ASUS Republic of Gamers and X79 ROG Review – Rampage IV Gene, Formula and Extreme

Automatic Overclocking on the Rampage IV Gene

With the automatic overclocking settings, the following results were achieved.

Using the Normal OC Profile, the BIOS set the system to 125 MHz, with a 35x multiplier on all cores at all loading (4375 MHz total).  The following adjustments were also made by the profile automatically:

- 1.4 volts VCore
- 1.2 volts VTT
- 1.2 volts VCCSA
- 1.67 volts Memory
- 1.35 volts CPU PLL
- Load Line Calibration was set to Medium
- Memory was pushed to DDR3-2000

Under the Normal OC Profile, the system failed to boot, giving BIOS Code 40, indicating VGA issues.

Using the Gamers' Profile, the BIOS kept the system at 100 MHz, but increased the multiplier to 47x-44x based on core loading.  The system set the CPU voltage to 1.4 V with no memory overclock. The Gamers' Profile was stable in the OS, giving core loading as it had been set in the BIOS.  At load during OCCT, the voltage reported to the OS was 1.368 volts, and a maximum temperature of 71ºC was reached by OCCT.

CPU Level Up was offered in three stages:

- Stage 1: 103 MHz with 39x multiplier (4017 MHz), showed 1.232 volts at load, with 55ºC maximum temperature during OCCT and PovRay.
- Stage 2: 125 MHz with 33x multiplier (4125 MHz), showed 1.272 volts at load, with 57ºC temperature during PovRay and 58ºC during OCCT.
- Stage 3: 125 MHz with 34x multiplier (4250 MHz), showed 1.296 volts at load, with 58ºC temperature during PovRay and OCCT.

Manual Overclocking on the Rampage IV Gene

With the manual overclocking method listed above, the following steps were reached:

- 4400 MHz was stable when set to 1.300 volts on VCore, showing 1.264 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 59ºC during PovRay and 61ºC during OCCT.
- 4500 MHz was stable when set to 1.375 volts on VCore, showing 1.344 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 66ºC during PovRay and 68ºC during OCCT.
- 4600 MHz was stable when set to 1.375 volts on VCore, showing 1.344 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 67ºC during PovRay and 68ºC during OCCT.
- 4700 MHz was stable when set to 1.375 volts on VCore, showing 1.344 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 68ºC during PovRay and 69ºC during OCCT.
- 4800 MHz was stable when set to 1.400 volts on VCore, showing 1.368 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 70ºC during PovRay and 71ºC during OCCT.
- 4900 MHz was stable when set to 1.450 volts on VCore, showing 1.408 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 75ºC during PovRay and 76ºC during OCCT.
- 5000 MHz was stable when set to 1.500 volts on VCore, showing 1.456 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 80ºC during PovRay and 83ºC during OCCT.
- 5100 MHz was unstable, even when set to 1.625 volts on VCore.  In the OS, it would show 1.600 volts at load, and hit 89ºC during PovRay, but the system would tap out and reduce the CPU to 43x to prevent damage to other components.

Using the 125 MHz CPU Strap:

- 4750 MHz was stable when set to 1.375 volts on VCore, showing 1.344 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 68ºC during PovRay and 68ºC during OCCT.
- 4875 MHz was stable when set to 1.450 volts on VCore, showing 1.408 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 74ºC during PovRay and 75ºC during OCCT.
- 5000 MHz was stable when set to 1.550 volts on VCore, showing 1.512 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 84ºC during PovRay and 86ºC during OCCT.

Automatic Overclocking on the Rampage IV Formula

Using the Normal OC Profile, the BIOS set the system to 125 MHz, with a 35x multiplier on all cores at all loading (4375 MHz total).  The following adjustments were also made by the profile:

- 1.4 volts VCore
- 1.2 volts VTT
- 1.2 volts VCCSA
- 1.67 volts Memory
- 1.35 volts CPU PLL
- Load Line Calibration was set to Medium
- Memory was pushed to DDR3-2000

Under the Normal OC Profile, the system successfully booted, showing 1.408 volts at load, giving 71ºC load with PovRay and 73ºC load with OCCT.

Using the Gamers' Profile, the BIOS kept the system at 100 MHz, but increased the multiplier to 47x-44x based on core loading.  The system set the CPU voltage to 1.4 V with no memory overclock. The Gamers' Profile was stable in the OS, giving core loading as it had been set in the BIOS.  At load during OCCT, the voltage reported to the OS was 1.376 volts, and a maximum temperature of 70ºC was reached by OCCT.

Using the Extreme OC (Low Current) profile, the BIOS raised the CPU Strap and BCLK to 131.25 MHz, with a 38x multiplier on all cores at all loading (4985 MHz total).  The following adjustments were also made:

- 1.55 volts VCore
- 1.25 volts VTT
- 1.25 volts VCCSA
- 1.67 volts Memory
- 1.65 volts PLL
- Load Line Calibration was set to Ultra High
- CPU Current Limit was set to 180%
- Other settings in Digi+ and Skew were modified
- All Onboard Devices were turned off
- Memory was pushed to DDR3-2100

Under the Extreme OC (Low Current) profile, the system successfully and booted and showed 1.600 volts under load with PovRay hitting 89ºC.  However, the system reduced the CPU multiplier to 31x (4068 MHz) due to other system temperatures.

CPU Level Up was offered in three stages:

- Stage 1: 103 MHz with 39x multiplier (4017 MHz), showed 1.240 volts at load, with 59ºC maximum temperature during OCCT and PovRay.
- Stage 2: 125 MHz with 33x multiplier (4125 MHz), showed 1.270 volts at load, with 61ºC temperature during PovRay and 63ºC during OCCT.
- Stage 3: 125 MHz with 34x multiplier (4250 MHz), showed 1.270 volts at load, with 63ºC temperature during PovRay and 64ºC during OCCT.

Manual Overclocking on the Rampage IV Formula

With the manual overclocking method listed above, the following steps were reached:

- 4400 MHz was stable when set to 1.275 volts on VCore, showing 1.256 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 62ºC during PovRay and 63ºC during OCCT.
- 4500 MHz was stable when set to 1.300 volts on VCore, showing 1.280 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 64ºC during PovRay and 65ºC during OCCT.
- 4600 MHz was stable when set to 1.350 volts on VCore, showing 1.320 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 68ºC during PovRay and 69ºC during OCCT.
- 4700 MHz was stable when set to 1.375 volts on VCore, showing 1.352 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 70ºC during PovRay and 72ºC during OCCT.
- 4800 MHz was stable when set to 1.425 volts on VCore, showing 1.400 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 69ºC during PovRay and 71ºC during OCCT.
- 4900 MHz was stable when set to 1.500 volts on VCore, showing 1.472 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 76ºC during PovRay and 77ºC during OCCT.
- 5000 MHz was stable when set to 1.550 volts on VCore, showing 1.520 volts in the OS at load.  Temperatures were recorded as 83ºC during PovRay and 85ºC during OCCT.
- 5100 MHz was unstable, even when set to 1.600 volts on VCore.  In the OS, it would show 1.568 volts at load, and hit 88ºC during PovRay, but the system would tap out and reduce the CPU to 49x to prevent damage to other components.