ASUS P5B: New BIOS Adds Unlocking & Improved Overclocking
by Wesley Fink on August 24, 2006 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Our Thoughts
First, we should note that certain Gigabyte P965 boards also allow downward unlocks with the latest BIOS releases. ASUS joins them in offering this feature, and they have broken new ground with the 0507 BIOS for the P5B Deluxe. The ability to specify multipliers - even if it's only downward unlocked - is so significant that every other manufacturer will have to follow suit or lose market share to the two motherboard giants.
At present, every Core 2 Duo chip we tried unlocked down (this included both B1 and B2 steppings); however, none of our samples unlocked both up and down. ASUS tells us that many Core 2 Duo chips also unlock upwards, but the upper limit is around a 14X multiplier with those chips that do unlock in both directions. If true, we're certain those chips that can unlock completely will be quickly figured out by enthusiasts and those models and steppings will become the most highly desired Core 2 Duo chips.
Certainly this new BIOS makes the ASUS P5B a much more desirable motherboard. We do need to remind readers, however, that we have generally reached even higher overclocks on the 975X chipset when compared 1:1 with the 965P. ASUS has told us they are not finished with this "Conroe Unlock" feature and that they are working on BIOS revisions to also bring Core 2 Duo unlock to 975X chipset motherboards. We have seen hardware modifications to the Intel 975 BadAxe that allow unlocking, and it would be great if ASUS can accomplish the same with a simple 975 BIOS upgrade, as they have on the P5B Deluxe.
With innovations like this ASUS BIOS, the Intel Core 2 Duo processor is gaining features that make it even more desirable in today's market. To summarize our findings, below are the highest overclocks we could achieve at each ratio with the tested processors:
Those interested in getting the most out of their high-performance DDR2 will be very happy with the unlocking feature. It allows options like the running the memory at 1:1 at DDR2-800 and 3-3-3 timings as we have done in this screen capture of a 9x400 overclock on an E6700 with memory set at the DDR2-533 ratio.
ASUS has earned our thanks for making the 965P chipset worth considering again. With overclocks up to 532 in our testing, with multipliers settable to x6 on all tested chips, and with multipliers purportedly also unlocked at the top on some formerly locked Conroe chips this BIOS upgrade has to be considered a must for any ASUS P5B Deluxe owner. For those considering a new Conroe board, the already desirable P5B has just moved to the head of the 965P class. The only feature missing now is support for CrossFire video configurations, which remains an advantage of the 975X for gaming enthusiasts.
First, we should note that certain Gigabyte P965 boards also allow downward unlocks with the latest BIOS releases. ASUS joins them in offering this feature, and they have broken new ground with the 0507 BIOS for the P5B Deluxe. The ability to specify multipliers - even if it's only downward unlocked - is so significant that every other manufacturer will have to follow suit or lose market share to the two motherboard giants.
At present, every Core 2 Duo chip we tried unlocked down (this included both B1 and B2 steppings); however, none of our samples unlocked both up and down. ASUS tells us that many Core 2 Duo chips also unlock upwards, but the upper limit is around a 14X multiplier with those chips that do unlock in both directions. If true, we're certain those chips that can unlock completely will be quickly figured out by enthusiasts and those models and steppings will become the most highly desired Core 2 Duo chips.
Certainly this new BIOS makes the ASUS P5B a much more desirable motherboard. We do need to remind readers, however, that we have generally reached even higher overclocks on the 975X chipset when compared 1:1 with the 965P. ASUS has told us they are not finished with this "Conroe Unlock" feature and that they are working on BIOS revisions to also bring Core 2 Duo unlock to 975X chipset motherboards. We have seen hardware modifications to the Intel 975 BadAxe that allow unlocking, and it would be great if ASUS can accomplish the same with a simple 975 BIOS upgrade, as they have on the P5B Deluxe.
With innovations like this ASUS BIOS, the Intel Core 2 Duo processor is gaining features that make it even more desirable in today's market. To summarize our findings, below are the highest overclocks we could achieve at each ratio with the tested processors:
| Core 2 Overclocking | ||||||
| CPU | Stock Speed | X10 | X9 | X8 | X7 | X6 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 | 2.66GHz | 360 3.6GHz |
400 3.6GHz |
440 3.52GHz |
494 3.46GHz |
494 2.96GHz |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 | 2.40GHz | - | 402 3.62GHz |
445 3.56GHz |
495 3.47GHz |
495 2.97GHz |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 | 2.13GHz | - | - | 445 3.56GHz |
511 3.58GHz |
514 3.08GHz |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 | 1.86GHz | - | - | - | 525 3.68GHz |
532 3.19GHz |
Those interested in getting the most out of their high-performance DDR2 will be very happy with the unlocking feature. It allows options like the running the memory at 1:1 at DDR2-800 and 3-3-3 timings as we have done in this screen capture of a 9x400 overclock on an E6700 with memory set at the DDR2-533 ratio.
ASUS has earned our thanks for making the 965P chipset worth considering again. With overclocks up to 532 in our testing, with multipliers settable to x6 on all tested chips, and with multipliers purportedly also unlocked at the top on some formerly locked Conroe chips this BIOS upgrade has to be considered a must for any ASUS P5B Deluxe owner. For those considering a new Conroe board, the already desirable P5B has just moved to the head of the 965P class. The only feature missing now is support for CrossFire video configurations, which remains an advantage of the 975X for gaming enthusiasts.
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ZachSaw - Thursday, August 24, 2006 - link
"the ability to unlock the previously locked Conroe chips is so significant that every other manufacturer will have to follow the ASUS lead or lose market share to the motherboard giant."LOL. Perhaps ASUS is the one who is the follower. All of Gigabyte's 965 boards have had this ability since the very beginning. ASUS had to release an update to their BIOS to support this, after seeing Gigabyte's feature.
In any event, this is a VERY SIMPLE function to implement -- what innovation? It simply uses the EIST feature in your CPU to implement multiplier "unlock". In fact, it's technically wrong to say "unlock", since we don't lock the multiplier you managed to select in the first place! That's the whole point of EIST. Unless you can select upwards, then you can claim to have unlocked the multiplier. Otherwise, it's just legally and technically a wrong term to use. You can claim to support Multiplier Adjustment, but do not EVER say it's unlocked. Be warned.
Please clean up your article. Too many mistakes.
Also, it'll be good to put a foreword in your article to mention that your oc is based on Engineering Samples (B1 step), which are different from retail (B2). Retail ones have some differences which make it a little faster clock to clock, but not as overclockable. You do not want people to rush out to buy those processors, based on your table of overclocked frequencies.
Madellga - Thursday, August 24, 2006 - link
Correct. Reviews like this should be based on Retail samples, not Golden Cherry Picked units.Otherwise people are misled by the results.
Frumious1 - Thursday, August 24, 2006 - link
Yeah, "Golden Cherry Picked units" like the freaking RETAIL E6400 and E6300 stepping B2 that overclocked higher than the "cherry" ES B1 E6600/E6700? OMFG the world is coming to an end!!!The only thing potentially misleading is that the B2 E66/6700 might do better than shown here. The bottom line is that the B2 is a later, IMPROVED stepping that should actually at least match these results.
The Gigabyte information is more of a problem, but given my experience with a DS3 I can't say I'm too happy with GB right now. F4 seems to have cleared up most of the problems. F2 was an absolute joke, however.
ZachSaw - Thursday, August 24, 2006 - link
You simply do not know enough. B2 is a later step, no doubt. But, who says later steps increase oc-potential??? It's pretty weird how the community came to this "conclusion". It might be true for later steps (C and above), but usually not the earlier ones such as B1 and B2. So don't jump to conclusions when you have never tested out A0 parts before.
All I'm asking them to do is, to use retail parts. That's all.
Frumious1 - Thursday, August 24, 2006 - link
Maybe you can pull some strings with Intel and get them to send new B2 or later retail samples to Anandtech? I'm sure the AT guys don't want to go out and buy a bunch of new CPUs when the current ones work fine. We all recognize that there is an element of marketing to hardware enthusiast sites - that's why there are a shitload of ads at all the sites, right? (Thank you, AdBlock!) AMD and Intel (and Asus, Gigabyte, Asrock, etc.) send parts for free to AT and they review them. "No such thing as bad publicity!"You keep ignoring the fact that the E63/6400 were NOT B1/ES steppings, and yet they overclocked better. That's where I drew my conclusions. Sure, less cache has an impact, but at the very least it's safe to say B1 isn't amazingly better than B2. Anyway, all overclocks are largely CPU dependent. Everyone in the community knows that. YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary. That the P5B hits 500+ MHz FSB is more than enough for me. I don't particularly like to run at "mostly stable" settings, so if I can POST and run most benches at a 68% OC, I'll drop to 50% for 100% stability and peace of mind. $185-$200 for a chip that can match stock X6800 performance is pretty tasty.
shecknoscopy - Thursday, August 24, 2006 - link
1) How is it possible that they can do this? I thought the multiplier lock was something phyiscally hard-wired in the manufacture of the processor - akin to those graphics cards that absolutely cannot unlock extra pipes.2) Any chance that we'll see it appearing on the other ASUS conroe boards? Or is the answer to (1) intricately linked to the north bridge?
3) How about other manufacturers? Now that ASUS has set the stage, are we going to see the Gigabyte (or what's left of 'em), MSI, DFI, etc... boards following suit? Or is this patentable technology?
4) Anyone else had it with these <explicative> snakes on this <explicative> plane? I wish someone would do something about them, already....
-Sheq
ZachSaw - Thursday, August 24, 2006 - link
Write a few bytes into the MSR. Read the PRM of conroe. You'll find out how easy it actually is. Under Windows, you'll need a driver's help to access MSRs, but the BIOS has complete access to MSRs.
ASUS followed Gigabyte -- AFAIK, Gigabyte already has this feature since they introduced 965P-series boards. They did it so early that they didn't need any updates.
Sh0ckwave - Thursday, August 24, 2006 - link
I can confirm this. I just tried it on my DS3 with and E6400. I was able to set the multi to 6, 7, and 8.Calin - Friday, August 25, 2006 - link
Who knows, after the Gigabyte-Asus union (partial union with a manufacturing purpose), maybe they do share some know-howtombomba2 - Thursday, August 24, 2006 - link
Sorry, but as long as anandtech doesn't have conroes which can be unlocked up, I think this is a very questionable feature of the board.