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ASUS Core 2-ready Motherboard Roundup September 21, 2006 |
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Summary: In today's article we've rounded up four different Core 2-ready motherboards from ASUS for review: the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe WiFi-AP, P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP, P5N32-SLI SE, and finally the P5NSLI. Each motherboard has its fair share of pros and cons. Join us as we go over which features make each board unique, overclocking, and performance in this article!
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 19 ) |
Core 2’s rabid popularity
It has been a long, long time since a new CPU has caused a stir quite like this. Already we’ve openly wondered if Intel’s Core 2 Duo E6400 in particular is the Celeron 300A reincarnated. The E6400 delivers a great deal of bang for the buck at stock speeds, but really shines with a little bit of overclocking. The fact that these chips can be had for under $250 at some retailers makes it an incredible bargain.
If you’ve got another $120 or so to spare, the Core 2 Duo E6600 is another price/performance champ. The CPU runs at 2.4GHz, versus the E6400’s 2.13GHz, and more importantly, ships with twice the amount of L2 cache memory, 4MB in the E6600 versus 2MB in the E6400.
But what about finding a motherboard to pair Core 2 with? Here’s where ASUS comes in. With Core 2’s rabid popularity, ASUS has a Core 2-ready motherboard for every market. If you want CrossFire compatibility, ASUS has got you covered. Looking for SLI support? ASUS has got that too. What if you want to save a little money, and go with a P965 motherboard? ASUS has a wide range of P965 options custom tailored to serve multiple markets (and price points). Basically no one’s got Core 2 covered better than ASUS. In this article we’re going to go over four Core 2-ready motherboards from ASUS that you may want to consider if you plan on upgrading to Core 2 in the near future. Let’s get started…
For the NVIDIA gamer ASUS currently offers two options, the nForce4 SLI X16-based P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe motherboard and the nForce 570 SLI-powered P5NSLI.
Obviously with its newer chipset, you’d naturally expect the P5NSLI to be the more attractive option for prospective Core 2 owners but it isn’t that simple. The P5NSLI is ASUS’ value offering for the SLI segment, and therefore doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles found in ASUS’ higher-end motherboards. The P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe is an older motherboard based on an older chipset, but it was designed for the high-end market from the start. In other words, it has more of the features you’d expect to find in an enthusiast-level motherboard.
For ATI enthusiasts interested in CrossFire, the choice is simple: ASUS’ P5W DH Deluxe. This motherboard features Intel’s 975X chipset, providing native support for ATI’s CrossFire technology, and is loaded with features. We’ve been using this motherboard extensively over the past month, and have found it to be a top-notch board.
The P5W DH Deluxe is one of the most expensive Core 2 motherboards on the market right now, selling for north of $250 at many online retailers. If you want to save a little money and don’t plan on upgrading to dual graphics technology like SLI or CrossFire, ASUS’ P5B line would be the ideal choice. ASUS offers a wide range of motherboards on the P5B line, ranging from the cost-conscious consumer all the way up to the high-end hardware enthusiast. The P5B has also proven to be a popular choice among many overclockers, with reports of boards hitting 400MHz FSB with Core 2 CPUs. For this review we’re taking a look at ASUS’ high-end P965 motherboard, the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP Edition.
With that quick intro of the participants out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the motherboards.
| ASUS P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP | Page:: ( 2 / 19 ) |
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Based on Intel’s P965 chipset, the ASUS P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP is ASUS’ flagship P965 motherboard and it certainly shows. ASUS has decked their P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP board out with pretty much every feature you can think of. For connectivity, you’ve got dual Gigabit Ethernet ports as well as 54Mbps 802.11g WiFi, seven Serial ATA ports, and one parallel ATA connector. Since the ICH8 South Bridge used on the P965 chipset doesn’t support parallel ATA, the inclusion of parallel ATA support is made possible thanks to an external storage controller manufactured by JMicro, which also powers the board’s seventh Serial ATA port. Rounding out the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP’s connectivity are 8 USB 2.0 ports (four provided via back plate, and another four via external USB header) and 2 IEEE-1394a ports (one on the backplate, and one via header). On the backplate of the P5B ASUS also offers an eSATA port just below the FireWire port. This gives you access to a Serial ATA port without having to reach inside your case.
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You’ll also note that the P5B Deluxe has two full-sized PCI Express graphics slots, a blue (primary) slot, and a black (secondary) PCI Express slot. Thanks to a recent driver update from ATI, the P965 chipset (and the P5B Deluxe) now supports ATI’s CrossFire technology, but currently CrossFire support is limited to just D3D apps and only Radeon X1900 cards (we explain why in this news article).
When running in CrossFire mode the primary slot runs in full 16-lane PCI Express mode while the second slot gets just four PCI Express lanes. This results in a slight performance penalty. In comparison, the 975X chipset splits its PCI Express lanes evenly, eight for each slot. In addition to supporting X1900-based CrossFire, the second slot can also be used to hook up an additional graphics card so you can drive more monitors. The blue slot is the primary graphics slot and runs at full 16 lane operation, while the second graphics slot only runs in x2 or x4 mode.
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One of the motherboard’s cooler features is known as ASUS Q-Connector. Q-Connector makes it easier for you to hook up items like the pin headers for your system speaker, power button/LED, etc. Instead of having to whip out the user manual to see where these pins are connected to the motherboard, simply plug the pins into ASUS’ Q-Connector which then goes on the motherboard. It makes things a lot easier than reaching inside your case to hook these devices up individually, which can be a tedious process sometimes. The P5B Deluxe also has one of the most unique power LEDs we’ve seen. Rather than relying on the standard green LED we’ve grown accustomed too, ASUS uses a blue power LED adorned with the ASUS logo. Then, once you power the system on, the LED changes from blue to red. It’s a really nice touch that we’d like to see ASUS continue to integrate on their high-end boards.
ASUS has implemented an 8-phase power delivery system on the P5B Deluxe. In fact, if you take a closer look at the CPU area on the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP, you’ll note that ASUS uses eight polymer capacitors here. Polymer capacitors are designed to handle heat better than the electrolytic-based capacitors you’ll typically see on most motherboards, and therefore typically last longer than electrolytic capacitors. In fact NVIDIA and their board partners tend to use polymer capacitors on their high-end GeForce 7600 GT/7800 GT/7900 GT and greater graphics cards. ASUS also uses all-solid capacitors for their 8-phase power delivery system on the P5B Deluxe. This further ensures that the CPU gets a good stream of steady power, as well as helping the board’s longevity. You’ll also notice that the capacitors around the CPU are low-profile i.e. they aren’t very tall. This ensures that you’ll have plenty of room to install the largest of CPU coolers.
Another nice feature ASUS includes on all of their high-end motherboards is heat pipe-based cooling. ASUS uses a heat pipe to cool the board’s the VRM circuitry as well as the North Bridge, allowing the board to operate silently. ASUS also includes an external fan which can be attached to the board which you can use if you’re running a water-cooling setup, or just want a little more cooling.
| P5B board layout and BIOS | Page:: ( 3 / 19 ) |
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Board layout
With so many features integrated onto the P5B Deluxe board, you’d assume that we’d run into issues with the motherboard’s layout. However, this isn’t the case, ASUS has done a pretty good job with the P5B Deluxe’s board layout. The SATA ports are positioned down on the board, so they won’t get in the way of dual-slot graphics cards like the Radeon X1950 XTX or GeForce 7950 GX2, in fact you can run dual dual-slot cards without interference from the SATA ports. ASUS even places two PCI slots between both graphics slots to ensure plenty of room between both graphics cards.
We were a bit surprised to see only one x1 PCI Express slot though.
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The only real issue some users may run into with the layout of the P5B is the location of the seventh Serial ATA port. ASUS places it just above the primary PCI Express graphics slots, which frankly is one of the strangest places we’ve seen a Serial ATA port placed to date. Fortunately this SATA port isn’t driven natively by the chipset and therefore will likely be rarely used among P5B Deluxe owners. You’ll also note that parallel ports are missing from the back plate of the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP in favor of the eSATA port. ASUS made the right move here in our opinion.
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Audio and Dual GigE LAN
Audio duties are handled by an 8-channel codec from Analog Devices, the ADI 1988B. The 1988B seems particularly well suited for use with voice recognition software, ASUS touts its noise filtration capability and bundles the board with an ADI superbeam array mic, which focuses on the sound coming from the microphone’s reception cone, ignoring the sounds coming from other directions. This feature could make the P5B Deluxe an ideal solution for Skype users and other video conferencing applications. The motherboard’s networking is powered by Marvell 88E8001 and Marvell 88E8056. These are two popular controllers that have been implemented by numerous motherboard manufacturers, but keep in mind that the secondary Ethernet controller, the 88E8001 is based on the slower PCI bus and therefore won’t come anywhere close to hitting its peak theoretical speeds. Fortunately, the primary controller, the 88E8056 is based on PCI Express and doesn’t have this problem.
BIOS
ASUS has put together a very solid BIOS for the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP. Starting with their 507 BIOS update, ASUS has added the ability to adjust the CPU’s clock multiplier downward for Core 2 CPUs, which can come in handy for HTPC who may want to underclock their processor (this feature is also present on Gigabyte’s Core 2 motherboards), and with bus speeds up to 650MHz, the P5B Deluxe has all the bus speeds you’ll ever need for overclocking and then some. Keep in mind that since the Core 2’s front-side bus is quad-pumped, that equates to bus speeds of up to 2.6GHz effective.
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The BIOS for the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP is very well laid out, all the key settings you’ll need to overclock the board can be found on one page, making navigation a snap. ASUS’ BIOS provides a wealth of voltage settings for the CPU, FSB, Memory, North Bridge, and South Bridge, and for those of you with older PCI devices you can lock the PCI bus to 33MHz or tie it to the CPU. This is a nice feature to have if you’ve got a sound card or other PCI device that may be sensitive to overclocking.
| P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP BIOS Features | |
| Bus Speeds | 100-650MHz in 1MHz increments |
| PCI Express Speeds | 90-150MHz in 1MHz increments |
| Memory Speeds | 533, 667, 800, 889, 1067MHz |
| CPU Voltages | 1.10-1.7V in 0.0125V increments |
| Memory Voltages | 1.80-2.45V in 0.05V increments |
| PCI Express Voltages | NA |
| Front-side bus Voltages | 1.2V, 1.3V, 1.4V, 1.45V |
| North Bridge Voltages | 1.25V, 1.45V, 1.55V, 1.65V |
| CPU Multipliers | Yes, downward multiplier adjustment supported |
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The P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP BIOS even features the ability to save profiles for overclocking. This could come in handy for instance if you find that some of your favorite older games can run with complete stability at higher clock speeds, while newer more demanding games may require slower speeds. With the OC profile, simply load the higher OC profile when you’re playing older games, and load the slower OC profile for your newer games. Up to two OC’ing profiles can be saved in the P5W DH’s BIOS.
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Overclocking
End users have been reporting some pretty staggering overclocks with the P5B Deluxe, so we were eager to see how high we could push our board, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. When it was all said and done, we were able to run FSB speeds up to 439MHz with complete stability!
Make no mistake about it, this motherboard seems to be a scorcher when it comes to overclocking.
| ASUS P5W DH Deluxe WiFi-AP | Page:: ( 4 / 19 ) |
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The flagship of ASUS’ Core 2 line is currently the P5W DH Deluxe. This motherboard is based on Intel’s 975X “enthusiast” chipset and fully supports ATI’s CrossFire technology, in fact we’ve been using the P5W DH Deluxe for the past month as our standard platform for Core 2 testing, most recently running a pair of Radeon X1950 XTX cards in CrossFire mode for our ATI’s Radeon X1950 XTX: Quad SLI Killer? article. We also used the P5W DH Deluxe to take a 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo E6400 to 3.4GHz as well.
Like the P5B Deluxe, the P5W DH Deluxe supports ASUS’s Q-Connector feature, you’ll also note that all of the motherboards major components are color-coded, just like the P5B Deluxe (the primary graphics slot is the orange slot by the way).
Also like the P5B board, the P5W DH Deluxe boasts an 8-phase power delivery system. In fact you’ll see that ASUS uses the same low height capacitors that are found on the P5B Deluxe, including polymer capacitors. We had no problems getting our largest CPU coolers to fit on the P5W DH Deluxe.
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The P5W DH Deluxe also uses the same Realtek RTL8187L 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN controller that’s found on the P5B Deluxe, right down to the same location on the motherboard.
ASUS provides tons of space between the PCI Express graphics slots. ASUS refers to this as their two-slot thermal design. Basically it refers to the fact that ASUS provides two slots between the PCI Express x16 graphics slots, often times to save space on the board the two graphics slots are only separated by one PCI slot, or a single x1 PCI Express slot. By integrating more space between the graphics slots, ASUS provides more space for graphics cards with dual-slot coolers like the GeForce 7900 GTX and Radeon X1900 XTX. This provides better airflow between the cards, helping to reduce board temperatures.
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Dual Gigabit Ethernet done right
Handling networking duties on the P5W DH Deluxe are two Marvell 88E8053 Gigabit LAN controllers. Both controllers are bound by the PCI Express interface, so the secondary network controller on the P5W DH Deluxe isn’t afflicted by the PCI bus like the P5B Deluxe board is.
| Board layout and BIOS | Page:: ( 5 / 19 ) |
For starters, there’s plenty of room in the areas that are the two biggest hot spots on any modern motherboard: the area around the CPU socket and the space separating both PCI Express graphics slots. We discussed this on the previous page, but we couldn’t help but repeat it again, as this is important to any enthusiast. ASUS also places the ATX power connectors along the top edge and right edge of the motherboard, so these components are mostly out of the way of CPU/system fans where they can get caught. It is a bit strange to see that ASUS elected to use a 4-pin connection for the ATX12V connector though, after all, this is supposed to be a high-end motherboard.
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With three PCI slots and two x1 PCI Express slots the P5W DH Deluxe has plenty of options in terms of expansion. Sitting in between the PCI Express graphics slots are one x1 PCI Express slot and one PCI slot, so you’ll lose these slots if you plan on running X1900 XT/XTX CrossFire, but that still leaves you with one additional x1 PCIe slot and two PCI slots, so those power users with CrossFire, a PCIe TV tuner card, and a PCI sound card should love the P5W DH Deluxe. ASUS hangs an eSATA port off the backplate of the P5W DH Deluxe for additional storage connectivity as well.
Like the P5B Deluxe, heat pipe cooling is used to cool the board’s North Bridge and MOSFETs, while the ICH7R South Bridge is cooled passively with a small aluminum heatsink, allowing the motherboard to run silently.
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In terms of complaints, we wish that ASUS provided four SATA ports that were driven natively by the system chipset, but as we discussed earlier it’s just three. You can literally see where ASUS has silkscreened the fourth SATA port. The retention mechanism used on the P5W DH Deluxe can also be difficult to manipulate when a dual-slot graphics card like the Radeon X1900 XTX or GeForce 7900 GTX is in place, in order to grab it you’ll have to reach directly under the graphics card’s heatsink, which can be a difficult task. It would’ve been better if ASUS had placed the retention mechanism on the top of the PCI Express slot like they did with the P5B Deluxe.
All this aside though, it’s a minor miracle ASUS was able to pull off the P5W DH Deluxe’s board layout so well.
BIOS
The BIOS of the P5W DH Deluxe supports the same BIOS layout and all the key features found in the P5B Deluxe’s BIOS, including OC Profiles, only it supports slightly different bus speeds and voltages. We tested with ASUS’ recently released 1405 BIOS, which adds (among other things) the ability to adjust the CPU’s clock multiplier downward for Core 2 CPUs, as well as boasting more performance and bus speed options than the 701 BIOS we were using previously.
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The P5W DH Deluxe doesn’t have the 650MHz bus speed ceiling of the P5B Deluxe, but with bus speeds up to 550MHz, the P5W DH Deluxe should still have more than enough bus speeds to satisfy the overclocking crowd. The P5W DH Deluxe also has a few memory bus speeds that aren’t available on the P5B Deluxe.
| P5W DH Deluxe BIOS Features | |
| Bus Speeds | 100-550MHz in 1MHz increments |
| PCI Express Speeds | 90-150MHz in 1MHz increments |
| Memory Speeds | 400, 533, 667, 711, 800, 889, 1067MHz |
| CPU Voltages | 1.225-1.7V in 0.0125V increments |
| Memory Voltages | 1.85-2.4V in 0.05V increments |
| PCI Express Voltages | NA |
| Front-side bus Voltages | 1.2V, 1.3V, 1.4V, 1.5V |
| North Bridge Voltages | 1.5V, 1.55V, 1.6V, 1.65V |
| CPU Multipliers | Yes, downward multiplier adjustment supported |
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In addition to the standard settings, ASUS also includes a “Digital Home” setting, when enabled the BIOS will automatically lower fan speeds and voltages to help the system run quieter, although for finer fan speed control you can still go in the BIOS’ power management settings and manually tweak the fan speeds of your CPU and system fans.
Note: One quirk with early P5W DH Deluxe motherboards is that they didn’t support all Core 2 CPUs. ASUS has since released newer BIOS revisions that fully support all Core 2 CPUs, but unfortunately a few motherboards with earlier BIOS versions slipped out that didn’t fully support Core 2.
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Overclocking
In terms of overclocking, we were able to hit a bus speed of 427MHz with our P5W DH Deluxe motherboard. That’s not quite as high as the speeds we hit with the P5B Deluxe, but impressive nonetheless.
| ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe | Page:: ( 6 / 19 ) |
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As we explained on the first page of this article, ASUS currently offers two options for SLI enthusiasts looking for a new Core 2 motherboard: the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe and the P5NSLI. We’ll go over the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe first.
The P5N32-SLI SE is ASUS’ high-end SLI offering for the Intel platform, and uses NVIDIA’s nForce 4 SLI X16 Intel Edition chipset. The motherboard is actually based largely on ASUS’ older P5N32-SLI motherboard, only the SE board has been modified to support Core 2 CPUs. ASUS has basically tweaked the board design of the original P5N32-SLI, coming up with a new board revision for their newer P5N32-SLI SE board. ASUS has redesigned the P5N32-SLI SE’s VRM circuitry and BIOS to support Core 2’s lower operating voltage, and the P5N32-SLI SE now officially supports DDR2-800 memory (the original P5N32-SLI only offered official support for 667MHz DDR2 RAM).
Since it’s largely based on an older motherboard design, the P5N32-SLI SE predates ASUS’ Digital Home initiative and therefore lacks support for Wi-Fi like the P965 and 975X motherboards, but as a high-end board, the P5N32-SLI SE is still loaded with features. ASUS not only throws in eSATA and dual Gigabit Ethernet, but also heat pipe cooling, running completely silent.
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The P5N32-SLI SE’s most distinguishing feature is that it supports full 16-lane PCI Express operation, even with two cards running in SLI. This is made possible thanks to its nForce4 SLI X16 Intel Edition chipset, which is currently the only chipset on the market for Core 2 that supports full 16-lane PCI Express operation (the 975X chipset runs both graphics cards in x8 mode once CrossFire is enabled). Here we should also note that the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe fully supports Quad SLI. We’ve tested it out extensively and haven’t run into any problems.
For those of you with lots of older parallel ATA drives, the P5N32-SLI SE also natively supports Ultra ATA/133 operation, supporting up to four ATA drives (two IDE connectors are present on the motherboard). Since most Core 2 motherboards currently on the market use Intel chipsets, only one IDE connector is present on these motherboards, limiting support for only up to two ATA drives. The P5N32-SLI SE is also one of the few motherboards on the market to offer an x4 PCI Express slot, providing a little more bandwidth than the x1 slots you normally see present on most motherboards, while still providing legacy x1 support for slower PCI Express devices. In addition to the x4 PCI Express slot, the board also offers two x1 PCI Express slots and two PCI slots. When combined with the board’s two x16 graphics slots, this makes the P5N32-SLI SE one of the most capable Core 2-ready motherboards on the market when it comes to PCI Express connectivity.
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Like the P5B Deluxe and P5W DH Deluxe, ASUS has integrated an 8-phase power delivery system on the P5N32-SLI SE. The motherboard’s MOSFETs are cooled directly by ASUS’ heat pipe cooling, as is the North and South Bridge of the system chipset. If you want a little more cooling than this, ASUS also includes two additional fans inside the P5N32-SLI SE’s packaging which can be mounted to the motherboard for even more cooling.
| P5N32-SLI SE Board layout/BIOS | Page:: ( 7 / 19 ) |
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Considering the number of goodies ASUS has integrated onto the P5N32-SLI Deluxe, they’ve done a pretty good job with the motherboard’s layout. The ATX power connectors are out of the way of the CPU fan, so you won’t have to worry about snagging the power cable, and the area around the CPU socket while crowded still left plenty of room for large heatsink/fan units like Zalman’s CNPS7700 and CNPS9500.
Speaking of spacing, the primary graphics slot is located awfully close to the board’s DIMM slots. There’s just enough space to install the graphics card without affecting the DIMM slots, but it’s still close. The x1 and x4 PCI Express slots sit between both PCI Express graphics slots, so you’ve got plenty of room for hooking up two GeForce cards for SLI, even if the cards are dual-slot like NVIDIA’s GeForce 7900 GTX and 7950 GX2. Resting just below the secondary graphics slot are two PCI slots for expansion.
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If the board’s four native Serial ATA ports aren’t enough for you, ASUS provides a fifth port which is driven by a storage controller from Silicon Image, the Sil 3132. This controller supports 3Gbs Serial ATA with NCQ and is also responsible for driving the P5N32-SLI SE’s eSATA port, which is located on the backplate of the motherboard just underneath the parallel connector. This fifth SATA port is located in awkwardly above the PCI Express graphics slots, just below the CPU. Ideally it would rest somewhere closer to the other SATA ports. That’s our only real gripe with the P5N32-SLI SE’s board layout. Some may also be surprised to see the lack of FireWire ports on the P5N32-SLI SE’s backplate, but fortunately a FireWire header is included with the motherboard to provide this functionality.
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Like the P5W DH Deluxe, the P5N32-SLI SE has two Gigabit Ethernet ports with a PCI Express-based controller from Marvell powering the networking engine of the second Ethernet port. The P5N32-SLI SE doesn’t support Intel’s high-definition audio standard since its nForce4 SLI X16 chipset is incompatible with HD-audio, but Realtek’s ALC850 CODEC is a popular choice among many motherboard manufacturers and gets the job done for the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe.
BIOS
While the P5N32-SLI relies on American Megatrends AMIBIOS like the other Core 2 motherboards in this roundup, it uses a decidedly different interface that quite frankly, is a little confusing to navigate through in comparison to the other motherboards. This is because a lot of the settings enthusiasts will want to adjust are hidden under a myriad of vague submenus – to adjust the memory timings for instance you must navigate through two multiple menus and submenus: Advanced: JumperFree Configuration: Performance Options: Memory Timings: Manual. Getting to the FSB adjustment setting and memory bus setting are just as complicated. On other motherboards, these settings are normally available within a few keystrokes.
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In fact on the P5N32-SLI SE, it’s actually easier to get to the settings for voltage adjustment (which are hanging right underneath the Advanced menu), than it is to get to the settings for adjusting bus speeds.
| ASUS P5N32-SLI SE BIOS Settings | |
| Bus Speeds | 266-400MHz in 1MHz increments |
| PCI Express Speeds | 100-148.4375MHz in 1.5625MHz increments |
| Memory Speeds | 400-1600MHz in 1MHz increments |
| CPU Voltages | 1.225-1.7V in 0.025V increments |
| Memory Voltages | 1.85-2.4V in 0.05V increments |
| PCI Express Voltages | NA |
| Front-side bus Voltages | 1.215V, 1.315V, 1.415V |
| North Bridge Voltages | 1.4V, 1.5V, 1.6V |
| CPU Multipliers | NA |
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Fortunately the rest of the board’s BIOS is pretty easy to navigate through, and everything is located where you’d expect it to be for the most part. One real strength of the board is the level of flexibility you get when adjust memory speeds, options all the way up to 1600MHz are at your disposal in 1MHz increments, although surprisingly no settings are present for adjusting PCI Express voltage.
Overclocking
Our overclocking endeavors with the P5N32-SLI SE were rather limited, topping out at just 282MHz, which is well shy of the capabilities of our Core 2 CPUs. This seems to be a problem that plagues all P5N32-SLI SE motherboards, as numerous end users are also reporting slim overclocks with their boards. We wouldn’t be surprised if this was a limitation of the chipset, as ASUS has certainly done their part to help ensure the P5N32-SLI SE’s overclocking potential, using more heat pipes on the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe than on any of the other ASUS motherboards featured in this roundup.
| ASUS P5NSLI | Page:: ( 8 / 19 ) |
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Are you interested in a Core 2-ready SLI motherboard but don’t want to break the bank in the process? If so, ASUS’ P5NSLI may be just the motherboard for you. The motherboard is powered by NVIDIA’s recently released nForce 570 SLI chipset. Whereas the nForce4 SLI X16 and nForce 590 SLI chipset were designed to appeal directly to hardware enthusiasts, the nForce 570 SLI chipset has been designed for the masses. It’s limited to just 20 PCI Express lanes total whereas nForce4 SLI X16 and nForce 590 SLI support up to 48 lanes.
With just 20 PCI Express lanes at its disposal, the nForce 570 SLI chipset can’t run both PCI Express graphics slots in x16 mode when SLI is in use, instead the chipset devotes 8 PCI Express lanes (x8) to both graphics cards, but fortunately we’ve found in the past that none of today’s applications are capable of taking advantage of the added bandwidth dual 16-lane SLI graphics provides. However this may change as more graphically-intensive games appear on the horizon, and/or Havok/ATI/NVIDIA’s GPU-based physics begins to be incorporated into more games. The chipset technically only supports up to 667MHz DDR2 memory as well, although you can run faster speeds via the P5NSLI’s BIOS.
Other differences between the nForce 570 SLI and the 590 SLI are that it supports only four Serial ATA hard drives (like the nForce4 SLI X16 chipset) and is limited to just 8 USB ports and one Gigabit Ethernet connection. In comparison, the 590 SLI chipset supports ten and two respectively. Like the nForce4 SLI X16 chipset used on the P5N32-SLI SE, nForce 570 SLI also supports up to four parallel ATA drives. ASUS outfits the P5NSLI with two IDE connectors, allowing the board to support up to four PATA drives.
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No external storage controllers are added to the P5NSLI for added connectivity, nor does ASUS toss in a second network controller or include IEEE-1394 FireWire support: what you get natively from the nForce 570 SLI chipset is basically all you get from ASUS for the P5NSLI. This is important to keep in mind in case you have a digital camcorder or other FireWire device, or you need more than the four SATA/PATA connections that the P5NSLI provides. Remember, this is a budget motherboard that’s targeted towards price-sensitive buyers, adding extras such as extra storage controllers or additional networking/IEEE-1394 connectivity adds to the production cost of the motherboard and thus it isn’t included. If these items interest you, you’ll have to opt for ASUS’ P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe for now.
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Along those same lines, the hardware accessories bundled with the P5NSLI are pretty minimal. While you do get ASUS’ excellent Q-Connector, the rest of the bundle is fairly mundane. Unlike the other ASUS motherboards discussed previously, you’ll get no auxiliary cooling fans for added cooling, just one SATA data cable, three ribbon cables (1 floppy, 1 80-conductor IDE and one 40-conductor), 1 Molex-to-SATA power adapter, a 2-port USB header, and ASUS’ SLI bridge connector, which is required to swap the card from single-graphics card mode to SLI mode.
To further keep costs down, ASUS has integrated Analog Devices AD1986A audio CODEC. The AD1986A is compatible with Intel’s high-definition Azalia audio, but it’s just limited to 5.1 audio. Fortunately the AD1986A still supports Analog Devices jack-sensing technology, making configuration a little easier and the P5NSLI ships with a S/PDIF-out interface (coaxial), so you can hook the board up to your stereo receiver with all-digital connections.
| P5NSLI board layout and BIOS | Page:: ( 9 / 19 ) |
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With so few auxiliary chips and peripheral connectors built on the P5NSLI motherboard, there’s plenty of room available on the PCB for the board’s onboard devices and overall the board’s layout is well done.
Gone is the 8-phase power delivery system used on the previous ASUS motherboards we’ve discussed, the P5NSLI relies on a 3-phase power solution instead. This may not sound like much, but we had no problems running this with Intel’s latest Core 2 Extreme X6800, we wouldn’t be surprised though if this isn’t enough power for Intel’s upcoming quad-core Kentsfield CPU, which is set for release later this year.
Looking over the area near the CPU socket you’ll see there’s plenty of room for the largest of heatsink/fan CPU coolers, while the board’s array of MOSFETs is cooled by as aluminum heatsink. In fact, the entire motherboard is passively cooled, with a large aluminum heatsink cooling the board’s North Bridge, while the MCP51 South Bridge isn’t cooled at all. In operation both the North Bridge and South Bridge can get pretty hot, especially during extended operation under load – some enthusiasts may want to swap out the stock chipset cooler with an aftermarket cooling unit if temperature is a concern to you. Fortunately this didn’t seem to affect the stability of the motherboard.
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Sitting just underneath the CPU socket is the ATX12V power connector. This location is a little less than ideal, as the 12V power supply cable must run awfully close to the CPU’s fan on the P5NSLI, we would have preferred the 12V connector to be located closer to the top edge of the motherboard.
Moving further down the board you’ll find three x1 PCI Express slots on the P5NSLI, along with two PCI slots. The P5NSLI provides lots of room between the two PCI Express graphics slots, supporting ASUS’ two-slot thermal design – two of the board’s x1 PCI Express slots are located here. You’ll also see that the SLI selector cardis housed here. The selector card operates like a switch, one end is used to operate the PCI Express graphics slots in single card mode, where the primary graphics slot runs in 16-lane mode and the second slot runs in 1-lane mode. Flip the SLI card over to the “Dual Video Cards” side and you’ll switch the PCI Express graphics slots to split the PCI Express lanes evenly between both graphics slots, with both slots running in 8-lane mode. Motherboards based on NVIDIA’s nForce4 SLI X16 and nForce 590 SLI chipsets don’t need the selector card, as the PCI Express graphics slots run in full 16-lane mode regardless of whether you have two graphics cards installed or not, as those chipsets have enough PCI Express lanes to devote all 16 lanes to both graphics slots.
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BIOS
Like the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe, ASUS’ BIOS interface for the P5NSLI departs from the norm you typically associate with ASUS motherboards, although in the case of the P5NSLI navigation is definitely a little easier: the BIOS settings are all where you’d expect them to be and they aren’t hidden under quite as many submenus. The settings most overclockers are going to want are going to be found under the Advanced: JumperFree Configuration submenu. Here you’ll find settings for adjusting bus speeds and voltages, although when it comes to the latter you won’t find many voltage settings available for some critical components. Here are the key settings found within the P5NSLI’s BIOS:
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| P5NSLI BIOS Features | |
| Bus Speeds | 1056-1600MHz in 1MHz increments |
| PCI Express Speeds | 100-150MHz in 1MHz increments |
| Memory Speeds | 400-1200MHz in 1MHz increments |
| CPU Voltages | 0.8375V-1.6V in 0.0125V increments |
| Memory Voltages | 1.8V, 1.9V, 2.0V, 2.1V |
| PCI Express Voltages | NA |
| CPU Termination | 1.25V, 1.35V |
| North Bridge Voltages | 1.4V, 1.5V |
| CPU Multipliers | NA |
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As you can see, ASUS provides a nice selection of FSB speeds, and like the P5N32-SLI SE you can select the speed of the memory bus in 1MHz increments, this provides a little more flexibility than what the Intel chipsets provide.
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Where we come away a little disappointed though is in the voltage settings available. For overclocking the CPU, ASUS provides voltages up to 1.6V. That’s probably enough juice for most Core 2 CPU overclocks, but is a little lower than other enthusiast-level motherboards for Core 2. What’s really disappointing however is the lack of voltage options for the memory: ASUS only provides settings of 1.8V, 1.9V, 2.0V, and 2.1V. That’s clearly not enough voltages, as many enthusiast-level memory modules from Corsair, OCZ, and others require at least 2.2V to operate. Fortunately we were able to get our Corsair modules to run at 2.1V, but we still feel ASUS needs to provide more memory voltage settings as this could cause compatibility issues with a wide range of memory modules.
Overclocking
Like the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe, our overclocking endeavors with the P5NSLI were rather limited, topping out at just 321MHz. Considering the massive overclocks we saw with the 975X and P965 motherboards, this is a bit of a disappointment, but keep in mind that we’re dealing with a motherboard that sells for much less and isn’t endowed with the beefy 8-phase power system and heat pipe cooling of the other motherboards, so you can’t complain too much. After all, you do get what you pay for.
| System Setup | Page:: ( 10 / 19 ) |
System Setup
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (975X)
ASUS P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP
ASUS P5NSLI
ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe
Intel D975XBX (975X)
Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 (P965)
2GB Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C3
ATI Radeon X1900 XTX
Catalyst 6.6
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2
DirectX 9.0c
Western Digital Raptor 74GB
Benchmarks
LAME MT MP3 Encoding (MS Compiler)
HDTach
DivX Converter
Windows Media Encoder 9
3DMark06
F.E.A.R. 1.05
Quake 4 1.2
SiSoft Sandra 2007
Half-Life 2 Lost Coast
| Media encoding | Page:: ( 11 / 19 ) |
Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9
DivX Converter
LAME MT MP3 Encoding
| Storage performance | Page:: ( 12 / 19 ) |
HDTach
| 3DMark 06 | Page:: ( 13 / 19 ) |
Futuremark 3DMark05
| F.E.A.R. | Page:: ( 14 / 19 ) |
F.E.A.R.
| Quake 4 | Page:: ( 15 / 19 ) |
Quake 4
| HL2 Lost Coast | Page:: ( 16 / 19 ) |
Lost Coast
| SiSoft Sandra 2007 | Page:: ( 17 / 19 ) |
| Ballistics Report | Page:: ( 18 / 19 ) |
ASUS P5B Deluxe
Pros
-Excellent Feature set: 8-Phase power, fanless heat pipe design, 8 SATA connectors total including eSATA, two PCI Express graphics slots, Gigabit LAN with 802.11g WiFi-AP, 8-channel audio, a feature-rich BIOS with ASUS Precision Tweaker, ASUS’ unique power LED and Q-Connector. The list of the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP’s features goes on and on.
ASUS has thrown pretty much everything you could imagine into the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP. This board is loaded with goodies.
-Best BIOS in this article: When it comes to overclocking the CPU, no other motherboard featured in this article has a more powerful BIOS than the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP. It’s that simple. The P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP has more bus speed options, voltages, etc than any of the other motherboards featured here, so if a strong BIOS is important to you, this is your board.
-Heat pipe cooling: We’re big fans of ASUS’ heat pipe cooling system. It runs silent and seems to do a good job of keeping the North Bridge and CPU power circuitry cool, which is probably a large part of the reason why the P5B Deluxe has proven to be such a good overclocker.
-Board layout: : There really aren’t any gotchas or critical flaws in the P5B’s board layout, ASUS places all the board’s components intelligently with nice attention to detail in components like ASUS’ unique power LED. Our only real gripe with the board’s layout is the location of the seventh SATA port, which likely won’t be used by many people anyway.
Cons
-Only 1 x1 PCI Express slot: PCI Express connectivity really is the Achilles Heel of the P5B Deluxe, with the motherboard only providing one x1 PCI Express slot for expansion. While PCI Express expansion cards are used very seldom today, that could very well change as more PCI Express-based TV tuner cards and sound cards begin to ship. ASUS managed to include three PCI slots and two x1 PCIe slots on the P5W DH Deluxe, so we’re not exactly sure why ASUS neglected to at least provide this level of functionality on the P5B Deluxe.
Fortunately the secondary graphics slot is backward compatible with slower PCIe speeds.
-Pricey: ASUS P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP is one of the most expensive P965 motherboards on the market right now. In fact, some retailers sell 975X motherboards awfully close in price to the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP. ASUS provides less expensive variants of the P5B Deluxe without the WiFi component for instance, this is the route we’d suggest if you’ve already got an existing wireless setup network at home, or have no use for this feature.
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe WiFi-AP
Pros
-Excellent Feature set: The P5W DH Deluxe incorporates many of the same features that are also found in the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP, such as the 802.11g networking, but goes beyond the P5B Deluxe board in many areas. The board has better networking connectivity, as ASUS equips the board with two PCIe network controllers and the P5W DH Deluxe has more expandability thanks to its two x1 PCI Express slots compared to the P5B’s one slot. Since it’s based on Intel’s older ICH7R chipset, the P5W DH Deluxe doesn’t have as good a storage subsystem as the P5B, with only 3 SATA ports driven natively by the chipset, but thanks to its 975X MCH the board has full support for ATI’s CrossFire technology while the P5B Deluxe’s CrossFire support is limited to just the Radeon X1900 line.
ASUS tops the package off by including a slick remote control unit. With the included remote you can control your PC from the comfort of your couch, although you will need line-of-sight for the remote to function properly.
-Robust BIOS: While it may not be the “best” BIOS in this article, the P5W DH Deluxe’s BIOS is still without a doubt a very good BIOS. ASUS has recently added the ability to lower the CPU multiplier, and added additional bus speed options, making the board more appealing to both the HTPC and overclocking enthusiast crowd at the same time. We have a strong feeling most of you won’t be disappointed with the P5W’s BIOS.
-Heat pipe cooling: ASUS’ heat pipe cooling is featured prominently on the P5W DH Deluxe WiFi-AP, allowing the motherboard to run silently.
-Board layout: For such a feature-packed motherboard ASUS does a good job with the P5W DH Deluxe’s board layout. The board’s components are intelligently laid out and none of the motherboard’s critical components have spacing issues. You’ve got plenty of space for dual-slot graphics cards and the largest CPU heatsink/fan units.
Cons
-4th Native SATA port: Those of you with 4-drive RAID arrays will be disappointed to hear that the P5W DH Deluxe only has three drives driven by Intel’s ICH7R South Bridge. Getting the fourth drive up and running is a hassle and could’ve been avoided if ASUS had just included the fourth SATA port that is silkscreened on the motherboard.
-Incredibly Expensive: With prices on the P5W DH Deluxe starting at around $250 and going up from there, this motherboard is incredibly expensive. You do get what you pay for though.
ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe
Pros
-Excellent Feature set: As an ASUS Deluxe motherboard, the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe is loaded with extras. The board has an 8-phase power system so it’s ready for the latest Core 2 CPUs and supports NVIDIA’s SLI technology with both graphics slots getting the full 16-lane PCIe treatment and six SATA ports if you include eSATA. ASUS also outfits the board with both x1 and x4 PCI Express slots, giving you a little more flexibility when it comes to PCI Express connectivity, and of course you’ve got the two additional graphics slots and two PCI slots. The only feature that’s really missing is Q-Connector.
-Quad SLI-ready: ASUS P5N32-SLI SE is ready for the latest NVIDIA graphics cards, including the GeForce 7950 GX2 Quad SLI. In fact, this is probably the only Core 2-compliant motherboard on the market right now that supports Quad SLI. ASUS’ two-slot PCIe thermal design ensures that those two GX2 boards will stay as cool as possible as well.
-Heat pipe cooling: ASUS actually goes a step further on the heat pipe cooling subsystem found on the P5N32-SLI SE, cooling not only the MOSFETs and North Bridge, but also the South Bridge of the system chipset as well. These components can get a little toasty under load if they’re conservatively cooled, fortunately ASUS’ cooling implementation for these components on the P5N32-SLI SE is anything but conservative. Kudos to ASUS for going the extra mile on actively cooling the South Bridge.
-Board layout: You can make an argument that the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe has the best board layout of the Deluxe motherboards featured in this article. With the exception of the fifth SATA port, ASUS got most everything right with the P5N32-SLI SE’s board layout.
Cons
-nForce 590 SLI chipset upcoming: While this is the flagship of ASUS’ stable right now, their nForce 590 SLI-based P5N32-SLI Premium motherboard is coming shortly. The board sports three PCI Express graphics slots and WiFi-AP, so it’s ready for NVIDIA’s SLI physics and supports the wireless functionality found in newer ASUS motherboards.
-Tricky BIOS navigation: While ASUS provides a nice selection of BIOS settings within the P5N32-SLI SE, finding them can be a more difficult task than it should be. ASUS uses too many submenus and it takes several keystrokes to get to the most important settings for overclocking. It almost feels as if ASUS is trying to hide these settings from their users.
In comparison, the settings you’ll need for overclocking the P5B and P5W boards can all be found on one page.
-Limited OC’ing potential: Based on our own experiences and end user reports, it appears that the P5N32-SLI SE has limited overclocking potential, especially in comparison to the Intel-based motherboards. With heat pipe cooling and 8-phase power, we feel ASUS has certainly done their part to make the board a strong overclocker, therefore we have a strong suspicion the culprit is likely the nForce chipset.
ASUS P5NSLI
Pros
-Low Price for SLI: With street prices online for the P5NSLI hovering around $120, this is one of the least expensive nForce SLI motherboards on the market. If you’ve wanted to build an SLI system on the cheap with Core 2 E6300, the ASUS P5NSLI is probably the motherboard for you.
-Budget Performance: Despite its low price tag, the P5NSLI was able to keep up with and sometimes outperform the more expensive 975X-based P5W DH Deluxe, which sells for twice as much as the P5NSLI! When it comes to cheap thrills, this motherboard really can’t be beat.
-Nice Layout: The P5NSLI sports the most spartan layout of any motherboard featured in this article. As a result, we found few issues with the board’s layout to quibble about.
Cons
-BIOS Voltages: For whatever reason, ASUS has decided to provide memory voltage options up to just 2.1V, technically making the P5NSLI incompatible with a wide variety of enthusiast-level memory modules that require a voltage of 2.2V in order to operate properly. CPU voltages are limited to just 1.6V, which is lower than the other motherboards in this article, but that should still be enough power for 90% of the Core 2 OCs out there.
-Few extras: Other than the features provided natively by the system chipset, the P5NSLI is short on additional extras. ASUS includes no FireWire support and you’re limited to just four Serial ATA ports. Fortunately ASUS didn’t compromise on expansion: in our opinion the P5NSLI’s five PCI Express slots and two PCI slots is better than the four PCI Express slots and three PCI slots provided by the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP.
Considering the target market of this motherboard, the P5NSLI has more than enough features to please, but SLI enthusiasts looking for a little more will have to go with the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe.
-Heat: ASUS has elected to go with a large aluminum heatsink for the North Bridge and no cooling for the South Bridge on the P5NSLI. The North Bridge’s heatsink gets the job done adequately for basic Windows tasks like typing Word documents and browsing the Internet, but after extended gaming sessions the heatsink got hot to the touch. The South Bridge could benefit from a small aluminum heatsink as well in our opinion.
Fortunately the board ran with rock-solid stability, so obviously the system chipset is built with high operating temperatures in mind.
-Limited OC’ing potential: Like the P5N32-SLI SE, the P5NSLI didn’t OC as well as the other Intel-based motherboards. By no means are we saying you should base your purchasing decisions on how well a motherboard overclocks in one review, but it seems to be a recurring theme that’s repeated by other online reviewers as well as end user reports.
Again, OC’ing is by no means guaranteed with any product, but with Core 2’s arrival the bar seems to have been raised when it comes to OC’ing potential and now an increasing number of users are buying CPUs with the intention of overclocking them from day 1, particularly the E6300 and E6400 buyers who are tempted by the thought of getting Core 2 Extreme performance for a fraction of the price.
| The verdict | Page:: ( 19 / 19 ) |
If you’re on a tight budget and want SLI support, ASUS P5NSLI is the obvious choice. The motherboard is based on NVIDIA’s value-oriented nForce 570 SLI chipset. It doesn’t support 16-lane SLI operation, but none of today’s applications are capable of taking advantage of the extra bandwidth anyway and while the board is light on extras and doesn’t enjoy the heat pipe cooling of the other motherboards in this roundup, it’s still capable of doing everything 90% of its target audience will ask it to do. Performance is right up there with the rest of the motherboards included in this article and that’s going to make this board appeal to the bang-for-the-buck crowd. All that’s really missing is more memory voltage options, and that can quickly be fixed with a BIOS update if ASUS chooses to do so.
If you want SLI support but also need a better storage subsystem, Firewire support, or just want a more future-proof CPU that’s ready for more power-hungry processors, the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe is the best option available on the market right now. It’s got an 8-phase power system, better chipset cooling than the P5NSLI, and more options for storage and PCI Express connectivity. It’s definitely the better board, but it sells for roughly $100 more than the P5NSLI at many retailers including Newegg, so it’s definitely not for the budget-conscious.
The P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP is the board for overclockers. ASUS has definitely built this board for overclocking, with its 8-phase power system and FSB-loaded BIOS. Believe it or not, there are Core 2 Duo users out there breaking 5GHz with this motherboard. Our biggest gripe with the board is the lack of x1 PCI Express slots, and while the motherboard boasts dual GigE functionality, the second networking controller is bound by the PCI bus, so it will never live up to those speeds. Other than that, it’s hard not to like the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP.
The P965 has recently been endowed with CrossFire support, making the P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP more appealing to those of you with plans for two Radeon GPUs, but CrossFire performance will never be as good as 975X, nor does P965 CrossFire support Radeon cards that predate the X1900 line so you’ll have to keep those limitations in mind. The board also sells frequently for over $200, so it definitely isn’t cheap. Therefore if you don’t need the wireless functionality we definitely recommend you save a few bucks and get the regular P5B Deluxe instead.
Our favorite Core 2-ready motherboard at the moment however is ASUS’ P5W DH Deluxe WiFi-AP. You’ve got Intel’s 975X chipset, so the board supports full-featured CrossFire, and while it doesn’t have the FSB options of the P5B Deluxe, the P5W DH Deluxe is still a solid platform for overclocking. This board is by no means perfect either, we’d like to see a fourth SATA port hanging off the ICH7R chip for instance, and the P5W DH Deluxe is one of the most expensive motherboards out there, but it’s the board that offers the least set of compromises overall in our opinion.
ASUS includes a nice mixture of options for expansion, and you’ve got all the features ASUS incorporates in their other high-end motherboards such as 8-phase power, WiFi, and heat pipe cooling. ASUS then tops the package off with their digital home accessories, which includes a IR-based programmable remote and software package to go along with it. ASUS even includes an “MP3-in” bracket which can be mounted to the back of your case, allowing you to hook up and listen to your MP3 player without having to power up the system. Overall it’s a very nice package, and when combined with the features on the P5W DH Deluxe board itself, makes the board appealing to both hardware enthusiasts and the digital media crowd.
Because of all this, we’re awarding the P5W DH Deluxe our Editor’s Choice Award. No other Core 2-compliant motherboard that’s available on the market today can match it in terms of both basic features, performance, and accessories. It truly is the best board out there if you’re looking for a board that delivers a nice mixture of bells and whistles with a solid BIOS and good performance.
If you’ve got an unlimited budget for your next motherboard upgrade and don’t need SLI, it would be the board to get in our opinion. A lot of people won’t fall into this category however, and that’s why ASUS offers multiple choices for Core 2 CPUs at this time.