Asus P5E3 Deluxe Wifi Living Review - Page 2

supershanks · #11 27-02-2008, 17:12

After getting the Gigabyte IX38 DQ6 I weighed the motherboard as I was surprised and impressed by the solid copper design, after the comparatively flimsy and frankly flaky designs i'd had on earlierboards.

Coming in at 1.12Kg this board is about the same weight as the DQ6.

The SB and NB are secured to the motherboard by screws

The PWM blocks are secured with the usual plastic push in pins.

So with a lot of care after remembering this RevolutionX's Maximus Formula heatpipe removal , I lifted the pipes.
Screws & pins came away easily but NB remained stuck down. I had to use a screwdriver, using the pci slots, then the memory slots as a fulcrum rotate the tip under the lip of the nb. At the 2nd attempt the adhesive gave way.

So presenting the Asus Lobster

Bare naked board

We can see now that the area adjacent to the memory slots is in fact a radiator, rather than a block:-

I've not a clue why Asus persist in using any adhesive on the heatpipes as we saw above it can be dangerous and adds nothing that I can see. Whwn I lifted the Gigabyte DQ6 Heatpipes all I had to do was replace them they were perfect(see bottom pic)

PWM area & SB

are clean, it's the Northbridge that that is gunged up

The adhesive can be cleaned off with Acetone(Nail Varnish Remover

) and kitchen roll.

I applied thermal paste on Northbridge before remounting heatpipes.

Before replacing the pipes here's the PWM areas
Side PWM

Top PWM

supershanks · #12 27-02-2008, 21:23

A little bit more effective than a post splash screen
Use the mouse or [tab] key to pick the option or the normal [Delete] key for bios etc.,

supershanks · #13 27-02-2008, 21:53

Main Page

Sata Configuration - Intel Sata Setup Sub Manu

[b]

System Information

supershanks · #14 27-02-2008, 22:02

A1 Tweaker
I can think of only DFI mobos that have more bios options than this board. Apart from Advancerd CPU Features (3rd Pic From Top)}, all the action takes place here

It's a bit unusual not to see a calculated CPU Clock Speed from setting the CPU Multi & FSB.

FSB Strap to Northbridge: Auto, 200, 266, 333, and 400
Available Staps & Dividers

Must admit I'm a bit disappointed to see a max divider of only 2:1
To run my Cellshock at their rated 1800Mhz it means my minimum FSB = 450.
They should be capable of benching to 2,000Hz which means an FSB >= 500, maybe those E8400 & E8500 are looking more attractive.

PCIE Frequncy Max is about 118.

Dram Command Rate Options [Auto]. [1N],2N] 1N gives about 3~5% more bandwidth but as ever 2n is more stable.

Secondary Memory Timings
Dram Static Read Control [Auto], [Enabled], [Disabled] Transaction Booster manipulates this vaalue if left in Auto.
Dram Static Write Control As above
A1 Clock Twister [Auto], [Light], [Moderate], [Strong] Light improves stability, strong improves performance.

Ai Clock Skew for Channel A
Ai Clock Skew for Channel B
Allows you to adjust the signal timings from the memory controller to the 2 channels. Remember that Channel A is closer than Channel B. Options are to Advance or Delay the signal in a range of 0 to 350ps(picosecs) with an interval of 50pc. So logically Delay Channel A and/or Advance Channel B.

Transaction Booster is an old friend, which I think first appeared with the P5K Deluxe,
Here it has 3 options [Auto]. [Enabled], [Disabled]
[Enabled] Exposes a line Boost Level with options 1~8 with my Q6600 i can only run at 2.
Gives a sizeable boost to performance, higher number = more

[Disabled} Exposes a line Relax Level with options 1~8 Gives more stability. higher number = more

The Transaction booster works by tweaking the Dram Static Read & Write Controls see above.

Voltage Range & Interval
CPU Voltage 1.1v ~ 1.70v interval 0.00625v
CPU PLL Voltage 1.50v ~ 2.78v inteval 0.02v
FSB Termination Voltage (Known as VTT on other Boards) 1.20v ~ 1.50v interval 0.02v
Dram Voltage 1.50v ~ 2.78v interval 0.02v
North Bridge Voltage 1.25v ~ 2.53v interval 0.02v
The Bios voltages are colour coded as shown:-

The ranges of both CPU PLL and FSB Termination seem odd compared with other boards
and may be restrictive for some overclocks. a lower start point of say 1.20~1.30v for PLL and a higher maximum than 1.50v on FSB Termination would be better (Interestingly the manual shows a max of 2.48v , so something seems to have happened in development

)

Load Line Calibration Known as CPU Voltage Damper on the P5K and earlier Asus boards, Reduces Vdroop, allows a lower vcore when enabled.

CPU GTL Voltage Reference Unlike the DFI, Gigabyte and Abit boards for some reason Asus have only a single circuit GTL Ref. This setting is particularly useful in fine tuning quad core stability, where slightly different values can be used for cores 0&2 and 1&3. With a single channel tuning is less refined. This is also further hampered by fairly coarse adjustments ; 0.63x, 0.61x. 0.59x & 0.57x.