That sucks Jim. That must be some lousy ram i'd say. Got no other DDR2 at all?
Cooling is crucial on Conroes. Do not cheat on cooling if you intend to do any overclock. 1.55 volts or more is really getting toasty even on semi-good cooling like the Big Typhoon. Idle is on the other hand very cool. Like in the low 30's but loaded temps after a couple of hours are in the mid fifties. Remember, at least the 4mb cache cpu's start to throttle at 65c.
Currently, there are 2 hsf's that's competing. The Tunic Tower and Scythe Infinity. None of them can be found here in faroffistan.
Hi Mack,
No other DDR2 as I'm new to the platfomr. I actually got one of the sticks to work, it just hated moderate to high volts, anything over 2.05v and it errors. The other stick is just bad so rma'ing it.
Anyways with the one stick I managed to get the fsb of the cpu up to 438fsb before I hit the wall. This gives me 3.06Ghz on the cpu so it's not too bad for a 6300. This is at 1.4v
As for cooling everything is water cooled by my Zalman Reserator and a desktop fan (when required) so temps are well under controlled.
I'm sure the cpu can go higher but I think I need more MCH voltage and for Asus to release a bios that sorts out the wierd strap/ram divider/timings issue. Then we should be able to go higher than a 440 fsb.
Also sli with the hacked 85.96 drivers works well on this board, at least it does for me.
Are you sure it's cpu and not the board, 405fsb seems rather low? There is fsb wall on some of these boards at around 400fsb. This can be got round by playing with the spd timings & dividers in the bios which seem to sometimes go a bit whacky once over 400fsb. What bios are you using?
Been trying the last 2 bioses. 385 is the limit if you enter timings manually. 405 if it's set at auto. I'm expecting a new hardware revision of this board pretty soon.
Hmm I'm on 1101 and not having those issues. I take it you've seen this thread which seems to have a solution for your problem? Also I'll have a look at what revision my board is when I get home tonight as it would be interesting to see if we have different versions.
Already tried that and it helped a little. I think cooling is the issue though. I'm gonna see if i can make a somewhat portable watercooling unit to keep the temps in check.
Already tried that and it helped a little. I think cooling is the issue though. I'm gonna see if i can make a somewhat portable watercooling unit to keep the temps in check.
My northbridge is watercooled so it's pencil mod trick for me once I get my ram back from RMA. GOEAY rev so only 1.65v at present.
Hmmm there's something really wierd going on with this board. I ended up getting some crap crucial ram while awaiting Corsair rma. However the shop I got the Corsair from had sold out of the XMS 5400 C4 stuff so I got some Geil Ultra 6400 c4.
Now the max I can overclock the fsb is about 350 with ram at DDR 600. If I put the crap Crucial in I can go all the way to 430 5,5,5,12 again as I could with the Corsair.
What the hell is going on I don't understand? If I revert back to stock clocks the Geil is perfectly happy at DDR800, 4,4,4,12. Overclock the fsb to 400 & it cant even do DDR 600 ,5,5,5,12 but the Corsair & Crucial can.
Surely the ram doesn't know what divider it's on as it's the board that is dictating the fsb that ram is running at??
I think i need to find a table to tell me what divider is what at a given speed with this board & find out what my Geil is happy with. i.e. at 350fsb, cpuz shows the ram at 1:1 which i don't understand.
The sooner we get a decent Conroe board the better!
I'm working on the P5B series and except for a few divider bugs, it's a stellar board. E6300, P5B and some DDR800 ram is the best budget build right now.
Yes, some ram just doesn't like 1:1 and some doesn't like dividers. It's a pretty big issue actually.
Unfortunately I wanted one with dual full speed pci-e slots so i could sli otherwise I would have gone with a P5B. It's just bizarre that something happens to the dividers once you've gone past 350fsb that causes some ram to have hard lock issues.
Looks like I'll have to sell this Geil & get some more Corsair XMS 5400 C4 stuff or wait till a better board turns up.
I personally think that this memory and divider/fsb issue is something to do with the bios myself. I've run into stange issues with memory timings too, with this relatively cheap G. Skill DDR2 800 ZX stuff I'm using on my P5W DH. I can boot with manually set timings up to around 370 fsb, then it goes flaky at anything over 370 It won't even get to a post screen with manual timings of any sort set in bios past 375 fsb and between 371-375, it isn't stable at all. But I can set the timings to "Set by SPD" and have it run stable at 400 fsb with my e6600. And I think that is about all my 6600 is good for, because I had to bump vcore to 1.525 to get totally stable there in both F@H and in 3DMark (whichever flavor). I had the fsb even higher with my e6300, but at not nearly the clocks of my 6600.
The ram I'm using shows as being programmed for 5-5-5-15 timings at DDR2 800 by cpu-z but this mobo sets 5-6-6-18 when set to auto.
I guess in the fairly near future I am going to invest in some higher performing ram for this system and see if I can get the timings tightened up some more when set to auto. I've thought about doing some testing on this ZX ram and see what I could tighten the timings to, but with this mobo I would be leaving quite a bit of performance on the table if I backed the fsb down to where I can manually set the ram timings. So it's been kind of pointless for me to even explore what this ZX can even do.
As far as cooling goes, my XP90-C with a 92mm high speed Delta 3 blade is doing an excellent job of cooling this proc. My temps are running at 39-42 C with 2 folding clients running at it's present speeds and my system (sb actually) temp is running 39-41 C using the Asus monitoring software. I did replace the tim that came from Asus on the sb with AS Ceramique and I'm using a Swifty MCX159-Cu on the nb instead of the heatpipe that came with this board. IMO the XP90-C is a much better choice than the Zalman, Mack. I have a 9500 myself and I've seen this XP90-C setup I have outperform the Zalman on 2 different systems now, by quite a bit. And another thing, since I installed the e6600 just last Tuesday, the AS5 isn't even fully cured yet so I expect to see another 1-2 C drop in loaded temps over the coming week or so.
I personally think that this memory and divider/fsb issue is something to do with the bios myself. I've run into stange issues with memory timings too, with this relatively cheap G. Skill DDR2 800 ZX stuff I'm using on my P5W DH. I can boot with manually set timings up to around 370 fsb, then it goes flaky at anything over 370 It won't even get to a post screen with manual timings of any sort set in bios past 375 fsb and between 371-375, it isn't stable at all. But I can set the timings to "Set by SPD" and have it run stable at 400 fsb with my e6600. And I think that is about all my 6600 is good for, because I had to bump vcore to 1.525 to get totally stable there in both F@H and in 3DMark (whichever flavor). I had the fsb even higher with my e6300, but at not nearly the clocks of my 6600.
The ram I'm using shows as being programmed for 5-5-5-15 timings at DDR2 800 by cpu-z but this mobo sets 5-6-6-18 when set to auto.
I guess in the fairly near future I am going to invest in some higher performing ram for this system and see if I can get the timings tightened up some more when set to auto. I've thought about doing some testing on this ZX ram and see what I could tighten the timings to, but with this mobo I would be leaving quite a bit of performance on the table if I backed the fsb down to where I can manually set the ram timings. So it's been kind of pointless for me to even explore what this ZX can even do.
Yep thats exactly the same issue I'm seeing Mudd, I'm now at 430fsb with SPD set to Auto & the Divider set to Auto. CPUZ say the ram is on a 4:3 ratio and the timings are 5,6,6,18. Definitely not what its programmed for.
It's just odd that it only does it with certain makes of ram. I agree that I think it's got to a be a bios issue.
Yep thats exactly the same issue I'm seeing Mudd, I'm now at 430fsb with SPD set to Auto & the Divider set to Auto. CPUZ say the ram is on a 4:3 ratio and the timings are 5,6,6,18. Definitely not what its programmed for.
It's just odd that it only does it with certain makes of ram. I agree that I think it's got to a be a bios issue.
Now I've been able to run manually set dividers with this ZX at high fsb speeds, but even with the dividers set to manual and the board running it at the 4:3 ratio and 400 fsb or with it at 400 fsb and setting it to 1:1, the ram timings never change, always set to 5-6-6-18. I just hope that Asus can come up with a fix pretty soon, as this is irritating the hell out of me.
Hey Christof, how are you? I'm not using a BT on my system; I'm using an XP90-C myself and since I changed the stock nb heatpipe with a Swiftech MCX159 Cu I don't need the mobo fan that came with my board.
That looks like a good little N/B cooler , I have asked hundereds of people (ok! like four) And none of them seem to know if the optional fan messes with the big typhoons airflow.
you guys have a good little forum here. I think i will go now and have a look around.
0
LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited October 2006
none of them seem to know if the optional fan messes with the big typhoons airflow
? Please be a little less vague and I'm sure I can help you here. I've got a lot of experience with Typhoons in three different type cases and three different CPUs.
? Please be a little less vague and I'm sure I can help you here. I've got a lot of experience with Typhoons in three different type cases and three different CPUs.
Well the P5w deluxe comes with an optional northbridge fan which is only ment to be used when the cpu has been watercooled or used with a passive cooler because it restricts airflow of any 'Air' cpu cooling system.
I was wondering if the Big typhoon would be restricted by the optional northbridge fan.
I don't think it would have any clearance issues and it shouldn't disrupt the airflow regime through the heatsink I don't think. But the fan wash blowing through the heatsink should provide plenty of airflow around the nb heatpipe itself. What you might try and do with that fan is to set it up to blow across the southbridge heatsink as that beggar gets pretty hot. And you can get much better cooling on the sb sink by removing the shiny piece of aluminum with the Asus logo from the top of the southbridge sink also. It just pries off easily.
To tell the truth, I don't know if there are aftermarket heatsinks available for the southbridge. But you can measure the hole-hole distance on the mounting holes and see if there are any available. But I don't think it would be necessary to replace it. Just replacing the stock thermal interface material with a premium compound like Ceramique and taking that cover off, combined with decent ventilation in your case should be sufficient, IMO.
As far as taking the sb heatsink off, it is pretty easy to do. It mounts with plastic pushpins and all you have to do is squeeze the pin together on the back side of the board to where you can slip the hooks through the holes. Then carefully pry it off the southbridge, protecting the mobo while doing so. Be sure to clean all the old TIM off of both the sb heatsink and the sb chip and remove that cover off the hs, then apply some premium TIM and replace the sink on the sb chip.
To tell the truth, I don't know if there are aftermarket heatsinks available for the southbridge. But you can measure the hole-hole distance on the mounting holes and see if there are any available. But I don't think it would be necessary to replace it. Just replacing the stock thermal interface material with a premium compound like Ceramique and taking that cover off, combined with decent ventilation in your case should be sufficient, IMO.
As far as taking the sb heatsink off, it is pretty easy to do. It mounts with plastic pushpins and all you have to do is squeeze the pin together on the back side of the board to where you can slip the hooks through the holes. Then carefully pry it off the southbridge, protecting the mobo while doing so. Be sure to clean all the old TIM off of both the sb heatsink and the sb chip and remove that cover off the hs, then apply some premium TIM and replace the sink on the sb chip.
Yeah i just got some themal paste i was about to start , what cleaner do u recommend for the old thermal paste?
Just a thought about memory timings.
Any of you guys have a high speed ocilliscope around?
It may be that the wave for is slightly different when you change dividers.
Maybe they lower the freq by just adding space between the peaks and not really spreading the waveform out.
Is it the mobo signal causing problems, or is it the on-memory signal processign that is having trouble?
This isn't unique to these mobo or DDR2 memory, but it is a bigger issue. I am sure that as we go faster it will be even more of a problem.
Comments
Hi Mack,
No other DDR2 as I'm new to the platfomr. I actually got one of the sticks to work, it just hated moderate to high volts, anything over 2.05v and it errors. The other stick is just bad so rma'ing it.
Anyways with the one stick I managed to get the fsb of the cpu up to 438fsb before I hit the wall. This gives me 3.06Ghz on the cpu so it's not too bad for a 6300. This is at 1.4v
As for cooling everything is water cooled by my Zalman Reserator and a desktop fan (when required) so temps are well under controlled.
I'm sure the cpu can go higher but I think I need more MCH voltage and for Asus to release a bios that sorts out the wierd strap/ram divider/timings issue. Then we should be able to go higher than a 440 fsb.
Also sli with the hacked 85.96 drivers works well on this board, at least it does for me.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1650795&postcount=226
My northbridge is watercooled so it's pencil mod trick for me once I get my ram back from RMA. GOEAY rev so only 1.65v at present.
Now the max I can overclock the fsb is about 350 with ram at DDR 600. If I put the crap Crucial in I can go all the way to 430 5,5,5,12 again as I could with the Corsair.
What the hell is going on I don't understand? If I revert back to stock clocks the Geil is perfectly happy at DDR800, 4,4,4,12. Overclock the fsb to 400 & it cant even do DDR 600 ,5,5,5,12 but the Corsair & Crucial can.
Any ideas Mack??
I think i need to find a table to tell me what divider is what at a given speed with this board & find out what my Geil is happy with. i.e. at 350fsb, cpuz shows the ram at 1:1 which i don't understand.
The sooner we get a decent Conroe board the better!
Yes, some ram just doesn't like 1:1 and some doesn't like dividers. It's a pretty big issue actually.
Looks like I'll have to sell this Geil & get some more Corsair XMS 5400 C4 stuff or wait till a better board turns up.
cpuz shows the ram at 300fsb on a 4:3 divider.
The ram I'm using shows as being programmed for 5-5-5-15 timings at DDR2 800 by cpu-z but this mobo sets 5-6-6-18 when set to auto.
I guess in the fairly near future I am going to invest in some higher performing ram for this system and see if I can get the timings tightened up some more when set to auto. I've thought about doing some testing on this ZX ram and see what I could tighten the timings to, but with this mobo I would be leaving quite a bit of performance on the table if I backed the fsb down to where I can manually set the ram timings. So it's been kind of pointless for me to even explore what this ZX can even do.
As far as cooling goes, my XP90-C with a 92mm high speed Delta 3 blade is doing an excellent job of cooling this proc. My temps are running at 39-42 C with 2 folding clients running at it's present speeds and my system (sb actually) temp is running 39-41 C using the Asus monitoring software. I did replace the tim that came from Asus on the sb with AS Ceramique and I'm using a Swifty MCX159-Cu on the nb instead of the heatpipe that came with this board. IMO the XP90-C is a much better choice than the Zalman, Mack. I have a 9500 myself and I've seen this XP90-C setup I have outperform the Zalman on 2 different systems now, by quite a bit. And another thing, since I installed the e6600 just last Tuesday, the AS5 isn't even fully cured yet so I expect to see another 1-2 C drop in loaded temps over the coming week or so.
Yep thats exactly the same issue I'm seeing Mudd, I'm now at 430fsb with SPD set to Auto & the Divider set to Auto. CPUZ say the ram is on a 4:3 ratio and the timings are 5,6,6,18. Definitely not what its programmed for.
It's just odd that it only does it with certain makes of ram. I agree that I think it's got to a be a bios issue.
Now I've been able to run manually set dividers with this ZX at high fsb speeds, but even with the dividers set to manual and the board running it at the 4:3 ratio and 400 fsb or with it at 400 fsb and setting it to 1:1, the ram timings never change, always set to 5-6-6-18.
Thanks
you guys have a good little forum here. I think i will go now and have a look around.
Well the P5w deluxe comes with an optional northbridge fan which is only ment to be used when the cpu has been watercooled or used with a passive cooler because it restricts airflow of any 'Air' cpu cooling system.
I was wondering if the Big typhoon would be restricted by the optional northbridge fan.
I need to finish my case off today , but im stuck on the internet lol
As far as taking the sb heatsink off, it is pretty easy to do. It mounts with plastic pushpins and all you have to do is squeeze the pin together on the back side of the board to where you can slip the hooks through the holes. Then carefully pry it off the southbridge, protecting the mobo while doing so. Be sure to clean all the old TIM off of both the sb heatsink and the sb chip and remove that cover off the hs, then apply some premium TIM and replace the sink on the sb chip.
Yeah i just got some themal paste i was about to start , what cleaner do u recommend for the old thermal paste?
Any of you guys have a high speed ocilliscope around?
It may be that the wave for is slightly different when you change dividers.
Maybe they lower the freq by just adding space between the peaks and not really spreading the waveform out.
Is it the mobo signal causing problems, or is it the on-memory signal processign that is having trouble?
This isn't unique to these mobo or DDR2 memory, but it is a bigger issue. I am sure that as we go faster it will be even more of a problem.