** The Official ASUS P5N-E SLI & Ultra 650i Thread **

[BlastRadius]

Well I got my board. Installation was easy if a little scary. Found out that I had been using a duff SATA cable and ended up installing windows on a spare drive instead of the raptor.

Have got everthing running at stock and did a 1 hour stint on orthos for stability and all looks good. Under load I am at 40ish on each core with core2 always being a tad lower on coretemp so it looks like I got some headroom.

Now just to update my sig

 

[BlastRadius]

Slowly upping my clocks now. Orthos failed after 3 secs with the volts and linked mem that WJA gave me(thanks anway, it gave me a start), so for now I have:

2.4g with 1.325 Vcore +0.1
Unlinked mem and set to auto
auto NB volts.

10 mins into Orthos and all is well with 48 on each core. Am happy leaving the mem at stock as that is the main reason I chose this board.

My current mission is to get the highest CPU clock with the lowest volts and temps- with the emphasis on temps.

Anyone care to share what Vcore I can get away with at about 2.8 - 3G? Watching Orthos and Coretemp makes me cry inside.

 

[WJA96]

Slowly upping my clocks now. Orthos failed after 3 secs with the volts and linked mem that WJA gave me(thanks anway, it gave me a start), so for now I have:

Orthos failed at 1200QFSB with your PC6400 RAM at 300MHz? Do you know what the reason given in the failure log was? There is obviously something critical missing from the list of settings I gave you as there is no way that should have failed at 1200QFSB. OK - it doesn't say to run it in [Sync Mode]. Sorry. I've fixed it now for anyone coming to this after you.

Am happy leaving the mem at stock as that is the main reason I chose this board.

Does it set it to 800 or does it set it to 667MHz?

My current mission is to get the highest CPU clock with the lowest volts and temps- with the emphasis on temps.

Anyone care to share what Vcore I can get away with at about 2.8 - 3G? Watching Orthos and Coretemp makes me cry inside.

I would imagine you want to get it stable at 3GHz then back of the voltage until it becomes unstable. Given that this board has horrible low voltage Vdroop, you won't ever get very low idle temperatures because you need to give it the extra 100mV to make up for the droop when it goes to higher CPU utilizations.

 

[WJA96]

@BlastRadius - I couldn't ask you to test those settings again, now that I've added the very important missing bit! I would very much like to be able to put up some sets of 'directions' as there are in the DS3 thread so that people will find it a bit easier to get decent overclocks from these boards.

And - if you the RAM:FSB Ratio on AUTO at QSFB 1200 that means your RAM booted into windows at 450FSB, which is something to look forward to with a smidgen more voltage

 

[WJA96]

Sorry, I see no ads on Imageshack, but will upload a couple of screenies to my webspace instead.

The little repeating clip I see features two young ladies practising mouth to mouth resuscitation on their webcam apparently.

I've looked at the Thermalright HR-05 but I'm not sure it'll fit with the AC Freezer 7 Pro, might just go for it anyway and if the worst comes to the worst I'll get the Dremmel out.

There is also the SLi version which has about a 1" offset. The base is the same though. And looking at my Freezer 7 Pro it sits inside the 4 pins, so anything that sits outside the 4 pins should be fine.

Oh and the woman in the Jayhawks shirt is Ashley Judd.

I should have known from the fact that her feet look dirty. The other thing is that I thought I was being terribly witty with my Jayhawks quip. University of Kansas (KU Jayhawks) and University of Kentucky (UK Wildcats) are constantly being mixed up by commentators, foreigners - even Alumni apparently! And it really annoys the two if you get them wrong. Anyway - Evilgrin was completely correct that it is a University of Kentucky uniform. But I led you astray about the Jayhawks - you need to be shouting Go Wildcats!

 

[BlastRadius]

@WJA

Now that you have added the Run in sync mode option is my rig gonna be safe lol. Scared the Bejesus outta me when it failed Orthos after 3 secs last time.

Currently I am using and have 10 Hr Orthos @
Vcore 1.325
Vcore Offset +100mV
Mem voltage Auto
NB Core Voltage Auto

FSB 1300
Mem unlinked

Mem running at DDR2 800 speeds.

Everything else I followed your guide to the letter - excellent work. Currently @ 2.6 50C load

 

[WJA96]

@WJA

Now that you have added the Run in sync mode option is my rig gonna be safe lol.

No guarantees. Overclocking is officially a dangerous sport

Scared the Bejesus outta me when it failed Orthos after 3 secs last time.

Sorry - but I was working my way through the BIOS options and I must have missed that one. If you think it failing was stressful then think how stressful it is for the person who suggested the settings!

Currently I am using and have 10 Hr Orthos @
Vcore 1.325
Vcore Offset +100mV
Mem voltage Auto
NB Core Voltage Auto
FSB 1300
Mem unlinked
Mem running at DDR2 800 speeds.

That's still a pretty moderate overclock - for an ES processor. Does your Multiplier unlock upwards too? ie. could you run 1300x10=3.25GHz or 1300x11=3.6GHz! That would be quite neat.

Anyway - don't let my initial ****-up put you off getting the best out of your kit - I'm sure it's capable of so much more. Good luck!

 

[BlastRadius]

Thanks WJA. Not putting any blame on you at all, I am quite happy using your guide, if I didn't have it I would still be at stock - so don't stress it buddy.

Not sure if my CPU multi unlocks upwards, I saw the option for it in the BIOS. Will go and have a play in a second.

Because of the cost of this rig and the fact that I am broke and my daughter will be using this comp, I am being very cautious.

Will report back in a few mins.

Edit: Set the multi to 9 and no go. Any other options I need to go through?

 

[WJA96]

OK - look - don't do anything you're not comfortable with!!!!!

My first inclination is to follow Errol Flynn's maxim;

If it computes 'clock it. If it doesn't compute, 'clock it till it does!

 

[WJA96]

Edit: Set the multi to 9 and no go. Any other options I need to go through?

No, that's the only multiplier change - I just wondered if it was an ES, it might unlock upwards, but not to worry.

 

[BlastRadius]

OK - look - don't do anything you're not comfortable with!!!!!

My first inclination is to follow Errol Flynn's maxim;

If it computes 'clock it. If it doesn't compute, 'clock it till it does!

No sweat WJA. Am quite happy to clock it until I hit a load temp of 60, then I will save that profile for me and boot to that when I wanna bench or game heavily. Am thinking that where I currently am is good for general household use so will leave this as the default profile.

Also I tried the Sync mode, and at 1300 it will run the mem at 650 and that also seems stable (10 mins Orthos). So all good on the guide.

Will be off for a bit as have gotta move all my files onto here, set up a router, do the hoovering and clean the fishtank

Cheers again for the help, mucho appreciated.

Oh the other curious thing is that CPUZ reports this CPU as Intel Pentium M codename merom! must be coz it is an ES.

 

[ArchAnGeL]

does anyone else have one of these with phase cooling. It doesn't read sub zero temps and report weird temps instead.

i'm running at 3.8 gig with 1.6v and it's reporting 16 degrees. Seems high for the -46 the evap head is reporting.

 

[EvilGrin]

I should have known from the fact that her feet look dirty. The other thing is that I thought I was being terribly witty with my Jayhawks quip. University of Kansas (KU Jayhawks) and University of Kentucky (UK Wildcats) are constantly being mixed up by commentators, foreigners - even Alumni apparently! And it really annoys the two if you get them wrong. Anyway - Evilgrin was completely correct that it is a University of Kentucky uniform. But I led you astray about the Jayhawks - you need to be shouting Go Wildcats!

It also doesn't really help that their colours are near enough identical but reversed (although KU has a hint of red in it too).

On a side note - CPU arrives tomorrow, so maybe i'll start actually contibuting properly to this thread too!

 

[cub1061]

Just finish building my budget system

E4300
Asus P5Ne-sli
2gigs geil value pc6400
samsung 200g sata
7800gt

I love the cpu and motherboard and have so far clock it up to 375fsb mem link at 1.5v stable but got a bit warm for my liking so now it sitting nicely at 3gig 1.425v. Think iam going to leave it at that.

 

[Trusty]

I've got my 4300 sitting at 3.2 quite nicely on 1.4v! Load temps vary between 58-65, so ok i suppose!

I have my memory unlinked at the moment, how should i go about tightening up my latencies, if someone could give us a nudge in the right direction that be excellent!

 

[WJA96]

I've got my 4300 sitting at 3.2 quite nicely on 1.4v! Load temps vary between 58-65, so ok i suppose!

I have my memory unlinked at the moment, how should i go about tightening up my latencies, if someone could give us a nudge in the right direction that be excellent!

Well, the numbers are usually quoted tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-Command per clock

The easiest change to make is to the Command per clock option. Earlier in this thread OC_A64 showed a 3% improvement in SuperPi by switching from 2T to 1T so if you can run at 1T, you should.

The next easiest number to tighten is the tRAS which is usually something horrendous like 31 on [AUTO]. Depending on you RAM spec. this will be either 12, 15 or 18 at PC6400 speeds. So try the specification figues first in all four numbers. eg. GeIL is 4-4-4-12. OcUK Value is 5-5-5-12.

In my experience you will be able to tighten the tRCD and tRP figures by 1 or possibly even 2 over the specification but usually you cannot tighten the tCL figure as that is what is tested when the RAM is speed binned at production. Some OcUK Value RAM will run at 4-4-4-12 with 2.1 or 2.2V through it, but not all. Some people have reported the Crucial Anniversaries will do 3-3-3-8 at 400MHz (PC6400), but mine won't. I can do 4-3-3-8-1T at PC6400.

Tweaking RAM on these boards is a begger of a job because, on my board at least, it requires a full CMOS reset when it goes wrong.

I made myself up an external CMOS reset switch from an old fan and a Single Pole, Dual Throw switch (£1.73 from my local high street electronics store). I just cut the fan cable off the fan. The 3-pin fan connector is the same 0.1" pin pitch as the jumpers. There are 3 pins on the switch, it doesn't matter which of the yellow or black cables you solder to the outer switch pins as long as the centre (red usually) cable is soldered to the centre pin on the switch. When the switch is thrown one way, it makes the NORMAL jumper position, when thrown the other way, it joins the RESET jumpers. For a tidy job you can drill out a PCI slot blanking pate and fix the switch into it. Who needs a £200 680i board for that? Not us! If anmyone is interested I might make up a thing for the case modding forum.

 

[Dravic]

I often find unplugging the power lead and leaving it a few minutes can save having to do a bios reset.
The switch idea is great though, will see if I can find a fan to sacrifice.

 

[WJA96]

will see if I can find a fan to sacrifice.

It's almost as easy just to make one from scratch;

3-pin 0.1" Female Connector
3 0.1" Male Pins (to go into the Female Connector)
Enough wire to make 3 even sized lengths
1 Miniature SPDT Switch
1 PCI Blanking plate, drilled to accept the switch.

The whole thing should cost more than £2.50. I'll make you one if you cover the cost and the postage.

 

[Trusty]

Well, the numbers are usually quoted tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-Command per clock

The easiest change to make is to the Command per clock option. Earlier in this thread OC_A64 showed a 3% improvement in SuperPi by switching from 2T to 1T so if you can run at 1T, you should.

The next easiest number to tighten is the tRAS which is usually something horrendous like 31 on [AUTO]. Depending on you RAM spec. this will be either 12, 15 or 18 at PC6400 speeds. So try the specification figues first in all four numbers. eg. GeIL is 4-4-4-12. OcUK Value is 5-5-5-12.

In my experience you will be able to tighten the tRCD and tRP figures by 1 or possibly even 2 over the specification but usually you cannot tighten the tCL figure as that is what is tested when the RAM is speed binned at production. Some OcUK Value RAM will run at 4-4-4-12 with 2.1 or 2.2V through it, but not all. Some people have reported the Crucial Anniversaries will do 3-3-3-8 at 400MHz (PC6400), but mine won't. I can do 4-3-3-8-1T at PC6400.

Tweaking RAM on these boards is a begger of a job because, on my board at least, it requires a full CMOS reset when it goes wrong.

I made myself up an external CMOS reset switch from an old fan and a Single Pole, Dual Throw switch (£1.73 from my local high street electronics store). I just cut the fan cable off the fan. The 3-pin fan connector is the same 0.1" pin pitch as the jumpers. There are 3 pins on the switch, it doesn't matter which of the yellow or black cables you solder to the outer switch pins as long as the centre (red usually) cable is soldered to the centre pin on the switch. When the switch is thrown one way, it makes the NORMAL jumper position, when thrown the other way, it joins the RESET jumpers. For a tidy job you can drill out a PCI slot blanking pate and fix the switch into it. Who needs a £200 680i board for that? Not us! If anmyone is interested I might make up a thing for the case modding forum.

I'm all good with 1T/2T and stuff, i know how to do that. I mean with this cuurent Asus board, shall i change it to linked or leave it at unlinked?

 

[ArchAnGeL]

It's almost as easy just to make one from scratch;

3-pin 0.1" Female Connector
3 0.1" Male Pins (to go into the Female Connector)
Enough wire to make 3 even sized lengths
1 Miniature SPDT Switch
1 PCI Blanking plate, drilled to accept the switch.

The whole thing should cost more than £2.50. I'll make you one if you cover the cost and the postage.

are the pins of the motherboard reset switch also 0.1" ?

I want to make a pci plate with a cmos reset and a machine reset button (my v2000 doesn't have one)