ASUS Maximus Formula @ [H]

[aldy402]

i upgraded to this board from a P5B-DLX and what a difference

my Q6600 wouldn't post over 3.2ghz with the old board with any voltage at all...
now im at 3.825 stably with just 1.52v with the maximus formula

I also have the nb watercooled, it didn't help my OC but it did dramatically reduce NB temps and it did not hurt hinder flow in my loop

 

[Chris_B]

How is the v-droop on this board? My vanilla asus p5k is friggin woeful for vdroop and is probably holding my q6600 to the 3.2 barrier.

I assume it has some kind of damper that keeps the voltages fairly close to what you set them in bios?

 

[AthlonXP]

if you dont turn on the voltage regulation its pretty bad.

 

[a1212]

Gonna pair this mobo with a Q6600 and OCZ reaper 2x2gb pc6400 memory (4-4-4-15) and a Thermalright ultima-90 cpu cooler. Are these components a good match? not going for any extreme ocing results though, but 3.2-3.6? Or should I reconsider

 

[Dan_D]

Gonna pair this mobo with a Q6600 and OCZ reaper 2x2gb pc6400 memory (4-4-4-15) and a Thermalright ultima-90 cpu cooler. Are these components a good match? not going for any extreme ocing results though, but 3.2-3.6? Or should I reconsider

Well the CPU cooler is a good choice, but I can't say on the RAM. It should be fine and I have had great luck with OCZ memory, but I can't say if those modules will work for sure or not as I haven't ever tried them. I used Corsair Dominator PC2-9600C5D modules for my testing.

 

[cnealjr]

Here's a link to my Updated Build Thread with some pictures. Everything is at stock right now, as it was too late to start tweaking after I got it built and Vista installed.

 

[Binford]

I built a new rig around theis mobo in Oct and finally have it stable at 3.3Ghz/core. Details:

Intel Q6600 Quad Core OC'ed to 3.3 Ghz/core
Thermaltake V1 HS with Arctic Silver 5
ASUS Maximus Formula SE mobo
OCZ Reaper DDR2-1150 memory (4x1GB) running stable at 1200
XFX 8800 GTX
Seagate 7200.10 Barracuda's 7200 RPM 320MB HD x2 (RAID 0)
Cooler Master 850W PSU
Samsung Sh-203B DVD burner
Mountain Mods H2GO case
Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Pics here: http://www.jeffleggett.com/gallery/QuadCore-PC

Questions:

Any way to output my BIOS settings from Windows? ASUS has been updating this BIOS about every week and every time I flash it, It's reset.

I just ordered the add'l 2GB memory - I know with 32 bit Vista I am only gonna be able to use about 3-3.1GB - is there any advantage to setting up a RAM drive with the rest?

 

[sd11]

Right. That's the type of thing they demo just to show they're 1up on the competition. It may never make it to market as it really is a niche product.

I really hope it does. I know not many can foot the bill for it. But I'm looking to upgrade to 45nm intel asap, but most importantly looking to leave nvidia chipsets.

Maximus looks good, if DDR3 prices were a tad less steep I'd be all over the extreme and crossfire.

 

[rci2990]

hi i got the p5b dlx board with a 6400 currently at 3.2 but can do more.is this maximus board worth it over mine.thx.

 

[Chris_B]

Ordered a maximus formula today, just hope it doesn't lunge out of its box at me dressed in roman armour and wielding a sword.


Think anythings an improvement over my vanilla p5k, even with the latest bios anything over 3.2 on my quad is an impossibility where prime 95 is concerned.

 

[Dan_D]

Ordered a maximus formula today, just hope it doesn't lunge out of its box at me dressed in roman armour and wielding a sword.


Think anythings an improvement over my vanilla p5k, even with the latest bios anything over 3.2 on my quad is an impossibility where prime 95 is concerned.

B3 stepping quad cores aren't the best overclockers. They simply get too hot. Most people tend to run 3.0GHz-3.2GHz and some are lucky enough to reach 3.4GHz. I can go as high as 3.6GHz, but heat becomes an issue at that point, even for water cooling. G0 stepping CPUs can usually reach 3.4GHz-3.6GHz. Granted there are examples of each stepping that can go higher or lower, but generally speaking I don't think that you'll get more than a 200MHz increase off of the board switch. In any case the Maximus Formula is an awesome board so I think you'll be pleased with it in general.

 

[Chris_B]

B3 stepping quad cores aren't the best overclockers. They simply get too hot. Most people tend to run 3.0GHz-3.2GHz and some are lucky enough to reach 3.4GHz. I can go as high as 3.6GHz, but heat becomes an issue at that point, even for water cooling. G0 stepping CPUs can usually reach 3.4GHz-3.6GHz. Granted there are examples of each stepping that can go higher or lower, but generally speaking I don't think that you'll get more than a 200MHz increase off of the board switch. In any case the Maximus Formula is an awesome board so I think you'll be pleased with it in general.

Was thinking of some basic watercooling, maybe a nautilus or one of those swiftech h20 120 compact kits. Just want to cool the cpu better so no real need to go mad on some extravagant kit.

 

[Dan_D]

Was thinking of some basic watercooling, maybe a nautilus or one of those swiftech h20 120 compact kits. Just want to cool the cpu better so no real need to go mad on some extravagant kit.

I've got the Swiftech radiator and pump handling my video cards and the Nautilus handling my CPU and motherboard. So far the setup is working very well.

 

[Renegade5399]

I love mine. But good luck finding one soon. They are already EOL. It's already hard to find one on the Egg. If you can get one though and want more life out of your DDR2, get this thing man, it's a beast.

 

[sd11]

Was thinking of some basic watercooling, maybe a nautilus or one of those swiftech h20 120 compact kits. Just want to cool the cpu better so no real need to go mad on some extravagant kit.

LOL single 120mm rad for a B3 quad, good luck man. You'll do better with higher end air, that's just a reference to the 120 compact. Really go with a dual 120mm rad for a quad. It's odd but a 120 isn't enough, yet a dual 120 is overkill. Your choice on where you end up.

I've got the Swiftech radiator and pump handling my video cards and the Nautilus handling my CPU and motherboard. So far the setup is working very well.

I'm still lost on why you aren't water cooling your mosfets. Even though I'm on a striker and you're on evga I've had less random SNAFU's once I went that way. ek makes blocks for the evga now so why not try it?

 

[a1212]

hmm the OCZ reaper heatspreaders are pretty long(height), is there gonna be a problem with the thermalright ultima-90 and the memories on this board?

 

[Dan_D]

LOL single 120mm rad for a B3 quad, good luck man. You'll do better with higher end air, that's just a reference to the 120 compact. Really go with a dual 120mm rad for a quad. It's odd but a 120 isn't enough, yet a dual 120 is overkill. Your choice on where you end up.

Not true. My Nautilus 500 is doing a great job cooling my B3 stepping Q6600 @ 3.0GHz and manages to keep the temperatures reasonable on my motherboard blocks as well. VREG, NB, and SB. I think people under estimate what a single 120mm radiator can do given the right conditions. Depending on what you are cooling, I think a single radiator can be fine. If you tried to add a video card to the loop than obviously a single radiator wouldn't get the job done.

Some people are also not looking for really high overclocks. They want adequate cooling and silence. It really depends on the goals of the individual that will be using the machine to decide how much is too much. I do agree with the concept of going with more than I need in case it turns out my calculations were wrong and I needed more than I originally thought.

I'm still lost on why you aren't water cooling your mosfets. Even though I'm on a striker and you're on evga I've had less random SNAFU's once I went that way. ek makes blocks for the evga now so why not try it?

If you are going to water cool the board at all, it makes sense to do the mosfets as they really need the extra cooling. I think that's the reason why my Black Pearl is doing so much better than the previous eVGA 680i SLI boards I've had. (So far at least)

 

[Rolo730]

I'm having a problem with the SupremeFX II card that comes with this motherboard.

When I plug the front panel audio connector of my Lian-Li case into the card I can get sound through my headset, except my microphone is not working.

If I plug the headset directly into the back plate of the soundcard, the microphone works, but I don't get sound. (And I've tried unplugging the front audio connector - still no go.)

Other things I've tried: If I change the BIOS settings to Front Panel AC'97 audio from HD Audio, Vista won't recognize the soundcard anymore. Jacksensing when connected to the back tells me that I've got the headphones plugged into the wrong port and then suggests that I plug it into the port that it's already in!

I don't care if I plug my headset into the back or front. I just want it to get sound and use my mic at the same time.

Any ideas that I can try? Do I need to change the settings on the card to not use 7.1 or digital or something? How do I do that (can't find documentation.)
Right now I've split my cable so that the headphone part connects to the front and the mic connects to the back, but it's a lame hack.

 

[kirbyrj]

Finally installed this into my computer replacing a mATX Gigabyte DS2R. I get about the same OC on it, but definitely gets better memory ratios.

Never had a problem with Asus Intel boards.

Had a problem with my Ballistix on install. Needed to up the voltage in bios before the board would boot (Bios 0505). So I had to do the whole swap memory around to get the board booting. First time I've ever had to do that . The LCD poster came in handy for that task right off the bat .

Overall a great board. I might swap out this Q6600 B3 for a 9XXX series processor, but I'm in no hurry.

 

[Dan_D]

I might swap out this Q6600 B3 for a 9XXX series processor, but I'm in no hurry.

Agreed. I'm in the same boat.

 

[alg7_munif]

I'm should get my Maximus Formula tomorrow, I killed my P5E yesterday morning due to a shitty 0405 BIOS and ordered the Maximus Formula right after that. The 0405 BIOS is so buggy but I can't downgrade the BIOS to an older version with AFUDOS, EZFlash or the latest ASUS update utility. I've read that an older Asus Update can force a BIOS downgrade so I tried it, during the flash my system suddenly resets and it won't POST anymore. The 0405 BIOS is now taken down from ASUS website. Guess that I should wait for others to be a lab rat first before trying any new BIOS. I would RMA the P5E and eBay it when I got it back.

I just wanna ask whether the Maximus Formula has the same problem with downgrading the BIOS, EZFlash and Asus update won't flash if the BIOS is older, AFUDOS gives me an BIOS can't be read error.

 

[dj6518]

First off i bought this MB based on this review,cheers again H,i was waiting for a Phenom 9600/790FX combo but the longer it took for my order to show up the more doubts about AMD surfaced,so this is my first Intel chip since a P3 1G Coppermine,long time ago,anyway to my problem,due to my dual 3870s i had to put my XFi card in PCI1,but Vista does not recognise it,now i know from the old AGP boards never to use PCI1 but i had no choice here,any feedback would be great.
Cheers

 

[E.R]

I'm should get my Maximus Formula tomorrow, I killed my P5E yesterday morning due to a shitty 0405 BIOS and ordered the Maximus Formula right after that. The 0405 BIOS is so buggy but I can't downgrade the BIOS to an older version with AFUDOS, EZFlash or the latest ASUS update utility. I've read that an older Asus Update can force a BIOS downgrade so I tried it, during the flash my system suddenly resets and it won't POST anymore. The 0405 BIOS is now taken down from ASUS website. Guess that I should wait for others to be a lab rat first before trying any new BIOS. I would RMA the P5E and eBay it when I got it back.

I just wanna ask whether the Maximus Formula has the same problem with downgrading the BIOS, EZFlash and Asus update won't flash if the BIOS is older, AFUDOS gives me an BIOS can't be read error.

You can´t downgrade BIOS from 9-series with the BIOS-intergrated flashtool. However you can do that with the old Asus Update V6 that works under XP. But i never going back since i found 903 being the best for me, dispite showing about 20 deg celsius more than the old ones.

First off i bought this MB based on this review,cheers again H,i was waiting for a Phenom 9600/790FX combo but the longer it took for my order to show up the more doubts about AMD surfaced,so this is my first Intel chip since a P3 1G Coppermine,long time ago,anyway to my problem,due to my dual 3870s i had to put my XFi card in PCI1,but Vista does not recognise it,now i know from the old AGP boards never to use PCI1 but i had no choice here,any feedback would be great.
Cheers

X-Fi working great here in PCI slot1 under Vista

 

[alg7_munif]

I hate this bios can't be downgraded thing. I know about the Asus update V6, I used that and it killed my P5E

 

[dj6518]

Ok,solved my problem,XFI card was not fully pushed into the PCI slot,thx for the feedback.

 

[Dan_D]

I noticed something interesting today. I was at Fry's and I looked at some Maximus Formulas and a Maximus Formula SE. It seems the newer Maximus Formulas all have the Fusion block so that might explain the discontinuation of the SE model. They just equip them all with the Fusion block it seems and sell only one SKU.

 

[Methadras]

i love my board, as you can see this is what I am using it with:

You'll have to excuse me. I just quazed.

 

[hfx392]

Could some of you that are running these boards air-cooled post your NB temps please?

Mine seems to be running hot - 58-60c just running memtest.

 

[Dan_D]

Could some of you that are running these boards air-cooled post your NB temps please?

Mine seems to be running hot - 58-60c just running memtest.

Don't worry, that seems about right. Modern NB's from anyone but ATI run hot. It is as simple as that.

 

[Renegade5399]

Could some of you that are running these boards air-cooled post your NB temps please?

Mine seems to be running hot - 58-60c just running memtest.

What voltage are you putting to it? That's kind of warm and the X38 is known to have stability issues with anything over 47°C. Do you have a fan blowing on the heatsink? Do you have the SE model with the waterblock?

 

[alg7_munif]

Installed my Maximus Formula today, I don't think that the board has much difference with my previous P5E except for the bling features. I don't even get the game Stalker because the game is no allowed to enter Germany

 

[E.R]

Could some of you that are running these boards air-cooled post your NB temps please?

Mine seems to be running hot - 58-60c just running memtest.

Mine was 52-53c as maximum on air and 1.63V on the SE model. The heatpipe was reseated with AS5 and waterplugs off so no hat air could be trapped in wc-block. I use high voltage because of 4x1GB and lower is not good for systemstabilty.
After swapping the complete heatpipestory with a EK S-MAX for NB, Thermalright HR09 Type2 for mosfets and Thermalright HR05 SLI/IFX with aditional 80mm fan on it for SB i now after a couple of days see 30c idle and 34c at 100% load on NB when temps settled for their maximum. SB dropped like 15c to and the mosfetcoolers is now warm, the heatpipe was not warm on the mosfetpart.

 

[Dan_D]

Installed my Maximus Formula today, I don't think that the board has much difference with my previous P5E except for the bling features. I don't even get the game Stalker because the game is no allowed to enter Germany

That sucks. I am not sure exactly what content they would find offensive.

 

[hfx392]

What voltage are you putting to it? That's kind of warm and the X38 is known to have stability issues with anything over 47°C. Do you have a fan blowing on the heatsink? Do you have the SE model with the waterblock?

No waterblock. Northbridge is currently running @ 1.34v that I had to force as the board was letting it get to 1.6-1.7 and the temp was hitting 70c. Right now with the forced 1.34v running Orthos blend tests the northbridge temp is 62c, southbridge 56c.

Mine was 52-53c as maximum on air and 1.63V on the SE model. The heatpipe was reseated with AS5 and waterplugs off so no hat air could be trapped in wc-block. I use high voltage because of 4x1GB and lower is not good for systemstabilty.

I'm running 4x1gb, and strangely enough, it seems stable even at these temps/volts. It just hit a solid 16 hours in Orthos with a 20% cpu overclock, and passed an hour of each on cpu and ram tests with OCCT. CPU full load temp is right around 60c @ 1.28v. Both the BIOS (0903) and Everest report similar readings.

Though, I think something may be funny with my board. Memtest86+ spits out a random memory error every 30 mins or so, and even more when the NB was at default voltage and getting really hot. Even though Orthos and OCCT report stable, I am still concerned about the NB temp and this memtest issue.

I think I'm going to try reseating it after messing with some fans. Mine definitely seems to be running hot, especially for the voltage I have it at. Case airflow may not be the best, but it shouldn't be too horrible as a P180 with 3 120mm's in it and clean wiring - the CPU temp drops 20c extremely quick from full load to idle. NB after idling for 10 mins is still 56c.

 

[Renegade5399]

Current versions of memtest are known to only be somewhat reliable with the X38 chipset. There's is an extensive thread over at XS that covers all these issues.

 

[hfx392]

Current versions of memtest are known to only be somewhat reliable with the X38 chipset. There's is an extensive thread over at XS that covers all these issues.

Ahh thanks, I did not know about that. After Orthos and OCCT ran their course I was starting to think the memtest thing was a bug.

I did find the awesome Maximus thread on XS, but my forum account has been in the activation queue for a couple days and I am unable to post yet. I didn't find much about northbridge temps being high, though I was only able to look through like 40 of the 174 pages there.

 

[hfx392]

Okay well I think I figured out the northbridge thing. Taking out my secondary video card (6600gt) dropped the NB temp by 8-9c. Figures.

Pointing an Antec Spot-cool across the ram towards the northbridge dropped it by another 5-6c.

Now staying steady @ 46c running Orthos.

 

[Gary1951]

Could someone point me in the right direction as far as ram for this board with a QX9650?

 

[golfjam]

I've applied as5 on nb and sb. it runs @ 31~33C. very happy with this board so far. i've owned a p5e before, very good board until i got 2 3870's. only neg is the latest bios, couldn't oc no matter what. downgraded to 0602 and won't change it until i get a penryn,

 

[kirbyrj]

Could someone point me in the right direction as far as ram for this board with a QX9650?

I use Crucial Ballistix, but it wouldn't post until I got a cheaper set of memory and then adjusted voltages in Bios. The LCD poster actually came in pretty handy to figure that out.

What bios version are you guys using? I'm still on the 0505 since it's working and it sounds like others are having problems with later versions.