*Official* Asus P5N7A-VM uATX HTPC Motherboard Thread - Page 8

First of all I would like to thank everyone for their input regarding the issues being experienced with this motherboard.


This is exactly the same problem I am having. Last night I used CPU-Z to check memory timings, etc. and it causes the CPU to start running at 50% utilization even after the application is closed. At that point if I try a restart of the system it will not "complete", the screen goes black and fans keep running. This also occurs if I run hwmonitor which is a hardware monitoring program from CPUID. Same exact thing happens as with CPU-Z.

Usually I have no problems with this "incomplete" restart after accessing the BIOS, but I did for the first time this morning.

I will try disabling acpi 2.0 support tonight as nightfly85 did. Please let us know if this continues to be a fix for you.

Did a little research on ACPI 2.0 and found the following information on the
techguy website:


This doesn't sound like something that should be disabled in BIOS when running Vista.

I too went with an E5200, running Ubuntu 64 bit and 1080p h264 works fine, maybe 80% utilization outputting to 1080i big screen. No dropped frames or audio sync problems whatsoever, using spdif output for audio. Note that's with Mplayer and Matroska mkv files.

actually...I don't even think that's a heatpipe. Heatpipes normally have a crimped end that is soldered/brazed shut. The one on my board has sawed off ends...indicating a simple copper (if it's even really copper or just copper plated play-do) pipe.

What I ended up doing is taking the mosfet fan from a previous Asus board, and taking off that Asus plate on the top of the NB heatsink, and mounting the mosfet fan on the NB heatsink connecting it to the Chasis fan connector so the speed is controlled. The fan doesn't blow a lot of air, but it's enough to cool the chipset down to a temperature I'm more comfortable with.

Interesting. When I run CPU-Z, I don't see any processor spike afterward. Things run fine and stable. It's just that it won't shutdown completely or restart unless I get off my duff, open my entertainment cabinet and manually intervene.

Actually, the field in the BIOS is for "adding additional tables as per ACPI 2.0 Specs". The default is disabled. I specifically recall changing this to Enabled, so will try it tonight and see if some of my problems go away.

Update: I must have already been playing with this setting, as it was already set to Enabled. I do wonder what I had it set to when I installed Vista, as that might be a problem in that it inherits the setting during install??

E7200. CPU utilization is really, really low for HD content playback.

I'm hoping someone who installed Vista 32 bit with this board can help me get the step by step that they did to get audio via HDMI. I've read the past post about disabling the Realtek audio drivers. I did that and went as far as uninstalling the drivers as well. Here's what i did.

1. Set HDMI out in the Bios
2. Disable Realtek hardware in the Device Manager
3. Install the Vista nForce HDA driver. Only the Nvidia HDMI shows up in the speaker icon by the clock.
4. Test for audio, green bar moves up and down, but no audio.
5. Uninstall driver for Realtek. Reboot and only Nvidia HDMI shows again, but still no sound. I get Video no problems. Tried changing HDMI cables as well. No luck.

I've tried everything for the past 3 hrs. I know the Onkyo 805 gets audio via HDMI as I was able to get HDMI audio with my last motherboard the Gigabyte GA-73UM-S2H. I appreciate any advice anyone might have. TIA

Can anyone who is seeing strange RAM timings in CPU-Z try the Nvidia System Tools:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_...ools_6.03.html

I'm not sure if you actually need to download this as it might be part of the standard driver package. Once installed, go to All programs, Nvidia, Control Panel, Performance. The Memory section is showing up blank for me.

I never disabled the REaltek. I installed the chipset drivers, then the Realtek audio drivers, then finally the HDMI drivers. Afterwards, went into REALTEK utility and set spdif output to HDMI. works like a champ.

Hi,

i am wondering if somebody is using this board with a E7200
in a complete passiv invironment ? ( cooling CPU, powersupply passively )


It is pretty shure that i will buy the ASUS or the MSI board, but at the
moment i am not shure which CPU cooler i should use. I have a Silverstone
GD01 case and i wanna have the system as silent as possible.


Any advices for this ?

My advice would be to actually read this thread!

PowerDVD 7.3 audio out options for HDMI connected receivers? When audio option is set to SPDIF, I get 5.1 via HDMI with dts or Dolby. When set to 8 speakers, I get 7.1 via HDMI as PCM. With the 8 channel option, is the program decoding lossless audio and sending by PCM or is this also lossy?

Thanks for your advice, I will try it again tonight with your steps. If that doesn't work, then I probably have a defective HDMI audio out on my board. I get audio via optical, but TruHD audio gets outputted to 2 channel only which was the whole reason I got this board to get full audio.

NOT very likely since it's built into the chipset...

I've had this option disabled since I got the board and enabled it last night. From the information I've read googling "ACPI 2.0" if the mobo does not have ACPI enabled Vista will not install. If this is true I would assume ACPI 2.0 is enabled even though the "adding additional tables as per ACPI 2.0 Specs" is disabled. If you google "ACPI 2.0 ASUS" you will find some information about this option but none I've read so far is conclusive. I'm still researching it. I'm not sure if I should reinstall Vista, so far I have not had any problems after enabling ACPI 2.0.

Enabled or disabled seemed to make no difference. My computer will "shut-down" to a strange state, where fans are running, but display is off. Have to force a power-down manually. As I was having problems with my Ethernet port breaking after waking from sleep, I was suspecting something related to it being either bad or improperly configured. I decided to disable the on-board one and use a PCI add-in Gibabit Ethernet card. My computer has gone to sleep on it's own after idle timeout, and I have woken it up without any issues (ie. ethernet port is still working). I can also put it to sleep via my remote control, then wake it back up with the same remote. Again, no problems. This is the most stable my computer has been thus far. Will stress test another day or two before coming to any conclusions about the on-board ethernet being bad. What is interesting is that the funky power-down states have not been an issue once I've used the add-in ethernet card.

Has anybody else had issues with the ethernet port after waking from sleep?

More likely bad drivers...

I recommend SpeedFan 4.36 along with an extra fan pointed at the Asus heatsink (and in my case, through a Mini Ninja CPU heatsink and then out of the case with the two exhaust fans in the Antec NSK2480) . SpeedFan allows adjustment of fan speed and I set mine at about 65% for an acceptable degree of noise from the fan. For me that provided temps per the GPU temp monitor of around 44-46 degrees C, which are associated with a slightly warm-to-the-touch heatsink. Before doing this, the mobo just shut down after about four minutes and the Asus heatsink reached an untouchably hot temp. I also redirected air more toward the Asus heatsink with a bit of duct tape in my case which has the two exhaust fans set on low.

Hi all

I'd like to recap the problems with my point of view and my tests as 8 pages are too many to figure out correctly

- My mobo's chipset is very hot. 75C idle, goes up to 85C with some mins of Prime95
- My E8400 (not OC'ed) stays around 50% load on both cores after using CPU-Z. Also, the computer doesnt restart, it stays off with fans on, have to use the restart button (after using CPU-Z, if i dont, it restarts well)
- I installed Vista Ultimate with ACPI off, as it came preconfigured in BIOS. With or without it, my chipset stays hot
- I've disabled and enabled the ethernet port in the mainboard. I can suspend (at least to S1) and recover without issues with or without it. No changes in chipset temperature tho.

Anything else?

The thing is, just because the chipset being at 75C idle, is it better to send it back to the store? I think so, but with this processor and that other alternatives are G45 chipset from intel, but I dont know, this might be like a step back.

Regards

Dote

Again, I believe your motherboard is defective. I do not have Vista as I am running Windows XP SP3 with E8400 (not OCed), 4GB RAM, 640GB HD, and LG HD DVD Blu-ray combo drive. MB BIOS is 4.04. My chipset gets barely warm to touch with the machine running. My CPU load playing Blu-ray movie is around 10-15%. I have oversized CPU cooler, but nothing other than 8cm case fan, and PSU fan in my HTPC case (D-Vine MCE303).

Anandtech says the board does not support CAS4 correctly:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3432&p=8


John

Hi!

Just installed my P5N7A-VM board, Vista 64Bit, without any problems.

Specs:
E8400
2x2 (800mhz) corsair
500gb wd green

The only problem I have is the noise from the CPU fan, it seems like it Q-fan isn't working. The RPM stays at 3500rpm, the CPU is only @ 30 degrees Celsius, any clues of what might be the problem?

Thanks! I can't stand the noise.. please help.. :S
//M

Found a couple of things that were covered previously in reviews on the Asus / 9300 boards in general:



So these issues are nothing new so far.....as i said, seems to be a chipset that was released a bit early to get ready for the holidays (and Macworld launch)....

I am having problem #2, except my CPU is an E2200 (not OC'ed) which is also
staying around 50% load if I run cpu-z or hwmonitor. If I run hwmonitor it shows gpu temp between 40-47c, so I don't believe heat is a problem. How are you measuring gpu temp?

I think ASUS rushed these boards to market and as early adopters we are finding the problems. Hopefully the bugs will be worked out quickly.

Are you having any problems with restarts, reboots, or shutdowns? I have a copy of the Windows XP pro that I haven't used in a while. I'm thinking about installing it this weekend if I have anymore problems.

I have zero problems. It goes to standby and wakes up as it should. No reboots or restart issues. Both chipset and CPU run cool and quiet (specially with EPU ASUS utility installed.

Try SpeedFan 4.36 (Google it - it's free.) Under the Readings tab, you'll have to try reducing the speed of each fan to find which one controls the CPU fan. I know Speed04 is for the Chassis fan which is what I have my accessory fan plugged in to cool down the Asus heatsink. When you've got the right speed control turned down you'll hear your fan noise reduce and you can choose the level that sounds acceptable while keeping the CPU cool enough. You might have to disable the Q-fan utility.

Dan

Just got my system set up.
The chipset runs extremely hot like everyone says, no stability issues yet for me though.

I have my TV hooked up using HDMI, and want to output to my reciever via optical, but cannot find any option anywhere to do this. It only outputs sound through the HDMI.

I just placed my order for this board with 2x2GB Ram and an E5200.
I am debating on loading Vista Ultimate 64 for the Media Center feature or just XP Pro SP3 since I am very familiar with XP.