Anyone try modded P5Q-series bios?

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I've seen some modified asus P5Q-series bios floating about. I've got a P5Q Pro Turbo and am wondering, by other's experience, if it is something to follow up on.

 

[Kenmitch]

When I had my P5Q Deluxe I almost tried them. Downloaded them and everything....But i had great success with the Asus bios getting my Q9550 to 4ghz rock solid stable.

I'm thinking that these bios are more geared towards the lower end of the series boards. At least that is what it looked like to me....Memory tables from higher end boards etc. I'm not sure if it would be of any benefit on your board.

Why are you considering trying them out if I may ask?

 

[n7]

If you haven't already, take a gander thru here: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=200109&highlight=p5q

I never really found them (i tried a few amongst many "official" ones) to be of any help on my P5Q-D personally.

As Kenmitch mentioned, it seems they were specifically more helpful to those with the lower end boards.

It won't hurt to try them though (assuming the flash doesn't go bad lol); you may very well be one of the many who found them helpful.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

When I had my P5Q Deluxe I almost tried them. Downloaded them and everything....But i had great success with the Asus bios getting my Q9550 to 4ghz rock solid stable.

I'm thinking that these bios are more geared towards the lower end of the series boards. At least that is what it looked like to me....Memory tables from higher end boards etc. I'm not sure if it would be of any benefit on your board.

Why are you considering trying them out if I may ask?

at the moment I am not overclocking any components in my system; mainly, because I'm pursuing a better software setup first. There are so many options in the bios to configure, I just didn't know if these modded bios provided anything else, or improved upon what is present in the stock bios. If all it is is updated memory table configurations, I'd agree with you that I likely have no need for these modded bios- I already have more memory configuration options available than I can read/look up for my memory.

Do they provide greater processor voltage abilities? One reason I'm holding off on overclocking is because I prefer to run an energy efficient system that meets my performance needs. From my experience, it is tricky to both dynamically set a processor overclock along with matching voltage settings. I've dabbled with crystalcpuid, but the processor states on AMD processors seem superior for my needs- too bad their energy efficiency and performance are lacking in comparison with Intel cpus.

 

[Kenmitch]

at the moment I am not overclocking any components in my system; mainly, because I'm pursuing a better software setup first. There are so many options in the bios to configure, I just didn't know if these modded bios provided anything else, or improved upon what is present in the stock bios. If all it is is updated memory table configurations, I'd agree with you that I likely have no need for these modded bios- I already have more memory configuration options available than I can read/look up for my memory.

Do they provide greater processor voltage abilities? One reason I'm holding off on overclocking is because I prefer to run an energy efficient system that meets my performance needs. From my experience, it is tricky to both dynamically set a processor overclock along with matching voltage settings. I've dabbled with crystalcpuid, but the processor states on AMD processors seem superior for my needs- too bad their energy efficiency and performance are lacking in comparison with Intel cpus.

I think what they mean my memory tables is something you don't see in bios....More like for memory compatability as in specs for diff chips etc.

I don't think they add anything that would help with the energy crisis 😀

If you want to you can overclock with the C1E and speedstep stuff enabled in bios. I know that all the guides say to disable it but I always ignore that part of the guides. I dont see the need to be pumping the juice and running at max speed when just surfing the web or reading emails. If your not gonna go for a huge overclock then this wont hurt your chances any at all.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I think what they mean my memory tables is something you don't see in bios....More like for memory compatability as in specs for diff chips etc.

I don't think they add anything that would help with the energy crisis 😀

If you want to you can overclock with the C1E and speedstep stuff enabled in bios. I know that all the guides say to disable it but I always ignore that part of the guides. I dont see the need to be pumping the juice and running at max speed when just surfing the web or reading emails. If your not gonna go for a huge overclock then this wont hurt your chances any at all.

oh, yeah; I do that. I'm wise about it- turn that stuff off when setting things, reapplying when stability is ensured. Only problem- c1e and speedstep suck. With speedstep I only get two speeds... c1e ensures the prior to be true.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

would these bios allow me to change trd?

 

[n7]

would these bios allow me to change trd?

You can alter tRD in the official BIOS; no need for mod ones to do that.

In the P5Q series boards:

This is the section.

Set Ai Transaction Booster to Manual > then change Common Performance Level

Be aware if it is set too low you'll get no POST.

The lower your FSB, the lower you can set tRD.
Also, using RAM dividers higher than 1:1 generally allow for lower tRD, particularly @ high FSB.

Examples from me:

I am presently running my E5300 @ 334 FSB & am doing tRD @ 5.

For my Q9650 @ ~425+ FSB, i could do tRD 8 if using 5:6 or higher RAM ratio, or @ 1:1 tRD 10.

Here's a post of mine on the topic of memory/tRD performance from another forum.

Here we go, a fair comparison.


P5Q Deluxe bios 1406
Q9550 @ 8.5x400
Memory subtimings are all the same other than fine delay & tREF which were on auto. Those do not affect the scores by more than a few points though.

tRD (Performance Level) was set as low as it could be for the different RAM speeds.

DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 tRD 8 (1:1 333 strap)
DDR2-960 5-5-5-15 tRD 8 (5:6 333 strap)
DDR2-1000 5-5-5-15 tRD 7 (4:5 266 strap)
DDR2-1066 5-5-5-15 tRD 7 (3:4 400 strap)

You can pretty sum it up exactly as i mentioned.
The higher the better, regardless of timings.

Read, Copy, & Latency all get better as the speeds go up.
Write is pretty much purely FSB based, so it doesn't change.