THE Asus P5E X38 Thread

[ericeod]

Update Aug 10, 2008

Bios Flash P5E to P5E Deluxe Extremely Successful

ChrisB17 has verified that the P5E deluxe bios improves the standard P5E in many respects.

The vdroop is all but eliminated for him:

Originally Posted by ChrisB17

Ok I set the voltage to 1.32 in bios it only comes 1.296 in windows. At load is doesnt move an inch.

There are also the additonal pull-ins under Ai Transaction Booster previously only available with the Rampage Formula bios.

This seems to be just a straight shot to go from the P5E to the Deluxe, no disabling bios options as with the Rampage Formula.

here is the P5E Deluxe bios:
P5E-ASUS-Deluxe-0205.ROM
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Update July 31, 2008

Added attachment for ICH9R\10R RAID and AHCI Vista 64 drivers
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Update July 11, 2008 with 403 Rampage bios info

Now that many people are running the Rampage bios, I thought it would be appropriate to link what I found to be useful info on the new bios options.
Anandtech:
ASUS ROG Rampage Formula: Why we were wrong about the Intel X48

Pages 3-9 of the article will prove to very useful to those wanting to know about specific bios settings, chipset strap, relationship between the NB and memory, as well as memory timings (both primary and sub).

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Update April 02, 2008
Motherboard overvolting ram verified

Special thanks to Karl eller for the post on vdimm points. I used my Fluke 177 digital meter and read the yellow and one of the blue marked readout point from his post.


When I set the vdimm in bios to 2.16v, I get a reading of 2.21v from the multi meter. Then, when I set the vdimm to 2.18v in bios, I get a reading of 2.238v on the meter. And finally, when I set vdimm to 2.2v in bios, I get a reading of 2.25v on the meter. This makes it very hard for those without a multimeter to know the true vdimm.

I did find that my 1.40v vcore set in bios, which loads into windows at 1.38v as shown in CPU-Z, actually is 1.376v when metered while running Orthos.

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Update Mar 28, 2008
Please see this post were all credit
is given for this info. I just rewrote/organized it for clarity.

Disclaimer: Attempt this at your own risk

Flashing your P5E or Maximus to Rampage Formula

First Copy down your bios settings. They will change their order in the new bios, so make sure to label the settings.

1. Make a USB bootable drive using this creator:
USB Boot drive (HPUSBFW)

2. Then download the boot files and extract them to a folder of your choice

3. Run the HPUSBFW program.



Select the correct USB device from the drop-down menu, set file system to FAT32 and check Create a DOS startup disk.

4. Then browse for the extracted boot files (now in the folder of your choice) and press start to begin formating it.

5. Once the device is done, Copy the AFUDOS and 403 bios (unzip it) to the USB drive (you will not see the boot files on it).

6. You will then restart and go into bios to load default bios options. Then set the ram voltage and reboot (plug in the USB drive into the back USB port at this time). Then, while the PC is booting up, press F8 to enter the boot option. Select the USB drive.

7. At the C: type afudos /iRAMPAGE-ASUS-Formula-0403.rom /pbnc /n

8. The bios will then begin flashing. Dont do anything until the bios is finished flashing and you are instructed to reboot.

9. Finally, shut down, CLR CMOS (with the switch) and enjoy your new Rampage!


If for any reason you want to revert back to the original bios, just copy the latest Maximus Formula or P5E bios (whichever board you have) instead of the 0403, and type the bios rom name as before,
ie. afudos /i<your original bios here.rom> /pbnc /n

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Update Jan 29, 2008
Courtesy of Darkstar189:
Here is the ASUS ftp site or ASUS ftp site (2 different sites) to download all the latest drivers and bios.

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Update Jan 27, 2008
Good news for P5E/Maximus owners. The board will post with the 45nm Wolfdales and the older 203 bios:
ASUS P5E Forums

I may have some good news for you. My p5-e that arrived yesterday from newegg had bios 203, but posted first try with my e8400. At post it gave an error message saying the proc needed the newest bios "to unleash its full potential", then went on to look for an OS. I flashed the bios to 502 from a cd ( it wouldn't recognize my flash drive ), ran memtest with no errors and installed windows. All is well.
Hope it goes as well for everyone else.

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This thread was passed onto myself and XxSilent22xX. We have decided to work on it together to help benefit the OCN community since we both can provide valuable input and answer any questions.

PM either of us with questions, just let us know if you have PM'ed the same question to the other.
Ericeod ...................................... XxSilent22xX

With that being said, lets get this thread started! Here is my first stable OC at 3.6GHz @ 1.384v vcore. I used an x8 multi with a 450 FSB. I am currently running the 502 bios and havent had a single problem with it.




Here are the bios settings I started with:











These advanced Bios settings really helped me bring stability to the system: AnandTech

CPU PLL Voltage: Scale range is 1.5-3V in 0.02V increments. Stock is 1.5V, and although overvolting can bring increases to FSB limits, we do not recommend using past 1.75V for long-term use.

FSB Termination Voltage: Voltage scale runs from 1.2V-2V. Quad-core CPU overclocking is especially dependent upon VTT and GTL voltage ratios. The max is 1.50V.

Loadline Calibration: Available options are Auto, Disabled, and Enabled. Use "Enabled" for overclocking. This function reduces Vcore voltage sag.

CPU GTL Reference: This setting is a derivative or ratio of the applied VTT voltage. A setting of 0.63x provides the most headroom for overclocking quad-core processors.

Northbridge GTL Reference: A value of .67x generally provides the best level of stability on this motherboard.

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Update: Dec 30, 07

I was able to get the board 7hrs stable Orthos at 515 FSB x7 multi at 3.6GHz with the ram 1:1. I needed to increase NB voltage to 1.43v (1.41 crashed after 4+ hrs). I set the ram to 5-5-5-15 2T, but have since run memtest stable at 5-4-4-14 2T.



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Update: Jan 13, 08

I am attaching the ASUS Update ver. 6.10.02, which is reported to allow backflashing to older bios. Unfortuantely I have no way to test since it doesnt let me load it with Vista 64. This is downloaded from ASUS website.

[cerealk1ll3r]

May I ask what BIOS you are currently using? Also, being new to overclocking and all, I wasn't quite sure which was the setting for the FSBRAM divider. Do make sure to stay away from the 0405 BIOS though, as it messes with voltage settings.

[XxSilent22xX]

The P5E Is a Very Well rounded board and a very good one for the price infact! but with all things there are cons and one of them is the VDroop on this thing Which i will help you correct this

1. Tools & Preparation
- Pencil for the mod (Soft Pencil Is Preferred But #2 Works)
- Picture To Locate where to Place Mod
- Light (If you Cannot See)

2. Step's For Mod
- **Turn Off PC!!!!** I cannot Stress This enough as people have tried this while the pc is running!!
- Remove Side panel & Locate the Capacitor
- Once Located Draw a Line Across The Top *ONLY*!
- 3-5 Pass(s) should Do The Trick To Fix Droop. (More Or Less Strokes May Be Needed)
- Replace Panel & Boot Pc.
- Check Cpu-z for Voltage If It Is Still Under Repeat Steps.
- Run A Stress Program And Check Voltage While Under Load You Do Not Want Voltage Going Past What You Have Manually Set In BIOS.
- If To Much Graphite Is Applied Wipe off with finger and try again.

3. Tips & Recommendation
- Like Stated Before You Do Not Want Voltage Going Above What Is Set In BIOS.
- Office Depot, Office Max, Arts & Craft's These are great stores to find a soft pencil.
- Be careful to not Press too hard on Compacitor (people Have Broken Them)
- Too Much Graphite Or Broken Off pieces can short the board!

[ericeod]

Edit: Aug 10, 2008
The ICH 9R/10R 64 bit drivers have been added to the first post.
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For those wanting to RAID with this board, attached are the drivers needed during OS installation. For Vista, you only need to put these on a USB drive or on a CD. If you have XP, you will need to either load these from a floppy, or slipstream them with the installation disk.

note: These are the RAID Drivers for Intel's ICH8R and ICH9R southbridge chip.

The Intel driver revision is:
7.8.0.1012 dated 11/25/2007

[cerealk1ll3r]

Has anybody tried using the 0502 BIOS? It seems to get good feedback from the guys at xtremesystems. I use the 0501, and for now, it seems to work fine, except I can no longer enable speedstep as that option has mysteriously disappeared from the BIOS.

[yomama9388]

ericeod finally got rid of his 680i? wow I never thought the day would come

I'm interested to see how that board performs because I am going with either a dfi lanparty or the asus p5e

[cerealk1ll3r]

I think that this board performs pretty good, but as I have not had any prior experience with P35, I cannot say whether or not it is a better overclocker. But if you do plan on going X38, the P5E is pretty much the cheapest board out there, and it is almost exactly like the Maximus Formula. So far, I've gotten to 3.6Ghz easily. The PCI 2.0 is a plus, however I have not taken the time to compare whether the full 32 lanes show an improvement in performance. If you feel like splurging a little bit, go spend the extra $20 and get the Maximus Formula.

[XxSilent22xX]

Originally Posted by cerealk1ll3r

Has anybody tried using the 0502 BIOS? It seems to get good feedback from the guys at xtremesystems. I use the 0501, and for now, it seems to work fine, except I can no longer enable speedstep as that option has mysteriously disappeared from the BIOS.

im also useing the 501 bios as the 502 bios is just 1. Finetune CPU temperature detection algorithm so if you badly need that then update to bios 502 unstill then bios 501 is working just fine and i suggest waiting for a update that is more important..

Originally Posted by yomama9388

ericeod finally got rid of his 680i? wow I never thought the day would come

I'm interested to see how that board performs because I am going with either a dfi lanparty or the asus p5e

Well me and ericeod are both working on this as we have the same board and proc so when we compile some good overclocking information on this board will post it up here for you and others

[nitteo]

I have this board as well and have a P5K and a P5K Deluxe Wifi/AP mobo to compare it too. Will post comparisons up.

Nice job Ericeod!

[ericeod]

Originally Posted by yomama9388

ericeod finally got rid of his 680i? wow I never thought the day would come

I'm interested to see how that board performs because I am going with either a dfi lanparty or the asus p5e

Yeah I decided to move when the 680i support for the quad 45nm was shot down. I never used SLI and I needed something that was future proof. But I like this ASUS board, I havent had that much time with it though.

I've only had it up for 3 days, and didnt really tweak it until last night. I literally spent all day on Friday reading evey forum and review on the board before I attempted my first OC. I was suprised how little voltage the FSB and northbridge needed to reach 450 FSB. At this point, I dont know what the X48 chipset will offer over this one.