The Unofficial ASUS P5N-E SLI 650i Board Thread

[JustaGeek]

If you are stable now, I would not recommend the update.

When they say on the ASUS website "Do not update unless you are having problems", they are not kiddin'...

It took me quite awhile to get the board under control after "upgrading" from 0202 to 0608. I had been running the very first BIOS for over 6 months with no issues whatsoever. After the update, it still suffers from an occassional cold boot failure.

So... If you have problems, go ahead and update, but be prepared for a battle.

If your board is working fine now - DO NOT.

 

[Lokan]

Originally posted by: cchangchien
Just wondering.... Is the new BIOS 0608 any better than the old 0307 in terms of OC and stability? Is it worth it to update?

Thanks!

I personally noticed no difference. As JustaGeek advised, if you're stable now; why bother? If I recall correctly, the main reason most people were quick to try the new BIOS was due to RAM issues. As with most boards, RAM can be pretty finicky.

As always, YMMV (Your mileage may very)! If you're confident with flashing a BIOS, then go ahead. If these things cause you hesitation, and you're stable, I'd suggest not bothering.

 

[Pete 331]

Hey Guys
Im new to this forum (and the whole overclocking thing), so just chucking in my specs. (Just hoping they show up)

And a question.... I overclocked today and left the Vcore on auto(and all other voltages). its sitting on 1.41V. Should i manually set it lower and other voltages lower or just leave it as is?

Cheers

 

[JustaGeek]

Set it manually to the lowest voltage that works. 1.3V works for me at the same overclock.

Perhaps with higher voltage you can accomplish a higher OC, but you have to watch your temps. Do you have Intel stock HSF? If yes, I would definitely lower it to 1.3V.

The maximum for our CPU is (I believe) 1.35V.

 

[Pete 331]

Just Downloaded a heap of temp/core reading programs. Okay so the Asus PC Probe and Everest show 1.41V but Speedfan and coretemp show 1.32V. Big Diff, spose just go to bios and set it manual. also, is the voltage in CPU-Z Vcore, this is at 1.248V

Got a stock HSF. Temps in everest at idle show CPU and Motherboard both at 28C.

Thanks JustaGeek

 

[JustaGeek]

I use Everest, too. The only thing to remember is that the maximum safe temperatures are:

CPU 50C, Core 1/2 65C


Good luck!

 

[Pete 331]

Thanks for the info justageek.
i manually set my vcore to 1.3V seems stable. (Yay)
Just wondering what other voltages you set manually (or did you leave the rest on auto)?
On everest my cpu temp was 45C under load (ORTHOS) and core 1 at 51C and core 2 at 48C.
would appreciate if you could tell me your settings and temperatures. as our clock is the same.

Cheers

 

[JustaGeek]

Your temps look fine. Mine are ~47C CPU - ~57C Core 1/2 under Orthos load, with the stock HSF.

My other voltages:

VDimm.......2.07..V (Memory spec 2.0V - 2.1V)
NB..............1.56..V (4 Dimm's)
VCore.........1.3V
VCore Offset....Auto

Glad it works for you. I suffer from occasional boot failure, but hitting Reset button usually solves the problem. Rock solid in Windows (so far...).

 

[Feek]

Hi,

This looks like the place to post so I'm going to ask for some advice.

I've got a P5N-E SLI which I've had for about 4 months. I bought it with a C2D 6600 CPU and 4Gb of OCZ High Performance memory (4 x 1Gb strips) labelled PC2 6400 1Gb Dual Ch Platinum Revision2 4-4-4-15 - See here

I've had some problems with the PC I built that I've learned to live with. I couldn't get it to work with all 4 strips in, the best I could manage was 3Gb. I'm using Vista x64.

Some searching showed me that this was likely to be the best I could manage at the time. I see there's a newer BIOS than the 202 I have so I'm wondering if that will help?

The other problem I have is on system start up. If I start the PC, it'll boot into the OS and 90% of the time it either hangs solid, or blue screens and restarts. I've got around the problem a bit by setting the BIOS to count the RAM slowly as it starts up and as long as I let it get further than 2Gb then it generally boots OK.

I've lived with these problems. I don't want to live with them any more.

I've got the memory voltage set to 2.08 in the BIOS, all other voltages are at stock levels and I've manually set the memory timings to 4-4-4-15 t2

Will a BIOS upgrade help with these issues I'm having? I see this thread is nearly 200 pages long and it'll take forever to play catchup on it. I see something about a memory hole, but I tried with my memory speed at 867 as has been suggested and I just get a BSOD during boot.

I'd love to be able to actually use the stuff that I bought properly. I'm not too bothered about overclocking, I just want to get a good reliable 4Gb system to start with.

Thanks.

 

[Tuvoc]

Try your memory at 667 - OK it's slower than what it's rated it, but it should easily boot at manually set timings 4-4-4-12 2T, subtimings on auto, and voltage 2.0875

I'm wondering if you have some faulty memory - have you run memtest 1.70 for a few hours ?

 

[Feek]

I've not memtested it but I've had orthos running in whatever-mode-it-is-that-thrashes-memory for well over 12 hours with no problems when I first put the system together.

It booted fine with the RAM set to 723 with 3Gb in but then I set it back to 800 and came and posted the thread here.

 

[Shampoo]

JustaGeek>>

That's because your vcore is too low~!

Your CPU is set default to 1.35 not 1.3. Not recommended to undervolt a desktop cpu.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Tuvoc]

Originally posted by: Feek
I've not memtested it but I've had orthos running in whatever-mode-it-is-that-thrashes-memory for well over 12 hours with no problems when I first put the system together.

It booted fine with the RAM set to 723 with 3Gb in but then I set it back to 800 and came and posted the thread here.

OK - but if you want to run 4 x 1GB you will have to avoid the memory hole between about 723 and 838. I was running 711 when I had the FSB at stock 266

 

[Feek]

Is that hole just with the new bios, or with the old version as well? I'd obviously rather run faster than slower if I can.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Shampoo
JustaGeek>>

That's because your vcore is too low~!

Your CPU is set default to 1.35 not 1.3. Not recommended to undervolt a desktop cpu.

Cheers,
Mike

Mmm...I disagree

If you can get your CPU to run stable when undervolted, I say go for it...I run my E6400 at 1.28v and so far, so good after 6 weeks of usage.

Worst thing that can happen is that the machine will be unstable and then it's time to bump the voltage up a notch.

But the benefits of undervolting lie in the fact that heat output is proportional to voltage and thus, lower volts yield less heat.

 

[JustaGeek]

Originally posted by: Shampoo
JustaGeek>>

That's because your vcore is too low~!

Your CPU is set default to 1.35 not 1.3. Not recommended to undervolt a desktop cpu.

Cheers,
Mike

I would strongly recommend running the computer at the smallest VCore possible. If you are stable at 1.4V, try 1.38V, and go as low as you can without causing instability.

My CPU was set to Auto with 0202 BIOS, and my Everest reports I ran before the update to 0608 showed 1.3V at 2.925GHz.

That's how I was able to determine that the rise in temps was caused by the overvolted CPU - Everest showed 1.4V, and the temps were 6C higher!

I am perfectly stable in Windows, the only problem is an occasional failed boot.

Being a perfectionist (LOL) I would like for that to stop - but I had no problems with 0202, so it is clearly a BIOS issue.

BTW, my computer seems more responsive and smoother with 0608, so I guess it is a fair tradeoff LOL.

Will wait for the next BIOS, hope it resolves this issue.



P.S. Just read Noema's post - and couldn't agree more!

 

[Pete 331]

Just a quike one....
would i be able to change my RAM timings to 4-4-4-12. Would i be able to do it with my RAM? Would it make any noticeable differences? Would it make my system unstable?

Also is memtest 1.70 the best memcheck program to use?

cheers

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Pete 331
Just a quike one....
would i be able to change my RAM timings to 4-4-4-12. Would i be able to do it with my RAM? Would it make any noticeable differences? Would it make my system unstable?

cheers

I don't knw about your particular RAM, but before I got 4GB, I used to run my Kingston Hyper X (PC26400@800MHz) at 4-4-4-12, though it's rated at 5-5-5-15. I did have to push the volts a wee bit to just a hair above >2v (second lowest setting)...otherwise it'd error out in Memtest.

However, my system refused to even post with 4GB (same RAM) at those timings. So I had to loosen it up to 5-5-5-15; running at 840ish MHz.

As for perfomance...no, you won't notice any differences outside synthetic benchmarks...at least I didn't. And Vista's performance index rated it at 5.9 regardless of its being at 4-4-4-12 or 5-5-5-15 (though we all know it's not the most reliable of benchmarks).

 

[Lokan]

Originally posted by: Pete 331
Also is memtest 1.70 the best memcheck program to use?
cheers

Memtest is widely regarded as being the most reliable and accepted memory testing application for windows. When I had a DIMM go bad, G.SKILL actually requested if I ran the program and offered instructions on where to find, install, configure bios, and execute the program. The same situation occurred when a friend had to RMA a stick of OCZ ram.

 

[Jeremyczu]

Hey everybody, good to see this forum is still going! I've been watching for a while but haven't kept up lately.

Now I'm back because I've got a problem.... I keep getting the "downgraded bios is not suitable" message every time I use EZ Flash with 0608 bios..... What is the deal with this utility? I can not get my bios updated!!! I've got a 6750 on the way, and I'm worried the board will not support it without the update.

I don't have a floppy drive, and I'm not looking forward to buying one, but if that is my only option.... I'll do it.

If I buy a floppy drive, make a bootable floppy, and put both the awardflash and the 0608 file on the disk, will I be ready?

I'm using Vista 32 bit, so I think my options are somewhat more limited.
Please Help!! I'd hate to let a brand new chip sit and wait!

 

[Lokan]

Originally posted by: Jeremyczu
Hey everybody, good to see this forum is still going! I've been watching for a while but haven't kept up lately.

Now I'm back because I've got a problem.... I keep getting the "downgraded bios is not suitable" message every time I use EZ Flash with 0608 bios..... What is the deal with this utility? I can not get my bios updated!!! I've got a 6750 on the way, and I'm worried the board will not support it without the update.

I don't have a floppy drive, and I'm not looking forward to buying one, but if that is my only option.... I'll do it.

If I buy a floppy drive, make a bootable floppy, and put both the awardflash and the 0608 file on the disk, will I be ready?

I'm using Vista 32 bit, so I think my options are somewhat more limited.
Please Help!! I'd hate to let a brand new chip sit and wait!

While not generally advisable, ensure you're using the LATEST version of EZ Flash from ASUS' website. It's listed to be Vista compatible now.

Also, double check you're downloading the correct BIOS. I know it sounds "newb", but I tend to sometimes mix up our board w/ the A5N32-SLI sometimes.

And finally, I believe there's a way to flash the BIOS via a flash drive, but I'm not 100% sure as I've never tried. You can always try bootable CD's from what I've read.

Oops, almost forgot...

Welcome to the AT Forums!

 

[Jeremyczu]

Thanks for the quick reply! I actually flashed my bios before with a USB drive and EZ flash 2 during post by hitting "alt f2" but no deals this time with 0608.

I'm sure I have the right bios file, I've got the page bookmarked and I check it compulsively

Bootable cds? hmmmm I tried to set one up, but I couldn't make the disc a bootable CD

I'm thinking I just risk it and go with the Asus Update utility... or wait and buy a floppy drive

 

[JustaGeek]

Jeremyczu,

If you do decide to go with the ASUS update utility (I used it in XP, don't know how it works in Vista...) make sure that you disable your Anti Virus, Anti Spyware etc. (Real Time Protection of those), and make sure thay are done with Auto Updates, too.

Then, in Task Manager, turn-off all the user tasks EXCEPT explorer.exe and taskmgr.exe. (DO NOT disable System, Local Service or Network Service!)

Good luck!

 

[Lokan]

Originally posted by: Jeremyczu

I'm thinking I just risk it and go with the Asus Update utility... or wait and buy a floppy drive

Ugh, not the dreaded floppy (no innuendo intended! )!!

Just to possibly alleviate some hesitation; I've successfully flashed my BIOS twice using the Asus update utility via Windows Vista. It can work, just ensure you're either on a good UPS or it's not raining outside

Good luck!

 

[Noema]

I also flashed my BIOS in Windows with no problems.