ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe BIOS
ASUS has by far the best BIOS of three motherboards tested today both in terms of features and organization.

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The primary “AI Tweaker” screen holds most of the clock settings and timings for the system and any overclocking you might want to pursue.  In this shot you can see that the FSB can be increased to as high as 800 MHz (3200 MHz quad pumped) though that is again an unlikely scenario. 

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The DRAM multiplier/speed option allows you to select your setting based on the estimated memory speed at your current FSB setting. 

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All of the memory timings you could possibly want to play with…

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The ASUS BIOS allows you to key in the voltage numbers directly rather than having to hold down the + and – keys which is a great little feature all BIOS’ should have from now on. 

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The ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe, much like the X58-based P6T Deluxe I reviewed last month, uses a combination of jumpers and BIOS options to enable all the available voltage options for a use to select.  Basically, the jumpers are used to prevent users that don’t know what they are doing from burning up their system – it limits the maximum voltage settings until a jumper is changed positions.  For example, in the highlighted option above (NB Voltage) it can only be increased to 1.9v with the jumpers set in safe mode but it can go as high as 2.2v with the jumper position changed. 

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The hardware monitor section of the BIOS is pretty well done and includes the requisite fan speeds, temperatures and voltage monitoring. 

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The “Tools” menu offers up some more great ASUS features including the integrated BIOS flash utility, Express Gate and profile support. 

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