Asus P5N-E SLI small review

[TMFX]

Try with only one memory module.

I have tried, but nothing happened

[WeldZilla]

4 gigs of memory G.Skill 6400HZ no holes of any kind anywhere.

This runs just great right here!! and yes it will run here with 4gigs too.

there you have it guys give it a shot with the right memory.

WZ

[WeldZilla]

TmFX do you get any beeps or does it just fire up but nothing happens?
If it fires with no beeps and nothing happens try to reinsert your vid card. If it still does not come on RMA it as your pci-e is most likely bad. My first board right out of the box did the same thing. I diagnosed it with the Asus rep on the phone and we concluded it was the pci-e .I rma'd it and got this one. It booted right up and it works great!!

WZ

[tvdang7]

so is the vdroop mod just penciling in this?
and how do i measure with a MM what setting do i put it on.

[stealthbomber]

New bios version 0608 available: http://support.asus.com/download/dow...5N-E%20SLI

Multiplier unlocked with the latest bios (since 0401), I've just started to test the 0608, my E4300 (375 FSB wall) currently running Prime95 @380 FSB.

[zeeke]

Nice, have to try it out then

[silverfox]

New bios version 0608 available: http://support.asus.com/download/dow...el=P5N-E%20SLI

Multiplier unlocked with the latest bios (since 0401), I've just started to test the 0608, my E4300 (375 FSB wall) currently running Prime95 @380 FSB.

what voltages are u using? (for cpu and nb)

i have 9x1333 @ 1,3185 rock solid on orthos

i want a litle more clock

[RAMMAN]

apparently the 0608 bios officially supports the q6600 and q6400.hopefully someone will try this bios with a quad(heres looking at you dragonorta .)

[[XC] DragonOrta]

apparently the 0608 bios officially supports the q6600 and q6400.hopefully someone will try this bios with a quad(heres looking at you dragonorta .)

Unless they added an option for GTL tweaking, I don't think much is going to change. Using the 401 bios, the chipset got iffy around 333fsb, and 338fsb was as high as I could go on my Q6600 without it randomly restarting.

But I'll try to flash it and give it another try with the Q6600 either tonight or tomorrow.

[stealthbomber]

Anyone else noticing an increase in memory performance, with bios 0401 I get 74xx buffered memory score in Sandra lite, using bios 0608 on identical settings the scores increased to 76xx.

I can confirm a 5MHz increase over the previous FSB wall of 375 with my E4300.

[Rapid_Eraser]

It would be great if the Q6600 could now do with this new bios fsb around 350~360.

[tvdang7]

can some one give me tips on using this damn board?
i cant overclock a thing. i put in linked mode and tried a conservative 1200 and it didnt boot. coming from a ds3 that did 400fsb fine and this wont even move 1 mhz. and i doing something wrong?

EDIT#1 oooooo put the memory in async mode not 1:1 now thats confusing.
Edit #2 is there a windows overclocking tool we can use? surprised asus a company so well known doesnt have a windows utility.
tried the vdroop mod it didnt work. what kind of pencil am i sopposed to use? its pretty hard to swipe that thing.

[WeldZilla]

Hey tvdang it is too late tonight here but tommorrow evening I should be able to find the time to photo all my bios settings for you to look over. this little board is a easy one to OC once you get the feel for it. Stay cool I'll get those pics up for you.

WZ

[tvdang7]

thanks man. i tried using ntune but no go. bios seems to be the best i guess. and which should i trust core temp or the asus probe........ probe saying 57 load while core temp saying 90 load... stock air cooler. running 2.3ghz so far.

[[XC] DragonOrta]

BIOS 0608 has been working very well for me. I've been using Coretemp for mine, and it seems to be close to what I would expect temps to be like with what I run on it, so I trust that.

This board is one of the easiest to get up to ~480fsb for me.

Dual channel ram likes to be in the black slots. Starting off with the advanced timings all on auto is best, as it's easy to get it to no-post if you set them wrong. Async mode is my favorite thing about this board, as having a constant 1030-1050mhz 4-3-2-7 on my ram with almost any FSB I use is nice to have.

[reflux]

I'm trying to use the Asus EZ flash tool to update from 0401 to the latest (0608) bios. It won't read the bios from a USB stick (it used to...) so I have to stick it on the root of the C: drive. But when I try and flash, it says "Downgraded File Not Suitable For This System."

Cue me, screaming at it, "IT'S NOT DOWNGRADED, IT'S NEWER! HOW CAN IT BE DOWNGRADED?!?"

Any ideas guys?

[sbinh]

can some one give me tips on using this damn board?
i cant overclock a thing. i put in linked mode and tried a conservative 1200 and it didnt boot. coming from a ds3 that did 400fsb fine and this wont even move 1 mhz. and i doing something wrong?

EDIT#1 oooooo put the memory in async mode not 1:1 now thats confusing.
Edit #2 is there a windows overclocking tool we can use? surprised asus a company so well known doesnt have a windows utility.
tried the vdroop mod it didnt work. what kind of pencil am i sopposed to use? its pretty hard to swipe that thing.

If you are using "LINK MODE", make sure that you do NOT set it to 1:1 ....
Otherwise, your RAM will not be able to handle that speed that you set (except that it is at acceptable speed for that RAM.)

Ex: your RAM is rated 800MHz. You set your FSB = 1200MHz and in LINK MODE (1:1) --> this would FORCE your RAM to run at 1200MHz

Personnally, I preffer using "UNSINKED MODE". That way, I can either let system decides RAM speed or I can manually key in
(i.e: using 1066MHz RAM, by default, if set FSB to 1600MHz --> system will set RAM at 800MHz. However, you can key in the (acceptable) speed for RAM ... to have higher RAM speed --- 1066 ... 1070.... etc)

[sbinh]

I'm trying to use the Asus EZ flash tool to update from 0401 to the latest (0608) bios. It won't read the bios from a USB stick (it used to...) so I have to stick it on the root of the C: drive. But when I try and flash, it says "Downgraded File Not Suitable For This System."

Cue me, screaming at it, "IT'S NOT DOWNGRADED, IT'S NEWER! HOW CAN IT BE DOWNGRADED?!?"

Any ideas guys?

Use the FLASH TOOL from Asus ...
http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/...WDFLASH119.zip

[tvdang7]

i cant seem to get higher than 350x7. when i run mem test it freezes. ive done 400x7 5-5-5-20 2.1v supertalent ddr667 with the ds3 and its fine. any ideas what should i do? im try that unlinked thing right now as stated 2 posts above me.

EDIT i uped the nb voltage to 1.39 seems ok for now. still testing. wierd the vrzone review said it did 480ish fsb on stock voltage yet im already upping it at 375.

[sbinh]

It can be up to 480ish at stock voltage like they said but it totally depends on the chips. Don't just take that as standard.

[tvdang7]

ok i just did this vdroop mod and it worked instantly in the probe software. more than i wanted tho. prob did too many swipes
iono why this is different than the vrzone one tho .



Another thing i noticed was 1 ram module was much hotter than the other when using memtest.

EDIT#1 ok seems great now. running 7 x 400. to lazy to do more. temps are high but thats ok no error in orthos. good lucking board.

[Rapid_Eraser]

Unless they added an option for GTL tweaking, I don't think much is going to change. Using the 401 bios, the chipset got iffy around 333fsb, and 338fsb was as high as I could go on my Q6600 without it randomly restarting.

But I'll try to flash it and give it another try with the Q6600 either tonight or tomorrow.

Is there any update on this?

[JoeBar]

For me bios 608 which "fixes usb isssues" gave me usb probs...

I also couldn't flash it with EZflash so i used asus update. However when i updated it took about 3-5' and sometimes even more to initialize the usb controllers. Anyone experienced anything similar?

So for me it's back to 401 for now...

[Ham]

Oooh a new bios aye!

Anyone know if its actually fixed the memory compatibility problems? Ive got a 2GB set of Patriot PC8500 sitting about doing nothing here

[WeldZilla]

hey tvdang. Here are some bios shots for you. I will tell you though I have read more of your posts and I believe heat is your issue. With a Stock cooler you should no higher than the mid 60's (C that is) under load. Unless it is 35C or higher in your home! This tells me you have a bad fit up on your cpu cooler.
Have you checked to make sure all 4 of the little push pins are all the way in?
Did you apply enough thermal compound? If you can answer yes to these questions then you just do not have good enough air flow through your case.Until you get these temps to come down the last thing you need is a volt mod. These boards run just fine with no mods of any kind.. You need to give them enough air though to cool themselves. It is a must that you run a
fan over your NB. I recommend you run one over your mem too. I would also recommend a large side fan 90 or lkarger to blow into your case right over your cpu cooler. My system at 400fsb with 4 sticks idles at 35C on a hot day and 30C on cool days. Under full load it has never exceeded 58C on any day.
Don't get caught up in the bios settings and options, keep it basic til you understand the bios settings better.
I set my bios up at 400fsb with all basic settings . I am running 4-4-4-4 2T on the memory simply because I am running 4 sticks so I keep them a little loose.




I posted the pci-e cuz you just don't need higher than 100
When I hit F10 and then enter this is how it looks

Still the first thing you need to do is get your cooling worked out!! Cool that NB!

WZ