P5N-E SLI question

[AlphaNOmega]

I am building the following system:

Intel Core 2 Quad - Q6600
4 GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 (4x1)
XFX 8800 Ultra (SHE9)
Coolermaster Extremepower 600W
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit + Windows XP Pro 32bit

I have already ordered these parts. I was planning on getting the ASUS P5N-E SLI MoBo for this build, but I found that there are problems with memory compatibility, especially when using 4 GB memory (or using the yellow memory slots). However, all the reviews/forum posts that say this are pretty old, and I couldn't find anything new telling me whether the problems still exist or if they have been solved with a BIOS update.

Could someone please tell me if the memory listed above will work properly with this board? Does the support the memory remap feature? What incompatibility problems could I possibly face when using this board?

Please reply as soon as possible, as I am sitting with all the components except the board.

P.S. Link to the memory I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145034

I don't intend to overclock

 

[chizow]

I'm one of the people who had major problems with the P5N-E SLI. From the start, many people had problems running the board with the yellow dimm slots populated. Later BIOS revisions fixed this somewhat....but I still strongly feel the quality of the dimm slots on this board are simply not the same. Its killed 3 different kits of RAM for me (all in the yellow slots, with 2GB and 4GB configurations) and if you look around, you'll find a lot of other cases as well for this board and the 680i boards. My best guess is that the power regulation to the yellow dimm slots is poor and any fluctuations in power can spike voltages to your RAM and cause them to die over time.

I ended up swapping to an MSI P6N SLI Platinum and its been much better. The quality of the P5N-E, especially the cooling leaves a lot to be desired, and the price isn't anything special anymore either. If you don't plan to SLI, you may want to look at an Intel chipset board, like the new P35-based boards or even a 965/975 board. If I had to do it over again I probably would just go with an Intel board since I've recently been having problems with my X-Fi on my P6N. Lmk if you need more details about the memory problems I had with the P5N-E.

 

[AlphaNOmega]

^^ I would really like to know more about any problems you have faced with this board, specifically which RAM modules you have run this on (and faced a problem), along with what timings/speed you ran them on.

Also, could you suggest a similar performing board for a similar price. What about Intel's own offerings? I know that they aren't for overclocking, but since I don't intend to do that anyway... However, I would like fexibility with setting the RAM timings.

 

[mrblotto]

I own an ASUS P5N32 SLI Premium board, which I believe the P5N-E SLI is the 'newer' version of. I have yet to get 4G of Corsair XMS memory to run successfully. Well, by 'successfully' I mean 'run faster than a snail'. It is sooooooo slow it's pathetic. Bootup took forever (yes, I'm talking like over 5 minutes). Needless to say I'm running 2G now.....lol. I havent updated to the latest BIOS (0901?), but I'm not expecting a miracle. I should've stayed with Abit.............*shakes fists toward the sky in futility*.

Check their forums as well for info..........http://vip.asus.com/forum/topi...-E+SLI&SLanguage=en-us

 

[AlphaNOmega]

Well, you guys have effectively scared me away from this board, and the 650i/680i chipsets for that matter . Now I am looking at ASUS P5B/P5B DLX or Gigabyte GA-P965-DS3 or Intel 975 BadAxe2.

I have a question about this, given that I am not going to overclock, will there be any advantage going for the 965 based ASUS/Gigabyte boards over the BadAxe2? They are all in the same price range, and the 975 is supposed to have better memory bandwidth. It's not meant for overclocking, but I don't care about that anyway.

Any advice?

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: AlphaNOmega
^^ I would really like to know more about any problems you have faced with this board, specifically which RAM modules you have run this on (and faced a problem), along with what timings/speed you ran them on.

Also, could you suggest a similar performing board for a similar price. What about Intel's own offerings? I know that they aren't for overclocking, but since I don't intend to do that anyway... However, I would like fexibility with setting the RAM timings.

Basically the board ran fine for a month or two at a time, then quickly deteriorated to the point I could no longer run anything or even boot without crashes/lock-ups. The memory I ran is in my sig, actually started with Crucial DDR2-1000 which died 2x on me and replaced the 2nd time with DDR2-1066. Thankfully, Crucial RMA is excellent and I'd like to reiterate that I don't think the problem was really their RAM, rather the board itself most likely. When I was only running the Crucial, I had no problems running the RAM at the spec'd timings @1000MHz 5-5-5-15 2T. When I mixed them with the Buffalo, I backed the speed down to 800MHz 4-4-4-12 2T.

I'm not really sure which 965/975/P35 boards are good in terms of price and performance, but I know that they're no slouchers in terms of performance/OC'ing either. The real draw for the 650i/680i boards were their ability to run FSB and RAM asynchronously with some multiplier control along with the ability to achieve high FSB speeds. I think its pretty safe to say the early reports of 400+ FSB with ease were largely exaggerated. At this point I wouldn't just pick Asus because of the name; the quality and stability of the P5N-E left a lot to be desired. I know that a lot of people recommend Gigabyte boards nowadays and I'm pretty pleased with the MSI board I'm running now. But Intel boards are typically excellent so you can't really go wrong there either.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: AlphaNOmega
Well, you guys have effectively scared me away from this board, and the 650i/680i chipsets for that matter . Now I am looking at ASUS P5B/P5B DLX or Gigabyte GA-P965-DS3 or Intel 975 BadAxe2.

I have a question about this, given that I am not going to overclock, will there be any advantage going for the 965 based ASUS/Gigabyte boards over the BadAxe2? They are all in the same price range, and the 975 is supposed to have better memory bandwidth. It's not meant for overclocking, but I don't care about that anyway.

Any advice?

Check out the reviews of Abit's IP35 boards @ the MB forum. My Abit IP35-E is only $95 AR and is flawless up to 488MHz FSB (no hole). IP35 adds RAID and heatpipe cooling. The top of the line IP35 Pro has 100% solid caps and no double-post during cold boot.