P5N32-SLI Premium Help

[iKillSteal]

Well, I got this board for Christmas and have been pushing it as far as it'll go since then. Sadly, it wasn't much more than my old Foxconn 945 board could do. 2200MHz(275*8) at 1.280v is the best that I can muster. I can boot into windows with an FSB quad-pumped to 1185MHz giving me 2370MHz on the CPU but that, sadly, is only prime stable for a few hours regardless of the CPU voltage applied(chip should do it at stock but I went up to 1.45 just to be on the safe side). Cooling is not an issue. Plenty of air flow and everything that should be toasty stays fairly cool to the touch. Memory was running running locked at 400MHz so I know it wasn't topping out, too.

 

Right now I've got it running at 2.2 with the following voltages and it seems this is the highest I can get it stable on this board. The possibility of FSB holes crept up in a PM king sent me where he suggested that I drop my multi and pump the FSB like nobody's business but this board gives you no chip multi options unless the chip in question is unlocked by default. I'm thinking I may have just gotten an overclocking lemon but I'd appreciate it if any of you guys had any input or suggestions. I know my E2140 can do more and it pains me to see it held back like this...If you guys need any more info, anything at all, I'd be more than happy to provide.

 

vcore: 1.280v drooping down to 1.264 under load.

vmem: 1.95v

1.2HT(Still don't know what this is, though other P5n32 owners suggest upping this, but so far has had no impact on overclocking): 1.35v(stock 1.2v)

CPU VTT(possibly FSB voltage?): 1.55v

SB: 1.55v

NB: 1.55v

 

One more quick question...what exactly does an LDT Multiplier multiply? Manual conveniently fails to mention what this is/does and the Asus website doesn't have any info on it either. Google searching brings up results saying that it's exclusively for AMD systems which has me a bit confused as to what it's doing in an intel mobo. Once again, thanks for the help, Guys.

[Marine]

LDT/FSB Frequency Ratio

LDT is just like your CPU multiplier but it’s the multiplier that makes up your total HTT speed. Here is something I’ll quote from Wild that shows how to get your total HTT frequency..

Quote:

Wildstyle says.. HTT is your “FSB.” LDT is the HTT Multiplier (LDT = Lightning Data Transport)

 

So for example we could say..

 

200 (HTT) * 5 (LDT) = 1000 (HyperTransport Bus Frequency)

 

HTT * LDT = HT Bus.

**Important note**

When overclocking you want to lower this setting to maintain stability. On a socket 754 its best to keep your total HTT speed around 1600htt or less, as Wild explains below this will not effect performance if running under spec a little.. On socket 939 its best to keep it around 2000htt.. Sometimes on 939 you can even get away with overclocking the HTT buss a little but honestly Ive never seen a performance boost by doing this..

 

Though, i don't know if it's the same on intel chips nowadays.

[werty316]

Intel computer use a FSB which don't follow the same rules as a HTT so you don't need to use any kind of divider so that the FSB is under a certain frequency like AMD rigs using a HTT.

 

Your E2140 has a max stock voltage of 1.325V so try increasing your vCore a little more if your CPU temperature is acceptable.

 

This BIOS section is where you can find your CPU's multiplier which in your case is called "Ratio CMOS Setting" as underlined in the following picture:

 

 

I hope all of this helps.

Edited December 31, 2007 by werty316

[iKillSteal]

Though, i don't know if it's the same on intel chips nowadays.

That's what I found as well. Been playing with it(still am ATM) and haven't had much luck with 4x or 3.5x. Gonna attempt to drop it lower(and run a few benchies to see if there's any appreciable performance difference) after I take the board out of my case and pop it on a box.

 

@werty316: That's what my board would display but sadly multiplier selection for my CPU is not present anywhere at all. Been playing with the voltage a bit more freely now(temps are still under 42c load @ 1.5v so I've got a TON of headroom there) with no realy luck. Gonna post back in a bit. Thanks for the input.

[iKillSteal]

Well OCC, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I got my rig to boot to windows at 2.8GHz! The bad news is that the board caught fire, specifically the components under the top most heatsink dealing with voltage regulation. Upon inspect of the damaged area, I discovered that the heatsink was a good 2mm ABOVE whatever you call those flat little components. Do not have the energy to deal with Asus tech support right now so I'm going to yell later today...This has got to be the worst new years day ever...

 

Edit: And yes, my E2140 is still good! Foxconn board runs that beast like a champ.

Edited January 1, 2008 by iKillSteal

[Comp Dude2]

that sucks at least you should be able to rma it ok

[kingdingeling]

I know you got it as a present, but this just proves my point of not recommending Asus motherboards

[iKillSteal]

that sucks at least you should be able to rma it ok

Yeah, Asus tech support got on it right away and issued an RMA, no questions asked.

 

I know you got it as a present, but this just proves my point of not recommending Asus motherboards

lol, yeah. This is strike one for Asus when it comes to me so lets hope board number two isn't a lemon and has it's heatsinks properly installed.

[IVIYTH0S]

I know you got it as a present, but this just proves my point of not recommending Asus motherboards

then what do you recommend for 680i chipsets? (i have a P5N32-E SLI too, and so far i JUST somehow got it it to boot with 4 sticks in, now overclocking.....thats another story)

[iKillSteal]

You've got a different board than I do, IVIYTHOS. You're board, unlike mine is based off of the 680i chipset while mine is based on the 590i chipset. As for which company makes the best 680i boards, evga seems to get the vote of the majority. BTW, I'm assuming you have this board and not the lower end plus version which uses the 650i chipset. I dunno if it'll be any easier if you use a different manufacturer because all the 680i boards I've seen don't play well with 4 sticks of ram.