ASUS P5W DH - Problems + Fixes Thread

[caater]

lol, it's definatly not a 'cheap' dmm, but all the same, i was measuring from the wrong points. Thanks a lot caater

ok, not cheap, but not a trueRMS one
and if you don't have a trueRMS dmm, then measure those points for AC, if there is any present, then find another spot.

[infrared]

Ahh, now i understand what you mean. Cheers

[yobi]

hello.

[Airjarhead]

I'm having problems with even mild overclocks, so I was hoping someone could tell me what settings to change.
I was able to do 9x350 @ 1.3375V with my E4300 and Gigabyte S-3 (Orthos stable 9+ Hrs), but I can't even get it stable for 1 min at 9x333 on the P5W no matter how many volts I throw at it (Vcore, FSB, MCH, ICH).

I created a thread with my BIOS screens here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=136875

Thanks.

[stratos2004]

Anybody have some problems with P5W DH rev 1.03g and XFX 8800GTX Rev 1.2 ????

[M3kk]

What kind of problem?

[deadlock7]

@stratos2004o you mean the slow bios with 8800s?

Guys i'm looking for northbridge cooling and i considered if anyone used a cpu aircooler and make it fit there!

[BenchZowner]

@stratos2004o you mean the slow bios with 8800s?

Guys i'm looking for northbridge cooling and i considered if anyone used a cpu aircooler and make it fit there!

ThermalRight HR-05 or Swiftech MCX-159CU.

Haven't tried a CPU Cooler, but most of them won't ( most likely ) [ and interfere with your CPU cooler ]

[stratos2004]

@stratos2004o you mean the slow bios with 8800s?

Yes but i have only this prob......

[lawrywild]

I prefer my Extreme Spirit II over both those

[Eastcoasthandle]

hello.

[deadlock7]

Yes but i have only this prob......

This is general problem with p5w+8800 series.I don't know if any of the new bios fixes it..

Thanks BenchZowner.I have these two on my mind and i prefer thermalright (although swiftech is cu).I wondered if someone managed to fit a cpu cooler,but i think that no one tried!

[LordX]

Hey all. I have BIOS 1901 installed, and have had this board since September. I have been through hours of overclocking experiments to see how fast I can get my e6700 but still have the system be STABLE. The stable part really adds the twist doesnt it?

Anyway, I can get the system to BOOT and run SUPERPI at 4.1GHZ (at a whopping 1.625 VCore), but as soon as I start dual prime, the system restarts (I beleive due to a temp thermal in the CPU).

I have noticed that if the CPU is hitting 60-62 (measured in coretemp while running dual prime95) for an extended period of time, it will restart. As with the 4.1GHZ start up, it went to 65-67 almost immediately, followed by an almost immediate restart, so it looks like my Computer will restart with temps at this level. This is odd to me, because I saw some people in this thread who have hit higher temps.

Is it normal to have the CPU thermal at this temp while under load?

Anyway, the hard part I have been playing with is getting the cpu enough volts, while keeping temps down. If the volts are too low, then one of the dual Prime95's gets an error and stops. If the volts are too high, it thermals.

Is this what you guys have run into as well? I have water cooling, and I thought it would do better. It sucks to know that if I had Phase cooling I would be running 4.1GHZ easy.

Anyway, I seem to have found a stable level at 3.76GHZ at 1.534 VCore (I know thats a lot). The temps hover at around 59C at full load, and it runs for like 6 hours no prob, which is fine with me because I cant imagine a time where I will ever have my CPU at 100% for six hours (I dont render 3d/video :P)

Also with the RAM, I can run it at 752Mhz @ 3-3-3-4-2 timings, and I can run it at 940MHZ (5:4) @ 4-4-4-4-2. I have found that each of these settings due to the timing difference between 3 and 4 yield almost IDENTICAL results in SuperPI.

So the Question is, which is easier on the Chipset? My guess would be keeping it at 1:1 @ 752MHZ @ 3-3-3. What do you guys think? Is one setting better for 3D games than the other?

Also, has anyone else hit this cooling/VCore battle and come out with some type of solution or hints? (Aside from getting phase cooling?)

My other settings are:
FSB Term Voltage = 1.4
MCH = 1.75
ICH = AUTO

I will attempt to lower these as well and test stability.

Sorry for the long post, and thanks for any info!

[LordX]

Hello again, just to answer my own question, running my ram at 940Mhz @ 4-4-4-4-2 was 15 points better on 3dMark06 than running the ram at 752Mhz @ 3-3-3-4-2.

ALSO, this is IMPORTANT for anyone who owns a 7950GX2: The most CURRENT drivers from nvidia's site are CRAP. I installed them and used their overclocking tool to set my card up to its previous OC, and I scored a 9055.

I installed my OLD drivers (91.47), ran the SAME test, and scored 10113!!!!!! Thats over ONE THOUSAND points better with a simple driver change. I dont know WHATS up with these new drivers, or whether it has something to do with the p5w (which I seriously doubt), but either way, get the old ones for your BEST performance.

[megabit]

I'm having problems with the temps of my QX6700, as well. In fact, I had to revert from Scythe Ninja RevB to the stock cooler, which does much better! I RMA'd the Ninja, and will be giving next try when a new one arrives.

Anyway, for the 24/7 work, I'd like to keep the power savings setting in BIOS (SpeedStep, C1) so that the CPU only kicks when needed (right now it's working at some 1.14V and 1.8GHz, with fans almost stopped; when I do some HDV rendering it goes up to 3.10 GHz and the temps never exceed 75C). FSB at 310 MHz is the max I can get without increasing the Vcore from Auto (which is the only setting possible when using C1/SpeedStep). I have overclocked the RAM to some 466 MHz (5:5:5:18) at 2.20V (Geil DDR2-800). What I'd like to do is increase the FSB a bit higher, so that the overall system performance is better - if the CPU temps will get too high, I can go down with the multiplier to 9 or 8 (currently 10).

My questions:

1) which voltage settings (apart from RAM already at 2.20, and Vcore that I need to leave at Auto for the above reasons) should I change in order to assure stability with FSB = 333 or higher?

2) is it normal that Ai Booster shows Vmem higher that that entered in BIOS? When I want to run my Geil sticks at 466MHz 4:4:4:12, I need to enter 2.25V and then AiBooster shows zero (is if it was outside the range allowed, which worries me). With 2.20 in BIOS, AiBooster shows 2.30V (the max allowed by Geil). So, is it safe at 2.25V in the BIOS?

[nickfd]

This is general problem with p5w+8800 series.I don't know if any of the new bios fixes it..

Thanks BenchZowner.I have these two on my mind and i prefer thermalright (although swiftech is cu).I wondered if someone managed to fit a cpu cooler,but i think that no one tried!

Maybe a problem with the 8800 GTS and the board? I have never had any issues with my PNY 8800GTX for the life I've owned all equipment.

[nickfd]

Anyway, I can get the system to BOOT and run SUPERPI at 4.1GHZ (at a whopping 1.625 VCore), but as soon as I start dual prime, the system restarts (I beleive due to a temp thermal in the CPU).

I have noticed that if the CPU is hitting 60-62 (measured in coretemp while running dual prime95) for an extended period of time, it will restart. As with the 4.1GHZ start up, it went to 65-67 almost immediately, followed by an almost immediate restart, so it looks like my Computer will restart with temps at this level. This is odd to me, because I saw some people in this thread who have hit higher temps.

Is it normal to have the CPU thermal at this temp while under load?

I'm using a daily 1.61vcore and when I do my dual prime95's, I also see some heavy temperature increases as well. Normal idle is 46-50c, and normal 100% cpu load while rendering or gaming is 60-62c. When I prime95 my box, I'll get up to 70c. Because I know that we start to lose cpu life at 70c, I don't like to run it for very long. I'm like you though, when I am at an unstable setting, it'll reboot soon as it starts running.

Anyway, the hard part I have been playing with is getting the cpu enough volts, while keeping temps down. If the volts are too low, then one of the dual Prime95's gets an error and stops. If the volts are too high, it thermals.

nod.

Is this what you guys have run into as well? I have water cooling, and I thought it would do better. It sucks to know that if I had Phase cooling I would be running 4.1GHZ easy.

nod.

Anyway, I seem to have found a stable level at 3.76GHZ at 1.534 VCore (I know thats a lot). The temps hover at around 59C at full load, and it runs for like 6 hours no prob, which is fine with me because I cant imagine a time where I will ever have my CPU at 100% for six hours (I dont render 3d/video :P)

Also with the RAM, I can run it at 752Mhz @ 3-3-3-4-2 timings, and I can run it at 940MHZ (5:4) @ 4-4-4-4-2. I have found that each of these settings due to the timing difference between 3 and 4 yield almost IDENTICAL results in SuperPI.

So the Question is, which is easier on the Chipset? My guess would be keeping it at 1:1 @ 752MHZ @ 3-3-3. What do you guys think? Is one setting better for 3D games than the other?

1:1 yields better mathematical results in synthetic benchmarks, however as you found out in your 3dmark06 testing, 4:5 will give you better overall gaming results.

Also, has anyone else hit this cooling/VCore battle and come out with some type of solution or hints? (Aside from getting phase cooling?)

I have run into the same issue with water, and there isn't much we can do with active cooling that is limited by ambient temperatures. Phase is the best to get below zero, however peltier + water would be a good middleground as well.

Hello again, just to answer my own question, running my ram at 940Mhz @ 4-4-4-4-2 was 15 points better on 3dMark06 than running the ram at 752Mhz @ 3-3-3-4-2.

ALSO, this is IMPORTANT for anyone who owns a 7950GX2: The most CURRENT drivers from nvidia's site are CRAP. I installed them and used their overclocking tool to set my card up to its previous OC, and I scored a 9055.

I installed my OLD drivers (91.47), ran the SAME test, and scored 10113!!!!!! Thats over ONE THOUSAND points better with a simple driver change. I dont know WHATS up with these new drivers, or whether it has something to do with the p5w (which I seriously doubt), but either way, get the old ones for your BEST performance.

Note that this is only on the g7* series of cards. I've been updating on the 8800 series drivers and continue to get added performance as I move up the revision levels in drivers as well as motherboard bios's.

[BenchZowner]

Maybe a problem with the 8800 GTS and the board? I have never had any issues with my PNY 8800GTX for the life I've owned all equipment.

Plug in any 8800GTX on a P5W DH Deluxe, and you'll get "laggy" BIOS ( during setup, etc ).
Try raising your FSB ( CPU Frequency according to asus ) fast, and you'll get the "laggy" BIOS issue.

[LordX]

however peltier + water would be a good middleground as well.

What is Peltier and where do I get it? Do I simply add this to the water in my reservior? How much?

Since I know nothing about it, is there another thread on these forums that you know that covers my basic questions?

[nickfd]

I'm having problems with the temps of my QX6700, as well. In fact, I had to revert from Scythe Ninja RevB to the stock cooler, which does much better! I RMA'd the Ninja, and will be giving next try when a new one arrives.

Anyway, for the 24/7 work, I'd like to keep the power savings setting in BIOS (SpeedStep, C1) so that the CPU only kicks when needed (right now it's working at some 1.14V and 1.8GHz, with fans almost stopped; when I do some HDV rendering it goes up to 3.10 GHz and the temps never exceed 75C). FSB at 310 MHz is the max I can get without increasing the Vcore from Auto (which is the only setting possible when using C1/SpeedStep). I have overclocked the RAM to some 466 MHz (5:5:5:18) at 2.20V (Geil DDR2-800). What I'd like to do is increase the FSB a bit higher, so that the overall system performance is better - if the CPU temps will get too high, I can go down with the multiplier to 9 or 8 (currently 10).

My questions:

1) which voltage settings (apart from RAM already at 2.20, and Vcore that I need to leave at Auto for the above reasons) should I change in order to assure stability with FSB = 333 or higher?

2) is it normal that Ai Booster shows Vmem higher that that entered in BIOS? When I want to run my Geil sticks at 466MHz 4:4:4:12, I need to enter 2.25V and then AiBooster shows zero (is if it was outside the range allowed, which worries me). With 2.20 in BIOS, AiBooster shows 2.30V (the max allowed by Geil). So, is it safe at 2.25V in the BIOS?

1) vmch = 1.65, vfsb = 1.20, and of course, and most importantly, vcore. Unfortunately you're going to have to get off the Auto vcore and find a comfortable voltage that will get you a stable clock without getting your temperature too high.

2) Don't use AIBooster. It's buggy, crap software. I know speedfan shows some, but can't recall if it shows vfsb as well.. Another poster will have to verify, or recommend a better program.

[nickfd]

Plug in any 8800GTX on a P5W DH Deluxe, and you'll get "laggy" BIOS ( during setup, etc ).
Try raising your FSB ( CPU Frequency according to asus ) fast, and you'll get the "laggy" BIOS issue.

Only place I'm "laggy" is on the fan screen in the bios. My FSB is @ 380.

[nickfd]

What is Peltier and where do I get it? Do I simply add this to the water in my reservior? How much?

Since I know nothing about it, is there another thread on these forums that you know that covers my basic questions?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peltier_effect

Peltier cooling is also known as thermoelectric cooling, and its basically using electricity to create a hot and cold side of a plate. There have been kits coming out recently that use water to help cool the "hot-side" of the peltier, which increases efficiency of your "cold-side".

Prior to the watercooling of the "hot-side", people had been limited to pretty extensive active-air cooling, which, while was ok, was not the best way to get rid of the heat.

I believe that anandtech just recently reviewed a couple of boxed peltier coolers, but you may want to check their site to be sure.

It's much easier and much more space conscious to go peltier than phase, since it requires only electric conversion equipment + pump/reservoir if you're going to use water to evacuate the heat, vs phase, where you need.. Well, a lot. There's a whole thread section on this site you can look at for that.

[Haltech]

I took my P5W-DH down to the shooting range.. I put an end to all of the bs.

Im much happier with the Gigabyte 680i

[megabit]

1) vmch = 1.65, vfsb = 1.20, and of course, and most importantly, vcore. Unfortunately you're going to have to get off the Auto vcore and find a comfortable voltage that will get you a stable clock without getting your temperature too high.

2) Don't use AIBooster. It's buggy, crap software. I know speedfan shows some, but can't recall if it shows vfsb as well.. Another poster will have to verify, or recommend a better program.

Even with your suggested settings, 333 is no go with auto vCore! And I wanted to try increasing vCore, but I couldn't switch the C1E off (required); the only choice is Auto in BIOS 1901! Is it a known bug?

[lawrywild]

I took my P5W-DH down to the shooting range.. I put an end to all of the bs.

Im much happier with the Gigabyte 680i

You're back Haltech?