hi Nick,i have a couple of questions for ya. first off, i have the Asus P5E3 Deluxe WiFi mobo. - BIOS 0601 w/Intel QX9650 2GB of Corsair DDR1333 Mem. running at 1333 speed with 9-9-9-24 timings @ 1.7 volts.i read in another thread where you stated that the P5E3Deluxe mobo. was a dud. my questions are as follows...1. is the P5E3 Deluxe a dud from a stability or performance standpoint? or both?2.(trying to OC to 4Ghz) i'm using a Zalman CNPS 9500AT all copper heatsink and can't get the PC past the WinXP splash screen during boot. FSB=333 Multiplier=12 Vcore voltage is set to 1.325 i haven't changed the "Strap" thingy setting or the CPU PLL voltage settings in the BIOS. don't know what those settings are for and didn't want to possibly damage an expensive CPU. the CPU is running stable at 3.7Ghz at FSB 333 with an 11 mult. can i hit the 4Ghz. mark with stability under full load without exceeding the max. vcore voltage and max temp ranges? do i need to change other BIOS settings to do this?3. in the BIOS hardware monitor with vcore set at 1.325, the actual voltage to the processor is showing 1.274 volts. is this accurate? if so, why isn't the proc. getting the 1.325 volts?4. while shutting the computer down from within Windows and the "Windows is Shutting Down" being displayed on the screen the competer makes a "click" sound as if the computer is being turned off. the power light on the computer goes out, the optical light on the mouse goes out, along with the power light on the FFB2 joystick. then nearly 10 seconds later the computer actually turns off. PSU and everything else. is this normal for a Quad-Core CPU system or is it a BIOS issue? or a mobo prob?(i hope not) any thoughts? 5. from reading alot of the posts in the Asus forum for this mobo. it appears that it's a nightmare getting the PC to boot after updating the BIOS on these boards. any suggestions on this as well?thanks in advance for your help. happy flyin, FM

I will take a look at this a bit later.. I can not look at it right nowI will tell you this.. the deluxe I used.. I wanted to throw it out the windowalso, @ 1333 9-9-9-24 your not even beating DDR2 800 properly set upa 9-9-9 timing is killing you and you must get above 1600 on 7 timings and to pull away from DDR2 properly set up for clocking. DDR3 2000+ on 8-9 timings is rocking the house on the right supporting subs@ 1333 you need to be running 5 or 6 timing to match DDR2 (clocked)I can't look at the rest right now but will when I can

>3. in the BIOS hardware monitor with vcore set at 1.325, the>actual voltage to the processor is showing 1.274 volts. is>this accurate? if so, why isn't the proc. getting the 1.325>volts?Just because you set you vcore at 1.325 in the bios does not mean its going to actually run at that voltage (think of it as a reference). Secondly when you load down your system the vcore will droop (voltage will decrease slightly). The reason you cannot get your computer to post at 4GHZ is because your vcore is to low. Increase the vcore one setting at a time until the sytem boots. If the system boots run a stability test. If you pass the stability test you are good to go, if it fails bump the vcore up another notch and try again (keep in mind this is taking into account your memory is set up properly).Pay attention to your temps. Your going to hit a point increasing vcore where your temps increase exponentially and the Zalmann will not be able to keep it sufficiently cool.To get my QX9650 running at 4GHZ, my vcore needs to be set to 1.4v in the bios and when under load its reported as 1.36. At these settings under full load with my Zalmann, I'm running at 70C-83C which is a tad to high for me to be comfortable. If I drop back to 3.8GHz with vcore set to 1.325 and at 1.26 under load, full load temps do not exceed 62C.

thanks for the info. Nick and sargeski. believe me i've been eye-balling the temps from day one. $1200 is rather pricey for a CPU.Nick, i don't know if i can squeeze anymore performance out of the 1333 mem. i agree with you on the timings. i was hoping the 1333's clock speed and the added bandwith would be enough to offset the higher timings. i'm assuming that trying to tighten the timings is going to require more voltage and i don't know what the memory's max. voltage is. i couldn't find that info on Corsair's web site. and, it's beyond Neweggs 30 day return policy. sarge, check out the link below and you'll see why i was very reluctant to set the vcore to 1.4 volts. i think i'll be content running the proc. at 3.7 http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/int...ling/page9.html happy flyin, fm

I've read that article more than a couple of times...lolThe vcore that CPU-z is reproting is the actual voltage on the core. So, use that for your reference and not what you are setting in the bios. You need to weigh the magnitude of the voltage and the heat together. If your at 1.4v and running cool, I would not be worried. If however your at 1.4v and hot like I was then I would tend to worry a bit (it also boils down to how long you plan on having the chip before replacing it).It's definitley an expensive piece of silicon. I guess thats the price we pay to play. ;)

yeah, Intel's rather proud of their silicon. i have the Zalman CNPS 9500AT heatsink. if your's was running hot at 4G i'm pretty sure mine will as well. oh well, maybe we can play at the 4G+ mark with air cooling and Nehalem on 32nm. hopefully, i can get the timings down on that 1333 memory i got. happy flyin, fm

FlyinI am sorry I lost track of time... been busyOK, if you are looking for the best perfomance on your current DDR3 memory... this is it. I pulled out an old P35 board and 2 sticks of Kingston 1333 DDR3 memory, set it up.. calculated the tRD for the 1333 memory you have and found all the high notes. I used a QX6700 processor but the numbers should all the the same. Since you are on DDR3 1333 your going to have to live with the fact that you cant use the entire bandwidth to gain performance. The tRD point for you is 6 with that memory and in order to get it, you have to work the numbers which I did belowhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186157.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186161.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186162.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186160.jpgNOTEs: verify your memory is in the right slots on that board..1. The Kingston memory will run 1.8v no problem. I can not comment on your memory product or what it can deal with. Please do NOT exceed the specs unless you know for a fact you can bump it up a bit. Kingston has a spec of 1.7v for DDR3 1333 on the modules I tested this with no matter what the SPD shows above. ADDITIONAL: Memory COMMAND RATE is 1T for this to sing, NOT 2T, however, if you have to choose between 1T and moving CAS from 5 to 6, take 2T2. The numbers I posted above are stable and provide you with the best performance you are going to get with that memory. Use those values in your BIOS but remember to back up before testing such tweaks3. The CPU STRAP for that calculates to 266MHz or a memory divider of 3:2. Make sure you follow that same setup or the results will not be the same. 4. My calculations show the PR or tRD is (slightly)closer to 5 than 6 so it is very possible your motherboard may run a tRD of 5 (better) with the numbers I provided. 5. If you had better DDR3 memory (1800+) we would work with the 450-480MHz FSB and a different CPU STRAP, and, different CAS. Unfortunately this is the best i can do with DDR3 1333. You DO need to get the CAS down to 5 on those sticks.. if they wont run at least 5 on the settings I posted above.. I dont think you will get a tRD of 6 or 5 out of the system, which is not good.. but try it anyway.The highest I would go is CAS 6 and even then, I would probably try a higher memory ratio (higher STRAP) and jack up the FSB to compensate.Your memory timing ability is what is going to hold you back.. 9 timings are not worth chit at 1333.. you may as well be running DDR2 533Forget 4gig.. its BULLS.. set up as I outlined above, however, if you can go to 10x 400 with the EXACT settings I show above, or, with a CAS 6, and it remain stable, THEN its worth running 4GHz, otherwise, its horsehockyPerformance in FSX and DDR3 is about calculation... not RAW CPU speedIf you were on better memory you could go to 4GHz with the higher CAS/sub timings and have it be worth the jumpUse MEMSET to check the PERFORMANCE LEVEL after setting things up...http://www.tweakers.fr/download/MemSet.exebe carefull with that utility.. Good luck and have fun

In case you cant set a CAS5 timing, I am going to post one more variation for you to work with.. higher CAS with a bit more FSBI will post it as soon as I finish testing the results.

OK FlyinHere are your alternate numbers.. this allows you to go to CAS 7 and 6 on the sub timing with the same voltages, only difference is you need to1. Change CPU STRAP to 333 (mem RATIO 5:8)2. Increase FSB to 4503. Drop multiplier to 84. Increase tRC to 48NOTE: Your memory sticks may have defined sub timings... check with Corsair (if thats what they are) about the subs.. and the max SAFE Vdd (memory voltage) in a clock.this will raise tRD to 7 and relax the memory with CAS, SUBs and divider which you may be able to run easier.. Don't trade 1T for CAS 6... if you must run 2T for CAS 6, do it. 1T is alwasy better though.Here are the screenshttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186181.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186182.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186183.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186184.jpgNow, here is a quick BENCH of the FIRST set of numbers (post above this one)..http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186179.jpgAnd here is the quick BENCH from the numbers in THIS post...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186185.jpgBoth should do equally well in FSX... with an advantage to the 2nd option of setting in this post, ----higher memory speed-----, which is actually overclocked, but, places tRD in SYNC with STRAP+CAS, which is, as you can see by the numbers, the SWEET SPOT for CAS 6 -333STRAP @ 450FSBGood luck