*** Official ASUS P5B / P5B Deluxe Thread ***

[jshupp872]

I am not 100% sure, but I am guessing you have to have the drive plugged in before power on / boot. Then enter the bios. Once there, there will be a setting for USB connected devices (I forget where, because I am at work). From there you can change some setting that might help it boot, at the very least tell the bios that you want it to boot from the USB device first.

I know this is available in the most recent Bios, but not sure about the 0506.

 

[WobbleWobble]

For those who encountered the ucode error, was it safe for you to flash it with a Conroe installed or did you need to find an older P4 to flash first?

 

[Bob151]

I have a problem with installing XP. I'm not sure if its related to everyone else's problems installing on SATA drives and AHCI. I have nothing SATA in here.

System is;

P5B Deluxe Bios 910
E4300
Scythe Ninja
2x1 GB Patriot Extreme Performance
EVGA 7900GS
Some Maxtor 120GB IDE Master (Mfg 2003)
ND-1300A IDE Slave
Monitor is an old LCD, NEC 1530V, VGA cable connection with DVI Adapter.

I've reset BIOS to defaults, in case some configuration setting came from factory.

I've booted to 2 different Windows XP SP2 CDs, same problem. The setup program begins with that message about inspecting my system, this is the non-GUI text at the very top line of the screen, no graphics at this point. Pressing F6 at this point does nothing but result in a black screen. Not pressing F6, results in the same thing, black screen, nothing else. The CD eventually spins down. CTL-ALT-DEL works at this point.

Getting to Asus' site results in the normal evening results, timeouts. I haven't been able to look through their FAQs of even DL a new BIOS. My current BIOS version supports my processor, I was able to finally get that screen to display.

I've just DL'ed memtest86 earlier this evening and ran that for two test cycles, no errors. I went into the BIOS after to check the temps, CPU at 31c, chipset at 33c.

I've changed the drive controller from IDE to AHCI, that didn't resolve anything.

This is my first dual-core, LGA775, PCIx system, maybe I'm missing something particular to this type of system.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I can get farther in an install of Windows 2K, but I don't want W2K. At least this doesn't result in the black screen.

Can someone help, I am eager to get this going.

 

[Bob151]

I put my CDROM in the a 5.25" USB enclosure. Configured the system to boot to it. The CD did, but the same results.

BTW, I never have gotten the blue screen that tells you to press F6 for scsi drivers (or whatever its exact text is).

Anyone?

 

[Ranulf]

Quick question as I'm finally putting together my system. For dual channel ram, I need to put the ram sticks in the same color slots correct? (A1,B1 or A2,B2) The manual is rather vague.

I'm using two 1gb Crucial sticks. TIA

 

[LiQiCE]

Question for you guys,

Recently got an upgrade for my computer:

-Intel E6600
-ASUS P5B Deluxe (upgraded to the latest BIOS)
-Super Talent 2GB DDR2 800Mhz 4-4-3-8 (2x1GB)
-Hyper Type R 580W PSU
-Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH (Nvidia GeForce 7600GT)

The first P5B Deluxe I had was v1.01G and as I was slowly overclocking it to test it, I got up to 3.2Ghz (400Mhz x 9.0) and the motherboard crapped out - smelled burning plastic, and when I turned it back on it would power on for a second, then turn back off, turn back on and then sit there but I didn't see any video or get any beep codes.

So I RMA'ed it to newegg and got a second board, this time it was v1.03G. Same damn problem happened! Except this time no smell of burning plastic and I can't find anything physically wrong with the board.

I'm not 100% sure that this board is bad, so rather than do another RMA, I was hoping maybe someone had an idea of what might be wrong? I unplugged everything from the system, right now I just have 1 stick of RAM in the system - tried multiple memory slots, CPU, and the video card plugged in. Tried resetting the BIOS of course, pulled the battery, switched the jumper..

I tried unplugging everything but the power and just powering on the motherboard - I heard that resets it to the factory defaults? After I did this though the system doesn't do the power up once, turn off and power back on. It just powers up and never POSTS, no beep codes, nothin ...

Anyone have any ideas other than trying to RMA and get another board (I think if I go for another board it won't be an ASUS one this time around though!).

 

[Bob151]

1.03? I just bought a P5B Deluxe and the HW rev is 1.10g. Was your's some white-box OEM or in a retail box?

 

[LiQiCE]

No it is a full retail box, its just an older rev. Actually now that I think about it I might have originally had v1.10G not v1.01G the first time through ... I just got an older HW rev from newegg this time.

Searching online it seems like there are quite a few different HW revisions for the P5B Deluxe, I've seen people mention a 1.01G, 1.02G, 1.03G, 1.04G and 1.10G.

 

[Bob151]

I think the 1.02g and 1.03g were P5B-E boards. I'm sure others here know better, if they would chime in.

If I was downgraded by newegg, I'd be concerned. It might not apply to the P5B Deluse, but my K8N-E Deluxe comes in at least 2 HW rev versions, and the one I got is extremely limited in regards to OC ability. Maybe the elders would be able to offer insight with your HW rev.

 

[LiQiCE]

Well my main concern isn't really HW rev, but its why both boards crapped out soon after I tried OC'ing to 400 x 8.0 (3.2Ghz) -- the temps were fine on the CPU / mobo, it just powered off maybe 2-3 minutes after booting into Windows and then wouldn't power back on at all. Both revisions did this -- The first board I RMA'ed and this is the 2nd board I got. I'm hoping someone has figured out a way to fix this -- See my original post to see what I've already unsuccessfully tried.

 

[Bob151]

Yea, you've got a problem. I bought this board because it is supposed to be among the best at OC'ing, and your 400 seems quite normal compared to all the other reports of OC results.

Well, at least yours worked for a while. XP CDs wont even get to the point of allowing me to press F6 to install the controller drivers before I get a black screen.

Maybe your PSU is outputting highly variable voltages, but that's just my toss in the dark. Got a spare?

I don't think many P5B owners check this thread much anymore. Many questions, much fewer responses.

 

[dustycpu]

I think people are missing something big when oc'ing with the P5B Deluxe board. At my first attempt, I left everything on auto and only adjusted the cpu voltage to 1.4v. I was oc'ing to 9X400. I noticed a bad smell coming from my Antec 550W TrueII power supply. I then touched the NB and SB and they were very hot. I quickly shut down the system and took all the voltage settings from auto to the minimum voltage for my NB, SB, FSB and so forth. The only 2 voltages I increased was the memory to 2.05v and the cpu to 1.4. The board has been running fine since then and no more bad smell from my power supply. I believe when you are overclocking that high, the auto settings really take the voltages to the max.

Also, do yourself a favor and do not use the on-board sound! Even with the latest drivers! I just installed my old original Audigy without the soundmax drivers and windows seems to run faster, computer is just more responsive. It just feels like the system is under a lighter load without using the onboard sound. Only thing I miss is the DTS encoding, although my Augidy sounds alot more clearer for music and games.

 

[LiQiCE]

I agree, I didn't realize "Auto" meant that it would increase the voltage to make the board more stable ... I assumed (which of course is bad) that it would keep all the voltages at their stock setting when set to auto.

For my 3rd P5B Deluxe board, I am setting all the voltages to the minimum and I've found it seems to be happier with overclocks.

All of my previous boards, 'auto' meant set it to the default value (ie. for a CPU, leave the vcore at the default value of 1.32 or whatever it should be.

 

[yh125d]

I just got my P5B yesterday. Open box from Newegg, so I didn't expect anything but the mobo. It came with EVERYTHING! standoffs, screws, HDD/Floppy/SATA cables, usb bracket, everything. Except the cpu socket guard thing. I got my mem on Friday, so Now I just gotta wait for the price drops so I can order my e4300. XD Who's happy? <================== This guy!

 

[eternitykh]

@ yh125d

i just got my P5B-e open box from newegg, i was actually expecting everything as i have ordered open box from them and usually get everything. but instead, i got just the board, that's it. =(

got a rev1.01g with bios 1002

ram works great with it, wintec ampx 2x1gb 6400
booted on first try, then set it to 2.0v running 4-4-4-4-14 @ 875+

 

[yh125d]

I got a 1.04g, dunno what bios

 

[latintrpt]

hey guys i'm having problems with my board. I have the p5b deluxe and sometimes when i reboot the machine it just hangs at the splash screen. It doesn't do it all the time. I have the latest bios update 1004 but i forgot to manually remove the cmos battery before doing this. I'm not sure if i screwed something up. Please help. I bought this board from newegg and i'm thinking about RMAing it.
thanks

 

[Dizzymon]

Anyone try to image the HD using an IDE CD drive or successfully get a bootable USB 2.0 thumb drive to put ghost on it? Also anyone with a SATA DVD Rom drive get their bootCD to work because I'm thinking that's why I can't get the IDE DVD drive to bootup correctly so I can ghost it?

Thanks!

 

[tomt4535]

Originally posted by: Dizzymon
Anyone try to image the HD using an IDE CD drive or successfully get a bootable USB 2.0 thumb drive to put ghost on it? Also anyone with a SATA DVD Rom drive get their bootCD to work because I'm thinking that's why I can't get the IDE DVD drive to bootup correctly so I can ghost it?

Thanks!

I have a SATA DVD Rom here for the system im building now. Ill let you know if I have any problems

 

[jshupp872]

Originally posted by: Dizzymon
Anyone try to image the HD using an IDE CD drive or successfully get a bootable USB 2.0 thumb drive to put ghost on it? Also anyone with a SATA DVD Rom drive get their bootCD to work because I'm thinking that's why I can't get the IDE DVD drive to bootup correctly so I can ghost it?

Thanks!

I have been able to boot to USB drive using Acronis True Image boot media maker, as well as boot to CD for the image process. I would recommend the latest version of Acronis, it did everything I needed it to do, and it was only the trial version.

 

[Dizzymon]

So Norton ghost doesn't work? Is Acronis True Image better than Norton ghost? By the way thanks for the tip about Acronis True image. I got hiren's bootcd to work on it.

Originally posted by: jshupp872

Originally posted by: Dizzymon
Anyone try to image the HD using an IDE CD drive or successfully get a bootable USB 2.0 thumb drive to put ghost on it? Also anyone with a SATA DVD Rom drive get their bootCD to work because I'm thinking that's why I can't get the IDE DVD drive to bootup correctly so I can ghost it?

Thanks!

I have been able to boot to USB drive using Acronis True Image boot media maker, as well as boot to CD for the image process. I would recommend the latest version of Acronis, it did everything I needed it to do, and it was only the trial version.

 

[ScottieB]

HI all.

First, thanks to this forum, I was able to get my very first build up and running, with ICH8 RAID working, on my first try! Thanks so much for all the info shared here!

I'm now working on my first overclock and looking for some pointers on nailing it down to fully stable. I have a P5B deluxe (latest, 10.04 BIOS), with a C2D e6400 (r.L2), 2GB of Patriot eXtreme Performance DDR2-800 (4-4-4-12) RAM, a GeForece 8800GTS, and a Nzxt Apollo case with 3 120mm case fans- oh and a Tuniq Tower. Also onboard audio is diabled and I am using an x-Fi audio card, if that matters.

I'm really only looking to get to 3.2ghz (400x8) to run my RAM at rated stock speeds without an OC. With all of the reading and research I've done I'm still a noob and having trouble getting it Orthos stable at 3.2 ghz...

I slowly worked my way up, getting stable all the way up to 350x8, then decided to jump the 'FSB hole' as recommended by several guides and went right for 400. Everything posted and booted up fine, but at auto voltages temps were high, so I went back to start adjusting voltages manually (RAM voltages have been at manual 2.25 volts from the beginning (as per rated specs). Windows wouldn't boot until vCore was at 1.375 in BIOS (with other voltages except RAM at auto). But Orthos stopped after 3 seconds. After much tweaking of voltages, the best I can get is 30 minutes of Orthos before failure. Temps are OK, and I can use the computer for hours (even played some FEAR and some Oblivion) but Orthos doesn't make it past 30min. The settings are (in BIOS): vCore: 1.4375, FSB Term Voltage: 1.3, NB V: 1.45, SB V: 1.5.

I've read conflicting info about a few things, so I am asking for pointers... I've heard some say to set FSB and NB to MAX voltage for best stability. I've also heard that some get better results at the lowest settings. I also know that others have gotten faster speeds than mine at lower vCore, but I can't seem to... I have ALSO heard that some say to skip 400FSB, while others say that 400 is the start of the 'good' strap.

What to do next? Should I stay at FSB 400 and keep tweaking? I don't want to go much higher on the vCore - how high can I go (especially accounting for vDroop)? How about my other votalges? Should I try another FSB? Like 410 or 420? I've read good things about my RAM - that it can handle speeds up to around 900+ with good timings - so maybe this will help?

I obviously have some ideas, but have hit a point where I'm a little nervous about pushing things further without some guidance. I've read so many guides and tutorials, but the conflicting info has my head spinning - I feel like I'm so close, just need to do some tweaks to get fully stable.

Thanks for your time,
ScottieB

 

[Bob151]

ScottieB, good luck getting to 400. I've got what I think is the same memory, PDC22G6400LLK. P5B Deluxe and an e4300. Best I can get is 333 stable on Orthos up to 5 hours (I just haven't run it over night yet or when I'm out of the house). I've got the Scythe Ninja, its 120mm fan, a 120mm fan sucking from the HDs, and a 120mm fan blowing out. All in serial flowing the same direction.

It seems that many get better CPU clocks than I that make the effort and use good cooling. I think some have even gotten 400 out of their e4300s on stock coolers. .

When running Orthos, what temps are you getting. Core Temp tells me it fluctuates between 60 and 66. CPU overall is 54 (Speed Fan), gulp.

According to CPUz, my core voltage fluctuates as well, even though it is not auto in the 1004 BIOS. It seems to fluctuate based on load. Right now with Orthos, its 1.344 ? 1.352. I can't recall what I set it in the BIOS the last time. Does your core voltage fluctuate?

 

[ScottieB]

Hey Bob,

Well, after a late night of tinkering, and lots of reading over at extremesystems... here's what I've got (and I'm happy!)

I dropped my multiplier to 7x (from default of 8 - e6400), and upped the FSB to 430 (for 3.02Ghz). RAM all still at stock rated (1:1, 2.2v, 4-4-4-12), vcore at 1.35 in BIOS (reads as 1.3 under load in Windows). Ran orthos stable all night (about 7 hours). So far so good - temps good. I'm looking for a 24/7 'safe' OC, so I may stay here for a while.

Oh, other voltages were set at 1 bump up (till the numbers are pink).

My temps are in the low 50s at load, although my CPU temp is always about 10 degrees higher in Speedfan (not sure why, but all apps read the same temps for cores, so that's what I'm going with unless I hear that's a real bad idea)...

 

[Rafael]

I can run my E6400@3.2 Ghz with 1.285 in the vcore stable.
I set the FSB Termination with 1.4, and NB with 1.45. SB in Auto.
I use Thermalright Ultra 120, idle temp 43 C and load running Orthos 54 C. Room temp 29 C. It is Summer where I live.
You guys just get the STOP warning in Orthos, or your windows crash? When you say it is not stable.
Because I can get mine to run 24/7 @ 3.8 Ghz @ Windows and games, but it is not stable in Orthos. But I think it is related to NB voltages. Because I can run several hours with just cpu or memory tests. But when I set Orthos to Blend test it crashes after about 48 minutes.

But my advice is to take your time ScottieB and Bob, try many different settings, and find the best and stable clock and voltage setting.

Good luck!

Rafael