Official ASUS X38 Boards: P5E, P5E3 - Info/BIOS Thread

[Jaminus]

which CPU air coolers fit the P5E and which don't fit without modification? Anyone have a recommendation for a good CPU cooler that's easy to install and fits well?

is 502 the only 45nm-compatible BIOS?

what's the deal with the vDIMM issue? Still present in 502? How to calc real vDIMM in 502? Asusite?

how is quality control for this board?

any common glitches with Vista?

should I wait for X48 if I will be running single-GPU, and DDR2?

for sub-500FSB, will stock NB/PWM cooling be fine?

[mrcape]

I've read that there may be a hardware revision in the P5E is that true and what is the latest? I've got one arriving tomorrow and want to do the research now. Any suggestions on a bios to get me started? I'll be using Gskill HZ, e6600 (until e8500 shows up).

And thanks for keeping the thread up.

[doakh]

I've read that there may be a hardware revision in the P5E is that true and what is the latest? I've got one arriving tomorrow and want to do the research now. Any suggestions on a bios to get me started? I'll be using Gskill HZ, e6600 (until e8500 shows up).

And thanks for keeping the thread up.

My board came with bios 203. I flashed to 502 because I had read about problems. I originally had trouble getting Memtest to pass, but after reading numerous threads on the Asus P5E Forum I solved my dilemma. This board's memory controller seems to overvolt memory.

On my old P5B Deluxe I could run at 1077Mhz (5-5-5-15) at 2.0v, so I was puzzled when this did not seem to work on this board. I am currently running 2x1Gb at 1037Mhz (3:4 at 5-5-5-15) with 1.86v, but according to AiSuite it is actually 1.95v. Memtest just passed overnight with NO errors.

A lot of people are having trouble running 4x1GB 1066 ram, especially Crucial Ballistix's, but they are just overclocked 800 ram anyway. You cannot beat G.Skill! I have not tried 4x1GB as I do not need it at this time. That is for another day. I have 2x1Gb in reserve.

This bios has some additional features which I am trying to understand before I mess things up. In fact the manual seem to be for the Maximus Formula and has not been edited for the P5E.

[malik22]

Hi guys

I have 4gb of corsair ddr xms2 800mhz When I got my board It had the 402 bios and two stick keept on giving me errors so I updated to 502 same problem so I was about to rma two of the sticks when I found someone on another forum with the same ram and same problem he suggested to use the 107 bios.So I had to downgrade to that bios and since then never got an error in memtest.Now my problem the 4 stick pass memtest a 2.1 vdimm without problem all night I can reboot as many times as I want no problems in game or anything.But when I shut my pc off for the night everytime I try to boot in the morning I get a blackscreen I have to take out one stick its boots perfectley then go into the bios set vdimm to 2.2 shutoff pc put the last stick back in then boot again.Wondering if theres a solution to this problem and the first problem I posted has to do with my corsair not liking the newer bios two stick are D9 v1.2
and two stick are v2.1 dont know what ic.The guy who had the same problem had 4 sticks of the same ic it just the newer bios cause errors in memtest with this ram.I just need to firgure out how to solve the boot problem would setting the vdimm to 2.2 for 24 hour usage be dangerous?

[mrcape]

My board came with bios 203. I flashed to 502 because I had read about problems. I originally had trouble getting Memtest to pass, but after reading numerous threads on the Asus P5E Forum I solved my dilemma. This board's memory controller seems to overvolt memory.

On my old P5B Deluxe I could run at 1077Mhz (5-5-5-15) at 2.0v, so I was puzzled when this did not seem to work on this board. I am currently running 2x1Gb at 1037Mhz (3:4 at 5-5-5-15) with 1.86v, but according to AiSuite it is actually 1.95v. Memtest just passed overnight with NO errors.

A lot of people are having trouble running 4x1GB 1066 ram, especially Crucial Ballistix's, but they are just overclocked 800 ram anyway. You cannot beat G.Skill! I have not tried 4x1GB as I do not need it at this time. That is for another day. I have 2x1Gb in reserve.

This bios has some additional features which I am trying to understand before I mess things up. In fact the manual seem to be for the Maximus Formula and has not been edited for the P5E.

Thanks for the heads up! It's that type of insight that will help me avoid extra frustration. I wonder if that overvolting is something they will fix in the future bios releases.

I agree Gskill rules, use it in all of my machines even three laptops, never one failure or problem.

[malik22]

Any help on my last question I have every timing at default 55515 is there something I need to change in the ram settings?

[MMaster23]

My board came with bios 203. I flashed to 502 because I had read about problems. I originally had trouble getting Memtest to pass, but after reading numerous threads on the Asus P5E Forum I solved my dilemma. This board's memory controller seems to overvolt memory.

On my old P5B Deluxe I could run at 1077Mhz (5-5-5-15) at 2.0v, so I was puzzled when this did not seem to work on this board. I am currently running 2x1Gb at 1037Mhz (3:4 at 5-5-5-15) with 1.86v, but according to AiSuite it is actually 1.95v. Memtest just passed overnight with NO errors.

A lot of people are having trouble running 4x1GB 1066 ram, especially Crucial Ballistix's, but they are just overclocked 800 ram anyway. You cannot beat G.Skill! I have not tried 4x1GB as I do not need it at this time. That is for another day. I have 2x1Gb in reserve.

This bios has some additional features which I am trying to understand before I mess things up. In fact the manual seem to be for the Maximus Formula and has not been edited for the P5E.

this could be reason why my ram was crapping out on 502 .. running smooth on 107 bios. will try again later on 502 (cus clocking on the 502 rocks) but with 2.1 ~ 2.2v for my 2.3~2.4v ram

[malik22]

Well one of my stick is dead so im going to rma a pair but whats up with corsair xms2 ddr 800 and the later bioses on this board i still have 2gb and i get errors in memtest with every bios except the 107 is asus gonna fix this issue.I know its a bios problem since i tested them in an other board and like the 107 bios no errors all night.

[necron66]

I got a p5e yesterday after my last 5 boards was all Gigabyte and the bios options are confusing for me. Can some1 link me to some templates for 502 bios please.

[karl_eller]

W00t! My P5E has FINALLY been shipped, 5 freaking days after I ordered it! So unless something goes wrong, it'll be here monday morning.

Is 107 still the best BIOS for this board? Or is there something out that performs better, especially with quads?

Also, has anyone tried to remove the stock cooling to see if it's epoxied down like on the Maximus boards?

Eller

[necron66]

Are there any programs for being able to read the vdimm on the p5e, nothing shows in Everest.

[doakh]

Are there any programs for being able to read the vdimm on the p5e, nothing shows in Everest.

AiSuite does, but thats all I use it for.

[Hootsmin]

P5E WS Pro on the testbench, shipped BIOS (0404) was useless, unable to save any settings in BIOS without it hanging on startup (D5 code on Port 80 diagnostic card). Stock automatic settings are not very good.

Setting DRAM static read control to: disabled allowed me to manage to save my BIOS settings, manually changing the usual ram timings 4-4-4-12 and setting the ram voltage to 1.8V brought enough stability to allow for BIOS flash.

System setup:
Q6600 G0
2 x 1GB PC6400 Crucial Ballistix
1 x ATI X1950XTX
1 x WD360 Raptor
1 x Pioneer DVD-RW
580W Tagan PSU

BIOS 0503 installed now, stability testing commenced. 7 hours of memtest86+ passed, but I will test for a full 12-24 before I'll be convinced that it's good. Setup crapped out on mersenne prime number crunch with rounding error so I'm now trying to figure out what settings will bring absolute stability at stock speeds.

ASUS support when emailed helpfully told me to remove the addon card (the PCI port 80 diagnostic card) as this was probably causing the problem.


I have asked them to provide example ram timings for safe operation and they provided a link to the qualified memory list PDF. Sigh.


I haven't had a board this e since I had a couple of DFI NForce 2 boards, but my P5 WDG2 WS Pro is nearly knackered, needs must... I fail to see how they can ship a board which doesn't work on auto settings out of the box with Micron DIMMS.

[necron66]

AiSuite does, but thats all I use it for.

It won't work for some reason. I run it and it closes straight down. Downloaded the latest version, same thing. When I googled it seems this happens for a lot of ppl, but no1 posts how to correct it.

Any ideals?

[doakh]

It won't work for some reason. I run it and it closes straight down. Downloaded the latest version, same thing. When I googled it seems this happens for a lot of ppl, but no1 posts how to correct it.

Any ideals?

None yet. This is a wide spread problem. On the 'ASUS P5E Forum' their are several threads on it. AiSuite runs sometimes for me and sometimes it does not. I think it is related to another program I have running that is connected to the internet; it is probably using the same protocol. When this other program is running AiSuite will not run and vice versa.

[JohnZS]

Aisuite never ran for me when I had my P5E3 (CPU is @ RMA so can't use it ATM).
I reported the issue to ASUS and got this reply.

Dear Valued Customer,

Currently we are collecting this issue, and we will release newer version to fix the problem, sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you for your feedback.


Sincerely and best regards,

Cooper
ASUS Customer Service Center (Shanghai , China)

John

[necron66]

Thanks guys.

[aiya_au]

i have the P5E board and just wondering do you guys get massive vdrop and vdroop like i do? if i set a vcore of 1.45 in the bios. in windows shows 1.416v idle and 1.384v load. pretty flawed board if you ask me...considering its the same board as the high end maximus formula. i feel bad for people that spend crazy amounts of money and have to put up with this problem.

also i'm using the latest 0502 bios and AIsuite doesn't work on it (therefore i can't see what my vdim is in windows). i'm trying to push my ram, so people with the older bios, can you please post vdimm set in the bios, and what it shows in windows.

so i know my max value i can set in the bios and not run my ram past 2.2v in windows. thanks

[Psycho_eddie]

Hi all, recently got a Asus P5E board and a Q6600 to QX6850 speeds using auto/stock volts..

But Vdroop seems quite large

1.35 set bios say, 1.320 Idle, 1.280 Load


Interested in mod to cure Vdroop but need comeplete A-Z as never done one before

[Cranox]

Vdrop can be modded with a simple pencilmod ( its somewhere explaind on the forum )

[STaRGaZeR]

Anyone running a Wolfdale or Yorkfied in this board with 0107 BIOS? Has 0107 the microcodes for them?

[askimo]

Question: I just want to confirm that the only way to flash an older bios is using AsusUpdate 61002

I'm asking because this version of the software does not work under Windows Vista and I will be forced to install XP to Downgrade the bios

[Psycho_eddie]

Just did Pencil Mod.. first ever mod i might add and it works!!

Set Idle Load

Before: 1.35 1.32V 1.280/1.272V


After: 1.35V 1.336V 1.344V



Thats Load volt of only 0.006V Vdoop from bios set well chuffed... but downside now my temps are higher!

So will reduce volts acordingly! say to 1.275V bios set?

[Amurtigress]

Hi folks,

I am facing a problem here with my P5E based system. I really hope someone can help me a bit, and believe me, I've got more than a decade of PC tuning experience. Needing help is a quite desperate thing for me. Thanks in advance.

Here comes. I have got a multiple OS installation here, Windows Server 2003 x64 which runs rocksteady and like a charm, and I am testing Vista x64 Ultimate. Vista x64 and Server 2008 x64 RC1 both lock up randomly when running a Second Life client sometime between after a few mintues and 5 hours. Usually within 20 minutes after launching the client. The PC seems to block and only to work again every few seconds. USB keyboard and mouse are not functional anymore and the HD LED would flash every few seconds. All I can do then is pushing the power button.

The system has passed a 6 hours Orthos 2004 test stable under Win2003 at 800 and 935 MHz memory clocks.

Here is my hardware configuration:

ASUS P5E, Rev. 1.02G, BIOS 0502
E6600 @ 3.5 GHz, 389x9, 1.45V core, Strap 333 - or -
E6600 @ 3.6 GHz, 400x9, 1.47V core, Strap 400
FSB term volt: 1.20V, NB Volt: 1.25V
4x1 GB Corsair XMS2 6400 CL5 RAM, 2.1V, either at 800 MHz or 935.
Creative Labs X-Fi Fatal1ty
Sparkle 8800GTS 320 MB @ 594 GPU/925 RAM, BIOS modded.

[aiya_au]

just so everyone knows, the only bios that supports the new 45nm cpus is the latest 0502. when i bought the board i had to put my bro's Q6600 cpu in and flash it before it would detect my cpu. i just had no video signal. but the board had no error beeps. so i thought it must have been the bios.

in regards to pencil modding the board to fix vdroop, i was just wondering whether this is a hardware fault or if a bios can fix this. if a bios can fix this, the wont it be dangerous for those that have already done the mod, since a bios update may make everything overvolt?

also does this only fix vdroop in the vcore or does it fix the vdimm as well. i'm still considering if i should do it.

thanks