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p5n32-sli se build experience

T

Technophilliac

n00b
Joined
Oct 28, 2005
Messages
11
After my Opty 180 system's MOBO went up in smoke I set out to build the fastest gaming box possible with out upgrading my 7800 GTX SLI set-up. I couldn't justify a new GPU until the next generation of DX10 cards get released. I chose the Asus P5n32-sli SE mobo because it was the only SLI mobo officially supported for Conroe. I realised that the FBS was severely limited in overclocking, so I went with the X6800 due to the unlocked multiplier. Since I needed DDR2 memory I went with Corsair XMS2 DRR 8500 2 gig dual channel kit to try to future proof the memory as long as possible. My old HSF wouldn't seat into the Conroe Mobo so I picked up a Scythe Infinity. The only carry over parts were my OCZ 600 watt powerstream PSU, Raptor 150 gig HD, DVD, CM Stacker 630 case, Dell 3007 LCD and the both 7800 GTX's.

I installed XP pro at default BIOS settings. Everything installed fine until it was time to restart window's. The system would shut down but not be able to reboot. I would be forced to hold in the start button to force a hard reboot. The board wouldn't even reboot after exiting the BIOS. I still installed all XP and driver updates, games and benchmark software. The system proved unstable however as I would experience random lock-ups under load ( Prime95, gaming ) at default speeds.

So I reformatted and re-installed XP.....same issue with the restarts and unstable at stock speeds. The ASUS software was reporting idle CPU temps of 34 C and load temps of 47 C. The system temps were below 40 C. Thinking the passive NB and SB heat sinks may be the issue I added 3 more fans to my case for a total of 6 Yate Loon 120mm fans. Although my system was still unstable at stock speeds I could now reboot the board when exiting BIOS, but the restart option in XP still would hang.

After several days of frustration I finally re-read the memory compatibility section of the Mobo's manual. There was no mention of any 800 speed memory, only 533 and 667. Checking the BIOS the memory was defaulting to 800 MHZ at 1.85 volts. I tried cracking up the voltage slowly all the way to 2.2 volts at 800 MHz but the lock-ups continued. Only after lowering the memory clock to 667 has my system been stable.

Once stable I began to tinker with OCing. The Auto settings for overclocking have be completely useless as they proved unstable. The AI Booster software also has proven to be unstable. I have had minimal success upping the FBS beyond stock speeds, but I haven't truly had time to play with it much. The memory is stuck at 667. If I couldn't unlock the multiplier this board would have been relegated to stock speeds.

The best stable speed I have gotten so far is by changing the multiplier to 13 * 266 for 3466 Mhz at 1.40 volts. Idle temps are 42 C and full load is 55 C. This set-up will run 2 instances of Prime95 for 8+ hours with 3dmark2001 looping. System will boot into windows and run Super PI 32 million at 14 * 266 for 3724MHz but I can't pass Prime95 with up to 1.5 volts on the CPU and I don't feel safe taking the volts up any higher.

While my benchmark scores have greatly improved, most of my games have had less improvement (BF2,CS:S) but still seem smoother. I can't wait for a new official BIOS to hopefully improve FBS and memory speeds.

The reboot/restart issue from windows still persists, I have have been able to work around it.

3dmark 2006 score: 8,285
3dmark 2005 score: 15,709
PCmark 2005 score: 8740

Super Pi 1 million in 14.89 secs
 
wow, that sucks.

It does not make sense that your memory does not run stable at 533 MHz (DDR1066), since that is what it is rated for, and I thought all conroe boards have to support that speed.

So either your motherboard is defective, needs a new BIOS or your RAM is flaky.

have you tried reinstalling with the ram running at DDR667 to see if your windows exit crash is resolved?

good luck
 
oh yeah, that's right, you're using an nvidia chipset on an intel system.

to make matters more confusing, its an Nforce 4 with DDR2 ram...

It should still run DDR2 800 though...

Something tells me it's your RAM or Mobo or a combination of both, which hopefully can be corrected with a BIOS flash.
 
jubrany said:
oh yeah, that's right, you're using an nvidia chipset on an intel system.

to make matters more confusing, its an Nforce 4 with DDR2 ram...

It should still run DDR2 800 though...

Something tells me it's your RAM or Mobo or a combination of both, which hopefully can be corrected with a BIOS flash.
Click to expand...

I knew going into the build that the Nforce4 chip-set was flaky with Intel, but like I said I wanted SLI support. I was hoping that the SE version of the p5n32-sli board was going to fix some of the issues of the first board. The new SLI chip-sets look like they are getting pushed back further and I needed a box immediately. The reason I posted was to possible help someone with this board get a stable system with out having to go through all the re-installs and frustration. Now that it's stable the system simply runs circles around my old Opty 180 at 2.8MHz. The decrease in the memory clock has very very little impact on performance.
 
Im using OCZ PC2-8000 Gold DDR2 (which is similar to the Corsair Ram you listed) on the same motherboard and an E6600 CPU. The only way that my RAM runs @ 800 is with at least 2.1V and the exact timings listed for the chip (which in my case is 5-5-5-15 for the gold series). I called OCZ and they said that this is normal and that their chips are only certified to run at those higher speeds at higher voltage. Also, this board is able to run my RAM at 1000mhz at 2.3V, 100% stable; exactly what the PC2-8000 is rated at.

Knowing this, it might be your RAM (or a faulty board) as this board IS capable to run at those high memory speeds.

~Aux
 
I was experiencing the warm reboot issue also on my P5N32-SLI SE: see this thread
(It turned out to be heat related with my NB/SB since my MB is inverted)

I'm using Corsair XMS 6400 ram at 800mhz and have not had any stability issues running at 800mhz. My Temps are off by 10C according to TAT and Core Temp.
 
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