The Unofficial ASUS P5N-E SLI 650i Board Thread

[moosey]

If you buy 975X at this time, I have to say the Intel BadAxe2 is the best of the lot and the next BIOS release will pretty much put it ahead of any Intel board on the market in clock for clock performance. I am running at 9x432 with a E6600, nothing special really, but the board has been doing it for a week now, 24/7 with constant loops of Nero Recode and 3D06 for about 16 hours a day and Orthos for the other eight with X1950CF, three WD150 in RAID 5, and two 750GB Seagate External drives hanging off the USB ports for running the test apps. If you have a X6800, run this board at 12x330, it stays in the 200 strap, and just walks off and leaves the other Intel boards in the dust. The next BIOS will give us additional timings and tweaks for the memory along with some internal timing improvements on the MCH clock. Review coming shortly and the Kentsfield is now running at 9x415 on it.

Just what I wanted to hear as I was dwelling on this for a while and waiting for some reviews. Think I'm finally gonna go with this (XBX2).

 

[Corporate Thug]

http://www.xpcgear.com/p5nesli.html

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
If you buy 975X at this time, I have to say the Intel BadAxe2 is the best of the lot and the next BIOS release will pretty much put it ahead of any Intel board on the market in clock for clock performance. I am running at 9x432 with a E6600, nothing special really, but the board has been doing it for a week now, 24/7 with constant loops of Nero Recode and 3D06 for about 16 hours a day and Orthos for the other eight with X1950CF, three WD150 in RAID 5, and two 750GB Seagate External drives hanging off the USB ports for running the test apps. If you have a X6800, run this board at 12x330, it stays in the 200 strap, and just walks off and leaves the other Intel boards in the dust. The next BIOS will give us additional timings and tweaks for the memory along with some internal timing improvements on the MCH clock. Review coming shortly and the Kentsfield is now running at 9x415 on it.

That's almost exactly how I killed my 2nd P5W-DH. Well, it didn't die but started showing a dying symptom in less than a month. Anyway, the stability you described is absolutely stunning. That's the kind of stability I always wish to have.. I would take even the half of it. So far, none of the Conroe boards that I've used survived extreme tortures, and that's where the despise on mobo manufacturers began to grow on me as of late.

I really wish SLI was a viable option on 975X. For current 680i, such stability is nothing but a daydream. With the incredible power consumption / heat dissipiation, I even worry the current revision 680i boards will deteriorate over time rather quickly. Hopefully the build quality of the board is as good as it looks. (unlike the buggy SPP and the BIOS)

 

[aka1nas]

Do you guys have any recommendation for RAM to pair with this board? My friend was looking at this Corsair kit:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145034

 

[Ilikepiedoyou]

I ordered this board and am trying to find memory that is compatiable, any ideas

 

[Gary Key]

Originally posted by: Ilikepiedoyou
I ordered this board and am trying to find memory that is compatiable, any ideas

I highly recommend good DDR2-800 (look for a kit with 4-4-4 type timings or 667 kits that can do 3-3-3) for this board or basically any NVIDIA 680i/650i series board. The key to extracting the best memory performance from these chipsets is run at 1T between 800~900 with fairly aggressive timings.

These chipsets come alive at DDR2-800 although I am having success with DDR2-667 at 3-3-3-8 1T equaling DDR2-800 at 3-3-3-9 2T in most benchmarks. However, the performance differences are really minimal in most cases as long as you are running DDR2-800 speeds.

The ASUS board is having issues running at low latencies and not having compatibility issues. ASUS is sending us a Beta BIOS on Monday that relaxes some of the sub-timings which should allow 3-3-3-9 operation at 800 and 4-4-4-12 operation around 1066 with the upper end memory.

 

[DoobieOnline]

I've had good results on the EVGA 680i with this Micron D9-based memory and hopefully it will perform the same on the 650i:

Crucial Technology Ballistix BL2KIT12864AA804 2GB kit DDR2-800 PC2-6400.

Picked it up a few weeks ago for $239 AR at ZipZoomFly. It's great stuff for the price I paid!

I'm running it 4-4-4-12 1T at DDR2-800 using 2.1v (.1v less than default) and hit DDR2-1066 using 5-5-5-15 2T. I haven't been able to get it stable at 3-3-3-12 1T at DDR2-800 but it will hit DDR2-667 and a little higher with those timings.

Gary, please let us know how you make out with the upcoming bios on the Asus 650i. I may make the switch if the new Asus bios enables 3-3-3-12 1T at DDR2-800.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
These chipsets come alive at DDR2-800 although I am having success with DDR2-667 at 3-3-3-8 1T equaling DDR2-800 at 3-3-3-9 2T in most benchmarks.

At what FSB? Would that equation be still valid FSB higher than 400? Basically I'd like to know if it'd be worth it to run memory slower than FSB with 1T. Say, something like 400FSB and DDR2-700/3-3-3-1T.

 

[Gary Key]

Originally posted by: lopri

Originally posted by: Gary Key
These chipsets come alive at DDR2-800 although I am having success with DDR2-667 at 3-3-3-8 1T equaling DDR2-800 at 3-3-3-9 2T in most benchmarks.

At what FSB? Would that equation be still valid FSB higher than 400? Basically I'd like to know if it'd be worth it to run memory slower than FSB with 1T. Say, something like 400FSB and DDR2-700/3-3-3-1T.

That is at 9x266, still running memory tests up to 9x400 with the memory staying low but with all timings heavily optimzed at 667. I do know the 680i boards do not like DDR2-400 or 533 settings.

 

[acivick]

I just got the board last night. Seems to be pretty stable so far, though I haven't tried OC'ing it yet. Also, I had an SATA issue with my hard drive where it would only recognize 137GB during install of Windows XP and then a BSOD after all the files were copied over to the HD. This occurred every time I booted the PC. It was fixed (after more than a few hours of trying different possible solutions) by slipstreaming SP2 onto my XP CD image. After that, the installation recognized the full 250GB and no BSOD. Now I'm just trying to get all the security updates and such and I should be good to go.

 

[acivick]

Update: Apparently this board doesn't much like the OCZ PC2-6400 Titanium EPP kit I got for it. It defaults to 5-5-5-31 2T if everything is set to auto. I can get it down to 4-4-4-15 2T, but nothing I do can get the command rate down to 1T without massive memtest errors. I recommend getting some Micron memory if you want tighter timings on this board, as I read somewhere that these may actually be Promos. Hopefully the updated BIOS from ASUS will address this issue, since according to the Anand preview, EPP is enabled for this board.

On the up side, I was able to fit a Zalman 9700 cooler on this board without any modification needed for the backplate. It's keeping the CPU at a nice 42C under load, though it is quite cool in this room.

 

[MaxisOne]

Same problem with the OZC 2gig Platinum Sticks no probs for 4-4-4-12 2T if set manually (I belive the looser 5-5-5-15 timing spd is the default for OCZ they say you must set the advertized lower timings yourself) but i cannot get 1T to work . It posts but it goes to hell on windows boot.

Gary you think we will get a fix for this anytime soon ?? or will i have to sell and buy diff sticks ?

 

[mordrid52]

The Super Talent memory I got is the same way. It will run 4-3-3-8 2T no problem but will not do 1T no matter how loose I make the timings.

 

[Gary Key]

ASUS is telling us the beta BIOS will address most of the memory issues including 1T rates. I will do my best to get it posted for download as I hope the little cabin I will be staying at next week in Canada has an internet connection.

 

[FrozenPixel]

Can someone tell me what is so good about this board? Wouldn't you rather have the 680i technology, what does it offer?. MB change so quick I really can't keep up with it all. I'm really confused with what to buy, years ago it seemed to be a no brainer but now I have no idea where to start, I keep changing my mind and even when I think I have it figured out it ends up being the wrong choice, really really frustrated. For the first time after many builds have I had such difficulty building a new system.

 

[acivick]

Originally posted by: FrozenPixel
Can someone tell me what is so good about this board? Wouldn't you rather have the 680i technology, what does it offer?. MB change so quick I really can't keep up with it all. I'm really confused with what to buy, years ago it seemed to be a no brainer but now I have no idea where to start, I keep changing my mind and even when I think I have it figured out it ends up being the wrong choice, really really frustrated. For the first time after many builds have I had such difficulty building a new system.

680i is probably the way to go if you've got the $ to burn. Personally, I think you're paying for a lot of features that most people won't use, i.e. dual GBit Ethernet. The 650i have the potential for having the same performance that the 680i boards do without all those extra feature and at a fraction of the price. Also, the 680i boards, at least the reference ones (which are most of them at this point), don't offer some of the legacy support you may want, such as IDE ports and an LPT port.

If you don't really want to go through the teething problems these brand new boards have, any board based on Intel's 965 chipset should do what you want stably, but with a slight performance hit of NVidia's 6xxi boards.

 

[FrozenPixel]

Yeah I'm not really asking for much. A stable workstation that can run AutoCAD, play some games, connect Serial equipment (legacy connectors), supports IDE, firewire 400 and at least stay current for at least for some time.

I don't care if it has power windows and air conditioning just as long as its responsive and stable. Can be SLI or Crossfire, no preference. Money isn't really an issue cause I don't want to buy crap and if I have to wait a bit longer to purchase something a little more expensive than so be it. I was thinking the Bad Axe2 but other manufacturers like Asus and Gigabyte seem to offer more support or updates on their systems.

 

[Mucker]

Sorry to go OT but this may be for you frozen....

BadAxe2, good price: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...details.asp?EdpNo=2563503&Sku=I69-2145

 

[Gary Key]

Originally posted by: Mucker
Sorry to go OT but this may be for you frozen....

BadAxe2, good price: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...details.asp?EdpNo=2563503&Sku=I69-2145

I would jump all over that special, well I actually did.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
I would jump all over that special, well I actually did.

We call it 'impulse buy'.

Edit: BTW, how much control will the new BIOS give users, as far as timings are concerned? I saw current BIOS shots and it looked like only the 'big 4' were adjustable. <-- talking about BadAxe 2. (Sorry about the off-topic, folks!)

 

[FrozenPixel]

Yes acivick, apologies for taking your post OT. Thank you members for the link, will go find some reviews.

 

[Ilikepiedoyou]

Memory is the last item I have to buy for my new rig, and I am still iffy on what to purchase. I have a 650sli board with a e6300 waiting patiently. Has anyone been able to get any memory running at 1T?

 

[Praxis1452]

Is it possible to Run CF on this board?

Also any idea what the Power Draw is? If it's still more than 975X I don't think I'll buy it. 975x is fine though. Overclocked heat though.

 

[MaxisOne]

I belive Gary Mentioned something about a bios update.. in the meantime i have yet to get 1t out of them and i have been looking around and i havent seen any 1t timings either on the extreme systems thread

 

[acivick]

From what I've read, the BIOS update for the 680i ASUS boards helped performance and stability a lot. I expect the same for this board.