Intel Pentium E6600 on P5PE-VM Board request

[kikiwai]

Hi, this is the latest BIOS (and drivers) download page for P5PE-VM
http://support.asus.com/download/download_item_dna.aspx?product=1&model=P5PE-VM&SLanguage=en-us&os=17

(Intel Pentium E6600 is different from Intel Core 2 Duo E6600)
I putted a Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor E6600 on to P5PE-VM, and it works.
P5PE-VM's official BIOS does not support this processor, which made me wonder why it works.
I can use it properly without a problem (yet), but my CPU speed test is always around 2.3GHz, which is not 3.06GHz.
Two problems I have so far are:
1. every time when I start my computer, it says: "Intel CPU uCode Loading Error, Press F1 To Resume". If I press F1, everything works fine.
2. I cant shut down the computer without having to manually shut it down... It will stuck at "windows is shutting down" screen.

The official CPU support list:
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpu_support_right_master.aspx?type=1&name=P5PE-VM&SLanguage=en-us
Intel Pentium dual core E6600 (3.06GHz) is different from Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

Is this possible to mod?

[TheWiz]

Yes this looks very possible to mod, infact it jsut looks like a simple microcode issue. Please give us a link to a similar board that supports the CPU and we can update the microcode entries.

Thanks for your patience, and welcome to the forums.
TheWiz

[kikiwai]

Yes this looks very possible to mod, infact it jsut looks like a simple microcode issue. Please give us a link to a similar board that supports the CPU and we can update the microcode entries.

Thanks for your patience, and welcome to the forums.
TheWiz

Thank you very much for your time.
I am sorry that I don't really know how to determine "similar board" with the limited knowledge I have.
If it means to find a similar model numbered board, I found P5P43T, hope this will work:
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpu_support_right_detail.aspx?model=P5P43T&cpu=Pentium%20Dual%20Core%20E6600%20(3.06GHz,1066FSB,L2:2MB,rev.R0)&pcb=ALL&sincebios=0307&memo&SLanguage=en-us

If that is not the board that would work, I am very sorry for my limited knowledge, but I found a list of all Asus mother boards that support this CPU:
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpu_support_right_master.aspx?type=0&name=Pentium%20Dual%20Core%20E6600%20(3.06GHz%2C1066FSB%2CL2%3A2MB%2Crev.R0)&SLanguage=en-us

Hope this will help.
I am sorry again for my limited knowledge.

[TheWiz]

Here is a modified BIOS image. PLEASE flash at your own risk and use caution. I had to disable/remove your Intel network boot rom to fit the updated microcode, but your NIC will still function as normal.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1525839/Bios/p5pe1501cpu.rom

Good luck, and holler for anymore assistance
TheWiz

[kikiwai]

Here is a modified BIOS image. PLEASE flash at your own risk and use caution. I had to disable/remove your Intel network boot rom to fit the updated microcode, but your NIC will still function as normal.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1525839/Bios/p5pe1501cpu.rom

Good luck, and holler for anymore assistance
TheWiz

The "uCode Loading Error" does not appear anymore, but the CPU is still running at frequency of 2.3GHz.
Is is possible to have it run at full speed (3.06GHz)?
Another problem is that my machine does not "power down". I can hear the shut down "click" sound and it will display "is now shutting down" but the device will not power off automatically.
Does this have to do with some power settings in the BIOS?

[TheWiz]

This definitly sounds like an incompatible ACPITBL wit this CPU, which is why you are getting all these little glitches. Tthis is typical behavior of compputers that can boot the CPU but dont fully support them. Yoyu could risk bricking your board if we modded any further but you could use something like nvtune to manually set clock speeds and stick to sleep.

TheWiz

[kikiwai]

Thank you for everything, I have my comp running for 2 days now and it havnt crash yet. I think I will just live with the slower clock rate.
I clicked the button on your sig, tough it's not much, it's a token of appreciation =)

[TheWiz]

Thanks for the donation, it is much appreciated. The microcode did fix the uCode error, but it is very well possible that an update ACPI table may also cure the clock speed. If it is being properly detected WITH the correct stepping in CPUID, its most likely the powercfg in the ACPI setup.

I'll keep looking into this.
TheWiz

[kikiwai]

Thank you.
If it's too much trouble then I am still fine with the lower clock rate.
Don't stress yourself over it. =)

[vernaides]

Have you tried oveclocking the P5PE-VM's FSB to 1066MHz?

The E6600 needs an FSB of 1066MHz to reach 3.06GHz. At 800MHz you only get ~2.3GHz.

I think this is what's happening:

Normally the FSB on the 865G chipset (used in this motherboard) only goes up to 800MHz, but the P5PE-VM has a manufacturer-specified overclock mode (with appropriate warnings) to push it to 1066MHz. I'm sure the BIOS setup has these settings somewhere.