# ASUS P6X58D-E memory compatibility



## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

Hi Forum,
I am just about to buy the above motherboard this week and I chose 6Gb of Corsair Dominator DDR3 PC3-12800 CAS 7-8-7-20 CMP6GX3M3A1600C7 to go with it.
I found these memory modules were not listed in the ASUS QVL, so I wrote to Technical Support to check they are compatible, that was on 5th May and still no answer.
I tried the Corsair memory configurator but the motherboard is not on there, only the P6X58D Premium. I contacted Corsair and they say there is no problem with these modules on the P6X58D-E.
I wanted confirmation from ASUS so tried their forum and a moderator on the motherboard section tells me he cannot guarantee they are compatible.
Is anyone using these newer version modules (I think the difference in them is the removal heat spreaders) with the lower latencies of 7-8-7-20 on this motherboard and if they are do they auto detect the 1600MHz if you enable XMP?
Also does anyone have the opinion that the OCZ Intel Extreme Series of 6Gb 1600MHz is better than Corsair for the i7 build? :4-dontkno
Thank you.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Lately I prefer the G.Skill to either, but I see no reason why the Corsair sticks will not work, the only difference between the boards are the USB and Sata controllers unlike past Intel chipsets the memory controller is on the CPU die not the motherboard so like the AMD setups they are less picky about ram.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

Thank you for your answer wrench97, I was hoping to get a definite answer from ASUS, but up until now I am not impressed with their technical support.
I have browsed the ASUS forum for this topic and there are some memory modules that some people are having incompatibility problems with on this motherboard.
ASUS also need to update their QVL for memory, none of the new version Dominator memory being on there.
I think I will have to bite the bullet and order this RAM I have chosen. I was surprised that the lower timings on this memory is the same price as the 8-8-8-24 Dominator one.
I have looked at OCZ Platinum, that is another good one, but again not on the QVL.
I find it very frustrating when technical support from any firm just will not answer you, despite having a query No.
Thanks again wrench97, you never let me down on here.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

They never update the QVL, There were quite a few bad Elpidia made memory chips around on Crucial, OZC, and some Kingston sticks they were pulled off the market last year and different part number sticks introduced but the bad sticks are still on all the QVL's Asus is not alone in this they are all doing it. It's not surprising you didn't get an answer because once they test ram usually that's it they don't go back and retest when different models come out, your best bet is with the memory manufacturers themselves after all they are the ones guaranteeing compatibility not the motherboard manufacturer, I have seen instances where sticks were on the motherboard QVL and Corsair's configuration utility did not list them as compatible a phone call to Corsair turns out they were not guaranteed to be compatible so if they didn't work Corsair was not backing them or paying to return, and of course Asus's line is it's a ram manufacturers problem not ours. When the Elipidia issue was on going I had Corsair and Crucial paying next day air shipping both ways and sending multiple part number sticks in a package to get some that worked. 

Try Contacting OCZ and Corsair support and see what they have to say.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

I contacted Corsair by e-mail wrench97 and had an answer in 24 hours, excellent customer service.
Corsair say there will be no problem using those modules on the ASUS P6X58D-E and to contact them for anything else I wanted to know......not bad considering I haven't bought their product yet.
I only wanted ASUS to confirm this but every time you write to them they give you another query No. and nobody has come forward saying they have this setup on their forum yet, just 2 with 12Gb of Corsair Dominator 1600 8-8-8-24 timings, that are working OK.
Thank you for that info about the bad memory chips. Do you test all memory with memtest or just bench test with minimum components connected?
I learn so much more by going on this forum. Thank you again wrench97


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I only use Memtest when there appears to be an issue, those chips were either bad out of bag or within a week or 2 of being installed, I had one on a stable system slightly overclocked and ran good on Prime 95 overnight didn't crash until the client came to pick it up 15 sticks later I switched it G.skill


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

You had bad luck with that build wrench97.
I was going for the HD5850 Vapor-X for quietness and running a lot cooler than stock but they are hard to get hold of, so a company here suggested I use the ASUS 5850 CU/2DIS/1Gb, this not being the CU TOP overclocked one. I think it has taken over from the Toxic but it looks like it is better, in the reviews
The other one I had in mind was the standard ASUS 5850 with stock fan. It had 2 DVI sockets where the ASUS CU has only one.
The reviews say that the CU one is good but it uses more power than the stock one, but it does run quieter and cooler.
Have you used either of these in your builds wrench97?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Asus cards no, the Vapor X in the 4800 series yes they were/are good cards I would expect the 5800 Vapors to be also, seems to go in waves around here, right now the Nvidia prices have dropped a little and the GTX260/275 are popular along with the 5770 but people see 128 bit and are leery of it. 

The Asus CU card does come with a HDMI to DVI adapter to give you 2 DVI ports.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

You don't like the ASUS GPU's wrench97?
I was all set for the Sapphire HD5850 Vapor-X, but it's availability seems a major problem here in the UK; you have to special order them.
I quite like the ASUS HD5850 with its enclosed casing and the good thing about ASUS GPU's is their 3 years guarantee, other makes usually giving 2 years.
The ASUS EAH5850 Direct CU/2DIS/1GD5 seems better for cooling and quietness, but why did they leave it a semi open enclosure around it, so the exhaust hot air only partly goes straight out the back of the case?
Anyway, onto ASUS Technical Support. I complained to their Customer Service about twice not receiving an answer from them over queries. Today I received an answer by e-mail and it said: "Usually the default setting will detect the memory modules, but sometimes the parameters have to be set manually in the BIOS".
This is something I knew even with my limited knowledge. The question of will the Corsair Dominanor PC3-12800 1600 C7 be compatible was still not answered.
I have a feeling you won't be surprised wrench97. :grin:


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I used Nvidia for a long time and almost only EVGA, for the longest time they had a lifetime warranty if you registered the card on their web site within 30 days, before that for ATI cards I used Diamond and Sapphire back then warranty wasn't a big issue they were obsolete before they failed, Got a couple Rage Pro and Rage 128 cards laying around want one


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

That lifetime warranty sounds good. No one sells EVGA GPU's here it seems though. I think I will get an ASUS 5850 Direct CU. I do like that 3 year warranty with Novatech.co.uk here. It saves me contacting ASUS.
I have an 8 year old PNY G-Force FX-5200 AGP 128mb DDR in this 9 year old motherboard and still going, lol.
I am debating whether to use the new Western Digital SATA 3, 6Gb/sec Hard drives for this build, seeing as I have the Marvell 9128 controller on this motherboard. They are not much dearer than the SATA 2, 3Gb/sec ones and have twice the cache on them.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

They are a little faster but not near double the speed, only down side is there is not a track record on them yet gauge reliability.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

It's hard to know whether to go that way wrench97. I know if you are not using the SATA 3 controller you can disable it, to speed up start up time, if you just opt for the 3Gb/sec hard drives.
In theory though that start-up time should be speeded up by using the faster hard drives. I see they still spin at 7200 rpm, unlike those VelociRaptors spinning at 10,000 rpm.
I thought the 6GB/sec was theoretical and the actual speed was nowhere near that.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

That's correct it's possible maximum speed just as 3 gig's is for Sata II, for short bursts it's possible to see the rated speed but in a sustained time period you'll not see anywhere near that, just as Sata II is a little faster then Sata I, Sata III is a little faster then Sata II. At this point I still use Sata II drives for the main drive. I tend not to jump on new tech until there it's been out for a little bit and any kinks worked out.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

It would be possible to use one of the 2 SATA 3 ports for the main C Drive wouldn't it and the other one for the secondary drive?
I see on scan.co.uk have a Western Digital 640 Gb and a Western Digital 1Tb Drive, both SATA 3. £54 and £81 respectively, so might try them out on this build.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yes positively you can use the Sata III port for the main drive or the only drive for that matter.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

thanks for your last post wrench97.
I wonder if you can find out the power used on idle and max. load for the ASUS EAH5850 Direct CU/2DIS/1GD5 on any of the USA websites.
I cannot find it, except for the reviews saying its a bit power hungry. The ASUS website does not list it in their spec.'s unfortunately.
This is not the ASUS 5850 Direct CU Top, that is already overclocked when you buy it. The price of that one is near the price of the HD5870.
I would be grateful if anyone can supply me with these figures before I buy it.
I have just found out that the 5850 Direct CU GPU's are 10.5 inches long, an inch longer than the stock HD5850's, so be careful it fits into your case!


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Looks like 26w to 251w depending on how it's tested> http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1273/10/ & http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/EAH_5850_TOP_DirectCu/26.html

Techpowerup is usually pretty good.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

thank you for finding that out wrench97... I think you have the wrong GPU though, both of those reviews are for the 5850 Direct CU TOP, which is the pre-overclocked version and much more expensive. 
I am thinking of the ASUS EAH5850 Direct CU/2DIS/1GD5.
It's confusing isn't it? The other one is the ASUS Direct CU TOP/2DIS/1GBD.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yes but that is the only one that appears to have been reviewed, If you use those numbers which will be slightly higher for your calculations you'll be on the safe side of error


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

yes thank you wrench97, so its not overly power hungry. I suppose its how you are using it. The idle is normal isn't it.
I found reviews of the TOP one over here too, but the strange thing is, that its the TOP one that isn't available here yet as far as I know.
One of the only reviews is here:
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/reviews/70383.aspx


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

They look like a nice card I just might have to give one a try, but in that reviewers case I think his system would be holding the card back, whiled in no means a shabby system the 58xx series seems to like quads and DDR3 as does the new Fermi Nvidia cards.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

I thought that too, it was like a new review with an old system. Unusual, seeing as they normally test with like systems.
Glad you have put your seal of approval on it now wrench97, that is definitely good enough for me. :grin:


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

Just to let you know wrench97 I found out the power ratings for the ASUS EAH5850 Direct CU/2DIS/1GD5 GPU from asking on the ASUS Forum.
The figures are: 27W idle and 170W Max. Load.
The same figures as the standard ATI HD5850, so I am definitely going for this one. :smile:


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Decent numbers, thanks.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

there seems to be a shortage of the 7-8-7-20 Corsair Dominator memory that is reasonably priced.
I am thinking of going for the Corsair Dominator 8-8-8-24 now, but don't know how much of a difference that would make in performance, when I overclock.
I realize those timings are only in nano seconds. I have a feeling that choosing the 7-8-7-20 memory was being a bit over the top maybe?
What do you think forum members?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

8-8-8-24 is what I've been using.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

thank you wrench97 for your reply. I think its the more common one for 1600 MHz DDR3 memory for i7 and people rate it highly, from what I have been reading.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

7-8-7 is pushing the limits of the ram somewhat I believe.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

thanks for that wrench97, I appreciate your advise.

I see the ASUS EAH5850 Direct CU TOP, that is the pre- overclocked version, is selling at only £15 more now than the ASUS EAH5850 Diect CU, the more standard version.
I think its best for me to stick with the Direct CU one though.
The overclocked one runs quite a bit hotter and slightly noisier from out of the box.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I tend to use the stock clock versions, if needed you can always OC them, the only exception would be for something like the Sapphire Vaporx card with the better heatsink/fans.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

I had chosen the Sapphire Vapor-X HD5850 first, but it has to be special ordered with most firms in the UK and it only has 2 years warranty, whereas the ASUS has 3 years.
It was my deciding factor really.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I agree I just used that as a example of a card without the reference cooler


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

Just to let you know wrench97 and anyone interested in buying my combination of hardware.
I have bought the Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 7-8-7-20 and there are no compatibility issues with this on my ASUS P6X58D-E Motherboard.
I had to change the BIOS from Auto to XMP and it not only found the 1600MHz, it found the timings of 7-8-7-20 too without me having to input them manually.
I am very happy with the new system and it worked first time, amazing, lol.
I just spent time filling out my new system spec.'s in my user CPU on here but I see it hasn't updated it somehow.
I was surprised to find my Retail Intel i7 930 was made in Costa Rica. Are they all made there?
My Corsair Dominator memory, CMP6GX3M3A1600C7, doesn't seem to have the removable heat spreaders on, like I expected. I can't see how they come off anyway, no allen head on the bolts. Does anyone know if they are meant to be?
I have written to Corsair Support but no answer yet.
My processor runs at a cool 38C during normal desktop operations and that's after being on for many hours. I haven't tried gaming on it yet. :smile:


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Good to here you have it up and running successfully

I don't believe the newer sticks have removable heat sinks, the older sticks had heat sinks that screwed on but the new are either glued or soldered> http://www.corsair.com/_appnotes/AN602_DHX_Technology_Overview.pdf

I think the 1366 chips are made there, I've see i5's from Malaysia but not the 1366 chips.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

Thank you for your reply wrech97 and for your link. I read it all, then seen the date on the bottom of it: September 2006.
I think the new Corsair Dominator Memory DDR3 memory has the removable heat spreaders on them, but anyone please correct me if I am wrong.
I found this link, but know I found the new accessories somewhere, I think it was on the Corsair website, where it showed the new taller heat spreaders you can buy.

http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84608

I had to remove some of the cables in my case today to re-route them and tidy them and when I restarted I checked the Device Manager to see if everything is OK and found the Teredo Device Pseudo Interface cannot start.
This is under Network Devices. Any idea why this has happened?
Thank you in advance.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

I just found out what the Teredo Tunneling Device Pseudo Interface is for.
It is if you use IPV6 networking rather than IPV4 and 99% of home modem/routers use IPV4, so I have just disabled the hardware. :smile:

http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthread.php?t=299469


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yes but I'm thinking if you don't have the screws then it's older style spreaders, probably should also not the spreaders and heat sink are different pieces and I was referring to the spreaders some of the newer sticks have the heat sinks that attach to the spreaders with allen screws others do not have removable heat sinks.

Don't worry about the IPv6 tunnel I have yet to see any use for it.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

yes that is what I am thinking wrech97, it's the older style Corsair Dominator.
I can't find it if the newer or older style starts in TRX or CMP?
Does anyone know?
If you go to scan.co.uk they are saying the newer memory is the one I have, which is confusing, seeing as my heat spreaders seem stuck on. They advertise it as removable heat spreaders.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/6GB-(3x2GB)-Corsair-Dominator-

DDR3-PC3-12800%281600%29-CAS-7-8-7-20-XMP-DHX-New-Connector-165V

I am happy with my memory, I would just like to know which is the newest really.
Thank you about the Teredo Device info.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The TRX and CMP have been used for awhile, can you get me a picture of the heat sinks from the top?


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

OK wrech97, I will try and take one and post it on here.
Sorry only just seen your reply.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

I just took this pic. of my memory and it definitely looks like the type that is stuck on with epoxy resin. 
I just wrote again to Corsair this afternoon, so expect a letter from them this week.
I'll let you know what they say wrench97.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Those 3 Allen head screws along the top will remove the heat sink, remember the heat sinks are only the top fined pieces they sit on top of the spreaders.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

thank you very much for solving that one wrench97.
I somehow thought the top of the bolts had just round holes in them, but tried an allen key and yes they are removable heat spreaders.
I am happy now that I have got what I wanted. :smile:


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

I have tried 3 times to change my system spec.'s and the new ones are in my profile, they just will not change under my posts.
Any ideas how to get them to change wrench97?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

:grin::grin:


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

I was sent an answer by Corsair and this is the video of removing the fins that I was sent, not heat spreaders, so they tell me. Their customer service is excellent. This means I can fit the higher fins if I wanted to. :grin: 

http://www.corsair.com/cinema/movie.aspx?id=1343858

Just in case anyone is interested. :smile:

I installed CPU-Z today and see my CPU Mulitplier is set to 12x. I think this is locked unless you buy the Extreme version of the Intel i7.
I have supplied my CPU-Z file wrench97. Do you think everything is in order?
Thank you.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

23x is the max, 12x is EIST(Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology) at work, if the CPU has a light load the multiplier drops to save power and reduce heat, in the max is 21x, turbo mode takes it to 23x.



> Turbo Mode supported, enabled
> Max non-turbo ratio	21x
> Max turbo ratio 23x
> Max efficiency ratio	12x
> ...


The report looks good.


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

Thank you for looking at the report wrench97 and for your info. It's much appreciated.
I am only learning, it's all new to me.


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## MoonShadow_1AU (Mar 23, 2005)

tech_no said:


> Just to let you know wrench97 and anyone interested in buying my combination of hardware.
> I have bought the Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 7-8-7-20 and there are no compatibility issues with this on my ASUS P6X58D-E Motherboard.
> I had to change the BIOS from Auto to XMP and it not only found the 1600MHz, it found the timings of 7-8-7-20 too without me having to input them manually.
> .....



This is great news, thanks for all the investigations. I have just assembled a P^X58X Premium board with the Corsair 7-8-7-20 modules you have and I have not powered it up yet. ray:


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## tech_no (Jun 12, 2007)

hey MoonShadow_1AU, I am glad my post has helped someone, that's the idea of the forum isn't it?
I am here to give any advise or pm me if you prefer. I still have loads to learn myself. :sigh:


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