Striker extreme owners!!

[Jonny2Bad]

Tek and I seem to be having quite a lot of problems with our striker mobos, mainly to do with performance and reliability so wanted to check with any other owners or novatech themselves to find solutions or other problems you may be having.

[Jonny2Bad]

Jeez google problems with strikers and there is pages of them starting to wish i'd never got this mobo for over £200!!!

[Coops]

What kind of problems are you having??

[teknokid]

well how do you explain this:
max Overclock (ram) @ 2.2v is 830mhz, yet lower to 2.0v and im at 970mhz.
then
no-matter what i try, i cannot get over 1000mhz memory,
terrible data corruption problems, happened every few days on my raid, so now im running an old 80gb WD HDD, but windows updates jam, and no don't work.
CPU overclocks seem pretty poor, compared to evga boards.
Im sure jonny's got more.
There the ones that pop to my head, but i got more.
ooh, asus probe doesnt work either.

[teknokid]

well i've been emailing asus, and getting responses :O
anyway, they've been telling me too raise voltages, lower settings etc etc, when the fact of the matter is the board doesnt work how its meant to, and i still have this fsb wall for my memory.
I'm going to ask them for a replacement mobo, or, if i can a refund, but as i have had it more than 30 days I dont know if this will happen.

[teknokid]

lol, i keep replying to the thread, but i read the forums and it turns out the board doesnt like high ram volts.
I also found out it doesnt like certain multipliers, ie 1333mhz fsb with 1000mhz ram.
so im not running 1066mhz ram @2.1v, and have had 1088, but not stable, perhaps another dodgy divider as more volts didnt change that.

[Jonny2Bad]

Hi Jon, yes i seem to be having serious performance problems unlike tek im no a huge o/c but i am running my e6600 at 1333mhz 3ghz, but that doesnt seem to be my problem, boot times and windows stability seem to be terrible for such a high standard of system. I started with a wd caviar 250, which after a couple of months corrupted and would no longer install or hold a copy of xp, but works fine as a 2nd drive on my sons pc, i now have a seagate 250g which is so slow my sons 160 ide is faster, and after a new install of windows again on sunday is starting to corrrupt. Can you shed any light on these issues, it must be the mobo dragging the system down and after spending £217 its very disappointing

[Jonny2Bad]

Oh and sorry my dvdrw sata just disappeared from all sight even in the bios. But in true pc style in has all come bk to good working order today but is still taking on average of over 20 turns of the blue cursor on xp boot screen to fire up i will time in for u

[Coops]

I am not aware of any major issues, However we only run at Stock and have not tried overclocking the striker to see what happens when things are pushed.

What is your build spec?? and BIOS version?

[teknokid]

Mines a revision A2, with bios 1303.
Found it in cpu-z, not how asus recomend....
but the more i overclock my memory, the less volts i need :S very wierd.

[teknokid]

heres another one, my memory is now cruising memtest @ 2.1v 1066mhz, yet earlier i got an immediate BSOD at the same settings.

[Jonny2Bad]

Same as rev. A2 bios 1303. I dont think the overclocking is the problem as even at stock speeds it still has performace issues, with my hd and i dont think that my mild oc of my cpu is to blame for the hd failure.

[teknokid]

same, boot times @ stock are awful.

[teknokid]

lol! my overclock on my ram doesnt work today, its just laughable.
Im registered on asus forums now, so i hope i get a response.

[Jonny2Bad]

It promised so much but delivers too little

[teknokid]

way too litttle.

[Jonny2Bad]

Well from today my boot times is about 5 mins my sata dvdrw is no longer showing and for some reason my pc has just flown out of the window, just cant explain how it managed to fly when it cant even fecking boot up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[teknokid]

it really is an awful board. anything nova can do? its still in warranty..

[teknokid]

any chance novatech can swap us for another board?

[Jonny2Bad]

I wonder we'll have to wait till coops comes on monday to see what can be done for us, but i doubt it very much

[teknokid]

me too, well im ordering a g0 q6600 tonight, the striker is supposed to be the best quad overclocker, so i wonder how it will go :)

[Jonny2Bad]

Jeez probably as well as all the other o/c you've done with the striker lol

[teknokid]

well i just ordered a g0 quad and vista x64 :)
ill let u no how it goes.

[Jonny2Bad]

vista? bang goes ur fps lol

[Jonny2Bad]

Right next installment of my sriker scenario, it now takes about 3 seconds to boot, amazing all i have done is installed another dvdwr on ide cable but kept my sata dvdwr and everything is rosey. Its the original set up i had if u minus the sata drive, so my guess is strikers dont like change from the original setup when booted, the clear cmos button must not work too well i guess

[Coops]

Hmmmm, interesting, that should not make that much of a difference.

[teknokid]

so... what would i need to do to improve boot times, thats not really making sense to me?

[teknokid]

myns all the original set-up though, or was with my old ram, still had awful boot times :S

[Jonny2Bad]

Dont ask me just letting you know what is happening im not joking never seen xp boot so quickly. It was like 2 strokes of the blue bar and heh we're in. No ideas Jon? I know its got me well and truly stumped too

[Coops]

Nothing springs to mind this second. I hoping to arrange some bench time soon with the striker and we will see what we get here. Not sure when yet, rather busy at the moment.

You know BIOS 1305 is out now which does address overclocking and memory issue.

Heres the notes on it

1. Enhance CPU overclock capability of FSB1333 processors
2. Add new CPU uCode to support new processors
3. Enhance memory compatibility
4. Enhance overclocking capability
5. Enable support for ASUS SK-2690 keyboard
6. Enable support for Razer Copperhead USB Mouse

We are shipping our systems with this BIOS on at the moment. Maybe you guys give it a try and see if it helps?????

[Jonny2Bad]

yes i had checked up on that on the asus forums but it seemed to be getting bad feedback so thought i'd wait for a few more people to try it b4 i did lol

[Coops]

Well it fixed some bits for us, but mainly we need it for CPU support with 1333FSB CPU's so we have little choice =)

[teknokid]

what did it help you with?
did boot times get better?
do lots of usb bits slow down boot-up?
i'm pretty fed up now, sort it asus!

[Jonny2Bad]

Funny that as my e6600 runs at 1333 without a problem. In fact it's the most stable overclock i have experienced.

[teknokid]

same... its what i run 24/7 :)

[teknokid]

any tips for faster booting then?

[Jonny2Bad]

really cant explain what ive done like i said just put an old dvd burner in as my sata burner wasnt being found at all and lone behold the sata burner is found and boot times are super quick. just like that! I know doesnt make sense got to be something to do with the sata connection

[teknokid]

i have 2 ide drives, and my boot times are slow as ****..

[Jonny2Bad]

I really cant explain it, how have you got your hd's set up?

[teknokid]

i got 3 sata HDD, on ports 1, then 3+4 for my raid.
2 ide drives on the cable...

[Jonny2Bad]

Bet its something to do with that, some setting in the bios or something!!

[teknokid]

to do with what :S sorry

[Jonny2Bad]

Maybe the hdd smart monitor or something maybe just have a good look or reset everything and see if that helps. with the ram out!

[teknokid]

do i want the smart monitor?
it doesnt make a difference for me i dont think.
ill give it all a go cheers

[Jonny2Bad]

i really dont know mine seems to be sorted for now, dont know how or why just glad it is lol. I'd defo try clearing everything then do ur o/c then fresh install xp and see how you go.

[teknokid]

or install of vista. so clear cmos with no ram in there? consider it done :Plol

[Jonny2Bad]

I wouldnt bother with vista have u heard anything good about it yet? No is the answer and seeing as your already having problems with your system i wouldnt add to your woes by putting vista on just yet

[teknokid]

vista iss just in preperation for crysis/dx10. ill probs do a multi boot with xp, and usexp

[Jonny2Bad]

Good luck with the multiboot thing not too sure how u'll get on with that,seeing as our boards dont like complications lol

[teknokid]

haha, i know.
well now im contemplating getting the blitz formula.
it would be £80 to water cool myn, which is what i want to do as im gonna water cool my whole pc, or for £60 more i could get the blitz formula, and i would remove all my problems. then when the striker is good, and if i go sli, ill swap back.

[teknokid]

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/spec ... ASU-BLITZF (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ASU-BLITZF)
by the way

[Jonny2Bad]

I was thinking of the same thing not with the blitz though might go for a high erd gigabyte, or maybe something else gonna wait and see what happens.

[teknokid]

i wld still keep my striker, in case a gd bios came or i needed sli :)

[Jonny2Bad]

Try closing the full logo of the rg at the boot that has also happened with mine so it might be that making my boot times better

[teknokid]

ok, that might make sense, considering its animated and cld use quite a lot to work.

[teknokid]

how do you disable linkboost? apparently thats one of the hold backs.

[Jonny2Bad]

I tried that too with the linkboost i think that is with an older version of the bios as i couldnt find it anywhere!!!

[teknokid]

nor me, btw im down to 7 bar passes on xp load :)

[Jonny2Bad]

Ah so it is the logo screen then, isnt it so nice to boot so quickly?

[teknokid]

well 7 swoops isnt quick, but nors the HDD, ill let you know what happens when i try my raid :):)
btw quads are mega!!!

[Bert]

I've just been reading through this thread after going over option for my MB.

Been plotting my new comp for a while and I know I'm going for an E6600 cpu, but the MB is a pain to choose. I'm unsure whether to save for a Striker or this http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ASU-P5N32P

I'm looking for a good comp that will last for a fair while as funds will soon vanish. Its either going to be a single 8800 as I'm not a big enough gamer to need SLi 8800's but I may go for a single 8600GT and add another later.

Will also be having RAID array, its meant to be a jack of all, master of none kind of thing. Just to do its job and not need tweaking for a while.

The 6600 is in case I choose to OC later on.

[Taxation]

wouldnt the Q6600 be a better buy
single 8800 would be far better than 2* 8600
raid doesnt really show that much performance increase, just get a masive single drive, unless you are doing a mirrored raid

[Bert]

I don't think I'd need a Q6600 in a month of Sundays...

[Nox]

there are a few on here that don't think much of the striker...

Nox

[Ben]

I think you'd be better off with the Q6600 (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?IL-Q6600E)
& maybe a P35 chipset.

[Nox]

yup, thats what i'd say too

Nox

[djgandy]

imo P35 is the best chipset out. That striker is very out of date in comparison.
If you are going to pay that much for a CPU, spend the little extra and buy the Q6600.

The gigabyte DS4 looks like a pretty good board.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/spec ... ?GIG-35DS4 (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?GIG-35DS4)

All depends what features you need. The top end boards are not any different to lower end models. They have have more bits. Raid, extra sata etc..

[Nox]

strikers what, 10 months old now?

Nox

[Ben]

1st one on this board was posted last November. :P

http://forum.novatech.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=20343

Doesn't time fly ? :lol:

[Jonny2Bad]

wow doesnt it just

[Bert]

Whats your Q6600 like with the Tt V1 air cooler Jonny?

[Conrad]

Bert - my vote lies with the nVidia 680SLi chipset. Read any review on it and look at the benchmarks, they seriously fly! I have a BFG Tech motherboard with that chipset and it has been rock solid, and ridiculously fast.

[Jonny2Bad]

Whats your Q6600 like with the Tt V1 air cooler Jonny?
As ive said on the other threadds Bert this cooler is just amazing i'm currently idling at 3ghz at 30c load at 38ish, cant o/c the q6600 past 3.1 at this moment in time for some very strange reason but still working on it!! My E6600 oc too a stable 3.7 1.6v and temps of 33c and 48c so its a good cooler!!!

[teknokid]

oh, is ure oc really stuck?
any fixes?

[Jonny2Bad]

havent tried but it wont post past 3.1 at the mo but where i have the op on raid 0 its a pain in the *** to reset the cmos eveytime it dont post so kinda sticking with 3.1 at the mo, why **** 3.1 x4 im not complaining for £170

[Taxation]

i wouldnt be complaining either, with that amount of performance

[Jonny2Bad]

yeah i know but but mobo is holding it bk really but cant be bothered to make a fuss got a £600 chip for £170 it'll do nicely

[teknokid]

yeah, lol, tried raising volts or anything? Are you sure its not ure ram or something?

[Jonny2Bad]

Yes every1 else seems to be getting 3.6 on 1.5v not me and no not the ram when my e6600 mangaged 3.7 its unlinked anyways so it stays at 800mhz

[teknokid]

do you run it unlinked then? it could be one of those fsb holes. try lowering multiplier nd ram up the fsb to 400 ish

[Jonny2Bad]

Yes run it unlinked then u can up your ram to whatever!! Makes sense!! I dunno tried the setting that other people have and it wont have any of it!!

[teknokid]

try the fsb they use, there is these fsb holes, that are apparently worse with quad cores.
i got one with my ram, 930-1066mhz is dead for my ram, wont post.

[Jonny2Bad]

Maybe later quite happy with 4x3.1 for now cant be bothered tbh lol!!!

[teknokid]

lol, yeah but now ill have to work it out!"!!!!

[Bert]

Thanks for the tips guys, I think in the long will probs be best going straight for the Q6600... saves an upgrade later on.

As to the MB, I'm looking at either the Gigabyte 680SLi: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?GIG-N680

Or one of the P35's: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?GIG-35DS4

I would guess that going with what I've read the SLi version would work for a much better OC than the P35.

[teknokid]

no there much worse for quad cores.
either go for en evga or striker for 680i, or you would be better off with a p35. and only go striker if your ready for problems

[djgandy]

I would guess that going with what I've read the SLi version would work for a much better OC than the P35.

SLi has nothing to do with OC. P35's are probably the best ocing boards. It's a new chipset and supports the future processors out the box too.

[teknokid]

agreed, unless you plan on going sli, i wouldnt use the 680i

[Jonny2Bad]

Nah dont go for 680i if not going sli go for p35 or the new x38 or whatever it is lol!!!

[teknokid]

yeah, x38 is a heat crazy chip, but its **** good for overclocks

[Bert]

Ta for the pointers, might aswell make the noob mistakes now than later.

[teknokid]

yup, i really wouldn't reccomend the striker, the amount of problems which have arrisen

[Bert]

Aye, think I'll go back to my original plan of an Asus board.

If I can stretch the budget to a quad, think I'll go with that to last me a while.

Here's hoping the rest is this easy :P

[Jonny2Bad]

Yeah might aswell go for the quad its all the cpu your gonna need for a few years to come i reckon go for a mid range asus as they seem to be the best performers!! Make sure u buy decent ram even if its just corsair value 2g 667mhz asus boards are funny about ram!!!!

[Bert]

Novatech have recommended an Asus P5KC Motherboard for me to go with my Q6600... Whats the word from people on this?

Its P35 like I was after and the DDR2/DDR3 will help avoid upgrades for a while (which is my aim)

Am not needed that many bells and whistles, just room for an 8800 GT ;)

[Ben]

If you can wait til Jan. The new quads will be in. :wink:

[Jonny2Bad]

Yeah just put that mobo in a new build for some1 and it was a really nice bit of kit oc the q6600 in 1 hit too 3ghz no messing!!!