ASUS Maximus Formula first thoughts

[Rob Williams]

So... I've been spending the past few days with this motherboard and so far, it's great. Nothing mind-blowing, but it's on the same caliber as the Blitz Formula board (though I haven't compared the two directly, yet). The board is feature packed BIOS-wise, includes STALKER and 3DMark 06 and other such "bling" that enthusiasts don't need, but like.

I am stumped at the moment regarding overclocking ability of the board though. You'd expect that for ASUS' enthusiast X38 offering, that overclocking would be superb, but I am not so sure.

Using a QX6850, the max FSB I have been able to acquire thus far is 450MHz, and that's -with- a water-cooled Northbridge. I can't recall the voltages at the moment, but I believe it was either 1.55v or 1.65v. Now don't get me wrong, 450FSB is fine, but for an enthusiast motherboard, wouldn't we expect something higher? I haven't overclocked with a dual-core yet, but I will be this weekend.

I strongly believe that with it, at least 470FSB will be acquired, but even then, I find that low. The water-cooled Northbridge makes a nice difference in system temps, but like the Blitz boards, it doesn't help the overclocking ability of the FSB at -all-. Am I alone in thinking that this board should do at least 500FSB?

I just noticed that a new BIOS is available, as of yesterday, so I will download that and see if it helps me. None of the documented updates should make a difference, but it's worth a try regardless.

[MakubeX]

Hmmm, that's disappointing. Hope you get better results with the new BIOS.

[NicePants42]

Do you know what the CPU's max FSB is? Have you increased the SB voltage as well? Have you asked ASUS wtf?

[MakubeX]

Do you know what the CPU's max FSB is? Have you increased the SB voltage as well? Have you asked ASUS wtf?

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/5228/3gmlmaodc1.gif LoL http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/5228/3gmlmaodc1.gif

[Rob Williams]

I did ask ASUS what they believed the max overclock to be, but I didn't get a reply yet. I have the new BIOS installed an am stress-testing again at 450FSB to make sure all is good.

I have renewed faith today that I might get the board a bit higher, because as it turns out, I was likely not giving the Northbridge enough voltage. I had it set to auto, and at 450FSB, the board automatically gave it 1.65v. That's a lot higher than I would expect, since I recall the P5K boards running 470FSB fine with 1.55v (with a Dual-Core though :/). So, I'm going to push that higher today (1.85~) and see what happens. Since it's on water, I'm not too concerned with overheating.

We'll see.

[Rob Williams]

I managed to push the FSB a little bit further, now that I realize X38 (I assume) requires more voltage for the Northbridge than P35 did. It's hard to believe this took me an entire day to figure out, but 470FSB is the new max for that processor. It -might- go a tad higher with another Quad-Core, which I will try if I can find time. I'm about to install an E6750 for the time being though, and see how much further I can push it beyond 470MHz.

Voltage on the Northbridge was 1.73v. 1.75v is what ASUS puts in the red zone, so I am staying out of there for now (although I did go to the max of 1.85v last night, but it made no difference). With that voltage and water-cooling, the NB temp is hovering at around 39°C with room temp at 74°F.

[Rob Williams]

With the E6750, I was able to hit 490FSB with the exact same voltages. Still doesn't seem stellar, but I am going to put the P5E3 back in tonight and see how far I can make it with that. Perhaps X38 boards are simply not going to go that high. Fastest I've seen so far in another review has been 505FSB, but I can't even recall what board it was (or where this was).

[Merlin]

Core temps at 55, that's close to inferno
Isn't 65C the upper limit?

[MakubeX]

Core temps at 55, that's close to inferno
Isn't 65C the upper limit?

LoL, "near inferno". Anyway, no, 65C is not the upper limit.

And 55C is no where near inferno, that's actually a very decent temp.

[Rob Williams]

55C is not too bad, though it should be better I'd think. I blame part of it on the waterblock I am using. It's been swapped so often that it's not half as smooth as it used to be. The Quad-Core hits 98C regularly, so 55C is nothing.

[Merlin]

Holy frying bacon, Batman....
98C?....wow
That's 208*F....enough to make bacon and eggs for two....LOL
Do you have one of those CoolIt Chillers around ( FreeZone?)
That should nock the heat out

[Merlin]

And 55C is no where near inferno, that's actually a very decent temp.[/quote]

Okay....maybe it's just me.
I run no higher than 35 to 38C st full load with the AMD 125 watt 95nm cpu

65C is the redline for that cpu ( mine )

[Merlin]

Actually, I am really thinking of going with that board in the Crysis box