ASUS P5Q Pro - I cant understand the bios :P

[richieuk]

Typical...

I build my rig, and everything is found fine by the computer, the memory latencies are correct and the machine is more stable than the desk it sits on. SO I have no real reason to fiddle with it since its built.

Now I'm getting curious as to what sort of overclocking it can achieve... however, I'm absolutley clueless as to which options are which, how I can set the voltage manually to one constant value, fix the multipler and how to change the FSB manually.

If anyone can help me with 'screenshots' that would be MASSIVELY helpful

Regards/ Richie

[Hottentot]

Hello Richie

Have you read clunks guide - http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...beginners.html

its very good.

You do need to understand the BIOS options so a good read of the manual will help and also for a quad core you will need good cooling ?

When I get home I can look at the settings I used on my P5Q although for a modest overclock just changing the FSB is all you need to do.

H

[Emirzan]

Right, first off I'm assuming you've read clunks excellent guide. If not do it now. Make sure you are familiar with the terms he explains. I've got some pictures specific to the P5Q-Pro board that will hopefully be of use.



Here is a screen shot of the front page of the bios for my P5Q Pro system. Just a general overview of the system, tells me what hard disks I have plugged into the SATA ports. Most of the useful stuff for overclocking is found on the next tab, scroll to the top level tabs with the arrow keys and then press right once to reach 'AI Tweaker'. You'll see a page similar to this:



The values on this page will read 'Auto' by default, you need to change this to allow your own values. First off change 'Ai Overclock Tuner' to Manual. Do this by selecting it with the arrow keys and then pressing enter.



This will bring up the box shown in the above picture, select Manual to allow you to change values yourself. Firstly let's look at front side bus frequency (FSB).



As the above picture shows I have my CPU (E7200) currently running at 300 MHz FSB. This multiplied by the 'CPU Ratio Setting' (the value directly above in this BIOS, more commonly called the multiplier) will give your overall CPU frequency. So IIRC, a default Q6600 runs with an FSB of 240MHz and a multiplier of 10.0.

Therefore: 10.0 * 240 = 2.4 GHz

As you'll have read in Clunk's guide, increasing either of these is a simple way of overclocking. To change either value, select it, press enter and type the number you want.



In that picture I've selected the multiplier and upped it from 9 to 9.5. With my FSB of 300 MHz this represents an overall change in cpu frequency of:

Before: 9 * 300 = 2.70 Ghz
Now: 9.5 * 300 = 2.85 GHz

[Emirzan]

Now, memory frequencies and timings, these are on the same tab as discussed above, simply scroll down further. The ‘DRAM Frequency’ is the frequency your memory is running at. The DRAM timing control will be set to auto by default, you’ll see a page something like:


If you want to change the timings as per Clunks guide you’ll obviously need to change this to manual. This will bring up a page of values like this:



On this same tab scroll down even further and (below all the memory timing information) you’ll find the area to adjust voltages.



Again, all set to auto by default, select what you want to change, push enter and type the value. Make sure you know what you’re doing, different components can take different voltages, the wrong voltages may well destroy a component. Make small changes only. For your first overclock I’d recommend leaving this all at auto. Change the FSB a little and boot into windows (should be ok). Open up CPU-Z (Which you should have if you read Clunk’s guide) and check what the voltage for the CPU is. Likely it’ll be fairly high. From personal experience I’ve always found Asus boards to set voltages a bit higher than is necessary. If you’re unsure of values definitely ask someone here. The CPU voltage as highlighted in the above picture is probably all you’ll need to change for light overclocking, take it further though and you will likely need to up Northbridge voltages etc.

There is another very useful tab within your BIOS which is worthy of visiting. Return to the top level tabs and scroll along right once more to reach ‘Advanced’. Here select CPU Configuration.



Press enter and you’ll see some extra information on your processor chip. Here’s my page for my E7200.



Importantly this shows what the current processor clock speed is and the current ratio/multiplier selected. It also shows (amongst the grey text) what values you can have for the multiplier (so I can have anything between 6 and 9.5 in 0.5 intervals). The four settings at the bottom of that page are important, as Clunk’s guide says, they should be at Disabled (I meant to change them for the above picture, forgot to though). Basically if enabled these can be a bit of a headache, most noticeable effect being that your processor will automatically drop it’s frequency when load is low. Not desirable really.

Finally when you’re all done with changes push F10 to save them, exit the bios and restart the machine. Hopefully booting into windows. Run the relevant diagnostic software (CPU-Z etc.) and test any overclock for stability before trying anything else.

That isn’t meant to be a guide, just some photos of your specific bios to be used in conjunction with Clunk’s guide. Hopefully some help, good luck!