*****Official ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA thread*****

Got my second board back from my supplier at the weekend. They had flashed it to 0505 for me but had a bad BIOS checksum when I powered it up.

Luckily ASUS has the BIOS recovery util that kicks in on bad BIOS so I chucked 0701 on a flash stick and recovered it. At this point i'm thinking maybe this is the end to all my problems but....

I get vista 64 installed with no issues and start downloading the latest vista updates when the PC restarts and comes back up with a corrupted BIOS (this happened with the first board as well). To top it all off the BIOS recovery util will report that it has completed re-flashing the BIOS but on restart it's still corrupt.

Could there be any cause for a working BIOS to become corrupted that isn't related to a faulty motherboard?
 
Beckett said:
Got my second board back from my supplier at the weekend. They had flashed it to 0505 for me but had a bad BIOS checksum when I powered it up.

Luckily ASUS has the BIOS recovery util that kicks in on bad BIOS so I chucked 0701 on a flash stick and recovered it. At this point i'm thinking maybe this is the end to all my problems but....

I get vista 64 installed with no issues and start downloading the latest vista updates when the PC restarts and comes back up with a corrupted BIOS (this happened with the first board as well). To top it all off the BIOS recovery util will report that it has completed re-flashing the BIOS but on restart it's still corrupt.

Could there be any cause for a working BIOS to become corrupted that isn't related to a faulty motherboard?
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Hi, well firstly are you sure they've replaced the motherboard and not just sent you back your old one? Not sure what else can corrupt a bios other than trying the motherboard out of the case and also disconnecting all peripherals and usb/firewire connectors. I also asssume you have the correct power leads connected and that your CPU is ok?
ChrisC
 
chriscatt said:
Hi, well firstly are you sure they've replaced the motherboard and not just sent you back your old one? Not sure what else can corrupt a bios other than trying the motherboard out of the case and also disconnecting all peripherals and usb/firewire connectors. I also asssume you have the correct power leads connected and that your CPU is ok?
ChrisC
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Sorry I should have explained in full :p

The first board died (restart, corrupt BIOS, then failing to POST following a BIOS recovery from the board CD)
Second board failed to POST out of the box which we figured out was an early BIOS revision having memory incompatibility problems with most performance ram. This was returned and the supplier booted it with some ****** generic memory and flashed it to 0602. This was the board that arrived back with corrupt BIOS.

Tried a couple of PSU's and running it out of the case now, the only possible explanations we could come up with for the corrupt bios (other than a faulty board) was:

1. Backplate of the Ultima 90 grounding on the back of the board or the board was warping because of the pressure the HS/F was placing on it - checked the clearance and didn't see anything touching, can't really inspect the warping issue other than to say that it isn't warping any more than any other board I've used with the HS/F in place.

2. Dead/faulty motherboard battery - wouldn't have thought this was result in a corrupt bios.

Components used for reference:
FSP Galaxy 700watt
Thermaltake Pure Power 680watt
2 different Intel Q6600 CPU’s
4x1GB Crucial Ballistix PC6400 CAS4
2x1GB Geil Ultra PC6400 CAS4
2x1GB Geil Black Dragon PC6400 CAS4
BFG 8800GTX OC2
2 different ASUS 7800GTX’s
 
chriscatt said:
Hi, when you say faulty, is the message checksum failure, and have you set the mem volts at 2.0?
ChrisC
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I'll have a quick check tonight for the exact message, the VDimm was set to 2.1volts when it died.

Edit: Just got home and fired it up. Error is:

Bad BIOS Checksum

It then starts the BIOS recovery util
 
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What is the highest FSBs seen on this mobo guys?

I have some very nice OCZ memory, rated at 1000mhz+. I have a cheap E2160 at the moment but will be going Penryn hopefully.

Problem is the cheap Penryns will only have 8x Multiplayer to start so FSB might be the limiting factor in my overclock. I am only getting 380FSB, I am unable to get 400 but I think it could be the chip. After all it was only £40 inc HSF.

So with decent chips what FSB are you guys seeing?
 
Anandtech review is up together with a small BIOS guide, by Gary Key and yours truly...


regards
Raja
 
The anandtech reviews is quite good, suggests with the new Bios and a decent chip we should be seeing 550FSB.

so 550x9 = 4950.

or 550x9 = 4400.

Will a Penryn hit 5ghz on Air? or should i just get a cheap 8x multiplier penryn. Hmmmm guess I should really ask in the CPU forum. :D


to bring this back on topic I got this mobo and all good so far!!!
 
The 550 results were using a hand picked E6850 processor (dual core). Quad core maximum FSB comes in around 450-480, depending on many factors.

I would say max benching with retail Penryn quad cores, do not expect much more than 4.4 tops for Super Pi 1M. Outright Prime type stability, probably in the region of 3.8-4GHz (realistic) with good air cooling.

Nobody knows how the chipsets will handle the 12MB cache yet. Usually each increase in cache size has reduced FSB levels, especially when you compare smaller cache processors to larger cache types.

regards
Raja
 
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Nice review Raja , well explained and agree with the view on the fusion block , have you tried an aftermarket cooler on the nb yourself ?
 
musx64 said:
I bought my Asus Maximus (non SE Version) today, I will get delivery by tomorrow :D:D:D
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Hope you are happy with your purchase , not a bad board really, got mine at 400 x 9 , 24hr prime stable so quite happy, also ram at ddr1200 , same stability in xp and vista which is a first as the p35 boards i had always corrupted files in vista so big clocks had to be on my xp drive only

anyone going to buy a couple of those new ati gfx cards ?
 
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hardc0re_tid said:
my maximus is here! but i cant have it till crimbo :(

o well, christmas day build for the win!

will be following closely to this thread to keep up to date!
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Hi not wanting to spoil crimbo but I would pop it in or do a open bench quick set up to make sure everything is OK, if you were unlucky it could be dare I say DOA, unfortunately it does happen and all your quick fix rights would be gone, just a quick fire up should do the trick then rebox it for crimbo:D
 
Read a couple of reviews and looked through various threads seems I can expect to get 450-480 FSB out of this board... can someone just confirm that please before I hit buy :)
 
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