Asus P5N7A-VM Overclock

Does anyone have any experience with this MB? From the research I've done, it seems like a fairly uncommon board, at least for OC'ing. So far I have been unable to find any information on it in this forum and the rest of the information on the web it really spotty.

I'm attempting to oc a Intel Q8200, which I know isn't a very good overclocker...but it should at least be able to hit 2.8-3.0 GHz no problem. I'm having problems getting to even 2.6 GHz from the stock 2.33 GHz.

And I happened to read somewhere that the board became unstable approaching 375 MHz FSB which seems really low for a new board.

Any thoughts?

Post all of the overclocking related options in the BIOS (Vcore, vMCH / vNB, DRAM timings, etc.), and include a direct link to your specific RAM (showing DIMM voltage and timings, including quantity). And using Real Temp post the VID of your chip ("Settings" page--> Max Core VID).

I found the problem

Your board is missing a southbridge



No seriously though where's the SB on that thing?

So these are all of the Overclock options under the Advanced tab in bios

System Clock Mode: Auto, Linked, Unlinked, Profiled
Auto is 1333 MHz Rated FSB, 800 MHz RAM.
Linked adjusts the speeds of FSB and RAM together
Unlinked lets you adjust them separately
Profiled oc's for you like 5% 10% 15% etc...

iGPU OC Mode: Auto or Manual
iGPU OC: Auto is 450 MHz (that's not actually an oc)
Shader OC: Auto is 1200 MHz

Mem Over Volt: Auto or Manual, range from 1.85-2.24375V
Chipset Over Volt: +50mv, +100mv, +150mv
CPU Voltage: Auto or Manual, range from .85V to 1.55V

RAM Timing: Auto or Manual
Manual lets you adjust all of the timings, standard is 5-5-5-15
And there is a ton of other stuff, latency etc.

That is ALL of the overclock settings...not very much I know. No NB/SB settings.

As for the RAM...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

And I used PC wizard, which said the VID as 1.288V

Thanks!

Theocnoob said:

I found the problem. Your board is missing a southbridge. No seriously though where's the SB on that thing?

Click to expand...

The NB, SB, and IGP are all integrated into one chip (the GeForce 9300 chipset).

Unlink the RAM, change the FSB to 400MHz (400MHz x 7 = 2.8GHz), DRAM ratio / divider (FSB : DRAM ratio to 1:1; 333 / 667 NB strap), which equals an effective DRAM frequency of 800MHz. Manually set the DRAM voltage to 1.8 - 1.9v, the four primary RAM tmings to 5-5-5-15 (all sub-timings on AUTO), adjust the Vcore to around 1.3 - 1.35v, Chipset Over Volt to +50mv, and disable any power saving options like EIST and C1E.

redduc900 said:

DRAM ratio / divider (FSB : DRAM ratio to 1:1; 333 / 667 NB strap), which equals an effective DRAM frequency of 800MHz.

Click to expand...

I think it's already set at 1:1, or maybe 15:16...can't remember. Anywho...what do you mean by 333/667 NB strap? I mean if I unlink the CPU from the ram I can just set each individually so no need to mess with the divider, right?

Right... 333 / 667 NB strap basically means a 1:1 ratio, so as longs as the FSB : DRAM ratio is 1:1 you're fine. With an FSB of 400MHz using a 1:1 ratio, the effective DRAM freq. will be 800MHz (the freq. at which your RAM is rated).

Ok gotcha...i'll try that tonight and get back with the results tomorrow assuming that I can boot and run Prime 95 for more than half a second before a hang

Wow...that was abysmal...

With everything as suggested all I got was the BSOD, no boot to bios, let alone windows.

I then proceeded to adjust the settings for those that had a suggested range (VCore), in the smallest increments and that yielded no new results, same old blue screen.

Then I upped the voltages past the suggested range...

VCore up to 1.45V
Chipset O.V. up to +150mv
Saw no reason to play with DRAM voltage as RAM is not OC'd

All of this with FSB at 400 MHz and RAM at 800 MHz.

Dang, what to do now.....

Try again w/ the RAM linked at the same 400MHz FSB (check to make sure the RAM is running at 800MHz), drop the Vcore back down to 1.3v, and vNB (chipset overvolt) down to +50mv. If it POST's, boot to Memtest86+ and check RAM stability at 5-5-5-15 and 1.8 Vdimm. You might want to Load Optimized Defaults in the BIOS, then once in Windows post a pic. w/ MemSet open showing all of the current DRAM sub-timings (w/ all sub-timings on AUTO in the BIOS).

MemSet isn't compatible with the 730i chipset, are there any other programs that can display all of the same info?

checkeredhat09 said:

And I used PC wizard, which said the VID as 1.288V

Click to expand...

That's not the VID, but instead the current Vcore / Vcc. Use Real Temp like I suggested to read the actual Max Core VID. Leave RAM timings at 5-5-5-15-2T and boot to Memtest86+. And this makes no sense...

With everything as suggested all I got was the BSOD, no boot to bios, let alone windows

Click to expand...

If you received a BSOD, then the PC POSTed and began to load Windows. Did you run Memtest first prior to attempting to boot into Windows after making the settings changes I suggested? And if MemSet doesn't work w/ the 730i, then you're probably out of luck in regards to other software that can read the chipset registers from within the GUI. Just leave all of the sub-timings on AUTO, and check to see if Memtest shows any errors using the default Vdimm.

Ok part one...ran memtest on ram overnight at 5-5-5-15-2T everything checked out.

Part two...using the suggested settings, I was unable to get into windows. Now, idk if this is weird, but my comp doesn't post beep on a successful post. But it does beep when something is wrong, I've had experience with that. So after putting in all of the suggested settings and rebooting the comp screen just went black (or blue) but the comp continued to run WITHOUT beeping. So no indication of what is failing.

Part three: Core VID from RealTemp -> 1.1 - 1.2875

Post all of your current BIOS settings (any setting that is overclocking related, including power saving settings like EIST / Intel Speedstep, C1E, etc), except w/ the FSB at about 375MHz (all other settings "as is"). In fact, see if you can boot into Windows at that frequency. At least find out what the highest FSB is that you can successfully run Prime (small FFTs) at for an hour or so, this while not changing any other settings besides the bus speed.

Ok results are in!

Setting available:

CPU Config Tab -> Ratio CMOS Setting -> I have on auto
-> C1E Support -> I have disabled
-> CPU TM Function -> I have enabled
-> Intel Speed Step -> I have disabled
-This only appears when CMOS Setting is on Auto
- Right now Multiplier is locked in at 7 so that good!

Advanced Tab -> System Clock Mode -> Unlinked
-FSB 350 MHz

All else on auto, this speed was almost 8 hours stable on prime95 so i think that's at least ok.

But i did a few more tests just for the heck of it...

- OC'd RAM to 925 MHz with FSB at stock 333. Everything booted and it passed 1 pass in Memtest with no errors, but longer is needed to really be sure.
- Brought FSB up to 387.5 (Vcore @ 1.35 after droop) and RAM at 462.5 MHz (at 1.9V) and booted and got to Windows, and then I got something new...a white screen...non responsive so I had to reboot, but at least I got to windows.

375 on auto voltage just plain won't work. But 375 seems stable thus far when Vcore is at 1.4 or about 1.35 after droop. But this seems like way too much voltage necessary to achieve such a tiny oc...

checkeredhat09 said:

- Brought FSB up to 387.5 (Vcore @ 1.35 after droop) and RAM at 462.5 MHz (at 1.9V) and booted and got to Windows, and then I got something new...a white screen...non responsive so I had to reboot, but at least I got to windows.

Click to expand...

Keep the PCI-E at 100 Mhz. That may be the problem.

RJARRRPCGP said:

Keep the PCI-E at 100 Mhz. That may be the problem.

Click to expand...

Problem is, this increasingly frustrating mb has VERY limited tweaking options. And PCI-E speed isn't one of them.

I have the same board i haven't had any problems overclocking it

Try these:
CPU Voltage: 1.2750 or 1.3000 (even try it on Auto as well)
Chipset Voltage: increase to +100mv
Ram 555-15 @ 1.9v

Work your way up by 5MHz increasement. Don't jump from 350 directly to 380 or 400MHz.
That board is limited for overclocking.

Good luck

MixedMotives said:

I have the same board i haven't had any problems overclocking it

Click to expand...

What cpu are you using? And how much have you oc'd it?

And also everyone note that asus tech support is not wowing me right now...going on 5 days with no response