E6600 + Asus P5W DH Deluxe Adventures

[eva2000]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe + Asus P5W DH Deluxe

Thanks to Asus, I finally got my hands on a Asus P5W DH Deluxe for the sole purpose of cranking out some nice benchmarks. This board is the newly revised P5W DH which later P5W DH Deluxes will feature a higher max MCH volts of 1.85v



Full pictures:
http://i4memory.com/reviewimages/mot.../asus/P5WDH/1/

System:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 QPGE B1 Step 5
• Swiftech G4 Storm water cooled cpu
• Asus P5W DH Deluxe 0801 bios
• 256MB BFG 7800GTX 84.66 SLI drivers
• 2x1GB Gskill PC6400PHU2 2GBHZ Micron D9 (cooled by Sunon 92x38mm 120cfm fan on rheobus medium speed)
• 74GB WD Raptor 8MB cache
• FDD
• 700W OCZ GameXStream Psu

General observations and notes:

• The setup and installation went problem free so started some stock load tests.
• I read the guide to known P5W DH issues and workarounds at http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=110193
• I followed the guide FCG wrote at http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=106563 for preparing the board by reapplying the TIM on the Northbridge/MCH and Southbridge heatsinks and removed their respectively covers to allow the actual heatsinks to breathe. I also added a 120x25mm fan over my video card which cools my SB heatsink and another 120x25mm fan over the NB and cpu socket area.
• I plugged in my 74GB WD Raptor 8MB drive into the red SATA1 connector on motherboard as explained in the manual
• Get use to the board auto shutting down on exiting bios, memtest or windows and automatically booting up again at speeds other than default 266fsb. Seems it's like Intel D975XBX Badaxe when changing boot straps. It's the boards way of ensuring the bios settings are properly set for booting. Can be quite annoying when rebooting windows when doing benchmark sessions. Actually, I got a reply from an Asus contact about the auto power down:
  

  This behaviour is caused by system's limitation. For over-clocking, the
  internal PLL of NB would not lock on the high clock right away, so that means
  system could not hold on the clock frequency immediately after reset. That's
  why we add a auto-power down scheme to fix this issue. Of course, this
  behaviour only occurs at over-clocking scenario.

• Seems AI Booster under reports cpu temps by around 8-10C. Coretemp app reports stock cpu idle and load temps in line with what my Intel D975XBX Badaxe Rev304 motherboard for this Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe cpu.
• AI Booster loads awfully slowly and like Asus Probe II app both consume too much memory when open for my liking >10-12+ MB per app!
• AI Booster has a habit of not displaying the right temp with occassional jumps to 255C.
• AI Booster reported memory voltage is inaccurate i.e. 2.1v in bios = 2.2v in AI Booster, 2.2v in bios = 2.3v AI Booster, 2.3v bios = 0.00v AI Booster, and 2.35v = 6.54v in AI Booster!
• In bios monitoring section it can momentarily freeze or hang on you, no one knows why but if you wait a tad longer it will function fine and no probs. Just another issue to get use to.
• The board does droop alot more than Intel D975XBX Badaxe (which was fairly stable on vcore when Enhanced Power slope was enabled). P5W DH doesn't have such a function to reduce drooping on vcore voltage. There's around ~0.03 to 0.05v vcore droop under load in windows. For example, 1.425v in bios = 1.40-1.41v idle vcore in AI Booster in windows and under load that droops to around 1.376-1.384v.

Dual Stressprime 2004 'Orthos' dual core testing:

Note:
1. vdimm of 2.1v in bios shows up as 2.15v in AI Booster.

------------------------------------------------------
Stock 2400mhz at 1.242v vcore (AUTO):

vCore = AUTO
fsb = AUTO
vdimm = 2.1v
MCH = AUTO
ICH = AUTO

Idle:
AI Booster = 20C
Coretemp = 29-30C

Load:
AI Booster = 29C
Coretemp = 37-39C

------------------------------------------------------
3207mhz at 1.242v vcore (AUTO):

vCore = AUTO
fsb = AUTO
vdimm = 2.1v
MCH = AUTO
ICH = AUTO

Idle:
AI Booster = 19C
Coretemp = 28-29C

Load:
AI Booster = 31C
Coretemp = 41C

------------------------------------------------------
3558mhz at 1.38v vcore idle 1.35-1.36v load:

vCore = 1.4v
fsb = 1.3v
vdimm = 2.1v
MCH = 1.55v
ICH = AUTO

Idle:
AI Booster = 21C
Coretemp = 30-31C

Load:
AI Booster = bugged display
Coretemp = 48=50C

------------------------------------------------------
Seems to be about the same as on my Intel D975XBX when @3600mhz at 1.376-1.384v vcore load (Badaxe needed 1.371v vcore) but with P5W DH needed to raise MCH volts from 1.55v to 1.65v P5W DH consistently needs around 0.05v more vcore under load than what i needed on Intel D975XBX Badaxe heh.

vCore = 1.425v
fsb = 1.3
vdimm = 2.1v
MCH = 1.65
ICH = AUTO



Super Pi @9x400fsb = 3600Mhz 1:1 4-4-4-12 at 2.1v
32M Single = 14min 21.421s
32M Dual = 16min 12.000s / 16min 13.437s

Isolated memory clock tests:

Now that I've found a nice stable reference clock to work with (3600mhz at 1.376v), it's time to fine a nice stable memory clock to work with using async upclock dividers. I used memtest86+ v1.65 and in windows Systool dual 32M PI (cpu test) runs to do some fairly quick tests. I've found if you can pass Systool dual 32M PI (cpu test) you can fairly easily pass Super Pi 32M single and dual instance tests

Memtest86+ v1.65:
All tests done at 4-4-4-12 4 timings:

• 501mhz at 2.20v = PASSED
• 513mhz at 2.25v = PASSED
• 513mhz at 2.30v = PASSED
• 517mhz at 2.30v = FAILED with 2 errors on 2nd pass of Test #5
• 520mhz at 2.30v = FAILED with 14 errors 1st pass of Test #5
• 520mhz at 2.35v = PASSED
• 525mhz at 2.35v = PASSED
• 528mhz at 2.35v = FAILED with 4 errors on 4th pass and 2 errors on 6th pass of Test #5
• 533mhz at 2.35v = FAILED with 558 errors on 1st pass of Test #5
• 534mhz at 2.40v = PASSED

Super Pi v1.5 - single and dual tests:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I set 800 (2:3) upclock divider to test my 2x1GB Gskill PC6400PHU2 HZ Micron D9s @4-4-4-12 4 timings. I set bios to:

fsb = 334fsb
vcore = 1.35v
vdimm = 2.20v (AI Booster reports 2.3v)
fsb = 1.3v
mch = 1.65
ich = AUTO

334fsb with 2:3 upclock had the memory running at 501mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.2v. It failed Systool dual 32M PI (cpu test) near the end. So i dropped fsb from 334fsb to 333fsb via AI Booster app so that memory was running at 500mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.2v. At 500mhz 4-4-4-12 it passed Systool dual 32M PI test fine. So ran single and dual Super Pi v1.5 32M tests with the following results @9x333fsb = 3001Mhz:

Super Pi @9x333fsb = 3001Mhz 2:3 500mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.2v
32M Single = 16min 21.859s
32M Dual = 17min 42.062s / 17min 39.641s

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now from quick memtests and Systool dual 32M PI (cpu tests) with 2.3v vdimm in bios, memory found it's stable mark at 513mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.3v.

vcore = 1.35v
vdimm = 2.30v (AI Booster reports 0.00v heh)
fsb = 1.3v
mch = 1.65
ich = AUTO

Super Pi @9x342fsb = 3082Mhz 2:3 513mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.3v
32M Single = 15min 55.500s
32M Dual = 17min 14.547s / 17min 12.328s

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bump memory voltage to 2.35v vdimm in bios, and managed to get memory to 525mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.35v.

vcore = 1.35v
vdimm = 2.35v (AI Booster reports 6.54v LOL buggy heh)
fsb = 1.3v
mch = 1.65
ich = AUTO

Super Pi @9x350fsb = 3154Mhz 2:3 525mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.35v
32M Single = 15min 30.609s
32M Dual = 16min 51.375s / 16min 48.594s

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bump memory voltage to 2.4v vdimm in bios, and managed to get memory to 533mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.4v. systool dual 32M PI (cpu test) failed near end of run at 534mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.4v, so using clockgen bumped it down to 533mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.4v which passed fine.

vcore = 1.35v
vdimm = 2.4v (AI Booster reports 0.01v)
fsb = 1.3v
mch = 1.65
ich = AUTO

Super Pi @9x355fsb = 3200Mhz 2:3 533mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.4v
32M Single = 15min 20.453s
32M Dual = 16min 36.657s / 16min 33.500s

So looks like for Super Pi v1.50 32M at least I've managed to get 2x1GB Gskill PC6400PHU2 2GBHZ Micron D9GMH to 533mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.4v.

CPUZ Validation:
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=114620



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next up.... finding P5W DH's max fsb limit at 1.65v MCH and 1.85v MCH




.

[eva2000]

Max FSB Results:

Now the fun part, finding the max fsb this P5W DH is capable of With FSB volts at 1.3v and MCH volts at 1.65v for now I managed being able to boot from bios at 9x442fsb = 3978Mhz at 1.54-1.55v.

I tried 9x444fsb but not able to boot up. Whether that's a fsb limit of cpu/vcore/cooling limited not sure - will investigate later

9X442fsb = 3978Mhz

CPUZ Validation:
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=114677

click on image for full screenie


Next I'd drop the cpu multiplier using Crystalmarkcpuid for 8x and see how high I can take the fsb still with MCH volts at 1.65v.

To test max fsb, I decided to boot into windows from bios at 9x440fsb = 3960mhz at 1.575v vcore bios (1.54-1.57v windows load-idle) and then using Crystalmarkcpuid to drop from 9x to 8x cpu multiplier for tests.

I used only Systool dual 32M PI (cpu test) and Super Pi v1.50 single and dual 32M tests to test max fsb.

Bios Settings:

vdimm = 2.2v
vFSB = 1.3v
vMCH = 1.65v
vICH = AUTO
Performance mode = AUTO
Hyperpath3 = Disabled

@8x440fsb = 3522mhz 1:1 memory @440mhz 4-4-4-12 4
I managed to pass single 32M Super Pi but one core failed dual 32M Super Pi with vMCH of 1.65v.

Super Pi v1.50
single 32M = 14min 14.703s
dual 32M = core 1 failed at 17th iteration

Increased vMCH to 1.75v in bios and 8x440fsb dual 32M Super Pi completed with no problems.

click image to see full screenshot


How far can we take fsb with vMCH 1.75v ? Seems 447fsb was only good enough for single 32M Super Pi, as dual 32M failed. So dropped back to 445fsb which passed fine.

@8x447fsb = 3576mhz 1:1 memory @447mhz 4-4-4-12 4
I managed to pass single 32M Super Pi but one core failed dual 32M Super Pi at 19th iteration on core #2 with vMCH of 1.75v.

Super Pi v1.50
single 32M = 14min 04.844s
dual 32M = core 2 failed at 19th iteration

@8x445fsb = 3561mhz 1:1 memory @445mhz 4-4-4-12 4

Super Pi v1.50
single 32M = 14min 09.438s
dual 32M = 15min 48.875s / 15min 46.640s



Summary of max FSB tests:

Right now it looks like for stock heatpipe cooling on MCH/NB:

vMCH = max fsb
1.65v = ~438fsb
1,75v = ~445fsb
1.85v = not tested yet

I guess the default chipset latencies are very tight and the factor of adequate MCH/NB cooling come into play. FCG's FSB scaling report at http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=105940 refers to better cooled MCH with MCH volt modded AFAIK. Also, I have yet to test simonmaltby's fsb scaling frequency tests in relation to memory timing options for tRD and tRFC http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=111400.

[Pjoeloe]

Nice one, what is the revision code of this board Eva, and is this board in stores or do we have to wait ?

edit , well, it`revision rev. 1.02G , see http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=112614

[Brahmzy]

Great post eva, thanks for the info. Wanna sell me your E6600?

[Pjoeloe]

Eva, did you see my reply @ http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...=111400&page=2 ? I am curious if asus can do the same with the asus p5b non deluxe ...

[Direwolf]

Sweet stuff man, looking forward to a "high" fsb at 9x !

[eva2000]

thanks guys.. nah not selling my E6600s as yet - they're my precious babies

Eva, did you see my reply @ http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...=111400&page=2 ? I am curious if asus can do the same with the asus p5b non deluxe ...

replied http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...4&postcount=51

[herderien]

nice job here ^^

have you checked if the vcore stood 1.24 with auto setting when doing 357 fsb ?

i've noticed that vcore increase when overclocking with the P5B dlx

[JoeBar]

Very nice job!

[Barracuda]

very nice bravo!

[lawrywild]

Nice post! :thumbsup:

[eva2000]

thanks guys..

yup AUTO vcore = 1.242v i checked according to AI Booster at least.

Updated 2nd post with 9x442fsb screenies straight from bios boot

[Pjoeloe]

Well Eva, I was thinking. I am curious what a retail conroe E6600 does with those higher mch voltages. I mean, it`s nice that an ES sample will do 9 x 450, but, what about the retails ? Like 10.000 xtreme members have a retail and like 25 people have an ES so......

It`s cool from Asus they did the modification but it`s also nice if we can see the difference with a b2 stepping

[eva2000]

easy buy me a E6600 retail and send it my way as a gift.. no limit as to how many guys can send to me....

[PcCI2iminal]

nice job and thx for sharing!!!

[Brahmzy]

Well Eva, I was thinking. I am curious what a retail conroe E6600 does with those higher mch voltages. I mean, it`s nice that an ES sample will do 9 x 450, but, what about the retails ? Like 10.000 xtreme members have a retail and like 25 people have an ES so......

It`s cool from Asus they did the modification but it`s also nice if we can see the difference with a b2 stepping

With my retail E6600 VMCH makes absolutely no difference in stability whatsoever. Only VCore-the more I give it, the higher I can go stable. I think VMCH only comes into play at 400FSB+.

[K404]

Hey eva! Thanks for the results Got a question about this part if ya dont mind

3207mhz at 1.242v vcore (AUTO):

vCore = AUTO
fsb = AUTO
vdimm = 2.1v
MCH = AUTO
ICH = AUTO

Idle:........................................Load:
AI Booster = 19C.......................AI Booster = 31C
Coretemp = 28-29C...................Coretemp = 41C

Did your gear do this out the box fairly quickly, or did you have to edge the CU and board there? I`m having trouble getting over 3GHz on my setup with the CPU at 1.36 under water, and improved air on the NB at 1.55V.

Also, have you been measuring VCore idle and load with a DMM on the board? i`ve been checking mine (between CPU socket and top of board) and I have very little droop at all..definately not enough to worry about. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Final question/point ... I ditched the heatpipe cooler for the VRMs between the CPU socket and I/O ports totally..the thick rubber-like pad does NOTHING for heat conduct, and I found, after applying AS5 to the VRMs, that they`re not all at the same height and the copper block doesnt make good contact at all on it. I`m using RAMsinks over the VRMs with a fan over them, and they`re not hot at all. The small moulding pits in the VRMs dont make cooling easier either. What do ya think?

Any input ya got on any of those questions is welcome
Thanks,

Kenny

[AndrewZorn]

'Sata3' threw me off for a second i was like wait do i have mine in the wrong port
but by sata3 you meant sata2 like sata 3.0gb/s right
because mine is the 'red' one but i thought that was #1

is the board stable at 440fsb?
do you have to enable SPD timings to get that FSB (no need to make them higher or lower, but do you specifically need to change it to default SPD?)

1.65v MCH and 1.2v FSB... do you consider that 24/7 safe with a fan?

[Shpoon]

Sorry, what type of NB cooling do you have?

Also, to avoid a new thread...does the board run a 4:5 divider alright? Have some DDR1000 coming, and was hoping it'd work (what is the setting for the 4:5 divider btw? Intel dividers confuse me)

[bachus_anonym]

As usual, very through insight, George Thanks for taking time to put it all together
I wish there were even more threads like this - success stories and "DIY" problem solvers, if there were any.
Kudos

[Pjoeloe]

thanks guys..
yup AUTO vcore = 1.242v i checked according to AI Booster at least.
Updated 2nd post with 9x442fsb screenies straight from bios boot

well, if they send a retail bord for free, why not an el cheapo retail conroe free from intel ? . How did you obtained your ES ?

With my retail E6600 VMCH makes absolutely no difference in stability whatsoever. Only VCore-the more I give it, the higher I can go stable. I think VMCH only comes into play at 400FSB+.

simple then, pencle the vcore

very offtopic, how do you guy`s like nvidia`s new 80nm baby ?



cute he

[M.Beier]

With my retail E6600 VMCH makes absolutely no difference in stability whatsoever. Only VCore-the more I give it, the higher I can go stable. I think VMCH only comes into play at 400FSB+.

Its the same as ES..
No difference..

You wont need to raise VMCH at 400FSB, gettin' 500FSB on the other hand, you need too raise it a bit... - Lets say 1.75-2.0v, I dont remember the exact, but with stock sink on my board, I've hit a 53x FSB at 2.0v, but - no way with X9 on my retail CPU..

[eva2000]

Did your gear do this out the box fairly quickly, or did you have to edge the CU and board there? I`m having trouble getting over 3GHz on my setup with the CPU at 1.36 under water, and improved air on the NB at 1.55V.

Also, have you been measuring VCore idle and load with a DMM on the board? i`ve been checking mine (between CPU socket and top of board) and I have very little droop at all..definately not enough to worry about. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Final question/point ... I ditched the heatpipe cooler for the VRMs between the CPU socket and I/O ports totally..the thick rubber-like pad does NOTHING for heat conduct, and I found, after applying AS5 to the VRMs, that they`re not all at the same height and the copper block doesnt make good contact at all on it. I`m using RAMsinks over the VRMs with a fan over them, and they`re not hot at all. The small moulding pits in the VRMs dont make cooling easier either. What do ya think?

Any input ya got on any of those questions is welcome
Thanks,

Kenny

haven't measured via dmm only software heh but i believe the droop is correct

3.6ghz out of the box was easy as pie hehe

not sure about VRM cooling i have the heatpipe on but reapplied TIM on it and have removed those covers as i stated above

'Sata3' threw me off for a second i was like wait do i have mine in the wrong port
but by sata3 you meant sata2 like sata 3.0gb/s right
because mine is the 'red' one but i thought that was #1

is the board stable at 440fsb?
do you have to enable SPD timings to get that FSB (no need to make them higher or lower, but do you specifically need to change it to default SPD?)

1.65v MCH and 1.2v FSB... do you consider that 24/7 safe with a fan?

corrected typo SATA1 hehe, 9x440fsb isn't stable going to drop multipler to find the max fsb.. i have timings manually enabled never SPD with no probs

1.65v MCH i would consider safe if you have the cooling i'd probably change the stock NB heatsink if you want to run it 24/7 - i'm going to use Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II NB heatsink since i'll take it off my Bad axe hehe

Sorry, what type of NB cooling do you have?

Also, to avoid a new thread...does the board run a 4:5 divider alright? Have some DDR1000 coming, and was hoping it'd work (what is the setting for the 4:5 divider btw? Intel dividers confuse me)

re-read 1st post stock heatpipes with covers off, reapplied TIM and fan over them.. haven't tried 4:5 yet i've only had this P5W DH for less than 48-72hrs need time to test hehe

As usual, very through insight, George Thanks for taking time to put it all together
I wish there were even more threads like this - success stories and "DIY" problem solvers, if there were any.
Kudos

thanks mate...

Its the same as ES..
No difference..

You wont need to raise VMCH at 400FSB, gettin' 500FSB on the other hand, you need too raise it a bit... - Lets say 1.75-2.0v, I dont remember the exact, but with stock sink on my board, I've hit a 53x FSB at 2.0v, but - no way with X9 on my retail CPU..

i had to raise my MCH from 1.55v to 1.65v to get 9x400fsb = 3600mhz at 1.376v stable as i reported in 1st post at 1.55v it will error out in stressprime after a few minutes

as to questions of where my ES came from, i could tell you but i'd then have to kill ya LOL

more results coming soon

[Mykou]

well, if they send a retail bord for free, why not an el cheapo retail conroe free from intel ? . How did you obtained your ES ?


simple then, pencle the vcore

very offtopic, how do you guy`s like nvidia`s new 80nm baby ?

cute he

What a smart design !!

[eva2000]

Starting to test max memory clocks for 4-4-3-8 timings, but weirdest thing is happening in that i can't even get 472mhz 4-4-3-8 stable in memtest test #1-5 tests regardless of vdimm used while the same 2x1GB Gskill PC6400PHU2 HZ can do 500mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.2v and 533mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.4v on P5W DH!

Same memory on Intel D975XBX Bad axe can do 490mhz 4-4-4-8 at 2.2v and 473mhz 4-4-3-5 at 2.2v with air cooled MCH/NB and 488-494mhz 4-4-3-5 at 2.2v with water cooled MCH/NB.

i did 488mhz 4-4-3-5 at 2.2v easy on Intel D975XBX Bad axe.

@488mhz 4-4-3-5 at 2.2v


@491mhz 4-4-3-8 at 2.2v


so far on P5W DH can't even get memtest to pass error free at 472mhz 4-4-3-8 tried 2.2, 2.25, 2.3, 2.35 and 2.4v vdimm no go heh



more testing needed i guess