![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Thursday , May 04, 2006
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS P5N32-SLI Deluxe
ASUS delivers a one-two punch to the competition by releasing the P5N32-SLI Deluxe, using the Intel version of the nForce4 x16 chipset. Just how well does this stack up to its AMD counterpart?
BIOS (continued)
Accessible through the Advanced tab, the JumperFree Configuration submenu contain options and submenus for configuring all board voltages, bus and component speeds, and memory timing options. The only exception to this rule are the Northbridge and Southbridge HyperTransport bus speed settings, located within the Chipset submenu. The user is present with different configuration settings depending on the selection made from the AI Overclocking option.
With the AI Overclocking option set to Auto, the user has no manual options available, with the BIOS determining the optimal system settings. Selecting the Overclock Profile setting gives the user the option to set the desired overclock level through the settings listed in the Overclock Options setting. However, the system remains in full control of the FSB and voltage settings used to achieve the selected overclock value. With AI Overclocking set to AI N.O.S. (Non-delay Overclocking System), the user is given a bit more control of the board settings. While the user is able to manually set the board voltage settings, the bus and memory timing speed options remain under strict system control. The user only has the option of setting the desired overclock speed via the Target Frequency option, which is similar to the option available to the user wit the Overclock Profile mode active. With the AI Overclocking option set to Manual, all board level settings become user accessible and configurable.
The Performance Options submenu contains all settings related to bus speed and memory timings for the board and is only available to user configuration with the AI Overclocking Option set to Manual. The FSB Optimize Mode and Memory Optimize Mode options allow for more aggressive system controlled bus timing operation when enabled. The System Clock Mode option controls whether the CPU FSB and memory speed are synchronous or asynchronous. Setting this option to Linked forces synchronous mode, while the Manual option allows for independent speed setting. For both the FSB Clock (Mhz) and Memory Clock (Mhz) options allow for speed settings of up to 1600MHz, which translates to a maximum CPU FSB of 400Mhz or a maximum memory speed of 800MHz. The PCIE Frequency (Mhz) option controls the speed of the PCI-Express bus, with a maximum settable speed of just under 150MHz.
With the Memory Timings option set to Manual, all configurable memory timing options become accessible. The following memory timing options are available for configuration: CAS latency; RAS to CAS delay (shown as tRCD) RAS pre-charge delay (shown as tRP); active to precharge delay (shown as tRAS); bank cycle time (shown as tRC), and command rate (shown as Address Mode). For all listed memory timing settings, the lower value is the more aggressive setting.
The CPU Vcore voltage is set via the CPU VCore Voltage option, with a hefty 1.70V ceiling available. The board’s Vtt voltage, set through the FSB Termination Voltage option, has a maximum available of 1.4150V. This voltage is normally set to at least half of the configured memory voltage for maximum system stability. The power supplied to the DDR2 modules is controlled via the Memory Voltage setting, with a 2.40V maximum. The NB Chipset Voltage determines how much voltage flows through the Northbridge chipset, while the SB Chipset Voltage option controls that of the Southbridge. Both options allow for some voltage headroom.