# Maximus II Formula (P45), GA-X48-DQ6 (X48), or other?



## mk_ln (Jul 3, 2008)

Hi, I was in the process of upgrading my mobo and was wondering what you all would recommend. If you recommend 'other' then I'd appreciate it if you could specify. budget is $300 CDN.

Thanks in advance


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## Cold Storm (Jul 3, 2008)

The Maximus Formula II board would be a good choice. Its a P45 board that should oc very well, and the ATI crossfire on it should be top! I love my Max board. If this was out before, I'd get it!


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## paybackdaman (Jul 3, 2008)

Personally I like the Rampage Formula. I haven't had any problems OCing it. Runs fairly cool, plus has all the features the Maximus has, with a better chipset, IMO.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284


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## mk_ln (Jul 3, 2008)

oops, i forgot to add that im looking for a mobo with at least 8 Sata ports. otherwise, i would have opted for the rampage formula. thanks


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## paybackdaman (Jul 3, 2008)

Oh no worries dude. I would go with the Maximus. Then again I am biased. I love Asus. Never used anything but Asus with all 8 of my builds...except one. I used MSI. They are good quality boards as well.


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## farlex85 (Jul 3, 2008)

The only reason I say go w/ the x48 is b/c the p45 runs in 8x-8x cf. That usually doesn't matter as much w/ amd, but the newer cards have higher bandwidth, and I would think this may begin to restrict it. The p45 would likely be a better proc ocer though.


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## mk_ln (Jul 3, 2008)

i suppose i should also add the P5Q Deluxe into it as well (too bad i cant edit a poll though)

the only reason i was considering the Max II Formula over the Deluxe was b/c of the SATA placement - the deluxe would have 1 SATA port blocked if using a long vid card.

the prices would be something like this:

Maximus II Formula (P45 ~$270)
P5Q-Deluxe (P45 ~$210)
GA-X48-DQ6 (X48 w/ DDR2 ~300)

...my main concern with the gigabyte would have been the backplate (im using a tuniq tower and the mobo backplate would be a problem i think).


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## Cold Storm (Jul 3, 2008)

Well. the P5Q-deluxe is a great OCING board. I can't say there isn't any non love making with that board.. If you want a ocer then that's the board... I say the max for crossfire support


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## mk_ln (Jul 3, 2008)

i was also leaning that direction, but since both have the same chipset (P45), dont they just have x8 in crossfire mode vs x16 for the x38/x48?


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## BATOFF3 (Jul 3, 2008)

Backplate can be removed as you are also provided with the necessary screws to retain the remaining silent cool pipe. Backplate removal is included in the manual.
I love my X48-DQ6.


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## mk_ln (Jul 4, 2008)

aw, only 4 votes so far?


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## Ruse (Jul 4, 2008)

I don't have either of those boards currently, however I am upgrading soon and will be buying the X48-DQ6, so I voted for that. There are some decent reviews out there that suggest the board is good for overclocking/crossfire. Sorry I can't be of any more help


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## erocker (Jul 4, 2008)

Rampage Formula.  Best x48 board there is and two full pci-e x16 lanes for crossfire.  It will take any processor where it needs to go, plus the bios is great for tweaking!


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## mk_ln (Jul 4, 2008)

thanks guys, but iirc, there were some issues with memory with the Asus x38/x48 offerings...am i right about that?


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## erocker (Jul 4, 2008)

I don't think that's the case with the latest bios'.  Heck, I just ran 3dMark06 with four sticks of ram at DDR2-1230 and 2.2v's!


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## mk_ln (Jul 4, 2008)

wow, what is your current OC on that Q6600?


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## ckoons1 (Jul 4, 2008)

what about BIOSTAR new I45 board .  WR FSB


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## Cold Storm (Jul 4, 2008)

mk_ln said:


> wow, what is your current OC on that Q6600?



Well, I believe that is his Bench oc. I all ways run my chips at 3.5 24/7... I can do 3.8 but there really isn't any need for it. As long as you got good cooling.


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## mk_ln (Jul 4, 2008)

i'd prefer to stay with the more popular brands so the biostar is a no-go 

3.5 on a maximus x38 flashed to x48....hm i wonder if it IS my mobo limiting my OC as i can get right up to the boot screen up to 3.5, but it just BSODs immediately after. still though, i think i may get a QX6850 w/in the next month or so.


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## Cold Storm (Jul 4, 2008)

I don't know if its your Mobo or the fact that you have miss matched ram timmings.. You have one kit at 800mhz and another at 1066. You have one kit pushing in order to get to where the other is. Unless your clocking down... But that's really not a better way to go. IMO...


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## oli_ramsay (Jul 4, 2008)

For a 1 card config I would go with the P45.

For xfire, go for x48.  There is a big difference between 8x/8x and full 16x/16x,(http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1472/intel_p45_vs_x48_crossfire_performance/index.html) 






If you plan to overclock the I would go for the P45 as they've been known to get crazy FSBs.


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## mk_ln (Jul 4, 2008)

the thing is, i've tried the sticks individually as well (800 in dual channel and 1066 in dual channel), and have not come out with a better OC, which is why i believe that my mobo is the limitation rather than RAM.


oli_ramsay: i've read the tweaktown review and that is what worries me. but i would like to see other reviews as well. i've seen one on bit-tech but they were using 3870's which don't saturate the bandwidth. it would be great to get some more reviews where they are comparing crossfire with the new generation of cards using x8/x8 vs x16/x16 PCI-E 2.0 spec.


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## ckoons1 (Jul 4, 2008)

anyone familar with info about CPU INIT error being common on X48 chipset boards or is that not correct?


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## Cold Storm (Jul 4, 2008)

mk_ln said:


> the thing is, i've tried the sticks individually as well (800 in dual channel and 1066 in dual channel), and have not come out with a better OC, which is why i believe that my mobo is the limitation rather than RAM.



Well, if its not been any better with two sticks.. I'd say it's ether Ram related or Board. Ether way your going to spend money.. I'd try the board out since your looking into a new one, but if it doesn't do it, then I'd also try new ram. Only thing I'd have more to say is my max board is very temperamental on ram, I just hope the Max II isn't! 

Ckoons: I don't have one yet to even say...


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## erocker (Jul 4, 2008)

ckoons1 said:


> anyone familar with info about CPU INIT error being common on X48 chipset boards or is that not correct?



Not correct.  The common problem that I heard of especially with the earlier bios' of the Maximus was a DET_DRAM error, which has now been fixed.


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## Cold Storm (Jul 4, 2008)

Oh, that favorite thing on the Max... Ram issues! lol.. But, thank god 1201 bios fixed almost every ram problem.


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## ckoons1 (Jul 4, 2008)

any info on flashing ASUS P5E DELUXE with RAMPAGE bios? same as MAXIMUS? any RAMPAGE bios better?


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## Cold Storm (Jul 4, 2008)

ckoons1 said:


> any info on flashing ASUS P5E DELUXE with RAMPAGE bios? same as MAXIMUS? any RAMPAGE bios better?



Just go to the Xtremesystems Max Thread and it will teach you what you need to know. It's real easy to do.


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## ckoons1 (Jul 4, 2008)

Thank you


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## Cold Storm (Jul 4, 2008)

ckoons1 said:


> Thank you



Your welcome. Forgot to tell you that so far the 0403 is the most stable while 0308 is good at being better ram timing.. From what I have seen, the new 0406 is almost the same as the 0403 so there isn't a point so far to update to it.


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## ckoons1 (Jul 4, 2008)

usb stick make bootable with hp usb utility and usb boot files
then add rf0403.rom and afudos utility. reboot press f8 choose usb stick and rf0403
type in correct information behind the C: press enter or yes leave alone let flash bios
reboot when instructed to.
is this correct. anything i am missing here?
thanks


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## Cold Storm (Jul 5, 2008)

ckoons1 said:


> usb stick make bootable with hp usb utility and usb boot files
> then add rf0403.rom and afudos utility. reboot press f8 choose usb stick and rf0403
> type in correct information behind the C: press enter or yes leave alone let flash bios
> reboot when instructed to.
> ...



Nope, sounds right! Have a good time Testing!


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## Frogger (Jul 5, 2008)

Don't forget to clear the cmos when it reboots just in case it has any 'leftovers'


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## Bundy (Jul 5, 2008)

Im getting excellent results from my Gigabyte x48. Have used Asus 680i in the past and it went ok as well. From my personal experience though, Gigabyte have provided one driver that has worked perfectly, Asus provided about 6 drivers and all but the last had minor flaws.  I agree that Asus usually come up trumps for performance though. Depends on how hard you want to try I guess.


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## ckoons1 (Jul 5, 2008)

am i suppose to use the DOS version of RAMPAGE bios if i am flashing in DOS ? or is the ALL OS version alright to use? 
never mind there is no 0403 dos only version listed.


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## Cold Storm (Jul 5, 2008)

Nope, just do what we've listed. And what Frogger said, and you'll be all good.


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## ckoons1 (Jul 5, 2008)

thank you


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## mk_ln (Jul 5, 2008)

thanks for the replies. 

any more suggestions are still welcome


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## Cold Storm (Jul 5, 2008)

Ckoon1: Your welcome for the insites. and MK_ln, I'd really look at reviews on whatever board you suggest on getting. The Q6700 is a beast of a chip, since it is a GO from the get go. Just have to check on what you want and like.


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