How to make RIVE/R4E rock solid stable? (the opposite of an OC Guide)

[WillyK]

Apparently RIVE/R4E is not particularly stable, even on stock "safe settings", regardless of the BIOS version (there's plenty evidence on this forum and on the web in general). Even after verifying stable setup with hours Prime95, OCCT, etc. testing, one day it can still surprise you crashing down and giving you some weird behavior hard time.

It would be nice if some Asus Guru can provide a Guide for how to make this board just extremely robust (not OC).

I.e. what settings would make sure that whatever good PCIe cards and peripheral gears you decide to use, the RIVE/R4E would keep smiling and running rock solid? (Obviously, I'm not talking about setting Vcore 1.5v and VCCSA 1.3v etc., also it is useful to know which specific parameters are the key to stability.)

Anyone?

[WillyK]

mdzcpa wrote:
I am a bit confused now.

Are you looking for reliability settings or OC settings? Your opening posts seemed to indicate your concerns with stability when not overclocked. Maximum "robust" as you put it.

If this is the case, running most of your settings at default would not result in any alarming voltages. Set your sytem up the way I posted above (at default speeds) and the system will be exceptionally stable. If you experience random instabilities while using your system in typical fashion for daily productivity or gaming then there is a bad component somewhere.

If you are referring to stable overclock settings, then as stated above it comes down to trial and error with your particular system. No 2 systems are exactly alike and once you begin OC custom tuning is required. Start with the OC guide, then proceed to tweak. Trial and error.

Not sure what your definition of stable is. I can run at 5Ghz for weeks without an error, but I do get an occassional glitch after resuming from sleep after a few days without a reboot. Games and productivity apps are solid. For the summer I lowered my OC to 4.8Ghz and I have not seen a crash or hiccup since. It's been over 2 months. So is my system stable?? Not sure as that is relative.

Your thread seems to indicate the board in general has quirky stability. I've not experienced that after several builds using the board. I've set up non OC and OC systems with it. Most of what I see on the boards is OC related stability issues, while the non OC stability issues revolve around the right RAM and avoiding the non Intel ports. Beyond that I guess I'm lost at to what your original point was.

Thanks! Well put and a great summary. I have built only one RIVE-based system (had to replace the first board sample though), and my experiences are based on that. If you after building several RIVE systems haven't observed any peculiar board behavior, then I can't argue against that. I haven't been able to detect any malfunction or subperformance of any individual components in my build, but it doesn't mean there isn't any. Looking at the postings around RIVE here and on the web in general, however, I just put 2+2 together and concluded that RIVE is not generally perceived as very reliable, even on stock settings (also in my experience). That's all.

It's been argued that "wrong" memory can cause problems even on default settings. While this is certainly true for getting great OC results, I believe that RIVE should be stable with any QVL compliant memory at stock mode, even though it may not give you a great OC. I use a decent QVL memory (QVL for 32G in 8 slots at 1600G) and the board wasn't stable on stock settings anyway. The CPU passes the Intel CPU test (and others) with honors... So what is it then?

Again, this is only my 2b experience aligned with what many fellow RIVE owners are writing about too. So that's why this thread. No offense.

[8_Pack]

Yeah we do!!!! LOL!!!

[WillyK]

Thanks Zka17. I realize that my original intitiative to start a thread like that got a bit confusing somewhere down the road...

I'll be back with my details, but it's not myself I'm thinking of here. Based on my painful journey in order to get here, I thought that a thread like that may prove useful for many of the people experiencing all kinds of issues NOT necessarily related to overclocking! (Just have a look at the forum TOC and there are plenty others out there on the web). Why here? Because the Asus gurus are here.

Let me give you a sample of what experiences inspired the idea of starting this thread:
- Starting with the default settings the board was not stable and some voltages were alarming (e.g. auto Vcore=1.448v)
- Using Auto settings everywhere you can, does not provide the best configuration for reliability (in my experience)
- If I switch back to default settings (F5), the rig gets unstable and even won't post every now and then (i.e. the OC is more stable!)
etc.

Am I the only one experiencing such behavior? (Reading what other are writing, I don't think so.)

PS: I didn't buy the RIVE because of its OC capabilities, but its summary technical specifications made the best fit for my purpose.

[Retired]

Please define rock solid stability??

The higher you clock, the less stable it is.. (you knew that)


And above 4,7, its going even faster, downhill..

Ram and timings, have much to do with the overall stability, when u start to push it..

Very often not even the x.m.p (is it called that?), is not the best timings.., when it comes to to getting a stable overall performance..


I run prime95 for 2 weeks, and it crash = not stable
I use it for everyday tasks, play, benchmark, and so on. And it never crash = Stable

You see my point?

You can always force a bsod, but where do we draw the line?

as usual i did not read the first posts in this thread.. So if i am lost...well

/ Bronco + Hi Helix Blower..

[Zka17]

WillyK, thanks for posting the details...

I spent some time to understand your water cooling loop... I still need some more details, but right now I can tell you that the cooling may be one possible source for your issues...

What radiators are you exactly using? I'm interested specially in their size... Based on what I could think about, you have a 1x120mm one (radiator2) and a 2x80mm or 2x90mm (radiator1)... well, those are certainly not enough... your CPU ALONE would need at least a 2x120mm... then the GTX590 itself could use a separate 2x120mm at least...

What are your temps when you're loading prime95+? (and of course, what's your room temp?)

[WillyK]

Zka17 wrote:
WillyK, thanks for posting the details...

I spent some time to understand your water cooling loop... I still need some more details, but right now I can tell you that the cooling may be one possible source for your issues...

What radiators are you exactly using? I'm interested specially in their size... Based on what I could think about, you have a 1x120mm one (radiator2) and a 2x80mm or 2x90mm (radiator1)... well, those are certainly not enough... your CPU ALONE would need at least a 2x120mm... then the GTX590 itself could use a separate 2x120mm at least...

What are your temps when you're loading prime95+? (and of course, what's your room temp?)

Average temp is 35-37C. Prime95 is pushing the CPU up to 73-75C (and the avg temp up to 55-60C). Ambient room temp is about 20C.
It's not an ideal cooling environment - it's ugly and bulky - but it does the job, I think. I have another rig in a Corsair Obsidian 800D with large 3x120 Coolgate radiator etc, which is doing about the same temps with an i7-2600k CPU at 4.5G OC (24/7)... So I don't think the cooling is a problem.

As I said, my rig is stable now but it took a while and some "blood sweat & tears" to get there. This is not my common experience with boards over the years. But if I'm the only one interested in factors improving RIVE's robustness, then we can leave it at that. I just thought that there may be a few more people that would benefit from sharing experiences about what makes this particular board more robust and reliable. For instance, I never had a board before that would change behavior once it was set stable. RIVE has done that many times during the uptake. So ... hence my original question.

Sorry if some of the ROGs resent my postings but I'm only stating the facts as I have experienced my RIVE journey.

[R4E3960X]

WillyK wrote:
Apparently RIVE/R4E is not particularly stable, even on stock "safe settings", regardless of the BIOS version (there's plenty evidence on this forum and on the web in general). Even after verifying stable setup with hours Prime95, OCCT, etc. testing, one day it can still surprise you crashing down and giving you some weird behavior hard time.

It would be nice if some Asus Guru can provide a Guide for how to make this board just extremely robust (not OC).

I.e. what settings would make sure that whatever good PCIe cards and peripheral gears you decide to use, the RIVE/R4E would keep smiling and running rock solid? (Obviously, I'm not talking about setting Vcore 1.5v and VCCSA 1.3v etc., also it is useful to know which specific parameters are the key to stability.)

Anyone?

Use this RAM . Get this score And NO MORE OVERCLOCK.