ASUS P5W DH - Problems + Fixes Thread

[Korgan]

Mine boots up Windows at 409Mhz FSB @ 1,65v mch. Thats with an E8400. I have removed the metal plate on the north bridge cooler and put a fan on it. Lowers the temp aprox. 10c.

I can run 3DMark05/06 stable up to 450Mhz FSB but I have to use clockgen to reach higher than 409Mhz.

[tktnuri]

Just purchased new RAM pc8500 corsair for E6700 set up. Will this work ad what are safe FSB and RAM settings for Air cooled system?

I have the 130*? Bios do I need to update that first if so which one works best for getting the most out of my 1066mhz PC8500 ram w/ E6700?

[Random Murderer]

Just purchased new RAM pc8500 corsair for E6700 set up. Will this work ad what are safe FSB and RAM settings for Air cooled system?

I have the 130*? Bios do I need to update that first if so which one works best for getting the most out of my 1066mhz PC8500 ram w/ E6700?

you don't need to update, but should anyway. the newer bios'es have more overclocking features, fixes, and i have found it to actually be more stable than 1707, the bios i was previously on.

[tktnuri]

you don't need to update, but should anyway. the newer bios' have more over clocking features, fixes, and i have found it to actually be more stable than 1707, the bios i was previously on.

Thanks for the reply, through Asus Update Im getting the option for 2406, 2302, and 1407 bios versions. SHould I just manually download one. I think I tried 2302 when I first got it and had to go back to the first version 1100 something.

[Random Murderer]

Thanks for the reply, through Asus Update Im getting the option for 2406, 2302, and 1407 bios versions. SHould I just manually download one. I think I tried 2302 when I first got it and had to go back to the first version 1100 something.

2504 is nice, and i've heard 2602 is even nicer.

[rvltion909]

OK

So apparently I screwed myself pretty bad. The thing wont boot nor will it flash. Here's what I've tried:

-restoring defaults

-flashing with original board CD BIOS [alt-F2]

-flashing with USB thumb drive [alt-F2]

-clearing CMOS (taking the battery out for 30sec)

-switching the RAM sticks DIMM slots


The longest it will go is about 30sec then it shuts down. It will start to load Windows and has actually got to the desktop once and shutdown almost immediately at that point.

In the flash process for the USB, it finds the .rom file and beeps 2x indicating that it found it...but then proceeds to move past and search the CD ROM location, floppy, etc again then shuts down (BIOS 2602)

So since Im pretty much fukt at this point, my question is if anybody has a simple resolution (preferably from experience).

Im in the States and purchased the board from Newegg.com in 9/06 so the 1year warranty is up on their part. I scanned the ASUS website and see that the motherboards have a 3 year warranty. I live in California and the US location I see for "repair" with ASUS is in California.

I want this resolved with the least amount of down time as possible. I bought the board for $270. Does anybody have any experience going through a warranty repair process with ASUS? Does anybody have any experience with Newegg (would they go for a replacement or store credit? from their site...it does not look like it but...?)

Thanks

[mikepaul]

So since Im pretty much fukt at this point, my question is if anybody has a simple resolution (preferably from experience).

You don't mention using the reset jumper in conjunction with the battery pull. I don't think battery alone resets the CMOS...

[t_ski]

I want this resolved with the least amount of down time as possible. I bought the board for $270. Does anybody have any experience going through a warranty repair process with ASUS? Does anybody have any experience with Newegg (would they go for a replacement or store credit? from their site...it does not look like it but...?)

Thanks

Here's an easy one: if the problem is OC related, take out the CPU. I did this once before to clean of some thermal compound and when I had everything assembled again, the BIOS was reset to stcok settings for the "new" CPU (lol, even though it was the same one). The BIOS screen said something about a "new CPU installed..."

[rvltion909]

You don't mention using the reset jumper in conjunction with the battery pull. I don't think battery alone resets the CMOS...

You know...newbie stupid mistake, no. I actually did NOT reset the jumper. Thanks.

However, I just did that now with the battery pull. Powered it back on and it gave the typical "overclock failed" message so I hit F2 to restore defaults. It then booted into Windows and sat on desktop for 30 sec. then....same ol' crap...power down.


I'll try taking the CPU out next (grudgingly) to see if T Ski's suggestion helps and repost my plea to anybody who has had experience with ASUS warranty returns or newegg.com

[mikepaul]

I have to say, getting as far as Windows loading sounds like some mis-set option doesn't reset, and you should carefully look through everything to see if it's on Auto again instead of some higher setting...

[secretworld]

Things to try;
Memtest from floppy
Booting in safemode
If both are OK, then it´s a driver/XP issue.

[t_ski]

Booting in safemode

I was just going to suggest that. Also, in case this might be a power related issue, do you have another PSU you might be able to try?

[rvltion909]

I have to say, getting as far as Windows loading sounds like some mis-set option doesn't reset, and you should carefully look through everything to see if it's on Auto again instead of some higher setting...

Im definitely thinking its a mis-set option too. Problem is... Im usually not able to get into BIOS settings to verify and if I do, it shuts down shortly after. Is it possible to "corrupt" a BIOS (apart from bribery of course... )?

I'll try safe mode as well. In re: to the PSU: this is basically a brand new PC (as of 10/06). Everything was purchased new during that time frame besides the video card which was bought on ebay used. This thing has rarely been used since its been built.

[w2richwood]

could be getting hot also it will shut it down
Rich

[mikepaul]

Im definitely thinking its a mis-set option too. Problem is... Im usually not able to get into BIOS settings to verify and if I do, it shuts down shortly after. Is it possible to "corrupt" a BIOS (apart from bribery of course... )?

I've screwed up my CMOS settings before so that changes were ignored, but the reset cleared that up. I'm surprised that you can boot to Windows at all but can't hit Delete and visit the BIOS settings long enough to save, unless all failures are based on time since starting the PC and not the thing it's doing at that moment. That leads back to heat like w2richwood says.

Do everything with the case wide open and a fan blowing on the CPU, then RUSH through the BIOS settings to be sure they are at stock...

[~aoe~]

I've recently flashed to 2602 since adding water cooling to my system, and noticed some strange behaviour whilst overclocking the system.

As we all know, when trying to find a good stable overclock, we invariably push our systems a bit too much and need to clear CMOS occasionally, especially with these Asus motherboards that often refuse to provide a video output .

Anyhow, during a couple of these attempts to clear CMOS and load defaults, I noticed some strange options appearing in my BIOS. Firstly, my E6600 appeared to have an unlocked multiplier (max allowed 20x). Whilst I could set the multi at 10x, this could not be saved (after saving, POST reported the default 9x).

Also, in one of the voltage options (I think it was vCore), I had some strange options at the bottom of the list that were not voltages but texts. Unfortunately, I didn't make a note of these options.

After a couple of reboots, this strange behaviour seems to disappear, and the system currently seems to be stable @ 9x400. I was just wondering whether the BIOS was 'slightly' corrupt (if there is such a thing).

Has anyone else noticed anything strange like this with 2602?

[rvltion909]

I've screwed up my CMOS settings before so that changes were ignored, but the reset cleared that up. I'm surprised that you can boot to Windows at all but can't hit Delete and visit the BIOS settings long enough to save, unless all failures are based on time since starting the PC and not the thing it's doing at that moment. That leads back to heat like w2richwood says.

Do everything with the case wide open and a fan blowing on the CPU, then RUSH through the BIOS settings to be sure they are at stock...

I've been able to boot to Windows on a RARE occasion (i.e. once or twice since this problem began) but it shuts down almost immediately after.

I started to think maybe it was the PSU or hard drive too since it seems to have the longest life on the 1st boot, then shorter with each boot after. It doesn’t make sense though since all the pieces are brand new like I said and I had no problems before.

In regards to the heat: the temps. were pretty normal when stress testing (around 68). The heat sink/fan is now properly mounted. I've got 7 fans in the box including the CPU fan so Im pretty sure its not a heat factor.

What's mentioned above though kinda scares me (unlocked multiplier) although that seems to be a product of a messed up BIOS since my understanding is that the locked multiplier is a "hard coded" feature of the Q6600 CPU and not determined by the BIOS.

Not sure...Im going to try taking the CPU out for a couple min. like what T_Ski mentioned. If this does not work is there any harm in trying my Conroe (i.e. would anybody recommend NOT putting it in to prevent any possible damage if the board itself has done something to fry the Q6600)?

[rvltion909]

Success for now...


T_Ski's suggestion worked. I took the CPU out for a couple sec and put back in. I tried to use "EZ Flash" to flash back to Larry's 2004 and it wont let you because "version is older than current board" WTF?!

Whatever, I got to Windows and it seems fine. I'll do my research the next time I buy a board (and it wont be ASUS).

Thanks for all the help guys!!

[t_ski]

Glad it worked for you. IIRC, you should be able to use the award flasher and some switches to go to an earlier BIOS file.

[w2richwood]

you can use afudos 2.11 to back flash to oder bios
Rich

[JEIROQ]

Hey guys, I just want to thank all of you for having this thread going.. good work guys! I think I've read 200+ pages and it was all very informing. I've been leeching here for the past month or so, and now I'm making my first post haha.

Anyways, I would like to ask you guys what settings you think I would need to bump my E6750 up to 3.4 or 3.6GHz?

I currently have it rock solid stable at 3.2 (it's a 2.66 chip) with a 400 MHz Bus (8x multi) and 1:1 with DDR2-6400 (Corsair CM2X-6400). My Vcore is set to 1.36 V, and right now I don't remember what RAM is set to (other than 5-5-5-15 timings). And I can run Prime95 for 24+ hours with a max load temp of ~42C. I run idle at ~22C and sometimes dips down to 19-20C with a Zalman CMPS9700 that I paid around $30 for at a CompUSA store closing.. one of the best deals I've got from there (except the two 20' THX Monster cables for $10 each, haha).

Anywho.. what do you guys think is possible with this board and processor?

Edit: Forgot to mention, I'm also running BIOS 2504.

[Random Murderer]

Hey guys, I just want to thank all of you for having this thread going.. good work guys! I think I've read 200+ pages and it was all very informing. I've been leeching here for the past month or so, and now I'm making my first post haha.

Anyways, I would like to ask you guys what settings you think I would need to bump my E6750 up to 3.4 or 3.6GHz?

I currently have it rock solid stable at 3.2 (it's a 2.66 chip) with a 400 MHz Bus (8x multi) and 1:1 with DDR2-6400 (Corsair CM2X-6400). My Vcore is set to 1.36 V, and right now I don't remember what RAM is set to (other than 5-5-5-15 timings). And I can run Prime95 for 24+ hours with a max load temp of ~42C. I run idle at ~22C and sometimes dips down to 19-20C with a Zalman CMPS9700 that I paid around $30 for at a CompUSA store closing.. one of the best deals I've got from there (except the two 20' THX Monster cables for $10 each, haha).

Anywho.. what do you guys think is possible with this board and processor?

Edit: Forgot to mention, I'm also running BIOS 2504.

it's hard to say really, but you could start by raising the multi and dropping the fsb and then working back up to 400.

[P5WDHdeluxe]

i have an E6600 and bios 2504... everything default... nothing o/ced...
i have noticed in CpuZ, on idle situation, multi *6, the core voltage is changing from second to second...
on full load reaches 1.288 and changes less often... but on idle is always changing... is smthg that i must worry about?

psu: Enermax Liberty 620 watt

[Lee13168]

I am completely screwed thanks to the 2602 bios. I reset my bios to default and updated the bios with the tool in the bios. Everything was fine till the xp loading screen. I got a blue screen 5 seconds into it. This keeps on happening each time i try to start the computer. So then i try to go back to 2406 which had my e6600 rock stable at 3.4. Having no floppy drive it took me quite some time to get dos on a flash drive and go back to 2406. To my surprise i still had the same problem. I then tried to take out the cpu, different ram slots, reseting cmos by using the jumper by the sbridge and nothing seems to work. I am completely lost and any help would be great.

[Falkentyne]

I am completely screwed thanks to the 2602 bios. I reset my bios to default and updated the bios with the tool in the bios. Everything was fine till the xp loading screen. I got a blue screen 5 seconds into it. This keeps on happening each time i try to start the computer. So then i try to go back to 2406 which had my e6600 rock stable at 3.4. Having no floppy drive it took me quite some time to get dos on a flash drive and go back to 2406. To my surprise i still had the same problem. I then tried to take out the cpu, different ram slots, reseting cmos by using the jumper by the sbridge and nothing seems to work. I am completely lost and any help would be great.

Your OS is corrupted. You need to do a repair install. I doubt this was caused *by* the 2602 bios directly; you may have had one of the memory timings set incorrectly (bad RAM settings is the fastest way to completely screw over the windows registry; even more so than a CPU, which has to be MADLY unstable to do the same thing--a cpu that may fail prime within 5 seconds may load the OS just fine). Search google for windows xp repair installation, and there should be a link that tells you how to repair install **WITHOUT** really repair installing. (a repair install would cause your windows updates to refuse to download "new" updates because it "thinks" they've already been downloaded; there's a command you can run to fix that though). Search google for "XP crashed? here's help" or something...
nvm here found it.

http://webcast.broadcastnewsroom.com...le.jsp?id=8658