Ever heard of the Asus P5E3 Pro?

[capt_taco]

I'm looking for a decent LGA775 board with DDR3 support that will have no problem supporting 1.7V DDR3 -- the main shortcoming of my previous Intel board.

Ordered an Asus P5Q3 which should've fit the bill, but it arrived DOA and was apparently the last one Newegg had in stock. Great, on to a different one.

I found this one, the Asus P5E3 Pro, but I'm a little scared because of the scarcity of information about it. I see plenty about the P5E3 Premium, P5E3 WS, P5E3 Deluxe ... also a number of P5E3 boards with an X38 chipset as opposed to this one's X48 ... but hardly anything about the P5E3 Pro.

It looks like a pretty decent board for the price, but the manufacturer doesn't have a product page unless you dig it up through links from another site. (link) Is there something wrong with it? Or did I just stumble across a decent board that wasn't really publicized, and I'm worrying myself unnecessarily?

 

[badge]

I suspect that board is not popular and cheaply priced because it is a Socket 775 x48 using DDR3. DDR3 is expensive, well DDR2 is too these days, and just doesn't give that much of a performance boost to the system with a chipset housing a dual channel memory controller on the NB. DDR3 is more suited for the X58 with the triple channel memory controller on the CPU. But the price is reasonable if you already have DDR3.

 

[capt_taco]

Yeah, I've already got 4x2GB of DDR3 that I want to make use of, so that's the key factor for me.

I was more nervous that the board was unpopular because it had some stupid issue you'd never think to ask about, like it was the one Asus board you couldn't overclock, or it wasn't compatible with Vista, or it slows the memory down by half for no good reason, or things like that. Basically just looking for any red flags that it's actually a POS in disguise. Because the specs look pretty good for the price, so I'm wondering what the horrible catch is.

 

[badge]

X48 is the top chipset for socket 775. have you read the forums at ASUS regarding the MB. Sometimes ASUS bunches together similar boards on the online support page.

 

[badge]

This link is available from the Newegg product page.

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=dsHHbxSbteKInuLB

 

[badge]

Online product download page



P5E3 Pro Forum. Must be a fairly new issue.

EDIT: Links not working. I linked directly to the downloads and then forum of the MB.

 

[capt_taco]

Yeah, the Newegg link was the only way to get to the actual product page on the Asus site. Wasn't much about it on their forums either -- everyone seems to have a P5E3 Premium or a P5E3 Deluxe.

I guess I really shouldn't worry myself too much over this -- seems like there's nothing wrong with it except the fact that it's overshadowed by other models of a similar name.

 

[badge]

The X48 gives you two PCIe 2.0 16x lanes, which the x38 does too. But the X48 is binned higher and may give a small percentage better performance in some areas. The P45 chipset is also very good, but provides Crossfire at 8 x 8 which is fine for everything except the more extreme GPU processing areas. I think P45 is available with DDR3 support. The MB P5E3 Pro looks promising to me.

 

[badge]

One more try at the product and download page.

EDIT. My link will not take you there. I don't know what the deal is with the link not working.

 

[capt_taco]

The X48 gives you two PCIe 2.0 16x lanes, which the x38 does too. But the X48 is binned higher and may give a small percentage better performance in some areas. The P45 chipset is also very good, but provides Crossfire at 8 x 8 which is fine for everything except the more extreme GPU processing areas. I think P45 is available with DDR3 support. The MB P5E3 Pro looks promising to me.

Yup. It LOOKS promising, so figured I'd ask and find out if there were horror stories I didn't know about.

Basically, all I'm looking for is a board that works and is simple to configure for DDR3 at 1.7V with no stupid problems. My original Intel board gave me headaches because it was just not designed to do that very well, and the P5Q3 I ordered to replace it with was DOA (that'll teach me to get an open box item, but it was the only way I could find one in stock anywhere). So I'm maybe a little paranoid when it comes to motherboards right now, and at this point I figure it's not even a dumb question to ask if the chipset is made out of dynamite, because by now I wouldn't be surprised by anything.

 

[badge]

If you look on that product page you linked, 3rd generation 8 phase power design. That will give you plenty of voltage adjustment in BIOS. AN intel MB would not compare to the features ASUS offers BIOS tweaking wise. The board is not, however Republic of gamers (ROG) BIOS equipped board. ROG is state of the art as far as BIOS tweaking ability and features in the entire industry. An x48 will perform much better than a G31. Far more beef to work with with an x48.

 

[capt_taco]

Right -- that's exactly what I was hoping to hear! I don't necessarily need the most extreme oc'ing board on the market, just one that's not so severely limiting like the Intel board (which is why I got rid of it). It sounds like that's what the P5E3 is going to be: Just a decent board that gives you some flexibility, and without any nasty surprises as far as I know.

The Intel was fine for a basic system at standard settings, but once I got past that ... well, let's just say that's why you find me here comparing better models.

 

[badge]

The ASUS line is head and shoulders above Intel as far as catering to 'enthusiasts' . And you will be getting the x48, that is the higest binned chipset 775 has to offer. With those ASUS VR's, that thing will run like a Rolls man.

 

[apache_lives]

Hmmmm DOA is rare, its usually incorrect assembly or a clash of hardware choices/configs

 

[capt_taco]

Hmmmm DOA is rare, its usually incorrect assembly or a clash of hardware choices/configs

I guess it wasn't completely DOA, just defective. I was able to get up and running semi-OK. But the onboard ethernet did not work no matter what I tried, so finally I talked to the manufacturer and they told me it was a defective board and to RMA it ... I wasn't sold on that (and did not want to disassemble and reassemble the whole system again) so I called back and asked a different tech support guy, insisting it must be a software problem. But that rep also said no, it definitely is a specific problem caused by a defective board and the only thing I could do is send it back.

Like I said, it was an open box, and I'm guessing that's probably why the first person returned it.

 

[Matchload]

I bought the board from New Egg a few weeks ago (April 2010). Paired with Mushkin DDR3 black edition ram at 1600 this board rocks. I first bought a micro board from Asus that did not recognize my ram so I sent both back with a slight loss due to restocking. I immediately noticed that the bios on this board was more detailed for settings than the Asus micro board. The board has multipliers in increments of 1. It has a ton of over clocking features. It has great copper pipe cooling on the NB. I put a big gamers copper pipe heat sink/fan on the CPU. I just clicked on the link for the board at newegg and I see that it is a dead link. Probably due to it being no longer sold. There was great advice on settings in those reviews that I will not be able to read now. The ram is out of stock as well. I wish that I bought two sets of ram now. You may want to manually set your ram timings/voltage with this board instead of auto. It has a ton of options and will revert back to the default bios for a reboot if you mess up. Just remember what settings you had that worked already. You may want to write them down instead of memorizing them since the settings are pretty much infinite. The board rocks. I overclock to 4.2 GHZ stable. Everything is cold/room temp to the touch when overclocked. Great MOBO.

 

[silvidan_it]

I bought the board from New Egg a few weeks ago (April 2010). Paired with Mushkin DDR3 black edition ram at 1600 this board rocks. I first bought a micro board from Asus that did not recognize my ram so I sent both back with a slight loss due to restocking. I immediately noticed that the bios on this board was more detailed for settings than the Asus micro board. The board has multipliers in increments of 1. It has a ton of over clocking features. It has great copper pipe cooling on the NB. I put a big gamers copper pipe heat sink/fan on the CPU. I just clicked on the link for the board at newegg and I see that it is a dead link. Probably due to it being no longer sold. There was great advice on settings in those reviews that I will not be able to read now. The ram is out of stock as well. I wish that I bought two sets of ram now. You may want to manually set your ram timings/voltage with this board instead of auto. It has a ton of options and will revert back to the default bios for a reboot if you mess up. Just remember what settings you had that worked already. You may want to write them down instead of memorizing them since the settings are pretty much infinite. The board rocks. I overclock to 4.2 GHZ stable. Everything is cold/room temp to the touch when overclocked. Great MOBO.

Hi, I'm going to buy this mobo, and I'm looking for the best RAM DDR 1600. So when I'll change it maybe I can use it again.
Looking at the memory qualified vendors pdf provided by asus I'm wondering which one is better.
I can't find a lot of online store that have one of the memory in the list.
I want to plug more than 4gb, I thought 6gb.
I have found the
DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 6GB G.Skill NQ 6GBNQ Skt1366 (3x2GB)
[F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ]

This memory works in triple channel, but board doesn't support it.
Does the memory works anyway?

Any suggestion?

Best Reagrds,

Daniele

 

[badge]

I can't find a lot of online store that have one of the memory in the list.

Use the memory configurators at some of the RAM distributors to get RAM tested and guaranteed to work with the MB.



http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx

http://www.corsair.com/configurator/default.aspx

http://kingston.com/

http://conf.ocztechnology.com/index.php?c=1

 

[capt_taco]

Hi, I'm going to buy this mobo, and I'm looking for the best RAM DDR 1600. So when I'll change it maybe I can use it again.
Looking at the memory qualified vendors pdf provided by asus I'm wondering which one is better.
I can't find a lot of online store that have one of the memory in the list.
I want to plug more than 4gb, I thought 6gb.
I have found the
DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 6GB G.Skill NQ 6GBNQ Skt1366 (3x2GB)
[F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ]

This memory works in triple channel, but board doesn't support it.
Does the memory works anyway?

Any suggestion?

Best Reagrds,

Daniele

Hey! Funny I happened to be back here to see this thread resurrected. Let me tell you from my experience with this motherboard: You will have an easy time with two sticks of memory at just about any voltage and settings you want. It's easy to do the settings, and I'd say its stability is as good as any I've seen. It can handle work just about any kind of DDR3 1600 or under whether it's on the list or not; it's pretty good in terms of adaptability that way. I'm currently running four sticks of Patriot DDR3-1333 that are not on the list.

With more than two sticks of RAM, it DOES have stability issues -- you will need to slightly increase the RAM voltage over spec to keep it from freezing randomly. I was using four sticks of 1.7V RAM and went through a series of trial-and-errors until I got everything stable at 1.74V. I eventually also had to raise the northbridge voltage slightly with a full set -- the memory controller's max is 8GB and using a full 8GB stresses it, so that's another thing to be aware of.

Basically, I would not get three sticks of triple-channel memory -- go with 2x2GB or 4x2GB and you'll be better off. If it was my machine, I'd also go for DDR3-1333 with a 7 latency over DDR3-1600 with a 9 latency, but it's not like that's going to make a huge difference.

Overall, I've got to say I agree that this is a very easy board to work with, overclocks great, very few complaints at all. I've had boards that were a crappy headache to work with and ones that were quick and easy, and this is one of the better ones. If you can still find one in good condition, go for it.

 

[silvidan_it]

Hi badge,
I already did it.
and the result are, that sometime the vendor memory configurator doesn't have the mb in its list. And when it is included, then the test give a result of a memory that is not officially supported.
Maybe this Mb was born unlucky.
Crucial doesn't has it in their list!
Corsair and kingstone don't have it.
Ocz has this:http://memoryselector.cnetchannel.com/ocztech/result.asp?fk_class=6569&manufacturer_id=712&model_id=817377

I'm thinking to buy the G.Skill. But looking at the item , seems thati it has been designed for X58 motherboard and 1366 cpu. So, one last question:
What about the triple channel? Does it work on this MB that supports dual channel DDR3 memory only?

Thanks

Daniele

 

[silvidan_it]

Hi Taco,
happy to see you still follow this thread.

I very appreciate your suggestion, about modules 2x2gb or 4x2gb. I was thinking 2x3gb. what do you think about it? Could it be ok?
what DDR 1600 would you suggest me to buy?

What is your full configuration?

Mine should will be:
CPU: intel e7300
Mainboard: P5e PRO
RAM: ???????????????????
Hard Disk: 500Gb
Video: Ati hd4870 1gb Toxic
power Supply: 550
OS: 7 64 bit / Ubuntu

 

[capt_taco]

My system specs on this machine are:

CPU: Intel q9550
mobo: P5E3 Pro
RAM: 4x2GB Patriot DDR3-1333 7-7-7-20 (1.7V)
HDD: 300GB WD Velociraptor
GPU: Visiontek HD 4870
PSU: 850
OS: Vista

It's pretty much worked with few problems since I installed it, other than the adjustments I had to make for the fully-loaded RAM slots.

As far as the 2x3GB, I would just skip it and get something else. Yes, the RAM will work, but you don't want to use three sticks in a four-slot setup. On dual-channel boards, you're really only supposed to use RAM in pairs for optimal performance. If you were to use two sticks out of that kit, it would run in dual-channel just like any other RAM. If you were to use three sticks, none of it would run in dual-channel, so you'd be gimping your performance some. On SOME boards (not sure if this is one or not) such a setup might also confuse the board, and you'll have to mess around with the settings to troubleshoot it and get it working.

As far as which RAM I'd recommend for this type of setup ... probably the absolute best you can do are handful of DDR3-1600 sets with 6 latency, though expect to pay a little extra:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147+1052129233+1052429371+1052526967+1052315794&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&Subcategory=147&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

Though I think if you use one with a 7 latency, like this set that's 7-7-7-18, you'll hardly notice any difference, if you do at all.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226076

 

[capt_taco]

also, I should add: For gaming or most regular uses, 4GB is going to be plenty and you should not notice an appreciable difference between 4GB and 6GB or 8GB. You mostly only need more than 4GB for heavy-duty photo editing, heavy-duty multitasking, and other things that use a lot of memory. Regular gaming is not to that point yet.

And with the RAM that I recommended ... also be aware that you'll have to set the RAM voltage yourself in the BIOS. (You should set timings manually too when you do that, but this board is pretty good at recognizing them on its own). I would not worry a heck of a lot about this, since this board handles voltage adjustments with two sticks pretty well -- it's only when you are using four together that you have to start making tweaks for stability.

 

[silvidan_it]

Thank you a lot!
I used pc for gaming anf for watch a film.
I have a 32 led tv connected to pc.
With ISO file format I don't have any kind of problem.
With .mkv film sometimes the film is not playable. I don't known if it's a matter of cpu , ram or vga.
It snaps (like a slowmotion with lags) both on monitor and TV.

The only way , for the moment is to use the internal player of the tv and play the film from the external usb drive.

I'm looking at the ram you suggested....