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

[TimoneX]

I'm out too. This mobo is a P.O.S. and I've wasted more than enough time on it. Random reboots, BSODs, download file corruption (even w/o that vile NAM installed). Every large file I download is totally corrupted. All at stock speed and voltages! I need a break from nCrap chipsets for awhile. I've been on them since the nCrap 2. I'm done. Have fun guys, this should be a good motherboard but the chipset is flawed beyond repair. WHY IN GODS NAME DOES A MEMORY CARD READER PLUGGED INTO ANY BACK PANEL USB PORT CAUSE REBOOTS?!? This occurs under XP32 SP2 & XP64 SP1 & SP2. Wild...it's like it's a beta chipset on beta drivers...but this is frankenchip 680i w/ nForce 9.53! It's ALOT better than the 650i motherboard I replaced, that one isn't worth the sand it's made out of, but this is ridiculous. NAM has been flawed for years and everyone knows it...yet no solutions from nV.

[Lexiconargus]

I don't see anyone using the E6750. I did not want to be the first since I don't have the time to OC for hours. Is there anyone out there that has this CPU?

[Leeghoofd]

not E6750 but E6850 here , so what is your goal ? 3.4 - 3.6 ghz ? should be farely easy to do on this board

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

FSB - Memory Clock Mode: Unlinked
x FSB - Memory Ratio: 8
FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1700 (means 425FSB)
Actual FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1700
MEM (DDR), Mhz: 850 (means 850mhz speeds)
Actual MEM (DDR), Mhz: 850 (don't try to force 1000mhz will prolly won't work then, divider probs galore )

Vcore Voltage:1.5 ( ty this then try to go lower on this one if possible)
Memory Voltage:2.0 (overvolts be carefull !! )
1.2v HT Voltage:1.4
NB Core Voltage:1.4
SB Core Voltage:1.55
CPU VTT Voltage:1.45
DDRII Controller Ref Voltage:AUTO
DDRII Channel A Ref Voltage:AUTO
DDRII Channel B Ref Voltage:AUTO

tCL (CAS Latency): 5 ( run these settings first )
tRCD: 5 ( run these settings first )
tRP: 5 ( run these settings first )
tRAS: 15 ( run these settings first )
Command Per Clock (CMD): 2 clock (2T)

Advance Memory Settings
tRRD: AUTO
tRC: AUTO
tWR: AUTO
tWTR: AUTO
tREF: AUTO
tRD: AUTO
tRFC: 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

[Lexiconargus]

I have heard from you and other sources that the boad is unstable at lower FSB but 1700 works fine.

I hope that is true. 1600 will not work and I could just get it back up w/o taking the battery out.

I am surprised that nobody has jumped on the E6750 since it is cheap and can go higher than the E6600. Is there a tech junky out there that can take a shot?

[Leeghoofd]

1600FSB with 800 speed ram should work mate, but needs more voltage on the NB to be stable ( 1.45-1.5 )

[Lexiconargus]

Many thanks to all those who have chimed in. I have tested and got it to run at 1575, 1625, and finally 1630 (3.26 Ghz). 1650 fails to get into Vista, 1700 fails very quickly trying to get into Vista.

I wanted to take a shot at 1700 since some say that is stable.

Obviously, I am very disapointed. This chip is supposed to be good for 3.8ghz, mem DDR 1090, and MB FSB of over 550. Together I have what has become a big pain to OC.

My settigs are as above except voltages at:

1.45 Vcore
2.25 Vmem (mem is rated to 2.3 and OV gives 2.28 actual v)
1.35 1.2v HT
1.4 NB
1.50 SB
1.4 CPU VTT

These are what is set in the BIOS but that is different from what is shown in the BIOS voltage measurements. Some are over volted so that is why they are at those settings.

Asus PC Probe II and some times CPUZ give votage readings of 4.02 but the BIOS always shows what I ste. Probe alarms and says they are all at 4.02. I tried 2 version and the behavior was the same. Does anyone think I have a defective MB or a bad BIOS install?

I don't use NVIDIA nTune but did install it. Should I take it off?

[Leeghoofd]

Well your 1.2 HT is too low try 1.4-1.45 there, SB 1.55 and CPU VTT try 1.45 or even 1.5 it should work at 1700FSB with the ram at 850mhz ... it's all about dividers and if you set your ram wrong it will not boot or not be stable... for 450FSB set 900mhz on the ram, do not try to force 1066 or even 1090 as it will mostly not work, thing you can try when lowering the speed of the ram is to tighten the ram timings eg your sticks are foreseen to run at 1066Mhz 5-5-5-15 , maybe you can run them at 850mhz 4-4-4-12...

Plz don't believe your mobo does 550FSB , I saw some breach 500FSB but that's with clockgen, so mostly done within windows... most users get 450-475FSB with dual cores from bios...

Did you try my above settings ? set them up like this not to what the bios reads out

I don't know the VID of your CPU, can you check that with coretemp plz

[TimoneX]

Good advice. This board is difficult because it promises alot that it only sorta delivers. For instance it appears as though you can run unlinked at nearly any FSB/memory frequency you choose (lotsa dividers), but the reality is most don't work or take a huge time investment to find the perfect settings. I was ready to chuck mine in the garbage, but I gave it one final chance and came up with 1700/1020 unlinked and it's been very stable since. The weird thing is I cannot go 1 Mhz higher *OR* lower on the FSB or it fails to boot or crashes and corrupts my OS. Strange chipset behavior. I think this is an interim board at best for me. Good luck.

[Lexiconargus]

Thanks for the tip. I will try your settings. It is failing on anything between 1575 and 1630. This board is almost ready for the garbage.

[Whizzer]

I figured it's time to post how my Q6600 G0 overclocking ventured so far. It's been a mixed bag of wonderful results and very crappy BIOS behaviour. For example, I couldn't get past FSB 1300 (not even with Vcore over 1.6v), but right now, I've got 1511 FSB stable at 1.5v. I also had to put some extreme overvolting at the NB, SB 1.2v HT and CPU VTT to get stable results at some FSB settings, but at 1511 FSB, I could lower them again to very conservative 1.4-1.45v on most and 1.55 on SB.

I think I'm limited by my cooling now because stresstesting with small FFT's on all cores gives me temperatures of 71,71,65,65 respectively. Could I perhaps lower my Vcore a little and try to get higher. I mean, this is already better than I was hoping for when I noticed this board was not made for quads, but if the motherboard is the limit too (and if it's giving me strange reboots and freezes), I'll probably get myself an Intel board again, X38 or perhaps even X48 if it's that much better.

Any thoughts/comments,

Whizzer

[Lexiconargus]

As an update:

After passing 9hr at 1625 DDR 800, the BIOS started not showing voltages. Then it started failing in Vista. It finally passed Prime95 back down at 1500. I have reloaded the BIOS v801. I am going to assume that the BIOS lost its mind.

You are supposed to go in little steps when overclocking but with this board it is like trying to hit a 1/2 point shot. You have to back up and jump in at a much higher level. With enough research you can see that the voltages being used are very consistent. With cooling temps are not an issue.

I will try 1700 +/- and 1000 DDR +/- next weekend. If it does not work then I am going for a new MB.

In conclusion, this board needs a new BIOS version to work.

[Carter]

I am having NB thermal issues on this board I cant get a stable FSB over 1400 anyone else having this issue?

Also I ordered a thermaltake cooler for the NB chipset but I am not sure it will fit under my Zalman 9700.

Oh yeah and I got a new Antec 900 case comming wed to help with airflow.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835116018

Picture of my setup:

[Leeghoofd]

As an update:
In conclusion, this board needs a new BIOS version to work.

I think a better and cooler chipset would do... 680i isn't with quads what it should be

@Carter : Are you gonna cut the heatpipe ? Thermalright HRO9 (dunno which version exact fits nicely on the mobo, check their webbie ) for the PWM on the left of the CPU socket.. I would go for that so you don't need to cut the heatapipe and can put it back in case you want an RMA

[Carter]

I think a better and cooler chipset would do... 680i isn't with quads what it should be

@Carter : Are you gonna cut the heatpipe ? Thermalright HRO9 (dunno which version exact fits nicely on the mobo, check their webbie ) for the PWM on the left of the CPU socket.. I would go for that so you don't need to cut the heatapipe and can put it back in case you want an RMA

I am not sure if I am going to cut it or upgrade the Mosfet heatsink. It is the Thermalright HR09 that fits perfectly any suggestion on where I can get one for a good price? They dont sell it at Newegg.

Carter

[Dimitriman]

I have a question, I am about to join the Intel + Nvidia bandwagon and im wondering

Is the Striker Extreme worth the extra 60 euros that I would pay for it compared to the P5N32-E SLI?

I would like to hear the opinion of anyone here cause I really can't find it in myself to go for the Striker at 238 euros as opposed to P5N32-E SLI at 177 euros.

[goatboy]

I am not sure if I am going to cut it or upgrade the Mosfet heatsink. It is the Thermalright HR09 that fits perfectly any suggestion on where I can get one for a good price? They dont sell it at Newegg.

Carter

This thread has most of the major retailers.


http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ad.php?t=67179

I have a question, I am about to join the Intel + Nvidia bandwagon and im wondering

Is the Striker Extreme worth the extra 60 euros that I would pay for it compared to the P5N32-E SLI?

I would like to hear the opinion of anyone here cause I really can't find it in myself to go for the Striker at 238 euros as opposed to P5N32-E SLI at 177 euros.

I haven't owned the Striker, but after reading anything I could find on both boards over the last year, I would say it's not worth the extra $$ for the Striker. The Striker doesn't seem to have an edge over the P5N32, at least enough to spend that much more money.

[Dimitriman]

I haven't owned the Striker, but after reading anything I could find on both boards over the last year, I would say it's not worth the extra $$ for the Striker. The Striker doesn't seem to have an edge over the P5N32, at least enough to spend that much more money.

Thanks I read a lot on the forums as well and considering I'm going the SLI way anytime soon (monitor resolution won't go above 1600x1200), I decided to buy the Asus P5K Premium/WiFi-AP.

[Jultsu]

Well guys, I got fed up with my defunct watercooling, and took all the crap outside. It's about 4 degrees celcius outside now, and my rig is loving it

500fsb booted with no problems, all voltages auto

Now I'm benching 525fsb, looking great as we speak.

0805 bios sucked, big time. I went back to 0803 and it is running like a charm!

e6600 @ 3670MHz 1.536v, cpu core temps 31c under 100&#37; load

[Carter]

I am having NB thermal issues on this board I cant get a stable FSB over 1400 anyone else having this issue?

Also I ordered a thermaltake cooler for the NB chipset but I am not sure it will fit under my Zalman 9700.

Oh yeah and I got a new Antec 900 case comming wed to help with airflow.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835116018

Picture of my setup:

The thermaltake fit great and I put the system i the 900 this weekend so far the MB tamps have dropped 9 degrees C.

Ill start to OC later this weekend and get back to you on the progress.

Carter

[Lexiconargus]

I am having better luck due to some expert advice above. I am not done testing but will report on the the Plus with the 6750 when I have the stability test done.

1700 is testing now - 13 min in.
Super PI 1M at 15.4 sec.
3400 Mhz.

I will try 425x9 and 408x9 later.

[Lexiconargus]

Leeghoofd gets all the thanks and credit for this working.

A few things to start: I am using Vista with no issues but things are probably easier in XP since you never know when there is a software issue between the OS and the utilities used for OC. However, Super PI does not always work even at 100% stable settings. I have changed to Orthos an am not using Prime95. Do not trust the voltage info in CPUZ. There is a bug in the ASUS bios, v801 that has been documented by other people using it on this and other boards. The voltage measurements intermittently go away and report as 4.07v. I reloaded the bios and it makes no difference. If you look in the BIOS you can see that all but 4 voltage measurements go away. You can get them back by shutting all the way down (unplug pwr).
Do not ever use “linked”. Settings that are identical and 100% stable “unlinked” will fail when “linked”.
Any time I can get Orthos to run for 10 min it will then run over night. This board is all about finding the sweet spot, unlinked, where it is stable. Force 1:1 timing to start. I have not had time to try forcing ratios to get the memory anywhere near its DDR limit. That is for next week.
My Settings:
AI Tuning: Manual
Nvidia GPU Ex: Disabled
LinkBoost: Disabled
CPU Multi 8 41c max under load
FSB - Memory Clock Mode: Unlinked
x FSB - Memory Raio: N/A
FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1700
Actual FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1700
MEM (DDR), Mhz: 850
Actual MEM (DDR), Mhz: 850 (1:1 ratio)
Vcore Voltage:1.49375 for actual of 1.48
Memory Voltage:2.20 for actual of 2.25
1.2v HT Voltage:1.45 for actual of 1.50
NB Core Voltage:1.45 for actual of 1.48
SB Core Voltage:1.55 for actual of 1.58
CPU VTT Voltage:1.45 for actual of 1.50
DDRII Controller Ref Voltage: auto
DDRII Channel A Ref Voltage: auto
DDRII Channel B Ref Voltage: auto
Next run:
FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1632
Actual FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1632
MEM (DDR), Mhz: 816
Actual MEM (DDR), Mhz: 816 (1:1 ratio)
Change to 1.5000 Vcore for 1.47 to 1.50 actual (w/ sloppy vdroop mod)
8 min/4 tests Orthos – SPI to 1M.
Next run: 1.4900 Vcore, 1700/800 Orthos error within 10 min.
Next run: Back to Base but w/ 1.5000 Vcore, 1720/860 orthos error within 10 min.
Next run: 1.5000 Vcore, 1700/850 Orthos – 7+ hrs.
I will try to force a higher DDR with the memory but I have not heard of anyone having much luck.
The other options is that some report another area of stability around FSB 495 with x7. This would get the CPU up a bit and with a 1:1 would get the mem up too. Will report next week.
As you can see, even a slight increase of the FSB put it right back into fail mode ( 1700 to 1720). There are two areas that are stable 1700 and 1632. The overall stability came up as soon as I bumped the volts to the CPU.
I have included a pic of my cooling setup. The therm 120 extreme cools better than water. The highest temp I could get with the CPU under load at max OC was 41c. I have 2 x 120mm on it and the rear 120mm is just past that. The cooling on the SB is mega over kill but there is no way you can do SLI with that setup. The heat pipes are not even warm to the touch. The bonus is that you have a 92mm and an 80mm pushing air into the GPU cooler so the temps went down on the GPU. The little copper cooler on the NB is so hot I cannot keep my fingers on it for more than about 10 sec. Do not …DO NOT…go over the voltage I have in my settings on the NB with this cooler and don’t go there with the stock cooler.
Comments on the therm H-05 coolers. The only cooler that will work on the NB is the regular H-05 with a single slim 80mm fan, not the “SLI” versions. So to do SLI you need the NON-sli H-05 for the NB and the little copper cooler on the SB.

[Carter]

I am having similar issues with my FSB I cant get my FSB to clock stable over 1400.

I know its not my CPU i have it on 10X multi at 1400 and cam run prime 95 all night.

I relaxed my memory timings to 5-5-5-15 and I cant get 1600/800 unlinked ratio to go on my board.

Cooling is very good I just put my whole sestem in an Antec 900 and upgraded my NB cooler to a TT Spirit II.

BIOS Settings are:

not E6750 but E6850 here , so what is your goal ? 3.4 - 3.6 ghz ? should be farely easy to do on this board

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

FSB - Memory Clock Mode: Unlinked
x FSB - Memory Ratio: 7X
FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1600
MEM (DDR), Mhz: 800


Vcore Voltage:1.475 ( CPU is stable at 3.5ghz with 10X multi)
Memory Voltage:2.0
1.2v HT Voltage:1.45
NB Core Voltage:1.45
SB Core Voltage:1.55
CPU VTT Voltage:AUTO (had BSOD issues moving this over 1.25)
DDRII Controller Ref Voltage:AUTO
DDRII Channel A Ref Voltage:AUTO
DDRII Channel B Ref Voltage:AUTO

tCL (CAS Latency): 5
tRCD: 5
tRP: 5
tRAS: 15
Command Per Clock (CMD): 2 clock (2T)

Advance Memory Settings
tRRD: AUTO
tRC: AUTO
tWR: AUTO
tWTR: AUTO
tREF: AUTO
tRD: AUTO
tRFC: 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 suggestions?

Carter

[nosboost300]

i'm not understanding how to overclock w/ these

1500fsb=3.3 ghz... how?

[Nate P.]

i'm not understanding how to overclock w/ these

1500fsb=3.3 ghz... how?

That's actually 1500QDR (quad data rate). Divide 1500 into 4 and you should start seeing some more familiar numbers.

[Lexiconargus]

Has anyone had luck with the 805 BIOS?

I just ran a dozen tests and it cannot get anywhere close to what I was running using v801. I tried unlinked, linked, linked $ sync. FSB of 375 up to 451. It would do 3.2 Ghz w/ DDR 800 400 FSB. Anything that bumped the memory much past DDR 800 made it fail to post.

I have an E6750 so I thought the "improvements" in 805 would help. Does anyone know of islands of stability in 805?

I am at FSB 431, DDR 868, 3.447 Ghz using 801 unlinked.