ASUS P5K woes

E

ecktt

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 22, 2004
Messages
415
Against my better judgment I bought the ASUS P5K Deluxe board. The setup:
P5K Deluxe (BIOS v311)
Intel 4300
Thermalright ultra 120 eXtreme + Panaflow 120mm 114cfm fan
PC Power and Cooling 750 Silencer
EVGA 8800GTS 640 MB
8GB DDR2 800MHZ Patriot RAM
XFI gamers Sound card
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600
Vista Ultimate 64
etc...

My CPU temps a 34C idle and 44C under load. My system temp is an insane 49C. I get random lockups with a loud buzzing sound coming from my speakers on crashing. TV card refuses to detect any channels (tested on another computer and it works fine), every so often one HD disappears from the RAID 5 array and i have to cold boot, then wait 12 Hours for it to rebuild. The manual is a Hacked job at best.

Any suggestion to fix my system (that don't involve voiding my warranty)? All drivers are the newest (including the drivers Intel release Monday).
 
I LOVE this motherboard!

1. Install PC Probe - what are your voltages? On Auto, this mobo set a lot of voltages higher than necessary. My CPU (E6320 / 1.83GHz) runs great at stock voltage up to 426MHz FSB - and probably farther but I haven't tried it yet since I also need to improve chipset cooling.

2. The chipset cooler is designed around the Intel stock HSF - it blows air down over the CPU and then cools the chipsets. I have the tuniq cooler - which is similar to the thermalright in that it blows air horizontally. I installed a card cooler (the blue antec one with the extender piece - I don't have the model number near me) so that it blows air down over the chipset. This helped lower my temps quite a bit.
I might get the optional cooler from Asus (Accessories department said they will have them in ~1 more week). It is meant for water cooling setups, but in our case, I think it applies since their is little air circulation around the chipset coolers.
Also... from what I've read, the northbridge chip is OK to run up to the 50's / 60's. I would still rather cool mine down - and it sounds like you would, too! But I don't think this is causing your problems!

3. Back to voltages - 'auto' set my dram voltage to 2.2v but my 4x1GB PC8500 runs great at 2V / 1065MHz.


A little teaser for anyone doubting the P35:

Dhrystone_460.JPG


memory.JPG


...and that is with transaction booster turned off! (compare this to the DDR3 @ 2GHz benchmark on the main page right now ;))


Ok, so here's what I suggest: check voltages - set your CPU, DRAM voltages to their proper levels.

Disable as many unnecessary features as possible - and don't overclock yet.
Set PCI express speed to 100 (not Auto)
Disable Memory Transaction Booster (IMPORTANT TEST!!! This doesn't work with all RAM - it's in the Jumperless config section

I can get you a list of exactly what my settings are, but these links should help:

Here and here

If you still have problems, remove the TV Card for now to rule that out!

Still have problems? Well, post your findings, but I'm thinking you will want to go with 2x2GB as a test. Possibly disable JMicron controller in the BIOS and test without RAID to see if that is an issue.... but I think you will be fine with RAID enabled still.


And there is no problem with Vista - it's an incredible OS - most people that are dissing it, haven't actually tried it for themselves. Once you go superfetch, you will never go back!

(also, your CPU temps are high! Possibly because Auto is setting the voltage way too high - with the Tuniq Tower, I idle at 19c @ 3GHz - you have a superior hsf, so either it's not mounted correctly or the voltage is too high)
 
There's a thread on the first page of the main Motherboards forum about a P5K RAID question, I haven't read it since I'm not RAIDing, might want to check it to see if there's RAID issues.
 
49c?

my 6600 @ 3.8ghz i get a system temp under load between 35-40 depending on ambient....i don't live in norway :)

i see 2 things here.

a. as the heatpipes are passive they need good case airflow or a low rpm over the area
b. bad nb mount
 
Thanks for the response so far. I will try some of the diagnostics steps this weekend. A little more background info on my situation. I live in the tropics (Trinidad and Tobago - yes the places the found the Terrorist but I an innocent until proven guilty guy), so my room temps are topically 27C-32C. My voltages and temps in in the BIOS line up pretty well with AUSU probe. My voltage seem normal except for my 12 volt line that reads 11.87V but that's only 1% off. The system, seems normal at stock settings for the past 2 days but the Chipset temps are still to high for my liking. I might buy a few 30 mm fans and place them on the chip set coolers but will this void my warranty?

On Side note I got the E4300 up to 3.3GHz@ 366FBS and 1.45V when everything was outside of the case. I was hoping for more but that will have to get my chipset cooling sorted out before I attempt to OC again.
 
I just got the same board and processor and my idle temps are in the low 30s with watercooling (storm) and my system temps are up around the same as yours as well... i thought this board ran cooler than that with its fancy heatpipe junk. I haven't tried to OC yet.
 
Double Jesus said:
I just got the same board and processor and my idle temps are in the low 30s with watercooling (storm) and my system temps are up around the same as yours as well... i thought this board ran cooler than that with its fancy heatpipe junk. I haven't tried to OC yet.
Click to expand...

The fancy heatpipe depends on the stock Intel cooler to blow air down across the CPU and across the heat pipe heatsinks.

There's an optional fan (see the manual) that you get for watercooling setups ;)
 
calebb said:
The fancy heatpipe depends on the stock Intel cooler to blow air down across the CPU and across the heat pipe heatsinks.

There's an optional fan (see the manual) that you get for watercooling setups ;)
Click to expand...

yeah optional meaning you need to pay for it :p

If i can find a place to get it on the cheap i probably will...
 
I'd also try a 2x4GB memory setup and see if that improves stability.
 
Double Jesus said:
yeah optional meaning you need to pay for it :p

If i can find a place to get it on the cheap i probably will...
Click to expand...

Some motherboards have it bundled - heh - not sure why they took it out of the P5K Deluxe kit... :(

Asus tech support said you could get the fan from:
"You can get that fan from our Accessories Department at 510-739-3777 ext 5116."

I called them and they said they wouldn't have them available for a couple weeks (that was over a week ago).
 
I saw the optional fan in the manual but the image of the mother board it was mounting to was NOT the P5K deluxe but possibly the P5D. Eitherwaye it would have just taken hot air from my Thermalright which can't be a good idea. Well last night for the third time in one week the HD attached to SATA port 2 disappeared and I had to do a cold boot for it to be re-detected. Now i have to wait the 12+ hours again for the Raid array to be rebuilt before I can do anything more trouble shooting.
 
I can't post at 400mhz fsb

CPU seems to be good for 3300mhz (9x367)
RAM seems to okay at 824mhz v2.2 6-6-6-15

These are my settings. (System specs in sig)

JumperFree Configuration Settings
AI Overclocking: Manual
CPU Ratio Control: Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting: 6
FSB Frequency: 400
PCI-E Frequency: 102
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-800
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency: 6
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 6
RAS# Precharge: 6
RAS# Activate to Precharge: 15
TWR: Auto
TRFC: Auto
TWTR: Auto
TRRD: Auto
TRTP: Auto
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled

Transaction Booster: Auto
Clock Over-Charging Mode: AUTO

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

CPU Voltage: 1.45v
CPU Voltage Reference: AUTO
CPU Voltage Damper: Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.50
DRAM Voltage: 2.2
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.30
North Bridge Voltage: 1.40
North Bridge Voltage Reference: AUTO
South Bridge Voltage: AUTO

Advance CPU Settings
CPU Ratio Control: Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting: 6
C1E Suppport: Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit: Disabled
Vanderpool Technology: Disabled
CPU TM Function: Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled
PECI: Enabled

USB Configuration
USB Functions: Enabled
Legacy USB Support: Disabled (need to enable it to detect USB flash drives)

any idea on what to do to go over 400mhz?
 
Try disabling transaction booster. (it really helps with memory bandwidth, but it can decrease stability in some situations)
 
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