Asus goes mental: P5K3 Premium with onboard 2GB DDR3!

[L1m1t.NL]

This board is based on the Asus P5K3 Deluxe (so P35 and DDR3) that we can buy today, but it does have something weird to it.
It has 2GB DDR3-1333 directly soldered onto the motherboard for better overclockablility. Asus claims they have improved the connection between the memory and the motherboard for the best possible overclock. The memory is directly connected to the heatpipes for better cooling, or so they say. It has Qimonda chips that work at 1333MHz speed, but it should be able to get up to 1600MHz. The price is still unknown, but Asus hinted at the price of 2GB DDR3-1333... stunning!
It will be available soon and will come in limited quantity's.



Link (Warning: In Dutch!) - Cheers...

[G.Foyle]

It's even worse than soldered bios or onboard GPU.

[perry_78]

their rma won't come cheap

[pcfreak]

In stock
http://www.alternate.de/html/product...ticleId=205503

[LowRun]

I just can't persuade myself that this is a good idea

[Shintai]

Im divided bothways here.

On a brief sidenote first I wanna say, what the hell is up with that copper galore on the memory!

My Cons are first:
Non replaceable, non upgradeable and possible OCed style that you have a higher chance of defects. Only 2GB and not 4GB.

My Pros:
Possible move later on to on CPU package or chipset. Sets some kind of clear standard. Possible higher quality and validation.

But I rather see this in some kind of OEm board.

[Martijn]

In stock
http://www.alternate.de/html/product...ticleId=205503

It has been in stock for a week now, over in the Netherlands... Price is still €699...

http://www.alternate.nl/html/product...l?artno=GPEA8A

Picture ^^ = incorrect.

[kemo]

I just can't persuade myself that this is a good idea

Because it is not ,, who wants to pay that much for a non expandable upgradeable platform ,, will you rma a whole Mobo just for 1 stick of memory or would you stick with the same immature memory for long time , those OC advantages will be lost in 3 months because Stock performance will get pass this with ease

[Vassili]

In stock
http://www.alternate.de/html/product...ticleId=205503

No that motherboard doesn't have the memory soldered on it, but included.

[DTU_XaVier]

They're marketing it to the wrong crowd... Overclockers don't want integrated solutions, they want the possibility to choose their own gear... They should've been selling it to the home-computer /office PC-crowd...

Best Regards

[L1m1t.NL]

It has been in stock for a week now, over in the Netherlands... Price is still €699...

http://www.alternate.nl/html/product...l?artno=GPEA8A

Picture ^^ = incorrect.

The picture was taken from Computex 2007 by Hardware.info-reporters on the scene. I don't think they would make up this story just fun, these guys know what they are doing.
I think the picture Alternate put up there is just a P5K3 Deluxe, with the side-note that it will include the 2GB DDR3-1333. The picture correct...

BTW, I agree that this thing is a dumb move. I understand they want to be innovative, but the OC-crowd just wants to choose what they put in their PC. Upgradeability and choice is why we buy PC's from parts nowadays (like from Asus), right?

[Dainas]

Because it is not ,, who wants to pay that much for a non expandable upgradeable platform ,, will you rma a whole Mobo just for 1 stick of memory or would you stick with the same immature memory for long time , those OC advantages will be lost in 3 months because Stock performance will get pass this with ease

True, not to mention watching the value of a motherboard you spend USD $650+ plummet into the abyss of depreciation. Thats should be the realm of video-cards only, as one should not spend more than $250 on a motherboard unless they are super enthusiast who will likely blow it up in a matter of months(and would never bother with fixxed memory).

[FEEXX]

Well with AMD you can get all three, with asus, by now get all two, adding the videocards they sold separately...

This company is a mass market booster

[zakelwe]

I'm sure Asus are going more and more Bling. They have more pipework than the film Brazil. It looks like a minature train set with stations ....

I like the MSI board in the other thread

http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/4958_large_MSI.jpg

Very unassuming, probably not a great overclocker but seems to be pretty futureproof with it's DDR2 for now and DDR3 later on and multiple PCie slots. As a gaming machine you could stick your DDR2 in it now and Conroe and then upgrade middle of next yeat to Penryn and DDR3 when it is cheaper and lower latencies are about.

And I like that heatsink, just need some good thermal and a downward blowing 120mm fan from the cpu and you are laughing. No heatpipes in site.

Yeah MSI !

Regards

Andy

[Martijn]

The picture was taken from Computex 2007 by Hardware.info-reporters on the scene. I don't think they would make up this story just fun, these guys know what they are doing.
I think the picture Alternate put up there is just a P5K3 Deluxe, with the side-note that it will include the 2GB DDR3-1333. The picture correct...

BTW, I agree that this thing is a dumb move. I understand they want to be innovative, but the OC-crowd just wants to choose what they put in their PC. Upgradeability and choice is why we buy PC's from parts nowadays (like from Asus), right?

I actually meant the picture on Alternate was incorrect

[Eastcoasthandle]

P5K3 Premium with on-board 2GB DDR3 + Dell = sales
I don't think this is intended for the pure enthusiast segment of the market. If this cost just as much as a typical MB with 2 gigs of ram then companies like Dell, HP, etc may just jump on this IMO. I guess we have to wait and see what the asking price is. The only issue I see is the missing ram slots. There should be at least 2 ram slots with an option in the bios to disable onboard ram.

[perkam]

When does taking away choice from the consumer become a feature ?

Perkam

[DFI pit bull]

Just another excuse to sell an overpriced board, but they gone too far this time, 699 euro is taking the piss.
I would pay 699 euro for a m/b with onboard 8800 GTX SLI
And all those fancy heatpipes could go over the gpu's and gddr.

[kemo]

P5K3 Premium with on-board 2GB DDR3 + Dell = sales
I don't think this is intended for the pure enthusiast segment of the market. If this cost just as much as a typical MB with 2 gigs of ram then companies like Dell, HP, etc may just jump on this IMO. I guess we have to wait and see what the asking price is. The only issue I see is the missing ram slots. There should be at least 2 ram slots with an option in the bios to disable onboard ram.

you solder the ram and claiming that this Improve OC then sell it to those who don't Overclock , Nice marketing indeed

[Order]

Convenient for the system integrators.

[adamsleath]

one less component to buy. i can see the appeal, particularly in pre-built systems (ie cheap+performance?)

[pcfreak]

In stock
http://www.alternate.de/html/product...ticleId=205503

No that motherboard doesn't have the memory soldered on it, but included.

...

I actually meant the picture on Alternate was incorrect

[Starscream]

im telling you some guy at Asus and at gigabyte own stock options in a coppermine.

and real overclockers would nvr buy this board cause you wouldnt be able to exchange the RAM. and besides that its only 2GB of RAM so once 4GB of ram is usable u wont be able to upgrade.

[erwinz]

ah asus have so many flavors..

[virtualrain]

When did Thermaltake buy ASUS?