915 Motherboard Roundup: Socket 775 for the Rest of Us

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 2^nd 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.