ASUS P5P800

[NotquiteanooB]

After doing some research; books ; ASUS site; I've decided to try the real world. You the users.
Anyone using this mobo; and if so what are your thoughts; pro and con.
I'm thinking of trying one with a P4 'J' (3.0 to 3.6) with 2x512 GeIL Dual Channel. The price seems reasonable and in my price range. I'm gonna sell my KM2M combo to a friend and add another PC; but want to try an Intel product.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

Haven't heard much about it, but it's basically the same as the very popular P4P800 with a different socket.

Have you considered a board with PCI Express instead of AGP? And also have a look at the 6xx series for the processor, it has some interesting features.

 

[NotquiteanooB]

Thanks for the info CDGNR. PCI-exp is more than I need. I'm not a gamer; just data & number crunching; primarily. Perhaps if I can find a board that will allow an upgrade in the future to the 6xx, I'll go that route. The 5xxJ's are affordable at this time, and do have Hyper-threading.

 

[BoboKatt]

I have this board with a 6 seriers Intel cpu and 2X512 OCz ram. It was a pleasure to install and run. I have it in a desktop setup so it runs a bit warm but otherwise the board itself has been thus far rock stable. Again i cannot stress how easy and flawless the install went. I have not even tried to maintan any sort of OC on it but it had no problems running at whatever rate I set it up. I don't really care to OC it though as it's used mainly for work and web development and graphics.

Performance wise, I compared it to my AMD64/3200 that just feels so much quicker than it .... but I base that on the fact I am using on the P5P an old HD and ancient video card for now till I drop a nice new 200GB SATA drive and a newer v/c.. . make sure you run a nice fast HD to really take advantage of all that nice hardware -- seems to make all the differene in the world... more so than almost anything else in the system.

I had no problem running the Asus BIOS auto update... the packaging was beautiful and it was easy to setup and build. I got it for an amazing price and I got to keep my video card which was AGP and the only reason I really went for that board. Sadly that board does not support NCQ so that might be a consideration.

 

[NotquiteanooB]

Thanks BK; you're the 2nd to suggest P4 6xx. I suppose I should spend the extra bucks for a 6xx; but is 2mb cache necessary? eg: a 530J (3.0Ghz) @ $230 (Canadian $) or a 630 (3.0Ghz) @ $295 OR the 540J $270 & 640 $365. Is double the Cache worth the extra bucks ??? But it's nice to know the 6xx series works in this board. Thanks.

 

[NotquiteanooB]

Bump: Anyone else ?

 

[clear4dep]

I just bought the p5p800 and the P4 630. Nice stuff, but I cant get a video output signal. I am installing a Leadtek GeForce 6600GT. Anybody have any suggestions? I have already tried a bunch of stuff (switched video card, nothing, tried another monitor, nothing...). Any jumper settings or anything I need to change? Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

clear-4dep, plug your speakers into the onboard audio (green or black jack, not sure) and it'll tell you what the problem is.

 

[NotquiteanooB]

I just put my P5P800 together yesterday. The only thing in the Bios that I changed was the default 64mb to the 128 mb memory that my Sapphire ATI Radeon 9250 has got. Everything came up sweetly. check page 4-19 of user guide AGP/PCI freq. I left it 'auto'.
4-20 AGP VDDQ voltage is 1.50v. page 4-23 graphic adapter priority should be AGP/PCI and same page Graphics aperture size = to the memory of your video card. I'm not familiar with the Leadtek GeForce card you are using; but hopefully it is not a 3.3 v card; since the P5P800 only accepts 1.5 v or 0.8v video cards.

I'm only using the 530J 3.0 ghz CPU; but I set it to OC at 3% and ran both hyperthreads @100% CPU usage for almost 24 hours then bumped it to 5% for the past 4 hours. Now running at 3.150 and smooth; not a glitch so far. Those NOS mode and Turbo Nos modes along with the AI Booster on the utilities CD-ROM are a dream to work with. No messing around in the Bios changing settings, just use the AI Booster GUI.

 

[NotquiteanooB]

I just googled Leadtek Geforce 6600GT and came up with 2 renditions !! An AGP and a PCI Express; any chance you are trying a PCI Express? In which case you need to set the Bios - Section 4.4.3 Chipset - graphic adapter priority to PCI/AGP.

 

[NotquiteanooB]

PLEASE IGNORE my last post re: PCI Express...This mobo is AGP only.

 

[clear4dep]

Ok, so i tried bought another p5p800 board at fry's to check and see if it was the mobo, same problem. So then I tried my friends older ATI 9200 to see if it was the video card issue, it didn't work either. I also put my leadtek 6600gt in his computer and it worked fine. So next i tested memory: tried his corsair value select in my board, nothing, tried my corsair xms in his machine, worked fine. I also plugged in my headphones into the sound output like you suggested NotquiteanooB, but I didn't get any sound, no beebs or nothing. I talked to a tech at Fry's, he said if your not getting any beeps, its either mobo, ram, or processor, because those are the three components that complete the circuit for the beeps. So at this point, i think I have narrowed it down to being a bad processor, since i determined my video card and ram and mobo are all working. Anybody got any other suggestions on something i should try before i RMA the processor for another? Thanks guys, i appreciate your knowledgeable help!

 

[NotquiteanooB]

Before you RMA the CPU. What Power Supply are you using? 400W at least, I hope; and is it a 20pin + 4 or a 24pin power plug in.? Try disconnecting the power to your CD/DVD or CD ROM and the floppy and even the fans ; except; of course NOT the CPU fan. See if it posts or gives you video. Any PS less than 350w and I doubt it will post.

 

[clear4dep]

I'm using Antec TruePower 430w. The mobo has 24 pin socket and the PS is a 20 pin. The owners manual from the MB says the 20 pin works, it doesn't necessarily need the 24 pin. For all the testing i've been doing, i've only been using the MB and CPU, RAM, and video card, nothing else...no hard drive, no cd, no floppy. Don't tell me I have to have a hard drive connected for it to POST!? If that is the problem I'm gonna be so pissed, LOL!

 

[NotquiteanooB]

No you don't need a HD. Still sounds like a power problem to me. 20 pin (male) goes into the top end of the (female) plug in, and there should be another 4 pin power plug that goes into the ATX 12v along the top left edge of the mobo. If that's what you have then it's the same as my working mobo.
My video card was a very tight fit in the VGA slot; it took a bit of a fight to get it in; so check to see if it is seated properly.
One last suggestion would be to remove the mobo from the case, and place it on the box lid or the foam sheet that was in the packing box, then power it up again. If it works, you may have a grounding problem with one of the brass standoffs. If it still don't run ... beg, borrow a another CPU, even a lower rated P4 like a 530J. If it works then... you need a Bios update to take the P4 630, or a maybe new 630.
I can't think of much else to suggest, except double check the system panel connections on page 2-31. (ie) power switch.
Good Luck

 

[clear4dep]

Do you know of anyway i can determine which BIOS the board came with already installed? According to ASUS website, the 630 works with the P5P800 with BIOS 1007 or greater. I don't know of anyway to determine which BIOS the board came with. Any ideas?

 

[NotquiteanooB]

GREAT question .... Normally U need video to see the first part of the post which shows the Bios version.

See if there is a tag on the top of the AMI Bios chip that might show the version; it's in the area of the battery.

Maybe if you call Asus or email Asus with the Serial # and Part # from the box; they will be able to tell you the Bios chip version that was installed.

If that doesn't work ... go back to beg .. borrow .. or steal a celeron/ p4 of lower value and install just so you can read the Bios version. This might be easier than dealing with ASUS tech help and quicker !

Mine came with version 1005; and it's running okay; so I won't change it. Maybe some future date I'll upgrade to a 6xx CPU and need to change the bios.

Trade in your 630 for a 530J ... only difference is 1meg cache for the 530J as opposed to 2meg cache on the 630. Both have hyper-threading and run at 3.0Ghz.
My 530J is OC'd @5% (3.150Ghz) and still smooth with both threads at 100% CPU usage.
If I get up some nerve, maybe I'll try 7% next. (lol)

 

[clear4dep]

Well I broke down and got a 530J just for testing purposes from Fry's. I STILL HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM!!!??? Horrible. Anyhow, I am entirely fed up with it now. I have decided to try an alternative motherboard. I'm returning the P5P800 to Newegg and getting the ABIT AS8-3rd Eye. I sure hope that the issue is resolved with this change. I am utterly lost. Its discouraging because this is my first build and I know it shouldn't be this difficult.

 

[NotquiteanooB]

Thanks for the follow up ... I can't believe you got 2 bad boards ... when you powered up; did you see the green light come on in the lower portion of the mother board? Did your CPU heatsink fan turn?
Really got me stumped. Too bad about the Asus boards; but good luck with the Abit.

 

[clear4dep]

Yeah that was the weird thing, all signs seemed to say that everything was working correctly; the cpu heatsink fan was running, mobo LED was on, everything was active but no POST. I am completely stumped too, and I think ASUS and Intel are sick of me calling LOL. Anyway, my theory now is that there is some unknown compatibility issue somewhere. From all published documents, all of my stuff should work together harmoniously with no problem, but obviously that is not reality. Now we'll just have to see if it all works with the ABIT board. I'll keep you posted when that comes in. Thanks for the help!

 

[NotquiteanooB]

Okay; and thanks again for the update. I still suspect a power supply or maybe a grounding problem. Looks like the power supply is the only thing you didn't swap with your friend. Did you try hooking up your mobo with it out of the case and laying on something not metallic, like the box lid. If the power cables aren't long enough, you might have to take the PS out of the case as well. That would eliminate the possibility of a grounding problem in the case. That would leave only the Power supply as the probable trouble. You can check the output of the power supply if you, or your friend have a voltmeter. Blk = grd or common; Yellow = +12vdc; Red = + 5 vdc; Orange = +3.3 vdc; White = -5vdc; Blue = -12vdc. Or, maybe you have a computer shop nearby that can test it.

I tried 7% OC'g for about a half hour last evening. It was smooth, stable and no glitches; but I backed down again to 5% after looking at the temps. CPU went to 54*C. I'm using the Intel supplied Heatsink and fan; which I now intend to replace with a TT Jungle 512 and try again with more severe OC'g.

 

[clear4dep]

http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=561852#post561852

 

[NotquiteanooB]

Same problem as you had with the ASUS P5P800 board ?? Process of elimination ... Take out one RAM card; Try boot; then swap Ram Cards. test them individually. Is the RAM on the list of acceptable RAM? Not all Ram will work with all boards. If you get the same error message with the AGP card in or out; likely not the vid card. Did you test the voltages coming out of the PS.?
You must be doing a serious headscratch... I know I am.

 

[NotquiteanooB]

Update:
Took off the Intel supplied Heatsink & Fan, put on a ThermalTake Jungle 512, with Arctic Silver 5 paste. It turns about 3800 rpm. and is about 1300 rpm faster than the Intel. Now OC'g at 10% (3.3ghz) and the temps are lower (41*C) than they were with the Intel unit NOT OC'd (44*C) !! It's now 18 hours running that way with both threads at 100%. I sure do like this board !!

 

[clear4dep]

Hey, hows the noise difference between the Intel heatsink and fan vs. the ThermalTake? Maybe once I get this stupid thing running (LOL) i'll upgrade too. Curious also, i read about some problems upgrading the heatsink and fan on the ABIT board because of the fan and heatsink for the northbridge chip. Take a look at the photos i posted in the ABIT forum and you can see what i mean. The blue heatsink for the northbridge chip is pretty close to the processor heatsink and fan. Is the thermaltake much bigger in diameter than the intel? Thanks. PS I still haven't decided which mobo I'm going to use because currently neither one is working HA! At least on the ABIT it has the little POST indicator and I am getting beeps so I have something to troubleshoot, whereas with the ASUS I had no indicators. I'm sitting on hold with ABIT's tech support as we speak, lets see what happens....