Rampage Forumula III + Turbulence II 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000

[MattChu]

Motherboard: Asus Rampage III Formula

Memory: Gskill Turbulence II 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 F3-16000CL9T-12GBTDD

Processor: I7 920 + Corsair H50 liquid cooler

Additional information:
Windows7 64 bit
Crucial C300 256 GB SSD
1x Gigabyte GTX 470 superclocked
Coolermaster 1000W Gold edition


I just upgraded memory, motherboard and HD and I can't seem to get a stable overclock with my setup. I?ve researched the forum here and tried settings from another post with similar motherboard, processor and ram but I can't seem to get out of BSOD. I am still learning overclocking so I was trying to duplicate off of some settings mentioned in other post. I am not familiar with voltage settings or memory timings so I have left auto with no good results and followed the changes in the other post I was duplicating. With the overclock at 3.6 GHZ and memory 2000mhz I can get into win7 and run applications. I can stress processor all day and temps never go above 62 C, However whenever I run win7 performance test or any performance intensive applications I BSOD. Once I remove overclock on process + memory back to stock I can do either of these functions without any problems. I don?t believe it is video card or SSD problem since I do not have any issues with bios at default settings.

I have also tried X.M.P with everything else auto and still receive BSOD errors
No luck with CPU level up either

I just want to get RAM and machine running at near what it is capable of, only seems stable at 10600. I checked bios version and I am at the most current. Can anyone provide me some baseline settings to start out at and work towards my goals?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[GSKILL TECH]

You need to manually set QPI/DRAM Core Voltage. With your current settings, check to see what AUTO sets this voltage to. Then manually set it and raise a couple notches if it is still slightly unstable. It should be fairly close since you say it works, just not fully stable. This is an overclocking motherboard, so it is able to support a high voltage. Typically most motherboards wouldn't even POST, so luckily you got this motherboard so it is easier to overclock and set up.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[MattChu]

I was working to match my settings simular to what you have listed in your thread here GSKill Tech

http://gskill.us/forum/showthread.ph...hlight=rampage

I'll be home from work in about 20 minutes and can try whatever

[GSKILL TECH]

Settings are the same... setting DRAM Frequency, timings, and voltage... but the main thing you need to concentrate on to be stable is the QPI/DRAM Core Voltage.

With current settings, try 1.50V and work from there. Once you find that precise voltage, everything will be perfectly stable. You do not need to adjust other voltages. Only DRAM and QPI/DRAM.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[MattChu]

1.5 QPI/DRAM voltage set but BSOD at windows startup.. Now do I increase or decrease from the 1.5 and in what increments? Also If I wish do achieve higher than 3.6 GHZ where do I start to increase? Increase multiplier and increase QPI/DRAM voltage accordingly?

This MOBO offers some additional bios features I wasn't too sure about also, did they need to be enable / disabled or any custom settings?

Bio setting1

http://i55.tinypic.com/iyon7k.jpg


Bio setting2

http://i54.tinypic.com/jrtr35.jpg

CPU

http://i55.tinypic.com/qx3qde.jpg

memory

http://i51.tinypic.com/14091s8.jpg

memory2

http://i51.tinypic.com/14091s8.jpg

[MattChu]

Sorry didn't see the pictures were so large

[GSKILL TECH]

Set timings manually, even though they show 9-9-9-24 already.

Go up on QPI/DRAM, it will need to be higher for BCLK 200.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[MattChu]

I was able to get somewhat stable at 3.6 Ghz but seems to blue screen and restart itself randomly after couple hours.. I did notice the IOH temp were idling at 76 C in bios and that PC wizard only shows temps for 2 cores now instead of 4 I see before overclock. I still see all 4 cores in task manager and performance monitor shows they are all working. I am still bluescreen during windows performance test during direct10 texturing and noticed on my MSI afterburner software that my core mhz on my video card shows 0 now. Not sure if video card died on me or if I am supposed to be increasing PCI frequency as I increase overclock? With the current overclock I can play Call of Duty MW2 for hours and no problems. However I did get random BSOD with having more than 6-8 tabs open in IE8. Any ideas? I will try saving overclock profile and putting settings to default and try Win 7 performance benchmark test and check video card is functioning correctly with directx10 games. I get an instant BSOD when launching Medal of Honor game.

Before the overclock my MSI afterburner software showed me core mhz on video card no problem and was able to play directx10 gaming no problem. I am anxious to see if it still does back at default bios settings.

[Tradesman]

May want to check the GPU driver for your graphics card, ensure it's up to date and check if there are any known discrepancies with the games you play....also if they have any beta drivers available, GURU3D often has newer betas avaulable for both AMD (ATI) and nVidia GPUs, can be found here

http://downloads.guru3d.com/

[MattChu]

First thing I did was go to nvidia and update the drivers after noticing direct10 texturing was hanging up on win7 benchmark. The updates did not correct the issue. I didn't experience any problems with the benchmark or game in question, before I made the overclock and voltage changes. I will rollback bios to default and see if I still have any issues with texuring and video card. My concern it might be IOH getting to hot and crashing mother board. I have HAF932 case with 200mm top exhaust, 200mm side fan then additional bottom intake vent fan and also 3.5x4 front HDD/fan intake. Then H50 radiator is set push/pull exhaust out my case. Not sure why the IOH is idle in bios at 76 C. I know this motherboard is known for that issue but I have great airflow in case and on motherboard. Before overclock IOH sat around 56 C idle, may look into waterblock for the motherboard.

[Tradesman]

Good ideas, let us know how things go

[MattChu]

Came home from work today and fiancee said pc wasn't working at all. Won't even power up when I hit power button doesn't even stay on for a 1 sec. I see red lighting come on for not even a full second and dies. Maybe power supply or mobo went dead.

[Tradesman]

May want to unplug, and reset CMOS, see if that does it, check all electric connections including wall - switch - etc

[GSKILL TECH]

Try without the overclock first, to make sure hardware is working OK.

BCLK 167 x 12

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[MattChu]

I am trying to RMA motherboard now.. I tried known good power supply and known good ram from before my upgrade. I Did all of the steps to reset bios but all still have the same effect. Board powers up and immediately turns off, not staying on for more than 1 second