Foxconn BloodRAGE PCI-E and BClk Mod

r1ch — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:34:44 +0000

Early Foxconn BloodRAGE boards haven’t been able to pass 103.4Mhz PCI-E, this mod unlocks the boards’ full potential.

By r1ch.

Here’s hoping this is as big a deal as it promises to be. First, the boring but oh-so-required legal bit.

NEITHER I, NOR BENCHTEC ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS. I, WE, NOR FOXCONN WILL WARRANTY THIS MODIFICATION. IF YOU KILL YOUR BOARD YOU ONLY HAVE YOURSELF TO BLAME.

You’ll need to remove the heatsink assembly, and just to the right of the X58 chipset you’ll find the following resistors.

Remove resistor from R128 and solder onto R125.

Before:

After:

The Foxconn BloodRAGE has taken some stick from early reviews, some justifiable, some just outright insulting. These reviews were based on immature BIOS’s and an apparent hard limit of 220 bclk, which at the time put the board toward the back of the pack in terms of overall satisfaction.

What this mod promises is something that is new to the BloodRAGE and that’s an open PCI-E clock range. Testing so far has taken the PCI-E from a fixed 100Mhz on early BIOS’s to 103Mhz using the G25 BIOS and now with this mod, I’ve just booted at 119Mhz and SetFSB to 120Mhz. As you’ll see from the desktop, this is my daily rig install so I’ve not gone past 120Mhz for the sole risk of SATA HDD corruption – it may well go further.

Ignore the CPU Mhz, I run 220×12 daily (need a better heatsink that isn’t a SS Phase) and dropped back to 133 Bclk for PCI-E testing.

Just 103Mhz opened up the bclk from a 220 hard limit to 229 with my i7 920 C0 stepping, this is looking good to finally take it over 230 – more testing to follow.

So, feel free to try it and report back in this forum thread. I’d be interested to hear how this mod helps you.

Foxconn Blood Rage X58 Review (Part 1)

r1ch — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:19:48 +0000

Today we get to see part 1 of the Foxconn Blood Rage review. Check out this review to see the board in all it’s glory as well as every page, and every setting of the BIOS.

Product info page: quantum-force.net
Current price: £276.58 (eclipsecomputers.com)

First up, let’s let Foxconn introduce themselves and the Quantum Force line up:

“Performance, without compromise; Foxconn Quantum Force products are engineered to maximize computing power, providing only what you need for break-through performance. If you want to build lean, mean machines with more bang for your buck, come join the force.

Designed for extreme overclocking performance with rock-solid reliability, Quantum Force products are enjoyed by enthusiasts, gamers and power users around the world.

More than just a series of products, Quantum Force represents a way of thinking for computer enthusiasts, and a sacred guideline for our engineers and product designers. We call this design process “SWORD”, and every engineer and manager working on Quantum Force products is bound by this philosophy.”

Amen! That sort of mission statement is exactly what we’re after here at BenchTec, a committment to enthusiasts and overclockers to produce the sorts of motherboard we dream of…hopefully!

Specifications:

The latest motherboard the Quantum Force segment,based on Intel® X58 chipset
Supports Intel® Core™ i7 and i7 Extreme processors with Intel® QPI technology
4*PCle2.0 x16 slots with ATI CrossFireX™ and NVIDIA SLI™ support
3 channel DDR3 memory suppprt up to 1800MHz(O.C.)
Quantum Power- advanced motherboard power system including 14 phase Hybrid PWM and DirectFET™ MOSFET technology
4in1 Quantum Cooler provides unique modular NB/SB/VRM cooling solution with inter-changeable NBcooling adaptors for air,water or extreme cooling
SONAR X-Fi audio card provides outstanding audio fidelity and supports the latest gaming sound effects
Bundled QF Panel for quick & easy overclocking from case-mounted 5 1/4 drive bay device
Quantum BIOS provides new features and enhancements for overclocking including context-driven menus
Serial Attached SCSI interface brings high-performance storage solutions to desktop PCs

CPU	Supports Intel LGA1366 processors. 4 cores, 8 threads, 8MB shared cache IMC, 6.4GT/sec QPI bus. Supports VRD 11.1 with 130W TDP
Chipset	Intel® X58 & ICH10R
QPI	Up to 6.4GT/sec
Memory	3 channel DDR3 1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333MHz, 3* DIMMs, 12GB Max
Slots	4* PCIe2.0 x16 slots support ATI CrossFireX™ (2* x16 or 4* x8 bandwidth) & NVIDIA SLI™ (2* x16 + 1* x8 bandwidth + PhysX card support) 1* PCIe x1, 1* PCI
Storage	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, 6SATA, 2 e-SATA, 2SAS, 12 USB2.0, 2IEEE1394a, 1PATA
Network	Dual Gigabit LAN Support Teaming function
Audio	SONAR X-Fi audio card with Creative X-Fi technology

Now if specifications aren’t your sort of thing I’ll move swifty on to the retail packaging and the board itself. Here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Packaging

Pretty standard packaging, it’s going to stand out on a shop shelf nicely.

The Board

Wow, what can you say? That has to be one of the best looking motherboards I’ve ever seen. Anything with a black PCB looks good to start with, but I love red and it just tops it off. Other manufacturers take note, 2 or 3 colours MAXIMUM to a motherboard please!

Video Tour:

Results:

Check the results thread here:

http://www.benchtec.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=41459&postcount=25

BenchTec UK » bloodrage