*** Official ASUS P5W DH Thread ***

[phile]

Originally posted by: Butterbean
phile wrote:

"Hehe. This is perfectly normal if your single videocard has two heads (i.e. dual DVI or VGA/DVI)".

Thanks - I do have two heads (VGA/DVI). Does that mean if I used 2 cards I would show 4?

Indeed, it would.

-phil

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: MacAttack
Thanks for all the good info on this thread. I am still trying to finalize my build. I only have a week or so to purchase my memory. The memory I have now to get it running is about due. I am trying to future-proof this system as much as possible. I won't be able to build a new one for about 4-5 years.

Here are my options that I am considering:
1. Crucial Ballistix PC6400 2x1GB: $259 @ ZZF
2. Crucial Ballistix PC8000 2x512MB: $165 @ ZZF (add another set in 2 months)
3. OCZ Titanium Alpha VX2 PC8000 2x1GB: $431 @ Newegg
4. Crucial Ballistix PC8000 2x1GB: $449 @ Newegg

3 & 4 may cause a divorce (just kidding). I am honestly leaning towards #1, but want to be sure that is the best way to go.

My general suggestion would be to buy the best PC2-6400 (DDR2-800) memory that you can afford. Two reasons:

1) This board officially supports PC2-4200/PC2-5300/PC2-6400. Faster memory can be flaky on this board, from what little I have seen.

2) Unless you plan to extreme overclock, memory faster that PC2-6400 is overkill. You only begin to overclock PC2-6400 when exceeding 400 FSB, and conroe has default FSB of 266. To truly benefit from PC2-8000 (500MHz real clock, 1000MHz effective) memory, you'd have to be looking at FSB 500 and beyond. Sure, you can run your memory out of sync with the FSB, and use a divider, in order to run the mem ar rated speed, but this is not going to give you a performance boost worthy of the extra cost.

-phil

 

[MacAttack]

Thank you for the info. I think you helped me make my decision for the Ballistix PC6400, unless a deal comes out in the next week.

 

[phile]

What are the rated timings of that crucial kit?

-phil

 

[Butterbean]

Accreta,

You had a link that listed components for a "future rig" titled Anandtech's Ultra Gaming Machine. You have the P5W listed along with a Lian Li case that calls for the motherboard to be installed upside down. I wanted that case at first myself but was told it might be a bad idea since heat is meant to rise up the heat tube attached to nb chipset. Turning borad upside down sort of hinders that I suppose. I'm sure others here can clarify
that situation if I have contorted it. I would say keep the case lol.

 

[mkln]

Originally posted by: phile
Yes, with ASUS Update you just point the application to the BIOS file, which you have downloaded.

-phil

thanks for the reply...i was wondering tho, it seems that stock vcore is 1.3 on my E6600, and my temps are roughly 55 idle/65-68 load on stock speeds and w/ stock HS - reported by everest and coretemp. is that normal? thanks in advance

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: mkln

Originally posted by: phile
Yes, with ASUS Update you just point the application to the BIOS file, which you have downloaded.

-phil

thanks for the reply...i was wondering tho, it seems that stock vcore is 1.3 on my E6600, and my temps are roughly 55 idle/65-68 load on stock speeds and w/ stock HS - reported by everest and coretemp. is that normal? thanks in advance

Those temps are not great, but still comfortably within tolerances. Two things you can do:

1) When running at stock, you can undervolt the CPU and still remain stable. Go into the BIOS and set the vcore to 1.225v or 1.25v. Test your system just to be sure, but it should just fine. You will see a drop of at least a few degrees.

2) Buy yourself a good aftermarket cooler, especially if you wish to overclock.

I would go with #2 and at least modestly overclock your rig. You can easily o/c an E6600 to 3GHz (FSB 333) with a minor increase in vcore, if any at all. Many will do it at AUTO. Mine requires 1.35v.

Let me know if you want some suggestins for an aftermarket cooler.

-phil

 

[mkln]

thanks for the quick reply . stability seems to be an issue when i undervolt it to 1.25 as i had one occurance when the system froze while installing Office, even though ORTHOS declared the system stable. i later upped it to 1.285 (i think?) and it installed w/o a hitch. an aftermarket cooler...i may look into that. what would u recommend?

btw, i am currently running my ram (2GB OCZ Platinums rev2) at 2.05V and at the spec DDR400 4-4-4-15 timings. i was wondering, however, since the multiplier seems to be unlocked w/ the most recent bios, maybe even b4 1503?, would it be better to lower the the multi to 6 and up the CPU to 400MHz so as to achieve a 1:1 ratio?.

lastly, is it neccessary to set the frequency of the busses or can i just leave them on 'auto' (pci-E, and pci). sorry for all the questions , but thanks again for the reply

*edit: also, why don't the voltage values in CPUZ, Everest, or AI Booster correspond with the ones in the BIOS? thanks again*

 

[Twitch22]

Originally posted by: MacAttack
Thank you for the info. I think you helped me make my decision for the Ballistix PC6400, unless a deal comes out in the next week.

You will be very pleased with this memory, MacAttack. I bought it at ZZF myself and it has proven to be fast and ultra-stable through 2 days of initial system burn-in. Have had my rig running now for 6 weeks and have had no problems save for the usual OS install snafus.

Taking the advice of Phil, when you do your build, install only one stick. Turn your rig on, make it past POST and go into BIOS. Once in BIOS, manually configure your RAM to DDR2-800 speed and increase volatge to 2.2V. Save these settings, power down COMPLETELY and insert your second DIMM. You should be good to go!

Good luck with your build... :thumbsup:

Twitch

 

[Twitch22]

Originally posted by: phile
What are the rated timings of that crucial kit?

-phil

Hello Phil,

Rated timings on this kit are 4-4-4-12 at 2.2V. I'm running mine at BIOS ettings of DDR2-800, 2.2V with no overclock. I have not yet set the timings manually. So, there lies the question: Should I manually adjust to 4-4-4-12 or just leave well enough alone?

Have to admit, the OC bug is may be ready to bite...

Twitch

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: mkln
thanks for the quick reply . stability seems to be an issue when i undervolt it to 1.25 as i had one occurance when the system froze while installing Office, even though ORTHOS declared the system stable. i later upped it to 1.285 (i think?) and it installed w/o a hitch. an aftermarket cooler...i may look into that. what would u recommend?

btw, i am currently running my ram (2GB OCZ Platinums rev2) at 2.05V and at the spec DDR400 4-4-4-15 timings. i was wondering, however, since the multiplier seems to be unlocked w/ the most recent bios, maybe even b4 1503?, would it be better to lower the the multi to 6 and up the CPU to 400MHz so as to achieve a 1:1 ratio?.

lastly, is it neccessary to set the frequency of the busses or can i just leave them on 'auto' (pci-E, and pci). sorry for all the questions , but thanks again for the reply

*edit: also, why don't the voltage values in CPUZ, Everest, or AI Booster correspond with the ones in the BIOS? thanks again*

re: vcore
I'm not so sure your machine froze as a result of the lower vcore. Not impossible, though. Did you set the vcore in the BIOS or with a windows-based app? Better to use BIOS.

re: mem voltage
should be at least 2.1v (again, set this in the BIOS, not with any windows-based app)

re: multiplier
Leave it at default and use the divider. At FSB 266 you'll be using the 2:3 divider to run the mem at DDR2-800 (400MHz). FSB 400 will present a whole new set of challenges, regardless of the multi

re: bus frequencies
auto is fine until you significantly overclock

re: voltage readings
AI Booster is garbage. Doesn't properly report FSB, vcore, or vdimm. I recommend unistalling it and forgetting that it ever existed. Use BIOS for all tweaking.

CPU-Z's vcore reading is notoriously unreliable. Other than that, great little app.

Everest seems to accurately report the actual vcore. Another great app.

re: aftermarket coolers

Here's a short list of good models:

Towers:
Thermalright Ultra-120
Noctua NH-U12 (what I use)
Tuniq Tower (almost impossible to find)
Scythe Ninja
Scythe Mine
Scythe Infinity
CoolerMaster Hyper 6+

Non-towers:
Zalman CNPS9700 LED (not sure if it's out yet)
Zalman CNPS9500 LED
Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro
CoolerMaster Hyper48

I would have gone with the Thermalright Ultra-120 had it been available at the time. Was pretty-much sold-out everywhere. I'm happy with the Noctua NH-U12, but would recommend the Zalman CNPS9500 LED if you're not planning a crazy overclock. It will quietly keep your CPU cool up to a moderate overclock, depending on your CPU.

-phil

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: Twitch22

Originally posted by: phile
What are the rated timings of that crucial kit?

-phil

Hello Phil,

Rated timings on this kit are 4-4-4-12 at 2.2V. I'm running mine at BIOS ettings of DDR2-800, 2.2V with no overclock. I have not yet set the timings manually. So, there lies the question: Should I manually adjust to 4-4-4-12 or just leave well enough alone?

Have to admit, the OC bug is may be ready to bite...

Twitch

You should definitely set the timings to the rated 4-4-4-12. It won't make for a night and day difference, but an improvement is there for the taking, nonetheless.

-phil

 

[mkln]

Originally posted by: phile

Originally posted by: mkln
thanks for the quick reply . stability seems to be an issue when i undervolt it to 1.25 as i had one occurance when the system froze while installing Office, even though ORTHOS declared the system stable. i later upped it to 1.285 (i think?) and it installed w/o a hitch. an aftermarket cooler...i may look into that. what would u recommend?

btw, i am currently running my ram (2GB OCZ Platinums rev2) at 2.05V and at the spec DDR400 4-4-4-15 timings. i was wondering, however, since the multiplier seems to be unlocked w/ the most recent bios, maybe even b4 1503?, would it be better to lower the the multi to 6 and up the CPU to 400MHz so as to achieve a 1:1 ratio?.

lastly, is it neccessary to set the frequency of the busses or can i just leave them on 'auto' (pci-E, and pci). sorry for all the questions , but thanks again for the reply

*edit: also, why don't the voltage values in CPUZ, Everest, or AI Booster correspond with the ones in the BIOS? thanks again*

re: vcore
I'm not so sure your machine froze as a result of the lower vcore. Not impossible, though. Did you set the vcore in the BIOS or with a windows-based app? Better to use BIOS.

re: mem voltage
should be at least 2.1v (again, set this in the BIOS, not with any windows-based app)

re: multiplier
Leave it at default and use the divider. At FSB 266 you'll be using the 2:3 divider to run the mem at DDR2-800 (400MHz). FSB 400 will present a whole new set of challenges, regardless of the multi

re: bus frequencies
auto is fine until you significantly overclock

re: voltage readings
AI Booster is garbage. Doesn't properly report FSB, vcore, or vdimm. I recommend unistalling it and forgetting that it ever existed. Use BIOS for all tweaking.

CPU-Z's vcore reading is notoriously unreliable. Other than that, great little app.

Everest seems to accurately report the actual vcore. Another great app.

re: aftermarket coolers

Here's a short list of good models:

Towers:
Thermalright Ultra-120
Noctua NH-U12 (what I use)
Tuniq Tower (almost impossible to find)
Scythe Ninja
Scythe Mine
Scythe Infinity
CoolerMaster Hyper 6+

Non-towers:
Zalman CNPS9700 LED (not sure if it's out yet)
Zalman CNPS9500 LED
Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro
CoolerMaster Hyper48

I would have gone with the Thermalright Ultra-120 had it been available at the time. Was pretty-much sold-out everywhere. I'm happy with the Noctua NH-U12, but would recommend the Zalman CNPS9500 LED if you're not planning a crazy overclock. It will quietly keep your CPU cool up to a moderate overclock, depending on your CPU.

-phil

wow! thank you so much for replying and answering everything

*edit: hm...looks like it'll be about $50 or so, CDN, for an aftermarket cooler . ill probably hold off until near Christmas or so. thanks again .*

 

[MacAttack]

You guys are great for the info provided. I am holding out for 1 more week to see if there is a price drop on memory or any good rebates. I currently have a "rented" Corsair PC4000 (I think) just to get the system running. I have to return it for a refund/store credit when I do place the order.

 

[Twitch22]

Hey guys,

I posted this on the CPU/Overclocking Forum, but wanted to share it here in our P5W DH thread in case you can offer additional help. It has to do with my initila efforts in OC'ing my rig:

Hello everyone.

Well, the OverClocking bug has bitten me and I decided to "mildly" OC my rig in that, 1.) So many of us have been achieving relatively easy OC's with the C2D, and 2.) I realized that with the parts I've selected, there's a lot of headroom to go from "stock" performance.

Anyway, I'm now running my C2D E6600 at 2.99 GHz, V Core is set at 1.30, FSB at 333. Memory manually timed at 4-4-4-12 with voltage set to 2.2 (recommended settings per Crucial for my Ballistix set). Still using stock, Intel cooler with idle CPU temp avg'ing 34 degrees. Like I said, a pretty mild overclock. On to my questions:

- System is stable and solid, but, when restarting, it powers all the way down, waits for a about 3 seconds, then begins to power up. The fans stop spinning completely, where as before during a restart, they system never really powered down...it just re-booted. Once started, XP boots up with no problems. Is this normal?

- In setting my memory's timings manually, I noticed a "DRAM Write RecoveryTime" setting. I left this at the default 4 Clocks value. What does this setting mean and what should it be?

- Last, again in reguards to memory, when does OC'ing memory become mandatory, ie. even though I've only bumped my CPU/FSB settings by a little bit, do I now need to look into increasing memory performance?

I'm really not looking into pushing my rig by much. More concerned with making sure I'm not damaging any components or running any settings that lead to instability or performance issues.

Thanks for any help or suggestions...

Twitch

 

[Skott]

Ok, you got a mild 25% overclock (2.99GHz) on stock Intel hsf? Dont do anything more or try to go higher until you get a good aftermarket hsf or you'll risk damages. Okay, now after saying that as far as your settings go you got it all correct for that particular OC and your components. Temps are fine if you are using CoreTemp to read them by. Vcore fine. Memory timing is fine. I left that last number at '4' as well because I was told to. What it does exactly I dont know. It might matter for extreme overclocking but for your purposes just leave it there. Memory voltage is fine. All your settings are fine as is and where they should be. Congraulations you have a nice 25% OC!

That restarting thing is a known problem. I think the newer BIOS fixes that. Maybe Phile can confirm that for you. I'm still using a lower BIOS. And let me emphasize this again, DO NOT GO HIGHER UNTIL YOU GET A BETTER HSF.

 

[phile]

Yes, BIOS 1503 resolves the hard-restart that occurs when overclocking. I recommend everyone (perhaps to the exclusion of mikepaul, hehe) flash to this BIOS.

-phil

 

[Twitch22]

Hello Skott and Phil...and thanks for the info about my OC'ing experience.

Originally posted by: Skott
That restarting thing is a known problem. I think the newer BIOS fixes that. Maybe Phile can confirm that for you. I'm still using a lower BIOS. And let me emphasize this again, DO NOT GO HIGHER UNTIL YOU GET A BETTER HSF.

I'm kinda' liking the Zalman FS-C77 CPU cooler. I've always been a fan of the "flower-type" design and have to admit the red-LED will add some understated bling to my case. I know it is a LARGE cooler...do you think it'll fit onto our P5W DH's?

Thank you both again for all your help and suggestions...

Twitch

 

[phile]

It's quite possible that the P5WDH's northbridge heatsink will get in the way of the Zalman FS-C77 (see link). Also, the P5WDH is not listed in the compatible motherboards list. If you don't mind your bling being of the blue variety, the Zalman CNPS9500 LED is a good choice. It's quiet and does a good job from stock up to moderate overclocking.

http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/FS-C77_775MBlist_eng.html

-phil

 

[imported_tomx]

A Read Error Has Occurred....

I can set up a RAID 0 fairly easily if I accept the default NTFS cluster size of 4K. But I got it into my head that I'd like to try a 16K/16K cluster/stripe config. I added a third drive via IDE cable, installed XP HOme SP2 on that drive, configured the RAID volume on two other SATA drives, and formatted it (the RAID volume) within Windows to NTFS with 16K clusters. All that went fine. I then turned the box off, disconnected the IDE drive, leaving the RAID volume intact, and went about installing XP Home SP2 to the RAID volume. It seems to go OK until it needs to boot the first time during install. At that point, it goes through POST and then gives me:

A Read Error Has Occurred. Press cntl-alt-del to restart. (or something like that).

There's nothing wrong with the drives. I've tested them. I've run chkdsk /r, fixmbr and fixboot to no avail. I am not the only one having the problem. I have found one potential solution that I'll try which involves replacing 7 or so Windows files that are believed to corrupt the MBR. But I first need to get the files from somewhere. Until then, have any of you solved this problem?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Skott]

If you dont want the lights you can use the 9500 AT (non-LED) like I have. I prefer the 9500 due to its lighter weight and less height than some of the big boys like the Tl Ultra 120 and Scythe Infinity. It also blows the air out towards the exhaust fan in back which is a big plus IMO. Although the Infinity & 120 cool just a little better than the 9500. If you want cheap then look at the Artic Freezer 7 pro. Almost as good as the 9500 but cheaper at about $20something. Also the Zalman 9700 is out now. Its got a 110mm fan as opposed to the 9500's 90mm fan. Its performance isnt fully tested yet. About same performance as the 9500 from the one review I read but I find that odd and still undecided about it. It should be better than the 9500 but we need more in depth reviews to confirm or deny. All these HSF I mentioned will work with the Conroes and P5W DH mobo assuming your case is wide enough. If its 8inches wide then no problem.

 

[Austin2k]

I only build a board every 2-3 years.
I'm looking for performance when it come to large files size reads and writes.
Smaller I/O might be good too. Primary application is photoshop processing
Its a P5W DH board.
4 gigs total of Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800
An E6400 with an Arctic Cooler 7 Pro
Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH GeForce 7600 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3
I picked up an Audigy 2 zs Platinum for 60 bucks as an upgrade to OB sound.
Coolermaster RS-500-ASAA iGreen Power 500W for power.

Is XtremeSystems forum the place to find out the answers for high performance and stable overclocking?

I'll be using XP64 then later Vista64. I needed high I/O from the OS files. I need big file R/W capability and I'll probably add a raptor for photoshop scratch disk. I have lots of NAS and ability to do nightlies of all important document and files.

Recommendations, Links, Pointers for OC'ing and RAID configs? Should I RAID 0 the OS in EZ-raid across two drives? Put the other drive into Intel software mode? Get a 3Ware card for the other stuff?

I'll post back results here too. I've been lurking for a while and finally decided to get this board.

 

[Austin2k]

i bought the same mem. Got 2 kits for a total of 4gig.
* Retail
* Module Size: 2GB kit (1GBx2)
* Package: Ballistix 240-pin DIMM
* Feature: DDR2 PC2-6400
* Configuration: 128Meg x 64
* DIMM Type: UNBUFFERED
* Error Checking: NON-ECC
* Speed: DDR2-800
* Voltage: 2.2V
* Memory Timings: 4-4-4-12
* Specs: DDR2 PC2-6400 ? 4-4-4-12 ? UNBUFFERED ? NON-ECC ? DDR2-800 ? 2.2V ? 128Meg x 64

Originally posted by: phile
What are the rated timings of that crucial kit?

-phil

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: Austin2k
I only build a board every 2-3 years.
I'm looking for performance when it come to large files size reads and writes.
Smaller I/O might be good too. Primary application is photoshop processing
Its a P5W DH board.
4 gigs total of Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800
An E6400 with an Arctic Cooler 7 Pro
Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH GeForce 7600 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3
I picked up an Audigy 2 zs Platinum for 60 bucks as an upgrade to OB sound.
Coolermaster RS-500-ASAA iGreen Power 500W for power.

Is XtremeSystems forum the place to find out the answers for high performance and stable overclocking?

I'll be using XP64 then later Vista64. I needed high I/O from the OS files. I need big file R/W capability and I'll probably add a raptor for photoshop scratch disk. I have lots of NAS and ability to do nightlies of all important document and files.

Recommendations, Links, Pointers for OC'ing and RAID configs? Should I RAID 0 the OS in EZ-raid across two drives? Put the other drive into Intel software mode? Get a 3Ware card for the other stuff?

I'll post back results here too. I've been lurking for a while and finally decided to get this board.

For your RAID array, use the ICH7R SATA ports for the best performance.

Connect your two SATA drives to SATA1 (red port) and SATA3 (black port immediately to the right of the red port). Witht he drives connected, go into the BIOS IDE configuration page and set SATA to run as RAID. There may be some settings unlocked at this point, not sure. RAID does require that you preload a driver (F6 during windows setup/install). You will need to prepare a floppy with the Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver (see link below) and hit F6 when Windows Setup asks if you need to load any drivers.

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts...ct_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2101&lang=eng

Select your OS and then scroll down to Utilities, Tools and Examples. Download the first item. This is makedisk application that will help you prepare the floppy.

Note: when you're prompted to insert the disk and choose a driver, you will be presented with a list. The floppy will have drivers for several different chipsets, so make sure to scroll down until you see an option to load the ICH7R driver. If you choose the wrong driver, prepare for a BSoD in your near future.

Plenty of us will be able to provide some tips and suggestion for overclocking, once you're all setup.

-phil

 

[phile]

Originally posted by: Austin2k
i bought the same mem. Got 2 kits for a total of 4gig.
* Retail
* Module Size: 2GB kit (1GBx2)
* Package: Ballistix 240-pin DIMM
* Feature: DDR2 PC2-6400
* Configuration: 128Meg x 64
* DIMM Type: UNBUFFERED
* Error Checking: NON-ECC
* Speed: DDR2-800
* Voltage: 2.2V
* Memory Timings: 4-4-4-12
* Specs: DDR2 PC2-6400 ? 4-4-4-12 ? UNBUFFERED ? NON-ECC ? DDR2-800 ? 2.2V ? 128Meg x 64

Originally posted by: phile
What are the rated timings of that crucial kit?

-phil

I imagine you're using XP64?

-phil