Asus rampage III Extreme

Flanno · 13 May 2010 at 16:39

Even without overclocking your cpu, f you run your memory at 2000 it means the uncore is going to have to run at 4000mhz which is difficult without heavy weight cooling I believe. My uncore presently just runs at 3200 as my memory is at 1600 and cpu currently at stock.

I actually don't have a rampage iii (yet). Running a classified and still weighing up my options.

I've tried both Dominator airflow fans as I bought 2 kits. Both crap. Too whiny on full speed and too rickety sounding on anything under. I'm just fussy about fans sounding smooth. I'm cooling my classified's northbridge with 2 noiseblocker 60mm 11fb fans, basically held on with heavy double sided tape, and they are silent. Temps dropped from 55-60 to 40 instantly.

mr.looolz · 13 May 2010 at 16:49

ah i see well, i dont understand much aout the uncore but if it means if need to run 6gb at 2000mhz then i need my 980x to run at 4.0ghz then i dont have a problem doing that , i got a mega shadow cooler with 2 noctua excellent fans on stand by, should be stable as for the noise of the airflow fan i have no idea cause i have 1600 pound worth of parts for my first rig this one, just waiting on the r3e >.>

Cosimo · 13 May 2010 at 17:03

mr.looolz said:
simulatorman how can u resist till the weekend gl

The last parts arrived yesterday at lunchtime so I can wait another few days. The study looks like a computer store with boxes everywhere. My wife keeps telling me she’ll throw them out.

-VK- · 13 May 2010 at 17:10

Would love to see some pics VortX!

VortX · 13 May 2010 at 17:41

-VK- said:
Would love to see some pics VortX!

Will do VK! Although it doesn't have the "wow" factor that a lot of rigs on here do because for one I haven't upgraded the graphics card yet. When I do I am hoping to get some kind of GTX 485 and WC it. Secondly I decided not to go down the cathode route as I found that they produce quite a lot of EMI. As a result I have out of place purple tubing with a read mobo and blu LED fans lol.

The board is working again now! Although I had a lot of hassle with the IOH temps. Went into the BIOS and it was idling at 58C which I knew was way more than before. Had to disasemble it twice and reapply MX3 and at last, it is now idling at 47C as I speak.

BTW VK, does removing the heatsinks to apply your own thermal compound void the warranty?

EDIT: Very strange temps with the IOH, idling at 50C now, then at load it doesn't go above 55C~ Temperatures hardly change..

It was worth remounting the CPU block as well, temperatues apear to have droped quite a bit!

Also, does anyone know how long this MX3 stuff takes to settle?

eternal_fantasy · 13 May 2010 at 17:55

Flanno said:
Even without overclocking your cpu, f you run your memory at 2000 it means the uncore is going to have to run at 4000mhz which is difficult without heavy weight cooling I believe. My uncore presently just runs at 3200 as my memory is at 1600 and cpu currently at stock.

I actually don't have a rampage iii (yet). Running a classified and still weighing up my options.

I've tried both Dominator airflow fans as I bought 2 kits. Both crap. Too whiny on full speed and too rickety sounding on anything under. I'm just fussy about fans sounding smooth. I'm cooling my classified's northbridge with 2 noiseblocker 60mm 11fb fans, basically held on with heavy double sided tape, and they are silent. Temps dropped from 55-60 to 40 instantly.

With the latest official BIOS 64 for the Classified you can use 1.5X multi for the UCLK if you have a 32nm CPU. So for example I run mine at 2000Mhz with 23X UCLK multi (instead of 24x minimum before), which is around 3810Mhz Uncore, allowing me to reduce my VTT to reasonable levels while running my RAM at rated spec.

eternal_fantasy · 13 May 2010 at 18:04

Have played around with my R3E, especially the Extreme Engine Digi+ Settings. At least on water, raising the PWM's switching frequency reduces system stability (which should not be the case). Also Using the Xtreme-Performance Mode reduces stability compared to the default T-Balanced Mode (again, very strange). My findings have been mirrored over at Xtremesystems too, in fact it was reported there first, and I happen to confirm their findings with my own R3E.

Slackworth · 13 May 2010 at 18:10

Just for info, we had literally a couple of boards arrive on our next batch. If you want to know where you are in the queue then send a webnote or ask in the customer support forum as I don't want to clutter the thread.

Helios1234 · 13 May 2010 at 18:10

VortX said:
Will do VK! Although it doesn't have the "wow" factor that a lot of rigs on here do because for one I haven't upgraded the graphics card yet. When I do I am hoping to get some kind of GTX 485 and WC it. Secondly I decided not to go down the cathode route as I found that they produce quite a lot of EMI. As a result I have out of place purple tubing with a read mobo and blu LED fans lol.

The board is working again now! Although I had a lot of hassle with the IOH temps. Went into the BIOS and it was idling at 58C which I knew was way more than before. Had to disasemble it twice and reapply MX3 and at last, it is now idling at 47C as I speak.

BTW VK, does removing the heatsinks to apply your own thermal compound void the warranty?

EDIT: Very strange temps with the IOH, idling at 50C now, then at load it doesn't go above 55C~ Temperatures hardly change..

It was worth remounting the CPU block as well, temperatues apear to have droped quite a bit!

Also, does anyone know how long this MX3 stuff takes to settle?

There's no curing time with the MX-3.

VortX · 13 May 2010 at 18:17

eternal_fantasy said:
Have played around with my R3E, especially the Extreme Engine Digi+ Settings. At least on water, raising the PWM's switching frequency reduces system stability (which should not be the case). Also Using the Xtreme-Performance Mode reduces stability compared to the default T-Balanced Mode (again, very strange). My findings have been mirrored over at Xtremesystems too, in fact it was reported there first, and I happen to confirm their findings with my own R3E.

I've not even touched the Digi+ settings, what do they do exactly?

Hayleywow · 13 May 2010 at 20:00

I am 5th in the pre-order queue wooooohooooooo...........

Will be using the board with an I7 980x & corsair dominator 2000mhz ram and 2 x 480's in sli

I have read loads of post where people have updated the bios, does this really need doing, and will i need to with the above setup??

thanks

Hay

Flanno · 13 May 2010 at 20:00

eternal_fantasy said:
With the latest official BIOS 64 for the Classified you can use 1.5X multi for the UCLK if you have a 32nm CPU. So for example I run mine at 2000Mhz with 23X UCLK multi (instead of 24x minimum before), which is around 3810Mhz Uncore, allowing me to reduce my VTT to reasonable levels while running my RAM at rated spec.

Thanks. Yes, I noticed that comment in the bios about needing 1.5 for 32nm chips. So I guess I could run my ram at 2000mhz and my uncore at 3000 wand maybe drop VTT a little. Are you still managing to maintain CAS 6 at 2000mhz ?

Also wondering on the classified what vtt you are using at stock speeds. To keep 6 sticks working reliably I had to add 0.25mv for 1.29vtt. Is this too agressive for stock. My 980x set to auto with vdroop enabled uses 1.18v, and my ram is set to 1.61 on bios as Eleet pumps it up to 1.65 in windows.

dmxdex2020 · 13 May 2010 at 20:01

eternal_fantasy said:
Have played around with my R3E, especially the Extreme Engine Digi+ Settings. At least on water, raising the PWM's switching frequency reduces system stability (which should not be the case). Also Using the Xtreme-Performance Mode reduces stability compared to the default T-Balanced Mode (again, very strange). My findings have been mirrored over at Xtremesystems too, in fact it was reported there first, and I happen to confirm their findings with my own R3E.

Probs needs a bios update to correct it.

VortX · 13 May 2010 at 20:08

Hayleywow said:
I am 5th in the pre-order queue wooooohooooooo...........

Will be using the board with an I7 980x & corsair dominator 2000mhz ram and 2 x 480's in sli

I have read loads of post where people have updated the bios, does this really need doing, and will i need to with the above setup??

thanks

Hay

The current BIOS is a bit buggy and the newer BIOSs offer better overclocking potential however they are still in testing. So unless you want to risk using a BETA then I would wait for it to become official. But yes I would reccommend updating it as many have already said it offers much better overclocking.

VortX · 13 May 2010 at 20:42

The RE3 in the nude:

RE3 with the other provided heatsink on. Note that I have now removed the fan as it was louder than all of my 10 fans by itself lol. The logo still has the protective stick on as well in case you notice it looks odd (it's clear and shiney without it!).

andyr · 13 May 2010 at 20:59

VortX said:
The RE3 in the nude:

RE3 with the other provided heatsink on. Note that I have now removed the fan as it was louder than all of my 10 fans by itself lol. The logo still has the protective stick on as well in case you notice it looks odd (it's clear and shiney without it!).

Is there some heatsink tape behind the mosfet part of the stock cooler ?

VortX · 13 May 2010 at 21:01

andyr said:
Is there some heatsink tape behind the mosfet part of the stock cooler ?

There is indeed, back and front.

VortX · 13 May 2010 at 21:45

I think there is a bug with the BIOS regarding sleep/S3 state. Whenever my computer comes out of S3 it behaves slightly strange for example it won't read temperatues properly and unable to locate files on the internet to download. When restarting the computer it just turns off. I have to hold down the power button in order to get it to boot. After which it is fine. Obviously a bug relating to S3 state and not a dud motherboard like I thought I had at first.

NOTE: If you get a rampage 3 disable sleep mode in windows! (Until they fix it of course).

eternal_fantasy · 13 May 2010 at 21:45

VortX said:
I've not even touched the Digi+ settings, what do they do exactly?

They just set the parameters for the CPU PWM circuitry.

Flanno said:
Thanks. Yes, I noticed that comment in the bios about needing 1.5 for 32nm chips. So I guess I could run my ram at 2000mhz and my uncore at 3000 wand maybe drop VTT a little. Are you still managing to maintain CAS 6 at 2000mhz ?

Also wondering on the classified what vtt you are using at stock speeds. To keep 6 sticks working reliably I had to add 0.25mv for 1.29vtt. Is this too agressive for stock. My 980x set to auto with vdroop enabled uses 1.18v, and my ram is set to 1.61 on bios as Eleet pumps it up to 1.65 in windows.

I'm running at 2000 7-8-7-20 as per spec. I have no idea about stock volts as my board don't stay in that state for very long... Anyway as long as you keep your VTT below 1.4V you should be fine.

dmxdex2020 said:
Probs needs a bios update to correct it.

Seriously hope so. Otherwise it's pretty pointless adding features that turns out to be counterproductive.

bhavv · 14 May 2010 at 00:10

I couldnt get mine stable at 2000 Mhz ram. Maybe the new bios will help a bit and eventually allow 4.2 Ghz with HT and 2000 Mhz ram, but I'd rather wait until new bioses are available on the Asus website first.

I'm just running 4.0 Ghz and 1600 Mhz 7-7-7-24 atm, not really anything special for a board this expensive, but its only just been released and newer bioses should help.

Or, its just not possible with 12 Gb

. I forget about that being a limiting factor.