Asus P5E-VM HDMI: best matx ever?

[bing]

Whats the most stable bios to get now for this board?(using q6600)

If you check the thread you'll see people are having success running various BIOS's. The officer is running an old BIOS and has a cranking OC. I'm doing OK with my compromise OC which aims for quiet & cool but it still at +30% and I'm running the newest BIOS, as the board came with it. So.

 

[bing]

After a fresh install of win xp... Oddly enough, when I do the soundtest under realtek's hd audio manager, sound does come out. Just no sound whenever I try to do something in windows or on the internet.

Sounds like something is turned down or off in the mixer. (Right-click audio icon in task bar.) Check that, and also device manager.

 

[treefortrichard]

anyone have/know if the new Thermalright AXP-140 fits on this mobo? And how cramped are the ram slots when you have ram with high heatsinks? Do they obstruct most of the zalman coolers? thx

 

[bing]

The strange thing is that the Asus website says that for my CPU (Wolfdale E8400), I would need to update the BIOS to 0405 in order to make the board compatible with this CPU ... but my BIOS has only 0301 (System BIOS date: 10/30/07) and it does work fine with the very CPU.

Possibly you're missing some extensions? I would update if the BIOS notes specifically mentions my proc or whatever...

And my very first step overclocking my little Wolfy, is it enough to change the multiplier from x 6.0 to x 9.0 ? Nothing else ?

You should see 6x while idle, and it will adjust to 9x under load. You should (possibly!?) be able to increase FSB to 400 with all settings on Auto for 3.6GHz. I could (and did.)

I think I won't be tweaking around with my RAM as I had some intermittent read errors when installing some games recently. That points towards the RAM, doesn't it ?

Read errors? Sounds like a disk issue to me, not memory.

Temps look very good 'cept GPU, that should be a load temp, not idle. Unless it's a very hot card?

Have read about that temperatures from different monitoring programs show different values. That doesn't make sense in my opinion.

Typical. Different programs use different TJMax.

Go here:

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/intel-burn-test-27994/

3rd post. Get the following:

Prime95v.25.9 build 2 -- (Test w/ Small FFT's and Blend)

IntelBurnTest v1.9 -- (May require running separate instances with Win32. For this to work you need to copy all IBT files into two (or more,) separate directories, and then run the individual instances specifying the amount of memory to use for each. Use Task Manager to max it out.) Be SURE to watch your temps with this one!

FurMark v1.6.0 -- (GPU)

MemTest 3.8 -- (Mem)

WinRar BenchMark -- (FSB)

Run each of those individually overnight.

RealTemp 2.90 RC9 -- (Temp monitor)
Core Temp 0.99.3 -- (" ")
HWMonitor 1.12 -- (" ")

CPU-Z 1.49
GPU-Z 0.3.1

 

[[LYL]Homer]

Is the P5E-VM HDMI still considered the state-of-the-art in MATX? Anything better that I should be looking at?

My use will be gaming with mild overclock, installed in an SG-01 with an NT-06 passive cooler. Other hardware is a SATA DVD burner, E8400, 2x2gb Corsair TwinX ram, 260 GTX, 300gb Velociraptor, Silverstone ST70F psu, and WinXP Pro until Win7.

 

[NichoTL]

Is the P5E-VM HDMI still considered the state-of-the-art in MATX? Anything better that I should be looking at?

My use will be gaming with mild overclock, installed in an SG-01 with an NT-06 passive cooler. Other hardware is a SATA DVD burner, E8400, 2x2gb Corsair TwinX ram, 260 GTX, 300gb Velociraptor, Silverstone ST70F psu, and WinXP Pro until Win7.

Yes the P5E-VM HDMI still seems to be your best guess, although a few of the hardcore people have now moved on to the DFI JR P45 board. But I don't think it would make sense in your case. On a side note, I'd say the PSU is way overkill for your setup: a good 500W would be more than enough (maybe 60% usage at load, worst-case scenario, which is perfect as the 50-60 area is where PSUs are usually at their best).

 

[Cov]

Thanks for your reply dude.

Possibly you're missing some extensions? I would update if the BIOS notes specifically mentions my proc or whatever...

Please check here what BIOS version Asus does advise for the E8400
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5E-VM HDMI
But as I said before, I wanna up-to-date BIOS but I don't wanna mess up.
Don't feel confident doing this.

You should see 6x while idle, and it will adjust to 9x under load. You should (possibly!?) be able to increase FSB to 400 with all settings on Auto for 3.6GHz. I could (and did.)

That's quite right. It's most of the time on 6.0 x and 2000 MHz when browsing the web.
Under load it changes straight to 9.0 x and 3000 MHz according to Everest.
That's SpeedStep kicking in, right ?

Temps look very good 'cept GPU, that should be a load temp, not idle. Unless it's a very hot card?

Hot as in awesome ? Yeah, the 8800 is known for being on the hot side. Have put a simple little case fan infront of the GeForce, just to support the little sucker stock fan.
And wow, that little trick made the temps of the GPU as well of the VRAM fall by 10 degrees !!

Check the red part ...

Before:

After:

Will increase FSB to 400 soon, like suggested. Can I leave the voltage of the CPU core to 1.10 V ... oh, and should I apply the vdroop at all ?

Read errors? Sounds like a disk issue to me, not memory.

Well, I got the so called MD5 error, when installing some games. Using google brings up quite a few hits of people with similar problems and apparently it was always because of bad memory sticks or some kind of incompability at the end.
Have swapped the memory around and another attempt to install was successful.

Accident ? Destiny ? Karma ? Microsoft ? ... who knows

 

[Cov]

Oh by the way ... I was looking whether there're some new gadgets vor Vista's sidebar and I found that:

TheHobbyLounge

It's the one on the right hand side ... (on the left is Everest) doesn't it look neat ?

You can customize it extensive to your taste.

 

[Skott]

Is the P5E-VM HDMI still considered the state-of-the-art in MATX? Anything better that I should be looking at?

My use will be gaming with mild overclock, installed in an SG-01 with an NT-06 passive cooler. Other hardware is a SATA DVD burner, E8400, 2x2gb Corsair TwinX ram, 260 GTX, 300gb Velociraptor, Silverstone ST70F psu, and WinXP Pro until Win7.

I agree with Nicho. Stick with the P5E-VM HDMI unless you want to run dual cards. If you want to run dual cards then the DFI is the one I would suggest.

 

[[LYL]Homer]

I went ahead and ordered the P5E-VM HDMI and a ST60F psu. Thanks for the replies.

 

[NichoTL]

Slightly off-topic, but it happened to me while testing my new P5E-VM HDMI. I was having frequent crashes while playing UT3 on a brand new Vista64 with latest drivers and so on... so I started reducing my OC to see if it was getting any better. No-go. And to quick test my current OC settings I would try and run SuperPi 1M. It crashed 9 times out of 10. No kidding. It drove me nuts. I reinstalled Vista for the second and third time in 2 days changed the RAM, tried different DIMM config (single channel, dual channel) nothing. Every time I restarted I would manage 1 or 2 superpi and that would be it. Whatever the number of decimals. I was starting to consider RMAing the board (couldn't remember experiencing this problem before on my G33M-DS2R) until I started googling it for the nth time and I FOUND GOD ie the drag-the-window-to-the side-of-screen trick for SuperPi. I'm sure the old OCers among you will find this obvious but for a noob this is infuriating. Hands up in the air if you know what I'm talking about.
(For the record my UT3 crashes could have come from the latest nVidia WHQL drivers. Dunno but anyway I reverted to 180.xx)

 

[wagsrules]

I have this motherboard and am debating on whether to upgrade from my e2160 to the q9650 after the price drops or go with a new core i7 system. My question is how well does this board overclock the 45nm quads? Or should I just spend the extra and go with the core i7.

 

[dwell]

I have a real problem with this board. I have been running a E6400 @ 3.2Ghz on it for over a year rock solid. It ran Prime95 for days without failure. I got a Q6600 for Christmas and to prepare for install I did a really dumb thing -- I updated the BIOS from 0301 to the latest. I booted up with the E6400 still in and the board had problems almost instantly (rebooting, hard locks, etc). Prime95 would fail on core two almost instantly. The Q6600 would fail almost the same way, core two would fail straight off while the others kept on.

So I backed off to 0301 using the DOS utility and wiped the CMOS, NVRAM, and boot block but I am still having the same problem. At this point I don't know what went wrong. It's either the BIOS upgrade did something that's sticking in CMOS or I am missing a setting I had set before, but TTBOMK I didn't set anything "exotic" on the previous install.

Here's the settings I have. If it's not listed, it's at default.

CPU Ratio: 8.0
FSB Strap: Auto
FSB Freq: 400
PCIE Freq: 100
DRAM Freq: DDR2-800 5-5-5-12-5-42-14-3-5

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

CPU Voltage: 1.40v (the E6400 needs 1.4v, not sure about the Q6600)
CPU Voltage Damper: Auto
PLL Voltage: Auto
DRAM Voltage: 1.9v (RAM is not the problem, runs Memtest with no errors)
FSB Termination Voltage: Auto
North Bridge Voltage: 1.35v (tried bumping it to no avail)
North Bridge Voltage Reference: Auto
South Bridge Voltage: Auto

Any ideas? I am about to throw in the towel and just run the Q6600 at stock. At least it runs cooler

 

[NichoTL]

I'd say reset BIOS, CMOS, and start from scratch on either 0506 or 0604 with your Q6600. I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to run your Q6600 on a 400 bus with your memory 1:1 on a 333 strap. The Auto on FSB and PLL has got to go. Change them manually (I'd say the issue you are having come from the Auto value changing for some reason). As a rough rule of thumb to get myself started, I raise the FSB by as much as the NB and the PLL half as much, to see what it gives me. And then take it from there.

 

[Skott]

I have this motherboard and am debating on whether to upgrade from my e2160 to the q9650 after the price drops or go with a new core i7 system. My question is how well does this board overclock the 45nm quads? Or should I just spend the extra and go with the core i7.

From tests/reviews I have seen the i7 CPUs outperform but we really havent seen what their new mATX X58 mobos do yet. They should do well but I'd wait to see actual performance numbers first. Cost may also play into your plans. An i7 rig will cost more due to higher costs of the DDR3 RAM and mobo but those prices will eventually come down after time. For those that do opt for a i7 rig my guess most people will go for the i7 920 CPU and overclock it like crazy. Its set to take over the price vs performance title of the Q6600.

 

[bing]

I have another of these I'm building for a friend. Using an E5200 and have a seemingly stable OC of 3.5GHz. 200+ iterations of IBT, overnight runs of WinRAR FSB Bench, MemTest, FurMark, combos of multiple tools, etc. It's running just at or under 1.36v while idle, and right at 1.3v under heaviest load, which only comes while running IBT. So I'm losing .06 to vdroop. The key to the 3.5Ghz OC (from 2.5GHz stock,) seems to be the minimum VCore of 1.3v, which I discovered on a NewEgg review. I'm running 10.5*333.

Anyway, the ONLY issue I'm having is that sometimes on boot it reverts back to stock BIOS settings and gives the "failed OC" msg. If I go in and reset the FSB from 200 back to 333, and the multiplier from 12.5 back down to 10.5 it boots and runs flawlessly. Those are the only two things that indicate failure. Is that helpful in any way to indicate what I need to address to get it boot-stable?

I don't want my friend to have to muck with the BIOS if at all possible, but I don't want to lose some OC-ability just to get it boot-stable. Any ideas on settings I could change for this?

I can post the BIOS settings, they're pretty similar to what I have already posted in this thread above with my E8400 build, except for FSB and Multi. If anyone wants me to post them anyway because they're thinking to use an E5200 I can do that too. I can share my opinions on the differences I've seen as well. E5200 is about $85 cheaper than the E8400 right now.

 

[bing]

Also, on my (original) board I have a hang of about 45 seconds every boot during "Checking NVRAM"... I could never figure out what BIOS setting affected this, and I eventually figured it was normal with this board, probably related to my RAID setup.

But, I've not yet seen this on the new board, which is also running RAID.



Anyone else seen this issue?

 

[Syphon Filter]

What's are the "real world" differences between the Asus P5Q-EM and the P5E-VM HDMI?

The feature list and the specs look almost identical to me but I have been out of the loop for a long time. Can anyone help me out with this? If I went ahead I woudl be looking to use the machine for HTPC duties and possibly some light gaming.

Any help appreciated.

 

[NichoTL]

I can post the BIOS settings, they're pretty similar to what I have already posted in this thread above with my E8400 build, except for FSB and Multi. If anyone wants me to post them anyway because they're thinking to use an E5200 I can do that too. I can share my opinions on the differences I've seen as well. E5200 is about $85 cheaper than the E8400 right now.

If that's PLL 1.58 FSB 1.28 NB 1.33, offhand I'd say try raising NB and FSB. Btw which strap are you using?

 

[NichoTL]

Also, on my (original) board I have a hang of about 45 seconds every boot during "Checking NVRAM"... I could never figure out what BIOS setting affected this, and I eventually figured it was normal with this board, probably related to my RAID setup.

But, I've not yet seen this on the new board, which is also running RAID.



Anyone else seen this issue?

Can it be a storage setting? ie SATA detect Timeout or something?

 

[beaster]

Any of you guys ever have a problem getting your Firewire ports working in Vista/XP SP3? It shows up in Device Manager but neither my old firewire ipod or my Canon camcorder get recognized. In either OS.

 

[dwell]

I'd say reset BIOS, CMOS, and start from scratch on either 0506 or 0604 with your Q6600. I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to run your Q6600 on a 400 bus with your memory 1:1 on a 333 strap. The Auto on FSB and PLL has got to go. Change them manually (I'd say the issue you are having come from the Auto value changing for some reason). As a rough rule of thumb to get myself started, I raise the FSB by as much as the NB and the PLL half as much, to see what it gives me. And then take it from there.

I was able to get a stable 3Ghz (333 * 9) at 1.4v (actual was much lower). I set PPL, NB, SB, etc at the lowest values. Ran Prime for 2 hours, but want to run it overnight to make sure. Temps were way too hot on stock cooling (core two went up to 67c peak) so I have a Zalman CNPS7000B-ALCU coming today which will hopefully knock it down a couple of degs. Will do the pencil mod while I am at it. I want to see if I can get the vcore down a little.

For some reason the core two runs 1 - 2 degrees C hotter than the other cores, and it's the one that always fails at lower voltages. Maybe it's the weakest link.

 

[NichoTL]

I was able to get a stable 3Ghz (333 * 9) at 1.4v (actual was much lower). I set PPL, NB, SB, etc at the lowest values. Ran Prime for 2 hours, but want to run it overnight to make sure. Temps were way too hot on stock cooling (core two went up to 67c peak) so I have a Zalman CNPS7000B-ALCU coming today which will hopefully knock it down a couple of degs. Will do the pencil mod while I am at it. I want to see if I can get the vcore down a little.

For some reason the core two runs 1 - 2 degrees C hotter than the other cores, and it's the one that always fails at lower voltages. Maybe it's the weakest link.

This voltage seems rather high. I don't have a Q6600 so I can't really say for sure. Btw which stepping do you have?

 

[dwell]

double post

 

[dwell]

This voltage seems rather high. I don't have a Q6600 so I can't really say for sure. Btw which stepping do you have?

It's a G0. I think 1.4v is too high for a Q6600 as I see most people getting 3.2Ghz and up on less. I will have to spend some time experimenting with the other voltages. I really wish I knew what the BIOS upgrade screwed up because this board was rock solid before I flashed.

I actually sent the board into ASUS to check out and it came back with 0503 (which is a beta). Might flash to 0604 unless people are having trouble with it just ensure everything is at least at the level where things got screwed up initially.

 

[bing]

Can it be a storage setting? ie SATA detect Timeout or something?

Thanks for the help. I've tried everything, no luck. The hang is actually just after the "Checking NVRAM" msg. The screen clears for a second, then there's a blinking cursor (underline) in the upper left-hand corner for 45 seconds, then the scrolling Microsoft logo starts. So I'm not sure if it's the hardware, or the OS install. When I find some time I'll move those disks over to the new board and narrow it down to OS or board.

It's not like it's a big deal, I reboot every few weeks at most now. Was a pain during the OC trials though.

 

[NichoTL]

Thanks for the help. I've tried everything, no luck. The hang is actually just after the "Checking NVRAM" msg. The screen clears for a second, then there's a blinking cursor (underline) in the upper left-hand corner for 45 seconds, then the scrolling Microsoft logo starts. So I'm not sure if it's the hardware, or the OS install. When I find some time I'll move those disks over to the new board and narrow it down to OS or board.

It's not like it's a big deal, I reboot every few weeks at most now. Was a pain during the OC trials though.

Don't know if it's got anything to do with anything, but I don't think you should need to have 1.2V on your SB. 1.05V is fine unless you go really extreme OC and get issues with connected devices. My experience on a 450x8 C0 E8200 is that it works fine with 1.05. It also works fine on 475x8. Need to try on 500x8 but then my problem is the cooler, as it's a C0 at 1.35V on 475x8 and I only have an Ultima 90.

 

[dwell]

Go pencil mod! Got my vcore down to 1.3v (1.280v in CPU-Z) with no droop and only 0.02 drop. Idle temps are under 30c and load around 60c. Very happy now.

 

[Meaker]

Pencil mod is a must.

Picture of my system with the board:

http://meaker.bulldoghome.com/photos/BDRES/meaker_bulldoghome_com/DSCN2138.JPG

Added heatsinks to the VRMs.

 

[TheScavenger]

Pencil mod is a must.

Picture of my system with the board:

http://meaker.bulldoghome.com/photos/BDRES/meaker_bulldoghome_com/DSCN2138.JPG

Added heatsinks to the VRMs.

I love the P180 mini. I've had two of them. Best case I've ever had. Hers is a picture of my old system. New system is in my sig.

 

[Meaker]

I did have the lanparty P45-T2RS, but it died on me.... TWICE.

 

[TheScavenger]

I had the P45-T2RS when it first came out. It wouldn't run with all of the ram slots populated so i sent it back to DFI.

 

[Battlestar]

I can post the BIOS settings, they're pretty similar to what I have already posted in this thread above with my E8400 build, except for FSB and Multi. If anyone wants me to post them anyway because they're thinking to use an E5200 I can do that too. I can share my opinions on the differences I've seen as well. E5200 is about $85 cheaper than the E8400 right now.

Can you please post your Bios setting for E8400 @ 3.9Ghz?

Im stable @ 3.6Ghz using E8400 E0 but failed to attemp on 4Ghz. it won't post on 410FSB and up, it may limiting my mems or what?
Btw, herewith is the settings for my 3.6Ghz

FSB Strap: 333
FSb Freq: 400
PCI-e Freq: 100
DRAM Freq: DDR2-800
DRAM Timings: 5-5-5-15
CPU Voltage: | 1.208v CPU-Z
Dram Voltage: 1.80v
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.20v
Northbridge Voltage: 1.25v
Southbridge Voltage: 1.05v
Clock Over Charge: 0.7v
CPU voltage ref.: Auto
CPU voltage damper: Enabled
PLL voltage: 1.50v

Specs:
E8400 E0
G.Skill 2x2GB PC6400 PQ model
Corsair 520watts
ATI4850

Thanks - B'star

 

[bing]

If that's PLL 1.58 FSB 1.28 NB 1.33, offhand I'd say try raising NB and FSB. Btw which strap are you using?

Yep, you were right. I bumped each of those up two notches and all is well. Thanks. Strap = Auto

 

[bing]

Don't know if it's got anything to do with anything, but I don't think you should need to have 1.2V on your SB. 1.05V is fine unless you go really extreme OC and get issues with connected devices. My experience on a 450x8 C0 E8200 is that it works fine with 1.05. It also works fine on 475x8. Need to try on 500x8 but then my problem is the cooler, as it's a C0 at 1.35V on 475x8 and I only have an Ultima 90.

I read at one point about bumping this value up for stability and have been using it since. I have all six SATA ports populated and running RAID on this board and usually lots of USB devices too so just to be safe I've left it at 1.2v.

Regarding coolers,,, I've used Thermalright forever but after using a Noctua on the latest build with this board, I can't see using anything else in the near future. The NH-U12P 'kit' is just awesome. The HS itself is best in class or close, includes a best in class fan that retails for $20 on it's own, thermal goop that rivals MX-2 (beats AS5,) clips for mounting the fan, brackets for AMD and Intel all in the box, voltage reduction pigtails, etc, etc. They have a bracket for i7 for this HS now too it seems.

 

[bing]

Can you please post your Bios setting for E8400 @ 3.9Ghz?

Check back a page, I posted BIOS screenshots.

I'm a novice but at first glance the biggest difference is that I'm running my RAM at 2.1v vs your 1.8v. My RAM is rated to 2.2v, but the support guys recommend sticking with 2.1v if possible. Can you bump this value up? What is the kit spec'd to?

 

[bing]

Hi [H] - Long time listener, first time caller.

I’ve been trolling this thread for like, really, 8 months. Thought I would post some comments about my experience with my p5e-vm hdmi.

For all you guys that are running Quads @ high FSB, do you have any cooling on the mosfets or chokes? If you don’t, I would recommend it, like, right now.
...
Loaded up in the mini 180p with a sexy window

Awesome job all around! Really clean build, nice work.

I also use the P180 Mini. I recently added some hard drives on my system and the additional cabling really cut down on airflow in the case. I had a very noticeable rise in CPU temps because of it and need to figure something out.

 

[yorkman]

Continuing from the thread located at:

I decided to take some snapshots to perhaps help others visualize the settings I need just to get 3.25GHz:

 

[NichoTL]

1. Following a comment in the other thread
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1033676682#post1033676682
I've come around to the fact that maybe your cooler is holding you back. The Xigmatek S1283 or S1284 (Achilles) should be more than able replacements if you decide to make the switch. That being said, I'd rather make sure that this is the problem.
2. Some settings you shouldn't have on Auto (refer to my other post with the original settings)
3. Now that we have feedback for those original settings, let's modify them:
SB Voltage 1.20V because of your RAIDs
CPU Voltage 1.30 V to be on the safe side.
DRAM frequency 800
DRAM timings 5-6-6-18 as per JEDEC#2
DRAM Voltage 1.8V
4. Don't lose faith! OC'ing can be really time consuming and unrewarding at first...

 

[yorkman]

1. Following a comment in the other thread
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1033676682#post1033676682
I've come around to the fact that maybe your cooler is holding you back. The Xigmatek S1283 or S1284 (Achilles) should be more than able replacements if you decide to make the switch. That being said, I'd rather make sure that this is the problem.
2. Some settings you shouldn't have on Auto (refer to my other post with the original settings)
3. Now that we have feedback for those original settings, let's modify them:
SB Voltage 1.20V because of your RAIDs
CPU Voltage 1.30 V to be on the safe side.
DRAM frequency 800
DRAM timings 5-6-6-18 as per JEDEC#2
DRAM Voltage 1.8V
4. Don't lose faith! OC'ing can be really time consuming and unrewarding at first...

I'm determined to get 3.4GHz which I still believe I can get with this heatsink but I don't expect higher until I'm able to sell it and buy the Xigmatek HS so don't worry, I've not considered giving up just yet...at least not for as long as others keep trying to help me and I have ideas to try. I will admit that my confidence for success is low because I thought I've tried a lot already. So unless everything has to be perfect and only one combination is right for my system then I agree that this will be time consuming...but I don't mind if it means I'll get what I want.

By the way the 5-6-6-18 seems bad...my ram factory specs are 5-4-4-15. Just letting you know in case you didn't(I do have 5-5-5-15 in my signature only because that's what I OC'd with).

Anyway, I'll try your settings right now and EDIT this post shortly...

OK. I made the changes you suggested here and left the other settings as you said in the other thread. I had to set the ram to 5-6-6-15 though as I only had the option of choosing from 9-15 for the RAS Activate.

Starting full load now...

OK...Running the same load for 22 mins. successfully now where before it wouldn't last 3. Btw, what program should I test with? Prime95 is good but slow. The Intel Burn Test is really good and very fast, but temps go crazy on that...+20 more than what I'd get with Prime95 as load.

Screenshots below were taken when under load for 30 mins now.

Awaiting further instructions...