Geil Esoteria and the ASUS Maximus Formula Issues!!!

[NBK]

Originally Posted by Wingit

The P5E has this issue with all but the latest bios as well, but interestingly, when I left trfc on auto and checked my settings from windows with memset I found that auto had set it at 46....memset can also set individual settings from windows, but I tend to eschew such devices, so it iis more of an informational tool for me.

Don't know if you use this utility... "memset", but it can be helpful when exploring memory settings, as always with any utility...use at your own risk Tweakers.fr

Hi Wingit,

Yes, i use it to check memory settings only.

NBK

[NBK]

Anyone else have any ideas????? Do i need to give up on Geil RAM?

Thanks
NBK

[zman88]

It looks like Crucial does list Ballistix for that mobo.

[DutchBBQ]

Originally Posted by NBK

Anyone else have any ideas????? Do i need to give up on Geil RAM?

Thanks
NBK

I do not own this motherboard.
I noticed that you addressed your problem in the ASUS VIP forum (without luck till now) as well.
May be you should consult this forum:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/index.php
Search for: Maximus Formula.

Few very knowledgeable OCZ employees are members of this forum.

Hope they can help you (based on OCZ units).

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by Wingit

I know that setting Trfc to 54 has helped many OCZ users on x38 boards with ram at 1066 from reading OCZ forums when I was building my new comp recently...

Wingit, just curious about tRFC...I have the Maximus Formula and G.Skill memory and in my BIOS the max tRFC I can choose from is 42...the values to choose from are 20 25 30 35 42...was wondering why mine is lower compared to others...do different memory manufacturers have different tRFC listings based on the memory modules themselves?...I know lower tRFC is better (as long as it's not too low) but was just curious why 42 would be the max for my memory?

Originally Posted by NBK

Here are the settings i am using:


CPU Voltage [1.500v]



DRAM Voltage [2.36v]

the DRAM voltage seems kinda high (especially since the board overvolts)...I don't know what the Geil memory is rated for but anything over 2.1 seems high to me...my default DRAM voltage was 1.90V and it is rated for 2.0-2.1V...I actually was able to lower my voltage to 1.86V at 4-4-4-12 and have everything stable

did you manually change those voltages or did the board default to them?

[NBK]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

Wingit, just curious about tRFC...I have the Maximus Formula and G.Skill memory and in my BIOS the max tRFC I can choose from is 42...the values to choose from are 20 25 30 35 42...was wondering why mine is lower compared to others...do different memory manufacturers have different tRFC listings based on the memory modules themselves?...I know lower tRFC is better (as long as it's not too low) but was just curious why 42 would be the max for my memory?



the DRAM voltage seems kinda high (especially since the board overvolts)...I don't know what the Geil memory is rated for but anything over 2.1 seems high to me...my default DRAM voltage was 1.90V and it is rated for 2.0-2.1V...I actually was able to lower my voltage to 1.86V at 4-4-4-12 and have everything stable

did you manually change those voltages or did the board default to them?

n
Hi

Do not worry i manually lowered the CPU voltage to 1.36250v. The high CPU
voltage came from a Geil tech!

Geil Esoteria DDR2-1066 DRAM Voltage range is pretty high according to the sticker on the sticks. I think the range is 2.2-2.5...

EDIT: Geil Esoteria DDR2-1066 DRAM Voltage range is 2.35-2.5 volts

Thanks
NBK

[Wingit]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

Wingit, just curious about tRFC...I have the Maximus Formula and G.Skill memory and in my BIOS the max tRFC I can choose from is 42...the values to choose from are 20 25 30 35 42...was wondering why mine is lower compared to others...do different memory manufacturers have different tRFC listings based on the memory modules themselves?...I know lower tRFC is better (as long as it's not too low) but was just curious why 42 would be the max for my memory?

Hi polony,
It's not your memory, the trfc max value of 42 is an Asus Bios flaw, there is no reason that higher options cannot be made available and they were indeed implemented in the most recent Bios revision for the P5E after an intervention by OCZ with Asus. Check the most recent Bios version for the Maximus..it may be there...Asus does not do Bios change logs either, so they should start including crystal ball plug-ins with their boards perhaps....

Edit:...you may remember BigToe from these forums...he is now with OCZ and put up this note on their help forum http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/fo...ad.php?t=35435

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by Wingit

Hi polony,
It's not your memory, the trfc max value of 42 is an Asus Bios flaw, there is no reason that higher options cannot be made available and they were indeed implemented in the most recent Bios revision for the P5E after an intervention by OCZ with Asus. Check the most recent Bios version for the Maximus..it may be there...Asus does not do Bios change logs either, so they should start including crystal ball plug-ins with their boards perhaps....

Edit:...you may remember BigToe from these forums...he is now with OCZ and put up this note on their help forum http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/fo...ad.php?t=35435

I thought the tRC memory timing was the one that had the bigger impact on performance...my Maximus Formula doesn't even have a tRC memory timing option...I initially thought the tRFC option in my BIOS was for tRC and changed it to 35...when I realized my mistake I went back and changed it to 'Auto'

I would have thought setting the tRFC at 54 would be too high but I guess not

"tRFC Timing: Row Refresh Cycle Timing. This determines the amount of cycles to refresh a row on a memory bank. If this is set too short it can cause corruption of data and if it is too high, it will cause a loss in performance, but increased stability"

[NBK]

Hi all,

I found the fix for my boot problems on another forum! It involves not plugging anything into PWR FAN header on the motherboard. Everything seems to be fine so far...

Thanks
NBK

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by NBK

Hi all,

I found the fix for my boot problems on another forum! It involves not plugging anything into PWR FAN header on the motherboard. Everything seems to be fine so far...

Thanks
NBK

what's the reason behind not plugging anything into the PWR header?

[Wingit]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

what's the reason behind not plugging anything into the PWR header?

interesting question...my curiosity is piqued by this as well...

[SRTDodge05]

Mite be using a controller that plugs into the powersupply.

[NBK]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

what's the reason behind not plugging anything into the PWR header?

I will post a link explaining this later...

NBK

[NBK]

Originally Posted by softnerd
I've had an interesting development with this. I was about to pack this thing up and try to get rid of it, and just before I put it in the box I tried hooking it up on my test bench one last time - sans motherboard tray - just the naked board.

It POSTed fine. I was puzzled, so I left it all day to get cold while I was at work...still connected to the PSU to simulate the power situation. When I got home I powered it up and...it posted. What changed? Well, I had a chasis fan plugged into the PWR FAN header that was now unplugged (kept forgetting to unplug it in testing because it's part of the mobo tray), and it was no longer mounted to the tray. I already confirmed that it wasn't grounding out against anything on the tray, so I tried plugging the chasis fan back into the PWR FAN header. Bam - hung at COUNTMEM. Unplugged it, and it POSTs again. I was able to reproduce this until the capacitors got warm and it was POSTing every time.

So, I left it overnight and tried again this morning. First without the fan - it POSTs, then with the fan - hangs at COUNTMEM. Interesting.

I have a hunch that this board has some wonky design quirks when it comes to the +12v1 power tap. Power supply fans usually get power from the PSU - not the header, but they need a tiny bit of power supplied for the fan monitor/speed control to work. If you look at the trace routes from the PWR FAN connector the lead directly to the EATX CPU power plug. Now, I got started thinking about this when people said they solved this issue by plugging in the 8-pin plug instead of the 4-pin, or realized that the plug wasn't pushed in all the way.

Is it possible that a full-on chassis fan is pulling enough power away from the +12v1 tap that there isn't enough juice getting to other components when the capacitors are cold? So far I've been able to reproduce the issue 3 times. I've re-assembled my entire machine. If it POSTs properly when I get home tonight I'd say there's a good chance I found the culprit.

To sum up:
- Use the 8-pin EATX CPU power plug.
- Make sure it's fully connected.
- See what happens if you avoid plugging anything into the PWR FAN header. Weird...I know, but it so far it seems to make a difference for me.

Not sure if this is going to solve the problem, but I'm hopeful.

[polonyc2]

if that works for you then keep doing what works

I've been plugging fans into the PWR header of this board with no issues (except one fan doesn't display properly in the BIOS)