P8P67 Pro all sorts of issues UPDATE: better now!

[tviceman]

I'm extremely frustrated right now. Usually an upgrade like this makes me excited and goes smooth, but this has been anything but. The system will only boot cold reliably about 50% of the time. I am having to press the "mem ok" button on the motherboard 40% of the time to get it to do anything other than run power through the components. The other 10% of the time I have to remove one of the memory modules for the "mem ok" procedure to work.

The ram (g. skill ripjaw series), even when configured through the mem OK setting, will not run at it's rated speed.

I updated to the latest BIOS (1253), and that just created more issues. Right now I have the bios defaults loaded, and inside Windows the computer is showing my 2600k as being a 2 core/4 thread CPU. I attached a screenshot below to show this.

This is more of a rant than anything; I think I am going to RMA the board but I'm just very unhappy and frustrated with this particular upgrade experience.

 

[dpodblood]

I have seen a few threads about these boards being bad. I normally like ASUS, but I'll probably avoid this board for my DB build.

 

[ChappedStick]

Do you have all cores enabled in the bios?

 

[bankster55]

Your core voltage is way too low for some reason
that means bios config is wrong
powersaving?
EIST?
sometimes the bios will do this to save from devices damage
could be RAM not doable at lower voltage
does ram run at 1333? 1066?
when I start a new build i always use a single stick of cheap ram that will boot at default voltage in the recommended slot (A2 blue)
2 sticks supposed to be in blue slots
what HSF do you have installed (backplate prob?)
I might note that the new single lock lever ram slots are very difficult to get stick down properly and level
Have you done a full cmos 10 min reset with PSU off?
can the pro do bios screenshots?

 

[Diogenes2]

Sorry to hear about your problems..
I have one of these boards, and while putting it together is going slowly ( little time to work on it ), I haven't had any problems so far .. ( BIOS 1053 )
You might consider flashing to the 1053 BIOS since the 1253 seemed to have caused some problems..

When putting together a new system, any one of the new components are a potential for problems.

I keep the parts to a minimum until I have the OS installed, like one stick of RAM, old Radeon HD 4670 that I know works & etc..
I also disable all the integrated devices so Win7 won't install " best-guess" drivers .
When the OS is up and running, I manually install all the latest drivers.

That said, I know how problems like this can destroy your confidence in the MOBO, but as with anything, we mostly hear about the problems rather than the many, many success stories.

 

[nOOky]

That sux, I have the same board and cpu. Not trying to rub it in, but I had zero issues with it, my bios says 0402?

 

[=Wendy=]

Did you do a clean install of Win7, or migrate from an old install?
if you migrated from an old install, do the following, and perhaps check this anyway if you did a clean install.

GOTO
Control panel.
System and security
Administrator tools
System configuration
Select the Boot tab, and then click on Advanced options
Tick the processors box, and from the drop down menu select 8, and then apply.
Reboot, and see if this fixes the 2 cores 4 threads issue.

 

[dpodblood]

A couple more things to verify:

Is your memory the correct voltage? The memory controller on SB chips is rated for 1.5v memory, and may not play nice at higher voltages.

Have you installed the chipset drivers in windows? The CPU may not be recognized properly without the drivers, since SB support will not be naivety built into Win 7 until SP1 is released in March.

 

[tviceman]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. To answer most of the questions:

This was a fresh windows 7 install.
All of the drivers off the CD were successfully installed before the onslaught of problems came.
The memory is ddr3 1600 cas 9 @ 1.5v, and I made sure it was set to that in the bios.
I did use msconfig to set it to use more cores at startup, and initially it allowed me to select 8. But now it will only gives me options up to 4. When I first got Win7 installed, cpuZ and the taskmanager both correctly showed 4 cores and 8 threads, but since I updated the bios both show 2 cores 4 threads, even though I have All cores active and hyperthreading on selected in the bios.
The cpu heatsink/cooler was a noctua nh-u12p (great cooler).
The board would not let me revert back to my old bios. When I tried to use EZflash it said it was outdated.
On successful cold boots, the board would reset the bclk to 103mhz. I would force it back down to 100mhz every time but it would not stick.
Windows eventually started hanging at boot during the splash screen. Safe mode would boot but repair mode would hang just like I was trying to start Windows normally.
I tried flipping the switches on/off on the board itself but nothing helped.

There's a change the RAM could be bad pairing with this board, (it's this ram here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314), but the fact that Windows 7 and cpuz is only showing 2 cores/4 threads and the fact that the board keeps resetting the bclk to 103mhz makes me think it's something other than the ram.

I have such a huge headache now. In order to avoid suicide, I RMA'd the board to newegg. They're currently out of stock, and I sort of hope they are still out of stock when my board gets to them. I know ASUS is a huge, reputable brand but of the 5 systems I've built in the 4 years, this is the only ASUS motherboard I worked with and it has been a nightmare. This is coming from the gigabyte ep45-udp3, which was an overclocking champ, easy to use, and never gave me any issues. AHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuugggggghhhhhhhhhh.


I just wanted to start playing my backlog of steam games.

 

[bankster55]

not sticking at 100 is normal

when you get your replacement:

RAM:
Only use blue slots
You MUST set XMP in bios
make sure ram is down and level
your ram shows on QVL list but as 2 X 2GB 9,9,9,24 (mistake I guess)

 

[Cebu]

After reading all of the problems people have had with the Asus boards, I am glad I went with Asrock. I have always had problems with Asus boards so I decided to go with another manufacturer. They put out really nice boards but their bios always seem rushed and buggy. I have had several of their boards that acted weird for no apparent reason. Very frustrating to say the least. I went with an Asrock P67-Pro3 and it has been rock solid stable with no problems running a 2600K at 4.6. I really like their instant boot software. It takes about 5 seconds for it to boot up to desktop using an SSD drive.

 

[=Wendy=]

In all probability, a clear CMOS would have most likely fixed the problems. Clear CMOS is the only way to clear the ME tables from the older BIOS versions.

 

[tviceman]

In all probability, a clear CMOS would have most likely fixed the problems. Clear CMOS is the only way to clear the ME tables from the older BIOS versions.

That was the only thing I hadn't tried. But when I started getting hard locks on the windows 7 splash screen, I was just mentally done.

 

[tviceman]

not sticking at 100 is normal

when you get your replacement:

RAM:
Only use blue slots
You MUST set XMP in bios
make sure ram is down and level
your ram shows on QVL list but as 2 X 2GB 9,9,9,24 (mistake I guess)

Yes I was only using the blue slots. I had checked the timings many times over and over, and the timings were always set correctly. But the next board I get, I'll be sure to just use 1 stick until I have everything set up and running great, then I'll add in the other stick.

 

[Meghan54]

I've been watching all the complaints revolving the P67 boards, including problems with known good, and mid-to-high end power supplies failing to boot these boards, esp. the Asus Pro.

One theory being bandied about is that there could be a Power_Good signal (in)compatibility problem; perhaps the board's tolerances are a bit too tight.

Maybe someone should ask ASUS about the tolerance ranges for Power_Good (PW_OK) signal for the P8P67.

But all the problems seem to be of the sort that a good BIOS update should resolve.

Don't you hate being a guinea pig......errrr, early adopter.....for the motherboard manufacturers?

 

[tviceman]

I've been watching all the complaints revolving the P67 boards, including problems with known good, and mid-to-high end power supplies failing to boot these boards, esp. the Asus Pro.

One theory being bandied about is that there could be a Power_Good signal (in)compatibility problem; perhaps the board's tolerances are a bit too tight.

Maybe someone should ask ASUS about the tolerance ranges for Power_Good (PW_OK) signal for the P8P67.

But all the problems seem to be of the sort that a good BIOS update should resolve.

Don't you hate being a guinea pig......errrr, early adopter.....for the motherboard manufacturers?

This is the first time I have early adopted any new platform. I am regretting it, but the RMA is in swing so hopefully by this time next week things will be better.

On a side note, is there any reason *NOT* to enable the EPU switch? I will definitely have the TPU switch disabled, as I plan on doing manual overclocking once I am in smooth waters, but will the EPU switch (on or off) affect stability or overclocking success?

 

[ahurtt]

A couple more things to verify:

Is your memory the correct voltage? The memory controller on SB chips is rated for 1.5v memory, and may not play nice at higher voltages.

You raise an interesting point here...The memory I'm using is on the quality/compatible vendor list for this motherboard. It's rated for 1.55-1.75V according to the spec on the memory. This is the memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211457

It has an XMP profile that uses 1.65V. I wonder how ASUS explains this? Now...so far, knock on wood...it is working alright. But I think I'll run a memtest on it now.

EDIT: Actually looking back at the manual again now...most of the approved memory models in there are 1.65 V. Odd. There are even a few modules from Patriot in the approved vendor tables listed as high as 1.7-1.8V!

 

[tviceman]

So what about EPU? Switch it off or have it on?

And here's the biggest noob question ever: if I remove my discrete GPU, what do I plug my monitor into to use the IGP?

 

[ChappedStick]

You have to have a board with an H67 chipset to use the Sandy Bridge on-board graphics.

 

[tviceman]

You have to have a board with an H67 chipset to use the Sandy Bridge on-board graphics.

Well that explains it!

 

[Jumpem]

Replace the G. Skill Ram with something else. I had all sorts of problems with my P7P55D Pro and G. Skill Ripjaws. After a month of frustration and weird behaviors I replaced it with Corsair RAM. None of the issues since.

 

[tviceman]

Replace the G. Skill Ram with something else. I had all sorts of problems with my P7P55D Pro and G. Skill Ripjaws. After a month of frustration and weird behaviors I replaced it with Corsair RAM. None of the issues since.

I will if the replacement board is still acting up.

 

[sevens]

I will if the replacement board is still acting up.

Hey Twiceman, just wanted to know if you had better luck with your replacement board? I am beginning a new build and I was thinking about going with the same mobo but I'm a little cautious having read about so many issues in the forums.

 

[bankster55]

man, I feel for you
be sure and post back

 

[Patmage]

In the bios, under Ai Tweaker did you set the AI Overclock Tuner to X.M.P? If not it defaults to safe speeds for the memory. They cover it in section 3.4 of the manual if you want further info.