915 Motherboard Roundup: Socket 775 for the Rest of Us
by Wesley Fink on December 7, 2004 12:25 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Asus P5GD2 Premium: Features and Layout
| Asus P5GD2 Premium Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket 775 Pentium 4 (Prescott) |
| Chipset | Intel 915P/ICH6R |
| BUS Speeds | 100MHz to 400MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| DDR2 Speeds | Auto, 400, 533, 600 |
| PCI Speeds | To CPU, 33.33, Auto |
| Core Voltage | 1.4375V to 1.70V in 0.0125V increments |
| DRAM Voltage | Auto, 1.80V to 2.10V in 0.1V increments |
| Chipset Voltage | Auto, 1.5V, 1.6V |
| FSB Termination Voltage | Auto, 1.2V, 1.4V |
| Memory Slots | Four 240-pin DDR2 Slots Dual-Channel Unbuffered Memory to 4GB |
| Expansion Slots | 1 PCIe x16 Slot 2 PCIe x1 slot 2 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA/IDE RAID | 4 SATA 150 drives by ICH6R Can be combined in RAID 0,1,Intel Matrix plus 4 SATA 150 RAID by Sil3114R RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOB(8 SATA Drives Total) /td> |
| Onboard IDE | One Standard ATA100/66 by ICH6R (2 100/66/33 drives) Plus 4 IDE by IT 8212F (4 133/100/66, RAID 0, 1, 0+1, JBOD) |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports 3 IEEE 1394b FireWire Ports by TI 1394b |
| Onboard LAN | 2 X Gigabit LAN Total 1 PCIe by Marvel 88E8052 1 PCI by Marvel 88E8001 |
| Onboard Audio | CMedia CMI9880 (Intel HD) 8-Channel with coaxial/optical SPDIF out Supports Dolby Digital Live |
| Wireless LAN | WiFi 802.11g Included |
| Tested BIOS | 1007 AMI |
Asus uses the Premium name for their flagship models. This makes the P5GD2 Premium the top 915 board from Asus. Asus offers many other 915 boards, depending on customer needs. Another particularly interesting 915 choice is the 915G-based P5GDC-V Deluxe, which uses either DDR or DDR2, offers both Integrated graphics and a PCIe x16 video slot, and still features an ICH6R south bridge.
The P5GD2 is based on the 915P north bridge and does feature add-on graphics only. The 915P was meant by Intel to cater to the more enthusiast-minded 915 buyers who would never even consider integrated graphics. In fact, the 915P and 915G are the same chipset, with the only difference being the integrated graphics of the 915G. All of the Asus Proactive AI (Artificial Intelligence) features are included on the Premium, and Asus proudly advertises the overclocking features. This includes a special cooling plate on the bottom of the board in the CPU area that Asus calls "Stack Cool".
While the Asus carries a very premium price tag also, there is certainly value here. Dual Gigabit LAN and 802.11g WiFi are included - with one gigabit LAN residing on the faster PCIe bus. You also get fast 1394B Firewire, premium HD audio with Dolby Digital Live, a total of 8 SATA ports and 6 IDE ports, overclocking features like stack cool, and RAID 5 and 10 options. As you will see in our overclocking tests, you also get the one of the best overclockers in the 915 universe.
You will also find the premium C-Media CMI9880 codec supporting the Intel High-Definition audio, with 8 channels and Dolby Digital Live technology support. The CMI9880 is the only audio solution in this roundup that has a built-in Dolby AC3 encoder, which can actually encode your digital audio into Dolby digital streams that can be output to the SPDIF for Dolby Digital playback. The CMI9880 does this real-time for any digital audio in your system to feed Dolby Digital playback. The rest of the boards in the roundup use sound solutions based on the newest HD codecs, but Asus carries High-Definition (Azalia) audio further on the P5GD2 Premium.
The storage area is another area where the Asus stands out. Several of the boards support the ICH6R standard 4SATA/1 IDE (2drives) configuration. The Asus adds 4 more SATA ports for a total of 8 SATA ports. The Asus goes even further by also adding 4 more IDE devices with the ITE controller for a total of 6.
If you can do without the high-speed Firewire (you still get 1394a), the 2nd Gigabit LAN (you still get PCIe Gigabit LAN), and a few other minor features (you still get 8 SATA and 6 IDE), you can save about $50 by buying the P5GD2 Deluxe. No one would ever call the Deluxe stripped in any way and it still isn't cheap, but it does provide a route to the P5GD2 with a little savings to boot.
The Asus P5AD2 Premium was our Gold Editor's Choice in the 925X Roundup, so there were high expectations for the Asus 915. We were not disappointed. The options and ranges available in the Asus BIOS are just as complete on the 915 board and they are truly useful for squeezing the most from the P5GD2. The one item that could use improvement, however, is the range of memory voltage controls. With competitors offering up to 2.5V on their 915 boards, the Asus seems a little short on memory voltage options. Other than that, the BIOS adjustments on the Asus are decent, and they also work. Some other boards in this roundup offer incredible FSB ranges that they could never reach with the other available options. They are more window dressing or bragging rights for reviews that just list ranges like checkmark features. The Asus tweak options, on the other hand, are useful and work to provide a great overclocking experience for users of the P5GD2.
We have commented before that Asus pays close attention to the layout of their motherboards. We liked the layout of the P5AD2 Premium, and the P5GD2 Premium is mostly a P5AD2 with a 915P north bridge instead. The point is that we like the layout of the P5GD2. The floppy and 24-pin ATX are in the preferred upper right board-edge position, where they usually work best in most case designs. The 4-pin 12V connector is on the upper left board edge where it will not need to be snaked around the CPU and possibly, restrict air flow. The primary IDE is a right board-edge connector that should be preconnected during the install in tight cases. The 8 SATA ports are clustered at the lower right of the board (4 ports) and the bottom edge of the board (4 ports). The additional IDE connector is also near the bottom edge along with the headers for additional USB ports. IEEE1384b headers are between the PCIe x166 slot and the first regular PCI slot.
We were pleased that Asus had chosen to locate the Ahdio CD connector above the PCIe slot on this board. If you still need to use a CD audio cable, this is a much easier reach than the bottom of the board that Asus has used in the past.
The P5GD2 layout is close to ideal. You will likely be very pleased at the thought that went into the layout of the Asus motherboard.
AOpen i915Pa-EFRII: Overclocking and Stress Testing
Asus P5GD2 Premium: Overclocking and Stress Testing
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
26 Comments
View All Comments
Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Sorry Didn't see your reply before I posted Wesley.Sure there is some value to be had but not "outstanding". I still don't agree with you but I guess my mind is made up. Intel needs to come out with something new before I go back.
As a roundup it was very good reading tough. I can't wait for the next AMD roundup to hit AnandTech.
Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#12"The P5GD2 is an expensive motherboard, at about $240 on the web, but you can get almost all the same features in the P5GD2 Deluxe for about $50 less."
Thats expensive to me. Compare that to the 134.99 for the 939 Gold Editors Choice winner "MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum"
But thats not the point. If the 915P was substantially cheaper then a 939 system you might call it value for money but is it not. Mind you a 939 board is generally not cheap either but at least it delivers in comparison.
The CPU used in the review that hardly beat the much cheaper 3500+ had a max overclock of 14% and I bet you would find it hard to reach that high without the CPU overheating and start throttling http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=2345...
LGA775 CPUs does not offer great overclocking headroom compared to the much cheaper earlier Intel platforms or AMD for that matter. Sure they still overclock but nothing that we haven't seen before at higher cost and temperature. Again not what I would call outstanding.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#11 - We just ran the 3500+ benchmarks in the same configuration this morning, and we do agree that the 3500+ is a particularly good value in performance for the dollar. However, the larger picture of prices of AMD CPUs compared to Intel show the Intel processors are a good, if not outstanding, value.Our conclusion was based on Anand's value analysis in the 3.46EE/1066 launch review at http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?... There he compared the 3800+ at over $600 to a Intel 560 3.6GHz at about $450 and found the 3800+ the winner but probably not a big enough winner to justify the price premium for the 3800+. At that time, there was no 570 (3.8GHz) and the 3.6 was the fastest Intel CPU unless you considered the $1000+ Xeon-based EE processors. Price changes continue, and with them the value relationships do change.
A quick check of prices today shows
Intel 520(2.8GHz)- $160 AMD 2800+(754) - $128
Intel 530(3.0GHz)- $180 AMD A64 3000+ - $152
Intel 540(3.2GHz)- $220 AMD A64 3200+ - $194
Intel 550(3.4GHz)- $282 AMD A64 3400+ - $269
Intel 560(3.6GHz)- $455 AMD A64 3500+ - $270
Intel 570(3.8GHz)- $795 AMD A64 3800+ - $630
AMD A64 4000+ - $716
AMD A64 FX55 - $812
With current prices we would have to agree that there is really no great value advantage to Intel any more. But there is good value in the Intel processors from 2.8GHz (520) to 3.6GHz (560). Certainly the 4000+, at $80 less than the 570 and faster performance, and the FX55 at about the same price as 570 and significantly faster in most benchmarks, are better value at the top. But we still stand by Intel being good value in the middle.
deathwalker - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
"outstanding value and performance for your buying dollar" ?????????? at $240 for a Mobo?..I guess I need to retake Economics 101...Bah...Intel just continues to shot themselves in the foot. A side note not related to this review..Dell must be deep inside of Intel's pocketbook with there contiued refusal to market AMD based products.danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#11 - 915P motherboards are not expensive. They are equal or cheaper in price than socket 939 A64 motherboards.LGA775 CPUs offer great overclocking headroom if paired with the right board. Intel CPUs have traditionally have had more OCing headroom than AMD chips. That still holds true, for the most part, today. Especially when talking about the low-end chips, like the 2.8GHz.
Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
I'm sorry but I don't see the "outstanding value and performance for your buying dollar"Expensive Motherboards and CPUs with little overclocking headroom compared to the Athlon 64 competition. How does that translate to excellent value and performance? even the much cheaper 3500 comes out on top on most benchmarks.
Sure there are niche markets where the Intel platform excels but for the big majority of us AMD is where its at right now.
I don't think this review is in sync with your conclusion so either list some valid arguments for your point (Since its not there in the benchmarks) or edit the conclusion.
danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Wesley, thanks for including tests from a more comparable AMD CPU. Listening to your readers is always appreciated.Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#4,#5,#6 - The Athlon 64 results with the FX55 were included for Reference, and not direct comparison. However you do make a good point.The closest A64 we had in the lab to a 3.6GHz 560 was the 3500+ based on the 90nm process. This should provide an advantage to the Intel 560. Since there are complaints here the FX55 is too high end, these new tests tilted toward Intel should balance the playing field. The 3500+ costs about $265 and the Intel 560 (3.6GHz) is about $455, so the 560 is about 70% more expensive than the 3500+.
The added 3500+ benchmarks were also an opportunity to test with the SAME ATI X800XT PCIe we used in benchmarking the 915 boards. Enjoy!
Color codes have been updated and there are now 3500+ results on the Gigabyte nForce4 with the ATI X800XT PCIe in all benchmarks.
Original plans were to include the Intel 570 in this roundup, but much of the testing was already done when the Intel 3.8GHz CPU was launched. This Intel 3.8 is priced at around $800, which is very close to the FX55. You can see how it compares to the FX55 in performance in Anand's launch article at http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?...
CrystalBay - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
It's a pity that all these 4 dimm slot, dual channelMB's have such a rough time doing it. Imagine trying
to run 4 1GB dimms in DC, this goes for ddr1 as well 2.
Glassmaster - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Now that Northwood and 865/875 are on the way out, only a fool would buy Intel.Glassmaster.