extreemly slow pst of p5w deluxe

[harry18]

im really stumped with this one, i have a asus p5w dh deluxe and conroe e6300, and i turn on my comp, its all working fine, but it displays the post message for about 30 secs, then it continues booting in to windows, or just freezes, i trtied flashing the bios, but i think its even slower now, but it is just a beta bios, hmm.

well any ideas?:???:

[markkleb]

sounds like its having trouble seeing the HDD, CD or flop.
I had that problem on my Epox mobo but a bios upgrade fixed it.
Are you using Sata, Raid, IDE?

[harry18]

i have one sata drive connected to it, and its brand new, + one ide dvd rw

[markkleb]

have you tried using a different sata port. And mabye unpluging the DVD.

[harry18]

ok, cheers, ill give it a try in the morning and report back, thanks mark

[markkleb]

anytime.
There are a lot of much smarter guys here that can help, so if its no go ask Kougar (really good with Pent stuff).

[harry18]

yea its a no go, it had no effect:confused: im gonna go sleep, ill have another look in the morn, thanks tho

[markkleb]

See you tomorrow, Il steer Kougar here. When you get a chance list ur hardware in your signature, it will help to diagnose stuff. Mark

[Kougar]

Okay, Markkleb dragged me in here kicking and screaming... but I'm here now. :-P

Harry, we really need much more info than that, we can't mind read! ;) What is the BIOS version you are currently using? Have you overclocked it? What are the rest of your system specs, espcially the RAM and RAM timings? You can use this program to find all of that out... http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-135.zip (http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-135.zip)

Have you tried going into the BIOS, and telling it to "Load Optimized Defaults" yet? If not I'd suggest trying that.

[werty316]

What happens when just the ROM drive is plugged in?
What happens when just the HD is plugged in?

[harry18]

k, i made a sig, and here are the cpuz http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/rilt/untitled-8.jpg

it was just as slow when not over clocked, and i just noticed my mem is pretty underclokeed, ill sort that out, and it had no effect unplugging the hdd/rom

and the bios is 1010, i think, i just went on the asus update and its doing an update now.

[Kougar]

Excellent screenshots, those are what I needed. :)

Right off I can say your DDR2-800 RAM is running at DDR2-600 speed oddly enough. Those are pretty bad timings as well, and show the board is not auto-setting them at their correct values, and now I can see why...

I don't understand how that is even booting, it is using s 4:3 ratio instead of a 1:1 ratio. Get into your BIOS and change your DRAM ratio into 1:1 and that should take care of everything. :-P

If you overclock the FSB any further you will need to figure out how far out of spec you can run your memory, while keeping a 1:1 ratio. You should not overclock beyond the point your RAM can no longer hangle a 1:1 ratio as the performance loss would be greater than the OC advantage.

When using a 1:1 ratio your RAM will run at twice the speed of your FSB. Since my own FSB is at 476 that means my RAM is at 952mhz. You've already done a large OC with your E6300, so your current 400FSB times two would exactly equal DDR2-800mhz RAM exactly. Lesser qualty boards wouldn't of even worked with the settings you've posted!

[harry18]

ok, ive had the fsb at 420, i think it was a 1:1 cos it was saying the ram was at 420, id try out you sugestion but ive got the F@h thing running and its half way thro a 500000, is it alright to stop it, i did tthat before and it didnt resume from its 125000, anywho, ill be back later, im gonna go watch the karate kid:grin:

[Kougar]

Well, I'm just going by the CPU-Z screenshots and they outright say it's a 4:3 ratio, and that your RAM was operating at a 300 frequency. If you're already at a 420FSB then it's likely you would have to be using a 1:1 ratio now..

As long as you don't attempt to forcibly kill F@H, then once you click the "x" then it should save and exit on it's own.

[harry18]

ok, well ill try it in a few hrs, dont want to risk closing it when its 87% thro a 500000, cheers kougar

[Miles]

If I were a betting man:grin: I'd say it was a network/Internet issue, this usually happens when your modem or router is searching for an IP address.

[harry18]

aah, interesting point, i do have a reuter ste up, but i never had problems with it befor, ill unplug it, and try rebooting

[harry18]

nope no luck, the mem is not at a 1:1, and i unplugged the reuter, but still took at least 30secs on the post:confused:

[markkleb]

k, i made a sig, and here are the cpuz http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/rilt/untitled-8.jpg

it was just as slow when not over clocked, and i just noticed my mem is pretty underclokeed, ill sort that out, and it had no effect unplugging the hdd/rom

and the bios is 1010, i think, i just went on the asus update and its doing an update now.
Check the bios you need the 1101 ver.
I also read something about contacting Microsoft about a "XP Dual CPU Patch"

I wish it was AMD...

[harry18]

ok, i got that bios and i searched round microsoft for the patch, but no luck, any one know about this?:confused:

[markkleb]

here is what I was reading,

Quote from Newegg:
Pros: -stable -OC'able features are easy to read -plenity of bios updates -when C2D is used MB is much cooler -Remote is a nice touch -nice packaging.. -when upgrading from a P5WD2-E Prem all I did was a XP repair from the XP CD and bam, I was off and running. No problems to date. -Water Cooling Friendly -Performance is so noticeable I haven't had a need to OC it yet.

Cons: -usb port 3/4 are alive when computer is shut down. It's better to unplug computer when switching usb plugs -8-pin 12V connector should have been used for 8 phase power instead of 4 -MB is not P4 friendly at all. Causing instability when OC, NB will heat up, etc mostly do to lack of 8-pin 12V connector -THIS IS NOTHING MORE THEN A P5WD2-E PREMIUM with C2D support -Need to remove and clean N/S Bridge Heatsinks and replace with Artic Silver 5 (THIS IS A MUST) -You need to remove the cover off of N/S Bridge HS (THIS IS A MUST)

Other Thoughts: Folks lets get something striaght here this is nothing more then a P5WD2-E Prem I was able to use those drives for this MB using XP and had no problems what-so-ever. All I installed to date is the software for the remote and the XP dual CPU patch (you have to call MS to get it). It's a good MB no different from the former. I will not knock that aspect.

[harry18]

interesting, cheers mark, ill look into that, still slow post tho:(:(

[markkleb]

I wish I was more help but Intel is definately not my area...neither is programming or playing musical instruments.
Dam thank god I can build stuff or id be worthless..lol

[Kougar]

Harry, since you changed your config please post another CPUZ screenshot. You should only be running a 1:1 ratio, and that is likely your problem.

I've helped another user build and get started on OCing his first rig and he was using the same motherboard. What was interesting is that the ASUS P5W-DH does not seem to be able to auto set the ratio correctly, as he had the same problem with his set up. I'd also suggest you make sure that board is giving the RAM enough voltage, because he was also using G.Skill RAM tha calls for 2-2.1v and the board was only reporting 1.8v going to it.

[harry18]

ok, thanks, i have to say im pretty confused with overclocking at the mo, i was fine when doing my old p4 there were hardly any settings, but now im just stumped, and ive got everything on auto except the FSB, any who, heres cpuz
woops wrong thing.

there http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/rilt/untitled-11.jpg

[harry18]

ok, i upped the voltage from 1.8 to 2.0v, no effect, and then i played a lil bf2 and it froze, 3 times, so i put the ram back to 4:3 and its fine, but its ddr2 800, it should be able to run at 400mhz?

[Kougar]

I see you finally got it running at 1:1! You need to look up your exact model of G.Skill RAM because some of it requires as much as 2.1v to run.

Also your P5W-DH is doing exactly what the other person's did with the timings. I would suggest you set them to 5-5-5-15 manually since that would put them exact within specs, a tRAS of 18 is pretty bad which is what your board is currently showing.

Considering his RAM also required it's full voltage once it got near DDR2-800 speeds with it, I would still bet you that is your stability problem. Your CPU voltage might possibly also not be enough, you should try fixing the RAM to specs then notching the CPU vcore to 1.34-1.35v. It wouldn't need anything over 1.35v to run at 2.8ghz though.

[harry18]

ok, ok, thanks, so heres what i should do, set the ram to 5-5-5-15, the volatge says it sould be between 1.8-2.0v?

and i should set the cpu voltage to about 1.35, seems easy eneugh, cheers kougar, ill do it and repot back

[Kougar]

1.35v on the CPU would ensure it is not the bottleneck. And if your RAM says 1.8v-2v for the specs, then make sure it is getting 2.0v exactly. ;)

Now I will have to say 400FSB for a ASUS P5W-DH is already pushing the envelope, that board wasn't really able to do that well for the simple majority of people. If you are overvolting the MCH or ICH7 then ensure they are getting enough cooling, that can also cause those problems and crash the system.

[harry18]

woa, wats the MCH or ICH7, and what will overvolting it do?

also, how can i check what voltage my ram is getting or should i just assume its getting 2v, cos thats what i set it to?

thanks tho, ill try these things out

[harry18]

k, ive done all that but i couldnt set the ram to 5-5-5-15, cos it wouldnt boot, and there was another thing i could set under the ram latency optopns saying, average dram write, not wure what i shoud have cloked that at.

ive been experimenting and i found something weird.

right so i firstly set the ram at 800, with 2v, ran prime 95 it was fine, now ive done it with the ram at 600, and at 1.8v, but the cpu at 400fsb, and its fine....but when i combine the 2 it crashes?:confused:

[dracos]

is it the p5wd2-e preminum?

I have that one and it's funky.... with which IDE port you use sometimes..

[Kougar]

The MCH is your northbridge chipset, and the ICH7 is your southbridge chipset. If you want to OC higher than what you are at then likely you'd need to overvolt your chipset because you are running it so far above spec. However I wouldn't suggest it in your case... if you do it wrong or too much it will kill the motherboard.

Are you absolutely sure your RAM is DDR2-800? What was the official timings for it? If running your RAM at 5-5-5-15 causes a crash, than either your RAM or the memory controller in your chipset is holding you back.

400FSB is the max for that board, I think you need to settle with what ya got from it... most people at XtremeSystems would be happy with that high an OC with "just" a ASUS P5W-DH.

[harry18]

cheres, the fsb on my mobo seems to go up to 500 tho:/

yea i was a bit concerned about the ram and what speed it is, but it has a lable on the side that says its ddr2-800, its this stuff, second one down: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/GSkill_Memory.html


but, 400mhz is the speed it should be running at tho right, so how come it crashes when its running at that speed, and the processor is at 2.8, it makes no sense

[Kougar]

I don't see any RAM in that picture, although I see a zebra striped bike :-P

Just because one or two extremists managed to pull a near 500fsb overclock doesn't mean you can without following their extreme modifications. Most people are doing lucky to hit 380FSB with your board, and at the time I was considering purchasing it I figured I would be lucky to hit 400FSB with it.

You need to verify your RAM is running within it's rated timings and voltages, and if it's unstable then experiment with the various options left to you. Such as nudging the voltage on the cpu or the ram or the mch/ich higher, at your own risk of course ;) Again I'd suggest going back to a 400FSB and leaving it, as your RAM just doesn't seem to be working well with your board, and I'd bet you your problem is with the RAM.

[harry18]

k, dunno how i wanaged that, but link fixed.

do you mean to say the ram is buggerd?

i was able to get a 3ghz when i uped the mch, ill play around with it all i geuss.
anyways back to the oprignl question, why is the post so long, or is it all related to this ram, ill nick a stick of ddr2 out my bros pc and try it with that.

thanks

[Xero (1)ne]

i had the same problem on my board with the freezing at psot after my last psu blew out
i just kept on playing with it trying to troubleshoot wuht might be damaged by the psu and wuht is still good, and through playing with it it jsut came to be that all of the parts are good, removing the drives and switching around the ram solved it
my guess is check your cables?
if not that check your psu rails it might not be spinning the drives up fast enough

[harry18]

well i treid i differtn cable and its a little better, ill get a round one and see what thats like, thanks chaps

[werty316]

well i treid i differtn cable and its a little better, ill get a round one and see what thats like, thanks chaps
Great you are getting progress but I like the generic grey flat PATA cables so you can fold and hide them better than round cables; just a thought.

[harry18]

na, sorry its the cd drive cable, im gonna get a really short one, with just 1 connectro on

[Xero (1)ne]

wewt i helped someone!:mrgreen:
i think ima become a regular on here:wink: