M2N32-SLI Deluxe + Phenom 9950BE 125W Unstable

M

mwoodj

Weaksauce
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Jun 25, 2002
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125
I was hoping that the Phenom 9950BE 125W would work well in my M2N32-SLI Deluxe board. I know the 140W version can be an issue. I have found my system to be completely unstable. I run Gentoo and parts of the desktop (kmix, konsole, etc.) are crashing randomly. I am also getting a random segfault in gcc when compiling wine.

Has anyone used a 9950BE 125W with this board and maybe have some pointers? If I had to upgrade my mobo what would be a recommended ASUS board to use with this CPU? It has to have numerous SATA ports, eSATA, SLI, etc. An upgraded version of the board I have would be good. What would fit that bill right now? Thanks for any assistance.
 
any 790gx or 790fx board are the cats a** right now....asus has good boards as well as gigabyte , msi ,foxconn and dfi....790gx boards range in price from 99.00 [biostar] to about 150.00 for asus..any one of those boards would be an excellent choise...
one thing to consider ive read reports that foxconn may be getting out of the enthuiast board and building only oem boards .....the asus 790gx or fx boards are great boards ...you really cant go wrong with any of the above brands...
 
On that motherboard, anything past BIOS 1802 is supposed to handle the X4 Phenom (non-140w) just fine from what I've seen people saying on other forums. Others have ran into the same issues you have with that board, but after they updated the BIOS, it ran just fine. Some even overclocked quite well too. I'd try a few different BIOS versions before you spend more money. I have the same motherboard, but I never upgraded to a Phenom, so I don't have any personal experience with using one on that platform. It's a really good motherboard though. A darn good layout too.

If everything fails and you can't get it to work, a 790fx looks to be the AMD chipset of choice. It's non-SLI, but it does have crossfire. If you want SLI, another choice you have for the Phenom is the Nvidia 780a boards.. however I don't know much about it's abilities and stability.
 
w1retap said:
On that motherboard, anything past BIOS 1802 is supposed to handle the X4 Phenom (non-140w) just fine from what I've seen people saying on other forums. Others have ran into the same issues you have with that board, but after they updated the BIOS, it ran just fine. Some even overclocked quite well too. I'd try a few different BIOS versions before you spend more money. I have the same motherboard, but I never upgraded to a Phenom, so I don't have any personal experience with using one on that platform. It's a really good motherboard though. A darn good layout too.

If everything fails and you can't get it to work, a 790fx looks to be the AMD chipset of choice. It's non-SLI, but it does have crossfire. If you want SLI, another choice you have for the Phenom is the Nvidia 780a boards.. however I don't know much about it's abilities and stability.
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I was using the 2001 BIOS for some time and I upgraded to the 2101 BIOS early in the week. As the latest BIOS I though it would be my best chance for a simple drop-in experience with the 9950BE. It turns out that 2101 has some issues with a failure to post when the SLI-ready memory setting is enabled on certain memory. The ASUS forums has reports from other users with the same issue. Without that setting my RAM doesn't get set to the right timings and memtest86 produces errors on tests 5 and 8 (the two tests that can generally be an issue with AMD when memory timings are set incorrectly.) Even if I manually set my timings 2101 seemed to have problems. 2001 has been rock solid for me. So I went back to 2001.

I am considering upgrading to the ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe. I wasn't using SLI as I haven't had a native game not run smoothly and games run in wine or cedega do not take advantage of SLI. But I had intended on possibly taking advantage of it in the future. Considering I just upgraded from an 8800GTS 320mb (pre-G92) to a 9800GTX+ 512MB it looks like I will probably just sick with a single card. I can't give up dual-monitor support anyway.
 
Well, just so you know, Nvidia added multi-monitor + SLI support now with their 180.x drivers.

And yes, the M2N32-SLI is very picky about memory timings, at least from my experiences. It's pretty much true for most AM2 boards though.
 
w1retap said:
Well, just so you know, Nvidia added multi-monitor + SLI support now with their 180.x drivers.

And yes, the M2N32-SLI is very picky about memory timings, at least from my experiences. It's pretty much true for most AM2 boards though.
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DO NOT USE the 2101 BOIS..i got lucky with one pair of Crucials to boot ...My patriot and Kinston and Viper 1066's would not work with the SLI Mode Timing..Not even with it disabled ..It would only work in 800/667/533/400 mode..If it was set to 1066 it would fail..


Flash to the 2001 then do as follows before you set manual timing.

CLearCMOS then set the Ram as below.. 1066 mode SLI mode with Dominators 2gigs and use GANGED MODE or AUTO for ganged mode.

aod001-1.jpg


aod002-1.jpg


AUTO ram timing works for 1066 on the 2001 along with manual timing and SLI Modes..CorsairDominator8500/Patriot Viper9600/Crucial Balistics1066kits work with auto or manual..

2101 BIOSStay clear :mad:. very sensitive ,i could only get it to Boot with the 800ram setting.1066 mode would cause a hang @ window screen Xp/Vista or not boot at all.

I can set manual timing @800 or below but its a headache.Im shure the Next Bios will be better..Ive tried both my 9600BE and 9950BE and Now i just retested the Dominators/Vipers/Balistix they run good in Auto timing and @ 5-5-5-15 or higher with 2001 NOT 2101...

Also CPU -to NB volts @ 1.32v for stable ram timing while Overclocking helps with high freqency ram or more than 4gigs.

You may also need to Give the 9950 more volts over stock..its a ASUS Bios thing ..Since it dosnt raise the VID of the CPU above Stock(seperate VID ) you need to give it a little more Vcore...Even my 9600BE uses 1.4volts to run Normal with 64bit Vista..My 9950BE takes 1.46volts to run 3.0Ghz...Also make shure you are running the HT around 1000-2000 max..Nb will or should not exceed 2000mhz...

Hmm ,, Yeah i just flashed between the 2101 and 2001 to double check..The Above is correct info. Also Make shure you have enuff NB Chipset volts 1.3-1.32v will be plenty.. The CPU vcore set to 1.4v read temps and then check stability..It will be slightly higher if read with CPU-..Normal for this Mobo..I dont trust Auto volts with any Mobo.

CPUvcore Nbchipset volts are key to keeping stable..
Auto Vcore can set low /high volts for any Phenom as ive found even my 9950 was alittle overvolted by .025..It does this even with the 9600BE @ 1.25volts as well.

The 2101 is to dang buggy.I was lucky with the ram as i flashed to 2101..it worked by shear luck .

After flashing 2101 to 2001 and back to 2101 i was able to get the Ram and Phenom to act up with 2101 Bios istantly...

Your Problem is the Bios bottom line , so use 2001;)
 
My Asus M2N32SLI-D is still the most unstable POS I have ever had. I cant enable SLi memory without the whole computer going down and needing to send it in for RMA (cant even clear the CMOS or reset). The board has been sent in 2x to Asus RMA and they still have not fixed the problem, and I dare not try to enable it for fear of having to RMA it again. Its a total POS IMO, and so was my previous board from them (nForce2)... constant glitches and driver installation problems... stuff like that.

I dont think Ill be going with Asus next time. I have never had a problem with Giga-bytes... EVER. Rock Solid IMO. Im glad to see them getting in on the x58's... too bad the i7's seem to have a 'phenom flaw' and lots of stability issues with the x58 chipset. So it looks like Ill be holding out for the AM3 boards since those OC's seem very impressive... not that thats everything, but if there is an AMD-AM3/Gigabyte mobo, I think Im there.
 
w1retap said:
And yes, the M2N32-SLI is very picky about memory timings, at least from my experiences. It's pretty much true for most AM2 boards though.
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Mine certainly is. Has driven me nuts a few times. Just wont accept OCZ. And everytime I decide to add more I have to jump though flaming hoops to get it working.

Maybe I should just do human sacrifice like the user guide says.... Its just so messy.

Upping my voltage helped a lot. I am running a 9600BE, is that the same core as the 9950BE?
 
undertheradar said:
My Asus M2N32SLI-D is still the most unstable POS I have ever had. I cant enable SLi memory without the whole computer going down and needing to send it in for RMA (cant even clear the CMOS or reset). The board has been sent in 2x to Asus RMA and they still have not fixed the problem, and I dare not try to enable it for fear of having to RMA it again. Its a total POS IMO, and so was my previous board from them (nForce2)... constant glitches and driver installation problems... stuff like that.

I dont think Ill be going with Asus next time. I have never had a problem with Giga-bytes... EVER. Rock Solid IMO. Im glad to see them getting in on the x58's... too bad the i7's seem to have a 'phenom flaw' and lots of stability issues with the x58 chipset. So it looks like Ill be holding out for the AM3 boards since those OC's seem very impressive... not that thats everything, but if there is an AMD-AM3/Gigabyte mobo, I think Im there.
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+1.. except I just figured I'd sell off everything and start from scratch with an i7 machine. I'm beginning my build late this month, early january.

My Asus M2N32-SLI is still in for RMA, they've had it in and out since last month. The first time it just just down on me and wouldn't power back up. Press the power button and nothing. I first RMA'd my power supply thinking it was that, but the new one did the same thing. No power. I tried different power buttons, tried reseating everything, tried resetting the CMOS, etc. I RMA'd the board, it came back and worked for several hours. Then I was about to post something here on [H] and the computer just powered off again and did the same thing where it wouldn't power back on like it was dead. I RMA'd the board again to Asus, and they've had it for about 2 weeks. I call to check on status updates, and they say it's "in the shop being repaired". Seriously, what the hell. For how many man hours they seem to have spent on it, doesn't it seem cheaper to send a new board out? That's a whole other issue though. They don't make the board anymore and say they have none in stock. I'm quite pissed off at Asus right now. I'll be going with a Gigabyte or MSI board next time.
 
I wouldnt bother with the x58 yet. Thats what I was waiting for as well... but it seems the i7's have the exact same problems as the phenoms did in the start... and many of the boards are 'twitchy' still (some not working at all). Sure, sure, they say that an upcoming BIOS update will fix everything, but that isnt always true. Ive ranted before on how I just want a 'simple' board... and for good reason: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1364950

I was excited that SLi would be possible with the x58's... but as it turns out, my 8800GTS 512's arent going to be supported (only 9-series and 200's) with the drivers. So it looks like Im going to be considering a new vid card setup as well... in which case... I really dont plan on using SLi or even crossfire for that matter... done it 2x in the past, and its more of a PITA than anything. FWIW, Maximum PC that just came out agrees with me as well... unless you want to go higher than what any single card solution can do, using two or more cards is a waste. IME... 100% correct.

And after seeing some of the prelim info on the AM3 chips (whoah overclock!)... maybe a 790/890FX is the way to go... but not Asus this time. Thats for sure. Back to Giga-byte for me, or MSI perhaps. But at least the AM3/AMD chipset and such are proven stable.
 
Well ,, after three weeks of running the 2001 and 2101 and 1903 bioses..

USE the 1903.

the 2101 and 2001 are basically the same Bios and share numurouse bugs. No SLI ram EPP function (although the 2001 it worked for two days then wham no more ) Both would reset Bios options on thier Own sometimes with Blinking Screen and Settings going all wired.),,

Matter of fact they are the only two Bios ive ever seen slowly go bad. Usually a bios will work or it wont..plain buggy,, I only tested them to see if they were good. Sometimes Newr isnt better. i hope they get the next one right because this Mobo Can support the New 45's easy. They need to fix Ram timing again.

Wha tever they did when trying to implement new function of GANGED unGanged made things way out of wack...

The 1903 is the Best by far and Stable. It dose not drop settings or have numurouse problems with ram timing.

Thats all.

gOtVoltage
 
i have your board and was intereted in the same upgrade. searching the amd and asus sites as far as i cansee the 9950 isnt included in the bios support yet. that may be the issue.
 
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