Asus P5B-E == Buggy crap?

ziphnor

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
Messages
65
Hi,

Im experiencing a host of problems with my Asus P5B-E and i would like to know if its just that mine is broken.
(I have updated to the newest BIOS)

1. When i set vCore to a certain value the actual value produced will be ~ -0.1V compared to what was expected(and no its not vdroop, its also while idle).
2. With the new BIOS if i set 'Standard' or 'Auto' in the jumper free configuration i boot up at 1.52V vcore(both BIOS and Speefan agree on this)! (With the old BIOS i booted up at ~1.25 because of 1). This is only fixed if i start the "AI Gear" program and adjust it back and forth, at which time it will set me up with 1.28V at full speed.
[UPDATE: Reloading defaults didnt help so i reflashed the BIOS, which brought me back, but now im again getting 1.13 - 1.28V at 2.4Ghz on 'Standard'! ]
3. When entering the 'hardware monitor' in the BIOS, the BIOS will sometimes get stuck. Other times it just takes a minute to enter the menu and yet other times it will go there after a few seconds.
4. It reads the RAM SPD incorrectly, my RAM is supposed to run 5-5-5-18@400Mhz(according to CPU-Z and its associated specs), but is set to run 5-6-6-18@400Mhz(and below).
5. Any attempt to set manual memory timings (no matter how relaxed) results in failure to boot.

Further there are some annoyances:
1. AI Gear doesnt work when overclocked and no other programs can adjust CPU voltage dynamically, so when overclocked you are forced to run at full vcore even when the PC is idle and at x6 multiplier.
2. The (sole) IDE connector is badly placed so that an extra long IDE cable is needed (at least in my tower case).
3. There are no screw holes near the edge of the board in vicinity of the IDE connector, so the board is in danger of breaking when you insert the IDE connector unless you support it from behind with a hand etc.

I would certainly appreciate some help, or at least information of what the hell is going on. Im considering just returning the mobo, but its such a hassle....
 
Are you overclocking, and what CPU/RAM are you using?

A 0.01V difference between the specified value and the actual one should not be a big deal. If it really is 0.1V, than something is wrong. If you're overclocking and the vcore is set on auto, the mobo will increase your voltage (at stupid levels at times).
 
The 0.1V difference is regardless of whether im overclocking or not. If i set the BIOS to 'standard' it will boot with a vcore of around 1.13 - 1.28 ( should be 1.325, right?).

If i manually specify a vcore there is also approx. a 0.1V difference no matter if i OC or not.

I found this in an old post about the P5B-E:
I just raised the voltage to 1.575 after reading about it some more on other forums. Seems they were right too. At 1.6v the actual voltage to the core is 1.5v and orthos testin it drops to 1.475. This is still garbage. I could get to 3.2ghz but after 8 minutes of orthos testing it got an error. I could get 3.2ghz at stock volts for 7 hours on the DS3 with the same exact hardware minus the motherboard.

Good job ASUS!
( http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1110645&highlight=Asus+P5B-E )

Im using A-DATA Vitesta DDR2-800 memory, 2x1GB modules, but otherwise the same as the one one reviewed here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AData/DDR2-800/1

As another indication that the BIOS is strange, i can succesfully use memset 3.0 to adjust my timings to 5-5-5-18.
 
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