rampage iii is making me rampage

has anyone have and HDD detection issues?

i got a i7-950, overclocks like a dream come true for me (in bios that is).
ram i got is 8 gigs of corsiar 1600mhz ram (xms) (4x2g). that one with the cooler on it model:

problem: posts, with an issue of it not detecting my WD caviar black 1tb hdd.
model: WDC WD1001FALS-42K1BO

it won't detect it on sata 1 or 2; i found i needed a "lower-end" cable and a big speed reduction since it only runs at 1.5gb/s, while sata1&2 run at 6gb/s with the right cable(s).

i got it to detect in the bios, but how can one detect it during post.
some extra info: i transfered this hdd from another pc. i've never had issues doing something like that, since i always reinstall windows on it.

another issue, i can't detect my usb drive with my windows7 on it either so i can't even install.

this is just arggg.

will have more questions if i ever get this thing to boot

Ditto its making me rampage to
second one they sent is Defected

both had dead Ramslots one was #2 other board was #4 and this one i got yesterday must have a setting or defect in the usbs lol? cause when i play gunz the duel fast action game the mouse cuts out sometimes and does got to fast delay for clicking

very odd

Have you tried plugging the drive into SATA 3 or 4?

What do you mean by speed reduction? Your HD is capable of 3Gb/s, it will not run 6Gb/s no matter what cable you connect to it. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, what you're try to convey.

Also, make sure you have your Ram installed in the proper locations for Dual channel operation. Or are you only using 6 gb and running triple channel?

actually i figured it all out a few hours back of painstaking tinkering.

first i reflashed my bios to the newest one. that somewhat helped, as it now recognized my hdd in sata1. odd thing was still kicking at me, as it didn't recognize it as a sata in the sata configurations under the main tab? i already forgot which one it was under but the one that display's all the sata connections you have and what they are. instead it recognizes it as a IDE. It's still doing it, wimpering my speed; i know it should be going to at least 3gb/s but it's staying at 1.5gb/s, i'm threw messing with it.

anyways, this board also didn't have what i was used to on old asus boards where you could press a key to boot from a usb or cd, i had to switch it manually to make it boot for what i wanted it to boot. MBR was corrupted at first so that also could have been my problem in the first place.

^above^ sorry for my little rant, it was a frustrating night, have a time limit on this rig set up so far 12 hours into it: i think it's stable for 24/7 @ 4.03ghz.

also, for the ram thankfully mine didn't come with any DoA parts. but i did find a way to get a tri channel WITH an extra stick (a1;a2;b2;c2 are the occupied slots) totaling me at four. i'm sure it's bottle necking my ram overclocks but i'm not really OCing the ram.


new question(s): what are good temps and a core voltage for 4.0ghz? i have it pretty stable atm at 1.352v (says CPU-Z). Frankly, i'm impressed cause i have little to no vdroop either cause it's the exact thing i put in the bios. might have a bit more voltage in my ram then i should however. anyways highest i got in a burn test was 75C, cores stick around 30ish idle.

has anyone had luck with a dual tri channel? (either bough 6 in one pack or bought 6 of the same model in different packs?) i figure i'm going to get a little more boost if i can 2 more gigs next upgrade. it won't be worth it if i can't be stable no matter what i do. and i don't want to go over 1.65v [stock]. shame the rampage3 reads this set of memory i have at 667 instead of 800mhz though.

vandel777 said:

Ditto its making me rampage to
second one they sent is Defected

both had dead Ramslots one was #2 other board was #4 and this one i got yesterday must have a setting or defect in the usbs lol? cause when i play gunz the duel fast action game the mouse cuts out sometimes and does got to fast delay for clicking

very odd

Click to expand...

i found this to be a OC problem i had with any unstable OC i was running. though that's just my exp. the delay in mouse and clicks that is

nzaneb said:

Have you tried plugging the drive into SATA 3 or 4?

What do you mean by speed reduction? Your HD is capable of 3Gb/s, it will not run 6Gb/s no matter what cable you connect to it. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, what you're try to convey.

Also, make sure you have your Ram installed in the proper locations for Dual channel operation. Or are you only using 6 gb and running triple channel?

Click to expand...

sorry for the confusion, i had to look up what speed my hdd could run at. i thought 6 but i was wrong. still even if it was at 3gb/s and plugged into sata1/2, shouldn't it be able to run at 3gb/s no matter what sata slot?

Are you plugging the USB stick into the blue USB 3.0 slots on the back? They won't detect until you install drivers.

not using usb 3.0 dont really have anything that could use the full advantage of those at the moment.

donneee said:

sorry for the confusion, i had to look up what speed my hdd could run at. i thought 6 but i was wrong. still even if it was at 3gb/s and plugged into sata1/2, shouldn't it be able to run at 3gb/s no matter what sata slot?

Click to expand...

Yes it should. However, try one of the other slots rated for 3Gb/s max, just to be sure.

i will when ever i get a chance (this rig wasn't actually mine, i just built it and OC'd it purely out of wanting to mess with an i7 xD, but also because it's my best friends lol)

anyways, dropped it off at his house last night, primed it for idk how long, but it restarted last night. i'm guessing more then 5 hours after p95 cause i tested it at my house for close to 6 hours. i did how ever change the vcore up one notch to make it a little more stable and temps were still fine (under 75 for the most part)

any advice on what could be the problem? i dont exactly remember the settings but i did use a newegg video as a crash course on how to OC an i7. link:
skip to 8 mins, and i used most of these settings but my target is 4.0ghz

keep in mind, i got the rampage iii formula; not extreme, i got different ram, and a 700w ocz psu, and a 9800gt, so i adjusted accordingly. the main things i remember changing was the vcore, it's sticking around 1.34-1.35 and the multiplyer + the bclock (x24 + 167?) for 4.0.

just a thought though, for the iSeries of intel processors, is higher bclock and lower multi better then opposed to the old Qseries (ex. qx6700) where higher multi was generally the way to go keeping a lower freq on the cpu (say like trying to match it with ram speed for 1:1)? stability-wise

different terminology and attentional settings are also hampering me from getting better manual settings since everything's all new to me (way more used to OCing older gen processors). i also read the how to OC an i7 on overclock.net, but i generally knew how to OC a processor (it was a walk through more like it); but very good information on the settings i didn't know about. the video however explained somethings simpler.

http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/
That is one of the best i7 guides out there.

However. 4ghz is a walk in the park as long as your cooling is adequate. What's most likely holding you back is the memory. Being triple channel 6gb is normal, with an 8gb configuration you'll need to make sure you have them in the correct slots. You're also populating more of the available DIMM slots, which puts added stress on the IMC. This will require a bit more VTT.

20 X 200bclk
Ram ratio at 2:8
set timings manually

Vcore 1.325-1.35V
VTT 1.3-1.35V (Very chip dependent)
Vdimm 1.65V
Disable EIST, C1E
Turn on LLC (you can try it without first, but it might droop too much)

Should be all it needs, and quite possibly this is an overestimate. 24X167, 2:10 Ram isn't going to quite line up with your Ram specs. You can try it there, but you might need to bump VDimm to 1.67 to get it stable.

it is a bit overclocked (ram that is), which i don't mind, i guess i do have to put it at 1.67, i have it a 1.66 vdimm atm. with the ram slots, there fine atm i believe. i have them all in a proper slots. since they were technically all factory tested to be as close as possible to each other; i'd think the timings would be all the same and can be push a bit. i guess i do have to put more vdimm though.

during my research however, i concluded that 1.35 is just way to much for a 4.0, perhaps? i know not all chips are made equal but in most of the cases i read 1.30 vcore was adequate enough for 4.0. i have it at 1.35 and i dont want it to go any farther then that atm due to higher temps. there we're a few reviews and forums i came across where they had it at 4.0 @ 1.28 vcore. maybe this chip is slightly under average but not the worst (average worst i saw was 1.4 at 3.7-3.8, that blows.)

i will test it later for 4.2 and higher or highest i can have it at this vcore. i'll probably test it to see how far i can push the tjmax too; i'll keep it over 15 though, pushing the vcore a bit more. the vtt i put the same as vcore voltage. will change that tonight before the gaming goes on.

i'll turn off the power saving settings tomorrow to see if it'll run stable over tonight with them on. since within the next few hours were going to test it via games. i don't really have an idea what game could test an i7 quad however.

i'll try to find LLC (i don't remember seeing that option, but then again i only had it for a day).

Yes 1.35V would be on the high side. Most people tend to overcompensate on the Vcore and try to undercut the VTT. Bloomfield usually prefers the opposite. I actually run a 950 in my daily rig (the one I'm posting on now) at 190x22 with 1.31 VCore and 1.33 VTT (those were just my initial settings) I haven't felt the need to change them

Don't forget that Prime95 will put your rig through loads that is likely it will never see in normal use, unless it's a work box or you do heavy encoding. Stability testing with the programs you use the most is usually the best way to test an overclock. Personally, I use IBT for 10 passes on maximum memory, if that passes I've never had troubles. I don't futz with 24 hour stability testing. If the stuff you're doing on your computer is life or death important... you probably shouldn't be overclocking Just my $.02

it's a gaming rig, but my standards are to have a 24h rig @ the OC cause of the cooler i got. that and future proofing it for the day when daily-use programs will take full advantages of all 4 cores at 50% or higher. for what it's being used for however, it's grand

i turned off all the power saving options, tested it with a few games and it going smooth. p95 again. i'll report back soon

And what cooler is it might I ask?

just the lazy man's WC single loop kit, an H70. got it at a nice cheap price on black friday. it's housed in a 1200, but using only one stock fan, other is part of the case. the other unattached corsiar fan is being used as a tri-cool fan to move fresh air from the top front fan and it's cage. it was very easy to set up as well cause this particular 1200 had back cut outs for easy backplate mounting.

there is one problem i have with the h70 though. the side fan clips hit the bottom piping of the h70. do you know how durable the h70 piping is? is it going to nudge? or bend? possibly break? i hope it's as strong and as durable as the coolit vantage.

anyways
i was expecting to go at least 4.2 on it though. temps just got too high at 4.2
lapping both the waterblock on it and the 950 might help it get there, but my friend's very happy with 4.09 ghz so it's rock stable for now. temps on load after 50 mins peaked at 79 but averaged around 70-73.

looks sick on his 40in tv... makes me wanna sell my whole rig and start fresh with another 950 but real WC T_T


btw, those settings at 200x20 were perfect. ram runs closest to stock speed now, a little above. i raised the vtt a bit (1.37-1.38, kept the vcore at 1.35 (=(), added one notch to vdimm and manually set timings. everything is running as intended; except cpu of course being overclocked that is lol. thanks again