Asus P5E - unable to change vDIMM

[CrackaBoi]

Hey guys

Im trying to set up my new vanilla P5E here, with a Q6600 and some OCZ ATI certified PC6400 DDR2 memory.

My problem is that I get a bluescreen during Windows install, and I think its because DDR voltage is set to "Auto" in BIOS. However I am unable to change that value; nothing happens when I highlight it and hit enter.

I flashed to the latest BIOS (0405), and now if I hit enter when trying to change the voltage the whole system locks up, reboot required. Same thing happens if I hit the '+' key, and nothing happens if I hit the '-' key.

Ive been googling and looking for answers without success.
Has anyone else had this problem or know what could cause it?

Thank you

[Furious]

im having the same issue, expect I also have vcore saying 3.2v and north bridge goes up to 9v, basicaly all the voltages settings are wrong.

the dram voltage however will freeze the system.

On the other hand I managed to work out the offset for the voltages and check them in probe. hopefully asus bring out a new bios soon cause its annoying to flash backwards without a floppy disk drive...

[Cranox]

DDR voltage is set to "Auto" in BIOS. However I am unable to change that value; nothing happens when I highlight it and hit enter.

Do not hit enter but give the voltage in , if u later wonna change the vdimm then press + or -

[Brama]

I flashed to the latest BIOS (0405), and now if I hit enter when trying to change the voltage the whole system locks up, reboot required. Same thing happens if I hit the '+' key, and nothing happens if I hit the '-' key.

It is a well known bug of BIOS 405!

You can try the newer 501....ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5E/

You have to type the voltage that you want, with the dot too. If you want to revert to AUTO, type "auto". Any command has to be followed by ENTER.

[CrackaBoi]

It is a well known bug of BIOS 405!

You can try the newer 501....ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5E/

You have to type the voltage that you want, with the dot too. If you want to revert to AUTO, type "auto". Any command has to be followed by ENTER.

Thanks, the 501 BIOS worked!
The reason I flashed to the 405 was that I could not get it to work in the factory BIOS either.

So, I am able to change the voltages now. However, the bluescreen problem did not disappear. I get various errors. Sometimes the bluescreen, sometimes Windows setup just stops at the same screen forever. I ran the memory check app from the Vista CD, and it did detect errors.

So I went into BIOS and changed the values to conform with my memory: http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...e_dual_channel

I've tried voltages from 1.9 to 2.1. Also set the timings to 4 4 4 15. Same problems..

Anybody have a clue?

Thanks!

[Grendel66]

The BIOS of the P5E seems still in its infant stage, esp. w/ regard to RAM compatibility. I have seen reports over at forumdeluxx.de of ppl saying that 107 or 201 are currently the most stable BIOSes.

[rant]
For your entertainment: I'm trying to build a "number cruncher" (Q6600, XP64) based on this board ever since last week. The system is planned having a RAID5 array of three Hitaschi 160M Deskstars and I had trouble w/ the Matrix BIOS from the beginning. Right now the only way the system will boot is if I kill the MBR of disk #3. After the array is rebuild, #3 will cause the Matrix ROM to hang regardless which port it is connected to. I have to clear the CMOS to switch the system back to IDE, kill the MBR of #3 using the Hitachi DFT tool, switch back to RAID mode, boot, and rebuild the array. Not really an option for everday usage esp. while installing drivers or loading M$ fixes. I have another disk comming, hope that will fix it..

[/rant]

[CrackaBoi]

Hmm, thanks, I understand.
Do you recommend reverting to any of those BIOS revisions then? And is it even possible to revert to an older rev with EZ flash?

[Furious]

501 fixed it for me....

So whats this EPU driver thingy....worth installing?

[Grendel66]

You can only downgrade by using some v6 Asusupdate (XP x86 only) or by artificially inducing the crash-free BIOS option by turning power off while using EZ Flash to flash the current BIOS (kinda daring..). I would try 501 1st before downgrading. Can't be worse than 405..

[CrackaBoi]

Yeah I did try 501.. It fixed the voltage adjustment issue but I still get bluescreens, so when you mentioned that there are memoryproblems with that revision I thought I might try the most stable rev..
But Im not gonna power off in the middle of a flash.
I'll have to keep looking for the source of the problem. Are there any BIOS settings that can help me increase stability and memory compatibility?

thanks

[CrackaBoi]

Alright this is pretty darn annoying. I am completely unable to install Windows.
I get various bluescreens, one complaining about memory and an I/O error, another one with "Unknown Hard Error".

I'm fairly sure this has to do with memory. Ive tried two different kinds of memory, and one module at a time to.
Can a BIOS revision fix this or should I RMA the board?

[CrackaBoi]

After trying a third type of memory, another DVD reader, and another harddrive, I concluded that this damn board is F***ED up, so I'll RMA it for a refund and get a Maximus Formula instead.
Piece of crap

[Brama]

After trying a third type of memory, another DVD reader, and another harddrive, I concluded that this damn board is F***ED up, so I'll RMA it for a refund and get a Maximus Formula instead.
Piece of crap

Good idea!