Today HardwareLogic looks at the Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP motherboard. Based around Intel's P35 chipset and sporting support for the Core 2 architecture, we're walking into this review with high hopes. After all, Intel chipsets have a reputation for stability, and their Core 2 processors are proving to be very OC friendly. Couple these with Asus market mentality, and it would appear to be the perfect marriage. But will this union ultimately receive our blessing, or should we be looking to annul?
One of the stalwarts in the motherboard industry, Asus has mastered the ability to balance high end features and decent overclocking ability with rock solid stability, giving end users the best of both worlds. For the ultra-enthusiast, there have been better OCers to come through the pike, but the few extra MHz afforded on other offerings has usually come at the expense of quirky behavior, a la DFI's infamous cold boot issues.
Today HardwareLogic looks at the Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP motherboard. Based around Intel's P35 chipset and sporting support for the Core 2 architecture, we're walking into this review with high hopes. After all, Intel chipsets have a reputation for stability, and their Core 2 processors are proving to be very OC friendly. Couple these with Asus market mentality, and it would appear to be the perfect marriage. But will this union ultimately receive our blessing, or should we be looking to annul?
Features
| PRODUCT |
|
| CPU SUPPORT |
INTEL LGA775
- Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-Core / Core 2 Duo / Intel Pentium Extreme/ Intel Pentium D processors
- FSB 1333/1066/800/533 MHz FSB
|
| CHIPSET |
|
| MEMORY |
- Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Support for DDR2 DDR2 1066 / 800 / 667 MHz
The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR2 800MHz. Tuned by ASUS Super Memspeed Technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR2 1066MHz |
| EXPANSION SLOTS |
- Two PCI Express X16 slots (x16, x4)
Three PCI Express X1 slots
Three PCI slots |
| STORAGE |
- Eight Serial ATA 3Gb/s connectors
Six controlled via the ICH9R chipset, two controlled via the JMicron controller
- One IDE Port supporting two IDE devices
|
| AUDIO |
- 8 Channel ADI AD1988B Audio controller
|
| LAN |
|
| REAR I/O PANEL |
- Six USB 2.0/1.1 ports
One Optical, One Coaxial SPDIF Out port
One IEEE 1394 port
Two eSATA ports
WiFi antenna connector
Six audio ports
PS/2 Keyboard |
| INTERNAL I/O CONNECTORS & HEADERS |
- One UDMA ATA 133/100/66/33 connector
One FDD connector
One IEEE 1394 connector
Two USB 2.0/1.1 connectors (supports 4 ports)
One audio pin header (supports 8-Channel)
One TPM pin header
One S/PDIF In pin header |
| SYSTEM BIOS |
- American Megatrends BIOS
- Supports Intel Core 2 Quad
- Asus O.C. Profile allows storage of multiple BIOS settings
- Asus CPR (CPU Parameter Recall) allows BIOS to reboot to default settings in case of unsuccessful overclock. Unsuccessful settings still show up in BIOS to allow simple changes to be made.
|
| FORM FACTOR |
|
| WARRANTY |
|
| CURRENT PRICING |
|
This board is packed with so many features, we won’t be able to mention them all, but there are a few that need to be noted. This board has Asus’ “Super Memspeed Technology”, which gives it a native memory speed of 1066MHz, instead of the 800MHz traditionally provided by the P35 chipset. You can actually run your PC2-8500 RAM at 1066MHz at stock FSB clock.
Asus’ AI NOS, and AI Booster are overclocking options that work in the operating system, adjusting CPU clock speed determined by workload. AI Nap allows the CPU to run at a lower clock speed while the system is under minimum load, by lowering the CPU multiplier to 6. Of course, if your overclock uses a 6 multiplier, it has no effect.
And finally we'd be remiss not to mention mention the onboard WiFi. We've seen this feature on some of Asus' past offerings, and wish more mobo manufacturers would jump on this bandwagon.
