680i SLI is too expensive? Asus as the solution : P5N32-E SLI PLUS

[serialk11r]

Hmmmm... This board is interesting I think I'll get one

[Naughtyboy]

Naughtyboy,
This question is for everyone! When you're working on your overclock, do you normally have to reset CMOS after a lockup?

Only when I´m going for max cpu clock and reach the limit att given clock...and it posts but then freezes...and makes it impossible to enter bios. Other than that I just have to torn off/on and it defaults back to 266mhz FSB and boots fine.

Naughty,Is 1.5v safe? I don't mind changing coolers to make this work, do I have to remove the motherboard to replace the coolers? The NZXT Zero case has 7 120mm + 1 80mm fans and it keeps everything relatively cool. I've also read someone's post who just took the label off the NB and placed a 40mm fan on top. Anyone here done that?

I cannot get this to run linked at all, I'm sure it's operator error, so thanks for everyone's help! I'm pleased with this motherboard at this stage.

Yeah 1.5v on the NB is perfectly safe as long as you keep it cool...an additional fan blowing on default cooling will help you a bit...but and aftermarket coolr will be more sufficient.
About the NZXT Zero, I have that case to it´s really nice..I love it.
About your unlinked problem, I really can´t figure it out..because it should work. What bios are you using ATM ?


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Thanks Naughty!
The Dual 32's it is... How do you do that? Run them back to back/same time/one on each core? Have no idea, plz explain to the noob in training.

Just put SuperPI in two different maps and name them differently.

About the temperatures...I´m and old school Motherboard Monitor user, so I´m gladly using Freecablebuys plugin for it and also a P5B DLX plugin for measuring 12/5/3.3 voltages..all recent Asus moptherboards are using same voltage management. It works perfect and shows the temperatures just fine...all on par with other temp monitoring apps I´ve tried before.
U can find it HERE

[JohnnyV]

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=616

This is a nice article where they compare the P5N32-E SLI to the Striker Extreme. Guess I should be glad that I made the right choice?

[Merc14]

Finally got watercooling on my SB chipset by getting rid ot the 8800GTS air cooler and sticking a Swiftech MCW60 on there. Word of warning, the block is awesome and my GTS is running at 27c right now but the passive RAM sinks that Swiftech is pushing suck. They are the big copper ones and half fell off regardless of how delicately I handled the card during install. This is after heating them all up with a blow dryer, twice and letting them cool to set the sticky TP. UPDATE: See post below but I got the sinks to stick using a method recommended to be by WannaGoFast at Asus Independent. See below.

I'll go down to the local rip off store and get some of the lightweight, blue aluminum ones and stick them on there. Lot's of air cooling for passive blocks in that area. Haven't finished management yet but here is a photo:


SO the GPU, NB and SB are on a 3/8" loop cooled by a dual 120mm rad hanging externally and the CPU is on an internally mounted rad fed by a 1/2" loop. As soon as I get the RAM some sinks I'll push the card a little.

[JohnnyV]

Still it seems you manages to get them on the cars cuz on the picture I see the Swiftech sinks right?

[espionix]

Just bought the Plus version of this board, £134 from Scan, £5 cheaper than the Non-Plus.

My setup (should be complete by next weekend) is

Intel C2D E6600 Conroe
Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus C55
G.Skill HZ (2 x 1GB) PC2-8500 4-4-4-5

With the rest of the parts in my sig.

I'll let you know how it goes =)

[JohnnyV]

I got myself the non plus version with E6600 (L632B173) / G.Skill HZ PC6400 and an 8800 GTS. Since I'm waiting for my water blocks and I could not restrain myself, I put it all together yesterday evening and am doing some test runs. I lowered the Vcore to 1,1v in BIOS (PROBE II says 1,07) and was able to reach 2750mhz orthos stable with max CPU temp of 46c (not bad for stock intel cooler)

With a bit of luck, the waterblock and 1,2Vcore I may be able to reach 3Ghz. That would be nice on stock voltage and give quite some headroom to work towards 3600 and maybe a little beyond.

[Merc14]

Still it seems you manages to get them on the cars cuz on the picture I see the Swiftech sinks right?

Yep, I updated the photo. I pulled the card out and used a couple of dots of superglue (WannaGoFast at Asus Independent recommended this method) in the corners of each sink. Spread AS Ceramique around the middle of the RAM chips and secured them. Works great and if you need to remove the sinks you put the card in the freezer for 15 minutes and the sinks pop right off, at least that is what Wanna told me.

[goatboy]

Merc14, I see that you are running a graphics card in the top slot. How much room do you have between the g.c. and the RAM slots?

[Merc14]

If you pop open the RAM clips you still have a fraction of an inch between the back of the card and the clip. You can see it plainly in the image, just double click it and it pops up full screen. The biggest problem was getting a SB block in there with the big 8800GTS cooler in the way. That is one reason I decided to WC the vid card. Lot's of room now and the GPU only hits 32c (70f ambient air) after an hour of BF2. I have not had time to OC the card yet as I have been busy finishing up this build and learning Intel O/Cing. I am pretty sure it will break 10k on 3D06 as I got 8857 out of it today at stock with the CPU at 3204MHz. I know the CPU can do more and the card definitely can. Just have to work on it.

[goatboy]

If you pop open the RAM clips you still have a fraction of an inch between the back of the card and the clip. You can see it plainly in the image, just double click it and it pops up full screen. The biggest problem was getting a SB block in there with the big 8800GTS cooler in the way. That is one reason I decided to WC the vid card. Lot's of room now and the GPU only hits 32c (70f ambient air) after an hour of BF2. I have not had time to OC the card yet as I have been busy finishing up this build and learning Intel O/Cing. I am pretty sure it will break 10k on 3D06 as I got 8857 out of it today at stock with the CPU at 3204MHz. I know the CPU can do more and the card definitely can. Just have to work on it.

Thanks man. I'm hoping to fit an OCZ XTC cooler on the slots. There isn't enough room on the RD600 I have now.

[Merc14]

I would guess that it would fit on the Plus. There is, relatively speaking, a lot of room between the card and the RAM as compared to some other large size mobos I have worked on. I just velcroed an old OEM CPU HSF fan at the top of the mobo to a small lip on the tray and let it blow down the length of the sticks. Works great.

[BigRigDriver]

Can somebody tell me if this board shuts down & restart several times before it finally boots when you overclock?
Anybody been successful in overclocking the RAM seperatly from the CPU??
Does it buzz like the Commando???
Tell something you didnt like about it.....

[goatboy]

Can somebody tell me if this board shuts down & restart several times before it finally boots when you overclock?
Anybody been successful in overclocking the RAM seperatly from the CPU??
Does it buzz like the Commando???
Tell something you didnt like about it.....

In answer to your second question...

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=135046


I haven't read anything about the buzzing on this board yet.

[H0RM0NE]

Can somebody tell me if this board shuts down & restart several times before it finally boots when you overclock?
Anybody been successful in overclocking the RAM seperatly from the CPU??
Does it buzz like the Commando???
Tell something you didnt like about it.....

BigRig,

I have noticed several times when I change the memory to SLI Enabled the board will not come up the first time. It will need to be recycled to come all the way up into Windows. I'm running all my settings in UNLINKED mode so yes you can clock RAM separately and it is suggested. As far as "buzzing" no buzzing on mine and I can't compare to Commando, don't have one. I am very happy with this board!!!...so far.

Hope this helps.

[JohnnyV]

So far no bad things about the P5N32-E SLI... only good things.
My biggest surprise was that after my Nf4 AMD platform I got this mobo+proc+memory+ videocard but kept my HD with all drivers on it. After building the new rig it just started up normally with all the new hardware. No BSOD or anything, just slow because it was searching for all the new hardware but it worked... that saved a lot of time

[Rattle]

i picked up the plus version of this mobo from mwave for $199 with 2 day fedex, looking forward to messing with it !

[BigRigDriver]

What do you mean by recycled? Does it start & shuts off several times or just one time only???
Can anybody tell me if they have all RAM slots populated with one gig stix (1X4) If so, are you having any troubles @ all??
Is EPP & SLI RAM better on this board??
Thanks everybody for your replies

BigRig,

I have noticed several times when I change the memory to SLI Enabled the board will not come up the first time. It will need to be recycled to come all the way up into Windows. I'm running all my settings in UNLINKED mode so yes you can clock RAM separately and it is suggested. As far as "buzzing" no buzzing on mine and I can't compare to Commando, don't have one. I am very happy with this board!!!...so far.

Hope this helps.

[easypanic]

This board is great, everything watercooled:

[H0RM0NE]

What do you mean by recycled? Does it start & shuts off several times or just one time only???
Can anybody tell me if they have all RAM slots populated with one gig stix (1X4) If so, are you having any troubles @ all??
Is EPP & SLI RAM better on this board??
Thanks everybody for your replies

BigRig,

I meant after the SLI setting Enable change in the BIOS, and right after the F10 save, it will hang after it runs through the post and not boot into Windows. It will look like it goes to sleep at the black screen b4 Windows should start. When I pooch up the OC config sometimes it will black screen and just blink the cursor in the upper left corner and hang when it restarts after the OC BIOS F10 setting save. When I said recycle that meant restart with the reset switch just one time. The next time it boots up normal. I have 2 x 1GB sticks in the blue slots for dual channel.

I have also noticed this board does not like to be forced to use volts it does not need. I tried using some of the settings of other Users of the Striker and non Plus boards w/o much success. When I used what they had in their screenies my board would not boot. When I matched the CPU and MEM FSB settings and used AUTO on volts, it would boot fine. I compared the volts in the Probe 2, MBM5 and Everest and they were all much lower then what was needed in the screenies but I had achieved the same results. I then put the same volts in the BIOS the AUTO settings said I needed, i got the same results and was still able to push even further. My best MEM so far is 470 4,4,4,12 1Tand 565 5,5,5,15, 2T both at 2.2 vdimm. Admittedly I really don't know what I'm doing... I'm a OC student and this board is really helping me out.

Hope this helps.

[goatboy]

What do you mean by recycled? Does it start & shuts off several times or just one time only???
Can anybody tell me if they have all RAM slots populated with one gig stix (1X4) If so, are you having any troubles @ all??
Is EPP & SLI RAM better on this board??
Thanks everybody for your replies

I'm curious also as I bought 4 gigs for Vista.

[Chosen.]

First impressions are positive. A few things that I noticed:
- While in BIOS, I started disabling the CPU features and as I was doing it fast, I enabled by mistake the Hyperthreading option ("Disabled" by default). On the next boot my QX6700 had 2 cores instead of 4! This could not be fixed by changing the option back to "Disabled" on the next boot. Clearing the CMOS brought all 4 cores back in my QX and my heart back in its place
- First time in my life I see a m/b that its SB runs substantially hotter than its NB!

Specs are:
QX6700
This board (Plus)
2GBPK Gskill
BFG 8800GTS 640Mb
Watercooling by Eleven on the CPU
Custom heatsinks on the mosfets
HR-05 on the NB
Chopped up Zalman ZM-NB47J on the SB


Here are some photos

The default heatpipes, leaving 4 mosfets half-covered:



The mosfets in question, revealed:


Then I started chopping, first an Akasa AK-210, that was chopped in half and the necessary dents and curbes were obliterated by a Dremel.
Before:


After:



Masking tape around the base of the HR-05, as well as the ZM-NB47J:


And the final result (the aircooled bits):



I haven't started overclocking the QX6700 yet, cause I am expecting an HR-05-SLI for the SB, as the damn thing gets too hot to touch, before I even pass the 300MHz fsb (1200 QDR).



Quick question for you: what are the default voltages for this board? talking about the "voltages" section in the BIOS. First, I hate to leave stuff in AUTO and second, I get the impression that my board overvolts the NB/SB or something else, and as a result I get the burning hot SB heatsink, even though it look more decent than the default heatpipe POS. A screenshot, photo or just a breakdown, would be perfect

[H0RM0NE]

Quick question for you: what are the default voltages for this board? talking about the "voltages" section in the BIOS. First, I hate to leave stuff in AUTO and second, I get the impression that my board overvolts the NB/SB or something else, and as a result I get the burning hot SB heatsink, even though it look more decent than the default heatpipe POS. A screenshot, photo or just a breakdown, would be perfect

Chosen.
The PC Probe II reports defaults for my board as:

vcore: 1.33
vdimm: 2.20
nb: 1.25
sb: 1.54
1.2 ht 1.25
vtt 1.26
term 1.12

I don't have volt meter yet to verify how close these are to actuals. Please, someone post "real" volts measured with a meter.

[mit78]

the problem is version of bios,o602 is beta version,but 0501 is good version,with many solve bugs.0602 its bad beta,same problems with 0402.Not recommanded.
i use 0501,with no problem.

[Desert Eagle]

This board is great, everything watercooled

Hi Easypanic.
Did you noticed some difference with your cpu between aircooling/watercooling on this mobo?
I'm gonna rebuild my watercooling to in the next weeks/months.