ASUS P5W DH - Problems + Fixes Thread

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Originally Posted by Durzel

Actually that's slightly wrong. XE chips are the exception to the rule.

XE chips have something internal to them that mean their multipliers actually are truly unlocked. XE chips were able to have their multipliers changed in the BIOS long before the latest BIOS came out which made it possible for ES and Retail (yes, Step 5 ES is no different to retail in terms of not being able to change multipliers in BIOS).

So it's likely when you set the mulitplier to 6x on an XE, it will POST at 6xFSB, not its default multiplier of 11x. ES and Retail on the other hand appear to boot (or try to) at whatever their factory multiplier is before the BIOS clocks it down ala CrystalCPUID.

That's why they need so much vCore for lower multipliers even when the actual clockspeed (once its actually using the multiplier) is much lower.

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Durzel, I think you are wrong here.
This doesn't work on my retail x6800.
It isn't about the x6800's being truly unlocked (they are), but its about how the P5W handles the multipliers. But I think I was wrong by talking about "POST", as the x6800 never even makes it to that point--it doesn't even initialize.

336x11 (3700) POSTS just fine @ 1.52v on my p5wdh and loads windows (requires more than 1.6v on air for stability and temps go through the roof so forget it), however,

370*10 *does NOT* POST at all at 1.52v.
I have to raise the vcore to 1.575v for it to POST.
So the chip is initializing at 4070 mhz first, with the 11 multiplier, before the BIOS is able to take over and set it to 370*10. You see? How can the multiplier be lowered if the chip can't even powerup enough to allow the BIOS code to run?

Note, after failure to POST (at 1.52v), if I hold down the power button to power off and then power on again, I get the expected "overclock failed" and the system is reset to 2266*11 powerup.

I am not the only X6800 user who has seen this. Check in the Intel support forum. This problem has been discussed there too.

In order for your method to have worked, the last requested multiplier would have to have been saved on the CPU somehow internally. I remember some years ago there was a forum post explaining exactly what happens on power on, before BIOS code can take over.

So very low multipliers (like 6 or 7) with high fsb's will never work unless the cpu could power on with its default multiplier at that FSB and mhz.

I shouldn't have said 'the chip is detected as...", rather "the chip powers on at the multiplier it is designed for", and therefore, the BIOS never has a chance to load, because it is the BIOS that has to change the multiplier. If I'm wrong about this, tell me. The CPU does not have "flash memory", so the new multi can't be "flashed" to it (to be retrieved at cold PWR good/on). It can be requested, but to get to that point requires, at power up, that the chip at least be able to power up and execute enough basic code so the BIOS can load.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Falkentyne

Durzel, I think you are wrong here.
This doesn't work on my retail x6800.
It isn't about the x6800's being truly unlocked (they are), but its about how the P5W handles the multipliers. But I think I was wrong by talking about "POST", as the x6800 never even makes it to that point--it doesn't even initialize.

336x11 (3700) POSTS just fine @ 1.52v on my p5wdh and loads windows (requires more than 1.6v on air for stability and temps go through the roof so forget it), however,

370*10 *does NOT* POST at all at 1.52v.
I have to raise the vcore to 1.575v for it to POST.
So the chip is initializing at 4070 mhz first, with the 11 multiplier, before the BIOS is able to take over and set it to 370*10. You see? How can the multiplier be lowered if the chip can't even powerup enough to allow the BIOS code to run?

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As you probably know, the MCH could also be a factor in whether you can boot with an FSB of 370.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Falkentyne

So very low multipliers (like 6 or 7) with high fsb's will never work unless the cpu could power on with its default multiplier at that FSB and mhz.

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I come from the AMD world where people have been running lower multi's with higher FSB without issues. How does AMD do it? Can it not be the case that the clock generator reads a flash register to clock the CPU at startup therefore not requiring any BIOS to execute in order to run at the right speed? Alternatively, it might be a register that is kept alive during power off much like the system clock. There are really a ton of different ways the clock multipler can be set and read without he Bios loading. I have no idea how it actually works, but I throw this out as a possibility. I mean, if you are right and Intel designed it the way you are describing, they are retarded.

Need advice!!

Check SIG, System is stable up to 425 fsb with 32 hour dual prime95.

430 435 give me random restarts up to 2 hours with dual prime95.

440 450 give me random restarts within 15 mins with dual prime95.

Never has dual prime95 ever failed with my current settings.

Just restarts.

So what I did was flashed to 1405 from 1305 bios. Lower the multi to 8 from 10.

Run Dual Prime95 with memory 1:1 and system fails Prime95 with in the same time constrants as the 10 multi.

But system does not restart.

I played with memory timmings nothing is stable with memory over 425 fsb with the multi lowered.

What should I try next do you guys think it's the board or the memory?

What happened to the "review of this board with the 1405 BIOS on a major site" the moderator mentioned in a post about a week ago???

Virtualrain:
Its not the MCH. I have the newer board with 1.85 vmch.
Nor the FSB.

It's the actual CPU initializing at 370x11 and failing to even PWRGOOD to be set at 370x9.

Now what I have NOT tried yet is setting the multiplier to 9 first, and THEN rebooting and then changing the FSB up. I'll try that later, and post back if that works. If this does work, then you are indeed right.

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Originally Posted by rpr

What happened to the "review of this board with the 1405 BIOS on a major site" the moderator mentioned in a post about a week ago???

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The review was supposed to be done @ anandtech. I'd like to see their results as well since the reviewer has both the 1.65v & 1.85v mch versions of the board. My assumption is that since the bios has yet be made offical, the review won't come until it is. Of course if the bios changes from 1405 to 1408 then the review will probably be on it. Hang in there guys, there's a bios that allows changes to tref, multiplier, etc. coming in the near future:)

The Nemesis: 1405 (and a few before) already can change multipliers...

t

I keep hearing about "tref", but have no idea what it is and how it should/can be tweaked to increase performance. Can anybody explain?

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Originally Posted by taemun

The Nemesis: 1405 (and a few before) already can change multipliers...

t

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The original 1405 bios would not change multi on the 1.85v mch boards though the 1404 would.

Ah... my bad then. My board is a 1.65V vMCH...

t

how do you know what version your board is? I am sending my board back RMA to asus. I might see if they can send that version to me instead.

Tommy they should send you a newer rev . They sent me a newer Rev when I RMA'd :)

What did you guys RMA them for?

t

My first board woudl randomly restart @ stock speeds, never while I was using it. But overnight I guess it would restart and while I was at work sometimes just shutdown. Verified it wasnt RAM , PSU or CPU so contacted ASUS and they arranged a RMA. Was surprisingly fast :) New board is newer rev and hasnt shutdown or restarted :)

my sata plug fell off or broke off from teh ez raid connecter. cheap piece of :banana::banana::banana::banana:.

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Originally Posted by Kemp3

My first board woudl randomly restart @ stock speeds, never while I was using it. But overnight I guess it would restart and while I was at work sometimes just shutdown. Verified it wasnt RAM , PSU or CPU so contacted ASUS and they arranged a RMA. Was surprisingly fast :) New board is newer rev and hasnt shutdown or restarted :)

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i have this problem too, for instance i just finished a nice 32M SPi, then bam restart after i walk away for like 50 minutes.

my board restarts alot throughout the night but i cant be without it.

bullet: try raising your PCIe freq by a little... I think that I had a similar problem (sata would stop responding), and it hasn't shown itself since i set PCIe freq to 105...

t

FSB is @ 377... FSB has never been lower than 333...

i will try and raise the PCI-E Freq then.

Oops .. my bad I meant PCIe freq at the start of the post ... edited ...

t

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mikepaul

My 3DFuzion 7300GS is supposed to swipe 256MB of system RAM to become a 512MB card, so maybe that's what's happening to you, too?...

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No, the 7300GT DDR3 do not feature Turbocache.

Anyway, the missing RAM problem has been duplicated by the local Asus/Leadtek distributor service centre so I guess I just have to wait till they settle among themselves where it went wrong.

Courtesy of 11qwerty,
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...y/IMG_1357.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by taemun

Oops .. my bad I meant PCIe freq at the start of the post ... edited ...

t

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results still pending on this... PCI-E Freq @105 CPU @ 3.33 still stable, 32m and overnight SoB Stable

does anyone have try 4 dimm at the same time? i try it and my p5wdh wont post. can someone tell me what is wrong with my board. (bios 1405)
thx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hendrasystemind

does anyone have try 4 dimm at the same time? i try it and my p5wdh wont post. can someone tell me what is wrong with my board. (bios 1405)
thx

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Yes, I have run 4 x 1G fine - it needs 2.3v with 4 DIMMS in to maintain the same settings that are stable on 2.1volts with 2 x 1G.

I would try 1 or 2 dimms, and get back to a stable BIOS to work out what is going on... enable timings by SPD etc etc

@davexl: i just try it, 2.4 v on the dimm. it just wont post.
my ram is gskill 6400HZ . both pair is the same.
should i rma this board ??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hendrasystemind

@davexl: i just try it, 2.4 v on the dimm. it just wont post.
my ram is gskill 6400HZ . both pair is the same.
should i rma this board ??

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As I said, try just one or two dimms, and reset the BIOS to defaults - presumably you could post before you flashed it to 1405 right?

At what point did it stop working? I doubt the board is the issue... it could very well be 1405 is the problem - can you get back to 1305?