Asus P5K Deluxe - Strap Changed @500FSB !

[eva2000]

Q6600 B3 - Asus P5K Deluxe Strap Change



Swapped over to 2x1GB Crucial Ballistix 8500 dual channel kit.

• It seems for my Q6600 B3 max FSB depends on how well memory modules can handle certain settings. Why ? Because my Q6600 B3 can hit 495-500FSB alot easier with this memory than other memory I've tested. Other memory hit max FSB around 490FSB.
• Also I might have found a possible strap change for Asus P5K Deluxe (maybe only noticeable with very very tight subtimings ? ) @500FSB. At 7x500FSB, memtest86+ v1.70 reported 6216MB/s bandwidth. At 7x499FSB, memtest86+ v1.70 reported 6505MB/s bandwidth!.

Super Pi v1.50 32M

(click link for image)

7x499FSB = 13m 28.313s
7x500FSB = 13m 37.844s

Everest Ultimate (MB/s)
7x499FSB vs 7x500FSB
Memory Read: 10809 vs 9964
Memory Write: 9096 vs 9115
Memory Copy: 9615 vs 9157
Memory Latency: 46.0ns vs 51.8ns





Settings Used

JumperFree Configuration Settings
AI Overclocking: Manual
CPU Ratio Control: Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting: 7
FSB Frequency: 499 & 500
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1248 & DDR2-1250
DRAM Command Rate: 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency: 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 5
RAS# Precharge: 5
RAS# Activate to Precharge: 9
TWR: 3
TRFC: 30
TWTR: 3
TRRD: 3
TRTP: 8
DRAM Static Read Control: AUTO

Transaction Booster: AUTO
Boost Level: N/A
Clock Over-Charging Mode: AUTO

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

CPU Voltage: 1.5v
CPU Voltage Reference: x0.63
CPU Voltage Damper: Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.50
DRAM Voltage: 2.40
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.40
North Bridge Voltage: 1.70
North Bridge Voltage Reference: AUTO
South Bridge Voltage: 1.20

Advance CPU Settings
CPU Ratio Control: Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting: 7
C1E Suppport: Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit: Disabled
Vanderpool Technology: Disabled
CPU TM Function: Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled
PECI: Disabled

USB Configuration
USB Functions: Enabled
Legacy USB Support: Disabled (need to enable it to detect USB flash drives)

[eva2000]

Q6600 B3
7x499FSB
vs
7x500FSB

Strap change does exist it seems at 500FSB changes to lower memory bandwidth performance compared with 499FSB.

[Console]

Nice find , just got one yesterday still playing with it

[MsB]

Man I am trying to sell my memory I have now so I can get some ballistics too. I cant get my Q6600 over 460x7 with current mem and cooling. Still this ATI branded stuff @4x1gig @931 is darn nice. I will reach 500 mghz FSB! LOL, Great work EVA! I just love this board, kinda hard to get used to after all the options on the icfx3200 tr/g but once i figured out everything its a marvel. Eva, I flashed to the latest bios but I still do not have the option for 1 or 2t command. ??? I think I will have to reflash . Maybe thats whats holding me back with fsb?

[burningrave101]

Since you've got all that memory laying around Eva, have you done testing with those Ballistix in 4x1GB configs?

[zerazax]

what cooling are you using on this system?

[wedfighter]

Corsair Nautilus H2O i believe

[PcCI2iminal]

nice find EVA

i was trying to find the change point on Gigabyte P35 DQ6 and from 266FSB to 470FSB i haven`t found nothing,i stoped at 470FSB(goes unstable) cz that Gigabyte needs more ram tweaks and to continue the tests i need to re-run all those tests from zero

266fsb
93ns
5258Mb/s

275fsb
90.9ns
5394Mb/s

290fsb
86ns
5703Mb/s

294fsb
84.8ns
5799Mb/s

300fsb
82.9ns
5917Mb/s

310fsb
80.6ns
6102Mb/s

314fsb
79.5ns
6174Mb/s

324fsb
77ns
6390Mb/s

333fsb
75.3ns
6534mb/s

340fsb
73.5ns
6683mb/s

350fsb
69.1ns
6901Mb/s

360fsb
67.5ns
7159Mb/s

364fsb
66.6ns
7212Mb/s

366fsb
66.2ns
7352Mb/s

374fsb (latency is worst than 364FSB :S )
66.5ns
7394Mb/s

376fsb
64.3ns
7435Mb/s

380fsb
65.5ns
7481Mb/s

390fsb
62.3ns
7728Mb/s

400fsb
62.4ns
7899Mb/s

402fsb
62.1ns
7932Mb/s

410fsb
60.7ns
8074Mb/s

420fsb
59.2ns
8260Mb/s

430fsb
57.7ns
8513Mb/s

440fsb
56.6ns
8696Mb/s

450fsb
55.1ns
8898Mb/s

460fsb
54ns
9084Mb/s

464fsb
53.8Mb/s
9128Mb/s


sry to hijack your thread

[eva2000]

Eva, I flashed to the latest bios but I still do not have the option for 1 or 2t command. ??? I think I will have to reflash . Maybe thats whats holding me back with fsb?

yeah try relashing.. did you clear cmos after flashing ?

Since you've got all that memory laying around Eva, have you done testing with those Ballistix in 4x1GB configs?

later.. i do some memtests on memory before even loading windows - but 4GB takes ages to do.. time better spent on 2GB configs especially when i only use 32bit winxp pro sp2.. not touching vista 64bit for at least another 6 months heh

what cooling are you using on this system?

says in image's text - corsair nautilus 500 on cpu

nice find EVA

i was trying to find the change point on Gigabyte P35 DQ6 and from 266FSB to 470FSB i haven`t found nothing,i stoped at 470FSB(goes unstable) cz that Gigabyte needs more ram tweaks and to continue the tests i need to re-run all those tests from zero

maybe skip to 499/500FSB mark

[Zannema]

Good job, thank for the information

[PcCI2iminal]

maybe skip to 499/500FSB mark

yep , i will be back later with 499FSB and 500FSB numbers

[The Stilt]

The performance level changes from level 6 to level 10 when the board is booted with 500FSB instead of 499FSB

Thats with 1:1 divider.
With 5:6 divider the difference is not as big.

I can do a "strap" map for Asus & Gigabyte boards if you want.

[giorgos th.]

i tried a test with 1:1 but i didnt notice any difference.
these were made with 1.4Vmch and identical settings.


499*7


500*7

[Micutzu]

The performance level changes from level 6 to level 10 when the board is booted with 500FSB instead of 499FSB

Thats with 1:1 divider.
With 5:6 divider the difference is not as big.

I can do a "strap" map for Asus & Gigabyte boards if you want.

It would definetely be useful to alot of people .
Anyone tested thorughly strap changes on 680i so far ?

[eva2000]

The performance level changes from level 6 to level 10 when the board is booted with 500FSB instead of 499FSB

Thats with 1:1 divider.
With 5:6 divider the difference is not as big.

I can do a "strap" map for Asus & Gigabyte boards if you want.

yeah that would be very useful indeed if you could for Asus P5K Deluxe.. does such a map exist for Asus Commando and P5B Deluxe ?

[PcCI2iminal]

I can do a "strap" map for Asus & Gigabyte boards if you want.

we need that

[The Stilt]

On Asus P5K-series there are two strap changes:

At 293FSB the board changes FSEL strap to 1333FSB to make more memory dividers available. This doesn´t have any effect to performance.

The performance level is also changed for following dividers:

1:2 Performance level changes from level 2 to level 1
Level 1 is the tightest possible, so expect some huge bandwidth

Dividers 3:5 & 1:2 are FSEL strapped to 800FSB.

At 500FSB the performance level of all dividers are set more loose.

1:1 Performance level changes from level 6 to level 10.
Level 10 is the loosest one. Usually the chipset can handle level 5 just fine

5:6 Performance level changes from level 5 to level 8.
Setting level 4 should not be a problem.

4:5 Performance level changes from level 4 to level 7.
Setting level 4 - 3 should be fine.

Since the memory frequency would get a bit high at bigger dividers I don´t have actual values for them. But I recon the values would be following:

2:3 Level 3 -> Level 6
5:8 Level 4 -> Level 7
3:5 Level 2 -> Level 5
1:2 Level 1 -> Level 4

[XtremeTiramisu]

Sorry, please educate me.
I still don't get the "performance level 1 ~ 10" you're talking about. How is it related to the different dividers you use and the strap change from FSB499 to 500??

Thanks

[magnifico]

compliments beautiful card

[NLight95]

It would definetely be useful to alot of people .
Anyone tested thorughly strap changes on 680i so far ?

X-bit labs covers some of the 680i strap & fsb hole issues here:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...32x-max_9.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...extreme_9.html

I thought about "upgrading" my Commando to a Striker or P5N32E SLI Plus but no thanks. If I upgrade to anything it'll be the P5K Deluxe, but only after seeing what ASUS does with the BIOS.

[eva2000]

On Asus P5K-series there are two strap changes:

At 293FSB the board changes FSEL strap to 1333FSB to make more memory dividers available. This doesn´t have any effect to performance.

The performance level is also changed for following dividers:

1:2 Performance level changes from level 2 to level 1
Level 1 is the tightest possible, so expect some huge bandwidth

Dividers 3:5 & 1:2 are FSEL strapped to 800FSB.

At 500FSB the performance level of all dividers are set more loose.

1:1 Performance level changes from level 6 to level 10.
Level 10 is the loosest one. Usually the chipset can handle level 5 just fine

5:6 Performance level changes from level 5 to level 8.
Setting level 4 should not be a problem.

4:5 Performance level changes from level 4 to level 7.
Setting level 4 - 3 should be fine.

Since the memory frequency would get a bit high at bigger dividers I don´t have actual values for them. But I recon the values would be following:

2:3 Level 3 -> Level 6
5:8 Level 4 -> Level 7
3:5 Level 2 -> Level 5
1:2 Level 1 -> Level 4

thanks for the info

It might explain why I'm still seeing 4:5 divider like on P5B Deluxe, offering the best clock for clock performance on the P5K Deluxe along with 5:8.

[eva2000]

E6700 @6x499FSB vs 6x500FSB
Strap change tests



Further strap tests @499FSB vs @500FSB, but this time I'm using E6700 L629B079 B2 retail cpu and dropped cpu multiplier down to 6x so it would be easier for folks to compare with their own tests. I'm running 2x1 GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 @500Mhz 4-4-4-5 2-25-2-2-5 at 2.15v for all tests.

I'm testing 4 configurations:

• 6x499FSB 1:1 boot
• 6x499FSB 1:1 boot setFSB 500FSB
• 6x500FSB 1:1 boot
• 6x500FSB 1:1 boot with Transaction Booster Enabled Level 1

Benchmarks used:

• Everest Ultimate v4.00.1033 beta
• Super Pi v1.50 2M & 8M
• Winrar v3.70 Benchmark
• PCmark05 Memory Test

System

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 L629B079 B2
• Corsair Nautilus 500 3/8" ID
• Asus P5K Deluxe 0311 bios
• 128MB Gainward FX5200 PCI
• 2x1GB Crucial PC2-8500 Ballistix dual channel kit in black dimm slots
• 74GB WD Raptor 8MB on SATA 2 port
• Pioneer DVR-08 Burner
• Sony FDD
• 1KW PCP&C SLI psu
• WinXP Pro SP2

6x499FSB vs 6x500FSB

To save everyone from scrolling wheel mouse cramps, here's all the results in one bar chart



Settings Used:

JumperFree Configuration Settings
AI Overclocking: Manual
CPU Ratio Control: Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting: 6
FSB Frequency: 499 or 500
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-998 or DDR2-1000
DRAM Command Rate: 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency: 4
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 4
RAS# Precharge: 4
RAS# Activate to Precharge: 5
TWR: 2
TRFC: 25
TWTR: 2
TRRD: 2
TRTP: 5
DRAM Static Read Control: AUTO

Transaction Booster: AUTO or Enabled
Boost Level: N/A or Level 1
Clock Over-Charging Mode: AUTO

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

CPU Voltage: 1.325v
CPU Voltage Reference: AUTO
CPU Voltage Damper: Enabled
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.50
DRAM Voltage: 2.15
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.40
North Bridge Voltage: 1.55
North Bridge Voltage Reference: AUTO
South Bridge Voltage: 1.20

Advance CPU Settings
CPU Ratio Control: Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting: 6
C1E Suppport: Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit: Disabled
Vanderpool Technology: Disabled
CPU TM Function: Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled
PECI: Enabled

USB Configuration
USB Functions: Enabled
Legacy USB Support: Disabled (need to enable it to detect USB flash drives)

[XtremeTiramisu]

EVA2000:

Most of the time I see you dissables PECI under Advance CPU Settings but this time I noticed that you've changed it to enabled. What makes you need to change it this time??

I've an exactly same pair of RAM...well, I think they're the same, Ballistix Tracers 8500. At 2.2v and stock 533mhz, 5-5-5-15 and auto sub-timings, they're getting considerably hot already. I've active cooling on one side from one the front intake case fan at the top but I think I might add one more directly on top of the RAMs.

What sub-timings would you recommand to use on a daily basis (~2.2v and stock 533mhz speed)? I noticed you've 3-30-3-3-3 in your previous 600mhz+ configuration and now you've 2-25-2-2-2 in your current 500mhz configuration at only 2.15v. Do think 3-30-3-3-3 is the ideal sub-timing to use for me?

Thx

[dqniel]

Any time you see the Stilt or Eva post in a thread you know there's going to be useful tips. Thanks for the in-depth analysis guys !

[NLight95]

E6700 @6x499FSB vs 6x500FSB
Strap change tests

System

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 L629B079 B2
• Corsair Nautilus 500 3/8" ID
• Asus P5K Deluxe 0311 bios
• 128MB Gainward FX5200 PCI
• 2x1GB Crucial PC2-8500 Ballistix dual channel kit in black dimm slots
  
• 74GB WD Raptor 8MB on SATA 2 port
• Pioneer DVR-08 Burner
• Sony FDD
• 1KW PCP&C SLI psu
• WinXP Pro SP2

eva: I've noticed in your posts you are testing with only one SATA drive (Raptor 74) and that drive is on SATA port 2. Have you done any testing with a drive on port 1? Or better yet, with all ports populated?

I'm looking at three different boards ATM: P5K Dlx, P35-DQ6, and the IP35 Pro. I'm quite hesitant about the P5K because of the reported SATA issues. Have you discovered any SATA problems in your testing?

I have 4 SATA drives, though none are RAIDed.