Asus P5B (vanilla) Overview

[ziddey]

I don't mean to spam or anything, but this is simply too huge of news and I figured I'd try to spread the word as fast as possible. I noticed something interesting yesterday. When I had misc. voltages bumped up beyond stock (vmch at 1.6v for example), I noticed that even without a fan connected to the cpu header, I'd get an rpm reading of 42. I figured this must have meant there's a lot of electrical noise in the motherboard. Also, I noticed I wasn't able to pass beyond 460fsb stably, and at 460fsb, I could use all stock voltages.

So that got me to thinking about what spread spectrum did. I've always been told to turn it off and always have. But after thinking about it, I decided to turn it on and try fsb500 with all voltages at stock. Holy mother ing . It posted. I reset it several times (at 460fsb, it'd randomly not post when I had spread spectrum disabled) and it came one each and every time. I'm running memtest #5 and it's passed 4 iterations already. This is simply unbelievable.

My p5b (vanilla mind you) which has never seen beyond 460fsb despite misc. voltage bumps is now sailing at 500fsb with stock voltages across the board.

[Xvys]

Welcome to the 500 Club ziddey! Amazing that Spread Spectrum did the trick. I thought that was for some European magnetic disturbance, or something.

Just curious, when you say 500FSB at stock voltages, is that "Auto" or standard? i.e. 1.28 vCore, 1.8 vDimm...

[ziddey]

Well, I set them all to the lowest values. 1.20vfsb, 1.25vmch, 1.5vsb, 1.057vich, etc.

However, although that let me run memtest86, windows wasn't stable.

I bumped to 1.30vfsb, 1.40vmch (actual 1.50v), but it still wasn't stable. I then added 1.6vsb and 1.215vich and so far so good.

I've got my vdimm pencil modded so that stock 1.8v gives me 2.18v.

[RickyG512]

wat is spread spectrum anyway, if it helped u got 500 den y do people say turn it off, will it help me get 425fsb with my abit board if i turn that off too ?

[ziddey]

only way to know is to fiddle with it.

spread spectrum lets the frequency wander a little in return for reducing emi. I figured I'd turn it on since I was noticing rpm signal when I had no fan attached. Sure enough it worked. I'm not sure why it's been said to turn it off all this time. I have read reports of it hindering o/cs, but in this case, it sure as hell gave me 40+ fsb. I tried 6x520 and got it to post too

[ryandinan]

Ziddey,

What speed RAM do you have? I have Corsair XMS2 DDR800 (that I keep at 800Mhz when I o/c to 400Mhz FSB). How do you run at 500MHz+?
Thanks!

-Ryan

[ziddey]

I have ocz8800. It uses d9gmh chips. It's specced at 1100mhz 5-6-6-15 2.2-2.4v, but it's not all too impressive. Eitherway, for the time being, it looks to be working well, although at weak timings.

At 400fsb, you can run 500 ram with 4:5 divider. I'm at 500fsb so I'm 1:1

[sxs112]

NAME: ASUS P5B v1202 Bios
WEB :ASUS
Download :ASUS P5B v1202 Bios
Support OS:All Windows
Power BIOS
Freeware / Shareware

[ 1202 ]
----------------------
1. Fix system may sometimes hang after load default in setup then exiting right away while having Conroe CPU installed.
2. Add new uCode to support new CPU.

[The Coolest]

Anyword on overclocking ability or new OC features/options?

[ziddey]

nice, I'll give it a shot.

hmm add new ucode. wonder if that's just for proper string detection or if it means 1333mod for 1066native will work now

edit: flashed on. seems more or less the same. don't see much differences so far

[RickyG512]

any new voltage options

[ziddey]

nah, looks to be similar. I flashed from the bios so I wouldn't lose some data. I was at 8x400. I rebooted and it didn't post so I figured it was going to yell failed overclock at me. I remember it happening with an earlier bios flash. So I flipped the psu off and waited for discharge (nonvaginal) and gave it a go again.

Boots up at stock freq, claiming overclock failed. I go directly from 266fsb to 467x7 and reboot. It rebooted without first false booting, and worked! Never happened before. Usually, if it didn't false boot first, it would get stuck and not post, and I'd have to hold power. On next boot, it'd post at 467 no problem. I haven't tested further to see if symptoms are any better yet since I had things to do.

Voltages were the same in the bios, although I had 1.04g to begin with and had all the extra voltages.

If you use amibcp, you'll see exactly what the voltages are. Not all function like they're supposed to though, just to warn you.

I've noticed that when you view the bios you download, the options are all shown to be "shown" even when they're not. Maybe someone who knows a little more about amibcp/mmtool could figure out how to unlock them.

Just a little tidbit. From looking around in the bios, there are some things seen in there that are only available in the commando, namely doing with ddr driving strength iirc. PErhaps if ami modding is possible, and someone shows enough interest, it'd be possible to rig up something good.

[Xvys]

I don't notice anything different about the bios. No new voltage options or any other changes.

I tried to o/c, and the mb went up to the same 525FSB = 3,675MHz (E6300). Then crapped out at 530FSB and Windows would not fully load. I did notice on the reboot after a failed o/c, it rebooted by itself and did not require the usual power supply shutoff to reboot. Perhaps this is a new feature of the 1202 bios?

[mr_mordred2095]

Well, I set them all to the lowest values. 1.20vfsb, 1.25vmch, 1.5vsb, 1.057vich, etc.

However, although that let me run memtest86, windows wasn't stable.

I bumped to 1.30vfsb, 1.40vmch (actual 1.50v), but it still wasn't stable. I then added 1.6vsb and 1.215vich and so far so good.

I've got my vdimm pencil modded so that stock 1.8v gives me 2.18v.

Can you please share your pencil Vdimm mod? I've been searching far and wide for this.

[ziddey]

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/show...9&postcount=19


for some reason I can't remember where I last posted the picture so I'm attaching it here

[Asky]

Flashed to the 1202 BIOS.
As already mentioned no OC improvements.

[ryandinan]

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/show...9&postcount=19


for some reason I can't remember where I last posted the picture so I'm attaching it here

Ziddey -

So I apologize for the noobish question - I've never done pencil modding before, so I have no idea what to do, or what it actually accomplishes. I assume that by "shading" the resistor with a conductive material (pencil lead), you're lowering the resistance, and increasing the amount of voltage that can pass through it?

If that part is correct, then what exactly is the procedure to add the shading? Do you simply start drawing on top of the resistor, coating it in lead?
Thanks!

-Ryan

[ziddey]

voltage is static; it's current that can increase. yes, you just take a pencil and shade all on top of it. you can reference http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...readid=1847758 for more info on pencil shading. Do take before and after readings with dmm. Also be sure to blow area (canned air preferably) to remove excess powder from the area.

[ryandinan]

Ziddey, since you seem so knowledgeable on this stuff - I have one more question, if you don't mind.
Is there a way to monitor the temps of the Northbridge chipset? When overclocked, I can't even keep my finger on the heatsink longer than a couple of seconds.
So, I added an active cooling solution (I strapped on a nice fan to the stock heatsink), and it seems to be running much cooler (I can keep my finger on the side of the heatsink, and it's just "warm" to the touch). However, I would like to know the temps it is running, that way I can decide if I need something a little more serious.

Currently, Im running AsusProbe 2 with Vista 64. The only other monitoring software I've tried have been Everest and MBM5. Everest caused problems, as it kept reporting the CPU running at 232F (which it wasnt), and when I would reboot, the computer would refuse to start, claiming a CPU temp overage - I would have to kill power to the motherboard for a few seconds to clear the issue, and once windows rebooted, it was reporting normally again at 105F. Probe2 never has this issue.

MBM5 doesn't seem to have this particular motherboard listed in it's menu, so I can't even get that one to work.

Any other ideas for a software that will work with Vista 64 and monitor the NB temp?

Thanks!

-Ryan

[RickyG512]

i got to core 2 boards i cant remember now but i remeber one of them had a temp monitor that said something like PWM which i assumed was the chipest

i think the zalman is the cheapest and best and lightest chipset cooler availible

http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/...x=200&code=014

i have 2 allready its like £5/$10

[ziddey]

AFAIK, the p965 doesn't have an onchip sensor, so the best way to get a rough idea of what it's running at is to put a thermistor on the heatsink.

[Eldonko]

AFAIK, the p965 doesn't have an onchip sensor, so the best way to get a rough idea of what it's running at is to put a thermistor on the heatsink.

I dont think it does either, has to be measured with temp probe. With active cooling it should be fine as long as you dont go volt crazy.

[ryandinan]

What is you exact kind of memory? Damn, now I wish I had gotten faster memory than 800MHz... I haven't tried overclocking it since I'm running 4GB of the stuff, using all slots. I figured that the NB chip would hate me if I tried anything more...

-Ryan

[comrad]

I am stuck at an FSB wall at 400 fsb... I tried everything and it still won't go over. Anyone else have an fsb wall at 400?

[RickyG512]

i should go past 400

try FSB termination voltage, worked for me to get above 350 FSB i think, was a long time ago

also check ur ram speed is not to high and ur ram voltage is not to low and ur ram timigs are not to tight