*** Official ASUS P5W DH Thread ***

[imported_olaf]

Another thing, regarding the RAM.

I have 2 sticks. Which 2 DIMM slots should I use? The first 2? Or, 1 and 3?

TIA
olaf

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: olaf
Ok I ran memtest for a couple of hours at DDR800 4-4-5-15 (using your settings phile, ordered the same as the BIOS...what should the setting after 15 be? I forget what its called but there is another setting reading from top to bottom) and 2.10 volts. No errors. So, I think the memory is probably ok.

I went ahead and reflashed to 1305 as well.

I looked through the Event Viewer and despite the machine appearing to just insta reboot, there were actually system dumps. Of course I have no idea what to do with them. It looked also like there were ATI CCC errors around the time of the system dumps so I removed the ATI drivers and installed the latest Omega.

So far no issues but, its a really random thing so I am not out of the woods yet. My next move would probably be to remove the Xfi and go with the onboard sound. I dont have fancy speakers just a 2.1, not sure why I even bought an Xfi, it repped an Audigy 2 that was working fine.

Regarding BIOS settings, what do you guys do for the SATA/IDE stuff? I have the non intel SATA controller disabled because I am not using it. I am not running RAID so right now my IDE/SATA settings are all stock. Should I change anything? It has SATA running in 'Standard IDE mode' do I want to change that? The options are RAID and AHPI I think.

olaf

Re: mem timings
Just leave the other settings at default.

Re: ATi CCC
Did you install the .NET 1 and .NET 2 packages from window's update? You need .NET to run CCC.

Re: SATA/IDE
Running in Standard IDE means that certain native SATA features are not used, like NCQ (Native Command Queuing) and hot-plugging. I actually found a guide to switching to AHCI without reinstalling windows. I made the switch out of curiosity, and have found very little performance gain from doing so. (The drive does seem to run smoother, according to the HDTACH benchmark graph.) However, my Raptor does not support NCQ, so I can't be sure what the benefits would be for a drive that suppots NCQ. In any case, here's the link if you wish to try running AHCI, rather than Standard IDE:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t457699.html

Following the instructions carefully. It worked perfectly for me on my P5WDH.

Re: X-Fi vs. Audigy 2
I think such an upgrade will only make sense if you have Dolby 7.1 setup. Otherwise, the Audigy 2 is more than sufficient. There's also the matter that the X-FI seems to cause a lot of problems for many. You may try swapping back to the Audigy 2 to see if any issues are resolved.

-phil

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: olaf
Another thing, regarding the RAM.

I have 2 sticks. Which 2 DIMM slots should I use? The first 2? Or, 1 and 3?

TIA
olaf

To run in dual-mode you need to have a stick in each channel:

Channel #1 = A1 + A2
Channel #2 = B1 + B2

Therefore, you should use A1 + B1

A2 + B2, A1 + B2, and A2 + B1 will also work.

-phil

 

[imported_olaf]

Well goddamn this is irritating me.

I tried the Audigy 2, same problem the random reboots. I removed the sound card altogether (havent enabled onboard audio yet) and so far no reboots.

But. I am trying to run Prime95 and I cant get past the self test. Inevitably I will get:

FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4

This is bone stock settings. Bad CPU? Bad mobo? Bad PSU? I dont think its the ram because of the memtest results, no errors there.

 

[imported_olaf]

Well reboots still happening so I know its not the sound card(s).

I have an old PSU I guess I can test that next. Grr.

 

[phile]

Certainly could be a PSU related problem. Which make and model do you have?

-phil

 

[imported_olaf]

I have a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 in it now, its a new PSU. The older one I have is a Silencer 470 I think.

 

[imported_olaf]

So I turned off the auto reboot and am seeing the BSODs now. I also installed the Microsoft debugger and looked at my crash dumps.

They are mostly page fault in non paged area/win32k.sys

Not really very helpful though, could be a lot of things that cause that.

I also ran Microsofts version of memtest and saw 1 error. So, I guess it could be memory but maybe mobo/psu as well.

I havent tested the other PSU yet.

 

[Black Dragon]

Does the JmraidTool need to be installed on this mobo even if not using that socket on the mobo?

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: Black Dragon
Does the JmraidTool need to be installed on this mobo even if not using that socket on the mobo?

No need to install driver. Disable it in the BIOS if not needed.

-phil

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: olaf
So I turned off the auto reboot and am seeing the BSODs now. I also installed the Microsoft debugger and looked at my crash dumps.

They are mostly page fault in non paged area/win32k.sys

Not really very helpful though, could be a lot of things that cause that.

I also ran Microsofts version of memtest and saw 1 error. So, I guess it could be memory but maybe mobo/psu as well.

I havent tested the other PSU yet.

So, you said your mem passes memtest without any errors? Maybe you should try a format/reinstall.

-phil

 

[imported_olaf]

I posted over at the OCZ forums and the guy there asked me to set my mem voltage to 2.00 so I did that. Prime95 still did not complete its selftest but it did get further than normal, a lot further. At 2.10v it would FATAL ERROR or Page Fault/win32k.sys BSOD within 5 minutes. This one ran for 30+. So I lowered it to 1.90 and will see how that goes.

I had considered a reinstall but I really felt like it was some kind of a hardware issue. Also I had to call them because this is the 2nd time I used my XP Pro license key. If I reinstalled do you think that would happen again?

 

[phile]

If I understand XP licensing correctly, you can activate unlimited times as long as the hardware does not change.

So, have you tried your other PSU? If your mem is passing memtest, and you're getting BSoDs as a result of a voltage difference, that could be a very strong sign that you're having PSU issues.

-phil

 

[imported_olaf]

I havent tried the other PSU. Its in another case and currently cabled up nicely and I am reluctant to disconnect it.

I reinstalled Windows, doing all the update BS now.

 

[imported_olaf]

No BSODs yet but I still can not get Prime95 to complete its initial self test.

 

[phile]

Seriously, I think you NEED to try your other PSU.

-phil

 

[jlobee]

Im having a slight problem with my board (bios 1305), I have a Seagate 320Gb 7200.10 set in Sata ACHI mode, I've also copied the necessary ACHI drivers to a floppy. During the windows install, i specify additional drivers, and my only option is the ICH8R ACHI or RAID drivers, this board has the ICH7R chip.

Needless to say windows doesnt recognize the drive, if i set the drive into Standard mode, windows sees it, but with ACHI and the provided drivers from the CD, theres nothing.

Anyone have any input on this issue?

 

[phile]

Did you use the makedisk program on the CD that came with your board?

-phil

 

[Skott]

When running Ortho's Stress test whats considered more or less officially stable by the OCing community. I have heard all kinds of numbers given, I assume 24 hours problem free is stable, right? Also while running the test my core temps are running between 46C-48C according to Core temp. Is this good or bad? Not sure what the upper limit is before its considered unsafe. Using a Intel E6400. System setup is in my sig.

 

[imported_olaf]

I set the vcore to 1.350 and left the mem voltage at 2.00

I was able to complete the Prime95 self test finally and havent had a BSOD yet. Also I left memtest on all night, no errors. So I think it is safe to say that if there is a hardware problem its not the memory. I still feel like something is wrong though, with one of the components. I just dont know which.

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: Skott
When running Ortho's Stress test whats considered more or less officially stable by the OCing community. I have heard all kinds of numbers given, I assume 24 hours problem free is stable, right? Also while running the test my core temps are running between 46C-48C according to Core temp. Is this good or bad? Not sure what the upper limit is before its considered unsafe. Using a Intel E6400. System setup is in my sig.

Core temps peak below 50C? You're laughing! The time to become concerned is when the core temps get into the mid 60s. Regarding how long to run Orthos, I'm satisfied with just a few hours. I've never had any problems in my every-day use with a 2 hour Orthos stable setup.

-phil

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: olaf
I set the vcore to 1.350 and left the mem voltage at 2.00

I was able to complete the Prime95 self test finally and havent had a BSOD yet. Also I left memtest on all night, no errors. So I think it is safe to say that if there is a hardware problem its not the memory. I still feel like something is wrong though, with one of the components. I just dont know which.

If you can't run the OCZ Platinums at their rated 2.1v, yet they are stable at 2.0, I'd be suspicious of the PSU.

-phil

 

[Skott]

I'm using the Corsair XMS2 6400C4 RAM. I know their timings are 4-4-4-12 but trying to find their rated voltage. I thought I read somewhere its 2.1v but not sure and cant find it again. Anyone know?

 

[jlobee]

I did use the makedisk program on the CD, but I solved my problem another way.

The makedisk program defaults to iaStor_ICH8R when windows checks the floppy, if you check txtsetup.oem, you'll see at the top [Defaults] scsi = iaStor_ICH8R, so I had to change this to scsi = iaAHCI_ICH7R, which solved the problem.

Now does everyones Asus CD have this behavior or just mine? If someone could check to make sure.

Another thing, does anyone know what the ADH header is for (next to the 2 USB headers), it isn't anywhere in the manual or on the ASUS site.

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: Skott
I'm using the Corsair XMS2 6400C4 RAM. I know their timings are 4-4-4-12 but trying to find their rated voltage. I thought I read somewhere its 2.1v but not sure and cant find it again. Anyone know?

http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/products/specs/TWIN2X2048-6400C4.pdf

2.1v it is.

-phil