The lack of reviews of motherboards based on the latest top-end Intel X38 chipset on our website is a rather serious omission. Our laboratory has been trying unsuccessfully to begin testing such products for at least a month. However, until now we could not provide materials about these products for a number of objective and subjective reasons. For example, in place of this article, which opened a series of publications about motherboards based on Intel X38, there should have been a review motherboard ASUS P5E3 Deluxe, which has been tested in our laboratory for several weeks. But, despite the fact that we successfully used this board in Penryn tests, we are still not able to provide a full and reasonable report on its capabilities. The fact is that the ASUS P5E3 sample we have has a number of problems that appear when overclocking the FSB frequency and memory. In addition, the widely advertised ASUS function turned out to be inoperative on our board. Express Gate. To date, we have already tried almost a dozen different beta versions of the BIOS, but we have not yet been able to achieve the trouble-free operation of all the declared features typical of ASUS motherboards. In the near future we expect to receive a new sample of P5E3, on which we will try to confirm or refute the impartial opinion that has formed so far about this motherboard.

In order not to further prolong the already excessively long pause in motherboard reviews, we decided to look at other products based on Intel X38. Another one immediately came into view ASUS product, P5E motherboard. It compares favorably with other proposals based on the Intel X38 in two ways. Firstly, this is a relatively inexpensive product, the retail price of which is about $220, which is not much for a board based on the X38 chipset. Secondly, this motherboard does not work with the new expensive DDR3 SDRAM, but with the much more common DDR2 memory, although officially Intel is extremely reluctant to talk about the universality of the chipset memory controller. Thanks to these features, the ASUS P5E may well become a very common product, highly in demand among enthusiasts. Actually, to turn the P5E into a widely popular board, only one thing is missing: the confidence that it can offer better performance and overclocking capabilities than products based on the Intel P35 chipset, which have already gained an impeccable reputation. Actually, this article will be devoted primarily to finding the advantages of the ASUS P5E, which will allow us to talk about the superiority of this platform over cheaper alternatives based on mid-level chipsets.

Get started with motherboard based on Intel X38, it would be logical to start by considering the features of the logic set itself.

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Details about Intel X38

The Intel X38 chipset was conceived by the developer as a new chipset intended for creating high-end motherboards. price range. In fact, this means that the X38 replaces the rather outdated i975X, which does not have official support for the promising 45 nm Penryn processors, and is not equipped with the most modern south bridge. At least that's what Intel thinks.

From our point of view, the situation is seen in a slightly different way. Due to its venerable age, the i975X has long become unattractive for enthusiasts who today opt for motherboards based on the Intel P35. The only one strong point The i975X chipset, support for Crossfire mode according to the PCI Express x8 + PCI Express x8 scheme, is actually not such a strong trump card. Firstly, the Intel P35 chipset is also capable of supporting Crossfire (albeit according to the PCI Express x16 + PCI Express x4 scheme). Secondly, AMD today is not able to offer graphics cards as fast as NVIDIA. Therefore, the number of users interested in Crossfire is very small. Based on the above arguments, we will also not compare the Intel X38 with the i975X, but will focus on comparing the new chipset for high-performance systems with the recently released

Well, at least because the majority of users usually save on money and do not know what it threatens them with and why, in fact, it cannot be done. And he saves precisely because he does not understand what the difference is between a cheap and expensive motherboard, if the capabilities seem to be the same. It’s these things that I’ll mention in passing in this article, in addition to the free-form review of the P5E Deluxe from Asus. Go.

Photo and a few words about the motherboard itself

Somehow it happened that last year, for a number of reasons, I decided to change the motherboard and my choice fell on the P5E Deluxe from Asus. The price, of course, was definitely biting and biting harder than usual, but I’m not used to saving on such things. Why? Because the motherboard is the basis of the entire computer. It is she who is responsible for the operation of buses and paths, for compatibility, expandability, performance and the absence of any type of problems, i.e. for stability and the time period during which the computer will last, and so on and so forth. Again, the possibility largely depends on the board, and personally this is very important to me, because, among other things, I do overclocking (i.e. overclocking). In short, in terms of the offered capabilities, I was satisfied with everything in the description, the reviews I read also seemed to please me and..

This happiness looks like this when assembled (clickable):

What’s also good is that we hardly kill the boards and it resets itself if the settings are incorrect. Again, if anything, it can be restored from external media, the network, and, it seems, is even simply duplicated by a second chip (I could be wrong).

What else is there... And, of course, energy saving technology. Payment due to built-in modules and software very smartly controls the processor multiplier, voltages and all that other stuff, which saves a lot of energy. Pleasant, honestly, savings.

Speaking of technology. Normal boards in the middle or higher price segment usually contain a set of all sorts of different extremely nice technologies (software and hardware) that significantly expand the board’s capabilities, quality and stability of its operation. I’ll list from the manufacturer’s website which of them the P5E Deluxe has:

ASUS EPU is a chip that is used to monitor and adjust processor power settings, which provides an optimal balance of performance and power consumption. Thanks to the processor voltage management system, it provides complete control of power consumption at any load level. In addition, it allows you to achieve the most efficient energy use, up to 80.23%, when working with applications that do not require processor resources.

ASUS 3rd Generation 8-phase Power – 8-phase processor power module that can operate at temperatures up to 15°C lower than traditional solutions. Lowering the temperature makes it possible to reduce the fan speed to ensure quiet, stable system operation and improve overclocking capabilities. 8-phase power reduces input/output voltage fluctuations, ensuring processor and power supply safety and extending component life.

ASUS AI Nap – With AI Nap, users can instantly put their computer into power saving mode without leaving applications. During the user's absence, the system will continue to operate silently, consuming a minimum amount of energy.

ASUS Fanless Design: Heat-pipe - Heat pipes conduct the heat generated by the chipset to heatsinks, which are located next to the processor fan. As a result, the speed of the system fans is reduced, which guarantees silent operation with good stability and long component life.

ASUS Fanless Design: Stack Cool 2- expansion of the cooling system, thanks to a special printed circuit board, which promotes uniform distribution of heat from heating elements.

ASUS Q-Fan 2 - intelligently adjusts the processor and case fans depending on the load (heating of the elements) of the system, ensuring silent operation.

ASUS Q-Connector – modules that allow you to easily connect buttons and LEDs on the front panel of the case. As well as USB and FireWire connectors.

ASUS Q-Shield is a convenient cover for the I/O connector panel that protects the motherboard from static electricity.

ASUS AI NET 2 – testing network connections without loading the OS. Remotely determines whether the connection is correct when the PC is turned on

ASUS O.C. Profile – allows you to save BIOS settings in CMOS or separate file, which allows users to share overclocking settings profiles.

ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 – this function allows you to restore the BIOS from a USB flash drive containing the firmware file.

ASUS EZ Flash 2 - the EZ Flash 2 function allows you to update the BIOS directly through its settings menu.

C.P.R.

– restores BIOS settings after unsuccessful overclocking, ensuring the system can start.

What's somewhat surprising is that almost all of the above is necessary and works. Except that I don’t use Q-Fan because I have a rheobass with which I manually adjust the speeds of the coolers I need. What made me doubly happy was the gigabit built-in LAN card

and.. attached external sound. In general, the equipment of the board is excellent - here you have all 6 SATA cables and a turbine cooler and a chic blank bracket and whatnot. As for the sound, it looks like this (by the way, it’s nice to glow with blue inscription in the dark): This card significantly surpassed the sound quality of the sound card I had once purchased from Creative. Such care for users cannot but please :-) You may also ask why I was happy about the gigabit network if providers do not yet offer such tariffs? Well, at least because I’m sure that the transition from 100 MB/s to 1GB/s is just around the corner, and, secondly, local network

no one has canceled it yet. The newly purchased N16 (by the way, also from ASUS) perfectly supports gigabit speed, which is convenient when working with local and general file sharing on the network.
Okay, I signed a bit too much.. :-)

It's probably time to wind down.

Afterword and small summary

• And so, actually, about why expensive boards are needed and what exactly are the advantages of P5E Deluxe:
• high stability and low temperatures
• high quality and service life
• huge overclocking potential (and official support for the 1600 MHz system bus);
• good scope for upgrades (two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots with the ability to implement ATI CrossFireX technology in x16 to x16 mode, as well as support for a huge number of processors);
• magical energy saving (8-phase power stabilizer using EPU technology);
• a large set of proprietary ASUS technologies that expand functionality;
• wonderful cooling system (additional cooler included);
• "external" audio card SupremeFX II.

What to pay attention to when choosing a purchase:

• availability of the functions you need (obviously :-))
• price (too low price often (though not always) = average/low quality)
• "drawing" of the cooling system
• quality of board wiring
• equipment
• availability of drivers for all operating systems and their updates
• Availability of BIOS updates
• reviews about performance and stability

Socket LGA775 Supported processors Intel Celeron Conroe-L/Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Extreme/Core 2 Quad/Pentium 4/Pentium D/Pentium Extreme System bus 800 MHz - 1600 MHz Hyper-Threading support There is Support multi-core processors There is

Chipset

Chipset Intel X38 BIOS AMI with disaster recovery capability SLI/CrossFire support CrossFire

Memory

Memory DDR2 DIMM, 667 - 1200 MHz Number of memory slots 4 Dual channel support There is Maximum memory capacity 8 GB

Disk controllers

IDE number of slots: 1, UltraDMA 133, RAID: no SATA number of SATA 3Gb/s connectors: 6, RAID: 0, 1, 5, 10

Expansion slots

Expansion slots 2xPCI-E x16, 3xPCI-E x1, 2xPCI PCI Express 2.0 support There is

Audio Video

Sound 7.1CH, HDA, based on ADI AD1988B

Net

Ethernet 1000 Mbps, based on Marvell88E8056

Connection

Availability of interfaces 12 USB, 2xFireWire (IEEE1394a), S/PDIF output, Ethernet, PS/2 (keyboard) Rear Connectors 6 USB, 1xFireWire (IEEE1394a), coaxial output, optical output, Ethernet, PS/2 (keyboard) Main power connector 24-pin

Extra options

Form factor ATX Contents 1 bracket for 2 USB2.0/1x EEE1394a ports, UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable, FDD cable, 3 in 1 Q-connector, ASUS Q-shield, SupremeFX II Audio card, 6 SATA cables, power cable to SATA devices Additional Information 2 x 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector, bus frequency 1600MHz and DDR21200MHz are not documented for this chipset

Please check before purchasing specifications and equipment from the seller

The results in gaming applications have the same picture as in 3DMark "06, except for the game Doom 3, famous for its love for the memory subsystem. It is in this application that the advantage of the older model is clearly visible - still, something “wrong” is going on with the settings memory of this motherboard.

conclusions

The days of “top” motherboards that differ from cheap analogues in color scheme, gold or platinum coating of radiators and a cost of $150 are long gone. And if for exclusivity 7-8 years ago they put some kind of bonus in the box, for example, in the form of a screwdriver, now manufacturers can easily charge us 200-300 dollars, leaving us with only system board and a standard set of cables. The same cannot be said about ASUS products - the delivery package is, as always, excellent, and the functionality corresponds to the price, which also depends on the positioning of the chipset. In this case, the cost of solutions based on Intel X38 will not be small by definition - the chipset itself is top-end, which means that boards based on it at a price of less than $200 will not appear soon. Unless after the release of Intel's next flagship - X48, which will be officially presented in the spring of this year. Then yes, you can think about buying, and only for the sake of building a powerful CrossFire system, which with the Radeon HD 3870 is not so productive.

Now regarding each of the products reviewed. The ASUS P5E3 Deluxe board, as befits a high-level solution, has good equipment, ample opportunities BIOS for fine-tuning the system and powerful CO. The eight-channel processor power supply will allow you not to worry about high-quality power supply for an overclocked quad-core CPU. An interesting technology using EPU, designed to save energy with a low load on the processor, has not yet been tested, so we won’t focus on it too much - it’s there, and that’s okay with it. The only negative in all this is the final cost of the finished system, because DDR3 memory modules are still quite expensive.

The P5E3 model turned out to be somewhat unbalanced, expensive and of little functionality. A rich kit, ample BIOS capabilities and an 8-phase processor power supply have a positive effect on the board’s evaluation, but with only one network controller and an eSATA interface, this is somehow not associated with a price of $250. And if extra equipment is really required in exceptional cases, then how can we explain the use of a 4-pin connector? additional food ATX12V instead of the 8-pin EPS12V that has already become common for expensive solutions? If ASUS P5E3 is used at nominal value, then this disadvantage will not in any way affect the stability of the system, but for an enthusiast and overclocker it can become a problem.

In previous reviews, we have already focused on ASUS solutions that were based on Intel fourth series processor chipsets. To complete this series, let's talk about the high-end motherboard based on the Intel X48 Express chipset, which hit the market this spring. Formally, X48 belongs to a new generation of chipsets, but in practice there are practically no fundamental differences from its predecessor Intel X38 Express. Is it necessary to note official support FSB frequency 1600 MHz. Besides Intel company now claims that X48 only supports DDR3 RAM, but this is most likely just a marketing ploy, since the chipset description mentions frequency dividers for DDR2. Detailed comparison X38 and X48 can be viewed at compare.intel.com. The same fact confirms that the company has ASUS motherboard boards based on Intel X48 Express with support random access memory DDR2. In this review we will take a closer look at one of these boards. Here is ASUS P5E Deluxe

Specification:

Manufacturer
	Intel X48 Express/Intel ICH9R
CPU socket
Supported processors	Intel Core 2 Extreme / Intel Core 2 Quad / Intel Core 2 Duo / Intel Pentium Dual-Core / Intel Celeron
System bus, MHz	1600/1333/1066/800 MHz
Supported Memory	Dual-channel memory architecture; 4 x DDR2 DIMM slots supporting up to *8 GB of memory; DDR2 operating frequency: **1200/1066/800/667 MHz *32-bit OS can display memory capacity no more 4 GB **frequency 1200 MHz is achieved only in overclocking mode
Expansion slots	2 x PCIe 2.0 x16* 3 x PCIe x1** 2 x PCI * Supports ATI CrossFireX technology in x16 to x16 mode ** PCIe x1_1 (black) is intended for the audio card included in the kit.
Disk subsystem	Intel South Bridge ICH9R: 6 x SATA 3 Gb/s with support Intel technologies Matrix Storag. Opportunity creating a RAID array 0, 1, 1+0, 5 JMicron JMB368 PATA controller: 1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66/33 Mbit/s with support for 2 PATA devices.
Sound subsystem	SupremeFX II audio card ADI AD1988B 8-channel High-Definition Audio codec, S/PDIF coaxial and optical input/output on the rear panel. Technologies: ASUS Noise Filter, AI Audio 2.
LAN support	Marvell88E8056 PCIe Gigabit LAN controller supports AI NET2 technology.
	Primary 24-pin ATX connector Additional 8-pin ATX12V connectors
Cooling	Radiators on bridges and power stabilizer, united by heat pipes.
Fan connectors	1 x for CPU fan 2 x for system fans 1 x for power supply fan
External I/O ports	1 x PS/2 keyboard port 1 x coaxial S/PDIF output 1 x optical S/PDIF output 6 x USB ports 1 x IEEE 1394a port 1 x RJ-45 (LAN) port
Internal I/O ports	3 x USB connectors supporting 6 USB 2.0 ports 1 x FDD connector 1 x IDE connector 1 x S/PDIF Out 1 x CD input 1 x IEEE 1394a port Front panel connector Front panel audio connector
	16 Mb Flash ROM, DMI 2.0, PnP, AMI BIOS, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 2.0a Technology support: Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
Proprietary technologies	Energy Saving Technologies - ASUS EPU (Energy Processing Unit) - ASUS 3rd Generation 8-phase Power - ASUS AI Nap Silent cooling - ASUS Fanless Design: Heat-pipe - ASUS Fanless Design: Stack Cool 2 - ASUS Q-Fan 2 ASUS EZ DIY - ASUS Q-Connector - ASUS Q-Shield - ASUS O.C. Profile - ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 - ASUS EZ Flash 2
Equipment	6 x SATA cables 1 x adapter for 2 SATA power ports 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable 1 x FDD cable 1 x module with two USB ports 2.0 and one IEEE1394 1 x plug on back panel ASUS Q-Shield cases 1 x DVD with drivers Additional turbine fan Instructions and User Guide
Form factor, Dimensions, mm	ATX 305 x 244
Products webpage	Fresh BIOS version and drivers can be downloaded from the support site.

Package

ASUS P5E Deluxe is packaged in a black cardboard box. On the front side in the lower left corner there are logos of supported processor families. On the right is noted about support for 45-nanometer processors, a system bus frequency of 1600 MHz and ASUS EPU technology.

On the front page, as well as on the back, proprietary technologies supported by the motherboard are described in detail. Let us say a few words about each of them.

ASUS EPU – This is a chip that is used to monitor and configure the processor's power settings, which provides an optimal balance of performance and power consumption. Thanks to the processor voltage management system, it provides complete control of power consumption at any load level. In addition, it allows you to achieve the most efficient energy use, up to 80.23%, when working with applications that do not require processor resources.

ASUS 3rd Generation 8-phase Power – 8-phase processor power module that can operate at temperatures up to 15°C lower than traditional solutions. Lowering the temperature makes it possible to reduce the fan speed to ensure quiet, stable system operation and improve overclocking capabilities. 8-phase power reduces input/output voltage fluctuations, ensuring processor and power supply safety and extending component life.

ASUS AI Nap – With AI Nap, users can instantly put their computer into power saving mode without leaving applications. During the user's absence, the system will continue to operate silently, consuming a minimum amount of energy.

ASUS Fanless Design: Heat-pipe - Heat pipes conduct the heat generated by the chipset to heatsinks, which are located next to the processor fan. As a result, the speed of the system fans is reduced, which guarantees silent operation with good stability and long component life.

ASUS Fanless Design: Stack Cool 2 - expansion of the cooling system, thanks to a special printed circuit board, which promotes uniform heat distribution from heating elements.

ASUS Q-Fan 2 - Intelligently adjusts the rotation speed of the processor cooler and case fans depending on the load (heating of the elements) of the system, ensuring silent operation.

ASUS Q-Connector– modules that allow you to easily connect buttons and LEDs on the front panel of the case. As well as USB and FireWire connectors.

ASUS Q-Shield– a convenient cover for the I/O connector panel that protects the motherboard from static electricity.

ASUS AI NET 2– tests network connections without loading the OS. Remotely determines whether the connection is correct when the PC is turned on

ASUS O.C. Profile– Allows you to save BIOS settings in CMOS or in a separate file, allowing users to share overclocking settings profiles.

ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3– This function makes it possible to restore the BIOS from a USB flash drive containing the firmware file.

ASUS EZ Flash 2- the EZ Flash 2 function allows you to update the BIOS directly through its settings menu.

C.P.R.– restores BIOS settings after unsuccessful overclocking, ensuring the system can start.

Equipment

In the box with the motherboard you can find a fairly rich set of components, which is not surprising for motherboards of this class. We note the presence of a separate SupremeFX II sound card based on the 8-channel HDA codec ADI AD1988B, which should please fans high-quality sound. Also included in the package:

• 6 x SATA cables;
• 1 x adapter for 2 SATA power ports;
• 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable;
• 1 x FDD cable;
• 1 x module with two USB 2.0 ports and one IEEE1394;
• 1 x plug for the rear panel of the ASUS Q-Shield case;
• 1 x DVD with drivers;
• additional turbine-type fan;
• instructions and user manual.

Layout

Let's talk about the layout of the motherboard. ASUS P5E Deluxe is soldered onto a PCB form factor ATX (305 mm x 244 mm). No significant deficiencies were found. The only thing worth paying attention to is the horizontal arrangement of all SATA and IDE connectors.

The cooling system looks impressive. Radiators are installed on the north and south bridges, as well as on the power stabilizer, and are connected to each other by heat pipes. There is also a copper plate on the back of the board, which helps lower the temperature.

But, despite all the efforts of the ASUS developers, the cooling system got quite hot during testing, so the turbine fan included in the kit comes in very handy.

The Intel ICH9R chip acts as the south bridge. This chip is not the newest, but this cannot be considered a disadvantage, since there are no fundamental differences between it and the ICH10R. The South Bridge supports 6 SATA ports (red), located to the right of the chip itself. On these SATA ports you can organize a RAID array of levels 1, 0, 5, 1+0. Above them is a single IDE connector, controlled by a JMicron JMB368 PATA controller. And under the SATA ports in the lower right corner you can see the front panel connector.

The ICH9R southbridge supports 12 USB 2.0 ports, half of which are routed to the I/O panel, and the rest are internally connected. To reset BIOS settings Instead of the usual jumper, a small switch is used, located to the left of the south bridge.

ASUS P5E Deluxe motherboard supports 7 different expansion slots:

• Three PCI-Express x1 slots: one black is for the included audio card.
• Two PCI slots.
• Two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots with support for ATI CrossFireX technology in x16 to x16 mode.

Below the expansion slots is an internal IEEE 1394 port. The VIA VT6308P controller that controls it is located to the left of the PCI-Express x1 slots.

The power stabilizer is eight-phase and supports ASUS EPU technology. Without the use of an EPU, all eight phases operate even when the system is idle, when such power is not needed. When ASUS EPU is running, it reduces the number of phases involved based on processor load. The processor socket is surrounded by radiators, but they will not interfere with the installation of a large cooler.

The following connectors are located on the I/O panel:

• optical S/PDIF output;
• six USB ports;
• IEEE 1394a port;
• RJ-45 (LAN) port;
• coaxial S/PDIF output;
• PS/2 port for keyboard.

The ASUS P5E Deluxe motherboard uses AMI BIOS with a fairly large set of settings. Basic parameters related to overclocking and fine tuning, are collected in the following table.

Parameter	Menu name	Range
Control processor technologies	C1E, Limit CPUID MaxVal, Vanderpool Technology, CPU TM, Execute Disable Bit, Intel SpeedStep
CPU multiplier	CPU Ratio Settings		1 and 0.5 for 45 nm models
System bus frequency
PCI-e bus frequency
Northbridge delay set	FSB Strap to North Bridge
Memory frequency		533-1066 1600* 1800*
Timings	CAS Latency, tRCD, tRP, tRAS, RAS to RAS, Row Refresh, Write Recovery, Read to Precharge
Sub-timings	READ to WRITE, Write to Read, Read to Read, WRITE to PRE, PRE to PRE, ALL PRE to ACT, ALL PRE to REF
Memory subsystem operation settings	DRAM Static Read Control	Auto, Enable, Disable.
CPU voltage
PLL operating voltage
	CPU GTL Voltage Reference
FSB bus signal level	FSB Termination Voltage
RAM voltage
Northbridge voltage		1.25 V – 1.75 V
Southbridge voltage
Voltage drop compensation function during load	LoadLine Calibration	Auto, Enable, Disable.
Function that reduces background electromagnetic radiation	CPU Spread Spectrum, PCIE Spread Spectrum

Basic settings related to overclocking, such as setting timings and delays, frequencies and voltages on the main nodes, are located in the AI ​​Tweaker tab.

You can configure processor technologies in the Advanced tab.

On the Power tab you can monitor the following parameters:

• voltage on the main lines of the power supply 3.3V, 5V, 12V and on the processor;
• temperature of the motherboard and processor;
• rotation speed of all five fans.

Proprietary technologies such as ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS O.C. Profile and Ai NET 2, can be found on the Tools tab.

We have tested overclocking capabilities this board. Mainly the voltage on the processor, northbridge and FSB was increased. The voltages on the remaining nodes were forced to nominal values ​​so that the BIOS did not change them independently. The voltage compensation function on the processor (Loadline Calibration) was activated and the main memory timings were set manually. When overclocking the bus with a quad-core processor to 1.6 V, the CPU PLL voltage increased.

As a result, we were able to increase the system bus frequency to 533 MHz when using a dual-core processor.

When installing a quad-core processor, the system bus frequency rose to 480 MHz.

Based on these indicators, we can safely say that ASUS P5E Deluxe has good overclocking potential, which, in principle, is typical for many motherboards based on Intel fourth series chipsets.

Testing

The following equipment was used to test the performance of the motherboard:

CPU	Core 2 Duo E6300 (LGA775, 1.86 GHz, L2 2 MB)
	Thermaltake Sonic Tower (CL-P0071) + Akasa AK-183-L2B 120 mm
RAM	2x DDR2-800 1024 MB PQI PC6400
Video card	EVGA GeForce 8600GTS 256 MB DDR3 PCI-E
HDD	Samsung HD080HJ, 80 GB, SATA-300
Optical drive	ASUS DRW-1814BLT SATA
power unit	Chieftec CFT-500-A12S 500W, 120 mm fan
	CODEGEN M603 MidiTower, 2x 120 mm in/out fans

Results:

Based on the test results, we conclude that the “heroine” of our review does not differ in performance from other solutions in the same class.

Included sound card SupremeFX II on the 8-channel ADI AD1988B HDA codec was tested in two modes.

Operating mode 16-bit, 44 kHz

Noise level, dB (A)
Dynamic range, dB (A)
Harmonic distortion,%
Intermodulation at 10 kHz, %
Overall rating		Fine

Operating mode 32-bit, 192 kHz

Frequency response unevenness (in the range 40 Hz - 15 kHz), dB		Very good
Noise level, dB (A)
Dynamic range, dB (A)
Harmonic distortion,%
Harmonic distortion + noise, dB(A)
Intermodulation distortion + noise, %		Very good
Interpenetration of channels, dB		Very good
Intermodulation at 10 kHz, %		Very good
Overall rating		Very good

conclusions

The ASUS P5E Deluxe motherboard is a striking representative of the high-end class. The manufacturer positions it as the basis for multimedia and gaming systems high class. Also, this board will become good choice for overclocking enthusiasts, which is confirmed by the tests performed. It is impossible not to note the large range of proprietary technologies that are implemented in this product, and the enviable equipment typical of high-end motherboards. Also in the plus column of the ASUS P5E Deluxe is support for DDR2 RAM, since the main chipset manufacturers Intel and NVIDIA have clearly set a course for popularizing the more expensive DDR3. The only thing that may put potential buyers off is the price of the motherboard, but do not forget that this indicator must be considered only together with the quality characteristics.

Advantages:

• official support for 1600 MHz system bus;
• excellent overclocking capabilities;
• two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots with the ability to implement ATI CrossFireX technology in x16 to x16 mode;
• 8-phase power stabilizer using EPU technology;
• a large set of proprietary ASUS technologies;
• 6 SATA connectors supporting RAID 0, 1, 5, 1+0;
• additional cooler included;
• "external" audio card SupremeFX II.

Flaws:

• need for additional cooling;
• lack of a PS/2 mouse connector.

We express our gratitude to the company PF Service LLC (Dnepropetrovsk) for the motherboards provided for testing.

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