Asus P5K-E Wifi - my thoughts and setup

Regalk

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2000
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This board seems to have fallen off Anandtech's forum (all you see are the ABits and Gigabytes)
After tinkering around with the GA-DS3L/(E2160 & E4500) then the Abit IP35-E/Q6600 for a while I finally made th e move back to Asus to see whether i could break the 450 mark as I did with the P5B deluxe/E6300 and again i was pleasantly surprised.
Paired with OCZ XTC rev 2 /E6750 GO I was able to get to 470 X 8 - not bad.
The one thing I do not like with this board is the vdroop - it is really bad. I have to set to 1.50 to get 1.39 actual. I can live with it as long as I do not get any volt spikes.
Flashed to latest bios (using Asus update) 0906 and it is stable. I do not recommend this method of bios flashing however since there are horror stories all over the net about Asus update (did not affect me)
Another issue is the numerous settings in bios for voltages (much more than Abit/Gigabyte) - I recommend doing your research if contemplating purchasing.
You will lose 2 PCI slots with any bulky video card e.g. ATI HD3870 which is not good. Leaves you with just 1 PCI slot - I guess that is all you would need for say a TV card since you could get a PCI x1 external card.
Most OEM coolers should fit - I use the Thermalright U120e and it works fine. I measured the Scyhe Ninja rev B and that works too so not problems there.
Otherwise I really like this board over the over the GA-DS3L and the ABIT IP35-E for stability and overclocking so far. It took me the shortest time to set it up and find my optimal overclock! Less than a day - the AS5 still has to cure so I expect a bit more headroom.
Onboard sound I have not tested yet - but from what i read it is above average probably better than the Realtek used on the IP35-E/GA-DS3L.

Here is my test setup:

Asus P5K-E Wifi/AP
E6750 GO at 3760 at 1.39v (idles at <30C and load around 54C- gotta love this cpu)
Thermalright U120e with Scythe 120mm fan
OCZ XTC rev 2 DDR2 800 4 4 4 15 at 2.05v (running at 940 at 5 5 5 15)
Nvidia 7950GT
OCX Stealth 600W PS
500G WD Sata 2
LG 20X DVDRW
Onboard sound - should be good for most
Onboard Wifi (and Marvell 1G lan)
Coaxial/SPDIF out, Firewire, lots of USB ports, 6 SATA but NO PS2 mouse port.
 

Regalk

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2000
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Yeah I read through that since there were some crazy settings in BIOS which i never saw before. ANyway the new BIOS 0906 is working fine (I see a lot of people flashing back and forth to 0602 and 0603 etc) other than the .11 vdroop issue. I will try to remove the heatsink it came with since the PWM/Aux temps are 124C (PCW2008 and Everest) which is hot but it did not feel that hot to the touch - may be a misread.
I am done 470 X 8 is stable for me after running Prime overnight. Load temps never exceeded 54C - averaged 50C - I think it should be higher but I may be wrong (even with 15C added it is still good)
Still on the box - about to install in my case
 

chuckm

Senior member
Feb 11, 2007
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Where did you get your board and what version did you get? Right now newegg has the best price just don't know what ver. they're shipping.
Thanks
 

Regalk

Golden Member
Feb 7, 2000
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Originally posted by: chuckm
Where did you get your board and what version did you get? Right now newegg has the best price just don't know what ver. they're shipping.
Thanks

In Canada bro not the egg
Bought at a local store equivalent of US$149