My Journey to an Asus P5K Deluxe: GREAT SO FAR! [Archive]

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jeeka

05-28-2007, 11:03 PM

Ok,
Hopefully, more people could contribute to their experiences as this MB makes it's way out to people's rigs...

Let me just tell you this is the best MB I have ever used, EVER. Let me also preface this by saying that my experiences are all my own and not gathered from other info out there. Just one dude, with the performance addiction...

First,
I had a P5WDH, 1.65v MCH version. Was an OK clocker with my week 28 lapped e6600. I could hit about 3.5Ghz, with 1.6v. Too many Volts! Was not stable when I added my 3rd GB of RAM, though. I am a multimedia guy who needs the RAM so I had to move onto:

P5WDH 1.85v MCH, made it to 3.6Ghz, 9x400. 3GB of RAM (see sig) was OK, but still not good, could not tweak the TRC, nor Command RATE to 1T, plus had to deal with a vMCH mod to up the NB volts a tad more. I could do 8x450, but had to boot at 8x430, then clockgen up....for some reason, after a week or so, my board would not boot these settings anymore, plus the loosening of the strap at 450-460 made the CPU perform slower than at 9x400 (according to SANDRA Multimedia, etc. tests)

Then, I went on to the evga 680i D00 A1 w/the p28 BIOS. I was expecting monster results with my e6600 (and hopefully the Q6600 . Eh, too many problems with stability and droop. Threw in my lapped e6700 week 27. Had to throw 1.6 volts at it to hit 3.6Ghz....Lame. Plus, recovering from a failed OC sucked....So my wife is getting one of my 3 used MB's and the e6600 :).... scored wife points...

I bought this P5K Deluxe at Fry's in San Marcos, CA for about $259. Ya it's a more than online (aka Newegg, if they had it in stock), but what the heck, I could take it home that day and I knew what batch, etc I was getting by looking at the sticker(s).....

WOW.............. (The meat of this story)

Threw in my e6700, 2GB of RAM to start. Installing Windows with all the parts in my Sig, was easy, less clutter in my case (see how many drives I use in my SIG?) due to not having to use so many case fans to keep things cool. Don't get me wrong, the chipset is no ice cube, more on this later.

The OC'ing Begins:
At first, the BIOS (0123) was OK, but I am adventurous, so I decided to flash to 0304, then 0311. Love it! Seeing all these new BIOS choices was a little intimidating at first, but nothing that I could not handle. 0311 adds the ability to choose a Command Rate now.

BIOS was easy to ramp up speeds, but can take some getting used to. There are options that I still have no idea what they control. The only one that really affects BIOS Posting is the Transaction Booster stuff. All other "new" type options could be left at AUTO (again from my own experience so far).

So I reached 10x360 no prob, 9x400, no prob, and now I am sitting at 8x450, 1:1, etc, etc, (see my SIG)....

This NB is really strong guys, really strong. The vCore Dampening feature is VERY COOL. It is also very hot when turning up the FSB... So I threw on some Creamique on the NB, SB and MOSFT heatpipe setup as well as the MOSFET HS above the CPU, and temps went WAY down. I can measure this by the "touch of the finger thermal sensor" :D

This chipset, as posted by others, seems to change to the 1066 strap around 290FSB (could be wrong though), but stays there until God knows where (I probably can't reach those sky high 500+fsb's anyway), because I am getting Sandra memory scores of 8111MB, 450x8, 1:1, 4-4-4-12, 2.2v (have not tried factory rated 2.1v yet) and all subtimings set to AUTO, which I would imagine are pretty loose to begin with. I might be able to squeeze out more once I start tweaking those. The P5WDH changes to the 1333 strap at about 400. I might be right at the brink of the 1333 strap on this board @ 450...time will tell when more people tweak with the board.

The vCore Dampening feature is top notch, the BIOS voltage reading is higher than a reading from SpeedFan, etc, but there is almost no flutter from idle to load when enabled.

Recovering from a failed OC is a ton less painful then my evga 680i. I can't wait to dump in a Q6600 and see this things really start to kick butt. I have seen here on XS, dudes getting really high FSB's with Quad's, which is the real reason I bought the board, for the price cuts come July 22nd (Adobe After Effects and Sony Vegas will thank me).

It's a young chipset/MB, but this is the current king of OC'ing boards, based off my experiences with other chipsets/boards. I only hope that those of you who wait a bit get good results from the X38 stuff as well as later revisions of this board. Hopefully, it only gets better.

Hope this helps gain some insight on this new board. There are much better posts with actual performance numbers in the other posts. Check them out, too!

jeeka.

michaLcoughliN

05-28-2007, 11:54 PM

glad to see your happy with the new mobo. I cant wait to get mine :D because im also getting the Q6600 on july. :D The more posts I see on happy buying. Makes me want to go buy it now ;) but then it will just sit in my room in its package waiting for july to come ..haha

safan80

05-29-2007, 12:26 AM

try for 10x450 and 10x500. I've ordered this board and it will be here in a few days.

Kunaak

05-29-2007, 01:45 AM

try for 10x450 and 10x500. I've ordered this board and it will be here in a few days.

you want him to aim for 5 Ghz??

Leeghoofd

05-29-2007, 01:48 AM

bloodbanger

05-29-2007, 02:02 AM

Ordered mine too, for the guys in Belgium I think Forcom did an error and is selling these mobo's at 219 euro's while I couldn't find them below 250 euro's anywhere in Belgium....

Would ne nice to have something that works from the start and is ready for the new CPU's on the block...

Don't think it's an error,cause Allinonesystems has them also for 219 euro,i think Bytes@work also for that price....mmm,Bytes@work has it for 233 euro,codima has it for 222 and FVW has it for 218 euro...So i don't know where you were looking

fritzman

05-29-2007, 02:11 AM

Good encouraging post... keep it up.

Amen to your comment Kunaak... the expression in your Avatar just about sums that post up lol

dekruyter

05-29-2007, 02:18 AM

A good board in my experience also, but couldn't get the 311 bios to load; I may try again.

gouldy

05-29-2007, 02:20 AM

try for 10x450 and 10x500. I've ordered this board and it will be here in a few days.

:rofl: what do you think he has a super :sonic: chip

Leeghoofd

05-29-2007, 04:50 AM

bloodbanger

05-29-2007, 05:04 AM

I looked some webbies last week and they were all around 249 cheapest , they must have dropped then...
Still no update on ya mega projectg Bloodbanger ?

And to get 10 x450 , first it has to be a super CPU and mega phase change, LN2,... Jeeka is on a Thermalright Ultra plus don't think the boards can deliver the required voltage without mods to the CPU

my mega-project?lol,it's in it's final stage now,just waiting for the new price-drops at the 22nd of july and then i'm gonna bite the bullet :D ,cause you can keep on waiting...

mrcape

05-29-2007, 07:00 AM

Solarfall

05-29-2007, 07:51 AM

jeeka great to hear that you are having fun with that new Asus P5K Deluxe.
but would you mind to post some screenies (for evidence and such) too, not just text ;)

jeeka

05-29-2007, 11:38 AM

Hey everyone,

Can't respond in full to all the responses right now, but I will within the next day. I'll be happy to provide screenies and such, no prob. Just need to find the time.

Check back soon!
jeeka.

dekruyter

05-29-2007, 02:21 PM

Great post Jeeka!

I've got one arriving today and my wife is away until Friday. A post like this from regular user is encouraging! Also the great guide from Eva will help a lot.

Who's Eva; couldn't find this person in Search.

M

OpTioN

05-29-2007, 02:27 PM

Nice.... the P5K Deluxe looks like a very good board... Nice !

safan80

05-29-2007, 02:43 PM

you want him to aim for 5 Ghz??

I just want to see something above 10x400 and 10x425.

bloodbanger

05-29-2007, 02:48 PM

Who's Eva; couldn't find this person in Search.

M

Try Eva2000,you have better luck this way:cool:

StimulatedBoy

05-29-2007, 02:49 PM

Who's Eva; couldn't find this person in Search.

M

Probably ment eva2000 and his P5K Deluxe link which you can find right here... http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=144199

StimulatedBoy

05-29-2007, 03:06 PM

I just want to see something above 10x400 and 10x425.

Currently running my QX6700 on 430 * 10 as 24/7 setup. That might be what you have been longing for... LOL. With BIOS 311 FSB jumped to 450-455 before BSOD as compared to 440 with 307.

Leeghoofd

05-29-2007, 10:23 PM

Yep EVA2000 is the madman of timings and bios settings you can find him on www.i4memory.com where he shares even more secrets to the community....

jeeka

05-30-2007, 11:02 PM

As promised, a Documentary on OC'ing the P5K presented in pics :)
Currently using only 2 of the 3GB's of RAM, as it's being used in another machine....

Plus, These settings have not been optimized (voltages, timings, etc...) This is what got me Orthos stable, so I don't know if lowering some voltages and timings will accomplish the same stability yet... Some of these settings I don't even know what they do, but I figured if I set it to one setting passed the lowest one or so, that it might gain me something, who knows :)

The Workhorse (I'm not really a LED Fan guy, but they push a lot of air and are quiet....):
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/7642/img2207bq1.jpg

The Post:
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/977/img2206tf7.jpg

The Main Screen:
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/4374/img2197kh3.jpg

CPU Config Screen:
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/4386/img2202ko0.jpg

Advanced Screen 01:
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/4021/img2198af8.jpg

Advanced Screen 02:
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/8008/img2199zj8.jpg

CPU-Z Goodness:
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/6862/cpuxd4.gifhttp://img253.imageshack.us/img253/9994/mainboardcz2.gif
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/4395/memorylx6.gifhttp://img253.imageshack.us/img253/6862/cpuxd4.gif

fhpchris

05-30-2007, 11:06 PM

you want him to aim for 5 Ghz??

If he cannot do 10*400 on air, 5ghz just is not happening. :(

On the flipside, the board sounds good :)

Leeghoofd

05-30-2007, 11:06 PM

Jeeka I shoudl have my baord this week ( fingers crossed ) is it possible with the current OC yo have to post some results of eg Superpi and co, to compare some stuff

jeeka

05-30-2007, 11:45 PM

Sure, Leeghoofd, what other kind of tests would you like me to run for ya'? I don't do too much crunch benching, but I can post something up if it helps....

4Ghz is not happening, the chip can't even stay straight at 3.7.... I have a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme on order from Newegg to upgrade my Ultra (aka wife gets 'old' stuff = excuse to upgrade), this will help temps, but I just don't think that this e6700 has the guts.

This e6700 is just a hold over untill July 22nd, when I slap a q6600 in here and go off to Quad Core Oc'ing Heaven and After Effects/3DS Max/Vegas Utopia :).... But I have no complaints at all, this is a great setup I fell into.

My goal is to stay as close on the RAM timings to factory spec (4-4-4-12) while staying 1:1, for being ver2.1 Promos RAM chips, anything after DDR840 was a bonus, I was pleasantly surprised that it hit 900mhz.

I still have to try 9x400 to see if my CPU and Multimedia scores go up/down.
I have a feeling this 9x400 will be slower than 8x450 because of the strong NB keeping me in the 1066 strap? I have no evidence that it does but I can only assume and experiment.

fhpchris

05-31-2007, 12:28 AM

I would put more emphasis on cinebench or wprime than on sandra scores with what you are intending to use your quad for :)

Leeghoofd

05-31-2007, 12:32 AM

that's just what I want to find out...if 400 or 450FSB is faster when I run the CPU at 3600Mhz... and if ram speed with lower timings i s faster than higher speed with looser timings, EVA2000 helped me with his findings...

Just a SuperPi 1M and 32M will do mate so I have a reference of a not too highly tweaked overclock... thx for the help

Solarfall

05-31-2007, 04:08 AM

4Ghz is not happening, the chip can't even stay straight at 3.7.... I have a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme on order from Newegg to upgrade my Ultra (aka wife gets 'old' stuff = excuse to upgrade), this will help temps, but I just don't think that this e6700 has the guts.

just go for water cooling and 4ghz is not an impossible task, 3.7-3.9 ghz no problemo.

derektm

05-31-2007, 02:25 PM

dekruyter

05-31-2007, 02:36 PM

derektm

05-31-2007, 02:53 PM

Cold Boot, by my definition, is if you loose an overclock after having the system off for many.... hours (>6).

The shut down and reboot after making new overclocking bios settings is normal, and only happens once.

You saying this board does that? I'm talking about the problem that the P5B had and the P5WDG2-Ws Pro has where when you reboot the computer it turns all the way off for a few seconds and then back on.

jeeka

05-31-2007, 03:08 PM

dekruyter

05-31-2007, 03:25 PM

Mine turns off when I change certain settings, like RAM subtimings, then, if it takes, it will post after about 3 seconds of powering the system (I can hear the HD's spin down, then up again + fans)....If it does not take, like if I set a setting too tight, the light on my monitor will stay orange instead of lighting up green, thus signaling that the Video Card is shooting a screen (POST) to the monitor.

Like he and I said, depending on what you change in the bios, there's a shutdown and reboot; only some items like ram overclocking settings. What I was trying to say this is not the infamous and dreaded cold boot issue or scenario.

derektm

05-31-2007, 03:27 PM

Mine turns off when I change certain settings, like RAM subtimings, then, if it takes, it will post after about 3 seconds of powering the system (I can hear the HD's spin down, then up again + fans)....If it does not take, like if I set a setting too tight, the light on my monitor will stay orange instead of lighting up green, thus signaling that the Video Card is shooting a screen (POST) to the monitor.

But once you have your settings stable does it do the power off thing like I describe. I think what you are saying is that when your system is unstable it powers down and reboots to let you reset your settings?

Thanks for your reply.

dekruyter

05-31-2007, 03:29 PM

NOPE; this board is a very stable overclocker, and the ram latency/timings/bandwidth are amazing.

jeeka

05-31-2007, 03:34 PM

Leeghoofd,
Here you go my friend, 1M and 32M, 450x8, e6700@3.6Ghz, P5K Deluxe, bla bla bla....

1M:
http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/503/1muw1.gif

32M:
http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/3282/32mou1.gif

I don't know if these are good or bad, as I don't bench this way too often to know. Hope this helps you guys!
jeeka.

jeeka

05-31-2007, 03:40 PM

No, after it powers down the first time, boots into Windows, then I reset if need be, it does not do the same thing every time. It does it just the first time I change something that triggers that behavior.

jeeka

05-31-2007, 04:16 PM

Here's a random RAM Benchmark for kicks...

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/1998/ramok4.gif

dekruyter

05-31-2007, 04:33 PM

Yeah, it's amazing how easy it is to get over 8,000 MB/s, or even over 8,500 MB/s and a latency less than 55.

SlackAdjuster

05-31-2007, 07:02 PM

I also picked up one of these boards this past weekend from Frys in Plano & the initial overclock is very promising. So far have it at 8x400FSB with memory at 1000 (500). It has been pretty hot here in Texas so I need to increase the CFM on my case fans as my load temps with my Scythe Ninja are 46c idle & 56c Load. This board runs a bit hotter than my Gigabyte DS3, but hopefully I can get it under control. I did a quick run at 475 FSb & it took it without breaking a sweat. I will do some more tweaking on it as I get more time. I am currently running vcore at 1.35 &Memory at 2.3V all other volts at stock.

SlackAdjuster

dekruyter

06-01-2007, 01:38 AM

I see no temp. difference between, say 400 and 460, using the motherboard temp. diode. Perhaps others are using a differenct way to judge temps on NB & SB (by touch?).

xgman

06-01-2007, 05:43 AM

Couple of questions for you guys that have this board running above 400 FSB.

Does it cold boot... on reboot does it turn off all the way then back on? (My P5WDG2-WS Pro did and it was very annoying).

Does the BIOS have drive strength options?

Thanks

The Asus intel boards all do the double step boot when you have things set in a manner where the bios needs to set the strap when you power on or reboot. It is 100% normal.

JayG30

06-01-2007, 07:55 AM

Off topic, but I like seeing pictures of the inside of a p160 case and just had to comment on it. :) Just really don't see them anymore and I've always been a fan of their layout. Really easy to manage wires in that case!

Oh and nice choice in MB as well!:)

jeeka

06-01-2007, 03:27 PM

hehe thanks JayG30, it's a great case, easy to move around in, and with the rounded edges, I never slice myself! It's only the second case I ever have owned, but I have worked on many others, and this is the easiest that I have worked on of all.

I love the way the hard drives are set and the way I can "quick release" them as well as the CD-ROM drive bays, even with hard drives adapted in.

Oldie but goodie :)
jeeka.

jeeka

06-01-2007, 03:28 PM

UPDATE: Just got my Thermalright Ultra 120 EXTREME...upgraded from the "standard" 120 Ultra....Will report back with results...

Thanks!
jeeka.

dekruyter

06-01-2007, 03:40 PM

Bios 311 is now on the Asus site "officially", and it loaded nice this time, unlike the Taiwan beta copy. Have fun.

This board is the "TiTs".

460x7=3.2; ram 920 / 1:1 (on Crucial 6400,2.2v); 9,000 MB/s and 54ns, without even breaking a sweat!

and, hardly any Vdroop.

Colossous

06-01-2007, 03:42 PM

Its soooo tempting !! :shocked:

derektm

06-01-2007, 06:38 PM

The Asus intel boards all do the double step boot when you have things set in a manner where the bios needs to set the strap when you power on or reboot. It is 100% normal.

They say above this board only does that when you have your settings too tight and unstable. Thats a real good way to kill hard drives... :mad:

orion23

06-01-2007, 08:55 PM

They say above this board only does that when you have your settings too tight and unstable. Thats a real good way to kill hard drives... :mad:

The cold boot term get lost in translation.

AFAIK, cold boot is when the PC turns fully off even when restarting without going into the bios. My last P5WDG2 WS Pro did this after a 300FSB or so.

The new P5K does not do this. It will not cold boot, even when running a 500FSB. A restart is a re-start.

I'm very happy about that alone!

derektm

06-02-2007, 01:32 AM

That's what I was talking about. I had the P5WDG2-WS PRO too and it did the same thing and that was very annoying. Thanks for clarifying!

newls1

06-02-2007, 05:46 AM

Is the Vdroop on this board really low like people are saying?

bmg

06-02-2007, 01:45 PM

Is the Vdroop on this board really low like people are saying?
Vdroop is great on the P5K Deluxe, around 8 mv.

jeeka

06-02-2007, 06:02 PM

Great post Jeeka!

I've got one arriving today and my wife is away until Friday. A post like this from regular user is encouraging! Also the great guide from Eva will help a lot.

One question - did you heat up the pipes with a hair dryer to remove or did it come up easy? I have a bunch of after market sinks I want to try out but I'm going to do it in stages to see what cools best. First stock test, then reseat with fresh paste and test, then after market coolers and test. So I'm really curious how it is to remove these. Just want to give this board the best cooling setup I can.

Edit - I know you have to release the pins on the back of the board, just wondering what kind of grip to expect from the tape holding down the pipes. Don't want to take anything up with the tape.

Hi mrcape,

Saw your post on the first page and forgot to answer it, sorry! Here's my answer if you haven't figured it out yet...

I did have to heat up the Southbridge, as it has a larger surface area than the Northbridge, and had a nastier grip to it. This stuff is like glue, and not the crappy stuff they used to put on the older boards, or the current C2D stock coolers... The MOSFET part of it was that weak sauce thermal padding that never melted! That stuff is the worst. Anyways, The Northbridge... I just had to grabbed the Mosfet part of the heatsink setup and rotate a little counter-clockwise while pulling up on it slightly, while keeping my right hand on the Northbridge sink to steady it. I had leverage. This is, of course after popping all the pins out of the back of all the holes.

The best part of it was, I could do all this without having to remove the Thermalright Ultra 120! It had enough play in it that I could lift up on the NB and not interfere with the 120 Ultra....

As for the SB, I had to heat it for about a minute total, while slowly lifting up and twisting. Be careful because you might pull too hard and run the HS setup across the board, potentially breaking off stuff. Slow and steady, heat, then a little twist and pull upward, more heat and another pull and it should come off.

Make sure to clean the chips from the excuse they call thermal padding. :)

Happy Oc'ing!
jeeka.

OldGuy

06-02-2007, 06:12 PM

Hi mrcape,

Saw your post on the first page and forgot to answer it, sorry! Here's my answer if you haven't figured it out yet...

I did have to heat up the Southbridge, as it has a larger surface area than the Northbridge, and had a nastier grip to it. This stuff is like glue, and not the crappy stuff they used to put on the older boards, or the current C2D stock coolers... The MOSFET part of it was that weak sauce thermal padding that never melted! That stuff is the worst. Anyways, The Northbridge... I just had to grabbed the Mosfet part of the heatsink setup and rotate a little counter-clockwise while pulling up on it slightly, while keeping my right hand on the Northbridge sink to steady it. I had leverage. This is, of course after popping all the pins out of the back of all the holes.

The best part of it was, I could do all this without having to remove the Thermalright Ultra 120! It had enough play in it that I could lift up on the NB and not interfere with the 120 Ultra....

As for the SB, I had to heat it for about a minute total, while slowly lifting up and twisting. Be careful because you might pull too hard and run the HS setup across the board, potentially breaking off stuff. Slow and steady, heat, then a little twist and pull upward, more heat and another pull and it should come off.

Make sure to clean the chips from the excuse they call thermal padding. :)

Happy Oc'ing!
jeeka.

Heh...my thumb is finally healed after pecking that "grease" off of the HS's. I heated the hs with a blow drier then used some arctic cleaning solution on it. Let it set a few minutes. Heat, soak, peck, wipe and repeat... :D

A little more detailed... Removal (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2213846&postcount=242)