ASUS RAMPAGE III EXTREME BIOS - V1601 - Updated OROM MOD

[pir8man]

Hello.  I know this thread is old but was wondering if anyone is still watching it.  I really need the "soundcard disabled by default" bios hack, does this bios include that?  Thanks .

There is no hack to disable the sound card by default.  recommended steps:

Clear CMOS.
Go into BIOS
Disable sound.
Set XMP profile 
F10 and enter.

[Stahab]

Here are three TEST ROMs for review.  

Depending on feedback will define what my next major update (S19) will include.

The attached file has 3 images with TRIM support and the following updates:
T1 is my Base S18 ROM with only the CPU Microcode updated to include CPUID 06C2 from 2015. 
T2 includes CPU update and Marvell Firmware 2.3.0.1007
T3 includes CPU update and jMicron downgrade to 1.07.24 patched for ahci and hotplug

Please test all three and post results.  I am also rebuilding a system to run off my old R3E board.  I will have limited testing ability in a week or two.

I have tested T1 and T2.

T1 works fine with my old 920@3.32GHz. Will test a X5690 next week and report back.

T2 does not finish booting. Gets stuck after POST, just before Marvell ROM screen.

Would be perfect if you also released a version with the new CPU microcode and the small memory footprint Intel RAID ROM.

[mymoso]

Hello

I keep following the forum since 1601 and nothing else has been updated. There are still thousands of R3E users who needs upgrades to extend the life of the motherboard.

Grettings

[ATGSleg]

Long time R3E user here. 7years going on 8. I am new here. Still running official 1502 bios.

I surely hope as of this date of post that I am in the right place for the most up to date information on bios and driver versions/updates for the R3E. Please correct me if I am wrong.

After reading, I am still unsure on what BIOS attachments from post #2 and #3 I need for my setup.
I am running 1 oczvertex3 on the marvell, 1 wdcblack (sata3) on the marvell, and I am raid 0 with two wdcblacks on the intel. cd drive on intel.
I dont plan to raid with SSDs. Should I adjust which controller any of those drives are on?

Do I need S18 or do I need S18i ? TRIM or no TRIM variants?
Will my mem chip run out of space with just the JMicron disabled or would I need to disable another module?

[pir8man]

Here are three TEST ROMs for review.  

Depending on feedback will define what my next major update (S19) will include.

The attached file has 3 images with TRIM support and the following updates:
T1 is my Base S18 ROM with only the CPU Microcode updated to include CPUID 06C2 from 2015. 
T2 includes CPU update and Marvell Firmware 2.3.0.1007
T3 includes CPU update and jMicron downgrade to 1.07.24 patched for ahci and hotplug

Please test all three and post results.  I am also rebuilding a system to run off my old R3E board.  I will have limited testing ability in a week or two.

I have tested T1 and T2.

T1 works fine with my old 920@3.32GHz. Will test a X5690 next week and report back.

T2 does not finish booting. Gets stuck after POST, just before Marvell ROM screen.

Would be perfect if you also released a version with the new CPU microcode and the small memory footprint Intel RAID ROM.

Thank you for testing.  I anxiously await your results on T1 release with the newer cpu.

on the T2 are you sure it got stuck and was not updating the Marvell firmware?  Marvell updates have to flash the Marvell controller on the first boot up with updated firmware.  Once this completes, you restart and THEN you have the updated firmware.  Please clarify your results.

I am not taking any other OROM configuration requests until after this round of testing is completed.  However, if the updated microcode tests are successful, i will re-release ALL my BIOS subversions with the updated microcode.  which will resolve your request.

[pir8man]

Long time R3E user here.  7years going on 8.  I am new here.  Still running official 1502 bios.

I surely hope as of this date of post that I am in the right place for the most up to date information on bios and driver versions/updates for the R3E.   Please correct me if I am wrong.

After reading, I am still unsure on what BIOS attachments from post #2 and #3 I need for my setup.  
I am running 1 oczvertex3 on the marvell, 1 wdcblack (sata3) on the marvell, and I am raid 0 with two wdcblacks on the intel.  cd drive on intel.
I dont plan to raid with SSDs.   Should I adjust which controller any of those drives are on?

Do I need S18 or do I need S18i ?   TRIM or no TRIM variants?
Will my mem chip run out of space with just the JMicron disabled or would I need to disable another module?

You do NOT need TRIM support.  That is for SSD RAID configurations.  

What OS are you running?!  

Recommended change would be to move your SSD drive from the Marvell controller to the Intel Controller.  The Marvell controller is 1st generation SATA3 chip.  It can handle the updated protocols, but cannot itself operate at the higher speeds of SSD drives.  So moving your SATA3 SSD drive to the Intel controller will operate at SATA2 protocols, but will be able to actually move data faster via the Intel controller chip.

I had my WD-Black RAID0 operate faster on my Marvell controller.  This board's Marvell controller is optimal for HDD based RAID setups.  It CAN move data faster than HDD's, and gets the benefits of SATA3 connection speed/protocol.  This may depend on your data and stripe sizes.  So testing on both controllers is HIGHLY recommended.

==============================================
Keeping RAID on intel, you would probably want BIOS v.18i
If you move your RAID to the Marvell controller, BIOS v.18 is optimal.

With Jmicron controller disabled, either one would fit into memory.  Disabling ANY ONE module creates enough space to fit the others.

[ATGSleg]

Long time R3E user here.  7years going on 8.  I am new here.  Still running official 1502 bios.

I surely hope as of this date of post that I am in the right place for the most up to date information on bios and driver versions/updates for the R3E.   Please correct me if I am wrong.

After reading, I am still unsure on what BIOS attachments from post #2 and #3 I need for my setup.  
I am running 1 oczvertex3 on the marvell, 1 wdcblack (sata3) on the marvell, and I am raid 0 with two wdcblacks on the intel.  cd drive on intel.
I dont plan to raid with SSDs.   Should I adjust which controller any of those drives are on?

Do I need S18 or do I need S18i ?   TRIM or no TRIM variants?
Will my mem chip run out of space with just the JMicron disabled or would I need to disable another module?

You do NOT need TRIM support.  That is for SSD RAID configurations.  

What OS are you running?!  

Recommended change would be to move your SSD drive from the Marvell controller to the Intel Controller.  The Marvell controller is 1st generation SATA3 chip.  It can handle the updated protocols, but cannot itself operate at the higher speeds of SSD drives.  So moving your SATA3 SSD drive to the Intel controller will operate at SATA2 protocols, but will be able to actually move data faster via the Intel controller chip.

I had my WD-Black RAID0 operate faster on my Marvell controller.  This board's Marvell controller is optimal for HDD based RAID setups.  It CAN move data faster than HDD's, and gets the benefits of SATA3 connection speed/protocol.  This may depend on your data and stripe sizes.  So testing on both controllers is HIGHLY recommended.

==============================================
Keeping RAID on intel, you would probably want BIOS v.18i
If you move your RAID to the Marvell controller, BIOS v.18 is optimal.

With Jmicron controller disabled, either one would fit into memory.  Disabling ANY ONE module creates enough space to fit the others.

Understood, will be upgrading bios and moving the drives around.  Thank you for the feedback.  I am running windows 10.

[Stahab]

Here are three TEST ROMs for review.  

Depending on feedback will define what my next major update (S19) will include.

The attached file has 3 images with TRIM support and the following updates:
T1 is my Base S18 ROM with only the CPU Microcode updated to include CPUID 06C2 from 2015. 
T2 includes CPU update and Marvell Firmware 2.3.0.1007
T3 includes CPU update and jMicron downgrade to 1.07.24 patched for ahci and hotplug

Please test all three and post results.  I am also rebuilding a system to run off my old R3E board.  I will have limited testing ability in a week or two.

I have tested T1 and T2.

T1 works fine with my old 920@3.32GHz. Will test a X5690 next week and report back.

T2 does not finish booting. Gets stuck after POST, just before Marvell ROM screen.

Would be perfect if you also released a version with the new CPU microcode and the small memory footprint Intel RAID ROM.

Thank you for testing.  I anxiously await your results on T1 release with the newer cpu.

on the T2 are you sure it got stuck and was not updating the Marvell firmware?  Marvell updates have to flash the Marvell controller on the first boot up with updated firmware.  Once this completes, you restart and THEN you have the updated firmware.  Please clarify your results.

I am not taking any other OROM configuration requests until after this round of testing is completed.  However, if the updated microcode tests are successful, i will re-release ALL my BIOS subversions with the updated microcode.  which will resolve your request.

Hi pir8man. Sorry for my delayed response.

T2 could not update the Marvel firmware, just black screen. Tried to boot 4 times, same result: stuck just before Marvell ROM screen and had to clear CMOS to restart. It seems like this new Marvel OROM is incompatible with our old chip.

T1 was working perfect for a couple of days, then I decided to take a look into it using MMTOOL. I discovered that both the old and the new CPU ID 06C2 microcodes were present, so I used MMTOOL to delete the old CPU ID 06C2 microcode. I tested modified T1 and worked flawlessly again.

I am not using RAID in my system, only AHCI for my two SSDs and two HDDs, so, after successfully testing both original and modified T1 for a week, I decided to take an older release of yours (S18i), and using MMTOOL I added the new CPU ID 06C2 microcode and removed the old CPU ID 06C2 microcode. I am using this modified S18i for the last 7 days and everything works perfect.

I don't know what is the difference between the new and old CPU microcode, but I have not seen or felt any difference between them. Same with a couple of CPU/memory benchmarks I have run.

All of the above were tested with a Xeon X5690, 12GB of RAM and Windows 10 PRO x64.

I am sorry I can't thoroughly benchmark my machine with RAID etc. to give you more details. I am moving to a new place far away, so my free time, space and flexibility will be limited and irregular for some time.

[pir8man]

For Windows 10, the deciding factor between S18 and S18i is whether you will run RAID on the Intel SATA controller. If so, you want S18 for compatibility with the INTEL RST software. If you do not plan to run RAID on the Intel controller, S18i is the better choice. It has the older controller firmware which is a bit faster, in AHCI mode.. at the loss of RST software compatibility in Win10.

[pir8man]

Hi pir8man. Sorry for my delayed response.

T2 could not update the Marvel firmware, just black screen. Tried to boot 4 times, same result: stuck just before Marvell ROM screen and had to clear CMOS to restart. It seems like this new Marvel OROM is incompatible with our old chip.

T1 was working perfect for a couple of days, then I decided to take a look into it using MMTOOL. I discovered that both the old and the new CPU ID 06C2 microcodes were present, so I used MMTOOL to delete the old CPU ID 06C2 microcode. I tested modified T1 and worked flawlessly again.

I am not using RAID in my system, only AHCI for my two SSDs and two HDDs, so, after successfully testing both original and modified T1 for a week, I decided to take an older release of yours (S18i), and using MMTOOL I added the new CPU ID 06C2 microcode and removed the old CPU ID 06C2 microcode. I am using this modified S18i for the last 7 days and everything works perfect.

I don't know what is the difference between the new and old CPU microcode, but I have not seen or felt any difference between them. Same with a couple of CPU/memory benchmarks I have run.

All of the above were tested with a Xeon X5690, 12GB of RAM and Windows 10 PRO x64.

I am sorry I can't thoroughly benchmark my machine with RAID etc. to give you more details. I am moving to a new place far away, so my free time, space and flexibility will be limited and irregular for some time.

Yes, i left the older microcode in there, more for BIOS compatibility, rather than CPU compatibility.  There is no risk of loss of function without all of them in there.  It resolves an internal BIOS check but does not affect computer performance. 

At least you have proven that the microcode update does indeed run the highest end processor that is compatible with this mainboard... the X5690.
that is awesome news.  And... Thank You Very Much!


My next posting will have more test BIOS versions.  T1 is a success.  I will integrate that in my next revisions.