ASUS Crosshair V Formula BIOS Guide - Overclocking

[Raja@ASUS]

Hi Drakonniz,

No problem, we are here to help. Sorry that you are having the issues.

I think the issue here is with the 16GB of memory. First off you can set a 2T Command Rate in BIOS for the memory modules - this will aid stability for now. To get 16GB fully stable at DDR3-1600 may require some tinkering with the drive strength settings in BIOS (this can be laborious). It will mean going through each of those settings in turn (for both channels) and then running stress tests to monitor the impact on system stability.

As a quick debug, if possible, it might be worth taking two of the memory modules out of the board, setting DDR3-1600 as you have been in BIOS, use a 2T Command Rate and see if the system still fails in games etc. Before that, you can also try HCI Memtest and Prime95 to see if the system is stable.

AMD's memory controllers require manual tuning with certain DIMMs, and cannot always achieve the same memory frequency as Intel's processors so there is some truth to paying attention to what platform the memory was binned on.


Also, can you tell me what BIOS version you are running please?

-Raja

[liberato87]

hi guys
I've got a question.

On the crosshair IV I used k10stat for settings the pstate and I could run my thuban in idle at 800 and 1.2v.
Now i noticed that k10stat doesnt work, maybe because the new 990fx is not supported yet.

I tryied also enabling the cool n quiet but I'm not satisfied becuase it runs cpu in idle at 800 but 1,392 (I've set in bios 1,425, cpu @ 4ghz).
There is another option to reduce the voltages?
I also tried phenommrstweaker but it doesnt work too..

Thank you

[Drakonniz]

Hey Raja,

Thanks for taking such a great attitude toward helping. It's something I am not used to I'm afraid. My bios information is as follows : (information all from ASUSTEK update software v.7.18.02 )

Model : Asus IV Formula
Version : 1902
Date : 02/17/2011
BIOS Type : AMI
BIOS Size : 2048K

Perhaps that's too much information, but I prefer to be thorough. One update tho, my system seems to be a bit more stable than yesterday after I tweaked with 2 sticks of ram then 4. I lowered my CS/ODT drive to 1.25 and I got less noise in my speakers, but that was only after raising several voltages ( northbrdige, dimm, cpu/nb ). The only problem is that after about 2 hours of playing 2 Borderlands clients, my system BSOD'd on me. I suppose that is an improvement over Black screening. Just before this very post, I lowered my CS/ODT to 1 and lowered ADDR/CMD to 1.25 and the noise got worse again.. going to go back and tweak a touch more. I did notice that raising my HT voltage even a touch destabilized the system so I set it back to [AUTO].

I feel like such a noob.. :/ This computer is like going from a Model T to a 2011 Ford mustang. Atleast I'm trying tho.. hehe. Thanks again for helping..

[Raja@ASUS]

hi guys
I've got a question.

On the crosshair IV I used k10stat for settings the pstate and I could run my thuban in idle at 800 and 1.2v.
Now i noticed that k10stat doesnt work, maybe because the new 990fx is not supported yet.

I tryied also enabling the cool n quiet but I'm not satisfied becuase it runs cpu in idle at 800 but 1,392 (I've set in bios 1,425, cpu @ 4ghz).
There is another option to reduce the voltages?
I also tried phenommrstweaker but it doesnt work too..

Thank you

I think we will have to wait a while beofre third party tools all work. Might be after Bulldozer launches that these tools are updated.

-Raja

[Raja@ASUS]

Hey Raja,

Thanks for taking such a great attitude toward helping. It's something I am not used to I'm afraid. My bios information is as follows : (information all from ASUSTEK update software v.7.18.02 )

Model : Asus IV Formula
Version : 1902
Date : 02/17/2011
BIOS Type : AMI
BIOS Size : 2048K

Perhaps that's too much information, but I prefer to be thorough. One update tho, my system seems to be a bit more stable than yesterday after I tweaked with 2 sticks of ram then 4. I lowered my CS/ODT drive to 1.25 and I got less noise in my speakers, but that was only after raising several voltages ( northbrdige, dimm, cpu/nb ). The only problem is that after about 2 hours of playing 2 Borderlands clients, my system BSOD'd on me. I suppose that is an improvement over Black screening. Just before this very post, I lowered my CS/ODT to 1 and lowered ADDR/CMD to 1.25 and the noise got worse again.. going to go back and tweak a touch more. I did notice that raising my HT voltage even a touch destabilized the system so I set it back to [AUTO].

I feel like such a noob.. :/ This computer is like going from a Model T to a 2011 Ford mustang. Atleast I'm trying tho.. hehe. Thanks again for helping..

Hi Drakkoniz,


Sounds like you are still on the initial release BIOS. What I would do is go down to one memory module, and flash to 0506 which you can find under the download tab here:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD...air_V_Formula/

After flashing that BIOS, what I would do is manually set DDR3-1333 and 2T Command Rate. Reboot into UEFI, power down at AC then insert the second DRAM module. Power back up and let's see how stable that is before we move upwards.


I have a couple of 8GB kits arriving today from GSkill (16GB total, CAS 9 rated and DDR3-1600) so will see if I can get that stuff stable, if so I will document the process in the guide. Might not be that different from what you are using there.

-Raja

[Drakonniz]

I believe I should clear up a misunderstanding.. lol

While your idea works perfectly fine for the Crosshair FIVE (V) board Raja, I have the Croshair FOUR (IV) board. The 0506 bios is for the Crosshair V, and I have the Crosshair 1902 bios which is the newest for my board. I didn't notice at first this thread was for the Crosshair V because I was tired frustrated and not thinking. The information I found here was a starting guide and I signed up for the forum thread for help without realizing it was the Crosshair V thread. If you can still give advice on the Crosshair IV board, please do as it would be greatly appreciated. If you notice, I posted all along that my board was a four and not a five. So, we both missed that tiny bit of info all along. Sorry for the confusion.

[Raja@ASUS]

16GB GSkill @ DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 1T, 1.50VDIMM, 1.175V CPU~NB

prime-ripjaws.jpg

Only thing I had to set manually other than the primary DRAM timings and 1T Command Rate:


DRAM READ to READ Delay: Sets the delay between two consecutive read commands. The BIOS does not stipulate if this is a different rank or different DIMM timing. A setting of 4 clocks works with most configurations, but may need relaxing to 5~7 clocks if 16GB memory configurations are used or if 8GB configurations are used at speeds in excess of DDR3-2000.

I had already stipulated this in the guide.


Default with these DIMMs is 3 clocks, if you leave 3 clocks Prime will fail in the first loop. Set 4 clocks and it will run. Prime is still running so should not need much more tuning from here.

Budget DIMMs need the 4 clock spacing, while most other DIMMs can work at DDR3-1600 with 3 clocks.

-Raja

[Raja@ASUS]

I believe I should clear up a misunderstanding.. lol

While your idea works perfectly fine for the Crosshair FIVE (V) board Raja, I have the Croshair FOUR (IV) board. The 0506 bios is for the Crosshair V, and I have the Crosshair 1902 bios which is the newest for my board. I didn't notice at first this thread was for the Crosshair V because I was tired frustrated and not thinking. The information I found here was a starting guide and I signed up for the forum thread for help without realizing it was the Crosshair V thread. If you can still give advice on the Crosshair IV board, please do as it would be greatly appreciated. If you notice, I posted all along that my board was a four and not a five. So, we both missed that tiny bit of info all along. Sorry for the confusion.

I already noticed, that should make no difference really Drakonniz to the actual advice on the memory timings above. I suspect that is all it is.

-Raja

[liberato87]

I think we will have to wait a while beofre third party tools all work. Might be after Bulldozer launches that these tools are updated.

-Raja

thank you for reply
I found out that

- if setting cpu vcore in manual from bios
k10stat doesnt work and also CPU speed would drop down with CnQ, but volts would remain constant.

- if setting cpu vcore in AUTO or offset
k10stat works properly and also cnq reduce voltages

[Raja@ASUS]

thank you for reply
I found out that

- if setting cpu vcore in manual from bios
k10stat doesnt work and also CPU speed would drop down with CnQ, but volts would remain constant.

- if setting cpu vcore in AUTO or offset
k10stat works properly and also cnq reduce voltages

Then there is no real issue - just use Offset Mode, we do the same on Intel.

-Raja