P5k Deluxe CPU and DDR issues...

[clawwolf]

Hi,

I am having several problems that I cannot seem to troubleshoot. Stock bios revision 0202 i believe. When I first powered up system to install vista32bit, got a message saying "overclocking failed" I am not overclocking, everything is set to auto. Vista32bit installed, then I noticed with cpuz and asus suite the cpu speed is showing up as 1600mhz? 266x6.0? It will flucuate to 2400 and the vcore will flucuate as well. When in bios, I changed the dram freq to 1067mhz, but no luck in vista, it still shows up 1600mhz. The bios was very unstable as well, it would powerdown system, soft reset wouldnt work, only hard boot. One time I changed the AI overclock from AUTO to STANDARD. I saved setting in bios and system shut off. I had to clear cmos settings to get rig to start. I then updated bios through asus update tool in windows to 0311. It said it flashed fine and rebooted but bios screen never showed up, it just hung there, it finally showed up after reboots and got message "bad checksum" I cleared cmos and it booted up fine. I still get weird error messages about bad cmos settings and hitting F8 for some setting. I cannot recall, it goes by too fast.

I do not want to overclock this system at all, I just want it to be stable and have correct ram and cpu settings. I will manually enter corsair dram settings in bios and see if that will work. I never had this much trouble with a mobo before and I'm not sure what to do...

Thank you for any advice and help

Sean





Here is my parts list:

CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD

 

[projectcolimbo]

I had a similar problem you can see my thread under this motherboard and the 8800GTS video card. My first MB was saying this and eventually shorted out - it's dead and heading back to the store.

I was having similar but less sever problems with the second motherboard so, based on recommendations here, I removed the battery for a bit, and then set the ram voltage to 2.1V and things have been much better since with no errors and everything showing up accurately.

I'm sorry to say that the machine that was consistently saying this "overclocking has failed" error degraded into a dead machine in less than 12 hours and ~20 reboots.

good luck

 

[orion23]

OK,

I don't get people like you....

Great processor, fastest RAM out there, best overclocking board to date and you choose not to overclock.

What CPU cooler are you using?

Anyway....

The bios updating issue is very common. It happend to me as well. Something goes wrong and it takes a little while for the board to boot again. Don't worry!

The 1600mhz speed you're talking about has to do with Intel's Speed Step technology which will allow the CPU to run slower when it is not being used much. It will run @ 2400 mhz automatically when you push your system.

You can disable that power saving feature in the bios by disabling C1E / Speedstep under CPU configuration.

About your problems, well, you have power hungry RAM, YOU HAVE TO SET THE CORRECT RAM VOLTAGE for those Dominators which I believe should be 2.2V with 5-5-5-15 timings.

Use the settings below for your system to run @ normal speed! (Thanks to EVA2000 From Xtremesystems for the settings template)

And if you decide to push your CPU to 3ghz for FREE with you kick ass system, just change those 4 values I added information for.

JumperFree Configuration Settings
AI Overclocking: Manual
CPU Ratio Control: Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting: 9
FSB Frequency: 266 (Change it to 335mhz if you decide to overclock your system safely)
PCI-E Frequency: 101
DRAM Frequency: Whatever setting below or equal to the 1066mhz your RAM can do!
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency: 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 5
RAS# Precharge: 5
RAS# Activate to Precharge: 15
TWR: AUTO
TRFC: AUTO
TWTR: AUTO
TRRD: AUTO
TRTP: AUTO
DRAM Static Read Control: AUTO

Transaction Booster: AUTO
Clock Over-Charging Mode: AUTO

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

CPU Voltage: AUTO (Change to 1.3V or 1.35V when overclocking)
CPU Voltage Reference: AUTO
CPU Voltage Damper: Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage: AUTO (Change to 1.5V when overclocking)
DRAM Voltage: 2.2
FSB Termination Voltage: AUTO (Change to 1.3V when overclocking)
North Bridge Voltage: AUTO
North Bridge Voltage Reference: AUTO
South Bridge Voltage: AUTO

Advance CPU Settings
CPU Ratio Control: Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting: 9
C1E Suppport: Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit: Disabled
Vanderpool Technology: Disabled
CPU TM Function: Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled
PECI: Enabled

 

[mnaz14]

I am getting these same type errors on my p5k deluxe. Cpu keeps showing up as 1.6ghz, every time I try to change a setting in the bios instead of the machine just resetting it powers off and then back on. I am also getting this overclock failed warning even though I am just trying to get it set up to run at stock.

 

[projectcolimbo]

I've now had two systems based on the P5K Deluxe die (one completely shorted out and one that will boot, but post no video and then restart itself after 10 seconds). I think I'm done with these boards, need to find something else more stable and reliable.

 

[Arcanedeath]

I'm sorry to hear you guys have all these problems w/ the P5K deluxe, so far I've had good luck w/ mine, I would suggest you get the 0311 bios it seems to be more stable and fix quite a few issues. its on Asus's ftp site. Whenever you change settings in the bios the system powers down and resets as if you had cold booted, so thats normal behavior for the board. Orion23's suggested bios settings suggestions are good ideas, and as was stated before in the thread, Intels speed step / C1E feature is lowering the clockspeed / voltage to your cpu when it's idle, I would suggest disableing this if you plan on overclocking, also Set the CPU and DRAM voltages to specific values in the bios not auto, as auto tends to overvolt a lot underload.

 

[imported_Husky55]

You guys results were in complete disagreement with the different results from various reviews including Anandtech's Gary Key.

I thought the P5K various versions were supposed to be more stable and troublefree.

Thanks for posting your results.

 

[mnaz14]

It would be nice to be able to change settings in the bios but everytime I try the machine powers off instead of resetting. After it powers off then it powers back on in a few seconds to a blank screen. Only way to get out of it is shut the power off at the power supply. When I turn it back on I get the failed overclock even though its at stock. Only way to get into windows is to enable defaults. Any changes in the bios result in a power off.

 

[orion23]

Originally posted by: mnaz14
It would be nice to be able to change settings in the bios but everytime I try the machine powers off instead of resetting. After it powers off then it powers back on in a few seconds to a blank screen. Only way to get out of it is shut the power off at the power supply. When I turn it back on I get the failed overclock even though its at stock. Only way to get into windows is to enable defaults. Any changes in the bios result in a power off.

Did you make all the changes I suggested above?

The only values you have to change (from my post) are those for your RAM timings and voltage to that they match your own RAM!


And please, UPDATE THE BIOS TO 0304 or 0311 if you haven't done it yet!

ftp://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASU.../P5K%20Deluxe/0311.zip

 

[projectcolimbo]

I have done all of these steps on two boards - one eventually died before I could get to flash 311 and the other is running 311 with all these settings and just dies, power button does nothing, and then once in a while it picks up and does something, but only for a short period of time.

sigh...

 

[orion23]

Originally posted by: projectcolimbo
I have done all of these steps on two boards - one eventually died before I could get to flash 311 and the other is running 311 with all these settings and just dies, power button does nothing, and then once in a while it picks up and does something, but only for a short period of time.

sigh...

What are the odds that you would buy 2 defective boards?

You need to look at other things such as your wiring, USB connectors, and CASE / MOBO standoffs. RAM? Power Supply?

 

[mnaz14]

Mine was updated to 311. The board was not in the case it was on the box just like every new board I buy. Specs are e6600, 2 gig ballistix 8500 tracers, ultra 120 extreme, x1800xt and a 250 gig wd sata hd. There was no way I could change the ram timings because, as I said when I tried to save the changes the board powered off.

 

[projectcolimbo]

quick update - I pressed on - I think the batch of p5K motherboards must have been damaged on their way to Frys because I had 3 boards fail on me. I got P5K-E instead, installed the same components and everything is happy - very strange, but it looks like I was the unlucky one to get three bad boards...

oh well, up and running now,
thanks for the help...

 

[blueflame315]

I've been having problems with the P5K Deluxe, so far I've had two mobo's that might have been running partial posts however there was no video. First one shorted before having a chance to check absolutely everything I could think of. The second mobo (This time done out of case on a piece of foam, on a book, on a milkcrate, so there is no chance of shorts) had the same problem, it wouldn't show video however everything would spin up (CPU and GPU, I only had GPU, RAM and CPU hooked up so I could eliminate HDD and Optical). I could only force the second to give beep codes if the ram was removed (Granted I didn't try with CPU out, but I'm sure post past that because its first in the order of operations). Removing GPU wouldn't cause a beep code. I'm now trying for my third P5K Deluxe however I'm having NCIX check it before it leaves the warehouse. I don't know what it is about these boards....

Oh and I tried the RAM, CPU, GPU all on other computers and they worked plus I tried different of each of those and the motherboard still wouldn't boot.

 

[Narse]

Just so you guys know, the shut down after changing BIOS settings instead of a soft shutdown is something ASUS has been doing since the p5w dh series, its thier way of making sure the voltages are set correctly when you exit the bios, it will only do the power down if you change a voltage setting.