'll learn.
First of all, you need to fill this BIOS template:

Target CPU Frequency		4200MHz
Target DRAM Frequency		2005MHz

LN2 Mode:			Disabled***
QPI Loadline Calibration:	Enabled***

Sync Mode			[Enabled]
AI Overclock Tuner		[Manual]
OC From CPU level Up		[Auto]
CPU Ratio Setting		[21.0]
CPU Turbo Power Limit		[Disabled]

>CPU Configuration----------------------------
CPU Ratio Setting		[21.0]
C1E Support			[Enabled]
Hardware Prefetcher		[Enabled]
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetcher	[Enabled]
Intel(R) Virtualization Tech	[Enabled]
CPU TM Function			[Disabled]
Execute Disable Bit		[Enabled]
Intel(R) HT Technology		[Enabled]
Active Processor Cores		[All]
A20M				[Disabled]
Intel(R) SpeedStep(TM) Tech	[Enabled]
Intel(R) C-STATE Tech		[Enabled]
C State package limit setting	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------

BCLK Frequency			[200]
PCIE Frequency			[100]
DRAM Frequency			[2005]
UCLK Frequency			[4009]
QPI Link Data Rate		[7218]

Memory Configuration Protect	[Disabled]

>DRAM Timing Control--------------------------
CAS# Latency		      7	[7]
RAS# to CAS# Delay	      9	[9]
RAS# PRE Time		      7	[7]
RAS# ACT Time		     21	[21]
RAS# to RAS# Delay	      6	[Auto]
REF Cycle Time		     88	[88]
WRITE Recovery Time	     12	[11]
READ to PRE Time	      7	[Auto]
FOUR ACT WIN Time	     28	[Auto]
Back-To-BackCAS# Delay	      0	[Auto]

Timing Mode		     1N	[1N]
Round Trip Latency on CHA    59	[59]
Round Trip Latency on CHB    61	[61]
Round Trip Latency on CHC    62	[62]

WRITE To READ Delay(DD)	      8	[Auto]
WRITE To READ Delay(DR)	      8	[Auto]
WRITE To READ Delay(SR)	     19	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(DD)	      8	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(DR)	      8	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(SR)	      8	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DD)	      7	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DR)	      6	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(SR)	      4	[Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(DD)      7	[Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(DR)      7	[Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(SR)      4	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------

CPU Differential Amplitude	[Auto]
CPU Clock Skew			[Auto]
IOH Clock Skew			[Auto]
------------ Extreme Engine Digi+ ------------
Digi+ PWR Mode			[T-Balanced]
PWR Volt. Control		[Auto]
Load-Line Calibration		[Full]
CPU Voltege OCP			[Enabled]
CPU PWM Frequency		[1000kHz]

Extreme OV			[Disabled]
Extreme OC			[Auto]

CPU Voltage		1.310	[1.31250]
CPU PLL Voltage 	1.812	[Auto]
QPI/DRAM Core Voltage	1.415	[1.42500]
DRAM Bus Voltage	1.654	[Auto]

>DRAM REF Voltages----------------------------
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHA	[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHB	[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHC	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------

IOH Voltage		1.244	[Auto]
IOH PCIE Voltage	1.508	[Auto]

ICH Voltage		1.111	[Auto]
ICH PCIE Voltage		[Auto]

---------- Spread Spectrum Control -----------
CPU Spread Spectrum		[Disabled]
DRAM Spread Spectrum		[Disabled]



***on-board jumper dependant

Best way to do it is to take pictures of your BIOS screens/settings with camera or mobile phone and then fill in the template. Very important is to fill in actual values, they are before brackets, as well as the values set, in brackets.
Also, take a note about a QPI Load Line Calibration, it is done with a jumper near the EATX24 plug. You should turn of your rig and switch it if you like. It is recommended for OC'ing.
You see it? QPI_LL_SW.

BTW: Post some pictures of the actual rig. It is always nice to see.

[vilkoyote]

Wow, fast answer donmarkoni thanx

For the jumpers It was already done (I've done some readings and I followed your previous post )

Regarding the pictures, I can't just put my hand right now on a descent camera cause I let the previous one on the back of my car, so 70°C a whole day , it didn't survive (and I swear I didn't tried some OC with that one ). But as soon as I got a new one it will be done .

Ok here are the bios settings off my own (I tried to put mem profile parameters the same as XMp did as it was running at 2133 MHz).

Target CPU Frequency		4260MHz
Target DRAM Frequency		2135MHz

LN2 Mode:			Disabled***
QPI Loadline Calibration:	Enabled***

Sync Mode			[Enabled]
AI Overclock Tuner		[Manual]
OC From CPU level Up		[Auto]
CPU Ratio Setting		[21.0]
CPU Turbo Power Limit		[Disabled]

>CPU Configuration----------------------------
CPU Ratio Setting		[21.0]
C1E Support			[Enabled]
Hardware Prefetcher		[Enabled]
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetcher	[Enabled]
Intel(R) Virtualization Tech	[Enabled]
CPU TM Function			[Disabled]
Execute Disable Bit		[Enabled]
Intel(R) HT Technology		[Enabled]
Active Processor Cores		[All]
A20M				[Disabled]
Intel(R) SpeedStep(TM) Tech	[Enabled]
Intel(R) C-STATE Tech		[Enabled]
C State package limit setting	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------

BCLK Frequency			[213]
PCIE Frequency			[100]
DRAM Frequency			[2135]
UCLK Frequency			[4270]
QPI Link Data Rate		[7218]

Memory Configuration Protect	[Disabled]

>DRAM Timing Control--------------------------
CAS# Latency		      8	[9]
RAS# to CAS# Delay	      8	[9]
RAS# PRE Time		      8	[9]
RAS# ACT Time		     20	[24]
RAS# to RAS# Delay	      4	[Auto]
REF Cycle Time		     59	[Auto]
WRITE Recovery Time	     8	[Auto]
READ to PRE Time	      6	[Auto]
FOUR ACT WIN Time	     20	[Auto]
Back-To-BackCAS# Delay	      0	[Auto]

Timing Mode		     1N	[2N]
Round Trip Latency on CHA    50	[Auto]
Round Trip Latency on CHB    52	[Auto]
Round Trip Latency on CHC    52	[Auto]

WRITE To READ Delay(DD)	      5	[Auto]
WRITE To READ Delay(DR)	      5	[Auto]
WRITE To READ Delay(SR)	     14	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(DD)	     10	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(DR)	     10	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(SR)	     10	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DD)	      7	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DR)	      6	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(SR)	      4	[Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(DD)      7	[Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(DR)      7	[Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(SR)      4	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------

CPU Differential Amplitude	[Auto]
CPU Clock Skew			[Auto]
IOH Clock Skew			[Auto]
------------ Extreme Engine Digi+ ------------
Digi+ PWR Mode			[T-Balanced]
PWR Volt. Control		[Auto]
Load-Line Calibration		[Full]
CPU Voltege OCP			[Enabled]
CPU PWM Frequency		[1000kHz]

Extreme OV			[Disabled]
Extreme OC			[Auto]

CPU Voltage		1.158	[1.32500]
CPU PLL Voltage 	1.812	[Auto]
QPI/DRAM Core Voltage	1.177	[1.42500]
DRAM Bus Voltage	1.601	[1.65625]

>DRAM REF Voltages----------------------------
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHA	[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHB	[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHC	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------

IOH Voltage		1.244	[Auto]
IOH PCIE Voltage	1.508	[Auto]

ICH Voltage		1.111	[Auto]
ICH PCIE Voltage		[Auto]

---------- Spread Spectrum Control -----------
CPU Spread Spectrum		[Disabled]
DRAM Spread Spectrum		[Disabled]



***on-board jumper dependant

These settings are giving me a blank screen (no vid signal)
(In fact everytime a try to put a bclk over 200)
I also tried the QPI slow mode, it gave me a bad boot block sector on the bios

Any suggestions ?

Best regards.

[donmarkoni]

By vilkoyote

Target CPU Frequency		4200MHz
Target DRAM Frequency		2005MHz

LN2 Mode:			Disabled***
QPI Loadline Calibration:	Enabled***

Sync Mode			[Enabled]
AI Overclock Tuner		[Manual]
OC From CPU level Up		[Auto]
CPU Ratio Setting		[21.0]
CPU Turbo Power Limit		[Disabled]

>CPU Configuration----------------------------
CPU Ratio Setting		[21.0]
C1E Support			[Enabled]
Hardware Prefetcher		[Enabled]
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetcher	[Enabled]
Intel(R) Virtualization Tech	[Enabled]
CPU TM Function			[Disabled]
Execute Disable Bit		[Enabled]
Intel(R) HT Technology		[Enabled]
Active Processor Cores		[All]
A20M				[Disabled]
Intel(R) SpeedStep(TM) Tech	[Enabled]
Intel(R) C-STATE Tech		[Enabled]
C State package limit setting	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------

BCLK Frequency			[200]
PCIE Frequency			[100]
DRAM Frequency			[2005]
UCLK Frequency			[4009]
QPI Link Data Rate		[7218]

Memory Configuration Protect	[Disabled]

>DRAM Timing Control--------------------------
CAS# Latency		      8	[9]
RAS# to CAS# Delay	      8	[9]
RAS# PRE Time		      8	[9]
RAS# ACT Time		     20	[24]
RAS# to RAS# Delay	      4	[Auto]
REF Cycle Time		     59	[Auto]
WRITE Recovery Time	     8	[Auto]
READ to PRE Time	      6	[Auto]
FOUR ACT WIN Time	     20	[Auto]
Back-To-BackCAS# Delay	      0	[Auto]

Timing Mode		     1N	[1N]
Round Trip Latency on CHA    50	[Auto]
Round Trip Latency on CHB    52	[Auto]
Round Trip Latency on CHC    52	[Auto]

WRITE To READ Delay(DD)	      5	[Auto]
WRITE To READ Delay(DR)	      5	[Auto]
WRITE To READ Delay(SR)	     14	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(DD)	     10	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(DR)	     10	[Auto]
READ To WRITE Delay(SR)	     10	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DD)	      7	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(DR)	      6	[Auto]
READ To READ Delay(SR)	      4	[Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(DD)      7	[Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(DR)      7	[Auto]
WRITE To WRITE Delay(SR)      4	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------

CPU Differential Amplitude	[Auto]
CPU Clock Skew			[Auto]
IOH Clock Skew			[Auto]
------------ Extreme Engine Digi+ ------------
Digi+ PWR Mode			[T-Balanced]
PWR Volt. Control		[Auto]
Load-Line Calibration		[Full]
CPU Voltege OCP			[Enabled]
CPU PWM Frequency		[1000kHz]

Extreme OV			[Disabled]
Extreme OC			[Auto]

CPU Voltage		1.158	[1.32500]
CPU PLL Voltage 	1.812	[Auto]
QPI/DRAM Core Voltage	1.177	[1.42500]
DRAM Bus Voltage	1.654	[Auto]

>DRAM REF Voltages----------------------------
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHA	[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHB	[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC	[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHC	[Auto]
----------------------------------------------

IOH Voltage		1.244	[Auto]
IOH PCIE Voltage	1.508	[Auto]

ICH Voltage		1.111	[Auto]
ICH PCIE Voltage		[Auto]

---------- Spread Spectrum Control -----------
CPU Spread Spectrum		[Disabled]
DRAM Spread Spectrum		[Disabled]



***on-board jumper dependant

Main problem with your overclock is UnCore speed, as it needs to be twice the memory speed. To achieve 4266MHz UnCore is very hard, VERY HARD. It would need soooo much VTT voltage (QPI/DRAM) it would be dangerous to run 24/7.
Your memory is meant for P55 platform/socket 1156 CPUs as they have the option of setting memory to UnCore multiplier to 1.5x instead of 2x for X58/socket 1366.
It will be useful when you go towards 980X or similar one day, as the can set RAM:UnCore multi lower then 2 (actually 1.5).
To be honest, I think you won't be able to use the full potential of your memory, but for the sake of comfort, you don't need it.
Now try the settings I edited in your template (blue) and then will go from there.
Because you CPU's highest (turbo) multi is 21, you might need to turn C1E Support [Disabled] and Intel(R) C-STATE Tech [Disabled] for it not to use 22 multi for single core, or you could try raising vCore.

BTW: I have a small update to memory overclocking thanks to this board:

[famich]

Second that , VTT /QPI/DRAM on ASUS BIOS / was far too low on your settings and the Uncore way too high .. it s always best to start from 4 GHz way up.

BTW- Donmarkoni, tried the new 0802 BIOS and achieved a nice stability @4,3 GHz with it.
I have even been playing GTA Epizodes from LC with that settings /by omission I must add/ for like 1H and..OK

[donmarkoni]

Yeah, BIOS 0802 "feels" very good. I almost found stability @ 4.4 GHz Need to tweak more.

[famich]

Thumbs up

There is a wall around 220 BCLK , I know... a lot depends on memory , IOH, ICH V..PCIE FQ..

[donmarkoni]

Two new BIOS'es! Very fresh!

R3E0860 (7zip)

1. Added additional memory enhancements
2. Enable official support for ROG Expander Board
3. Improved 3D performance at stock settings

Note - Uncore setting will now scale with BCLK settings when set to Auto. Manual settings will be required when running BCLKs over 220 to ensure stability and improved BCLK rates.

Note - LN2 Modes might need to be adjusted to improve cold clocking capabilities. Auto = LN2 mode 2, setting to LN2 Mode 1 will result in potentially better overclocking below -140C. This is dependent upon CPU quality and cooling.

R3E9124 (7zip) - BETA

1. Added 2D SpeedBooster option for GulfTown owners
2. Enable proper memory table reporting in 3rd party applications
3. Improved 3D performance
4. Tweaked LN2 Mode settings

Note - 2D SpeedBooster option is for non-3D applications like SuperPI, WPrime, and other programs that benefit from enabling CPUMicroCode ignore flags in the BIOS. Enabling this option will improve 2D application scores but will decrease 3D performance. We highly suggest disabling this feature for any 3D applications or benchmarking.

Note - This BIOS is still in Beta state and is released for those needing additional performance in 2D applications. We will have a final qualified version with improved memory and 3D performance shortly.