[ReviOC] Asus P5E - The Hidden Maximus

[PPInDaHouse]

ReviOC


Asus P5E – The Hidden Maximus
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/1673/hpim2819nn6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Asus P5E is a new motherboard with X38 chipset from Asus. With this chipset Asus have some new products, P5E, P5E-WS Pro, Maximus Formula and with DDR3 support some more, for example P5E3, P5E3 Deluxe Wifi AP, Maximus Extreme, …
The main news in the X38 chipset are pci-e 2.0 and the possibility of CrossFire at 16x,offering us a better bandwidth. There are also some rumors that it will support SLI, with other drivers.

Talking about Asus P5E, in my point of view it is almost an Asus Maximus Formula, even having some characteristics and offerings of motherboards from R.O.G (Republic of Gamers) series, for example the sound card SupremeFX II. Using the same PCB, the main differences between Asus P5E and Asus Maximus Formula are the several options in bios that Maximus Formula have, for example the voltage options. Other two things that Maximus Formula give us are the LCD Poster and the possibility of using watercooling on the northbridge, because it comes with a waterblock installed (Maximus Formula S.E).

All these new motherboards with X38 chipset have a new technology called E.P.U (Energy Processing Unit) that allow as to save energy.

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5654/hpim2877lv9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Specifications

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/8187/asusp5especificationsrj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Product on Asus Website (http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=572&l4=0&model=1873&modelmenu=1)


Now I will present some photos of the product tested here (Asus P5E).


Let’s start by the box

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/3296/hpim2807bt4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/4079/hpim2811le5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Some characteristics presented on the box

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/5374/hpim2817xp1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/2055/hpim2812rs6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/763/hpim2813sm8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8437/hpim2814gw9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


When we open the box…

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8655/hpim2818ii9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

… what we find

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/5651/hpim2862wb5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Sata and IDE cables, Q-Shield (I/O shield), I/O module, optional fan for mosfets, Q-Connector, SupremeFX II, user guide, CD and Asus P5E of course.


Some photos of some aspects of Asus P5E

Overview

http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/4166/hpim2819ox6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Socket area

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8921/hpim2903vx5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Ram slots

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/6906/hpim2904og2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


2 pci-e slots, CF 16x

http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/2892/hpim2905sq8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


On northbridge it has an huge passive cooler with cooper color (it’s in aluminum).

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/7397/hpim2827bg0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


On southbridge it has a simple cooler with a futuristic look.

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/6425/hpim2828zx0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


On the mosfets beside the socket area it has a big cooler too, but this time with the natural color of aluminum.

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/7123/hpim2831ra4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The mosfets on top of socket area are cooled by the normal cooler that Asus have been using before on other models/series.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2194/hpim2836pm3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


On this board the Sata connections are a lot better placed, because this way the graphics card will not overlap them and the sata cables will enter in the horizontal.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/4293/hpim2855vu6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The I/O panel have less connections than the previous motherboards, but it has the more important and needed connections. Once again they didn’t put 2 P/S2 connections, because almost all the mouse’s and keyboards of nowadays use USB.

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/9173/hpim2857wv5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The sound card SupremeFX II with an attractive look.

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/6074/hpim2863sd3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/4972/hpim2881zp9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/8660/hpim2865ai6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/65/hpim2866lw1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/5942/hpim2880mw1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8760/hpim2882eu0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The optional fan for mosfets

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8407/hpim2864sn4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Asus P5K Deluxe on the left, P5E on the right

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/7246/hpim2884vj2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



To be continued

[PPInDaHouse]

The Max voltages on bios are:

Vcore : 1,1v to 2,4v (interval 0,00625v)
Vpll : 1,5v to 2,78v (interval 0,02v)
Vmem : 1,8v to 2,66v (interval 0.02v)
Vmch : 1,25v to 1,75v (interval 0,02v)


Now let’s see the performance

Test Bed:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
Board: Asus P5E @ bios 107
Ram: 2x1GB DDR2 Teamgroup Elite PC5300
HDD: Seagate 80GB 7200rpm Sata II
Graphics Card: XFX 8800GTS 320Mb 500M (driver 169.12)
PSU: LC Power Hyperion 700w
LCD: LG L226WTQ 22" @ 1680x1050 (native resolution)
OS: Windows XP 32bit (benchmarks) & Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit (Crysis DX10)


Max Ram Frequency

CL5 – 635

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5452/maxcl5rw4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=275648

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/9810/grficocl5jz6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


CL4 – 587

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/6749/maxcl4bp6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=275660

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/8589/grficocl4cl9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


CL3 – 450

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6341/maxcl3fp3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=275663

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/4666/grficocl3ai7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Super Pi 1M

2.33Ghz: 21.547s

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/1961/stockspi1m1072vym9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

3.50Ghz: 14.391s

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5871/spi1m3500mhz132vmo1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/2466/grficospi1mbl2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Increase of 33% on performance


Super PI 32M

2.33Ghz: 21m24.266s (1284.266s)

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/8571/stockspi32m1072vsd9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

3.50Ghz: 15m.18.922s (918.922s)

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7539/spi32m3500mhz1368vnu1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5075/grficospi32mbz6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Increase of 28.5% on performance


3DMark01

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6540/3dmark01xh4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

2.33Ghz, 8800GTS 320mb (513/792)

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/290/3dmark01stockac1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

3.50Ghz, 8800GTS 320mb (645/947)

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8052/3dmark013500mhziy8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8969/grfico3dmark01qy3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Increase of 28.7% on performance


3DMark05

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/5162/3dmark05hf1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

2.33Ghz, 8800GTS 320mb (513/792)

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5244/3dmark05stocksa4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

3.50Ghz, 8800GTS 320mb (650/920)

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/3258/3dmark05ocdx7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3721/grfico3dmark05je2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Increase of 27% on performance


3DMark06

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/9431/3dmark06gp1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

2.33Ghz, 8800GTS 320mb (513/792)

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2944/3dmark06stockfu9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

3.50Ghz, 8800GTS 320mb (650/920)

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6151/3dmark06ocfc2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/9552/grfico3dmark06gr0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Increase of 25% on performance


Crysis

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2515/crysisbannerlq2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Now on Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit, it was tested the new game from Crytek, the game that made that a lot of people upgraded their hardware finding better performance, Crysis.

Sunbeam effect, a little bit exaggerated on DX10.

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3773/crysis2007112721151303rj7.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=crysis2007112721151303rj7.jpg)

And here a little compare between medium settings and very high settings. The main differences are the water, the stones, the gloves and the arms.

1280x1024, Medium Settings

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/7536/crysis2007112721403110jf5.th.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=crysis2007112721403110jf5.jpg)

1680x1050, Very High Settings

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/7863/crysis2007112721464909qz7.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=crysis2007112721464909qz7.jpg)


AVG FPS

Medium settings

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/9307/grficomediumsettingsnb6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

High Settings

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/7027/grficohighsettingsvz1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Very High Settings

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6087/grficoveryhighsettingsvz5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Conclusion and Final Mark

There is no doubt that Asus P5E is a very strong motherboard in both performance and cooling as the aesthetic.
In compare with Asus Maximus Formula it don’t only have some options on bios and the waterblock on northbridge and it is 35€ cheaper.


Pros

-Performance
-Temperatures
-Price
-Aesthetic

Against

-Support (bios)


After all this the final mark for Asus P5E is 9.5 (1-10)

Recommended product by ReviOC group



Review and Text by PPInDaHouse

[DMH]

2nd part is taking too long:D

[Parad0x]

Afaik is the same board as the Maximus Fromula non-SE only without the "ROG bling" (S/W bundle (Stalker, 3DM06 & KAV), lcd poster, clrcmos/reset/power/button, 2nd Gb LAN, 4 extra fan headers, slightly different cooling system, some extreme voltages in the bios suitable only for ln2 runs imo)

Here in Romania the diference between the P5E & the Maximus Formula non-SE is 60$ not like on newegg where is something like 20$:rolleyes:

Really looking forward to see if there are any noticeable differences between these two mobos when ln2 is not involved:D

[PPInDaHouse]

2nd Part of review added :D

regards

[screwtech02]

So, can you flash this baord with a Maximus bios, and "open" up the other bios options???

[PPInDaHouse]

So, can you flash this baord with a Maximus bios, and "open" up the other bios options???

I think that was already discussed on the Asus X38 boards thread, and I think I remember someone said that dont work

[MuffinFlavored]

Awesome review!

With time, ASUS will release new BIOs, and mods will be found for voltages and such, and it will be a strong X38 choice.

Once again, great review.

[MorGo7h]

What about the Vdroop? Does it have a Vdroop damper like the P5k-E has?
I'm buying this board prolly with 2 3780's :p:

[bonzo_catalin]

Max FSB ?