*** Official ASUS P5W DH Thread ***

[phile]

Originally posted by: djinnuk

Originally posted by: djinnuk
Guys need some help, just built a new rig, with a 7950gx2 superclocked EVGA card in it, I notice with CPU-Z and Nvidias driver in the control panel that my PCI-Express GFX port is only running at 8x and not 16x as it should be. I've tried everything I can think of to remedy this situation: Swapped from orange Pci-e slot to black one, still 8x and back to orange one, still 8x. Tried resetting CMOS removing card unplugging pc for 5 mins, re powering up and setting all bios settings again, still 8X!
Im at my whits end with it, The manual states that the PCI-E slots will switch to 8x if you use the 2nd slot... but im not! Anyone else with a P5W DH and a 7950gx2 confirm that they are getting 16x pci-e under cpu-z please.

So still no help with this matter then?

All I can think to suggest is that you install the latest 975X chipset drivers, available at Intel's site:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts...ct_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2261&lang=eng

Flash to the latest BIOS (1407), as well.
ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5W%20DH%20Deluxe/P5WDH1407.zip

-phil

 

[djinnuk]

Originally posted by: phile

Originally posted by: djinnuk

Originally posted by: djinnuk
Guys need some help, just built a new rig, with a 7950gx2 superclocked EVGA card in it, I notice with CPU-Z and Nvidias driver in the control panel that my PCI-Express GFX port is only running at 8x and not 16x as it should be. I've tried everything I can think of to remedy this situation: Swapped from orange Pci-e slot to black one, still 8x and back to orange one, still 8x. Tried resetting CMOS removing card unplugging pc for 5 mins, re powering up and setting all bios settings again, still 8X!
Im at my whits end with it, The manual states that the PCI-E slots will switch to 8x if you use the 2nd slot... but im not! Anyone else with a P5W DH and a 7950gx2 confirm that they are getting 16x pci-e under cpu-z please.

So still no help with this matter then?

All I can think to suggest is that you install the latest 975X chipset drivers, available at Intel's site:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts...ct_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2261&lang=eng

Flash to the latest BIOS (1407), as well.
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5W%20DH%20Deluxe/P5WDH1407.zip">ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5W%20DH%20Deluxe/P5WDH1407.zip</a>

-phil

Both of which have been done! Im not so sure that CPU-Z is reporting the correct PCI-E speed properly as I notice under the Nvidia Control Panel that it states Pci Express x16, also my scores in 3dmark06 are quite healthy (just broke the 10k barrier 10023), my EVGA superclocked card is terrible at overclocking max it can do is 560/750, have seen some standard 7950gx2 cards doing 630/800, I thinks im gonna try and get a replacement.

 

[phile]

Have you tried seeing what Everest says? The current status of the pci-e port will be displayed on the Motherboard/Chipset page.

-phil

 

[mikepaul]

The CMOS clear got me started again, but saving my BIOS settings and hitting F10 locked it up. Once again, no activity after it reset itself, or after I powered off/on.

So the plan is to find 1305 (only copy I had was n that machine), prep my USB drive on another machine, and see if another CMOS clear can start a reflash. I THINK I saw another option instead of F1 for Setup, maybe to load the BIOS.

Where did all my good karma go?...

 

[mikepaul]

OK, I'm back in business. Thankfully the Germans kept good links to old BIOS versions.

Oddly, 1407 had also de-listed my IDE DVD drive as a possible boot device. As soon as 1305 went back in, it was seen and available to boot from.

I'm going to call back to ASUS tomorrow, and tell them that at least one MB in the field hates 1407. I mighht even volunteer to debug the fatal flaw, now that I know that doing a reflash is possible even in troubled times. Removing the video card to get atthe battery is a pain, though.

I'm not worried that those spare BIOS chips they're sending me are 1407, but the long-term need to have them may be limited...

 

[Gyromite]

I've gotta give props to Phil.

Replacing the power supply fixed everything...for some reason that's beyond my comprehension. My new Enermax Liberty 620W should have juice for today and beyond though.

Last question for Mr. Know-It-All Phile, Got any suggestions where I can tell Antec to stick their PSUs? I can think of at least 2 :Q

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: Gyromite
I've gotta give props to Phil.

Replacing the power supply fixed everything...for some reason that's beyond my comprehension. My new Enermax Liberty 620W should have juice for today and beyond though.

Last question for Mr. Know-It-All Phile, Got any suggestions where I can tell Antec to stick their PSUs? I can think of at least 2 :Q

Did you have a NeoHE? I read quite a bit about the early series causing a lot of problems. As for me being a know-it-all, I wish. Hehe. I've learned more about this board just observing others' experiences, rather than my own. Knock wood, I haven't had a single issue with my P5WDH... yet.

-phil

 

[salaz]

Yes, there is an extremely annoying problem with the Antec NEO line of power supplies.

I've wasted hours trying to figure out why my board kept stopping at 34 min mark trying to install Windows XP. Sometimes it would work without installing the Intel chipset drivers, but once installed and computer restarted, it would stay at the Windows XP logo forever. I thought it was memory..I tried everything and was ready to returned everything until someone at the Asus website forum pointed an issue with my power supply , Antec NEO.

I've replaced it with an Antec Trio and everthing is working flawlessly. Talk about going through a nightmare. Asus should list all the certified components for their motherboards. Don't want to go through that again..

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: mikepaul
OK, I'm back in business. Thankfully the Germans kept good links to old BIOS versions.

Oddly, 1407 had also de-listed my IDE DVD drive as a possible boot device. As soon as 1305 went back in, it was seen and available to boot from.

I'm going to call back to ASUS tomorrow, and tell them that at least one MB in the field hates 1407. I mighht even volunteer to debug the fatal flaw, now that I know that doing a reflash is possible even in troubled times. Removing the video card to get atthe battery is a pain, though.

I'm not worried that those spare BIOS chips they're sending me are 1407, but the long-term need to have them may be limited...

Interesting. I may be wrong, but it doesn't sound like 1407 was the problem, but rather a bad flash from the EzFlash app. If you have a floppy drive, try reflashing using AFUDOS. That seems to remain the most reliable flashing method. I've kept a floppy drive for that very reeason, alone.

-phil

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: salaz
Yes, there is an extremely annoying problem with the Antec NEO line of power supplies.

I've wasted hours trying to figure out why my board kept stopping at 34 min mark trying to install Windows XP. Sometimes it would work without installing the Intel chipset drivers, but once installed and computer restarted, it would stay at the Windows XP logo forever. I thought it was memory..I tried everything and was ready to returned everything until someone at the Asus website forum pointed an issue with my power supply , Antec NEO.

I've replaced it with an Antec Trio and everthing is working flawlessly. Talk about going through a nightmare. Asus should list all the certified components for their motherboards. Don't want to go through that again..

I think they resolved whatever issues were plaguing the NeoHE line, in the lastest revision. It's a shame that they let loose such a POS, as they have a well-deserved rep for making quality PSUs. I've used quite a few, and never had any problems with them.

-phil

 

[salaz]

I bought the Antec NEO HE about 5 months ago, if there is such a flaw, would Antec replace it?

 

[phile]

It's definitely worth looking into. My understanding is that there were definitely known issues with some of these PSUs.

-phil

 

[salaz]

I wished I'd had known earlier - I've gone through three motherboards with this power supply in the past months, thinking that the motherboards were bad, i've replace each motherboard, only to have random problems all the time. I never suspected the power supply..how could I have known that?

 

[Canai]

Thanks for the advice Phil. I think I may disable the remote and such tomorrow. I just spent a good four hours working on putting new cooling stuffs into my case, and now my cpu / mobo temps are down into the 20s. I now hit 45 only at full load with the CPU and the mobo never breaks 35. Good deal if you ask me. I know this is kinda off topic but is there any way to moniter RAM temps? It's Crucial XMS2 so it's not some random cheap stuff I found lying on the ground or anything heh. I think I'm going to go run a 10% OC before bed and see how it goes.

 

[djinnuk]

Originally posted by: phile
Have you tried seeing what Everest says? The current status of the pci-e port will be displayed on the Motherboard/Chipset page.

-phil

Ok after having spoke to ASUS directly they inform me that there is a problem with P5W DH and the Geforce 7950GX2 boards and that they wont run properly at 16x PCI-E, I have confirmed this with Everest which states 16x PCI running @ 8x mode. So there you have it guys im afraid that 8x PCI-E mode must be having a detrimental effect on the 7950GX2's performance, seeing as its 2 cards sharing 1 port. I have also noticed that if you increase the PCI-E speed under BIOS it makes a big improvement to the performance, Really dissapointed with this motherboard now though...

 

[mikepaul]

Originally posted by: phile

Originally posted by: mikepaul
OK, I'm back in business. Thankfully the Germans kept good links to old BIOS versions.

Oddly, 1407 had also de-listed my IDE DVD drive as a possible boot device. As soon as 1305 went back in, it was seen and available to boot from.

I'm going to call back to ASUS tomorrow, and tell them that at least one MB in the field hates 1407. I mighht even volunteer to debug the fatal flaw, now that I know that doing a reflash is possible even in troubled times. Removing the video card to get atthe battery is a pain, though.

I'm not worried that those spare BIOS chips they're sending me are 1407, but the long-term need to have them may be limited...

Interesting. I may be wrong, but it doesn't sound like 1407 was the problem, but rather a bad flash from the EzFlash app. If you have a floppy drive, try reflashing using AFUDOS. That seems to remain the most reliable flashing method. I've kept a floppy drive for that very reeason, alone.

-phil

Here's my thinking: since 1407 restarted after I reset but failed after I set the BIOS options the way I wanted, something about THEM is probably the problem. Both times I reset, 1407 ran again. However, I haven't tried reflashing 1407, going with default options, and seeing if the computer continues to run. It would be odd that a reflash to 1305 went so well if the flashing procedure is flakey. I had even done 1405, noticed some flaws probably unrelated to that, and gone back to 1305 last week.

Now, it's not like I set anyything strange. No OC; RAM @ 800; SPD off to 4-4-4-12, stuff like that. Since those same settings work fine under 1305 (and I did set 1305 up exactly like I did for 1407) I'm going with my thinking until further notice.

Maybe I'll have better luck next revision...

 

[FiLeZz]

Originally posted by: djinnuk

Originally posted by: phile

Originally posted by: djinnuk

Originally posted by: djinnuk
Guys need some help, just built a new rig, with a 7950gx2 superclocked EVGA card in it, I notice with CPU-Z and Nvidias driver in the control panel that my PCI-Express GFX port is only running at 8x and not 16x as it should be. I've tried everything I can think of to remedy this situation: Swapped from orange Pci-e slot to black one, still 8x and back to orange one, still 8x. Tried resetting CMOS removing card unplugging pc for 5 mins, re powering up and setting all bios settings again, still 8X!
Im at my whits end with it, The manual states that the PCI-E slots will switch to 8x if you use the 2nd slot... but im not! Anyone else with a P5W DH and a 7950gx2 confirm that they are getting 16x pci-e under cpu-z please.

From what I have seen this 8x is normal on this card.

I have had the card in many boards.
p5b -p5w dh, even Nvidia SLI amd boards. No matter what board it is in it links at 8x.. from what I have read it is due to each of the cards running at 8x.

Also one thing I have noticed is the nvidia driver or 3dmark06 before I run the test I turn off SLI and goto single video mode. then change it right back to SLI it will make the benchmark higher.. the first test will start out at like 60fps.. if it is running in the 30 fps you know what to do.. just take it out of SLI then put it back in and up the scores go.

good luck and as I said the 8x is normal for this card as it is 2 8x cards on a 16x slot it even does it in nvidia boards.


So still no help with this matter then?

All I can think to suggest is that you install the latest 975X chipset drivers, available at Intel's site:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts...ct_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2261&lang=eng

Flash to the latest BIOS (1407), as well.
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5W%20DH%20Deluxe/P5WDH1407.zip"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5W%20DH%20Deluxe/P5WDH1407.zip">ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb.........5W%20DH%20Deluxe/P5WDH1407.zip</a></a>

-phil

Both of which have been done! Im not so sure that CPU-Z is reporting the correct PCI-E speed properly as I notice under the Nvidia Control Panel that it states Pci Express x16, also my scores in 3dmark06 are quite healthy (just broke the 10k barrier 10023), my EVGA superclocked card is terrible at overclocking max it can do is 560/750, have seen some standard 7950gx2 cards doing 630/800, I thinks im gonna try and get a replacement.

 

[yessir]

Originally posted by: phile

Originally posted by: yessir

Originally posted by: phile
Your AS5 sounds fine. The stuff lasts for years, ayway.

-phil

Thanks Phil...I could not go any better than about 66 C at 2.13 Ghz at idle even after re-set AS5, etc..

Interestingly, when I was checking newegg for zalman, someone had a review within quotes...
"I have a Core 2 Duo E6400. With the stock heatsink/fan I was idling at 65C and under load around 70-75C. Yes, it sucked!!! I bought this heatsink and some Arctic Cooler compound. Right when I booted up I used Core Temp to check the cpu temp. BOOM! I now idle at 33-35C and under load it never goes over 47C".

Regards

This is why I'm such a proponent of aftermarket coolers, even for people running at stock. The stock cooler is badly designed, and very difficult to properly install. There are so many good coolers to choose from, most of which will yield significantly cooler temps than the stock cooler.

-phil

Phil and all,

Just to finish up on this core 2 duo temperature issue... Even after the 4th try I could go no better than 64C average on stock cooler. I got my 6400 RMA'd with Intel and with Zalman 9500AT(got this due to the 4-pin fan), I am finally getting 39 C when clocked to 2.8ghz at idle.

Thanks again to all.

Regads

 

[Canai]

So I put a Scythe Infinity 1000 on my E6600 last night and got my idle temps down to about 25º idle according to Everest. I also put a bunch of high CFM fans into the case and got the mobo idle down to about 29º. So I threw on about a 10% OC at 291x9, and I ran burn in testing and the cpu peaked at 48º after an hour and mobo hit 35º. In Speedfan, temp1 was 40º, temp2 was 126.5º, and temp3 was 127.5º! They stayed there, even at idle. The comp was still rock solid, ran CoH and GRAW and all my other games just fine, and Everest and Coretemp didn't say anything about a raised temp, just speedfan and ATI Tray Tools.

So I guess my question is where are the temp2 and temp3 thermistors? Or are they just figments of my imagination?

 

[phile]

You're not the only one getting ridiculous readings from speedfan. I haven't used it since it caused a disastrous BSoD on my last rig. Everest is all you need, anyway.

-phil

 

[Canai]

Hmm well now that I have nice fans with hardware adjustment knobs I really don't need Speedfan anymore, so if it's just a Speedfan issue I'll uninstall it when I get home tonight.

Any recomendations on where I can get Everest for cheaper than on their site, or is that the only place to get it? (I'm running the trial version right now).

 

[phile]

I don't think it's available cheaper, anywhere else.

-phil

 

[The111]

I am a total RAID newbie, and also a SATA newbie, so please forgive the following questions. On my current new build with the P5W-DH, I have one internal drive only: a 250GB SATA drive. I've never hooked up more than one SATA drive at a time but I'm assuming it's the same as with IDE, you can have two per cable?

I want to purchase two more internal 400GB drives to create a RAID 1 array for storing valuable data, and keep my O/S and everything else on the 250GB primary drive.

This should be doable with this mobo, right?

Also, what is the "ASUS EZ RAID" and how does it differ from "normal" RAID?

 

[aqaxz]

Just curious...i checked out my temps today using that probe program that came with the mobo. it said my cpu is running at 53* and mb at 38* I am using stock fans and heatsink. I guess what im trying to get at, are any of those temps anything i should be aware of?

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: The111
I am a total RAID newbie, and also a SATA newbie, so please forgive the following questions. On my current new build with the P5W-DH, I have one internal drive only: a 250GB SATA drive. I've never hooked up more than one SATA drive at a time but I'm assuming it's the same as with IDE, you can have two per cable?

I want to purchase two more internal 400GB drives to create a RAID 1 array for storing valuable data, and keep my O/S and everything else on the 250GB primary drive.

This should be doable with this mobo, right?

Also, what is the "ASUS EZ RAID" and how does it differ from "normal" RAID?

With SATA there are no jumpers to set, and only one drive per cable. You should be able to configure 3 SATA drives as you have described, just don't ask me how. Heh.

-phil