Asus P4PE vs. Albatron PX84PEV Pro - Mem settings

[FMA]

I'd like to place my order for one of these two board tomorrow. I read some of the posts for the Albatron board and I understood that when using the 2.66 or 3/4 ratio for the memory speed, the Bios would automatically set the CAS to a conservative 2.5 value. I'm wondering if the Ausus P4PE does the same thing or, would it let the memory run at 400, or higher speed, with CAS set to 2.

I've read Evan Lieb's reviews of the the four 845PE boards in Anandtech. It seems to give a little edge to Albatron in overclocking and in price but I'd like to learn more from the users.

I'm considering the plain vanila version of the Asus board and I don't mind paying $20 or $30 more for it compared to the Albatron if it can deliver better memory performance. I'll be using a P4B 2.4 with one stick of 512MB Corsair 3500C2. Any and all infromation in helping me make a buying decision would be appreciated.

 

[jpetermann]

I am running a P4PE with a 2.4b and a stick of Corsair xms 3200 cas 2. My mem settings are at 2-2-2-5 and I am running it as 155 fsb with mem at 417 (I think). I seem to have a cold boot issue though. Also, I believe my first ram slot is bad. I had problems with stability and stress testing. Switched my ram to the second (middle) slot and all is well now except the cold boot issue. I really like this board. My Sandra mem scores are at 31xx and Super PI of 1mb was 53 seconds. Pretty fast I think. All in all, I think Asus has a winner here. Hopefully future bios will even make it better.

PJ

 

[FMA]

Yeah, I remember reading in the other thread about you and a few others having the cold boot problem. But I don't remember the details. Is that a serious issue?

 

[FMA]

Pastorjay,

I just saw your other post. It seems to me you may have a bad board. Can you still RMA it and get a replacement?

FMA

 

[jpetermann]

Already have another on its way!

PJ

 

[wnied]

Pastorjay

I too am building a new gaming rig and I'm interested in getting the P4PE as the motherboard for it. I'm not an overclocker by any sense of the word, and I'm only looking to get a reliable board that has the chipset that will keep up with todays online gaming. Let me know of any non-overclocking issues that arise with the board.

Thanks,
~wnied~

 

[FMA]

I've read many reviews and hundreds of posts in various forums. My choice is Asus P4PE. It has the least of issues amongst the newer boards. I don't think you can go wrong with it.

I read on another forum that the cold booth issue is related to extreme overclocking. Only very few people have had this issue and they all overclock.

FMA

 

[Regalk]

Just to add another board to the decision - the new Gigabyte's GA8PE667 - appears to be better value. Here in Canada the Asus P4PE is about $204 while the Gigabyte has raid, NIC, Audio is $212 and with good O/C features. What do you guys think (I know its new so i am not expecting conclusive answers just maybe ideas).

 

[jpetermann]

I have both the Gigabyte and the Asus. Both are very nice, but I think the Asus o'clocks a little better. I like them both though, and think they would both be a good choice.

PJ

 

[Rackemup]

Originally posted by: Regalk
Just to add another board to the decision - the new Gigabyte's GA8PE667 - appears to be better value. Here in Canada the Asus P4PE is about $204 while the Gigabyte has raid, NIC, Audio is $212 and with good O/C features. What do you guys think (I know its new so i am not expecting conclusive answers just maybe ideas).

I hate this... I live in NS and cant even buy an AUS P4PE board around here yet, NONE of the local stores have it and November 4th is the best estimate they an give me. Meanwhile it's listed as "in stock" on other BC-based computer stores and all over the US. What gives?


remember that the P4PE comes in 2 types... one is a "light" version that comes without the extra features (serial ATA, raid, etc) and the other has all the bells and whistles. I'm waiting for the beefed-up version myself... I've looked at other models and I think the ASUS board comes out on top.

 

[fishingeek]

I have the P4PE and it has been great. The only overclocking I have done is to bump the FSB to 150. I am running at 2.85 with stock CPU and RAM voltages. So another vote for the P4PE .

 

[Foamfoot]

i have the p4pe board as well as the non-pro version of the Alabatron. i can definitely recommend the Asus. in fact i strongly recommend it. no issues whatsoever. as for the Albatron board, i spent 5 days of fixes and posts for help trying to get my radeon 9700 card running with no luck.

as for overclocking, i am running my p4 1.8a @ 2.7 (150 FSB). this allows me to run my RAM @ 400 (2-2-2-6). i havent tried 2-2-2-5 since i got my system stable at this speed. i did run at 2-2-2-5 at other speeds and there was no issue with resetting even when i went a bit too far. i did have some lockups at first but it seems DIRECTLY related to the TURBO option for RAM. whenever it was enabled, i would lock-up during 3dmark a few tests in. even at lower FSB then i am running now. once i turned off TURBO, 150 FSB, RAM @ 400 was no prob. even in games.

as for the alb board, i still have it but will probably RMA. i really wanted to like it, it was my first choice for price/performance. but who knows what albatron's track record will be as far as updates and support. in contrast, i know what i can expect from ASUS. i will point out that my issues seem to stem from my 9700. with a geforce 3 in the albatron board, there were no problems.

hope that helps

 

[P4spooky]

This has been a great thread so far and thanks for sharing your views. I am about to order the P4PE. Just a couple of questions:

1. Anyone running 1GB of memory at DDR400 or above? I plan on getting a gig of Corsair 3200 C2 memory

2. I keep reading about 2-phase power on ASUS that causes vcore fluctuation. Is this something to be concerned about?

I have a 1.6A that does 150FSB with 1.6 Vcore on a EPOX 4G4A+, DDR375 on 512MB RAM. The reason I am upgrading is this (4G4A+) will not run 1GB RAM at DDR375.

So is this a good upgrade choice?

Thanks, Sri

 

[jpetermann]

I think the ability to run 1gb at DDR 400 or above will be by luck of the draw. I would think on the Asus you would have a good chance. I am gonna try this myself as soon as my new board gets here. I already have the ram. My new board is suppose to be here today, but I will not be able to test it until Thursday.

The 2 phase power issue is not what it seems. From what I have read, Asus uses a high quality 2 phase which is suppose to be better that the 3-phase. I have also read htat it is more expensive to have a quality 2-phase than a not so good 3-phase. Grant it, I have very little knowledge on this subject. Maybe someone else can help us on this. I believe I got my info on asusboards.com forums.

PJ

 

[fishingeek]

I have 1 gig of Corsair 3500 C2 memory and it runs fine at 400. Couldn't tell you on the v-core fluctuation but perhaps someone else can. My system has not crashed on me yet and I ran prime95 for 10 hours on stress test without a glitch. Hope this helps.

Fishingeek

 

[ManojM]

Originally posted by: fishingeek
I have 1 gig of Corsair 3500 C2 memory and it runs fine at 400. Couldn't tell you on the v-core fluctuation but perhaps someone else can. My system has not crashed on me yet and I ran prime95 for 10 hours on stress test without a glitch. Hope this helps.

Fishingeek

I am also getting 1gig of Corsair 3500 Cas2 this week. My Corsair 3200 Cas2 run at 434mhz CL-2 no problem.

Have you tried overclocking with your 1Gig of Corsair 3500 Cas2? I know it should run at 433mhz CL-2 at default. Have you tested this with 1gig of memory?

 

[fishingeek]

I jsut got the system going last week. I am going to wait and "break in the Ram" before I do any serios overclocking. RIght now I am just running at the stock 2-3-3-7 on turbo.