Asus P5E (X38) unstable system with 1066Mhz RAM

Psyk0

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Noob question...

I got 2Gb of 1066Mhz Kingston HyperX 8500 and the PC reboots at least 30 times a day when running the RAM @ 1066Mhz, the board is supposed to natively support 1066Mhz...this RAM isnt in the QVL (only 6400), could this be a voltage issue?

Thanks.
 

jj32

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I'm having the same problem with this board when I set the memory speed in the bios to "DDR2 1066" It has the latest BIOS (402) installed. During POST, it will display the correct speed, but I'll get random error messages saying explorer, winamp, etc... has encountered an error and needs to shut down. Also, when I reboot the machine, it will fail to come up. I'll have to disconnect the power cable from the power supply in order for it to power back up.
 

systemlord

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Thats what you get for updating the BIOS without checking the Asus forums, lots of people are having instability issues with the new BIOS updates. Many people seem to have more trouble using Kingston memory. I have not updated my BIOS for this reason, I aways wait a little while after a new BIOS update to see if others are having problems. That way I'm not the ginipig. :D
 

Psyk0

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Well my bios is 401...not 402, unless same thing happens with 401...i had to install that version for the quad cpu to be recognized.

I agree BIOS updates are never a good idea, unless necessary, when a system is running fine, dont mess with it! :).

Also, i can overclock it to 900 something and it remains stable (without changing voltage) i'll see if increasing voltage helps.
 

jj32

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The problem isn't limited to Kingston memory. I'm using 2GB of Crucial Ballistix Tracer 1066Mhz, Part # BL2KIT12864AL1065, 5-5-5-15
 

systemlord

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I have the same RAM as you, so thanks for the bios mine field update. Like I said I will not be a ginipig. :D
 

Toastmeister

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I am having the same problem. The system can reset at any point up until the OS fully loads and doesn't fully shutdown when reset. Has anyone tried upping the DRAM voltage or lowering the DRAM clock frequency?
Alternately can it be an issue with the CPU voltages or does the nature of the crash rule the CPU out?

I saw another user was having trouble with the problem getting progressively worse. I had the same issue, eventually windows started to complain about corrupt system files. I did a reinstall of the OS and enabled the SATA write protect since I boot from a SATA drive. So far it seems to be helping with the disk corruption issue.

Finally, I have a 450W PSU (Coolmax CR-450B). According to power estimation tools I only need a 310W PSU, but since this MB supports PCIEv2, I am wondering if it is drawing too many amps somewhere.
 

systemlord

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Again I'm having the same problem as you are to, what is this a P5E party? When I hit my reset button my PC just turns off with no reset, once I reset my PC and it got almost to windows then just nothing a black dead screen.

What does write protect do exactly?
 

jj32

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My memory tested bad over the weekend. I ran Memtest86 v1.7 for about 30 minutes and it reported over 300 errors. I'm assuming this was the cause of my problems. Crucial is sending me 2 replacemsnt sticks. Once I upped the voltage to 2.2v, it seemed to be more stable. Programs weren't complaining about errors and needing to shutdown. But I still have the problem that if I change any of the DRAM settings in the BIOS, and reboot it just dies. I have to remove the AC power cord from the power supply, wait 30-60 seconds and press the start button. I have to go thru this precedure 2 or 3 times before it finally boots up. Once it does boot, I can reboot all day long with no problems. This bios/board has major ram issues. I'm not sure if the board is killing the ram or vice versa.
 

Toastmeister

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I looked into this on Asus's forum. There is a problem with recent bios updates that one can't (reliably) set the DRAM voltage in the bios. In the time being the workaround I am using is to set the memory speed to 800Mhz and complain bitterly to Asus support.

Also thanks for the tip, I'll try out Memtest86.
 

Psyk0

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This might help if you want to increase clock speed:

I set the RAM to 887 Mhz in the bios, no reboots or blue screens so far (for a good 2-3 weeks) no overclocking.

If you want to go above 887Mhz:
The only way i can raise the frequency is by using the AI Gear utility, switching to turbo mode will raise the RAM to 900+ Mhz and CPU @ 2.5Ghz, which is fine since i'm not trying to go any higher for the CPU.

(I verified this with CPU-z and it's indeed overclocking properly, just wont go as high as 1066Mhz)

The only drawback is that you have to change to turbo mode everytime you restart but i can live with that.

Hope that helps, for now...
 

systemlord

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Maybe the reason for you Ram issues is because most of the updated Bios revisions are having Ram compatibility issues, people that own Asus motherboards really need to have a look at Asus's own forums so you know when not to update your Bios. I am still on the bios that came with my mobo and have had no problems, just because you can update your Bios doesn't mean that you should.

A lot of people out there often update their Bios simply because they can, this only causes them more trouble in the end and needless suffering. I wish Asus would test their Bios revisions before that release them instead of unknowingly put you the customers as the beta testers. Thats just a heads up for all you, ever wonder why the Bios that comes with your mobo usually is best out of the box? Because if mobo makers release mobo with bad Bios versions out of the box they would lose customers left & right.

On my older Asus P5B Deluxe from last year from which I never once updated my Bios and had that mobo for quite sometime without so much as a problem with the Bios that came with the mobo. Its still a very strong gaming computer, think about if you are having any problems with your current Bios and if not then I see no reason why you would update it. So unless you are having issues with the mobo out of the box, that is the time to update your Bios, but not before you check the Asus forums for info on how the new Bios behaves with others computers to avoid that bad Bios.

Asus'a own forum, beaware that sometimes its very busy so try again later>> http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?board_id=1&model=P5E&SLanguage=en-us


 

Toastmeister

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I always assumed Kingston was a tier one brand and Asus a tier 1 motherboard maker. Should I downgrade my estimation of Asus's or Kingston? Or perhaps the problem is with Asus's programmers and not their hardware designers?

¿Quién es más incompetente, Asus o Kingston?

(When one pays over $220 for a motherboard they kinda don't expect to have to check the RAM computability page for every bios update. My bad?)
 

systemlord

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How Asus missed all these Bios issues in a good question, do they even test them? Looks like not, maybe its all about math when it come to coding. This Asus P5E has been great so far, has less vdroop than my Asus P5B Deluxe.
 

Scaj

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Most likely it's the voltage setting. Currently running 4GB 1333MHz on a P5E3 Deluxe mobo and I had difficulty in getting the full 4GB to run stable until I manually set the voltage to 1.8v, no problems since.
 

jj32

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The Asus web site is useless.
It's so damn slow you have to wait 10 minutes for one page to refresh. They should take some of those profits and upgrade their infrastructure.
 

systemlord

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I totally agree! What does Asus have dial-up servers? Sometimes when their servers are working the info on their forums are priceless as you have everyone in that forum section talking only about your mobo. I have found it to be a great place to get info about surtain problems I wouldn't find anywhere else.
 

Toastmeister

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I was at Asus HQ the other day. It’s a sad story; the founder is desperately trying to save money to replace the aging Learjet with a new Gulfstream G550. So they’ve had to cut back on the feed they normally give the hamsters that power their data center. There was really no other choice but to starve the hamsters as they stopped paying QA quite a while back and there weren’t many other places to cut.

Seriously, is Gigabyte any better?
 

systemlord

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Really really? :lol: Why update your BIOS when having no problems with the one that came with the motherboard? I say this because if your having no issues with the bios/mobo that came with why take a chance? I am not having any problems with the stock out of box BIOS, so I see no reason why I would update. Some people needlessly update for no reason and after they update they get problems, then wonder why. Its needless suffering... Of corse if your having issues with a BIOS version then yes update but if not...
 

Toastmeister

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I am checking 501 out, I take back 1/2 of what I said. The other half is still true.
Now (hopefully) I just need to figure out what voltage to use for my 1066mhz RAM.