ASUS Maximus Formula SE: X38 and DDR2 Unite!
by Rajinder Gill on November 9, 2007 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Synthetic Benchmark Performance
Everest Cache and Memory Benchmarks
9X266
9X333
9X400
8X465
8X465 DFI LP UT P35 T2RG
Our 8 hour Prime95 torture test run ended at 450FSB; 460-465FSB provided around 1 hour of torture test stability and allowed us to complete all benchmarks but Prime95. The same CPU and components managed 465FSB on the DFI P35 T2R, but with a far longer 11 hour Prime95 torture test pass - without any failures. Unfortunately, the ASUS 0505 BIOS does not provide sufficient GTL tweaking ability to extend CPU core stability. To get the board close to P35 DDR2 performance we are limited to the 400 NB strap and 3:4 memory divider ratio. At higher FSB points, the 400 NB setting is the only strap that is stable enough for 24/7 use. This makes it quite apparent that Intel's engineering favors 1600FSB support and DDR3 for the X38 and future processors. DFI P35 results have also been added at 465x8. The only way to run the Maximus Formula in a fully competitive manner is to run the memory in excess of 1200MHz, which limits users to top-end DDR2 modules.
The DFI board runs DDR2-1120 very happily at low VDimm with the right modules; the Maximus is limited to either the 1:1 or 3:4 using the 400 NB strap. Using 1:1 would have limited memory speed to DDR2-930 on the Maximus, which is quite low unless you run CAS 4-3-3 timings. Such low latency timings required a very high VDimm, and 1N did not seem to work at this speed either, so we chose to stick with DDR2-1240 CAS 5-5-5-15, which was possible at a reasonable 2.2V.
Everest Cache and Memory Benchmarks
9X266
9X333
9X400
8X465
8X465 DFI LP UT P35 T2RG
Our 8 hour Prime95 torture test run ended at 450FSB; 460-465FSB provided around 1 hour of torture test stability and allowed us to complete all benchmarks but Prime95. The same CPU and components managed 465FSB on the DFI P35 T2R, but with a far longer 11 hour Prime95 torture test pass - without any failures. Unfortunately, the ASUS 0505 BIOS does not provide sufficient GTL tweaking ability to extend CPU core stability. To get the board close to P35 DDR2 performance we are limited to the 400 NB strap and 3:4 memory divider ratio. At higher FSB points, the 400 NB setting is the only strap that is stable enough for 24/7 use. This makes it quite apparent that Intel's engineering favors 1600FSB support and DDR3 for the X38 and future processors. DFI P35 results have also been added at 465x8. The only way to run the Maximus Formula in a fully competitive manner is to run the memory in excess of 1200MHz, which limits users to top-end DDR2 modules.
The DFI board runs DDR2-1120 very happily at low VDimm with the right modules; the Maximus is limited to either the 1:1 or 3:4 using the 400 NB strap. Using 1:1 would have limited memory speed to DDR2-930 on the Maximus, which is quite low unless you run CAS 4-3-3 timings. Such low latency timings required a very high VDimm, and 1N did not seem to work at this speed either, so we chose to stick with DDR2-1240 CAS 5-5-5-15, which was possible at a reasonable 2.2V.
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jozeaphe - Sunday, February 17, 2008 - link
Hi Guys i Just Build a new PC :Asus Maximus Formula SE .
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 .
2 GB Ram - 800 MHz ( for the moment ) .
can any one help to overclock my PC to Max settings within the following :
1. Stock Intel CPU heatsink\fan ( come with processor ) . No water cooling on the northbridge .
2. Stock Intel CPU heatsink\fan ( come with processor ) . With water cooling on the northbridge .
3. The above 2 options but using 2 GB Ram - 1066 ( if thats make a difference ) .
And Thank u All , Jozeaphe@gmail.com .
guitronics - Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - link
I don't know if I have an 'SE',but I have the game Stalker.These Mobo's are NHRA Top Fueler's, not 18 wheeler's. They're Gaming 'Boards,not workstations,or servers.Their cause is overclocking/tweaking. So:Some legacy stuff hadda go...serial and parallel:Buy a PCI card,if you really need it.There are plenty of pci slots.No Esata? There are 6 Sata,and 1 IDE port.2 -GB Lan options.Yes,it does ECC:But why does a gamer want that?There are 1394a ports,not 800 Mhz.Or,at least that speed isn't documented.The USB mouse...it's time to get on the "dump legacy stuff" wagon.How big a deal is that?Up to 8 GB of memory,and onboard 0,1,5;and 10 Raid support.Put a Blu-Ray on the IDE,run raptors' in raid 0, still have room for > 4 < More drives....Terabyte's, anyone?A good case and you can swap 'em out...no big deal."It's a Gaming Machine"!
jay401 - Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - link
I think we've officially reached the point of option saturation, where there are literally TOO many options in the BIOS for most overclockers to ever care about. Sure, it's great for the handful that will actually make use of all of those options, but we're getting dangerously close to the point where it is TMI.RFV - Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - link
you'd love the DFI BIOS!RFV - Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - link
I have read that the Asus Maximus Formula SE is now "End Of Line" so you better hurry if you want to purchase one. Asus did the same thing with the Blitz Formula SE, so this is not suprising news, the Maximus Formula SE was always going to be a limited edition board from the get go. Also, fom the reviews I have read on this board from people who upgraded from P35 boards is that the Maximus Formula SE X38 board required more volts than the Asus P5K Deluxe board to reach the same overclock. They also reported that the X38 boards generally ran hotter than the P35 boards at the same overclock.457R4LDR34DKN07 - Monday, November 12, 2007 - link
Thanks for the in depth bios descriptions, it has helped me dramatically increase stability while using patriot pc8500 memory.Etern205 - Saturday, November 10, 2007 - link
What happened to the Maximus Extreme?Raja Gill - Sunday, November 11, 2007 - link
that's nextzoom314 - Saturday, November 10, 2007 - link
I wonder does Asus still have Locked Multipliers on Extreme cpus still like they do on the P5W DH Deluxe? Meaning any multiplier above the Default Multiplier is locked off to prevent users from overclocking, rendering an Extreme Dual/Quad cpu an Expensive Normal Dual Core or Quad Core cpu(A QX6700 becomes a Q6700 cpu). Of course one can adjust the Multiplier downwards to 6 as Asus say No one needs those upper Multipliers and Hence Asus does Not Support Extreme any cpu!!!!Raja Gill - Saturday, November 10, 2007 - link
the upwards multipliers work fine on this board...