ASUS P5Q-EM

I find it amazing that there are no reviews on the P5Q-EM yet, as this should be a popular choice for people who want a HTPC or SFF PC. Then again, there have been very few reviews on P45 boards of any form factor/manufacturer which really makes me scratch my head...
 
PClark99 said:
Me too, though I am thinking if this was even a decent overclocker there would be alot more noise than there is right now.
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SharpieFiend said:
I find it amazing that there are no reviews on the P5Q-EM yet, as this should be a popular choice for people who want a HTPC or SFF PC. Then again, there have been very few reviews on P45 boards of any form factor/manufacturer which really makes me scratch my head...
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I know! I can't believe it either. I feel like I need to buy the board just so I can give it a proper review (ie overclock the crap out of it).
 
This is the board that I plan on buying shortly. It's the only decent board I could find that supports 16GBs of memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231182). I have only a few concerns here.

I currently have a Gigabyte 73PVM-S2 in an old Mattel Barbie computer. This case uses a Flex-ATX motherboard, which is about 2"/5cm shorter than the standard Micro-ATX board. When I get the Asus, I intend to replace this case (actually beforehand) so that I can use all of my card extension capabilities. Because I use Linux as my operating system, I'm readily able to use the full 16GBs without problem. My new case should be a Thermaltake Lanbox.

Although I'm currently overclocking the E1200 chip I have now, overclocking is not my highest concern here. I will most likely install an X3360 on this Asus board. Mostly, I want to know if anyone else has this board with the full 16GBs of memory installed on it?

My current system has a performance increase of 25/12.5% with the cpu and ram (2000GHz/900MHz).

Shingoshi
 
Work shot me down on buying 10 of these boards for in-house builds, but I was able to sneak 1 in. Hopefully it will arrive in a week or two and will be mated to a Xeon X3560.
 
Ok. I have a really strange question. Would one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115051) be faster than two E54440's (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117143)? Since this QX9770 can be easily overclocked, and the E5440's can't. They both have 12MB caches. It seems that combining the QX9770 with a board like this, would alleviate the need for a dual-cpu server board like the Supermicro (for it's large memory feature: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182158), which I am also very attracted to. This board will hold 16GBs rather inexpensively (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231182), while the Supermicro would be limited to 12GBs, considering what's readily available and the price difference for the penalty of ECC Registered ram.

Besides, I could continue to use my existing processor, and then incrementally increase performance as the prices on the chips begin to fall. Please don't flame me here. I'm simply trying to weight the features and assets of one board against the other. This board will give me functionality in graphics that I don't think the Supermicro will. Besides, I have in my possession a Wintec dual-head framebuffer dvi card that is intended to be used with Intel integrated graphics chipsets. That certainly isn't by itself reason to buy this. But it does (or may) mean that I wouldn't have to get another graphics card for awhile.

I'm thinking I may be better off to get this board, later buy a faster processor, and wait until the prices come down on all chips. Supermicro may very well release another board like this one for the new chips that are about to be released. The Supermicro only supports a 1333MHz FSB. While this one is a 1600. I'd like to not buy a board with an FSB that's already practically obsolete.

Shingoshi
 
Yes one would hope, but I just sent my motherboard back to where i bought it after half a ton of issues. Might just have gotten a bad board but I don't know.

First of all there is lingering issues all over the place with Nvidia cards, didn't get 8800GT or 8800GTS to work, but my girlfriends 8800GS worked fine. I had to modify the Graphicscard bios to force PCI-E 1.0 for it to work properly.

I had POST issues even at 410mhz FSB and some random lockups at anything higher than 390. Anything over 420 was a dead end and no post, even with increased voltages.

Sending my ex back for an exchange to the older P5E-VM HDMI instead.

Used it with an E8400 E0, 2x1GB of Kingston HyperX PC8500, Leadtek 8800GT and a Corsair TX650 PSU.
 
If this board performs anything like its little brother P5QL-EM, don't hold your breath. I have that board and it's a piece of shit overclocker.
 
Frobot said:
If this board performs anything like its little brother P5QL-EM, don't hold your breath. I have that board and it's a piece of shit overclocker.
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Thanks for sharing that little tidbit of information, I was possibly going to pick one up and try it, but now I won't even bother.
 
PClark99 said:
Thanks for sharing that little tidbit of information, I was possibly going to pick one up and try it, but now I won't even bother.
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Maybe after Asus has had time to release some bios updates it might be worthwhile, but right now it's garbage...I mean to the point where I don't know how it ever got out of the factory.

I can't even set the FSB:RAM ratio to 1:1, it's not an option! There's only 4:5, 2:3, 1:2, and "Auto." And when I set Auto, it just sets the memory at 2:3. So if I want to reduce the multiplier of my CPU and raise the FSB for a 8x415 or so (because my system just won't boot at 9x369), it's just not possible because the lowest RAM speed I can then choose is 1038 mhz. Once I get some 1066 memory I'm going to try again, but I shouldn't have to, this is stupid.

I hope I'm just being a retard and missing something here, but I've torn up the bios inside and out.
 
Frobot said:
Maybe after Asus has had time to release some bios updates it might be worthwhile, but right now it's garbage...I mean to the point where I don't know how it ever got out of the factory.

I can't even set the FSB:RAM ratio to 1:1, it's not an option! There's only 4:5, 2:3, 1:2, and "Auto." And when I set Auto, it just sets the memory at 2:3. So if I want to reduce the multiplier of my CPU and raise the FSB for a 8x415 or so (because my system just won't boot at 9x369), it's just not possible because the lowest RAM speed I can then choose is 1038 mhz. Once I get some 1066 memory I'm going to try again, but I shouldn't have to, this is stupid.

I hope I'm just being a retard and missing something here, but I've torn up the bios inside and out.
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Doesn't sound promising.

On the other hand, finally a review of the big brother P5Q-EM and it looks like with bios updates the board can hit up to 485 FSB. Unfortunately they aren't going into any great depth with specifics.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3417

So we might have at least another decent alternative.
 
PClark99 said:
Doesn't sound promising.

On the other hand, finally a review of the big brother P5Q-EM and it looks like with bios updates the board can hit up to 485 FSB. Unfortunately they aren't going into any great depth with specifics.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3417

So we might have at least another decent alternative.
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Ha, funny they didn't like it either at first. Crossing my fingers for a similar bios update...I love the board layout; if it could just OC a little better it would be a winner.
 
dammit, saw this board and was about to hit buy for my HTPC then found this thread :( must.... buy... mobo for.... htpc... tonight!
 
Try it. You have 30 days to return it if you don't like it or it doesn't work for you.
 
Restocking + shipping man, that shit kills. Better to get something proven instead of guinea pigging, unless you wanna guinea pig.
 
Both the DFI and Asus P5Q are new. If you want something proven in mATX form, get the P5E-VM HDMI.
 
IsLNdbOi said:
Try it. You have 30 days to return it if you don't like it or it doesn't work for you.
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that what sucks for me, i live in costa rica, have it shipped to miami then down to costa rica, so i pay the shipping for that + %30 taxes, so for me to send it back i might as well just buy a new board for the same price...

i am torn between the P5Q-EM but now thinking the P5E-VM... since it seems a little more proven to be decent...
 
Doesn't sound promising.

On the other hand, finally a review of the big brother P5Q-EM and it looks like with bios updates the board can hit up to 485 FSB. Unfortunately they aren't going into any great depth with specifics.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=3417

So we might have at least another decent alternative.
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I really hope I got a bad ex, but with latest bios my board didn't even do 420 stable no matter what settings I set with dedicated graphics. Really a shame. Hope other boards does better than mine.
 
If anyone has this board and could help me set the BIOS up I would appreciate it. A lot more options since my last build, P4P800-VM.

I have the timing at 5-5-5-15, Voltage 2.1. I'm not seeing 1066 as an option for the DRAM Frequency.

Asus P5Q-EM Mobo
Intel E8500 CPU
4GB OCZ Platinum DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) OCZ2P10664GK Memory
 
I'm at work, and my board just came in. I have to go to a funeral tommorrow but I'll try and play with it as much as I can tonight to see how far I can get with it.
 
I'm priming at 3.6 Ghz on my Xeon 3360 C1 stepping. Guys, this motherboard likes baby steps. I'm at 420 FSB, but had to get there in 10 Mhz increments. I gotta get ready for services, but I'll do more this weekend. Most everything is set to auto except for voltages, which I'll post once I find my max OC with this CPU. I'm only using a Masscool tower heatsink for now bench-testing. EVGA GTX 260 went in fine.
 
I'm at 432 FSB. I've tried lowering my CPU multiplier to go higher, but to no avail. Northbridge gets hot with a fan blowing at it with 1.40V. There is no Vdroop on my board and I haven't done any Vdroop mods. I'll plug away a little more tonight and tommorrow. I'm not familiar with the extra OC settings available that the P5E had, I'll try and do some research. I wish Alsop could have gotten his to work as I normally just copy his or Officer Martinez' settings.
 
sounds like it could benefit from an aftermarket NB cooler.

if not, 432 is a letdown.
 
432 is the limit of this board. I've tried everything to get it past 433. I've lowered my multiplier to 6, tried all variations of memory dividers, and even tried higher FSB settings like 466, 500, etc to see if maybe there's a dead spot you have to hurdle past. Load Line calibration works great. I turned it off to see what voltages did and there is Vdroop with LLC disabled, but with it disabled, Vcore is fully stable. I'll probably leave LLC off as long as my OC at ~3.7 Ghz is stable.

I'll probably throw this Xeon into my P5E-VM board and see how far she'll go. I really hope Asus comes out with a new BIOS, as I'm sure this board could do more.
 
MassiveOverkill said:
432 is the limit of this board. I've tried everything to get it past 433. I've lowered my multiplier to 6, tried all variations of memory dividers, and even tried higher FSB settings like 466, 500, etc to see if maybe there's a dead spot you have to hurdle past. Load Line calibration works great. I turned it off to see what voltages did and there is Vdroop with LLC disabled, but with it disabled, Vcore is fully stable. I'll probably leave LLC off as long as my OC at ~3.7 Ghz is stable.

I'll probably throw this Xeon into my P5E-VM board and see how far she'll go. I really hope Asus comes out with a new BIOS, as I'm sure this board could do more.
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Did you have any of the "tramatic" issues with the onboard video card and your 260 like other people have been having? Its been a major scare fest about this board from that problem that makes me wanna get the DFI instead
 
I haven't run 3DMark yet, just been Primin..........but I'll run it today. I've had no issues though. I'll post back after running 3DMark.

3DMark06 runs fine, so does FurMark.
 
Well, here's the response from Asus:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

I am very sorry to have to tell you this, but your processor is not compatable to this motherboard. Below is a list of all the CPU's that are compatable and fully recognized by your motherboard as well as their respected BIOS.

P5Q-EM The following table shows the support for CPU / Motherboard.........."

where they list the compatible CPU's I pretty much knew they would say this so I swapped my Q9450 with my Xeon and guess what, same problem.

The good news is that my Xeon is chugging along at 3.9 Ghz (she did 4.0 Ghz but wasn't stable and I didn't want to go past 1.35V) in my P5E-VM HDMI. I still gotta prime stress test it though.

My response to the last technical support ticket was a little nasty, but I hate being blown-off:

"So, I knew you would say my Xeon was incompatible with this motherboard, so I put in my Q9450 and guess what................still won't go over 432 FSB. Please quit reading off of your scripts and forward my problems to an engineer.

I also took the Xeon you said isn't compatible with this motherboard and stuck it in my P5E-VM HDMI, and guess what, it's happily chugging along at 3.9 Ghz because that OLDER board can go higher than 432 FSB.

So now that we've established that it's NOT my CPU, please get some engineers involved to program a BIOS that will exceed 432 FSB.

Thanks.

Oh yeah, if you think I'm lying I'll be more than happy to provide CPU screenshots and even BIOS screenshots showing the Q9450 in this board and the Xeon in my older P5E-VM HDMI"
 
MassiveOverkill said:
Well, here's the response from Asus:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

I am very sorry to have to tell you this, but your processor is not compatable to this motherboard. Below is a list of all the CPU's that are compatable and fully recognized by your motherboard as well as their respected BIOS.

P5Q-EM The following table shows the support for CPU / Motherboard.........."

where they list the compatible CPU's I pretty much knew they would say this so I swapped my Q9450 with my Xeon and guess what, same problem.

The good news is that my Xeon is chugging along at 3.9 Ghz (she did 4.0 Ghz but wasn't stable and I didn't want to go past 1.35V) in my P5E-VM HDMI. I still gotta prime stress test it though.

My response to the last technical support ticket was a little nasty, but I hate being blown-off:

"So, I knew you would say my Xeon was incompatible with this motherboard, so I put in my Q9450 and guess what................still won't go over 432 FSB. Please quit reading off of your scripts and forward my problems to an engineer.

I also took the Xeon you said isn't compatible with this motherboard and stuck it in my P5E-VM HDMI, and guess what, it's happily chugging along at 3.9 Ghz because that OLDER board can go higher than 432 FSB.

So now that we've established that it's NOT my CPU, please get some engineers involved to program a BIOS that will exceed 432 FSB.

Thanks.

Oh yeah, if you think I'm lying I'll be more than happy to provide CPU screenshots and even BIOS screenshots showing the Q9450 in this board and the Xeon in my older P5E-VM HDMI"
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waiting to see their response now... lol
 
Be happy yours did 432Mhz FSB, mine was a mess over 410... But you're right, I managed to get it to post at 430, but it would fail to post more than it succeded. And that was using discrete graphics. Something odd is going on about their G45-board it seems.

I heard anandtech got theirs to 485Mhz on a duo and 450 or something using a quadie, what's up with that? What the heck did they change?

Anyhow mine ran into a stability brick wall around 410.. Really dissapointed with this board, will probably replace mine with Gigabytes G33M-DS2R instead.
 
I believe Anandtech achieved that OC on the full-size board, not the mATX one, but I could be wrong. I'm going to give Asus a week or so to come out with another BIOS.
 
No it was achieved with the P5Q-EM mATX with 402 bios, i couln't even get past 415 stable on the newer 5-series bios, let alone the 402.
 
This is their reply:

Hello,

The Q9450 is a 1333FSB processor running at a frequency of 333Mhz. Running anything higher than that is overclocking, which we don't support. We're sorry the board doesn't overclock as well as your previous board, but overclocking options are provided for expert users to gain more performance out of the board and we do not support or guarantee any board to overclock to some specific FSB.

Regards,

Asus Support Team

Please do not reply to this message. If you need further assistance please call our technical support line at (812) 282-2787 Monday-Friday from 8:30am-Midnight EST.

To help us better assist you, please take a moment to fill out this brief survey.

This was my reply (see circled red outline):

AsusOverclocking.jpg
 
I've had this board for about 2 weeks now, in fact "upgraded" from my trusty reliable P5E-VM HDMI. A couple of things to note pertaining to the questions on this thread:

- Supposedly ANY external PCI-E device placed in the board will render the onboard IGP disabled. (i haven't checked this personally). There's also reports that it doesn't support PCI-@ 2.0, but I haven't heard any concrete confirmation of this.

- Make sure you get 0402 BIOS update at least. It solved a lot of the early issues with FSB:RAM ratios, etc.

- No need to do Vdroop mods anymore unless you are going above 1.45V!!! Load line calibration actually works on this board, in fact it overvolts .1-.2V on load if you set it.

- G45 IGP is very particular about FSB speeds. At 400MHz, my board starts acting erractic and constantly fails its driver in Vista. I had to set my FSB down and play with the mem divider in order to max out my G.Skill PC-1000 sticks

- For HTPC use, the drivers are not very mature still. There are still a lot of issues with BD playback stuttering. Intel though, has been pretty good about updating their drivers every few weeks. Also their hardware interface for the BD stream seems to be proprietary, so software player adaptation for HA is going to take a while.

IMHO, if you're buying this board to overclock....don't. Stick to the tried and true Asus P5E-VM HDMI. Your add in cards will actually work, even though vDroop is cured (at lower voltages). If you're an HTPC enthusiast, driver maturity isn't there yet, but it has potential. BD playback has improved, but there are still some issues with HA and BD stuttering, however you can massively undervolt now, and Intel has always been great about updating their drivers to fix issues. YMMV
 
fyi - some good info from AVS forums:

This is a chipset limitation (HDMI/DVI is muxed with the PCIe x16 link). (Actually if you insert a PCIe x1 device in the PCIe x16 slot, VGA still works, but HDMI/DVI is disabled [that shouldn't]. See this post.)

C2SEA is no exception. See the picture below. BTW the second PCIe x16 slot comes from ICH10R and works at 1.1 x4. You can insert a graphics card to this slot and use the first PCIe x16 slot for the RAID controller card. But then P45 is a much better solution. If you are budget-minded, then AMD 780G or GeForec 8200 is the cheapest solution as these chipsets does not suffer from this limitation (the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot fully works even if you use the onboard graphics).
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Hello dear HardOCP-forumers...
I'm coming with an update from a mailing conversation with some nice guys over at Anandtech! They're saying that certain combos on the P5Q-EM leads to bad FSB overclocks, for example with a 260GTX they did hardly breach 400, but with ATi's 4670 they managed to get 485Mhz out of the baby.

I'm guessing this is an Bios related issue and it seems they're going to look into it somewhat with Asus, so keep posted and I'll post anything I might be able to find.

As much as I love my P5Q-board I would like it to function as advertised and overclock as expected. Anybody with a newer ATi card like the 4850 willing to try some overlocking out?
 
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