ASUS Tech Support full of...something

yromj

n00b
Joined
Jul 19, 2004
Messages
11
I've got two brand new ASUS P4C800E-Deluxe motherboards w/ a 3.2E CPU in each one. Both show the CPU as 3.20GHz Pentium 4 @ 2800 MHz. I called ASUS to find out what was going on and the guy told me that they were supposed to be showing up as 2.2s (that's not a typo), so I was "lucky". Now I know that AMD has been playing the "Pentium Rating" game for a while, but I have not heard of Intel doing this. Shouldn't a 3.2GHz CPU be running at 3,200MHz?

I've gone to ASUS's website and downloaded and flashed the latest BIOS, to no avail. Any other tips/tricks will be helpful.

John
 
OK, here's an update. I downloaded the CPU ID utilitiy from Intel. It reports the expected frequency to be 3.2GHz w/ the actual frequency 2.8GHz.

I called ASUS again, and this time I got ahold of a different guy. He said that they are hearing of many cases of this and that Intel has a batch of 3.2s which are multiplier locked at 14 instead of 16. I tend to believe this, since this is what the BIOS is reporting.

I called Intel and their tech told me to try a different CPU. I said that was a really good idea, but @ $279 a pop, I didn't feel like buying more CPUs. He said, "I didn't say go buy one..." I tried to explain to him that I live in Arkansas and that these things aren't plentiful around here. I told him I had two identical systems sitting side-by-side and they were both doing the same thing. He told me to switch CPUs between the machines. I did, wanna guess the results? I still have two beautiful 2.8GHz machines.

John
 
my P4P800se wont supply voltage to the cpu above 1.6 volts.in the bios it says it goes as high as 1.925.but when set any higher then 1.6 it has no effect at all.this is with a woody 1.6a or my new 2.4A Pressy. :( Asus's tech support is non existant.
 
Will the board allow you to adjust the CPU mult? Maybe you got an unlocked chip? At the multiplier does typing the "+" or "-" symbol change the multiplier?

If the tech is right and the multiplier is hose and not where it should be, I don't think you will correct it on your own unless you have a CPU akin to an engineering sample that is not locked.

What is the SL# on this CPU. Can you get me a picture of the CPU? Screen cap of the identifier screen?

If you really have a bad CPU, I think we can get Intel's attention very quickly.
 
Thanks for the replies so far. Right now I'm in the middle of a bunch of finger pointing. Intels' support website (here) seems to describe this problem fairly well and puts it back in the hands of ASUS.

ASUS's latest tech I talked to, the most helpful guy so-far by far, suggested that the latest beta BIOS is supposed to fix this issue. So I'm going to give that a try and see what happens. If the machines puke on the new BIOS, I'll throw a tantrum and get back w/ y'all about how to fix it.

John

Edit: No, I can not adjust the multiplier. The BIOS shows it locked at 14.
 
Thanks for the link on this. This is a new one on me.
 
NP, Kyle. This a new one for me, too. ;) (I'm usually an AMD man.)

I tried the 1017 BIOS, which didn't change anything. I'm waiting for ASUS to call me back. (I won't wait long before I call them back.)

Kyle, others, what's your hunch? Is it the mobo or the CPU?

John
 
I have the same motherboard and used a 3.0E processor in it. I had no problems running stock or overclocking it to 3.5 or higher (sorry cannot remember at this time and am not currently running it). The only thing I can complain about is that it ran hot on air cooling. Trying to decide if I want to buy a watercooling setup or sell the whole unit as is and upgrade the laptop. Sorry to hear about your problems.
 
Well, the saga continues. I contacted ASUS this morning, and they are "looking into it further." I showed them Intel's web page regarding this issue.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

John
 
Many folks have enjoyed ASUS boards over the years. I haven't. I found a few quirks like this with previous boards.

On a side note (not trying to derail this thread) About 4 years ago, I remember speaking to one of my vendors trying to get a new ASUS board. He decided to call ASUS directly and ask a fews questions about when I will be able these ASUS boards. The ASUS rep said, and I am not making this up, "Is your buyer an asian?". The vendor replied "no". Then the ASUS rep replied "then he will have to wait just like the rest". This is the first time I have publicly made this info available.

I never purchased another ASUS product again.

As for your problems, I would consider looking at returning those boards and getting one that will work at you intended.

Seems as if Asus and Intel have a few things to work out.
 
I'm going to try and confirm that the motherboard is indeed the problem today. (I think I've found someone who may have a CPU or motherboard that I can try.) Once I verify that the mobo is the problem, I'll discuss it w/ ASUS one last time. Then I'll see about getting new boards. I just didn't want to have to rebuild the machines again. :mad:

John
 
asus boards tend to come with "hold my hand" bioses that won't let you hurt the machine. things like not letting you select higher voltages, memory timings, etc, or bringing timings down if you go past a certain FSB. I don't think I'd ever buy a new Asus board unless it was for a stock computer that my mom was going to use. Although I'd be pretty annoyed if it was underclocking my new 3.2ghz cpus!
 
nando,

Actually that's why I wanted an ASUS board for these machines. These need to be fast, stable machines, but will not never be "pushed" in terms of overclocking or even excessive tweaking.

ASUS tech support has more or less owned up to the problem. They've stated that they've started receiving more calls now, and are trying to reproduce the problem. It appears to be an issue w/ the Rev. 2.00 boards.

John
 
A small update in case any were wondering.

I've been in contact w/ Asus some more. They sent me a screen shot of their system w/ a 3.4GHz (ES) w/ an unlocked multiplier running on one of their boards. They didn't include the Rev. No. or any other board info w/ the screen shot. I was kind of disappointed that the CPU they tested w/ wasn't any closer to mine than it was since they called me specificly to ask the specs of my CPU so they could match it. I also feel that the new Rev. 2.00 boards are the ones w/ the problems. (They told there have been many other cases of people calling them w/ 3.2s doing the same thing.)

John
 
Do they plan to compensate you for all the testing and information you are giving them? Free boards or cards or something right?
 
Well, I'm sitting here with a 3.2 Ghz that is slower than a 2.8 in benchmarks. That isn't the benchmarks fault, either. Intel is sucking lately

Your case isn't isolated, I have the same issue.
 
Caffeinated,

Is your processor running at 3.2 and just performing badly, or is it underclocking itself. Mine are doing the later.

As for the "thanks for all the research", it would be nice. I doubt it will happen, but it would be nice.

John
 
I used to love Asus for their tech support. Probably built about 20 machines based on A7V and P4PE boards. Their RMA-warranty policy was always outstanding. But with my latest issue - getting temperature readings of a graphic card - I emailed that the program they provided on their webside for download didn't interact with my card as promised. The answer: That program is all we have, you're screwed. Very untypical to not even get an attempt to solve the problem.
 
Well, after a week of no contact from ASUS (I've sent emails and left voice mails), I'm sending the boards back today. The last thing they did was send a screenshot of one of their boards running a 3.4GHz CPU.

John
 
douglas25 said:
You think Asus will get your patronage again? :D
That's the ironic part of this whole process. When I got an individual's name, direct phone number and email address, I thought "Wow, this is cool. If this works out, Asus will have a permanent customer out of me, because I'll have an excellent at the support level."

As it turns out, I doubt very seriously if I'll use an Asus board for a while. (I won't say never, because you never know.) Currently, the machines are running as they should using Abit IC-7Gs. Everything is OK now, thanks in no part to Asus, but in every part to Newegg.com.

Newegg was great through this whole process. I called them shortly after making first contact w/ Intel and Asus. I told them there was a problem, but I didn't know w/ what, yet. They made note of it. When I called back last Friday, and asked for an RMA no. they gave me one instantly for a refund. I waited until Monday afternoon to order the Abits, to give Asus one last chance.

Thanks to everyone here for the help. There is another guy "specmike" at asusforums.org who's fighting a very similar battle right now. So the fight isn't totally over, for Asus.

John
 
Asus support and RMA department sucks. There is no questioning that.

My second RMA'd a7v333 arrived without a single damned jumper on the entire board. Seeing as how they are suppose to test these RMA'd boards before shipping them to someone else, I wonder how they did that with no jumpers. My guess is that someone RMA'd that board, then they threw it in a box and sent it to me with the hope that person didn't know what they were doing.

I called and e-mailed asus to verify that a 2600 (fastest at the time) would work on that a7v333. They said yes. I got the processor. It wouldn't work. I called them back up, then the genius tech support person remembered about revision numbers. Fantastic.

However, all I have ever gotten is asus motherboards. The only reason is at the time of purchase, asus had the fastest mobo on the market. I would get an asus again, as the boards are great, but just don't put yourself in a situation where you have to call them.
 
I've RMA'd two dead boards to Asus without incident. I've never tried to troubleshoot a working one though.

Then again, the second one did explode on me, so forgive me if I'm still wary of them.
 
the p4p800 deluxe for me would only boot with my prescott 2.8e set at 14x100=1400mhz
needless to say that got RMA'd

got an ASUS AI7 now and love it
 
Back
Top