P5E WS Pro -- thoughts about it?

[MikeSp]

My needs are not so much OC'ing (with some tinkering during spare time) but speed with which to run digital darkroom and video programs, but little time for games.

Obviously, for OC'ers, other boards are far more popular, but I have yet to see any comments, bad or good, in regard to the P5E WS Pro.

I would like to find a board with 6 SATA, RAID's from which to choose and one that is fast, running the bus and memory at full speed, but stability is number one objective. Being able to have stability right out of the box is important (tweaking can come if and when time permits).

Does anyone have any experience with or observations about the P5E WS Pro?

MikeSp

 

[PCTC2]

Unless you need the PCI-X slot, it is not much different than a standard P5E.

 

[The-Noid]

P5E WS is a very very stable board and also one of my favorites.

Much more mature bios than the original P5E. The WS engineers are different from the standard engineers.

 

[Idontcare]

I bought my P5E WS Pro to replace my i680 Striker Extreme based on Yoxxy's recommendation.

With my B3 QX6700 I could not overclock the FSB on my Striker and maintain stability, it would invariably crash under full-load after a few days unless I set the FSB back to stock (267x4).

Same B3 chip but in the WS Pro and I can run the FSB anywhere from stock 1066 (4x267) up to 1600 (4x400) and it is stable as all gangbusters.

This P5E Pro is really a solid board, I have zero complaints.

 

[bigsnyder]

Okay, I am seeing two of these boards showing up on Newegg, but only one at the Asus site.
Is there any difference?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131236
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131244

 

[MikeSp]

Originally posted by: bigsnyder
Okay, I am seeing two of these boards showing up on Newegg, but only one at the Asus site.
Is there any difference?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131236
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131244

In reviewing both -- one of them had a "T" socket LGA 775 and being a noob at this again, I have no clue what a "T" socket 775 is.

ALSO, I noticed that a number of the reviewers indicated a sound problem with that motherboard which is surprising since it should be a very mature product without such issues.

MikeSp

 

[Mondoman]

I'm pretty sure they're the same exact board, just NewEgg has two listings for it, one under "server" MBs and one under normal MBs. Socket T is just another name for LGA775. Buy the cheaper one (currently the one listed under "server").

 

[bigsnyder]

What firewire chipset does this board use? Most of the Asus boards seems to use Agere, but a few are VIA.
The Asus site doesn't specify.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: bigsnyder
Okay, I am seeing two of these boards showing up on Newegg, but only one at the Asus site.
Is there any difference?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131236
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131244

Yeah that's weird. Maybe a mistake on NewEgg's part?

A quick question for X38 users: My understanding is that both PCIe x16 slots are connected to NB - can you use your video card in the bottom x16 slot without performance loss? If there is a performance loss, how big is it?

 

[Fuzzy7]

(found this thread while googling for P5E WS audio issues)

Originally posted by: MikeSp
ALSO, I noticed that a number of the reviewers indicated a sound problem with that motherboard

The problem -- an odd interaction between the P5E WS and certain PSUs, causing the onboard audio to emit a constant tone -- is very real. At first I thought I simply had a bad PSU (a Seasonic 550W), but when I RMA'ed that PSU and got the same results with the replacement, I did some more research and discovered I wasn't the only one experiencing this problem, and that other PSU brands exhibited the same behavior. Eventually, as a last resort before RMA'ing the board, I bought a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 PSU to try. That finally put a stop to the tone.

Whether all P5E WS boards are potentially affected by this problem or only a certain batch is unclear...

which is surprising since it should be a very mature product without such issues.

Even boards intended for the workstation/server market will still have their share of bugs. Shocking, I know.

What I find especially ironic is that this supposed "workstation" board requires a BIOS update (to 50x) or a special BIOS setting (Memory Remapping off) before it will accept more than one stick of ECC memory. You'd think that in a workstation board, they would've done all their testing with ECC memory...

 

[MikeSp]

What I find especially ironic is that this supposed "workstation" board requires a BIOS update (to 50x) or a special BIOS setting (Memory Remapping off) before it will accept more than one stick of ECC memory. You'd think that in a workstation board, they would've done all their testing with ECC memory...

YIPES!!!! Forget this mb -- I want one to work right out of the box and having to tweak BIOS just to use two sticks of memory... yep, forget it. Thanks for that heads-up!!

MikeSp

 

[Fuzzy7]

Originally posted by: MikeSp
YIPES!!!! Forget this mb -- I want one to work right out of the box and having to tweak BIOS just to use two sticks of memory... yep, forget it.

Well, it's only necessary with ECC memory. Multiple sticks of non-ECC memory aren't a problem. Still, updating the BIOS is quite painless if you use the BIOS's built-in EZ Flash utility. It accepts USB flash drives, so you don't even need a floppy.

The audio issue, OTOH, set me out of commission for three weeks while I was waiting for new PSUs to ship. That wasn't cool at all. But maybe I'm just one of the really unlucky ones.

 

[lopri]

The memory issue, if true, is totally unacceptable. Whether the board is an excellent OC'er or not, there will be as many people purchasing the board to build a workstation with today's dual/quad-core CPUs. I surely hope ASUS stops this kind of stunt.

And I guess a PC P&C PSU is like almost required for trouble-shooting. In the past 4~5 years, I diagnosed 2 issues related to mobo-PSU using PC P&C 510. I don't use it 24/7 due to its irritating noise, but it picks up PSU related issues that no other PSU does. I wonder what that is..? Could it be the 'suppoed-to-be-antiquated' -5V rails? Cause I know that my 510 has that rail.

 

[lopri]

Oh and once more:

Originally posted by: lopri
A quick question for X38 users: My understanding is that both PCIe x16 slots are connected to NB - can you use your video card in the bottom x16 slot without performance loss? If there is a performance loss, how big is it?

 

[MikeSp]

Originally posted by: lopri
The memory issue, if true, is totally unacceptable. Whether the board is an excellent OC'er or not, there will be as many people purchasing the board to build a workstation with today's dual/quad-core CPUs. I surely hope ASUS stops this kind of stunt.

And I guess a PC P&C PSU is like almost required for trouble-shooting. In the past 4~5 years, I diagnosed 2 issues related to mobo-PSU using PC P&C 510. I don't use it 24/7 due to its irritating noise, but it picks up PSU related issues that no other PSU does. I wonder what that is..? Could it be the 'suppoed-to-be-antiquated' -5V rails? Cause I know that my 510 has that rail.

I have used a 510 PC P&C PSU in my four year old computer -- it burned up a choke (literally smoking), sent it in and they repaired it -- I will probably use their silent 750 in my new build unless I choose to go with a modular unit due to the case that I choose

Thank for the heads-up on the nonECC memory being allowed to be paired -- that changes things since I would be using nonECC memory sticks.

Will continue looking for the best X38 or X48 with Wolfsdale capable board with easiest setup right out of the box in attaining full non OC'd speed/stability like my trusty old P4C800ED.

MikeSp

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: Fuzzy7

Originally posted by: MikeSp
YIPES!!!! Forget this mb -- I want one to work right out of the box and having to tweak BIOS just to use two sticks of memory... yep, forget it.

Well, it's only necessary with ECC memory. Multiple sticks of non-ECC memory aren't a problem. Still, updating the BIOS is quite painless if you use the BIOS's built-in EZ Flash utility. It accepts USB flash drives, so you don't even need a floppy.

The audio issue, OTOH, set me out of commission for three weeks while I was waiting for new PSUs to ship. That wasn't cool at all. But maybe I'm just one of the really unlucky ones.

I have the audio issue as well, but for me it only occurs when I seriously crank up the volume. For everyday music listening I don't hear the tone at all.

I have a Corsair HX-550W, I believe these are rebadged Seasonics. So maybe this is just a Seasonic PSU issue? Or perhaps more generically, perhaps this is a modular cable PSU issue?

Anyways I am glad to know it is likely the PSU, I assumed it was my cheap Creative speaker setup at fault. Since I don't hear the tone at my operating volume levels it doesn't bother me, but it is good to know for future consideration when recommending this board.

 

[Fuzzy7]

Originally posted by: Idontcare
I have the audio issue as well, but for me it only occurs when I seriously crank up the volume. For everyday music listening I don't hear the tone at all.

For me, it was extremely obvious; it drowned out everything else.

I have a Corsair HX-550W, I believe these are rebadged Seasonics. So maybe this is just a Seasonic PSU issue?

I suspected that too. But then I tried a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610, which is also a rebadged Seasonic (though with an 80mm fan), and didn't get the tone.

Or perhaps more generically, perhaps this is a modular cable PSU issue?

The PSUs that gave me the tone weren't modular.

Anyways I am glad to know it is likely the PSU, I assumed it was my cheap Creative speaker setup at fault.

Could still be. Try plugging in a pair of headphones and see if the tone is still audible. It was for me.