[18th Anniversary] Asus Black Pearl - P5k-Premium Testing Report

[sesdave]

ok i just got my p5k premium and installed vista 64 home premium with 2 wd drives on raid 0... everything was working fine yesterday when i had the 204 bios and then i forget what i was doing but eventually i rebooted the system and it wouldnt boot... then after some screwin around it eventually booted but now before i get into windows it shows the raid array screen and it says the drive is bootable but on one of the drives it has a red error message beside it although it boots fine and has been working ok i think.

what does this mean? should i try wiping everything and reinstalling?

if i do wipe everything was is the best program to use to save everything i have on the drive right now? or would this maybe transfer the same problems to the freshly wiped array?

btw i flashed to the 402 bios today.

A little bit more detail is required - What is your setup and BIOS settings. What did you change 'screwin around' that enabled you to boot. What was the RAID error message. What does the matrix manager show about the condition of the RAID disks - have u run verify?. Remember that if any system file is corrupt you can try a VISTA repair rather than reinstall. Normally works very well which is good as raid 0 fails more than non raid.
Acronis True image 11 home is what you want for backup/restore. http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing...cts/trueimage/ Will also enable universal restore on another system or if you change to single system drive.
This is also worth reading re setting up RAID 0/1 under matrix on only 2 disks.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=467848
This would give you the benefit of RAID 0 performance for system files and RAID 1 for photos,music etc.

[richuwo11]

sorry i should have added more details.

my setup is

-intel q6600
-asus p5k premium
-4gb ocz 8500 reapers
-silverstone op750
-true 120

at the time my bios was stock... 204 shipped with it and i did not change any settings.

when i was "screwin around" i did go into the repair menu under vista and i scanned for memory errors i think. i wasnt able to do a system restore or anything b/c i didnt have a restore point yet. but somehow after that memory scan it booted.

the matrix manager shows that my raid array is bootable but then under that when it identifies the separate drives in the array there is a red error message on one of the disks. it just says "an error has occurred (0)" and thats pretty much it.

everything seems to be ok so far, but who knows what will happen...

and ill take a look into those links, thanks for the info.

[sesdave]

sorry i should have added more details.

everything seems to be ok so far, but who knows what will happen...

and ill take a look into those links, thanks for the info.

Scan for memory errors sounds more like one of the BIOS boot options to use memtest86- I havent seen that under Vista. If you boot from the Vista disk as per an install you will get an option to run repair or install. Run repair and it will check the system files and restore from disk if it can. If not and you dont have a restore point it will require a reinstall.
Here is a link to a previous post re the settings I use to run 3.6 - also has links to some other articles you may find of use
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...postcount=1437
you can start with a lower FSB and increment up to find your stable maximum - overall the rest should stay the same . Your memory volts /settings may vary slightly but give these a try. I can also recommend the Ultima-90 as a great performing air co0ler for its size - even better with a Sythe Kama or Panaflow 92 mm fan(my case not wide enouigh for a 120mm fan) . I idle 34c prime 60c.

[Ace123]

With the 204 bios, I couldnt do anything..... 1.45v to even boot at 3.5ghz, no windows, it tried to boot once at 3.6 but nothing.

Now the new bios.... I can warm boot at 3.84ghz at 1.45v ... no windows yet, but the difference is night and day.

Also. is the premium reporting the correct temps for a quad? or are we still adding 15c?

[sdumper]

Ok all has been working fine for me until I upgraded to Vista x64 and added 4gbs of ram.

Now after running for a few hours it randomly bsods and trashes my raid settings. So I delete my raid array rebuild my raid set auto repair vista and
I am back in action for a few hours until it happens again.

I was thinking maybe my settings were too agressive on my ram so I dropped down from 1200mhz to 951 mhz and no go still the same random BSODS.

Im using 0402 bios and was thinking about flashing back to an earlier version. Is anyone else running 4 gigs with Vista x64 and having this issue?


Oh yeah not to mention that about 50% of the time my Creative X-Fi card is blowing static on 4 gigs and on 2 gigs no issue...but that is for another thread...

[sesdave]

Ok all has been working fine for me until I upgraded to Vista x64 and added 4gbs of ram.

Now after running for a few hours it randomly bsods and trashes my raid settings. So I delete my raid array rebuild my raid set auto repair vista and
I am back in action for a few hours until it happens again.

I was thinking maybe my settings were too agressive on my ram so I dropped down from 1200mhz to 951 mhz and no go still the same random BSODS.

Im using 0402 bios and was thinking about flashing back to an earlier version. Is anyone else running 4 gigs with Vista x64 and having this issue?


Oh yeah not to mention that about 50% of the time my Creative X-Fi card is blowing static on 4 gigs and on 2 gigs no issue...but that is for another thread...

What RAM have you got - tested with memtest? What SATA mode were you in before upgrade to vista. There seems to be a general problem with the ich9 controller /drive compatability on the P5K Premium running RAID/AHCI which results in BSOD or numerous other problems. Generally under vista -not happening on all baords but its hit or miss - may be driver may be controller. If you google you will be suprised how much comes up - you are not alone! I am running a similar setup and fortunately seem to be okay. I have had a couple of spurious BSOD since setup of matrix storage raid 0/1 2-3 weeks ago, a corrupt registry in RAID 0 and 3-5 automatic verify/recovers on RAID 0. I was trying out MAtrix sRAID but will probably go back to single system/data drives. Anandtech say there is no application/system.game load or performance benefit running RAAID 0 on desktops anyway. RAID 0 looks good in HD TACH/Tune but I will take system/data/performace stability over pretty graphs any day-lol!

[sdumper]

Good point some detail may help:

Im running Crucial Ballistic tracers which pass memtest hands down at 1200 mhz 5-5-5-10 at 2.25 and 2gb's I havent tried running a stability on 4gb because im running below 1033 ...

I was running my 2 74gig raptors in Raid 0 just fine until going from Vista 32 and 2 gbs of ram to Vista x64 and 4gbs.

My OC is at 4.3 ghz under SS and -45c and my bios is 0402.

Im a little surprised at my current problems but am not throwing in the towel just yet.

[sesdave]

Good point some detail may help:

Im running Crucial Ballistic tracers which pass memtest hands down at 1200 mhz 5-5-5-10 at 2.25 and 2gb's I havent tried running a stability on 4gb because im running below 1033 ...

I was running my 2 74gig raptors in Raid 0 just fine until going from Vista 32 and 2 gbs of ram to Vista x64 and 4gbs.

My OC is at 4.3 ghz under SS and -45c and my bios is 0402.

Im a little surprised at my current problems but am not throwing in the towel just yet.

Nice clock - if thats a quad I am really jealous! As you were running okay on vista 32 with 2 GB of ram its unlikely that its going to be the ICH9 problem that a lot are getting with the MB. Lovely RAM the ballistix tracer - as you have added 2 sticks checking the RAM with memtest seems a good start - maybe try with slightly looser timings as that is the only real change you have done. 4GB is going to put more stress on the MCH than 2GB - may require more volts at high Mhz . I believe I have the same micron D9 chips in the 8500C5's and run them with 5-5-5-15-3-30-3-3-8 on 2.2v which they seem to like. I was running 5-5-4-9 but the crysis demo seems to not like as it unpacks with corrupt files unless I set it to 5-5-5-15. Strange as they do Prime95 okay. I am now doing my 6th download of this demo as they all seem corrupt for whatever reason-lol! I take it you have enabled memory remap in BIOS to address the 4GB of RAM.
Is this of any use re the x-fi issue - not sure if its the problems u refer to http://blog.mpecsinc.ca/2007/09/wind...x-fi-snap.html I am using this driver with the audio extreme with no problems XFXA_PCDRV_LB_1_04_0078 got it from here http://us.creative.com/support/downl...ng=exe&x=1&y=1 take your pick for your model

EDIT 03/11/07 - as crysis wouldnt unpack without a cab failure I tried it with just 2GB of ram and it worked so I ran metest on my sticks 1 by 1 and found 1 that now has loads of errors. That answers the spurious RAID problems I have been getting - time to try Crucial RMA service for 1 new set. That will teach me to sing the praises of the RAM -lol!

[ericware]

Hi, just want to share my experience. I experieced what you got either, lots of BSODs, hang, slow, but after i switched my HDD to Seagate a week ago, all done. Now my pc works as how it's supposed to be. Thanks for those who shared this problem on previous pages.

[theonlybabyface]

Yup...I run all seagates as well. No issues here either...

[393]

I just don't see why I should have to buy new drives to replace my WD's.

You guys with Seagate drives.... are these running in SATAII mode or have you got the factory jumper still in there for SATA150 mode?

[Ace123]

Hey do we have an overclock guide for this thing yet?

[theonlybabyface]

I just don't see why I should have to buy new drives to replace my WD's.

You guys with Seagate drives.... are these running in SATAII mode or have you got the factory jumper still in there for SATA150 mode?

SataII

[sesdave]

Hey do we have an overclock guide for this thing yet?

If you are referring to the MB you may find these settings and links to guides I posted previously of use. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...postcount=1437
I would also recommend reading this thread from the begining and this one http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=152603 as the x3220 isnt much different from a q6600.

For temp monitoring use either coretemp 95.4 beta http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...8&postcount=43 or Pc wizard 2008 http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php or everest ultimate beta http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/...-Edition.shtml.
Personally I like PC wizard - when you minimise it you get a small display of core temps,CPU usage a,GPU and CPU temps in top right of your screen.Try it - its neat and its accurate plus it has a load of other features like everest. This is also informative re conroe and quad temperature limits http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...perature-guide

[393]

SataII

Thanks.

Now I have decide whether it's worth the trouble to get an exchange board or just get Seagate drives

[sesdave]

Thanks.

Now I have decide whether it's worth the trouble to get an exchange board or just get Seagate drives

RMA without a doubt - The MB you have will still have an issue whatever you do. Why should you have to pay to change perfectly good drives because the MB you have bought has a spurious controller fault/compatabiility issue. Show me where Asus states that the board will only work with specific makes of sata 2 drives - buying seagates being a possible (not guarranted) way of bypassing the issue - not resolving it. You would probably be better with a x38 as an RMA or wait till the Gygabyte x48 DQ6 arrives in November/December because if you get another Premium it may also have the controller/drive issue.
Dont get me wrong - I have nothing against the Premium . I have one and I like it- its great for o/c the q6600 and the memory but I have no drive/raid/ahci issues with the one I have.!

[martinii]

Is there any way to run MBM5 on this board?

[sesdave]

Is there any way to run MBM5 on this board?

Havent tried that on this MB - used it an all others I have had but I now use PC wizard 2008 as it gives all the information you need and when minimised has a neat on screen display http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php. No hassle setting this up like MBM5 used to be.

[dingmel]

hi there, has anyone using a Q6600 G0 had any luck pushing it over 3.4 ghz stable? i know it sounds silly, but anything over 3.4 Ghz for me irregardless of Vcore (i tried up to 1.5) still results in errors when running large FFTs using Prime on all 4 cores. usually 2-3 of them fail. could it be some other settings? i don't really understand all the options on this board. btw, i'm on ballistix PC8500. thanks

[scaramonga]

I now use PC wizard 2008 as it gives all the information you need and when minimised has a neat on screen display

Yup, I agree

Just a pity that one cant start the program 'minimized' otherwise, it would be perfect.

[dhmk]

Dont get me wrong - I have nothing against the Premium . I have one and I like it- its great for o/c the q6600 and the memory but I have no drive/raid/ahci issues with the one I have.!

I am running Premium with two WD RE 250GB hard disks at SATA1. It seams that it works ok but even so I see disk related errors at system log. I have observe up to 5/day until now. That makes me suspsect that the controler problem is still present even at SATA1.

sesdave, can you check your system log to see if there are disk related errors, especially with ID 11?

My old PC with IDE drives never had one of these errors in system log.

Generally the best way to be sure about SATA2 problem is to check system log regularly. From the number of disk errorrs (ID=11 especially, but also warnings that I am not getting any more at SATA1 configuration) you can measure how the SATA problem affects your system. You can copy a big file to the same disk and see if errors appear in system log.

[sesdave]

hi there, has anyone using a Q6600 G0 had any luck pushing it over 3.4 ghz stable? i know it sounds silly, but anything over 3.4 Ghz for me irregardless of Vcore (i tried up to 1.5) still results in errors when running large FFTs using Prime on all 4 cores. usually 2-3 of them fail. could it be some other settings? i don't really understand all the options on this board. btw, i'm on ballistix PC8500. thanks

heres my settings 3.6 prime stable on air 24/7. Try them and see how you get on. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...postcount=1479 what is you current setup and the BIOS settings u are using.?

[sesdave]

I am running Premium with two WD RE 250GB hard disks at SATA1. It seams that it works ok but even so I see disk related errors at system log. I have observe up to 5/day until now. That makes me suspsect that the controler problem is still present even at SATA1.

I have no problems - what is your error message you are getting?

[dhmk]

I have no problems - what is your error message you are getting?

I am getting the error with ID 11.

"The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk0\D."

at IDE mode. I can say that myself, that I cannot have problems at SATA1 but disk errors, though infriquent and not realy causing a noticeable (at least) problem, still appear in the system log. Is it normal? That I ask. Because you have a perfectly working P5K Premium, I wonder if you get disk related errors in system log. I you can check and tell me, will be a nice information.

[sesdave]

I am getting the error with ID 11.

"The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk0\D."

at IDE mode. I can say that myself, that I cannot have problems at SATA1 but disk errors, though infriquent and not realy causing a noticeable (at least) problem, still appear in the system log. Is it normal? That I ask. Because you have a perfectly working P5K Premium, I wonder if you get disk related errors in system log. I you can check and tell me, will be a nice information.

That could be the LPM issue. The ICH9 is supposed to support a power mode for hard drives (Link Power Management or LPM). If your hard drive doesn't support LPM then, by default, Intel's controller still attempts to send LPM commands to the drive If you are experiencing performance degradation or timeout errors, the following workarounds may help resolve the issue:

If available, install updated firmware for the device.
Delete the iastor(v) Parameters registry key by using the following steps:

1. Go to Start -> Search.
2. Type in RegEdit and hit the Enter key.
3. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\iaStor(v).
4. Right-click on the Parameters key under iaStor(v) and select the Delete option.

Edit 18:30 - Just found this embedded in the Matrix storage manager release notes which kind off destroys this theory for the fault on the Premium! -With systems having Intel® ICH9R controller hub, LPM is supported, but is not enabled by default.