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

[cbienlein]

Nice, but FSB 400 will probably be very close to your FSB limit with that ram config... unless you got really lucky

set it for 420; running smooth so far

[cbienlein]

wasnt stable. left it at 400 and called it a day.

[spiro]

I am using two E5430's and Kingston Hyper X ram rated 800Mhz. I added little volts to the MCH to 1.3v and increased memory volts to 1.83v. Booted up and was running fine so I left it to prime to check stability. Temps were reasonable with fans kicking in high speed after they reach 65C and max temp on hottest core is 67C. I have a large fan on the MCH and on the memory and they seem quite cool to the touch.

I come back after an hour and system is off. I try restarting and I get "FF". I tried removing battery and shorting the ends and putting it back to clear CMOS. Still "FF" . What is wierd is if I move the board from horizontal to vertical it makes like a clicking sound and the board turns on and off. Very very strange, so I decided to install the backplates for the case directly on the motherboard to give more support. The clicking stops and seems that part is fixed, but still "FF".

I have been building computers for over 15 years and this has to be one of the most problematic builds ever. Does anyone know what the hell is going on?

[Jaco]

mine was dead with FF on the display...

[s0lid]

spiro: FF on debug display = Fill yer RMA form and mail it to store where you bought that mobo. There nothing else you can do...

[cbienlein]

take out all of your RAM except for 1 stick and try to boot it up

[karl_eller]

Man, those boards are looking like way more trouble then they're worth. While being able to manually adjust FSB and vCore is all fun and good, most of 'em seem to do 400 FSB on stock vCore which is a fairly simple pin-mod, and the extra 20-40 FSB that you MIGHT get out of a Z7S doesn't seem to be worth the 24/7/365 stability you get from a proper server board.

Eller

[spiro]

spiro: FF on debug display = Fill yer RMA form and mail it to store where you bought that mobo. There nothing else you can do...

Yeah ... I am just totally fedup with all this. I put in an order for an Intel D5400XS. I won't even bother with the RMA. There is no way I would want to deal with another one of these boards even if I got paid for it, time wasted is simply not worth it. I think I could probably get it to reboot it again by doing what I did when I got FF the first time. Remove both processors and re-install one, then reboot and then turn off and re-install the other. That will give me a couple of days of usable motherboard but most likely the same will happen again. Unfortunately the RMA from ANT online will only get me a replacement and not a choice of another item, so totally not worth it. I look forward to receive my D5400 XS of which I have 2 other systems running like a dream. I might not be able to get higher than 410fsb on the D5400XS, but at least it is rock solid damn stable.

[drewhemm]

- Dual HD4870X2, cooled by Watercool full cover blocks

How is the gaming with that setup? I just ordered a Sapphire HD4850X2 and may buy another depending on future needs. I read that the Sapphire 4850X2 has better power efficiency, which is why I went for that one. Any idea of what your power consumption is?

Yeah ... I am just totally fedup with all this. I put in an order for an Intel D5400XS. I won't even bother with the RMA. There is no way I would want to deal with another one of these boards even if I got paid for it, time wasted is simply not worth it.

Sorry to hear that, it seems some people are having a really bad time with these boards, it's a real shame when that happens.

[D_A]

Yeah ... I am just totally fedup with all this. I put in an order for an Intel D5400XS. I won't even bother with the RMA. There is no way I would want to deal with another one of these boards even if I got paid for it, time wasted is simply not worth it. I think I could probably get it to reboot it again by doing what I did when I got FF the first time. Remove both processors and re-install one, then reboot and then turn off and re-install the other. That will give me a couple of days of usable motherboard but most likely the same will happen again. Unfortunately the RMA from ANT online will only get me a replacement and not a choice of another item, so totally not worth it. I look forward to receive my D5400 XS of which I have 2 other systems running like a dream. I might not be able to get higher than 410fsb on the D5400XS, but at least it is rock solid damn stable.

Just pack it up with an offering from the south end of a north bound Great Dane and send it back to them. They'll get the point.

[Movieman]

Just pack it up with an offering from the south end of a north bound Great Dane and send it back to them. They'll get the point.

I can see their faces now when they opened the box!

[jcool]

How is the gaming with that setup? I just ordered a Sapphire HD4850X2 and may buy another depending on future needs. I read that the Sapphire 4850X2 has better power efficiency, which is why I went for that one. Any idea of what your power consumption is?

That was not my rig, but a customer's
My Harpers run a 5€ X1050

Power consumption of that rig with all 8 CPU and 4 GPU cores loaded was around 850W from the wall, divided evenly between both PSUs, give or take 50W

Gaming works just like on any other rig with a 4870X2 quadfire. Only you can comfortably do some rendering in the background on this one

[spiro]

There seems to be something quite serious in this board with regards to grounding. I think that is what causes the "FF". Probably the plastic used in the motherboard is not rigid enough and thus you get "bends" when both processors are connected. Even when you install the backplates you can see some bending. On the Intel D5400XS I was a little worried with that when I used a dual vapor setup using very large vapor and heavy vapor heads, but even with obvious bends I would never get instability or funny clicking sounds when I tightened the nuts on the vapor heads. What seems to happen on the Asus is that after you use it for some time, heat somehow allows more bend or the expansion caused by heat causes something to expand which causes a short or some sort of interference that causes "FF". Somehow removing both processors and all memory seems to "clear" this short and once you install the system again it seems OK for a while.

While I simply don't have the time to trouble shoot this board I would advice anyone who is installing such a system from scratch to be gentle with the tightening screws of the HSF. Also I would advice to protect the underside under the CPU's with plastic tape to reduce possible build up of amps from the steel bracket that could be causing intereference. I still have about a week before I get my D5400XS so maybe this weekend I will try a few more things to revive this motherboard. But really this is way too much trouble than it is worth, especially since there are excellent alternatives out there. To anyone planning on building an Octa I would highly recommend the D5400XS. I guarantee that with E5430's you will get 3.2Ghz by simply running the memory at 400 Mhz and increasing by one or two micro notches the voltage in the BIOS. I have such a system running 24/7 at full load now for almost 4 months with not a single problem. For cooling I used two extra Blue Orb's I had lying around, so no need for expensive special HSF cooling. The only problem is that the board is huge and you have to look hard to find a case that will fit the board.

[Jaco]

I'm not sure this is a grounding issue.
I have been using non-conductive backplates from day 1.
Also I've been very careful not to bend the board.

I think I've tried everything to revive my board , no luck

[D_A]

and amps don't "build up", they're a measure of current flow. Voltage doesn't build up beyond it's supply either. A bent board could have damaged any number of components or even the tracks on the board itself though.

[jcool]

Also I would advice to protect the underside under the CPU's with plastic tape to reduce possible build up of amps from the steel bracket that could be causing intereference.

Pardon the expression but that's utter BS. If your cooling fails and the CPU heats up it'll melt any plastic tape before auto shutdown, wreaking havoc in the socket (and ruining all chances of a successfull RMA for ever).

I don't think it's related to the board bending, I think it's the flaky 0401 bios that caused most people's issues. Apart from my dead one which really has a fried PWM.

Skulltrail might be an alternative for you, but it is not perfect either. Has its quirks all right, and also drains a whopping 100W more when loaoded & OCed compared to the Z7S. 100W additional heat for a mobo that costs even more than the Z7S and can't even go past FSB 400? No thank you. I'd rather use the X7DWA then.. at least you got a good chance running 430+, at half the price and lower power consumption.

I certainly hope Skulltrail 2 will be better, if it will even exist. Or we'll be screwed again in a few months time building a Dual Gainstown...

[STEvil]

My board didnt bend at all and if you've installed the plastic spacer between the clips and motherboard there is no chance of short-circuit issues.


The VRM is what I think went out on mine as well jcool. X7DWA with vcore pinmod is the way to go


STEvil - 1
angelshonnny - 1
Jaco - 1
jcool - 1
spiro - 1

edit - What would you guys think about getting credit with asus towards a different product instead of getting another Z7S-WS back? If I could get a 5870X2 or whatever ATi's next top end GPU is it sounds a good deal to me? Thats the angle i'm working right now anyways..

[MrBean]

Pardon the expression but that's utter BS.

Hehe - Bovine Feaces is a good substitute

@ Stevil: Hey, I would gladly join your group wrt the credit plan!

[Jaco]

STEvil , any update from Assus ?

Not much respons from Asus support on your 'Is your Z7S-WS dead?' thread.

[STEvil]

STEvil , any update from Assus ?

Not much respons from Asus support on your 'Is your Z7S-WS dead?' thread.

Nothing from any contacts I had..

[jcool]

Nothing here either...

[Bossmonkey]

hey jcool, sorry to hear about the dead board, im having enough problems with my z7s, and im seriously at my limits with it.. overclocking is a big nono! and its wasting away my qx9775,
now i also see you've upgraded to the core i7 920. how does that perform? ive been thinking of doing an upgrade.

[MrBean]

Hello Guys,
Someone at Asus Support named Lyn Quan emailed me a Bios version 0501 after a stink letter to tech support regarding this board's Bios 0401.

I can inform you that the reset-to-defaults-issue when touching certain settings in the Bios is much, much better! I have fiddled extensively, and only changing the multiplier caused me one semi-defaults reset.

Also running at 3.20gig now, although memory timings seems to be the same.

Now, how do we add a file? So I can share the damn Bios for you guys to try - it's dated 30 Dec 08, so couple months newer than the 0401's 22 July 08.

[MrBean]

Ok, would help to use full- instead of quick reply.

See screenshot.

The bios is bigger than the allowed 200k for a zip file, so, if you guys need it, please pm me your emails, or someone could host it.

Kindly let me know.

[Jaco]

Interesting !!
Thanks Mr Bean