M2N32-SLI Deluxe & AM3 CPU in Windows 7
chrisWhite
Littleton, CO
I'm having trouble with my combination of hardware and OS and I'm running out of ideas with my more-or-less limited knowledge of the hardware side of computing (compared to you guys anyway 
).
I recently picked up a new ATI Radeon HD 5700 series card and went shopping for a new CPU to upgrade as well. My motherboard, the M2N32-SLI Deluxe is getting pretty old at this point but it does support AM2+ CPUs (with a bios update) and I've read that AM3 CPUs are compatible with AM2+ motherboards so I picked up a Phenom II X4 955 thinking it would work out fine.
A fresh Windows install was due as well so I decided to plug the GPU in and wipe the system drive and install Windows 7 (x64) from scratch while I waited for the new CPU to arrive this weekend. Everything worked fine, I was able to install the nforce drivers and I could open the NVIDIA control panel to change the RAID settings just fine.
Then the CPU arrived and I plugged it in, here's how things were looking:
Running just a bit slow. My dad decided to upgrade his computer at the same time, identical setup for motherboard and CPU, he has an NVIDIA GPU and is also running Windows 7 (x64). He's also more of a hardware guy then I am. For him, fixing this was as simple as firing up the NVIDIA system tools and changing the settings and particularly the multiplier from there and everything's working great.
Unfortunately, things aren't working out so well for me. I installed the NVIDIA System tools (v 6.05) and this is what I get whenever I try to run the NVIDIA Control Panel:
I can't seem to get past this, I suspect it's not seeing the forceware motherboard so it's just looking for a GPU? NVIDIA system monitor runs just fine, even NVIDIA's auto driver utility on their site found the motherboard but I seem to be out of luck getting the Control Panel to run.
nHancer gives me this error:
Oddly, the NVIDIA System Monitor runs just fine.
For what it's worth, the settings are correctly setup in the bios.
Any idea what I can do to get the NVIDIA tools to run? Alternatively is there another utility I can use to change the CPU settings?
I'd really rather not end up buying a new motherboard, budget is really tight right now after buying the Radeon (CPU was a graduation gift).
).I recently picked up a new ATI Radeon HD 5700 series card and went shopping for a new CPU to upgrade as well. My motherboard, the M2N32-SLI Deluxe is getting pretty old at this point but it does support AM2+ CPUs (with a bios update) and I've read that AM3 CPUs are compatible with AM2+ motherboards so I picked up a Phenom II X4 955 thinking it would work out fine.
A fresh Windows install was due as well so I decided to plug the GPU in and wipe the system drive and install Windows 7 (x64) from scratch while I waited for the new CPU to arrive this weekend. Everything worked fine, I was able to install the nforce drivers and I could open the NVIDIA control panel to change the RAID settings just fine.
Then the CPU arrived and I plugged it in, here's how things were looking:
Running just a bit slow. My dad decided to upgrade his computer at the same time, identical setup for motherboard and CPU, he has an NVIDIA GPU and is also running Windows 7 (x64). He's also more of a hardware guy then I am. For him, fixing this was as simple as firing up the NVIDIA system tools and changing the settings and particularly the multiplier from there and everything's working great.
Unfortunately, things aren't working out so well for me. I installed the NVIDIA System tools (v 6.05) and this is what I get whenever I try to run the NVIDIA Control Panel:
I can't seem to get past this, I suspect it's not seeing the forceware motherboard so it's just looking for a GPU? NVIDIA system monitor runs just fine, even NVIDIA's auto driver utility on their site found the motherboard but I seem to be out of luck getting the Control Panel to run.
nHancer gives me this error:
Oddly, the NVIDIA System Monitor runs just fine.
For what it's worth, the settings are correctly setup in the bios.
Any idea what I can do to get the NVIDIA tools to run? Alternatively is there another utility I can use to change the CPU settings?
I'd really rather not end up buying a new motherboard, budget is really tight right now after buying the Radeon (CPU was a graduation gift).
0
Comments
Recommendations on a decent motherboard? Preferably not another Asus one?
If you want to use your current DDR2 RAM with the new MB, you will need to buy a AM2+/AM3 MB. If you will buy new DDR3 RAM, you can buy AM3 MB. If you can, I would recommend switching to DDR3 and AM3 at this point. You can sell your current RAM while DDR2 is still in demand and its price is higher than DDR3.
Are there any downsides to leaving my 7600GT in the motherboard but running my ATI with my monitor? It doesn't even need geforce drivers installed for the NVIDIA control panel to pop right up.
Before trying such an ad-hoc solution, are you sure you are using the very latest BIOS of that motherboard, even if it is still beta? There must be other people having the same problem with you.
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20090227050721627&board_id=1&model=M2N32-SLI+Deluxe&SLanguage=en-us&page=4
http://www.overclock.net/amd-motherboards/366989-asus-m2n-sli-m2n32-sli-club.html
Earning me this:
As apposed to this:
Setting the multiplier to a high value in the bios only let's me choose a higher multiplyer in the NVIDIA System Tools and, unfortionatly, those settings don't seem to stick when I pull out my geforce.
Am I fundamentally missing something? Or is there another way to access these settings with a different tool?
Mirage, well, you never know with Asus' site but it appears so. I'm running version 2209 from here.
Nobody makes a mobo that needs a certain brand of GPU to set the right CPU speed. That's an antitrust violation, and would send the FTC crawling up their ass faster than Microsoft in a browser store.
To make sure it's working normally, reboot it (so it goes back to normal), start a Prime95 stress test, and then check CPU-Z again.
If you don't like it clocking down like that, disable Cool n Quiet and C1E tech in the BIOS.
Chris, he's right, you're not likely to get very far overclocking in Windows. Use the BIOS.
Did you also try AMD Overdrive? Does it require an AMD chipset?
PS: To answer myself, yes, AMD Overdrive requires AMD chipset.
I still suggest disabling Cool n Quiet and C1E and see if there's still a problem.
Currently, the bios is set to 20x, but CPU-Z and other utilities tell me it's running at 4.0x.
Lordbean, I'll try it when I get home. Power options are set to high performance, on balanced or power saver I don't get the clock speed settings in the nvidia Control Panel. The problem is that I can't access the control panel without the gforce. I'm experiencing no crashes though.
With my old CPU the nvidia control panel popped right up because it knew there was an nforce motherboard. It's like it doessnt realize the nforce chipset is still there with the new CPU .
Unless you turn CNQ and C1E off, changing the BIOS multiplier won't have an obvious effect unless you trigger a CPU load, at which point the clockspeed will immediately jump to whatever is configured in the BIOs.
There's no need for that utility at all.
I will play more this afternoon after my final.
The NVIDIA thing still seems weird but I've had nothing but trouble with forceware over the last few years.
Also, you guys rock, thanks for the help, I've never really paid attention to this stuff before.
Result: Stuck at x4.0.
Ideas?
Problem can be resolved by
- Updating the BIOS. But I checked and did not see a later version than you have.
- Find a way to make Nvidia System Tools work without an Nvidia GPU. Maybe you can try an older version of Ntune or find a command line parameter, or something like that, to convince Nvidia System Tools start. Or, you can try installing your Nvidia card along with ATI card.
- Finally, buy a new motherboard as you were initially planning.
- I searched but did not find, but you could also find a third-party overclocking tool. There was a Systool software for Athlon 64 but it has not been updated since almost two years.
That is such a shame for Nvidia to lock their software without the GPU, although the software is also for the chipset.
That's what I don't understand, I don't think NVIDIA actually did (intentionally), I think there's some kind of bug since I ran it fine without the NVIDIA GPU before changing the CPU. Edit: granted, I didn't have System Tools installed...Actually...let's see if it runs without System Tools and just the nforce driver.
You can try the followings
- Remove the Nvidia card and reboot if you still have it in the system
- Uninstall Nvidia driver, chipset software, Nvidia System software.
- Boot into safe mode and use Driver Sweeper to clean every trace of all Nvidia tools.
- Reboot into Windows normally and try reinstalling the Nvidia software without the Nvidia graphics card.
System cooling policy should be on Active. Passive attempts to scale the CPU speed back before increasing the fan speed; Active increases the fan speed before scaling the CPU back.
LordBean, changed the option and still no luck.
At x20, your CPU speed would end up being 4000MHz (which is an overclock). For some reason, your motherboard or CPU may not be liking this. Try setting the multiplier to x16, which will produce your stock speed (3.2GHz). If the problem goes away, then you know the cause.
So, it looks like I'm running out of options so let me go back to the question about keeping the 7600GT in the computer but not actually using it, are there real downsides? It doesn't need the gforce drivers installed to work.