What do you think of the AsRock Extreme 4 P67 board ?

[Mem]

Looks like you got your CPU overclocked at (35x100)3.5ghz,default is 3.3GHz ie 33x100 for i5 2500k (yes I know you have unlocked CPU).



Extreme 4 can handle that normally but for troubleshooting try it at 33x100,make sure your CPU voltage is at auto,it may improve stabilty,normally you run CPU at default speed on initial build/OS install to make sure everything is all stable, then you start overclocking afterwards with multiplier and cpu voltage once you know your PC is fine.

You could also try bumping voltage core for CPU up to 1.1 or 1.2v(well within safety limits) since it looks a bit low on your screenshot (1.033v on your pic) for 3.5ghz setting.

Xbit says

The operational voltage for the tested Core i5 CPUs equaled 1.185 V, 1.167 V and 1.2 V accordingly

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300_5.html.


Basically I'm thinking your CPU may be undervolted slightly at(3.5GHz speed)) so not getting enough juice.


Btw your XFX PSU is a very good one so no worries there IMHO.

 

[scrubman]

sorry if i missed this but did you do a fresh install of your OS? and what OS are you using?

Also, for other users of this board. Are you adding 12v power to the mainboard by means of the molex connector? I know it says that its for SLI/Crossfire but wondered if there is any benefit to using it for stability with a single high end card, multiple drives and much overclocking?

 

[cgh246]

Looks like you got your CPU overclocked at (35x100)3.5ghz,default is 3.3GHz ie 33x100 for i5 2500k (yes I know you have unlocked CPU).



Extreme 4 can handle that normally but for troubleshooting try it at 33x100,make sure your CPU voltage is at auto,it may improve stabilty,normally you run CPU at default speed on initial build/OS install to make sure everything is all stable, then you start overclocking afterwards with multiplier and cpu voltage once you know your PC is fine.

You could also try bumping voltage core for CPU up to 1.1 or 1.2v(well within safety limits) since it looks a bit low on your screenshot (1.033v on your pic) for 3.5ghz setting.

Xbit says

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300_5.html.


Basically I'm thinking your CPU may be undervolted slightly at(3.5GHz speed)) so not getting enough juice.


Btw your XFX PSU is a very good one so no worries there IMHO.

Hi thanks again for the reply, i didn't actually realize i was running at 3.5Ghz at 1st. however after watching the asrock utility for a few minutes, my cpu multiplier is constantly changing between x33 and x37. is this correct.

And i have now set the cpu voltage to 1.2, I will make sure that i set the multiplier to x33 in the bios, as I don't want to perform any over clocking just yet.

Regards
Chris.

 

[cgh246]

OK, I was just manually setting the multiplier to x33 in the bios and again the computer just froze. Didn't know it could crash while in the bios.

Chris.

 

[cgh246]

sorry if i missed this but did you do a fresh install of your OS? and what OS are you using?

Also, for other users of this board. Are you adding 12v power to the mainboard by means of the molex connector? I know it says that its for SLI/Crossfire but wondered if there is any benefit to using it for stability with a single high end card, multiple drives and much overclocking?

hi, I am running a clean install of windows 7 hope premium 64bit.

 

[coffeejunkee]

Hi thanks again for the reply, i didn't actually realize i was running at 3.5Ghz at 1st. however after watching the asrock utility for a few minutes, my cpu multiplier is constantly changing between x33 and x37. is this correct.

And i have now set the cpu voltage to 1.2, I will make sure that i set the multiplier to x33 in the bios, as I don't want to perform any over clocking just yet.

Regards
Chris.

Changing between 33 and 37 is normal, it's the turbo boost in action and your cpu behaving like it should. There should be no need to change the vcore. At stock it should work fine with vcore (and everything else) on auto. What you could do is disable Turbo boost but I don't think that's the issue.

What's not normal is the crashes. I suspect either incompatible ram (but I dont think so, you have a popular kit and I can't imagine you'd be the only one using it on an extreme4), faulty ram (but you ran memtest...) or the motherboard itself. But to really get at the heart of this issue you'd need a second system and swap components.

 

[Mem]

Crashing in BIOS points towards hardware,you tried loading BIOS default settings in BIOS?...It's possible you have a faulty CPU or motherboard,it does happen even with the best of brands.

 

[cgh246]

Changing between 33 and 37 is normal, it's the turbo boost in action and your cpu behaving like it should. There should be no need to change the vcore. At stock it should work fine with vcore (and everything else) on auto. What you could do is disable Turbo boost but I don't think that's the issue.

What's not normal is the crashes. I suspect either incompatible ram (but I dont think so, you have a popular kit and I can't imagine you'd be the only one using it on an extreme4), faulty ram (but you ran memtest...) or the motherboard itself. But to really get at the heart of this issue you'd need a second system and swap components.

OK thanks for the input, when I brought the ram it did say it was compatible with sandy bridge. and yes If I had a second system it would be great, however i think I am going to try and get a refund on the motherboard, and possibly by the ASUS pro, although I will miss the front panel usb 3 support.

also not sure if you saw in an earlier post of mine, but I recently received a WD 2TB external USB3 drive, and the transfer speeds between this and the computer are terrible, if anything they are worse than USB2. any suggestions.

Chris.

 

[coffeejunkee]

I'd give the Asrock another chance I guess. The Asus boards have an internal usb3 port btw, you just don't get the frontpanel. MSI GD65/55 is another option, especially if you like the amount of fanheaders on the Extreme4.

Your external hdd not working at full speed is 'normal' with the Asrock board I understood. You need to enable the Xfast usb feature for higher speeds.

Also, when I say "it should work at stock with all voltages on auto" that doesn't mean it would be a bad idea to set all voltages and other settings manually to their specified value. Except for vcore, that should always work correctly with auto on stock.

 

[cgh246]

Thanks, I do like the asrock as I get 8 sata ports (which i require), and the usb 3 front panel. I also tried to enable the Xfast and I got maximum write speeds of 65MB/s is this correct. Do you think trying to go through Asrock for a replacement motherboard would be the best solution.

 

[cgh246]

Crashing in BIOS points towards hardware,you tried loading BIOS default settings in BIOS?...It's possible you have a faulty CPU or motherboard,it does happen even with the best of brands.

Yh that I was thinking, I am going to try and get a replacement board.

Thanks for all you help.

 

[Mem]

Thanks, I do like the asrock as I get 8 sata ports (which i require), and the usb 3 front panel. I also tried to enable the Xfast and I got maximum write speeds of 65MB/s is this correct. Do you think trying to go through Asrock for a replacement motherboard would be the best solution.

You should be able to get a replacement from the store/shop you purchased it from.

 

[coffeejunkee]

I also tried to enable the Xfast and I got maximum write speeds of 65MB/s is this correct.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4080/welcome-to-sandy-bridge-with-the-asrock-p67-extreme4/6

 

[SlimCharles]

I'm having the same exact problems.

All temps fine, memory fine, however, I am freezing in BIOS. Not crashing, but it will just freeze and I have to manually press power off button. I am only freezing when I click the overclocking tab.

I regret not going with just ASUS or something.

 

[cgh246]

I'm having the same exact problems.

All temps fine, memory fine, however, I am freezing in BIOS. Not crashing, but it will just freeze and I have to manually press power off button. I am only freezing when I click the overclocking tab.

I regret not going with just ASUS or something.

hey, just to let you I have had no luck in fixing this issue either, all of the help from the guys in this forum was amazing, but I just don't think I will go with Asrock again.

How about you are you going to get another board?

Chris.

 

[coffeejunkee]

Do you guys use the bios it was shipped with or did you update to the latest version?

 

[cgh246]

Do you guys use the bios it was shipped with or did you update to the latest version?

hi i was 1st using it with the bios version it came with, but i was experiencing the random crashes. so I updated to the latest version and problem still persists, today the motherboard just will not pick up the Ethernet controller, i have tried everything, new drivers, system restore, windows just says it cannot fin the Ethernet controller.

Im just going to buy a new board and get this refunded.

Chris.

 

[you2]

Does the bios have an option to disable on board devices ? I.e, did you check explicitly if on board ethernet was enabled in the motherboard ?

 

[coffeejunkee]

I did a quick Google search for extreme 4 bios freeze but this thread showed up on top. The other results weren't very applicable so this issue doesn't seem widespread. Maybe ask on the Asrock forums as well.

I would try a clear cmos, flash latest bios if you haven't already and make sure everything is correctly set up in the bios. If that doesn't help, I would try a memtest86 overnight. In case of no errors I'd go for a refund.

 

[cgh246]

Thanks for all the replies. and I have just ordered a new motherboard to be delivered on Saturday. So hopefully will not have any issues after the new board has been installed.

I had already tried the memtest and clearing cmos as well as flashing latest bios, just doesn't seem to work. And I cant seem to find anywhere in the bios to enable or disable devices. Not sure what happened to the Ethernet controller, but I have been trying to fix it for the last 3-4 hours and have just given up

thanks for all the help I received here over the last few days, Nice to know there are people out there to help with such issues.

Regards
Chris.

 

[Bryf50]

I had the same problem with the nic on my board. It turns out there's a driver under optional in windows update. If you install that driver you mess shit up big time. I forget exactly what it was called but its had something to do with storage.

 

[Hogan773]

Hoping to get time tonight to do my first ever build. ASR Extreme 4 and 2600K.

My question is once I get the thing to POST outside the case, then I guess I should install the mobo in the case and hook up the DVD and HDD to Sata ports. Then what about BIOS and drivers?

Do I begin to load Win7 right away and get it up and running, and THEN update the BIOS? Or do I somehow update the BIOS before anything is installed?

Does Windows add the proper drivers and/or ask me to insert the ASRock drivers CD? When does this happen?

Once I update to BIOS 1.3 let's say, if I'm having problems can I reflash to 1.1? Or am I stuck with those BIOS forever?

Thanks and bear with me, I'm new at all this.

 

[owslystnly]

I have an Asrock P67 extreme 4 and am having some difficulty. With my 3ware pci-e raid card inserted, I cannot install windows. with it removed, i can install windows 7 64bit to my ssd.

after installinng windows, i inserted my raid card, and the system keeps trying to boot off of it, even tho in the UEFI i have it set to boot from the SSD ONLY!

I appreciate any help anybody can offer. A lot of data I need is backed up on the RAID.

 

[Hogan773]

I just saw they put up BIOS 1.50. Anyone use it yet?

Also they still have 1.43 in the "BETA" section. 1.43 mentions some additions to voltage settings etc. The 1.50 doesnt mention those.

Do you know if 1.50 includes all thats in 1.43? Why is 1.43 still in BETA section when 1.50 is in the "standard" section.

Finally does it matter which method I use to update BIOS?

 

[BTA]

I just got done installing my Extreme4. It is replacing a Gigabyte P67A-UD3. I'm having a very very random lockup issue (can go 2 days fine and then blam, frozen) and I'm trying the Extreme4 as a last resort to resolve, hoping the Gigabyte is the problem.

I installed the 1.5 bios from Windows 7. Scared me as it just starts updating the minute you run the app, and the mouse and keyboard lock during it. But the update finished okay. It rebooted and it auto rebooted itself about 4 times before letting me go back into BIOS and set my settings again.

So far so good, I did not run more than 15min on the 1.3 shipping bios, so I have no clue on differences.

I do like the eXtreme Tuner app they provide, reads temps, voltages, etc correctly and you can adjust fan speeds and such from windows. Very handy.