The Unofficial ASUS P5N-E SLI 650i Board Thread

[quaffapint]

Anyone out there in P5N-E land, know how to get this board to have Vista x64 show 4gb of RAM, when you have 4 ram sticks installed (4 x 1GB Crucial Ballistix Tracers)? The BIOS shows it fine, but in Vista, I only get 3.1gb showing (the rest gets sucked up by my pci-x card apparently).

I heard you need a BIOS that supports 'memory remapping', but I can't find that option anywhere.

Am I simply SOL?

Thanks...

 

[Tuvoc]

Vista X64 here shows the full 4GB, I didn't need to do anything

 

[quaffapint]

Originally posted by: Tuvoc
Vista X64 here shows the full 4GB, I didn't need to do anything

It shows 4.0GB Physical and 4.0GB Available in the System Information app?

I wonder then if there is some BIOS setting that you have checked that I don't. Guess I'll need to try checking some things.

Thanks...

 

[Gastric]

A week into my new build and I'm ready to throw in the towel. All items purchased from NewEgg.

ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail
Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT6464AA804 - Retail
EVGA 512-P2-N773-AR GeForce 8600GTS 512MB
Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W SLI Ready-ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply - Retail
Seagate 500GB SATA for boot/OS drive and two Seagate 500GB IDE drives for data storage
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM
COOLER MASTER Mystique RC-632S-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (two 120MM fans)
Two 90MM side fans blowing on the CPU/NB/GPU (praying it'd help)
WinXP Pro SP2 is on it currently

As best I can tell the problem is fully between the board and the RAM. I've never had so many issues building a system before and I'm leaning towards swapping the board with something else, though I have no idea what. But probably not another ASUS product though I've always used their boards in the past. Anyway...

I'm currently running BIOS 803 on default settings with ony the boot settings adjusted so it'll boot from my CD first, then SATA, then IDE drives as I've tried everything else I can think of and that I've read from manually setting voltages, memory timings, disabling various BIOS features. The only thing I haven't tried at the time I write this is reducing the RAM speed from 800Mhz to 667Mhz which I'll try but that just seems downright stupid that I'd have to do that at all.

I've tried a single stick of RAM in various slots. All of the RAM installed as it should be for 3GB dual channel setup. Memtest usually passes one stick at a time. But as soon as I get into dual channel setups it claims errors. I'm having random BSOD, GPFs, you name it.

The problems are at their worst when I have all 4 sticks of RAM in there. The most crazy behaviour is all is that the CPU gets blazing hot (idles in the mid-50C and Prime95 can send it well past 70C in mere seconds) with all 4 sticks of RAM installed in dual channel mode using 800Mhz 5-5-5-15-T2 settings at 2.2V. The RAM is supposed to run at 800Mzh 4-4-4-4-12-T2 @ 2.2V for crying out loud. Running a single 1GB stick with default BIOS settings and Prime95 pegs the cores at between 60-66C and idles in the 40's. NB is currently at 39C but idles in the 50's with 4 sticks in there. I'm just finding it INSANE that this board goes so bonkers with 4 sticks of RAM in it. If I have more than one stick in there and don't manually set the timings the board usually won't even POST it just hangs with a long beep.

Anyway, before I throw in the towel I'm hoping for some suggestions other besides both under-timing at 5-5-5-5-15-T2 AND under-clocking the RAM at 667MHz. I'm just in disbelief I'd have to more or less cripple the RAM to pacify the board.

Note I'm not even shooting for OC here at this point. I just want the damn thing to run stock and not crash multiple times a day. I've spend way WAY too much time pouring over data on forums trying to crack the case on this machine.

P.S. I've tried for days to register on the actual ASUS forums and their board keeps reporting "server too busy" whenever I try to register. Another nail in the coffin for my ASUS love. Hard to believe they could kill it so badly with one product.

 

[quaffapint]

You mention the CPU temps - which would indeed cause the crashes you are seeing. What I would try doing (even though it's a pain) is to reseat the heatsink and cooler, along with the thermal paste. It's possible that the connection is just not good and thus causing the high heat. Just a thought...

 

[digitalether]

Is 52C during gaming too hot for this motherboard? My CPU doens't go past 46C during gaming. I think the mobo temp is showing this because the GTX 8800 ultra (612) is blowing hot air around (it runs at 78C).
This hot air is being sucked out the top of the P180B case via the Freezer7 on the E6850.
i pointed the Freezer 7 to blow up to avoid the NB heatsink, rather than trim the fins.
I have since replaced the NB heatsink with an HR-05, which is great....but made no difference in what I'm seeing during gaming...the mobo (temp2 in speedfan) is still at 52C...but no higher.

So is this safe? Can I live with it?

 

[Gastric]

Originally posted by: quaffapint
You mention the CPU temps - which would indeed cause the crashes you are seeing. What I would try doing (even though it's a pain) is to reseat the heatsink and cooler, along with the thermal paste. It's possible that the connection is just not good and thus causing the high heat. Just a thought...

My CPU temps are completly normal... as long as I don't load the board with 4 sticks of RAM running @ 2.2V per the specs.

Using totally default BIOS values the board sets the memory at:

400Mhz 5-5-5-18 1T which appears to be pulled from JEDEC #2 profile off the stick.

According to CPU-Z the SPD off the RAM (all 4 are the same, I've checked) are as follows

JEDEC#1
333MHz 4-5-5-15 1.8V (note no command rate reported)
JEDEC#2
400Mhz 5-5-5-18 1.8V (note no command rate reported)
EPP#1
400MHz 4-4-4-12 2T 2.2V
EPP#2
500MHz 5-5-5-5-15 2T 2.2V

 

[quaffapint]

Originally posted by: Gastric

Originally posted by: quaffapint
You mention the CPU temps - which would indeed cause the crashes you are seeing. What I would try doing (even though it's a pain) is to reseat the heatsink and cooler, along with the thermal paste. It's possible that the connection is just not good and thus causing the high heat. Just a thought...

My CPU temps are completly normal... as long as I don't load the board with 4 sticks of RAM running @ 2.2V per the specs.

Using totally default BIOS values the board sets the memory at:

400Mhz 5-5-5-18 1T which appears to be pulled from JEDEC #2 profile off the stick.

According to CPU-Z the SPD off the RAM (all 4 are the same, I've checked) are as follows

JEDEC#1
333MHz 4-5-5-15 1.8V (note no command rate reported)
JEDEC#2
400Mhz 5-5-5-18 1.8V (note no command rate reported)
EPP#1
400MHz 4-4-4-12 2T 2.2V
EPP#2
500MHz 5-5-5-5-15 2T 2.2V

I have 4 sticks of Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2.2V 1gb (for a total of 4gb) in Vista Ultimate x64. I have no stability issues. Everything is set to Auto in the BIOS. I'm using bios 0608.

Might be worth simply picking up the phone and asking Asus tech support. I had to do that for a video card issue before - Was easy enough to get through to them.

 

[quaffapint]

Originally posted by: digitalether
Is 52C during gaming too hot for this motherboard? My CPU doens't go past 46C during gaming. I think the mobo temp is showing this because the GTX 8800 ultra (612) is blowing hot air around (it runs at 78C).
This hot air is being sucked out the top of the P180B case via the Freezer7 on the E6850.
i pointed the Freezer 7 to blow up to avoid the NB heatsink, rather than trim the fins.
I have since replaced the NB heatsink with an HR-05, which is great....but made no difference in what I'm seeing during gaming...the mobo (temp2 in speedfan) is still at 52C...but no higher.

So is this safe? Can I live with it?

50s is quite safe for a core2 proc from what I've read on the various forums.

 

[digitalether]

Originally posted by: quaffapint

Originally posted by: digitalether
Is 52C during gaming too hot for this motherboard? My CPU doens't go past 46C during gaming. I think the mobo temp is showing this because the GTX 8800 ultra (612) is blowing hot air around (it runs at 78C).
This hot air is being sucked out the top of the P180B case via the Freezer7 on the E6850.
i pointed the Freezer 7 to blow up to avoid the NB heatsink, rather than trim the fins.
I have since replaced the NB heatsink with an HR-05, which is great....but made no difference in what I'm seeing during gaming...the mobo (temp2 in speedfan) is still at 52C...but no higher.

So is this safe? Can I live with it?

50s is quite safe for a core2 proc from what I've read on the various forums.

 

[digitalether]

@ Quaffapint

Thanks Quaffapint. The CPU is usually no higher than 46 during gaming...but the motherboard is 52 is the 52 ok for the mobo?

 

[quaffapint]

Yea - mobo temps are generally always higher - and again, from various posts, thats quite fine for a mobo.

 

[OldTechnut]

Digitalether,

In comparing the temps from speedfan 4.33 on my Quad system to Everest Ultimate Edition 4.20 readings. Temp1 = CPU, Temp2=MB,No match on Temp3. HD0 and HD1 are matches to harddrive temps. Core 0, Core 1, COre 2 and Core 3 are all 15 degrees lower on Speedfan 4.33 than on Everest. I tend to believe Everest 4.20 readings. Video is also 9 degrees lower on speedfan than Everest. Under voltages -12 reads -16.8 on speedfan and correct with DVM measuring actual voltages. I hope this helps - Lee

 

[JustaGeek]

Originally posted by: OldTechnut
Digitalether,

In comparing the temps from speedfan 4.33 on my Quad system to Everest Ultimate Edition 4.20 readings. Temp1 = CPU, Temp2=MB,No match on Temp3. HD0 and HD1 are matches to harddrive temps. Core 0, Core 1, COre 2 and Core 3 are all 15 degrees lower on Speedfan 4.33 than on Everest. I tend to believe Everest 4.20 readings. Video is also 9 degrees lower on speedfan than Everest. Under voltages -12 reads -16.8 on speedfan and correct with DVM measuring actual voltages. I hope this helps - Lee

How do you get the Hard Drive temperatures on Vista x64...?

I don't, with the NVidia SATA drivers installed...

 

[OldTechnut]

SpeedFan version is 4.33 and Everest Ultimate Edition 4.20 and the reading are there, The only difference I see is I am running Vista Business 64 only. Are you running these programs in the XP or Vista operating system?

 

[Tuvoc]

Speedfan is know to be out by 15C on quad core CPU's, I've seen this observed by many different people. Everest is correct. Although they may have corrected speefan in later versions

 

[JustaGeek]

Originally posted by: OldTechnut
SpeedFan version is 4.33 and Everest Ultimate Edition 4.20 and the reading are there, The only difference I see is I am running Vista Business 64 only. Are you running these programs in the XP or Vista operating system?

With the Windows generic IDE drivers in Vista Ultimate x64, I had access to the SMART data and the HD temperatures.

I lost these abilities once I installed the NVidia SATA 64-bit drivers.

It is a known problem, described in the Everest forums.

 

[OldTechnut]

The Hd0 and Hd1 are IDE drives , I don't get temps on the two Sata installed drives.

 

[JustaGeek]

That's what I thought - no SATA support for SMART and temps.

Thanks, OldTechnut.

 

[Shampoo]

Wow great to see this thread and board is still getting a lot of attention.

For those that were wondering about the memory hole, it's between high 700's to low-mid 800's, when using 4 ram modules for 4GB of ram.

I don't know about using 4 ram modules that are mix and matched for less than 4GB.

I currently have 4GB of OCZ Titanium EPP PC6400 ram in my system running at 875MHz with 4-4-4-12 timings @ 2.08 or something voltage.

I had some system instability issues, but they occur at random and I don't think it's my system, but problems with certain programs, because I can run orthos stable 24/7 and play games for several hours without a hitch.

My processor is an E6420 @ 3.5GHz, 437.5MHz fsb, for 1:1 with ram.

I did the pencil mod for vcore, but I'm thinking about undoing it, because of some random crashes from time to time, otherwise rock solid system.

I've had problems with FFDshow in a recent install. Causing my system to hang when playing videos for along period of time, like overnight.

Could be related to my videocard and drivers, I don't know yet.

eVGA 8800 GTS 640MB with latest drivers.

Anyways, good to see this motherboard is still loved, because it's a great solid board, and a cheap alternative to the 680i chipset and the newer 700 series chipsets, that don't seem to provide anything new to us.

I'm running my system on a new Benq FP241W monitor @ 1920x1200 resolution and holy it's gorgeous.

You guys should really give Unreal Tournament III a try. So much fun and yes my system can handle it with maxed out eye candy @ 1920x1200.



Going to try the new bios and will post back at a later time.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Shampoo]

Whoa, I'd like to report something amazing.

I flashed to 0803 bios revision and well, normally after flashing I don't reset my cmos, because I'm lazy and because I have 4GB of ram in my system with the OCZ ram cooler over them, so it's a bit of hassle taking it off to take out a ram module just so I can flash to a different bios.

Anyways, yeah, when I reset my cmos I wouldn't be able to boot up with default settings when all 4 ram modules are in.

This bios seems to fix the ram frequency hole!

Woo hoo!

This is great news for us with 4 sticks or 4 gb of ram. Just incase it was a fluke, because I'd fluke it sometimes and the system would boot, I purposely turned off my system and kept trying to cold boot and warm boot, and it worked every time.

I put my system back to 3.4GHz and 850MHz DDR ram speeds just to test things out and I'm writing to you with these settings.

I am really liking this bios so far.

It also said in the release notes that they fixed compatibility with X-Fi soundcards, which is a good thing, because I have one, so let's see what this bios does for us.

Everyone should flash to these. It also has updated cpu support which is good for you quad core fanatics.

I will report back with more findings later on.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Shampoo]

So I got greedy and tried for 1800MHz fsb (450MHz x4) and 900MHz ram frequency, but no go, haha.

3.6GHz just isn't in the books for this chip.

Readjusted vcore and am testing my system under my previous settings of 1750MHz, 875MHz ram.

Just to see if I'm 100% stable, since it's been a while since I ran a stability test with orthos while running other common apps, that seem to cause people problems like Winamp, IE7, all the background processes like antivirus (Mcafee), volume panel (X-Fi), etc.

Hopefully I'm stable, or I'll have to either get myself a new chip or take it back a notch to 3.4GHz @ 1700MHz fsb, 850MHz ram.

Cheers,
Mike

Edit:: My ram timings are 4-4-4-12, 2T

 

[Tuvoc]

Interesting, I should upgrade to 0803. The memory hole is an irritation that is for sure. At the moment I'm running my 800 memory 1:1 at 667, being 333x9 = 3Ghz. I guess I could run it at 800 with this BIOS, although this board seem to overclock better with 1:1 from what I read here.

On another note - try as I might, I can't get this quad core stable at over 3GHz. The motherboard just doesn't seem to be able to provide enough stable power. The more I increase vcore, the bigger the vdroop becomes, i.e. more vcore in the BIOS results in higher idle voltage but exactly the same readings under load in Everest. The QX6700 is already 130w at stock, maybe it's 150w at 3.0Ghz with the vcore set at 1.38, and presumably the 3-phase power system on the board has hit it's limit. (PSU is more than strong enough). I'm sure the CPU is good for a lot more, and the temps are certainly well under control now with the Thermaltake 120 Ultra Extreme fitted (that dropped my temps by more than 10C from the previous Freezer 7 Pro). Maybe some more experimentation required, although for a £70 board that has run my quad core 24/7 under full load for a year now, you can't complain.

 

[OldTechnut]

I hate to be a stick in the mud, I just reflashed my bios to 0803 from 0801. The system first booted but it still remembered that I had set the ratio to 5:4 (linked) which set my memory to 853.3. When I reset the memory to auto (800mhz) the system failed to boot, even to setup access. With My configuration 8GB Memory, the memory hole is still there between 711 and 833. I had to reset RTC and remove 4GB of memory to get back to the setup screen. Once I reset the ratio to 5:4 and linked everythiing boots fine. I wish ASUS would fix the memory hole but they haven't yet.
Lee

 

[Shampoo]

Wow 8GB of ram. I don't think anyone else I've seen is running 8GB of ram on this board.

Good to see it can handle it even though there still seems to be the fsb hole with that amount of ram.

Could it possibly be the voltage? My hole disappeared when upgrading to the 0803 bios, but only after I reset the cmos, since I was using 0604? before.

Try it again since you've flashed to 0803 and reset the cmos, just to confirm.

Tuvoc, I believe I remember reading somewhere, probably this thread, that this board doesn't handle quads very well, because of the power phase design or something.

Off topic, but anyone see the new E8400/E8500 cpus? Should run nice on this board.

I've seen a lot of guys posting results of over 4GHz. E8400 has a x9 multiplier and the E8500 has a x9.5 multiplier.

I kinda tested out my board's max fsb overclock and I hit a nice 480ish, so I should be able to do 475MHz without much trouble with stability, so that would equate to 4275MHz cpu clockspeed, assuming the chip can do that.

This was with 4GB of ram installed.

Anyone else willing to throw down their max FSB overclocks? I had to lower my multiplier to x7 on my e6420 to do this.

I couldn't quite reach 500MHz like many lucky P5N-E sli owners, but I got damn close.

Had to raise my chipset voltage to the max to get my system stable enough to boot into windows at high FSB, but it is safe if you have a fan over the northbridge chipset. Mine runs fairly warm, not hot with a 120mm fan blowing across, not on, it. P182 case with the fan attached to the upper bay for the videocard, but had a welcome, but unforeseen effect of cooling the northbridge.

Let's get overclocking the FSB now!

Edit:: Hey Tuvoc, you try going nuts with your vcore now that you have the Ultra 120 extreme? I have one as well, it does a great job of cooling my e6420. I only hit 60-62ish max temp on full load (orthos) with AS5 applied. Usually sits around high 50's to low 60's. I bought some Arctic Cooling MX2 thermal paste since it doesn't have a curing time, and according to reviews does a better job than AS5.
You should try raising the voltage to 1.45. My cpu is running with 1.48ish voltage. Also not much vdroop since I did the pencil mod a while back.