P5Q-E "FSB strap" mystery

[nomagic]

Hello everyone:

I just got my P5Q-E mobo last week, and I found something strange about it. My computer will only boot when "FSB strap" is set to "AUTO" in BIOS. With "FSB strap" set to any other value, the computer will simply refuse to boot.

I've tried different settings (voltage, frequency, ...) in BIOS and updated BIOS to version 1101. I even tried underclocking my computer. Nothing I did could solve my mystery.

Please help me...

 

[Nickel020]

The strap is kind of like internal chipset timings. Since your running your CPu at 400FSB that#s probably the only Strap it will boot at, the timings for the lower straps are too tight. ther performance difference isn't very big though between straps, not really worth it unless you're serious about benchmarking.

 

[GundamF91]

Supposedly the ASUS board uses 333 strap until you hit 401mhz FSB. That'll give you better timing. I can set mine at 333 or 400 strap when booting from 400mhz. It's worked out fine. I"m settled at 333 strap to keep it faster timing.

 

[aiya24]

thats funny cause i'm using strap 333 and have my fsb set at 401 and works fine but if i change my strap to 400 it fails to post.

 

[nomagic]

I can't use either strap 333 or 444 booting from 400mhz, but I can use auto.

Isn't that strange?

 

[Nickel020]

That kind of behaviour is not that uncommon with new boards, there's always a lot of trial and error involved in overclocking...

 

[nomagic]

Thank you for all the inputs.

My problem is still unresolved. My OC is stress-tested stable with FSB strap set to AUTO. However, when I change FSB strap to anything non-AUTO, the computer refuses to post. There are five options for FSB strap: 200, 266, 333, 400 and AUTO. Doesn't the AUTO option make the motherboard choose among the other four strap options? If my OC can post with AUTO, in theory, it should be able to post with at least one of the other 4 strap options.

Is this more likely a hardware issue or a BIOS issue? I suspect it is a BIOS issue, but I've never experienced anything like this. Maybe someone more knowledgeable knows better and can help me out.

Is this an issue that can be fixed with future BIOS update?

Thank you!

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: nomagic
Thank you for all the inputs.

My problem is still unresolved. My OC is stress-tested stable with FSB strap set to AUTO. However, when I change FSB strap to anything non-AUTO, the computer refuses to post. There are five options for FSB strap: 200, 266, 333, 400 and AUTO. Doesn't the AUTO option make the motherboard choose among the other four strap options? If my OC can post with AUTO, in theory, it should be able to post with at least one of the other 4 strap options.

Is this more likely a hardware issue or a BIOS issue? I suspect it is a BIOS issue, but I've never experienced anything like this. Maybe someone more knowledgeable knows better and can help me out.

Is this an issue that can be fixed with future BIOS update?

Thank you!

If it posts and is stable on AUTO, what is the real problem here?

 

[nomagic]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: nomagic
Thank you for all the inputs.

My problem is still unresolved. My OC is stress-tested stable with FSB strap set to AUTO. However, when I change FSB strap to anything non-AUTO, the computer refuses to post. There are five options for FSB strap: 200, 266, 333, 400 and AUTO. Doesn't the AUTO option make the motherboard choose among the other four strap options? If my OC can post with AUTO, in theory, it should be able to post with at least one of the other 4 strap options.

Is this more likely a hardware issue or a BIOS issue? I suspect it is a BIOS issue, but I've never experienced anything like this. Maybe someone more knowledgeable knows better and can help me out.

Is this an issue that can be fixed with future BIOS update?

Thank you!

If it posts and is stable on AUTO, what is the real problem here?

Besides being a total control freak, lower strap value improves performance very slightly.

 

[obeseotron]

Hmm, I have a p5q-e and I can't get it to post at 400fsb strap at all, auto and 333 work fine. In fact setting the strap to 400 means I have to reset the CMOS jumper (as opposed to power cycling a couple times which usually causes the board to detect an overzealous overclock and boot with failsafe settings). I'm having a lot of trouble breaking 365fsb on the board with my q6600's, even when dropping the multiplier so I thought changing the strap would loosen the chipset timings and make it easier. Apparently not.

 

[chizow]

What BIOS version are you guys using? I'm running FSB/strap at 1:1 on my Q6600 without any issues.

 

[Team42]

Perhaps a stupid question: why are you running your E4500 at an 8x multi? Don't those chips run with 10x or 11x multis? Try lowering you fsb to 333 with max multi and see what happens.