VR-Zone.com — ASUS Black Pearl Special Edition: P5K Premium
| Filed Under: | Archives, Motherboard, Reviews |
| Posted By: | VRArchiver |
| Date Posted: | Tue August 21 2007 4:01 pm |
ASUS P5K Premium
ASUS announced the 3rd Generation Black Pearl Special Edition P5K Premium motherboard in celebration of their 18th anniversary about a month ago. The board comes with native DDR2-1066 support and options to achieve up to DDR2-1400 speeds, courtesy of ASUS' engineers. ASUS also claims that this board has operates at lower temperatures on load compared to other mainboards out there in the market, as well as providing cleaner power to the CPU of 30% reduced power ripples during heavy loads (hint: quad cores) with its updated circuitry.
A quick check over at ASUS' web site reveals that there are more than ten motherboards that are based just on the Intel P35 chipset. One wonders if there is such a need for so many products in such a short period, and could the P5K Premium be just another P35 motherboard from Asus?
The motherboard comes in a very attractive blue outer packaging with a reflective surface.
On the back of the packaging is a column with the usual PR talk about their Super Memspeed Technology, O.C. King abilities (lower temperatures and better signal integrity) and their heatpipe design.
Upon removing the outer cover, we are greeted by the same black box used for the P5K Deluxe. It is said that there is a revised box that is light blue in colour for later shipments, with the words "Black Pearl Edition" instead of "WiFi-AP Edition".
Specifications and board layout
Let us take a look at the specifications.
|
CPU |
LGA775 socket for Intel� Core�2 Quad / Core�2 Extreme / Core�2 Duo / Pentium� Extreme / Pentium� D / *Pentium� 4 Processors |
|
Chipset |
Intel� P35 / ICH9R with Intel� Fast Memory Access Technology |
|
Front Side Bus |
1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz |
|
Memory |
4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 1066*/800 / 667 MHz, non-ECC, un-buffered memory |
|
Expansion Slots |
2 x PCI-E x16 (blue @ x16 mode, black @ x4 or x1 mode) supports CrossFire Technology |
|
Storage |
Southbridge |
|
LAN |
Dual Gigabit LAN controllers, featuring AI NET2 |
|
Wireless LAN |
ASUS WiFi-AP Solo |
|
Audio |
ADI� AD1988B 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC |
|
IEEE 1394 |
IEEE 1394a controller supports 2 x 1394a ports (one at midboard; one at back panel) |
|
USB |
10 x USB 2.0 ports (4 ports at mid-board, 6ports at back panel) |
|
ASUS AI Lifestyle Features |
ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution: |
|
Other Features |
ASUS MyLogo 3 |
|
Overclocking Features |
Intelligent overclocking tools: |
|
Back Ports I/O Connectors |
1 x PS/2 Keyboard |
|
Internal I/O Connectors |
2 x USB connectors support additional 4 USB ports |
|
BIOS |
16 Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 2.0a, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 |
|
Manageability |
WfM 2.0, DMI 2.0, WOL by PME, WOR by PME, PXE |
|
OS Compatibility |
Windows Vista/XP |
|
Accessories |
UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable |
|
Support CD |
Drivers |
|
Form Factor |
ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6" (30.5cm x 24.4cm) |
Interestingly, the specifications are identical to that of the P5K Deluxe.
�
P5K Deluxe
�
P5K Premium
Are you seeing double now? We could forgive you if you mixed up both the P5K Deluxe and the P5K Premium or thought that we were showing the same image, because both boards look just about the same, down right to the PCB.
A closer look...
P5K Deluxe's CPU and PWM area
P5K Premium's CPU and PWM area
The difference that could be spotted would be the CPU area. Different inductors from the P5K Deluxe and Nikos MOSFETs are used on the P5K Premium. If you are sharp enough, you would notice a few additional capacitors placed around the board.
A quick look at the rear I/O shows that there is no more PS/2 port for your mouse. Instead, two USB ports have been put in place of the legacy connector. We end up having six USB ports, an optical out, a coaxial out, the remaining standard stuff on ASUS's higher-end boards, and two eSATA ports.
Underside of P5K Deluxe reveals 8 MOSFETs
ASUS redesigned the circuitry and there are none of them on the P5K Premium
MOSFETs are found on the bottom of the P5K Deluxe. This can be a problem because there is no airflow to the bottom of the board, and things can get toasty down under when you crank up the speed. However, with the P5K Premium, everything has been placed on the top side only.
In addtion, an Agere chip is used for the board�s IEEE1394a capabilities, while 8-channel HD Audio is provided by the Analog Devices AD1988B.
The package contains the usual items such as the manual and the driver disc.
There are two blowers included, that can be mounted on the MOSFET heatsinks to provide additional cooling if water-cooling systems are used.
For the Black Pearl Edition, even the rear I/O shield is black in colour, or rather there is a hard sticker pasted on top of the original I/O shield.
Houston, we have a problem...
With our test setup�s nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS, we' re almost hitting the SATA ports. What about the 8800 GTX then? The GTX is quite a bit longer than the GTS.
It seems that ASUS had forgotten all about� GeForce 8800 GTX and placed the first two SATA ports almost right in line with the first PCI-E x16 slot. If one were to install an 8800 GTX, the only option available in order the first two ports is to either use a SATA cable with an L-shaped connector or a SATA cable that is thin and have a shorter head.
Keeping in mind the general design of ATX casings, it would have been good if the six SATA ports were shifted to where the IDE connector is, the floppy connector to where the current six SATA ports are, and the IDE connector to the current position of the floppy connector.
Different LAN chips are used on this board, the Marvell chip runs on the PCI-E bus, whereas the Realtek one runs on the aged PCI bus. I have no explanation as to why ASUS can' t put two similar LOM chips onboard instead...
The BIOS
The options found in the BIOS are pretty standard. All the essential options that one needs are available.
We will be looking at the Advanced section of the BIOS, where all the important settings reside in.
First stop is the performance settings � not too little, not too many. What is provided is sufficient to get a good overclock going. FSB can be set from 200MHz to 800MHz, PCIE frequency between 100MHz to 150MHz.
The Transaction Booster is some sort of Performance Level tweaking for the Intel P35 chipset. When enabled, you can set Boost Level of 0 or 1. But when disabled, you set Relax Level instead, from 0 to 3.
Plenty of voltage available to the CPU, right up to 1.7V.
CPU PLL voltage is available all the way to 2.2V.
Some serious memory bandwidth could be achieved with 2.55V for the memory. It�s not as much as what manufacturers like DFI offers, but either way you�ll need active cooling or you�ll be getting chips for lunch.
FSB Termination voltage is available in increments of 0.10V. Perhaps increments of 0.05V would be better.
Gaps of 0.15V for the North Bridge Voltage is a little big. Increments of 0.05V here also would definitely be good.
BIOS (continued...)
Memory Remap Feature is for users who are running 64-bit OSes and have 4GB of RAM. Another option available here is the C.G.I. Function, which stands for Cross Graphics Impeller. This function is an optimization for users running CrossFire graphics whereby data transfer is streamlined between the Northbridge and Southbridge.
The Hardware Monitor has been the same for generations of ASUS motherboards, and there is still VDIMM monitoring available.
Q-Fan can control up to four fans; the CPU fan, and the first three Chassis headers. Three modes are available for the user to select depending on preference and noise tolerance.
With recent ASUS motherboards, EZ Flash option is directly accessible within the BIOS to make quick BIOS flashes without the need to create bootable diskettes.
For power users, two OC Profiles can be created depending on the needs of the individual.
Test setup
Each individual test is run after a reboot on the system is made and the system has reached an idle state at the desktop. The latest drivers as of 8 August 2007 were loaded.
The following components are used in our test setup:
|
Operating System |
Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 |
|
Processor |
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz, 4MB L2, 1066MHz) |
|
Memory |
Crucial Ballistix PC8500 2GB Kit @ 5-5-5-15, DDR2-800MHz |
|
Graphics Card |
ASUS EN8800 GTS 640MB |
|
Hard Disk |
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 80GB SATA |
|
Cooler |
Scythe Infinity w/ 2000rpm 120mm fan |
|
Power Supply |
Silverstone Zeus 650W |
|
Motherboards |
ASUS P5K Deluxe |
We pitted the P5K Premium with its elder sibling, the P5K Deluxe and an offering from MSI, the P35 Platinum.
3DMark06 and AquaMark3
First up are two video benchmarks, the popular and most common 3DMark06 and the AquaMark 3.
Results for 3DMark06 are very close for all the three boards, particularly the P5K Deluxe and P5K Premium.
The gap widens a little more in AquaMark 3, but again scores between the two P5K boards are close.
In both cases, the P5K Premium comes out tops. Wonder if the engineers in the lab further BIOS tweaking, as the BIOS looks identical to that of the P5K Deluxe.
ScienceMark, CineBench, SuperPI and PCMark05
Moving on to general PC performance benchmarks, we have lined up the memory bench from ScienceMark 2.0, CPU bench from CineBench 9.5, SuperPI 1.5-mod 4M and PCMark05.
The P5K Premium again emerges as the fastest of the lot, while the MSI P35 Platinum did not perform as well as either board from ASUS. However, when it came to PCMark05, the tables were turned and the P5K Deluxe was faster than the P5K Premium by more than 30 points.
Company of Heroes, Quake 4 and Unreal Tournament 2004
Three games were loaded to check out the boards 's gaming performance.
The results we got were a mixed bag. There is no clear winner in this case, as each board came out tops in one of the three games we threw at it.
Comments on maximum FSB and operating temperatures
We tried testing with our early batch of Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 CPU and it is apparent that there is an FSB wall on our CPU unfortunately.
Both the P5K Deluxe and P5K Premium stopped abruptly at 495MHz with some voltage options to spare. Anything between 496MHz and 499MHz would cause the system to not POST sometimes. But 500MHz and above would result in no POST at all, no matter what voltages in the BIOS we threw at it.
The MSI board stopped short at about 480MHz and with the board voltages at its maximum.
ASUS claimed lower operating temperatures, so we took a QX6700 lying around and clocked it up to 3.33GHz for a quick test by loading all the cores at 100%. After running for 15 minutes, the PWM area of the P5K Deluxe was not at all safe to touch. When we unplugged our components, the loose plastic sheet we placed underneath actually stuck to the board. Trying the same test on the P5K Premium returned better results. The PWM area was still hot, but it is noticeable that it is cooler than the P5K Deluxe.
Users online have shared their findings regarding the initial P5K Premium. The Premium was able to hold a quad core CPU at a higher clock than the Deluxe, while maintaining lower motherboard temperatures.
There was no noticeable difference in northbridge and southbridge temperatures for both boards.
Summing up...
ASUS has definitely delivered the goods with its P5K Premium Black Pearl Edition. The build quality is great. Performance results were pretty good with this board. Although we did not have the means to verify their claims of up to 30% cleaner power, it can be confirmed that operating temperatures of the power circuitry is lower and power is a little more stable than the P5K Deluxe from our touch tests.
The P5K Deluxe is retailing for $ 399, while the Premium goes for $ 429. It appears that ASUS is still producing the P5K Deluxe, but we feel that the P5K Premium is a worthy replacement for the P5K Deluxe. It has all the features of the Deluxe and has the same general layout, but the only difference lies with the power design. For just $ 30 more, the P5K Premium would be the better buy, unless for some strange reason you have an inflexible budget for your new PC which restricts you to the P5K Deluxe.
Intel P35 has been out for a couple of months, together with fact that the launch of the Intel X38 is just round the corner; would the P5K Premium be a good buy? Our answer is yes, because judging from how manufacturers release their P35 offerings, it will still take another few months before all the different variants of X38-based boards would be out and it still isn 't too late to make a decision on which X38 board to get then.
