ASUS P5N-E SLI

What program do u suggest I use to check the NB temp? What is too high? Right now Ive trying the voltage at 1.56 and have applied AS5 and taped a small fan to the heatsink. I dunno if I need to get a diff heatsink like a cheap Zalman or something. Would that even make a difference?
 
i think the only way to truly get NB temps is to get a sensor in there yourself.

i just put on a TT HR-05 with no fan.

with orthos at full load for an hour i touch the heatsink and it is warm/hot to the touch but i can keep my hand there for as long as i want without it being too hot. i think that is ok. that is with my rig oc'd to 3.1 (e6400) and NB at 1.39v.

i am rma'ing this mobo for other reasons, i think it is giving my hard drives problems when transferring very large amounts of data. see here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=29&threadid=1972653&STARTPAGE=33&enterthread=y

but im gettin this same mobo.
 
Then how about the NB voltage? Is it safe to go to 1.748? And would that popular blue Zalman be any better for the NB compared to the stock?
 
i wouldnt go that high.

but i am no expert. i ran this board the 1.5 setting inthe bios on the NB but i have a TT HR-05 on it. it ran very stable but i didnt feel like keeping my voltage that high. i run my NB at the 1.3 setting in the BIOS. maybe somebody else can talk about NB voltages that are safe, im not sure, i just dont like overvolting my stuff too much since it does diminish the life of the components.

everybody that oc's this board notices the NB gets super hot. even the anandtech review noticed. you should put a little heatsink on the Southbridge and either change the NB heatsink to something better or put a fan on the one that is there.
 
thanks for the tip about using the black slots. I was wondering why my system kept crashing when trying to get my ram to its rated 4-4-4 timings...

Any of you guys have any trouble installing an Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 on this board? That nothbridge heatsink was in the way when I tried, and in frustration I installed the intel heatsink instead of trying to rotate the Freezer 7... Would it fit if the fan pointed towards the top of the case instead of the back?

Also, any of you have any luck installing vista with this board? The nvidia site only has beta vista drivers for RC1, and those don't list this chipset as supported.

Also, if my RAM is rated at 2.1V, should I keep the board on auto for RAM voltage?
 
I got my AC Freezer 7 Pro on with minimal fuss... just had to clip the fan a fin or two higher than usual and bend the bottom fin up a bit. I don't see what the big problem is that everyone has been having.

Granted my board ended up sucking and I'm RMAing it, but I don't see how that could be related.
 
jmechy said:
At which setting? The is no 2.1 option, only a few hundreths above and below...
Click to expand...

I know, just use your judgement. Try the lesser number first. If you have problems, use the higher value. These are safe voltages anyway.
 
My P5N-E SLI will be here on thursday along with a E6600 and some ballistix! Can't wait to get the water loop on it for some serious fun!

Pretzel, i see you put the vantec cooler on the SB, how'd the holes line up?
 
Imitation said:
My P5N-E SLI will be here on thursday along with a E6600 and some ballistix! Can't wait to get the water loop on it for some serious fun!

Pretzel, i see you put the vantec cooler on the SB, how'd the holes line up?
Click to expand...

The holes line up good. However there's a little transistor beside the SB that got in the way a bit so I actually shaved one of the Vantec fins off that was hitting it.
 
Pretzel said:
I recently purchased a Scythe Ninja Plus and ran into issues with the mount being obstructed by 2 capacitors. I ended up buying a $3.50 metal grinder and overcame that issue rather easily :)
Click to expand...



How does the scythe ninja work? is it totally passive (relying on the case fans to move air across the plates) or do you attach a fan to it. What kind of temps do you get? RIght now i'm using the stock cooler OC'd to 3ghz and it never breaks 50oC

WHat do people recommend (short of water cooling) that would keep temps the lowest possible with the least noise. :)
 
helix said:
How does the scythe ninja work? is it totally passive (relying on the case fans to move air across the plates) or do you attach a fan to it. What kind of temps do you get? RIght now i'm using the stock cooler OC'd to 3ghz and it never breaks 50oC

WHat do people recommend (short of water cooling) that would keep temps the lowest possible with the least noise. :)
Click to expand...

EDIT: Never breaking 50 C *LOAD* is excellent. If youre idle- is arount ther, thats a bit high

However if you want more perforamnce/less heat Tuniq tower 120 is the way to go.

Zalman 9700 is best looking IMO though, and a top tier performer
 
I see in the specs it says DDR2 800 and stops there, does this board support 1066 DDR2?
 
I don't think it's a JDEC standard as of yet, but the board will run your memory at 1066. I was running 1:1 (1066:1066) with some DDR2 8000 (1000mhz). Now I'm running 1333FSB/1000 memory - it's happy that way.
 
Nice! I'd like to run 1:1 with a C2D E6600, now its just finding a good mobo to go with.
 
Anyone else put any cooling on the SB besides pretzel? Does the evercool VC-RE fit? I would think that it would since the vantec does, anyone tried it or any other cooler to fit under that 2nd video card? My board comes today, now I just need my ram and cpu!
 
i put a southbridge heatsink on. some el-cheapo $4 job from jab-tech that uses thermal tape. or you can use the gold colored zalman with push pins.

even at load my SB never gets more thann warm.

i also have a ninja on this board and i have never hit 50 on load yet. an hr-05 is on my NB with no fan.

returning this board though for an intel chipset, the sata and data corruption issues are enough for me with this board ven though it oc's nice.
 
buffbiff21 said:
EDIT: Never breaking 50 C *LOAD* is excellent. If youre idle- is arount ther, thats a bit high
Click to expand...

I've been running the system at 100% for 4 days now via F@H and haven't gone above 50 (currently at 49C). This is with the stock intel cooler, and all case fans on lowest setting.

Then again, I'm not overclocked at all right now.
 
Alright played around some more and it seems upping the NB too much past 1.4 doesnt really do anything. At max voltage I only went from 1850 to 1880 FSB. I havent really tested these for an extended period of time though.
 
There was some interest in the SB cooler placement for this board over in the cooling forums in this thread.

I just added some pics if anyone wants to see what it looks like with a vid card in it (for southbridge cooler placement, or general interest).
 
After doing a bit of research, I'm begining to think the LDT can be a factor when overclocking. The default is 5x and I think the NB - SB link is 200mhz giving a 1000mhz HT. I'm not sure what fsb overclocking does to this link, but I'm inclined to think that running at a 1333fsb you need to reduce this to 4x. I have no way of telling what this effectively results in, or if it does anything at all, but its a setting. What do you guys think?

Edit: After doing some more research, is seems the NB - SB link is not influenced by fsb frequency. It always runs at 200 x 5 (1000). What I did find is that even though my memory will do 500mhz (1000ddr) the board doesn't like 1333fsb and 1000 memory. It works but will randomly have problems. So now I run my e6700@ 10x333 (3333mhz) and the memory @ 800ddr. I haven't experienced a single problem since running these settings. The board is an excellent cpu overclocker but has problems with memory above 900mhz. Still waiting for a bios.....
 
This raises a question--just how important is memory clock speed to bottom-line performance? Is there something out there like the [H] CPU reality check article for memory performance? As I understand it, the key performance contributors for games run something like this: GPU>CPU>RAM. Would that be valid, and wouldn't that argue against high-dollar RAM or excessive concern about RAM overclockability and the tightness of timings? I'd really be interested to see if the differences amount to 20%, 10%, 5%, or 1% across different scenarios, if you know what I mean. If we're talking about 5% or less between 800Mhz at loose timings and 1000Mhz-plus at tight timings in final bottom-line performance, then who are we kidding?
 
Commander Suzdal said:
As I understand it, the key performance contributors for games run something like this: GPU>CPU>RAM. Would that be valid, and wouldn't that argue against high-dollar RAM or excessive concern about RAM overclockability and the tightness of timings? I'd really be interested to see if the differences amount to 20%, 10%, 5%, or 1% across different scenarios, if you know what I mean. If we're talking about 5% or less between 800Mhz at loose timings and 1000Mhz-plus at tight timings in final bottom-line performance, then who are we kidding?
Click to expand...

I hear what your saying. While I was screwing around with this stuff I noticed that running the memory at "only" 800mhz yielded pretty unnoticeable differences in benchmarks. To tell you the truth, Sandra scored roughly the same at 1000mhz 5-5-5-15 2t (1333fsb) timings and 800mhz 4-4-4-12 2t (1333fsb) settings. PCMark05 - Same, 3DMark06 - Same, HL2 - Same. I'm just glad I realized that, now I can run at 3333mhz and it doesn't seem to mind it.
 
Did Asus pull this board from their product listing on their site? I can't find it over there at all. : /
 
The newer bios can be obtained by calling tech support or you can download it here 0401 Bios I know it's good because I'm the one that sent him the bios. :)

Asus does have the board on their website found here: Asus P5N-E SLI

If you want to read all about people's experience's with the board, including the 0401 check this uber long thread
 
Pretzel said:
The newer bios can be obtained by calling tech support or you can download it here 0401 Bios I know it's good because I'm the one that sent him the bios. :)

Asus does have the board on their website found here: Asus P5N-E SLI

If you want to read all about people's experience's with the board, including the 0401 check this uber long thread
Click to expand...


Thanks, Pretzel! Guess I just missed it. :)

Now I just need to decide if I want set up my Evga 680i. ......or return the Evga board and setup my P5N-E SLI. I have both options open since both boards are unopened in their boxes. What to do? :(
 
Arklight said:
Thanks, Pretzel! Guess I just missed it. :)

Now I jsut need to decide if I want set up my Evga 680i. ......or return the Evga board and setup my P5N-E SLI. I have both options open since both boards are unopened in their bozes. What to do? :(
Click to expand...

That's a tough call, since owning a P5N-E SLI I've been keeping an eye on the evga solution. I stopped by compusa and they had a BFG version (reference design) of the same board. It took all my self control to not grab it and give it a go. Thanks for the bios link Pretzel, I'll have to wait till tomorrow to try, I'm away from home atm. Hopefully people will have feedback as to the upgrade, my experience with 0307 was not good.
 
superfire said:
That's a tough call, since owning a P5N-E SLI I've been keeping an eye on the evga solution. I stopped by compusa and they had a BFG version (reference design) of the same board. It took all my self control to not grab it and give it a go. Thanks for the bios link Pretzel, I'll have to wait till tomorrow to try, I'm away from home atm. Hopefully people will have feedback as to the upgrade, my experience with 0307 was not good.
Click to expand...


Is your P5N-E SLI giving you a lot of trouble? For what it's worth, I'll be using the same ram you have in your sig.

I'm primarily looking for a high level of oc'abilty and stabily (as I'm sure every enthusiat does).

I'm at a total loss on what to do.
 
With this board, I'm running my E6300 @ 3254 MHZ with a 465 MHZ FSB on Team Xtreem PC-6400 Micron D9GMH Ram at 1:1... I threw a sink on the north and southbridge and have a Scythe Infinity on the CPU.

My RAM timings are 4-4-3-10-2t.

Orthos stable for 12 hours.

I'm pretty cool with that.

I did have some data corruption issues with the SATA driver... something to watch out for.
 
hankbaskett said:
With this board, I'm running my E6300 @ 3254 MHZ with a 465 MHZ FSB on Team Xtreem PC-6400 Micron D9GMH Ram at 1:1... I threw a sink on the north and southbridge and have a Scythe Infinity on the CPU.

My RAM timings are 4-4-3-10-2t.

Orthos stable for 12 hours.

I'm pretty cool with that.

I did have some data corruption issues with the SATA driver... something to watch out for.
Click to expand...

Ack...this board has folks with SATA corruption issues as well?

I'm tempted to just send the P5N-E SLI and the Evga back and just go with a completely different mobo. lol
 
Arklight said:
Is your P5N-E SLI giving you a lot of trouble? For what it's worth, I'll be using the same ram you have in your sig.

I'm primarily looking for a high level of oc'abilty and stabily (as I'm sure every enthusiat does).

I'm at a total loss on what to do.
Click to expand...

I've got everything pretty straitened out now as far as settings go so I have no complaints really. My only complaint would be the lack of a bios update, but I doubt it will change performance to any great degree. I'm just curious though about 680i boards, especially the reference design. For some reason, I never wind up buying a board that works with ntune. It's a cool feature, but I'm inclined to think that it would all be the same at the end of the day.

BTW, I've hadn't had any sata issues, at least backing up form a usb 2.0 drive and general usage.

The evga board (and the other "designed by nVidia" boards have a bios update from 1/15/2007, and it looks like they tweaked it out a bit. From what I've seen sata problems are fixed.
 
superfire said:
I've got everything pretty straitened out now as far as settings go so I have no complaints really. My only complaint would be the lack of a bios update, but I doubt it will change performance to any great degree. I'm just curious though about 680i boards, especially the reference design. For some reason, I never wind up buying a board that works with ntune. It's a cool feature, but I'm inclined to think that it would all be the same at the end of the day.

BTW, I've hadn't had any sata issues, at least backing up form a usb 2.0 drive and general usage.

The evga board (and the other "designed by nVidia" boards have a bios update from 1/15/2007, and it looks like they tweaked it out a bit. From what I've seen sata problems are fixed.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, interesting observation. I got my 680i about a week and a half ago, so I doubt that board got any bios revision on it. Inversely, my wife handed me the P5N-E SLI a few days ago and she told me the guys at PC Club told her that they had just gotten them in, so I'm not sure.

The downside is that the Evga was bought from Newegg and the moment I open it I can't return it for a refund, the P5N-E SLI was purchased locally and I have 7 days to return it for a refund if it isn't open.

I'm not really that interested in SLI. Is it a possiblity for me? I'd say 70/30 to 80/20 in favor of "NO". It is nice to know it's there "just in case" though. You never know.
 
superfire said:
I hear what your saying. While I was screwing around with this stuff I noticed that running the memory at "only" 800mhz yielded pretty unnoticeable differences in benchmarks. To tell you the truth, Sandra scored roughly the same at 1000mhz 5-5-5-15 2t (1333fsb) timings and 800mhz 4-4-4-12 2t (1333fsb) settings. PCMark05 - Same, 3DMark06 - Same, HL2 - Same. I'm just glad I realized that, now I can run at 3333mhz and it doesn't seem to mind it.
Click to expand...

Awesome info, that's a lot of what I wanted to know. I wonder what would happen if you ran at 800 5-5-5-15 and compared that to the other two just for grins? Bottom line, if I try to save cash with a 650 board and a low-end Core 2 Duo, I'd hate to turn around and blow it all on pricey RAM. Is there decent "value" RAM at 800Mhz, and will it do 4-4-4-12 2t? Or am I dreaming?
 
Commander Suzdal said:
Awesome info, that's a lot of what I wanted to know. I wonder what would happen if you ran at 800 5-5-5-15 and compared that to the other two just for grins? Bottom line, if I try to save cash with a 650 board and a low-end Core 2 Duo, I'd hate to turn around and blow it all on pricey RAM. Is there decent "value" RAM at 800Mhz, and will it do 4-4-4-12 2t? Or am I dreaming?
Click to expand...

I'll give it a try tomorrow and post some actual scores. Running the FSB at 1333 vs 1066 makes the biggest difference in memory performance. 1000ddr yielded about ~6800mb/s for ALU/FPU in sandra memory bandwith with a 1333fsb. 800ddr yeiled about 6450 in sandra with 1333fsb. Stock bandwith runs 5600~5900 at 800/1000 ddr respectively.
 
Superfire, taking into account the fact that you have a P5N-E SLI and the ram I will be using, what do you think? Should I stick with the Evga and "hope" for the best, or just stick with the P5N-E SLI and get the refund for my Evga?

Gahh, I need some help here guys. lol
 
Arklight said:
Superfire, taking into account the fact that you have a P5N-E SLI and the ram I will be using, what do you think? Should I stick with the Evga and "hope" for the best, or just stick with the P5N-E SLI and get the refund for my Evga?

Gahh, I need some help here guys. lol
Click to expand...

The beauty of the P5N-E SLI is it's price/performance ratio. I have no complaints about the board at all, but that does not make it better than the eVGA 680i board, just less expensive. So it comes down to features really, I think both boards will perform the same. I have no personal experience with 680i boards so it would just be speculation on my part going either way. If you don't think you can easily return the evga, use it. I doubt you'll be dissappointed, just use the latest bios. Did this opinion help or hurt?
 
superfire said:
The beauty of the P5N-E SLI is it's price/performance ratio. I have no complaints about the board at all, but that does not make it better than the eVGA 680i board, just less expensive. So it comes down to features really, I think both boards will perform the same. I have no personal experience with 680i boards so it would just be speculation on my part going either way. If you don't think you can easily return the evga, use it. I doubt you'll be dissappointed, just use the latest bios. Did this opinion help or hurt?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that helps me out, Thanks.

I think what I'm going to do, since I can't really decide right now is return both and then give myself a few days to decide. This might be the best option so I don't end up beign forced to go one way or the other.

Thanks again for the help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top