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Rampage VI Omega -VROC-Direct Die experience - Long

ROGman2
Level 7
ASUS Rampage VI Omega coming from ASUS ROG STRIX x299-XE

Thank you to this community for providing very valuable, useful and reputable information. I hope that this will help others (by giving back to this community).

Omega is a worthwhile upgrade from my X299-XE. Last year, I wanted a Rampage VI Extreme or APEX. None was in stock, so I settled with X299-XE. X299-XE was a great board but wanted more. If I had an Extreme or Apex, I might not need to upgrade. I would water cool your VRMs- I had monoblock but ended up with direct die as I had a 50mm fan on my VRMs (monoblocks do not work well with delidding – even if you replace IHS with copper. The other neat aspect of the Omega is that the dims and Dimm.2 are moved down on the board to that I have more room at the top. Also like the live dash.

Bios:
Same experience as others. Once updating to 0504, even the bios 2 at 0218 had error code 70, so now have two 0504. I tried all three ways of updating, 1) USB, 2) Bios-EZ flash, and 3) AI suite 3. It works with 0504, 0218 is not even available.

VROC:
My experience – YMMV. Yes, I felt the pain like most of you that tried to VROC. I started with 4-SM961 and Hyper 16 M.2 (because I read that it was supported on the Intel website), Disappointed - no boot but good performance with 4 drive NVME (data only). Then I took the plunge on a small scale with 4-Intel 760P and another Hyper 16 m.2. It worked flawlessly with supplied drivers that came with the board (RTSe_f6_iaVROC_win8_10_64), bootable (no key 4-760P raid 0-pass through). Yes, not the greatest Q depth but with Ramcahe II or III, Q depth increased from the 58 to over 200. Ok with me and with the higher read/writes.

Fast forward to Omega. The Hyper 16 with Intel 760p worked fine in slot 1 and 2 (x16) with four drives, bootable. The Hyper 16 worked in slot 2 (x8) with two 760P and the third with 2 760P (x8). I then tried the three PCIE slots on the motherboard (DIMM2 and PCIE on MB) VROC and worked fine. I had to disable 10G ethernet to get the 10 NVME drives to work on the OMEGA (four in 1, GPU in slot 2 x8, two in slot 3 and four on the motherboard.
In this process, True Image 2017 did not restore to the Raid, only to a single 970 PRO. Not a problem after upgrading to True Image 2019 where in the Universal WINPE restore, you can add the F6 VROC drivers (again – using the drivers that came with the motherboard USB). No fear on RAID 0 VROC any more, within five minutes, True Image 2019 will restore to single drive or VROC raid 0 drives either on Hyper 16 or three m.2 on motherboard.

Rebuilding VROC:
Five main steps in the setup with the fourth being the volume setup which never has to happen again even when clearing and updating the Bios on the same bios number. Array information is saved on the first drive (I think as I never had to delete or recreate volumes once done, only did to change block size when playing). If you change the bios number on the motherboard, the array did not boot for me. The ASUS manuals for Raid and x299-xe are very clear in this process. Remember VROC is RSTe and not IRST and no key is necessary for raid 0 pass through.
1) Clear bios
2) Boot, disable CSM, set PCH storage options to RST RAID
3) Boot, Set CPU storage options to Hyper 16 m.2 with VROC in slot 1 (4 drives, where it resides since it always stays at x16 – slot 2 will change from x16 to x8 if slot 3 is used)
4) Boot, INTEL VROC drive volume setup – create raid volume, select drives and block size.
5) Boot, install windows 10 – F6 (RSTe) for custom install to see the single volume raid drive, install.

After Windows installs, you only have to go through steps 1-3 to use VROC on the Hyper 16 after clearing or updating the bios (not changing the bios from 1 to 2 as this made my array fail to boot). After installing Windows, you can unplug the drive, clear CMOS and only have to setup the initial raid and Hyper 16 storage options – do NOT delete or touch the VROC volume settings in the VROC bios settings as the volume information will stay with the Hyper 16 array( I think this is saved on the first drive in the array on the Hyper 16 . I have gone though the entire week end playing around with this. Let me know if you need more clarity.

Bottom line up front (BLUF): VROC works with the Intel 760P drives and don’t be afraid if you have the proper restore methods that can add the F6 drivers and build the universal boot disk like the True Image 2019.
The only hiccup is that Windows needs to be reactivated on the restore. Phone call activation worked fine. I was told by Acronis that this is a Windows issue and that activation will be necessary with all restorations...

Omega PCIE:
STRIX X299-XE had 16x16x8 in any configuration. I had 4-760P in first x16 slot, 4-SM961 in second x16 slot and GTX 1080 in third x8 slot. Omega will do only 16x16-no slot 3 or 16x8x8. With the Omega, I have 4-760P in first x16 slot VROC Raid 0, GTX 1080 in second x8 slot and two SM-961 in the third x8 slot. The 2 Dimm.2 SM961 plus the other two SM961 for my 4 drive Windows data raid 0. Engaging the other two M.2 slots on the motherboard was challenging as the PCH slot would always work for a total of 9 NVMEs but to get the motherboard PCIE to see the 10th NVME I had to disable the 10G ethernet in bios. If I wanted to have two x16 for GPUs, I would do a three VROC raid 0 on the motherboard.

Direct Die:
Both the X299-XE and the Omega are running my Iceman Direct die x7900x with very low, even temperatures across all cores as my main focus was only a quieter and cooler machine. I am liquid cooled with only a 420mm Push/Pull, Velocity and Thermaltake Silent D5. I tried the Rockit copper IHS. but with the 4 degree drop in temperatures, I settled on – no IHS, just liquid metal. My 7900x delidded running 43/45 runs at 63 degree at 100% CPU all day and the system is very quiet. It is 35 degrees with no load, 20 degree ambient. cleared bios temperatures were at 24 degrees, all 10 cores within 1-2 degrees of each other. The six ML140 fans run off the CPU. VRM fans turn on only at full power on after PS switch being off. Then never came back on again after booting. Need to play more now with overclocking…

I like the ASUS Aura Addressable RGB hub works fine for all of the addressable lighting/CPU water block (the motherboard only has one and the EK Velocity needed one too. Velocity is using 2066 jet plate.

Memory:
Using memory from the QVL – 3600 GSKill 16-16-16-36. AISUITE II likes 3200mghz but I have set if back to 3600 after AI Suite 3 tuning at 43/45. I will start the OC later- too tired for now and just enjoying my PC.

Thank again to all!
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34 REPLIES 34

LiveOrDie
Level 11
Monoblocks work great with a delidded chip and a copper IHS mate, just as good as a normal water block, if you have no experience in the matter maybe not give out invalid info to the community!

LiveOrDie wrote:
Monoblocks work great with a delidded chip and a copper IHS mate, just as good as a normal water block, if you have no experience in the matter maybe not give out invalid info to the community!


It didn't for me but great if it worked for you. Naked worked better for me. Again, this is just my experience - YMMV.

ROGman2 wrote:
It didn't for me but great if it worked for you. Naked worked better for me. Again, this is just my experience - YMMV.


Direct die will always be better because your removing that extra peice of metal, also did you use the rockit or a ebay IHS?

LiveOrDie wrote:
Direct die will always be better because your removing that extra peice of metal, also did you use the rockit or a ebay IHS?


Used a Rockit with the x299 delidder. It works fine. LM really leaves its mark on the copper. It is slightly taller/higher than the Intel IHS after laying flat on glass and placing a straight edge. Ordered directly from Rockit. Worked well with the EK monoblock on the X299-xe with a super clean IHS and clean die, no glue.

BTW: the main reason for the title on this thread is that I went with the Omega upgrade for a couple of reasons.

1) Robust VRM cooling so I could focus on the CPU cooling by itself (direct die naked)
2) The additional features on the Extreme high end motherboards (informational leds and livedash, etc)
3) Found out that I could use three VROC NVMEs on the MB and have two x16 slots.
4) Had a case that had radiators on the top and liked the additional space. Now that is Overcome by events (OBE) as I changed case.

Totally satisfied with my purchase.

LiveOrDie wrote:
Monoblocks work great with a delidded chip and a copper IHS mate, just as good as a normal water block, if you have no experience in the matter maybe not give out invalid info to the community!


Hi,
Mono blocks only look cool they do not actually cool better

Not even vrm's are cooled better than a dedicted vrm water block
Been there done both even an ek evo cools 5-10c better than a mono block.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

ThrashZone wrote:
Hi,
Mono blocks only look cool they do not actually cool better

Not even vrm's are cooled better than a dedicted vrm water block
Been there done both even an ek evo cools 5-10c better than a mono block.


That is actually incorrect the monoblock cools the same as a EVO, and a dedicated VRM block will always be better yes but thats not the point the monoblock is better than standard cooling for the VRM.

ROGman2
Level 7
Ok. Recommendation for successful delidding with IHS/Direct die:
1) Place tiny drops of cheap thermal paste (the ones that come with water blocks and is easy to clean) around on the IHS/die.
2) Install CPU block.
3) Remove, check thermal pattern on IHS/die and CPU block.
4) Reinstall with good thermal paste or LM.
This will give you a pattern check for comfort and also a visible image of where you need to paint your LM if necessary.

LiveOrDie
Level 11
Yeah the extra height makes up for the removed glue, so what was the issue with it and yeah the LM has a affect on the copper, I've had mine installed for 2 months with no issues so far I run 1.245v on my 7940x temps stay under 80c.

I also run front and top rads there isn't much room to move but that wouldn't really change with the omega due to the huge heatsink but I'm glad you are satisfied with your upgrade.

LiveOrDie wrote:
Yeah the extra height makes up for the removed glue, so what was the issue with it and yeah the LM has a affect on the copper, I've had mine installed for 2 months with no issues so far I run 1.245v on my 7940x temps stay under 80c.

I also run front and top rads there isn't much room to move but that wouldn't really change with the omega due to the huge heatsink but I'm glad you are satisfied with your upgrade.


No issues. worked fine. I just wanted to focus on more cpu cooling and wanted to go naked. I still don't know whether to go with 7980xe or 9980 xe… Delid with 7980 or just be satisfied with 9980xe?? I really don't have any need for 18 cores but I am already into the x299 investment with time and $$$.

I also wanted to start oveclocking. I have only used AI Suite for my overclocks. I noticed with my 7900x at 43/45, AIDA 64 FPU tests use 444 watts from my PS, HWinfo says max 94 degrees...