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- Date:
- Wednesday, January 30, 2008
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS P5E3 Premium
The newest member in ASUS’ Intel lineup seems to finally deliver the performance that DDR3 has been promising. Paired up with the newly introduced Intel X48 chipset, this board packs a performance punch that few others boards can compete.
Introduction
ASUS is among the top component manufacturers in the industry, with a track record for delivering high performance yet stable products. As a company, ASUS strives to push the performance envelope with their products through the use of technological innovation and carefully planned out product designs. Their latest Intel based motherboard is a perfect example of ASUS’ design practices.
The P5E3 Premium is the most advanced member of the ASUS Intel based motherboard line. This board is based on the Intel X48 chipset, offering full support for all LGA 775 type processors, DDR3 DRAM modules operating in Dual Channel mode up to 1600MHz officially, and dual card ATI CrossFire support with matching ATI graphics cards installed.
As is common place with enthusiast motherboards, the P5E3 Premium is a feature complete solution in box, requiring a minimal number of components to be operational: an Intel LGA 775 processor; DDR3 memory; a video card; drives; and a PSU. ASUS designed the following features directly in to the P5E3 Premium: 6 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable) on the Intel ICH9R controller; 1 ATA-133 IDE port and 2 eSATA ports (RAID 0 and 1 capable) on the JMicron controller; 10 USB 2.0 capable ports (6 in rear panel, and 2 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394 capable ports (1 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header); a Realtek GigE Ethernet port and a Marvell Yukon GigE Ethernet port, both in the rear panel; ASUS 802.11n wireless Ethernet port 2-in-1 solution in the rear panel; ADI 8-channel HD audio codec featuring an S/PDIF RCA component and optical output ports; and PS/2 keyboard port support in the rear panel.
Main Specifications Overview:
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
Packaging
For the P5E3 Premium’s box art, ASUS chose to use their standard Ai Lifestyle design, with supported CPU and chipset marked in the lower left corner. The following accessories are bundled in the with motherboard itself: ATA-133 and floppy ribbon cables; SATA driver and dual ended power cables; the rear panel shield; rear brackets for USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 ports; 2 clip-on cooling fans for the integrated heat pipe cooling solution; 2 WiFi antennas; the Q-Connector modules; remote control USB module and remote; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs. Note that the included driver disk is a DVD-ROM disk, not a CD-ROM disk. The included remote control unit offers remote based operation of several features including hibernation, computer sleep mode with active wireless connection, system power off and on, and audio app startup and control. The Q-Connector modules allow for an easy interface for connecting in to the motherboard headers. You simply plug in your front panel jumpers in to the white connector and the USB 2.0 jumpers in to the blue connector block, and then plug both blocks in to the motherboard headers. It makes for a much easier install for those typically hard to reach header areas.
Board Layout
The P5E3 Premium’s board layout is very well thought out, with no real tight areas and more than adequate room provided around components. While the area around the CPU socket looks tightly packed at first glance, the surrounding heat pipe is far enough back from it so as to not get in the way. The board’s name and revision are silk-screened on its surface in between the primary PCI and PCI-Express x16 slot, with the rev used in testing a 2.00G. As expected with a board of this caliber, ASUS used all metal solid state capacitors in its design.
ASUS did their standard layout magic with the CPU socket area, with a good balance between CPU cooler space needs and component placement. You should not have any problem with using even the larger CPU coolers on this board as well. The CPU cooler hold down mechanism used is based on the standard Intel LGA775 mount design. The Intel X48 Northbridge is located to the left of the CPU socket, covered by a massive copper sink that parallels the entire left side of the CPU socket area. The cooler itself is held fast to the board via screws attaching to an under-board mounting bracket for added support. The CHA_FAN1 header is located to the upper left of the CPU socket, while the 8-pin ATX12V power connector is located to the upper right of the socket area.
The onboard DDR3 memory slots are located directly below the Northbridge chipset, paralleled by the heat pipe matrix. The slots are bi-colored and arranged in a 2-by-2 configuration, with Dual Channel memory mode enabled when memory modules are placed in like colored slots across the 2 sets. The 2 of the ICH9R’s SATA 2 ports, CHA_FAN2 header, the 24-pin ATX power connector, floppy port, PWR_FAN header, CPU overvolt jumper, Northbridge overvolt jumper, and chassis open alert jumper are located directly below the lower set of DIMM slots. The CPU and Northbridge overvolt jumpers allow for a higher maximum voltage setting in the BIOS when enabled. The CPU_FAN header is located to the upper right of the DIMM slots, along the board’s edge.
The onboard ICH9R Southbridge chipset is cooled by a terminating end of the heat pipe system, covered by a low profile copper cooler. Directly below the Southbridge chipset are the ATA-133 IDE port, and 4 of its SATA 2 ports. Note that the SATA 2 ports located directly below the Southbridge sit parallel to the plane of the board. The CHA_FAN4 and front panel headers are located in the lower left corner of the board, with the standby power LED, CMOS battery, CHA_FAN3 header and CMOS reset jumper directly above. The standby power LED illuminates with an active power source connected to the board. The 2 onboard USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 headers are directly above the CMOS reset jumper.
The P5E3 Premium comes standard with a total of 3 PCI Express x16 slots, 2 PCI Express x1 slots, and 2 PCI slots. The front panel audio, SPDIF_OUT , and COM1 headers are located to the upper left of the black colored PCI-Express x16 slot. The CD_IN header is directly above the secondary PCI-Express x1 slot.
The P5E3 Premium’s rear panel includes the following integrated ports: PS/2 keyboard port; 1 IEEE 1394 port; 6 USB 2.0 ports; 2 e-SATA ports; 1 Marvell Yukon GigE Ethernet port; 1 Realtek GigE Ethernet port; Realtek 802.11n wireless Ethernet ports; 6 analogue audio and S/PDIF RCA component and optical output audio ports.
AiSuite
ASUS chose to include their newly redesigned AiSuite Windows based monitoring utility in with the board drivers. The version of AiSuite shown is 1.03.16. The AiSuite utility supports a variety of monitoring and configuration settings including real time display of system voltages, fan speeds, temperatures, CPU FSB and speed, as well as multiple supported overclocking methods.
The AiBooster button gives access to the AiBooster interface, allowing for automated or full manual control of CPU FSB and multiplier, and system voltages.
The Performance screen allows for selection of a preconfigured overclocking level, where the system controls the voltages and various FSB settings, while the Advanced screen allows for full manual control. Note that for all voltage, CPU FSB and multiplier manipulation, supported options can be selected from a pull down master list.
Note that the AiBooster interface allows for selection and saving of pre-configured user profiles as well.
The Q-Fan button within the main AiSuite window allows for operational configuration of all fan headers through preset options.