Asus P5N-E SLI small review

[geof]

So far people with a E4300 have reported locked multipliers with the 0505 bios. Let me know what results you get if you flash to the new bios and what chip you have.
Thanks


EDIT: That would be a downward multiplier only.

i'll try to get results on french forums with E4300, i'll post here if i find something ( and if nobody answers before )

[PanteraGSTK]

I think my problem was related to an unsecured connector. Everything seems fine now.

[james111]

So is the 0505 bios yey or neh?

[Trice]

I have a very strange issue. Ive had the board since release, and all of the sudden tonight my ATi card was locking up and while in a game it locked up and wouldnt go back. I had to go to a PCI card before it would even bot up but it takes FOREVER for the BIOS to come up. The CD drives spin for 10 seconds as if its looking for a CD, then probably 20 seconds after I hit the power button does the monitor turn on (PCI Card only).

I had the original BIOS, and just went to the 4xx one from the site and still the same issue.

Weird thing is my OC is still the same??!! What the hell is going on? I have NEVER had this kind of issue before. I dont know if my GPU is dead, even though it wasnt OCed, or if the board is having issues.

[geof]

I have a very strange issue. Ive had the board since release, and all of the sudden tonight my ATi card was locking up and while in a game it locked up and wouldnt go back. I had to go to a PCI card before it would even bot up but it takes FOREVER for the BIOS to come up. The CD drives spin for 10 seconds as if its looking for a CD, then probably 20 seconds after I hit the power button does the monitor turn on (PCI Card only).

I had the original BIOS, and just went to the 4xx one from the site and still the same issue.

Weird thing is my OC is still the same??!! What the hell is going on? I have NEVER had this kind of issue before. I dont know if my GPU is dead, even though it wasnt OCed, or if the board is having issues.

did you try a clear cmos ( important with a bios flash ! )
with pci card it boots up but it's long ( maybe it's normal with a pci videocard ... but it's strange )
If your oc is still the same the board seems to work

The best way to be sure is to try your ATI on another ring if you can ...

[John44]

So is the 0505 bios yey or neh?

I think my problem was related to an unsecured connector. Everything seems fine now.

0505 is a Downgraded ROM file. It will lock your multiplier. Best bet is to stay with 0401

[Trice]

did you try a clear cmos ( important with a bios flash ! )
with pci card it boots up but it's long ( maybe it's normal with a pci videocard ... but it's strange )
If your oc is still the same the board seems to work

The best way to be sure is to try your ATI on another ring if you can ...

I dont have another rig, so I am guessing it is the card. Time for a 8800 GTX now I guess. The card is still in the system, but I dont even see it under the Device Manager or anything.

To clear CMOS I take the battery out. Is that ok?

[geof]

0505 is a Downgraded ROM file. It will lock your multiplier. Best bet is to stay with 0401

it really lock multi ? you tried with your E6400 ?
i saw some people who noticed an increase in oc with their E4300 with the 0505 bios ...

[geof]

I dont have another rig, so I am guessing it is the card. Time for a 8800 GTX now I guess. The card is still in the system, but I dont even see it under the Device Manager or anything.

To clear CMOS I take the battery out. Is that ok?

what i can suggest you is to remove your X1900XTX from pci-e slot, put it in another time. Then, you plug off your power supplie, you move the clear cmos jumper on the motherboard ( see where it is in the manual, it's on the down right ) , let it a few seconds next you put it back as original. You plug on your power supplie and switch on your computer ...
I hope this will help you and that your ATI card is not dead

[John44]

it really lock multi ? you tried with your E6400 ?
i saw some people who noticed an increase in oc with their E4300 with the 0505 bios ...

I haven't tried it. My system runs to good to try it. Enough people have reported back that it locks there multiplier downward ( E4300, E6300, E6400, E6600 ). I guess it's a bug in the bios. I can't see Asus eliminating that option. Most of the people flashed back to their previous bios The only ones that benefit seem to be running Vista and the fix is minimal ( Hibernation )

[Kobalt]

Vdroop on this board is horrible and unmoddable. Even doing the vdroop mod I still get ~.02vdroop. Here are my results if anyone is interested...btw the intial resistance was 129.5k ohms


1.343v idle 82.7k ohms
1.283v load 82.7k ohms
.06vdroop

1.345v idle 77.6k ohms
1.285v load 77.6k ohms
.06vdroop

1.350v idle 66.7k ohms
1.295v load 66.7k ohms
.055vdroop

1.351v idle 57.3k ohms
1.307v load 57.3k ohms
.044vdroop

1.3431v idle 41.6k ohms
1.310v load 41.6k ohms
.033vdroop

1.361v idle 31.5k ohms
1.328v load 31.5k ohms
.033vdroop

1.362v idle 27.6k ohms
1.331v load 27.6k ohms
.031vdroop

1.356v idle 20.7k
1.330v load 20.7k
.026vdroop

1.348v idle 14.9k
1.327v load 14.9k
.021vdroop

1.348v idle 12.4k
1.327v load 12.4k
.021vdroop

1.357v idle 9.75k
1.338v load 9.75k
.019vdroop

[geof]

I haven't tried it. My system runs to good to try it. Enough people have reported back that it locks there multiplier downward ( E4300, E6300, E6400, E6600 ). I guess it's a bug in the bios. I can't see Asus eliminating that option. Most of the people flashed back to their previous bios The only ones that benefit seem to be running Vista and the fix is minimal ( Hibernation )

it was confirmed by a french user too on a E4300 multi are locked but he can oc a little more with this bios so it can be interesting for those who use original multi ...

[geof]

Vdroop on this board is horrible and unmoddable. Even doing the vdroop mod I still get ~.02vdroop. Here are my results if anyone is interested...btw the intial resistance was 129.5k ohms


1.343v idle 82.7k ohms
1.283v load 82.7k ohms
.06vdroop

1.345v idle 77.6k ohms
1.285v load 77.6k ohms
.06vdroop

1.350v idle 66.7k ohms
1.295v load 66.7k ohms
.055vdroop

1.351v idle 57.3k ohms
1.307v load 57.3k ohms
.044vdroop

1.3431v idle 41.6k ohms
1.310v load 41.6k ohms
.033vdroop

1.361v idle 31.5k ohms
1.328v load 31.5k ohms
.033vdroop

1.362v idle 27.6k ohms
1.331v load 27.6k ohms
.031vdroop

1.356v idle 20.7k
1.330v load 20.7k
.026vdroop

1.348v idle 14.9k
1.327v load 14.9k
.021vdroop

1.348v idle 12.4k
1.327v load 12.4k
.021vdroop

1.357v idle 9.75k
1.338v load 9.75k
.019vdroop

some bad results
i just made a pencil mod and i obtained good result with nearly no vdroop at all.
Maybe you could try it with a 2HB pencil

[Kobalt]

what was your ending resistance?

[couppi]

what was your ending resistance?

Pulling it down to around 100kohms worked for me. Your results are definitely strange. What are the markings on the chip next to the resistor that needs to be modded?

[geof]

yes couppi made a nice thread about this mod

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=127528

[Kobalt]

ADP3198
J #0637
1002951.1
Korea


I'll try to get a picture later, but it was hard to get the writing to show up when I just tried.

And yea he made a nice thread...cept I've taken up the last page lol.

[geof]

ADP3198
J #0637
1002951.1
Korea


I'll try to get a picture later, but it was hard to get the writing to show up when I just tried.

And yea he made a nice thread...cept I've taken up the last page lol.

it's the correct chip, and i suppose you did the mod on the good resistor.
Last pages are interesting too

[Boogotop]

i've tested mine with dry-ice....but after test i've use hairdryer to remove all humidity to be sure... put my infinity on....running with my 24/7 setting for around 2 hour and got a nice blackscreen and after nothing....board seem to be death....return to that %*&% P5B vanilla for the RMA time...

but i've got nice result with it before death

E6600 L637A
Asus P5N-E SLI bios 0202
eVGA 8800GTS 640mb
Team Xtreem 5300 3/3/3/8 2*1gb

[geof]

i've tested mine with dry-ice....but after test i've use hairdryer to remove all humidity to be sure... put my infinity on....running with my 24/7 setting for around 2 hour and got a nice blackscreen and after nothing....board seem to be death....return to that %*&% P5B vanilla for the RMA time...

but i've got nice result with it before death

E6600 L637A
Asus P5N-E SLI bios 0202
eVGA 8800GTS 640mb
Team Xtreem 5300 3/3/3/8 2*1gb

nice results Boogotop !
sorry to see it death

ps: come to see us on OCM

[JoeBar]

you're right, i bought a E6400 for my 2nd ring too and i'll sell it before end april
Let us know what you can do with this E6300

Mine is awsome. I never thought this thing would be able to get to 3700mhz. You need to remember that the same cpu can perform totally diffirent on diffirent boards. You should be able to get to 3500mhz if your chip has no fsb wall like my first one did. Even at 400mhz it was still a good chip. Cool the NB and you will be fine.

It was a pretty tiring weekend with P5N-E.
I've spent about 2 days trying to make the stupid onboard lan to work.
I've searched around the web trying to find a solution. Learned about the RIS driver issue and NVidia. However i haven't managed to install the RIS driver that asus list on P5N-E download. Both 8.26 and 8.43 drivers result in a non functioning lan plus if u try to play with different drivers u'll end up with a CPU utilization of 100% all the time. Not even drive cleaner can do the job.
So after 3 winxp formats the only working solution for me is to install lan drivers from the install disk (which includes both NV driver and RIS) while installing the sm bus driver from 8.43's. Anyone else haven't experienced this prob?
Apart from that, I got the worst 6300 that exists. This crappy thing can go up to 2.9ghz and this with 1.6v vcore!
Right now i'm on 2.8ghz with 1.475v. FSB isn't an issue cause it's working till 470mhz with 6X multi. I would change it asap for a new one, but i'm a bit busy @ this time, so i'm going to leave it on till the April price drop and then change it for a 6400/6600.
Apart from these. The mobo is way more stable than what i have expected. Even after 3 days of testing and playing with settings, it didn't require a psu shutdown for CPR to kick (like my P5B). I've had a long time seeing such a good oc'ing behavior from a m/b. Vdrop is terrible on this board however and nb needs to be cooled asap. I'm using Coolermaster chipset hsf on mine.
I'm using 401 bios. Haven't tried 505.

[PanteraGSTK]

I had bad luck with my first e6300. It wouldn't post above 400mhz. under 401 was fine, but 401 and above won't work. With the chip I use now, I can boot at 532mhz, and clockgen to 534mhz. It isn't stable, but that is because of the vdroop on my S3. I can't get this to be stable over 507mhz, but I think vdroop (even after the mod) still plays a role as well as nb voltage. I sure would like to use my chip at 528mhz fsb like I could with it in my S3.

[Ron 61]

0505 official is posted on asus website, Im gonna wait to see if it still locks downward multi's before I try.

[nosleep]

I had bad luck with my first e6300. It wouldn't post above 400mhz. under 401 was fine, but 401 and above won't work. With the chip I use now, I can boot at 532mhz, and clockgen to 534mhz. It isn't stable, but that is because of the vdroop on my S3. I can't get this to be stable over 507mhz, but I think vdroop (even after the mod) still plays a role as well as nb voltage. I sure would like to use my chip at 528mhz fsb like I could with it in my S3.

My e6300 is getting hung up on 507fsb too. I think we're being limited by the motherboard because 500fsb is totally stable at 1.38v but 508 isn't stable at 1.6v. I'll boot fine at 500, clockgen up to 506/7 and the system will freeze. I have the vdroop mod too. Maybe the 0505 bios with the 1333 support has a new strap that will allow a higher overclock? I haven't tried it yet.

[geof]

0505 official is posted on asus website, Im gonna wait to see if it still locks downward multi's before I try.

for what i heard it locks multi
just try ...