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Motherboard: ASUS P4B533-E Review :: Setup and Overclocking
First off let me say that the motherboard is designed and laid out very well. With very easy to read large lettered text silk screened on the board for readability. You can read your manual to get a heads up on where everything is located, but even without the manual the board is geared to be user oriented.
There are a few ways you can set up the system as the P4B533-E allows the user the option of using on-board DIP Switches or a configuring jumper-free from within the Award BIOS. If you are new to this kind of stuff trust me the BIOS is a much easier way to accomplish your goals, be they just the default settings or the more promiscuous overclocking options.
Some things you may want to take into consideration are the ASUS Q-Fan feature, which intelligently adjusts CPU fan speeds according to the system load. The result is maximum fan power when you need it most and quiet operation when you don't. As I stated in the review previously the ASUS POST Reporter provides clear explanations of system errors by way of a talking voice telling you what is wrong and a possible way to fix it. This is pretty cool thing to have but you really do not want it saying anything to you as that means there is a system error.
The Award BIOS interface is one of the most straight ahead, easy to understand, and manipulate BIOS firmware programs an enthusiast could ask for. Featuring options for manual adjustments of the voltage for your memory, CPU and AGP slot makes the board able to stably function at highly overclocked settings without error. I was able to increase the boards FSB to fifteen percent above normal spec achieving a stable 2.3GHZ out of my OEM 2GHz CPU.
Upon hitting the power button I was greeted with the lovely sound of a beep meaning a successful motherboard installation and for the default environment everything was auto-detected. The CPU was set for 20X @ 100MHz FSB with the memory set to SPD. You can also disable or enable the major feature options of the P4B533-E easily in the BIOS. Windows installation went very smoothly as did all the software in preparation for the testing sequence. Below you can see the various screens Offered within the Award BIOS. The screens show the system in its default state with all settings at normal.
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