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

[Gascogne]

I could use some help with oc'ing my cpu on this board.

I am at 3.3Ghz at the moment, would very much like to reach 3.6Ghz but I would be happy with 3.5Ghz.

Unlinked
Fsb (QDR) 1320 (I can't boot any higher than this due to something)
Mem 890

Vcore: 1.650v
Mem volt: 2.2v
1.2V HTT: 1.45v
NB core: 1.45v
SB core: 1.50v
Cpu VTT: 1.35v

Hardware:
P5N32-E SLI Plus (bios 0402)
E6700
SuperTalent 1Gbx4
nVidia 7800GTX 512Mb
Raptor 74Gb
X-Fi Elite Pro

Any other information that is needed?

[Leeghoofd]

[QUOTE=Gascogne;2213226]I could use some help with oc'ing my cpu on this board.

I am at 3.3Ghz at the moment, would very much like to reach 3.6Ghz but I would be happy with 3.5Ghz.

Unlinked
Fsb (QDR) 1320 (I can't boot any higher than this due to something)
Mem 890 -- run ram at 800Mhz speeds

Vcore: 1.650v ( that's pretty high ) -- try 1.55
Mem volt: 2.2v
1.2V HTT: 1.45v
NB core: 1.45v -- up to 1.45 or 1.5 ( get adecuate cooling)
SB core: 1.50v -- 1.55
Cpu VTT: 1.35v -- up to 1.45 or even 1.5 to get stable
Drop LTD to 4X

[konman43]

howdy howdy howdy, i'm just starting to play with overclock options on this board... so far i've only gotten it up to 3150mhz 450/1800fsb /w 667 teamgroup d9gmh and an e6320. i'm having some stability issues as it runs fine in windows, but orthos craps out after a few minutes. the more voltage i throw into the cpu the more time i get. i just don't want to keep pushing more because i'm afraid i'll kill my cpu. plus i'm on air ;p (noctua nh-u9). 1.54v is the max i've used and that was on auto, got to 60C and i turned orthos off.

but my questions aren't about oc'n as i usually get around to messing with all that junk myself, and figure something out. i'm more interested in accessories. i bought this thing oem so i have the bare board by itself. do any of you know where i can get accessories for fairly cheap, here in the USA? i'm mostly interested in the backplate, and the audio card riser board thing. i've searched on google, pricegrabber, and ebay. i come up with nothing most of the time. just the backplate, but no sound card. any suggestions?

[safan80]

3.6Ghz is easy on a 9x multi

first water cool your cpu and NB
set LDT to 4x
I managed 3.6Ghz in two ways
linked & unlinked

linked
synced
QDR 1600
mem 400

unlinked
QDR1600
ram 1000

now the voltage settings
vcore that worked best for me was 1.48125
2.17V for linked setting 2.275V for unlinked on the ram ( this depends on what your ram needs)
1.2v HT 1.50
1.55V NB
1.50-1.55V on the SB
cpu VTT 1.55

[SLINROB]

3.6Ghz is easy on a 9x multi

It is until you have all 4 ram slots occupied. I had to bump my E6600 down to 3.3ghz to get everything stable when using all 4 ram slots. If I even go up 1fsb on the board it refuses to post, I have tried going higher to see if it was an fsb hole but to no avail.


I guess I really am the only one upset about going half a year on a beta bios with no sign in sight of a new one anytime soon



I know it sounds like I am being nit picky but knowing that my CPU can handle 3.6ghz fairly easy and the fact that I am running dual 8800GTX's means that I need all the CPU power that I can get.

[Leeghoofd]

That's also one of the reason I prefer peeps to buy 2 x 2 gigs as 400FSB could be obtained again, most think 4 dimms put a lot of strain on the NB, tried dropping Memspeed to eg 667 ? ( this is what RAM GUY suggest on Corsair forum )

[SLINROB]

That's also one of the reason I prefer peeps to buy 2 x 2 gigs as 400FSB can be obtianed again, I think 4 dimms put a lot of strain on the NB, dropping Memspeed to eg 667 ? doesn't help ya ( this is what RAM GUY suggest on Corsair forum )

Sigh............I guess that is always an option but I just purchased these 4X1gb Gskill sticks of ram not long ago.


What I dont understand however is why my old board (P5B delux) handled all 4 slots being full along with the memory running at 1000mhz and the CPU at 3.5ghz with no problems.

Why is the NB on this board so different?

[SLINROB]

Oh and dropping the mem speed down to 667mhz doesnt do jack for me.

[GTeng]

In case you missed it .... this board came out top dog in the 650i comparison from tomshardware

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/...ards_compared/

[The Viper]

yeah we need a new bios for sure...I think me and this board have a love hate relationship. It works good up to about 3.6ghz@9x multi, anything beyond that and I start to have stability issues, regardless of CPU Vcore and RAM settings. I believe this is due to the darn NB which runs so figgin hot! I think if I want stability past 3.6ghz Im going to have to change the NB cooler

[SLINROB]

yeah we need a new bios for sure...I think me and this board have a love hate relationship. It works good up to about 3.6ghz@9x multi, anything beyond that and I start to have stability issues, regardless of CPU Vcore and RAM settings. I believe this is due to the darn NB which runs so figgin hot! I think if I want stability past 3.6ghz Im going to have to change the NB cooler

Yes the NB could definently use better cooling but Im pretty sure most of our issues are due to a now 6month old beta bios

Asus doesnt seem to give a at all either.

[SLINROB]

In case you missed it .... this board came out top dog in the 650i comparison from tomshardware

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/...ards_compared/

Yes I saw that and im not disputing the fact that its the best 650i out there because I know it is.

As for Tomshardware.com.........well I will keep those comments to myself.

[fordf250]

It is until you have all 4 ram slots occupied. I had to bump my E6600 down to 3.3ghz to get everything stable when using all 4 ram slots. If I even go up 1fsb on the board it refuses to post, I have tried going higher to see if it was an fsb hole but to no avail.


I guess I really am the only one upset about going half a year on a beta bios with no sign in sight of a new one anytime soon



I know it sounds like I am being nit picky but knowing that my CPU can handle 3.6ghz fairly easy and the fact that I am running dual 8800GTX's means that I need all the CPU power that I can get.

When I put 4 sticks in mine it puts the ram at 1T. Taking the cpc off auto and setting it at 2T fixed it for me.

[GTeng]

Yes I saw that and im not disputing the fact that its the best 650i out there because I know it is.

As for Tomshardware.com.........well I will keep those comments to myself.

yeah I know it's tomshardware but it was the only article I have found thus far looking at different 650i boards.

[SLINROB]

When I put 4 sticks in mine it puts the ram at 1T. Taking the cpc off auto and setting it at 2T fixed it for me.

I actually tried that to and believe it or not it of course mad no difference. For whatever reason my ram runs great and stable with a 1t command rate all the way to 900mhz with all 4 ram slots filled.

[SLINROB]

Guys wish me luck! I Just tried something I have not tried before. I lowered the Multi down to 8X and raised the Fsb to 450mhz. So far so good with everything! this will give me my much wanted 3600mhz and will run my memory (all 4 sticks) at 900MHZ with a 1:1 ratio!!!

[SLINROB]

Seems like my troubles before were from a FSB hole or something. Lowering the multi and going to a higher FSB seems to have done the trick!

[Leeghoofd]

Great mate keep that board cool now and you will be rewarded with fast gaming pleasure...

[safan80]

yeah we need a new bios for sure...I think me and this board have a love hate relationship. It works good up to about 3.6ghz@9x multi, anything beyond that and I start to have stability issues, regardless of CPU Vcore and RAM settings. I believe this is due to the darn NB which runs so figgin hot! I think if I want stability past 3.6ghz Im going to have to change the NB cooler

the NB bridge temp isn't a problem for me because I'm watercooling it. I do have the same stablility problem but I can get up to 3.750Ghz stable but the scores no faster than 3.650Ghz. my max post is 4.05Ghz but it's no where near stable because the VTT is maxed in the bios at 1.55V and all monitoring programs show it fluxing between 1.55-1.69 volts at that point.

my final thoughts on keeping this board:

If you only want a 3.6ghz on your 9x multi chip and have SLI this is a very good board. if you want anything above 3.6Ghz and SLI you should get a normal 680i motherboard. I got a 10x multi chip and this board holds it back.

my rant:

Asus has ignored this board's need for a bios update, so it won't compete with it's evil twin the striker. They won't even fix the overclocking speed it reports in windows when the multi is dropped (cpu-z reports the right value). The only reason they made this board is so they could get rid all the 590NBs they brought that nobody wants (it makes a good south bridge though) and they probably got a good deal on the solid caps because all their new boards have them, so that probably makes this board cheaper to make than the NON-PLUS version. I knew all that from the beginning but cmon even the NON-PLUS gets bios updates. I've decided that I will not go SLI and I will wait for the next GPUwars (Thanks ATI for not competing I was really hoping the G80 would get a lot cheaper) this time so I'm going to replace this board with an Intel chipset and put this up on ebay while it still has some worth to somebody. hopefully Nvidia's next chipsets have a better overclock abillity and will be on par with the Intel ones in terms of clock for clock performance.

[overclock]

the NB bridge temp isn't a problem for me because I'm watercooling it. I do have the same stablility problem but I can get up to 3.750Ghz stable but the scores no faster than 3.650Ghz. my max post is 4.05Ghz but it's no where near stable because the VTT is maxed in the bios at 1.55V and all monitoring programs show it fluxing between 1.55-1.69 volts at that point.

my final thoughts on keeping this board:

If you only want a 3.6ghz on a you 9x multi chip and have SLI this is a very good board. if you want anything above 3.6Ghz and SLI you should get a normal 680i motherboard. I got a 10x multi chip and this board holds it back.

my rant:

Asus has ignored this board's need for a bios update, so it won't compete with it's evil twin the striker. They won't even fix the overclocking speed it reports in windows when the multi is dropped (cpu-z reports the right value). The only reason they made this board is so they could get rid all the 590NBs they brought that nobody wants (it makes a good south bridge though) and they probably got a good deal on the solid caps because all their new boards have them, so that probably makes this board cheaper to make than the NON-PLUS version. I knew all that from the beginning but cmon even the NON-PLUS gets bios updates. I've decided that I will not go SLI and I will wait for the next GPUwars (Thanks ATI for not competing I was really hoping the G80 would get a lot cheaper) this time so I'm going to replace this board with an Intel chipset and put this up on ebay while it still has some worth to somebody. hopefully Nvidia's next chipsets have a better overclock abillity and will be on par with the Intel ones in terms of clock for clock performance.

I completely agree with you. I intend to sell this crap and buy an intel chipset, probably the P965. Much more mature.

Indeed, I face the same problems mentioned by other people when I use the 9 multiplier : FSB hole between 1500 and 1650 Mhz then impossible to have a stable overclock from 1690 to 1750 FSB (3800 to 3937 Mhz). And I really changed every parameter in the bios. I spent a few weeks for that. Then, as soon as I changed the multiplier from 9 to 8, I obtained a rock sable overclock at 3800 Mhz (8x475). Orthos stable during more than 12 hours, 3DMark05, 3DMArk06, OCCT 30 minutes all OK.

But with the 8 multiplier, I am stuck at 3.8 Ghz since I cannot raise the FSB more than 475 Mhz with Vnb =1.5 V (max safe voltage with stock cooling). Consequently I really need the 9 mutliplier to work correctly. I wrote directly to asus support 1 week ago and I was told that my problem is forwarded to Taiwan.

An important point : my 4x1 GB RAM works at 700 Mhz, in unlinked mode while FSB is higher than 1600 Mhz. I think that the problem occurs especially in unlinked mode and 9 multiplier.

[Leeghoofd]

I really find that 475 FSB on this mobo is quite good mate, you guys are never happy it seems. My Striker only goes up to that point too.. too bad for the FSB holes but those aren't holes those are worm holes mate, my Striker had eg a hole at 450 FSB so I needed to set 453 to get it goin... Hope Asus will deliver some bios for you lot, but I think they ditched the board for the non plus version as this one normally requires less debugging, till now sadly

With the Striker 0402 bios is still king for High FSB overclocks, til now 1102 is very stable for me so I keep it as it has better options for voltage...isn't it worth a try a lower bios version to get it goin ?

[SLINROB]

Great mate keep that board cool now and you will be rewarded with fast gaming pleasure...

Hey thanks man! Im so darn happy now! lol.

Here is a pic of my pride and joy-




Here are the settings that got me the OC I was wanting.

E6600@3.6ghz 1.55vc Orthos Stable 14+hrs/Using 8X450mhz FSB

4gbs Gskill SLI Ram@900mhz using Linked mode for 1:1 ratio 2.075VC passes memtest overnight with no errors.

HTT voltage 1.75-could probably go lower
NB voltage 1.5
SB voltage 1.5
VTT voltage 1.55-needs max in order to get high fsb stable but I doubt this setting hurts anything as it doesnt seem to affect temps.
LDT is at 5X.
Disable all uneccssary settings in bios for increased stability.
Disabled Link Boost.


These are the settings I have been wishing to have for a very long time folks

[SLINROB]

I really find that 475 FSB on this mobo is quite good mate, you guys are never happy it seems.

475FSB is extremely good and I am very happy and content with 450fsb. I really don't see why anyone would have a need to take a E6600 much higher than 3.6ghz as its already blazing fast at that speed.


Oh well, if you need SLI and have a little patience then this board is the way to go as its at least rock stable and reliable once you get all the voltages and bios settings figured out. I really didnt want to go with that EVGA 680I because I am still hearing some not so good stuff about that chipset.


Looks Like I will be set for a long while now.



For those of you that do not care about SLI dont get this board, the best single card board I ever owned was a Asus P5B delux, I had that board at 525fsb! it was and still is a great reliable board and excellent overclocker.

[safan80]

I ever owned was a Asus P5B delux, I had that board at 525fsb! it was and still is a great reliable board and excellent overclocker.

the p5k is the new p5b! the p5k supports penryn while the p5b will not.

[madwelshboy]

Hi guys,

Firstly thanks to Safan80, r0n1n, Leeghoofed, Slinbob and all for contributions, I wouldn't been able to oc at all otherwise :-)

I have a little niggle, I cannot pass 360fsb, no matter what I do.
I've tried the following:

running memory at 800mhz (I have OCZ Reaper 1066mhz)
adding more volts to cpu (up to 1.49v)
adding more volts to NB (up to 1.54v)
tried stepping down to 8x multiplier (default is x9)
plus LOADS of other things, basically I cannot get stable over 360fsb :-(

I SO desperately want 3.4ghz, and I KNOW my memory is capable.

These are my current specs:

AI Tuning: Manual
Nvidia GPU Ex: Disabled
LinkBoost: Disabled

FSB - Memory Clock Mode: Unlinked
FSB - Memory Raio: AUTO
FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1440mhz
MEM (DDR), Mhz: 800mhz


Vcore Voltage: 1.45
Memory Voltage: 2.4v
1.2v HT Voltage: 1.4v
NB Core Voltage: 1.5v
SB Core Voltage: 1.5v
CPU VTT Voltage: 1.5v
DDRII Controller Ref Voltage: AUTO
DDRII Channel A Ref Voltage: AUTO
DDRII Channel B Ref Voltage: AUTO

tCL (CAS Latency): AUTO
tRCD: AUTO
tRP: AUTO
tRAS: AUTO
Command Per Clock (CMD): AUTO

Advance Memory Settings
tRRD: AUTO
tRC: AUTO
tWR: AUTO
tWTR: AUTO
tREF: AUTO
Async Latency: AUTO

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled
MCP PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled
SATA Spread Spectrum: Disabled
LDT Spread Spectrum: Disabled

CPU Internal Thermal Control: Disabled
Limit CPUID MaxVal: Disabled
Enhanced C1 (C1E): Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled
Virtualization Technology: Disabled
Enhanced Intel Speedstep Tech: Disabled
LDT Frequency: 5x

PCIEX16_1 Frequency (Mhz): 100
PCIEX16_2 Frequency (Mhz): 100
PCIEX16_3 Frequency (Mhz): 100
SPP<->MCP Ref Clock, Mhz: 200

Any help much appreciated.