New BIOS 1701

[reupens]

Available for the Maximus VIII Hero and others.

Change log is just 'Improve system stability'.

Hero link: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/MAXIMUS_VIII_HERO/MAXIMUS-VIII-HERO-ASUS-1701.zip

[Subsider]

"Might be safer to use the textfile and hand-enter values" pls and TY ! 🙂

[aceisme]

Eric_F wrote:
Sure, if that's allowed. Though I'm new to the ROG board, so I'm not 100% familiar with the attachment rules / limits. The textfile dump should be easy to attach; don't know if the .CMO settings file is appropriate or possible to attach. Might be safer to use the textfile and hand-enter values since my hardware-specific settings -- memory, water pump and fans, some drives -- are going to be different.

Yeah, text file will be just fine Eric. No need for the .CMO file.
Cheers.

[Kenrou]

Further testing shows OC voltages went down again with 1701, Prime95 blend 2h : 26.6 4.7ghz 1.3v - 4.8ghz 1.36v, 28.9 4.7ghz 1.32v - 4.8ghz 1.38v, same crashing with Realbench or anything that requires AVX which means it need more voltage. 100% stable for anything else like gaming, image editing, fold/seti, etc

[AKBAAR]

BIOS 1801 Incomming

[Eric_F]

Here's the most relevant sections of my BIOS settings under 1701 that got me to a per-core OC of 4.9GHz. This is set up to function in the same style as Intel's Turbo Boost function, which typically hits max OC on two cores at full load, and then as the load spreads to the third and fourth core, it steps down primarily to ease off temperatures. On thee cores at full load, it will step down to 4.8GHz, and at full load across all four cores, it will step down one more notch to 4.7GHz. For gaming, it stays at 4.9 with occasional steps to 4.8 on heavy CPU use. Encoding HD content with Handbrake will instantly apply near 100% constant load to all four cores, and it will drop to 4.7GHz where voltage will stay around 1.37 and temperatures will hover in the mid to high 70's, only rarely touching 80C.

Cooling is obviously important; this setup is done under an AIO water cooler.

In Windows, the power profile is set to "High Performance" with "Minimum Processor State" set to 5% -- this still allows SpeedStep to lower clock speeds at idle/low load, but it will respond faster to loads and increase clock speed sooner than the "Balanced" power profile.

Starting with BIOS 1701, I noticed I could change the "Maximus Tweak" memory timing adjustment from Mode 1 (compatibility, slightly looser timing) to Mode 2 which favors overclocking. This plus some careful voltage tweaks helped stabilize my particular system to go from 4.7 GHz on all cores to the per-core setup that hits 4.9GHz. As seems to be typical, DRAM and SA voltages needed to be nudged up.

You might notice my CPU standby voltages have been raised. I've kept these settings since I began overclocking this system based on early issues with Skylake CPUs having issues on returning from standby. They're set based on what seemed to keep the resume-from-standby behavior stable for most OC's. It's possible that Intel Management Engine and BIOS upgrades may be making these unnecessary by now, but with them set I'm not having any problems and my temps are fine, so I've left well enough alone.


Here's the settings:

4.9GHZ OC on I7-6700K Maximus VIII Hero BIOS 1701
These settings are for use with AIO water cooling -- Corsair H80i V2
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ai Overclock Tuner [XMP]
XMP [XMP DDR4-3000 15-15-15-35-1.35V]
BCLK Frequency [100.00]
ASUS MultiCore Enhancement [Disabled]
CPU Core Ratio [Per Core]
1-Core Ratio Limit [49]
2-Core Ratio Limit [49]
3-Core Ratio Limit [48]
4-Core Ratio Limit [47]
BCLK Frequency : DRAM Frequency Ratio [Auto]
DRAM Odd Ratio Mode [Enabled]
DRAM Frequency [DDR4-3000MHz]
Xtreme Tweaking [Enabled]
TPU [TPU II]
EPU Power Saving Mode [Disabled]
CPU SVID Support [Enabled]
CPU Core/Cache Current Limit Max. [Auto]
Min. CPU Cache Ratio [Auto]
Max CPU Cache Ratio [Auto]
CPU Core/Cache Voltage [Adaptive Mode]
- Offset Mode Sign [+]
- Additional Turbo Mode CPU Core Voltage [1.400]
- Offset Voltage [Auto]
DRAM Voltage [1.3600]
CPU VCCIO Voltage [1.30000]
CPU System Agent Voltage [1.33750]
PCH Core Voltage [Auto]
CPU Standby Voltage [1.25000]
------------------------------------------------------------
FCLK Frequency [1GHz]
Initial BCLK Frequency [Auto]
BCLK Amplitude [Auto]
BCLK Slew Rate [Auto]
BCLK Spread Spectrum [Auto]
BCLK Frequency Slew Rate [Auto]
DRAM VTT Voltage [Auto]
VPPDDR Voltage [Auto]
DMI Voltage [Auto]
Core PLL Voltage [Auto]
Internal PLL Voltage [Auto]
PLL Bandwidth [Auto]
Eventual DRAM Voltage [1.3600]
Eventual CPU Standby Voltage [1.25000]
------------------------------------------------------------
Maximus Tweak [Mode 2]
------------------------------------------------------------
CPU Load-line Calibration [Level 6]
CPU Current Capability [130%]
CPU VRM Switching Frequency [Auto]
VRM Spread Spectrum [Disabled]
Active Frequency Mode [Disabled]
CPU Power Duty Control [T.Probe]
CPU Power Phase Control [Extreme]
CPU Power Thermal Control [115]
DRAM Current Capability [130%]
DRAM Power Phase Control [Extreme]
DRAM Switching Frequency [Auto]
CPU Core/Cache Boot Voltage [1.250]
DMI Boot Voltage [Auto]
Core PLL Boot Voltage [Auto]
CPU System Agent Boot Voltage [1.3000]
CPU VCCIO Boot Voltage [1.3000]
Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm) [Enabled]
Turbo Mode [Enabled]
Long Duration Package Power Limit [Auto]
Package Power Time Window [Auto]
Short Duration Package Power Limit [Auto]
IA AC Load Line [Auto]
IA DC Load Line [Auto]
Hyper-threading [Enabled]
Active Processor Cores [All]
Intel Virtualization Technology [Enabled]
Hardware Prefetcher [Enabled]
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetch [Enabled]
Boot performance mode [Turbo Performance]
Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm) [Enabled]
Turbo Mode [Enabled]
CPU C states [Enabled]
Enhanced C-states [Enabled]
CPU C3 Report [Enabled]
CPU C6 Report [Enabled]
CPU C7 Report [CPU C7]
CPU C8 Report [Disabled]
Package C State limit [C7]
CFG lock [Enabled]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PCI Express Native Power Management [Disabled]
DMI Link ASPM Control [Disabled]
ASPM Support [Disabled]
DMI Link ASPM Control [Disabled]
PEG - ASPM [Disabled]
VT-d [Enabled]
Primary Display [PEG]
iGPU Multi-Monitor [Disabled]
PCIEX16/X8_1 Link Speed [Auto]
PCIEX8_2 Link Speed [Auto]
DMI Max Link Speed [Auto]
Onboard LED [Enabled]
SupremeFX LED [Enabled]
Q-Code LED Function [Auto]
PCH LED [Enabled]
IOAPIC 24-119 Entries [Enabled]
PCIe Speed [Auto]
Hyper kit Mode [Disabled]
SATA Controller(s) [Enabled]
SATA Mode Selection [AHCI]
SMART Self Test [Enabled]
Aggressive LPM Support [Enabled]
SATA6G_1(Gray) [Enabled]
Hot Plug [Disabled]
SATA6G_2(Gray) [Enabled]
Hot Plug [Disabled]
SATA6G_3(Gray) [Enabled]
Hot Plug [Disabled]
SATA6G_4(Gray) [Enabled]
Hot Plug [Disabled]
SATA6G_5(Gray) [Enabled]
Hot Plug [Disabled]
SATA6G_6(Gray) [Enabled]
Hot Plug [Disabled]
Legacy USB Support [Enabled]
XHCI Hand-off [Disabled]
USB Keyboard and Mouse Simulator [Disabled]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
USB3.1_EA2 [Enabled]
USB3.1_EC1 [Enabled]
USB3_1 [Enabled]
USB3_2 [Enabled]
USB3_3 [Enabled]
USB3_4 [Enabled]
USB3_5 [Enabled]
USB3_6 [Enabled]
USB_7 [Enabled]
USB_8 [Enabled]
USB_9 [Enabled]
USB_10 [Enabled]
USB_11 [Enabled]
USB_12 [Enabled]
USB_13 [Enabled]
USB_14 [Enabled]
Network Stack [Disabled]
ErP Ready [Disabled]
Restore AC Power Loss [Power Off]
Power On By PCI-E/PCI [Enabled]
Power On By RTC [Disabled]
HD Audio Controller [Enabled]
PCIEX4_3 Slot(black) Bandwidth [Auto]
Asmedia USB 3.1 Controller(USB3.1_EC1/USB3.1_EA2) [Enabled]
Asmedia USB 3.1 Battery Charging Support [Disabled]
USB Type C Power Switch [Auto]
ASMedia Storage Controller (SATA6G_E12) [Enabled]
Windows Hot-plug Notification [Disabled]
ASPM Support [Disabled]
Intel LAN Controller [Enabled]
Intel PXE Option ROM [Disabled]
-----------------------------------------------------------

That's it. Your mileage may very -- I've always thought my i7 is fairly average. I've been tweaking it slowly and it seems like BIOS 1601 and 1701 seemed to help hit the sweet spot while dialing it all in.

[aceisme]

Thanks Eric_F. At the moment I am running it at 4.6G (all cores) on 1.26V LLC5 with temps around 50C and hardly ever touching 60C. With that in mind, I think I have room for more so I'll check your settings and try a few things and see how it goes.
I see your CPU cache is set on Auto? Have you tried different settings on this?

[Eric_F]

No, haven't bothered with tweaking the cache setting... Skylake doesn't seem to have a reputation for large gains in that area. I might dial it in more, later. We'll see.

[Kenrou]

Seen a review (think on techpowerup) that game-wise cache is negligible, half an fps for an increase of 600mhz. Definitely not worth it if you don't use memory intensive applications.

[Incoming]

MAXIMUS VIII RANGER
Updated from 1601 to 1701.
After the update I was putting the settings back like I had them with 1601, everything else went back fine, but I tried changing:

Advanced tab -> System agent (SA) config -> Graphics Configuration -> PEG Port Configuration-> If I change both the PCIE Link Speed card settings,
PCIE_X16/8_1 and PCIE_X8_2 ( running SLI ) from Auto to Gen3, PCIEX1_1 goes dead and I lose my sound card.

When I set them both back to Auto the sound card works again.
Windows 10 reports the sound card is there but Creative's software can't find it, Weird....

The system seems to run fine with the settings on Auto and GPU-Z reports
both cards at 8X 3.0. It's just strange that hard setting them to GEN 3 in BIOS would cause the PCIE X1_1 slot to die.

[darkempire]

I'm stuck at bios 0907. i'm not able to update unfortunately.
If i atttempt to update bios. i wil get a lag mouse. and system, than it wil freeze at heavy test. if its take 2 long, system wil automatic reboot. and same happing al over again.