My Dual Harper - Asus Z7S WS living review *56K warning*

[angelshonnny]

angelshonnny: look in the mail tomorrow for letter with a bios chip with 0401 on it and a xeon dc 1.86ghz ES cpu. Enjoy.

Great colombodk, and yes, I will enjoy,belive you me Let you know as soon as I'm done with it.

[[XC] serlv]

pretty cool stuff.

the spirit of XSDC

[drewhemm]

Ok, this issue is really getting on my nerves now so I am asking for assistance...

I know there are many Z7S owners who 'never' reboot their machines - if you are one of these, you can't help me!

For those Z7S owners who do switch their computers off at the end of the day or reboot after a software or driver installation, do you find your BIOS / OC Profile settings are reset and see a prompt asking you to reconfigure BIOS or load default settings?

For me, this is a real problem, firstly the inconvenience of having to go back into the BIOS and reload my OC profile (and frequently I have to repeat this procedure before the BIOS reset prompt goes away), but secondly I occasionally have the need to work remotely and I wake up my PC using Wake On Lan (WOL) and when I am finished I switch it off (I pay my electricity bills!). If I am at a remote location and WOL my machine at it goes to the BIOS reset prompt, it's stuck until I get back to my office. Considering this is supposed to be a enterprise-level board I think this is unacceptable.

I am not sure if this problem is caused by something I have configured in the BIOS but I cannot see what I could have done out of the ordinary. I have overclocked the CPUs, changed the SATA controller to RAID mode, increased vcore to 1.3v, disabled the JMicron external SATA controller and configured a few other basic options. I am wondering if my problem is caused by something I haven't done, such as changing the other voltage settings - I don't know enough about them to want to change them and risk frying something! I also found that disabling quick boot seems to reduce the percentage of times the BIOS is reset, but it doesn't eliminate the problem.

I would ask if you have or have had this problem and have fixed it, please can you share your BIOS settings with me?

A possibly related issue is that I cannot use S3 sleep - or more accurately, I can put my computer to sleep, but when it wakes up, it momentarily shows the logon window and then reboots...typically showing the BIOS reset prompt afterwards...

Compared to my HP xw4300 workstation board that was 100% reliable in terms of BIOS this is a really bad situation to be in.

I have a 650w Antec PurePower Trio PSU and low draw components, so I don't believe power is the problem.

Regards

Andrew

[Madman666]

Ok, this issue is really getting on my nerves now so I am asking for assistance...

I know there are many Z7S owners who 'never' reboot their machines - if you are one of these, you can't help me!

For those Z7S owners who do switch their computers off at the end of the day or reboot after a software or driver installation, do you find your BIOS / OC Profile settings are reset and see a prompt asking you to reconfigure BIOS or load default settings?

For me, this is a real problem, firstly the inconvenience of having to go back into the BIOS and reload my OC profile (and frequently I have to repeat this procedure before the BIOS reset prompt goes away), but secondly I occasionally have the need to work remotely and I wake up my PC using Wake On Lan (WOL) and when I am finished I switch it off (I pay my electricity bills!). If I am at a remote location and WOL my machine at it goes to the BIOS reset prompt, it's stuck until I get back to my office. Considering this is supposed to be a enterprise-level board I think this is unacceptable.

I am not sure if this problem is caused by something I have configured in the BIOS but I cannot see what I could have done out of the ordinary. I have overclocked the CPUs, changed the SATA controller to RAID mode, increased vcore to 1.3v, disabled the JMicron external SATA controller and configured a few other basic options. I am wondering if my problem is caused by something I haven't done, such as changing the other voltage settings - I don't know enough about them to want to change them and risk frying something! I also found that disabling quick boot seems to reduce the percentage of times the BIOS is reset, but it doesn't eliminate the problem.

I would ask if you have or have had this problem and have fixed it, please can you share your BIOS settings with me?

A possibly related issue is that I cannot use S3 sleep - or more accurately, I can put my computer to sleep, but when it wakes up, it momentarily shows the logon window and then reboots...typically showing the BIOS reset prompt afterwards...

Compared to my HP xw4300 workstation board that was 100% reliable in terms of BIOS this is a really bad situation to be in.

I have a 650w Antec PurePower Trio PSU and low draw components, so I don't believe power is the problem.

Regards

Andrew

Try the following:
Let it reboot at default values and than shutdown normally. Wait and
startup again than enter the BIOS and than do your settings BUT do NOT set CPU FSB yet (let it on auto) and reboot again, let it startup windows. Than shutdown the last time and reboot and enter the BIOS once again and set the FSB to whatever OC you used.
This works for me! I can shutdown/reboot without having to set the BIOS again.

However as soon as your PC hangs (due to OC or because of windows/software) or reboots (by itself or by the user) before windows is loaded (so before the bios detected all hardware), or when using S3 it starts all over again.

The BIOS is just a PAIN.
But than again maybe this is a hint, you should just leave it on and let it crunch

[drewhemm]

However as soon as your PC hangs (due to OC or because of windows/software) or reboots (by itself or by the user) before windows is loaded (so before the bios detected all hardware), or when using S3 it starts all over again.

Is there no way to disable this 'feature'? Once I have decided on BIOS settings that are stable, I never want the motherboard to offer me the opportunity to reset to default just because of a Windows issue, unless I choose to manually go into the BIOS and reset it there - isn't this the way most other motherboards work?

Can I assume therefore that S3 doesn't work properly for you either?

Is it worth my getting onto Asus about this or have others found their responses regarding the BIOS less than helpful?

[Madman666]

Is there no way to disable this 'feature'? Once I have decided on BIOS settings that are stable, I never want the motherboard to offer me the opportunity to reset to default just because of a Windows issue, unless I choose to manually go into the BIOS and reset it there - isn't this the way most other motherboards work?

Can I assume therefore that S3 doesn't work properly for you either?

Is it worth my getting onto Asus about this or have others found their responses regarding the BIOS less than helpful?

I also have the S3 issue. And yes, a normal good stable BIOS will never show this kind of behaviour. This is the first BIOS I encountered that really sks.
If you want to complain at Asus, send in a technical request.
Emailing is not working.
You could give it a try

[jcool]

Is there no way to disable this 'feature'? Once I have decided on BIOS settings that are stable, I never want the motherboard to offer me the opportunity to reset to default just because of a Windows issue, unless I choose to manually go into the BIOS and reset it there - isn't this the way most other motherboards work?

Can I assume therefore that S3 doesn't work properly for you either?

Is it worth my getting onto Asus about this or have others found their responses regarding the BIOS less than helpful?

Try this: leave Vcore on auto.l
I only have the "Bios defaults loaded" issue with manually set Vcore.
Auto Vcore limits your OC of course...

and when I am finished I switch it off (I pay my electricity bills!)

It may be hard to imagine for some people, but I built my Z7S machine for the sole purpose of crunching. Yes, I spent that much money just to have the most efficient hardware out there, the hardware that would do the most work with a relatively low amount of energy consumed. A Dual Harpertown was, and still is unbeatable in that respect (41500 PPD at ~300W drain) Because I pay my electricity as well

[drewhemm]

Try this: leave Vcore on auto.l
I only have the "Bios defaults loaded" issue with manually set Vcore.
Auto Vcore limits your OC of course...

I rebooted, of course saw the annoying prompt, had to go to BIOS, loaded defaults, still got the same prompt! Couldn't boot into Windows because my boot drive is on SATA RAID (until my Adaptec controller arrives).

I had to reboot and reload my OC profile six times before the prompt went away...

Also, I don't have an option for auto vcore, it's just a range adjuster. There's an auto option for the FSB - is that what you mean? Although even when I booted with default BIOS options I still got the prompt. I think it's time for me to get onto Asus about this...

[jcool]

No, I mean auto Vcore. I can set Vcore to auto.. you can't?

[drewhemm]

No, I mean auto Vcore. I can set Vcore to auto.. you can't?

On the jumpless configuration page? No, I have just have the voltage range - BIOS 0401

[jcool]

Strange. I have had 3 pairs of Harpertowns (B1 step, C0 step. E0 step) and all displayed "auto" Vcore upon first entering bios or loading defaults, which is just the CPU's VID minus the undervolting of the Z7S... What CPUs do you have again?

[drewhemm]

What CPUs do you have again?

I have the L5420s - 2.5Ghz stock clock - A Stepping, E0 revision

[jcool]

Might be a problem with those low voltage chips then... try setting Vcore according to your CPus VID (check with Coretemp)

[drewhemm]

According to Core Temp, my CPU's VID is 1.1125v, my vcore is currently set to 1.3v (which shows as 1.27 in Windows according to PC Probe) - are the two (VID and vcore) supposed to match?

[drewhemm]

Ok, I found the AUTO vcore setting, it's at the bottom of the vcore range, so you just hold the - key until AUTO is displayed.

I'm not sure exactly what is automatic about the AUTO setting as it doesn't appear to increase it to supply the CPU with enough power when the FSB is turned up, I had to set the CPU clock speed back to AUTO to prevent Windows from crashing.

I'll play around some more and report back.

Any suggestions on what my vcore should be for 440FSB with this chip, should it not have been as high as 1.3?

[D_A]

Just thinking about auto vcore for a minute ...

I had a little problem with this Opty system at one point thanks to my being a little over enthusiastic and sloppy with my TIM. A little had gotten onto the SMS caps on the CPU module. The result was unstable (and very high) core voltage when using the 'auto' setting (must have been on the feedback circuit). A careful clean (I used Artcic Clean) and the vcore now both reads much lower and is rock solid stable.

[STEvil]

Auto means it uses the stock vcore of the chips, drewhemm.

[drewhemm]

Auto means it uses the stock vcore of the chips, drewhemm.

Ok, so it's less like automatic and more like default...

What about the other voltage settings in the BIOS, when if ever should one adjust them?

So far setting vcore to AUTO has fixed my BIOS reset, now I'm just trying to find out what is the maximum I can clock to - 3.26GHz at the moment - can't run the 3.3Ghz I was running without crashing...

[cbienlein]

Andrew

check your CMOS battery? or the bios reset pin?

[D_A]

Didn't think of that ... worth a shot. A shorted BIOS reset ... wouldn't that kill the board?

[jcool]

Ok, so it's less like automatic and more like default...

What about the other voltage settings in the BIOS, when if ever should one adjust them?

So far setting vcore to AUTO has fixed my BIOS reset, now I'm just trying to find out what is the maximum I can clock to - 3.26GHz at the moment - can't run the 3.3Ghz I was running without crashing...

Told you so
And if you don't mind me asking, why the hell did you go for low voltage CPUs when you wanted to OC in the first place?

[cbienlein]

Didn't think of that ... worth a shot. A shorted BIOS reset ... wouldn't that kill the board?

not necessarily

[drewhemm]

Managed to set vcore manually to 1.2250 and FSB back to 441 giving me 3.3Ghz again It's been stable so far and haven't had the reset prompt, but at least I know when I go travelling for any length of time to load my other OC profile, which has AUTO vcore and should be 100% stable.

I also changed a number of other settings on the CPU configuration page and now my CPU benchmarks are coming out much higher than before even with the same FSB/Clock speed - PassMark is giving me a 35.5% CPU performance improvement!

I went for the low voltage chips as a) I wanted less power consumption and 2 x 50w is a lot less than 2 x 150w!!! and b) I thought that having cooler chips would give me more headroom for overclocking, which I think they have - has anyone been able to go much higher than 441/3.3Ghz with the non power saving E5420 variant?

[drewhemm]

I will quote myself

...has anyone been able to go much higher than 441/3.3Ghz with the non power saving E5420 variant?

Just did some searching on this topic and on Google and it seems like people struggle to get stable with the E5420 past 2.8-3.0Ghz so it does appear as though the L5420 has more headroom - rock solid stable at 3.3GHz...

It wouldn't surprise me if the L5420s are machined to a higher quality than the E5420s, that would explain their better thermal efficiency, better overclocking potential and of course the 25% higher price point!

[Jaco]

My E5420's (C0 stepping) did 3.0Ghz at stock vcore on the Asus Z7S.
(400x7.5)
435x7 was also possible , so I knew the cpu's needed more vcore.

Stock vcore was 1.2v IIRC , Asus Z7S gave me ~1.18vcore full load.