Conroe Buying Guide: Feeding the Monster
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on July 19, 2006 6:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
ASUS P5B Deluxe
Basic Features
ASUS has done a fantastic job in putting together a full-featured, quiet, and stable Intel P965 motherboard for Core 2 Duo. Almost every feature lavished on the P5W-DH Deluxe is also present on the P5B Deluxe. This includes an 8-phase power design and fan-less heatpipe cooling.
The feature set of the ASUS 965 board is also outstanding, with the real issues with the P5B Deluxe limited to general complaints and questions about how Intel has implemented the 965 chipset. For more information on the Intel P965 chipset please look back at the AnandTech preview of the 965 chipset.
Despite the similarity of the ASUS 975X and 965 top boards, a closer look at options does tell you 965 is targeted a bit lower than 975. The FSB adjusts to 400 on 965, more than enough on most processors, except Conroe actually can reach 400, 450, and beyond. The 975X has adjustments to 500 FSB. Other subtle differences are the ADI chipset HD audio on 965 and a Dolby Digital Master Studio (Dolby Digital Live) audio choice for the 975X.
Basic Performance
Intel's thinking on the 965 chipset remains a mystery to us. We expected the new 965 might be a bit faster than 975 since Intel tells us the 965 uses a better memory controller. That was not the case, as 965 remained a bit slower than 975X. The missing support for CrossFire is also a mystery. The 965 has an X16 slot and an X4 slot, but it cannot operate in multi-GPU mode for CrossFire. The only Intel option for CrossFire is the 975X.
Another odd puzzle is that the X6800, which is completely unlocked, only operates unlocked DOWN in P965. The stock multiplier of the 2.93 chip is 11x, and you cannot select higher multipliers on P965 as you can on 975X. On the one hand Intel is telling us all that the P965 is a uniquely up-to-date chipset that supports Conroe really well, while on the other hand we discover 965 is crippled in some areas compared to 975X. You will also see the 965 does not support ECC memory while the 975X does, but that will only matter to a small percentage of users.
Perhaps with time the P965 will become a faster, better board than 975, but at this point in time the BIOS implementations are much more immature than 975X BIOS solutions. Based on the costs we have seen for top 965 boards compared to 975, it would take a big price difference to persuade us to buy 965 instead. In general, those wider price differences don't exist in this round of motherboards. Both ASUS boards, the 975X P5W-DH and the P965 P5B Deluxe, are now for sale at the same $269 price. Frankly, at the same price we could never recommend this 965 motherboard over the better performing, better-featured and better-overclocking 975X model.
Overclocking
While 965 is being talked about as the better match to Conroe, we are finding that basic performance of the 965 boards is still a bit below 975X performance. This is particularly true in the overclocking area, where we have generally reached lower overclocks with 965 boards than we could achieve with the better 975 boards. In this case the ASUS P5B Deluxe has a maximum FSB range of 400 (bios 0403 released today now raises this to 500), while the ASUS 975X board has settings to 500 FSB. This 400 top limited the highest overclock we could achieve to a 372 FSB, or a 39% OC of the 2.66 E6700 compared to the 50% overclock it achieved on the ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe.
Overclocking is still much less stable on the 965 ASUS than we experienced on their 975X motherboard. The ASUS board is generally stable, but it could still benefit from a few more rounds of BIOS refinement. In fact, all of the 965 boards were less polished and mature than their 975X counterparts - not to mention the missing features detailed above.
Basic Features
| ASUS P5B Deluxe | |
| Market Segment | High-End/Enthusiast |
| CPU Interface | Socket T (Socket 775) |
| Chipset | Intel P965 + ICH8R |
| Thermal Design | 8-phase power Fan-less Heatpipe Cooling ASUS Stack Cool 2 for OC |
| Default Bus Speed | 1066 (533/266) |
| Bus Speeds | 100 to 400 in 1MHz Increments |
| Memory Speeds | DDR2 at Auto,400,533,667,800,889,1067 |
| PCIe Speeds | Auto, 90 to 150 in 1MHz Increments |
| Performance Mode | Auto, Standard Turbo |
| AI Overclocking | Manual, Auto, Overclock Profile, AI N.O.S. |
| PCI | Auto, 33.3, To CPU |
| Core Voltage | Auto, 1.225V (Actual CPU voltage) to 1.7000V in 0.0125V increments |
| FSB Termination Voltage | Auto, 1.2v, 1.3v, 1.4v, 1.45v |
| NB Voltage | Auto, 1.25v, 1.35v, 1.45v, 1.55v |
| SB Voltage | Auto, 1.5v, 1.6v, 1.7v, 1.8v |
| PEG Link Mode | Auto, Slow, Normal, Fast, Faster |
| CPU Clock Multiplier | Auto, 6x-CPU default in 1X increments (depends on CPU) - DOWN only |
| DRAM Voltage | Auto, 1.8V to 2.45V in .05v increments (except for 2.2V) |
| Multi-GPU Option | None |
| Memory Slots | Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Configuration Unbuffered non ECC Memory to 8GB Total |
| Expansion Slots | 1 PCIe X16 1 PCIe X16 operating at X4 or X2 1 PCIe X1 3 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA/RAID | 6 SATA2 3Gb/s Drives by Intel ICH8R (RAID 0,1,5,10) PLUS 2 SATA2 3 Gb/s Drives by JMicronJMB363 (RAID 0,1) (1 internal,1 external) TOTAL 8 Sata2 3Gb/s drives |
| Onboard IDE/IDE RAID | One Standard ATA133/100/66 (2 drives) by JMicron JMB363 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports supported by ICH8R 2 Firewire 1394a by TI |
| Onboard LAN | DUAL PCIe/PCI Gigabit by Marvel for AI Net2, PLUS WiFi 54Mbps supporting 802.11g |
| Onboard Audio | Azalia HD Audio by ADI 1988B 8 channel codec |
| Power Connectors | 24-pin ATX 4 or 8-pin EATX 12V |
| Back Panel I/O Ports | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Serial 1 x Audio I/O Panel (6 plug programmable) 1 x Optical S/PDIF Out Port 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Out Port 1 x IEEE 1394a Firewire 1 x External SATA2 2 x RJ45 LAN 1 x Wireless LAN antenna 4 x USB |
| BIOS Revision | AMI 0602 - June 30, 2006 |
ASUS has done a fantastic job in putting together a full-featured, quiet, and stable Intel P965 motherboard for Core 2 Duo. Almost every feature lavished on the P5W-DH Deluxe is also present on the P5B Deluxe. This includes an 8-phase power design and fan-less heatpipe cooling.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The feature set of the ASUS 965 board is also outstanding, with the real issues with the P5B Deluxe limited to general complaints and questions about how Intel has implemented the 965 chipset. For more information on the Intel P965 chipset please look back at the AnandTech preview of the 965 chipset.
Despite the similarity of the ASUS 975X and 965 top boards, a closer look at options does tell you 965 is targeted a bit lower than 975. The FSB adjusts to 400 on 965, more than enough on most processors, except Conroe actually can reach 400, 450, and beyond. The 975X has adjustments to 500 FSB. Other subtle differences are the ADI chipset HD audio on 965 and a Dolby Digital Master Studio (Dolby Digital Live) audio choice for the 975X.
Basic Performance
Intel's thinking on the 965 chipset remains a mystery to us. We expected the new 965 might be a bit faster than 975 since Intel tells us the 965 uses a better memory controller. That was not the case, as 965 remained a bit slower than 975X. The missing support for CrossFire is also a mystery. The 965 has an X16 slot and an X4 slot, but it cannot operate in multi-GPU mode for CrossFire. The only Intel option for CrossFire is the 975X.
Another odd puzzle is that the X6800, which is completely unlocked, only operates unlocked DOWN in P965. The stock multiplier of the 2.93 chip is 11x, and you cannot select higher multipliers on P965 as you can on 975X. On the one hand Intel is telling us all that the P965 is a uniquely up-to-date chipset that supports Conroe really well, while on the other hand we discover 965 is crippled in some areas compared to 975X. You will also see the 965 does not support ECC memory while the 975X does, but that will only matter to a small percentage of users.
Perhaps with time the P965 will become a faster, better board than 975, but at this point in time the BIOS implementations are much more immature than 975X BIOS solutions. Based on the costs we have seen for top 965 boards compared to 975, it would take a big price difference to persuade us to buy 965 instead. In general, those wider price differences don't exist in this round of motherboards. Both ASUS boards, the 975X P5W-DH and the P965 P5B Deluxe, are now for sale at the same $269 price. Frankly, at the same price we could never recommend this 965 motherboard over the better performing, better-featured and better-overclocking 975X model.
Overclocking
| ASUS P5B Deluxe Overclocking Testbed |
|
| Processor: | Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Dual Core, 2.67GHz, 4MB Unified Cache 1066FSB, 10x Multiplier |
| CPU Voltage: | 1.525V (default 1.2V) |
| Cooling: | Tuniq Tower 120 Air Cooling |
| Power Supply: | OCZ GameXstream 700W |
| Memory: | Corsair Twin2X2048-PC2-8500C5 (2x1GB) (Micron Memory Chips) |
| Hard Drive | Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM SATA2 16MB Cache |
| Maximum OC: (Standard Ratio) |
372x10 3720MHz (+39%) |
While 965 is being talked about as the better match to Conroe, we are finding that basic performance of the 965 boards is still a bit below 975X performance. This is particularly true in the overclocking area, where we have generally reached lower overclocks with 965 boards than we could achieve with the better 975 boards. In this case the ASUS P5B Deluxe has a maximum FSB range of 400 (bios 0403 released today now raises this to 500), while the ASUS 975X board has settings to 500 FSB. This 400 top limited the highest overclock we could achieve to a 372 FSB, or a 39% OC of the 2.66 E6700 compared to the 50% overclock it achieved on the ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe.
Overclocking is still much less stable on the 965 ASUS than we experienced on their 975X motherboard. The ASUS board is generally stable, but it could still benefit from a few more rounds of BIOS refinement. In fact, all of the 965 boards were less polished and mature than their 975X counterparts - not to mention the missing features detailed above.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
123 Comments
View All Comments
Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
We are looking forward to the value SLI boards in early August. Prices will range on average from $95 to $120. As soon as we can post a review up on these boards, it will be done. :)EODetroit - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Can Anandtech max out the memory and make sure these systems are stable in 64 bit Windows OS'? I'd really like to make sure that there's no time bombs if I buy 8GB of ram that will force me to RMA a lot of stuff. If you don't have 2GB sticks, at least test with 4x1GB. The motherboards advertise that they support 8GB, but no one ever seems to check them on it. If Anandtech could do that, it would be a great help.Thanks!
Genx87 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Not bad for an older chipset to win the SLI benchmarks.I am curious what the new chipset can do!
supremelaw - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Dear Gary and Wesley,I'm thinking back to about 8 months ago,
when we first started assembling our
ASUS P5WD2 Premium motherboard
(which has recently become our primary
production machine).
We offered our assistance at the ASUS
User Forum, because a LOT of users
were stumbling over the IT8211F IDE
controller, which requires a device driver
to be extracted from the Support CD.
I fear that P965 motherboards are headed
for the same serious problems, particularly
if motherboards add an on-board IDE
controller that is NOT "native" e.g. JMicron.
Here's the scenario: a less-than-expert
user sees a PATA IDE port, and thinks
he can use (or recycle) a PATA optical
drive to run Windows Setup. And, he's
probably read (or heard) the stories about
SATA optical drives that just don't work
with Windows Setup.
Is this user headed for major problems?
I think so.
And here's why ...
If the BIOS has not been modified to
support native PATA / IDE optical devices,
a Catch-22 results: you need the device
driver from the Support CD, but you can't
read the Support CD without the device
driver -- not if the optical device is wired
to that on-board IDE controller.
If you want confirmation of this problem,
check out the ASUS User Forum for the
P5WD2 Premium, particularly the numerous
complaints Users were posting about the
ITE IT8211F on-board IDE controller.
To make this problem even more exasperating,
the User Manual failed to mention that the
F6 sequence will load the ITE driver during
Windows Setup, BUT one can STILL not
run Windows Setup from an optical drive
wired to that ITE controller. The device driver
can be added AFTER Windows XP is
successfully installed.
Fortunately, the P5WD2 Premium has a
BLUE native IDE port as well, and we
avoided all of these problems by running
Windows Setup from a PATA optical drive
wired to that BLUE native IDE port.
Thanks for all the great reviews!
Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul Andrew Mitchell
Webmaster, Supreme Law Library
http://www.supremelaw.org/">http://www.supremelaw.org/
Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Hi Paul,The scenario you listed is a very real possibility and as you have noted has existed in past boards. In fact, I was on the phone with Wes when our first P965 was fired up and the Optical Drive was not recognized. Of course, I had a few choice words to say about the situation. The only way to load the new OS image and Driver CD was through the Optical drive and that was not going to happen in this case. I ended up loading a new image on a drive in another system, installing the inf and network drivers in a folder, and then moving this drive to the new machine. The issue was a very early bios that did not support the hooks from the external IDE chipset into the ICH8. We received an updated bios a few days later and all was well from that point forward.
Since Intel has basically left a "lane" open in the ICH8 to support IDE (much in the same way as the LAN controller logic, being real simple here to keep it short), then the only issue is to ensure the bios has support for the IDE link. We have not seen this issue at all in the latest boards that we have received and have been told it will not occur in shipping boards. While most suppliers are going with the JMicron solution, Biostar included the VIA VT6410 that turned out to offer excellent performance in our upcoming storage tests. I hope this helps and thank you for your comments today.
:)
Andy4504 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
I was most surprized by the poor BadAxe (X975XBX) Overclocking. Because the memory controller isn't directly tied to the FSB speeds, the fact that you cannot incrase the memory voltage without hardware modification should make little / no difference in CPU overclocking.I personally own a X975XBX with an 805D. I've found that the best overclocking isn't done by selecting +30% OR + any percent for that matter, but rather choosing the higher bus speed, then selecting an underclock from that higher speed.
With full access to the memory multiplier range, most any ratio could be set.
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Conroe runs at 1066 FSB speed. 1333 support has been in and out of the different BIOS revisions. So with Conroe you can select no higher bus speed at worst, or a modest 1333 at best. 805D runs at 533 (166 quad) so you have differnt options. It really isn't possible to select higher bus speeds and clock down with Conroe on the BadAxe.Paladin165 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
In the review you mention that the 7600GT would work with the cheap ASrock board, I was thinking about going with this setup (if another ultra-cheap board doesn't come out soon). I was wondering, how much impact would the 4x PCIex speed have on the 7600GT? Are there any situations where it would choke off performance? Does it provide enough power?This cheap board seems like a good buy because new motherboards are going to be coming out so rapidly over the next six months it doesn't make sense to drop $250 on a bleeding-edge board.
Gary Key - Thursday, July 20, 2006 - link
The 7600GT works fine. I am trying to procure a 7600GS PCIe and AGP cards to directly compare the video performance on the board. Hopefully, I will have both cards before the full review goes up. We also have two other ASRock boards that are under $75 arriving shortly. I think the performance with the 7600GT will be fine unless you like to play Oblivion and even with the PCIe x4 interface you will not notice a real difference with this card.Paladin165 - Thursday, July 20, 2006 - link
"I think the performance with the 7600GT will be fine unless you like to play Oblivion"!!!
Oblivion is exactly what I want to play! What is it about this setup that hurts Oblivion performance?