1st look on asus P5K-VM: G33 matx board (56K warning!)

[reswob]

Can you use the P5K bios in the P5K-VM?

[damasko]

you wrote a wonderful post Miguel
looking for NCQ info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Command_Queuing
i found this:

For NCQ to be enabled, it must be supported and turned on in the SATA host bus adapter and in the hard drive itself. The appropriate driver must be loaded into the operating system to enable NCQ on the host bus adapter. Many newer chipsets support the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI), which should allow a generic driver supplied by the operating system to control them and enable NCQ. In fact, newer mainstream Linux kernels support AHCI natively.[5] Unfortunately, Windows XP requires the installation of a vendor-specific driver even if AHCI is present on the host bus adapter because Windows XP was released before Serial ATA was invented. Windows Vista corrects this situation by including a generic AHCI driver.

and last drivers for chipset by intel (downloaded from asus website) include ahci for all intel chips, also for ich9.
I've only to try switching from ide to ahci in bios settings asap

[__Miguel_]

and last drivers for chipset by intel (downloaded from asus website) include ahci for all intel chips, also for ich9.
I've only to try switching from ide to ahci in bios settings asap

First of all, thank you for the compliment. I'll have problems fitting through doors in the next couple of hours or so, but that's OK...

Now, for the AHCI on Windows XP... So far, I've had insane amounts of trouble trying making it to work on the secondary controller on my P5B Deluxe. On the southbridge there is no problem, but I go straight to RAID (same features and more mature, plus I can create arrays "on the fly" - sorta). The extra IDE/SATA controller is a pain, though... Drivers don't work, sometimes drives are not recognized, hot-plug and hot-swap don't work, etc., etc....

AFAIK, it is very difficult for AHCI to work correctly on XP, even with specific drivers. However, you can try. Do keep in mind, though, that you'll either need to do a clean Windows F6-install or jump through a lot of loops to get XP (installed on a SATA drive running on an IDE-mode controller) to run on a AHCI controller. The opposite is easy, since Windows recognizes the drives and controllers as standard IDE disks and installs the correct drivers, but IDE-to-AHCI mode is a MAJOR pain without a clean install.

Cheers.

Miguel

[damasko]

now I'm trying to use wake on lan, but in bios there is no item named clear as "wake on lan".
I see only:
wake on external modem
wake by pci event
wake by pcix event
which one is correct?
or this mobo doesn't support wake on lan?

the next step will be to get working wol in my usr 9105 router...
for sending packet through internet I found:
http://2noci.3dana.com/wol/wake.php
but I don't know if it works.

[__Miguel_]

now I'm trying to use wake on lan, but in bios there is no item named clear as "wake on lan".
I see only:
wake on external modem
wake by pci event
wake by pcix event
which one is correct?
or this mobo doesn't support wake on lan?

the next step will be to get working wol in my usr 9105 router...
for sending packet through internet I found:
http://2noci.3dana.com/wol/wake.php
but I don't know if it works.

Ok, I happen to know something about WOL too, so hopefully I can help you there.

WOL has both hardware and software requirements. Nowadays, every NIC and motherboard support WOL, so that's not a problem.

As for the software part, that's more difficult, but the good thing is it's only a lenghty process, not an impossible one :

So, in the BIOS you only need to set the "wake by (bus) event" on, (bus) being the bus where your NIC sits. For PCI NICs, you set the PCI bus; for PCI-E NICs, the PCI-E bus. You can check that from your board manual (though I think on the P5K-VM the NIC is PCI-E based), or simply enable events on both buses and be done with it.

Then, the hard part. BIOS support isn't enough for WOL to work. You also need driver support and configuration. You'll have to dig through the Windows LAN configuration and driver pages to disable the "Allow the computer to deactivate this device to save energy" option AND enable the WOL capabilities of the NIC.

When enabling the WOL capabilities of the NIC, you have to be very carefull what option you choose: Magic Packet only is usually the best option to choose, else you'll effectivelly won't be able to shut down, hibernate or suspend your PC, because ANY packet recieved on the NIC will cause the PC to turn on. And believe me (learned that the worse way possible...), you don't want to have your PC turning on in the middle of the night just because any device on the network sent a multicast packet (which are rather common, by the way...)

With that out of the way, you just need to know your NIC's MAC address (run "ipconfig /all" on a command prompt), and configure the router to route the port you use for WOL (usually 6, though that can vary, or be changed with no problem, since WOL packets are multicast bursts anyway) for the non-routable IP adress your NIC uses (that's a router limitation, usually, since they don't allow Net-to-LAN multicasts, which means in fact the multicast will be recieved as a unicast on the PC you want to wake up alone - or it should, if my lessons on TCP/IP are correct... )

Hope this helps. If you need anything, PM me.

Cheers.

Miguel



P.S.: I neve actually used WOL over the Internet, only over the LAN (and it ROCKS!). But I have some degree of expertise with (home) routers (including W2K3 RRAS) and port forwarding, so I think I'm not that far off on that part.

[damasko]

thanks Miguel!
bios settings all enabled.
in driver I disabled "Allow the computer to deactivate this device to save energy" option and enabled the WOL capabilities of the NIC.
about my router, I NATted udp ports from 6 to 9.
unfortunately it doesn't have a dedicated menu for wol, but in arp table ip is correctly associated to nic mac address.
asap I'll retry to wake my pc and tell you if works

[TRF-Inferno]

Has anybody tried the new BIOS 602?

[damasko]

no, because it only brings support to new cpus and no other improvements

[robbysca76]

Hi ...

I have this new little creature:

Asus P5K-VM
Intel e4500
2x1Gb Team Group Extreme Pc6400 Micron DGMH
8800GT512Mb

Iìd like to overclock the cpu but I don't Know which PLL could be right for this mobo using ClockGen or SetFSB.

Tnx

[Big.Wayne]

bump!

Is this still a good uATX motherboard choice for a dual-core or is there something better?

[__Miguel_]

You won't go wrong if you choose this one.

However, you might also want to check the competitors: the Asus P5E-VM HDMI and the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R. The P5E-VM is the current "top-dog", AFAIK.

Cheers.

Miguel

[Big.Wayne]

check the competitors: the Asus P5E-VM HDMI and the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R

Hi Miguel, thanks for the reply, I did see a little about the P5E-VM HDMI but I didn't hear about the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R?

The thing that puts me off the P5E-VM HDMI is it looks like it will run hot and use more power? At least thats what the full blown X38 chipsets are like, the heatsink on the northbridge looks like a monster!

HDMI onboard is a really nice thing, pity ASUS didn't do anything like that with the G33 chipset. . . . I wonder does any G33 based uATX chipset offer DVI or HDMI out?

The P5K-VM is selling for about £60 here in the UK which is a nice price for an all-singing-all-dancing uATX mobo, the P5E-VM HDMI sells at about £90-£100!!

I am thinking maybe stick with the G33 and add in a low powered *passive* graphics card to take care of the outputs and help with full HD viewing?

[__Miguel_]

Hi Miguel, thanks for the reply, I did see a little about the P5E-VM HDMI but I didn't hear about the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R?

You're welcome, I'm glad to help.

There are HUGE threads about each of those boards here on XS, and also on [H], and they are usually on the top of the list of the most recently replied to threads (well, for the DS2R, more on [H] than here), a quick search will get you there.

The thing that puts me off the P5E-VM HDMI is it looks like it will run hot and use more power? At least thats what the full blown X38 chipsets are like, the heatsink on the northbridge looks like a monster!

Yes, the P5E-VM HDMI does in fact consume a little more power than G33-based motherboards, but that's because of the X3500 IGP, which is more power-hungry (but more performant, too). Do keep in mind, though, that the the P5E-VM does not use the X38 chipset (I wish), but rather the G35, a P35 derivative, so don't be scared by that big NB cooler.

HDMI onboard is a really nice thing, pity ASUS didn't do anything like that with the G33 chipset. . . . I wonder does any G33 based uATX chipset offer DVI or HDMI out?

Yes, there are. Gigabyte has three G33-based mATX motherboards, and I think the GA-G33M-S2L has HDMI out. There is, however, an ADD2 expansion card (at least for Gigabyte boards, but it should be able to work with other brands) which adds HDMI output.

The P5K-VM is selling for about £60 here in the UK which is a nice price for an all-singing-all-dancing uATX mobo, the P5E-VM HDMI sells at about £90-£100!!

Yep, the P5E-VM HDMI is very expensive. But it's the most recent top-notch mATX motherboard, and also very performant, so it's more expensive than it should be (though it has dropped in price around €30 already). If your budget is not that high, the GA-G33M-DS2R should be available for about the same price of the P5K-VM. Here in Portugal they are even cheaper (though less than €5).

I am thinking maybe stick with the G33 and add in a low powered *passive* graphics card to take care of the outputs and help with full HD viewing?

Well, unless you're using a very low-spec dual core CPU and 25Mbps+ HD playback, you can just stick to the G33 or G35 IGPs, since both of them have some HD offloading capabilities, and most dual cores should be able to handle all but the most intense HD processing stuff.

However, if you really want a dedicated GPU to handle HD video decoding, please do check a review on Tom's Hardware (or Anandtech, I can't remember correctly) a few months back (here), which tested HD decoding with 8400, 8600, HD2400 and HD2600 cards.

I'll save you some reading: if drivers haven't evolved since then, every one of the cards will be able to assist on HD decoding, although the 8400GS and 2400Pro might have issues; ATI cards seem to be able to offload more of the decoding than NVIDIA ones; and at time of writing, only the HD2600XT had full support for HQV video processing on XP and Vista, the 8600GTS only partially working in Vista, and the slower cards not post-processing AT ALL (insuficient GPU power, I guess).

Cheers.

Miguel

[The Nemesis]

Though the Asus P5E-VM HDMI is said to clock 45nm Quads much better, anyone owning this board may wish to know 425FSB has proven stable with q9450. I was unable to get 450FSB stable so I dropped to 425FSB. Onboard video was enabled during the 425FSB run. I tried using a external videocard for 450FSB no luck. 450 will post, get into windows and run 3DMark06 but not prime or OCCT. I think the northbridge or vtt are @1.2v according to everest and occt sensors. Since neither is adjustable on this board I suspect we won't be seeing any stable high FSB with this board. Mine fails to post after 455FSB.

[MacClipper]

For those who are wondering about Win 7 -new clean Win 7RC install on a P5K-VM rig.



Everything went smoothly but the subsequent online update failed to auto-install the Asus ATK0110 device driver leaving it as an unknown device - solved by manually installing the driver from the bundled mobo DVD.

HTH.