Warnings re: P5N32E-SLI

[Dertman]

Hopefully some people can learn from my "mistakes" when building a new 680i configuration. While I am not saying this is a "bad board", I want to set everyone's expectations when it comes to some of the board's touted new features.

I installed my P5N32E-SLI with a QX6700, EVGA 8800GTX, 2x750 + 1x150 Raptor and 2 GB Corsair 4-4-4-12. Everything originally went smoothly.

1st Problem - memory recognized with 5-5-5-15 timings. OK easy manual fix. Maybe not board's fault.

2nd Problem - I decided to overclock (a little) and a few attempts failed, but according to one of the boards features, I should just have to reboot and it should automatically revert back to defaults. Didn't work - had to manually clear CMOS a number of times and it is a pain to reach.

OK decided to leave defaults for now and install Vista (MSDN), alas no 8800GTX drivers. Let's install WinXP for now and do clean install of Vista later.

3rd Problem - SysMark settings are terrible with latest 8800 drivers. EVGA recommends installing older 8800GTX drivers (works much better) and contacting ASUS. ASUS tells me to upgrade bios even though the one on their site says 1st release it has a later date. Used new Windows Bios update utility - BIG MISTAKE! Corrupted BIOS -tried battery unplug, clear CMOS, etc.. No luck - dead board. 8O

4th Problem - So all I have to do is pop in the driver disk and the bios will be reinstalled according to another new feature. Of course, how the heck can you install off a CD if the machine won't even boot to Bios in the first place? Another meaningless "new feature".

5th Problem - called ASUS back and they didn't seem surprised and told me that they would just ship me a new chip to replace and this should fix everything, but I had to pay for shipping it ($20 express $5 regular). :x

So this saga is to be continued, but so far I must say I am not at all thrilled with ASUS, nor the many touted features that supposedly set this board apart from reference 680i boards.

- Bill

 

[wun911]

Asus has often shipped out MBs with an inadequate BIOS

The old P5N32 SLI deluxe didnt even suport dual core CPUs untill you upgraded the bios and you needed a single core CPU to do it!!! (so i had to buy a single core CPU just to run my dual core)

I would have flashed the BIOS right away before I did any tweeking or changed any of the RAM timings. Ususally people underclock their system while they flash their BIOS to ensure the system is 100% stable.

 

[zerobeta]

I am interested im buying an 680i chipset MB and am kind of locked on the ASUS P5N32-E SLi

I decided not to take chances with the evga board, and now I dont have many options, and the P5N32-E SLi seems alright

I dont plan to overclock or anything.

I will use these memories: http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_platinum_revision_2_dual_channel and hope they will be recognized as in the specs

I hope I will not have problems like you had, I really dont see any other 680i chipset motherboard option.

 

[4Ryan6]

Sorry Dude but ASUS Sucks, from all the problems I've had with ASUS they couldn't even give me any more of their products.

I could get some satisfaction from their giving me a M/B I didn't have to pay a penney for, and that would be to take a shotgun to it and blow it to pieces, that would bring me a certain amount of sheer satisfaction for all the past crap from them, for once completely at their expense!!!

Well I hope for you that you do not end up like me and even despise the word ASUS, or should I say ASSUS and things work out great for you after this little hurdle is jumped. Sincerely Ryan

 

[zerobeta]

Just because you have had problem with some asus product does not mean they suck

Maybe you mean it as of their service?

I have an ASUS MB and dont have problems, ive replaced a fried asus mobo with a new one as I had warranty

I just wonder if their P5N32-E SLi MB is decent, and if not, any other options?

 

[4Ryan6]

When their products work they're great, of course that applies to every company in the world doesn't it, but from my experience with ASUS, they suck, 2 bad same model # M/Bs in a row, and the sorriest customer service I'd ever come across from any company period, having to pay to ship these dud M/Bs back, IMO pretty much gives me the right to bash ASUS.

I'm speaking of my experience not yours OK, you may think ASUS is the best company in the world, but I don't!

You may actually find that out for yourself one day, then you'll view things a little different. :roll:

 

[pottymonster]

wow. 2 threads pertaining to 680i problems. ive got the evga board and am planning to put it together tomorrow. im really hoping i dont have any problems with it.

i dont think ill have the patience to deal with problems, so if i run in to trouble ill send the board back and get a non sli one.

 

[MaxxBeaver]

I was looking at the EVGA 680i board at Fry's and the guy there said they were getting a lot of returns on it - take that for what it's worth. I hope it works out for you.

I think I am going with the ASUS Striker Extreme - it cost more and it had some teething problems but it looks like they have fixed a lot of problems - I hoping it's good to go. :?: I looked at the P5N32E-SLI, but got warry when ASUS kept dropping support info for it off their board.

 

[cognoscenti]

I installed this board into my newb system below and seems ok in the few hours its been running so far....lol

Anyone know of a good OC guide for this board and a conroe E6600 ????

 

[cognoscenti]

First increase since putting it together.

 

[johnstac]

Agreed. Asus products are great when they work but when they don't, you too will feel the pain. Phone support is a joke. All they want to do is get you off the line asap. Email is worse, especially if you need information within a few days. I won't even get into RMA turnaround.

I did once say that I would never buy another Asus product. Problem is, they own so much of the market that it's hard not to have at least something made by Asus in your system.

My best advice is to listen to the forums. Listen to the people. If they are complaining about bios, then walk away from that board or product. When the bios issues are fixed then you won't hear anyone complaining about them.

 

[Raviolissimo]

I installed my P5N32E-SLI with a QX6700, EVGA 8800GTX, 2x750 + 1x150 Raptor and 2 GB Corsair 4-4-4-12. Everything originally went smoothly.

- Bill

8O :mrgreen: :trophy:

we need an emoticon for "drool" !

Nice System ! except for the motherboard learning process. sometimes i think the Vendors should pay users for providing "real time feedback" that improves their products. that is a benchmark system, Asus should fly 3 engineers out to your house/ office to make it work.

 

[slim142]

OMG you are now on the list, the bad list of...

Dead Boards Because Of Windows Utility Update...

Users have reported NOT to use this utility 1000000(...)00000 times!

Also, Im not against to you, but I agree with you that ASUS support is CRAP.

Specially that guy named "Lee" in ASUS support, looks like he doesnt do or knows how to do sh*t

 

[slim142]

It doesnt have the 680i Issues because it actually doesnt use a 680i chipset.

The northbridge is a 650i and the southbridge is a 590sli I believe.

But as far as people have reported, is a great board so I would consider it anytime. Even the P5N-E is a good board too.

 

[delta42]

I have the P5N32E-SLI with an E6600, 8800GTS, 2x75GB Raptors and 2x250GB WD RE2 drives. I'm using the 0902 beta bios

I have the FSB at 350Mhz and the GTS overclocked to 650/900. Everything is stable and I get 3dMark 06 of just over 10k in XP and Vista.

I've never had to reset the CMOS after a bad overclock.

All in all I'm very happy with the board. I'm just hoping that the 640Mb 8800GTS I bought doesn't get discontinued before I can buy another one for SLI!!

I switched to this board from an Abit AB9-Pro which had all sorts of issues like not being recognised by XP as APCI compliant.

 

[reaper87]

Same here (rig in sig). ive owned the board for over 2 months now and have not had a single problem. I have the cpu @ 425+ fsb, and my RAM runs great under a 1T setting. I have the GPu @ 610/2030. (need to update the sig.....)
I hit the standard FSB hole that happens on almost ever 680i chipset, and didnt have to reset the CMOS, or anything!
I couldnt have asked for a better board.

 

[cognoscenti]

This board, like me, is awesome.

 

[moose64]

I agree with cog this board great I had 5 ASUS motherboards and all have worked great. The P5N32-E SLI is as good as you can get.

 

[Fernis]

Thanks for the warnings, guys. I had similar experiences.

Bought myself P5N32E-SLI and Leadtek 8800GTS-320MB yesterday. I have no experience on overclocking the modern PCs. Thus I tried the automatic "A.I." overclocking of 20%.

I notice my screens flashing blue very shortly, and then going blank. At subsequent reboot no signal is received by the monitors, and the graphics card's fan just spins at full speed, making lots of noise.

I seriously thought I broke something, until after 15 minutes and reattaching most system components, I was bothered to try the CMOS reset jumper. That worked, fortunately.

So I can confirm at least that the CPR feature of the ASUS board does not work at all. I'm using BIOS rev 0802.

I do want to overclock my system however. I didn't byu Thermalright Ultra 120 for nothing. I just have to study carefully which settings to change in the BIOS manually, I guess.

 

[moose64]

If you OC 20% right off the bat that could be your problem, that may have been to much to fast.

 

[apache_lives]

this sounds like most boards on the market, and from you, a noobs perspective

my P5B Deluxe Wifi sets my XMS6400 C5's to C4 default, but since i (and most of you out there) set just about everything to manual (so you know exactly how things are running) its no issue.

And as for the reset cmos option - THATS WHY ITS THERE

Overclocking - dont expect anything

 

[Fernis]

Yup, I _am_ a noob in OC'ing, and not ashamed of it

After googling a day more, I managed overclock my E6600 to a very conservative 3.0GHz using manual settings.

However, now it's the memory I'm having trouble with. I have 2 x 1GB 800-4-3-4-8's from Supertalent. With auto settings for timing, the board uses 5-5-5-15 timings. I tried manual settings 4-3-4-8, 4-4-4-10, 4-4-4-12, but the system won't boot at all (blank screen, C.P.R. works so I can go back to BIOS and revert the settings)...

I think I have to experiment a lot more with the memory voltage settings... or what's your take on this? I'm using Unlinked FSB clocking, CPU = 1332/4 (333) * 9, memory clock = 800.

 

[AppleCertifiedPro]

I've heard that the board is good, but one of my friends purchased the board and it apparently in his view just went up in smoke. He enquired this matter with ASUS, and they found it to be a manufacturing error. He got a new board (this is a rare incident, ASUS flogging off mobos) and everythings fine.

Im considering getting this board as well. From what i've heard its good and i'm going to stick to buying it!

 

[Alsone]

680i chipset was known to have problems (not only on Asus) but is supposedly fixed.

I have the P5N32E - SLI 650i chipset board and I have to say its an absolute dream including for overclocking.

I'm unsure as to whether or not its the chipset or a bad board thats responsible for your experiences.

The CMOS reset feature doesn't work a lot of the time and a manual reset is required if you over do the overclocking.

The graphics issues you mention are most likely to do with the Nvidia graphics drivers which are known to have problems and nothing to do with the motherboard.

The safetst way to upgrade the BIOS is by the Asus floppy program (name escapes me). You should always save your old BIOS to floppy before upgrading. That way if anything goes wrong, you can boot from the floppy into the BIOS upgrade and reinstall the old BIOS. Sorry, but BIOS problem was in part your fault.

 

[Sorenzy]

It is a nice board with nice features.

The only thing that I've encountered that is absolutely horrible thus far is:

ASUS customer support, and feature documentation.

Currently I've been having a running problem with my ASUS P5N320E SLI Plus and I'm positive that many others are having this exact same problem.

I'm trying to get it to take 4GB (4x 1Gb sticks) of Patriot DDR2 6400 RAM.

With

Vista (32).

Yeah it's hellish, and so far I can get it to run with 3GB and be horribly unstable, or simply freeze the BIOS loading screen with 4GB.

Any expertise on this anywhere?