ASUS has always been good at motherboards based on Intel chipsets. And the P5B series, which is based on the 965 series chipsets, is generally considered one of the most successful on the market. This series includes a huge number of different modifications - special overclocker versions, boards with improved configuration, boards for "advanced" office computers, etc. In our review, we will consider one of the most affordable modifications, the board with the short name "P5B". Although this board has basic functionality, but with other, more expensive models, it has in common, at least, the design of the printed circuit board and options in BIOS Setup. So, we can count on high performance and suitability for overclocking.

About the P965 chipset

motherboards ASUS series P5B, including the basic version under consideration, are based on one or another modification of the Intel P965 or G965 series chipset. We have repeatedly described the characteristics and functionality of Intel chipsets, compared them with their predecessors and some analogues. Now let's dwell on some features of the P965 chipset, which will be of interest to us in relation to the motherboard in question.

First of all, we note that Intel chipsets have no real analogues in their niche. In the field of budget solutions, of course, there are some alternatives, for example, chipsets from VIA and SIS. Expensive boards are sometimes built on NVIDIA chipsets, which, however, still lose to P965 and 975X in a number of points. And for universal mid-range boards, there are no other options than Intel.

However, Intel chipsets are quite expensive. Even this functional simple model, like ASUS P5B, has a very high price for its class. Only on stage new series Intel chipsets, and this event should happen this summer, prices for motherboards of the previous generation will begin to decline.

The Intel P965 chipset can be equipped with various modifications of the ICH8 south bridge, and this is not reflected in its name, as is the case with nForce chipsets. For example, ASUS P5B and P5B-E boards are formally based on the same P965, but differ in functionality. The first one has the basic modification ICH8, which does not support RAID technology and contains 4, not 6 Serial ATA ports.

Also note that the P965 chipset does not support the Parallel ATA interface. At the same time, most of the optical drives sold today are connected via this interface. To compensate for this annoying shortcoming, motherboard manufacturers, even Intel itself, install an additional controller on motherboards. Usually their choice is an inexpensive controller from JMicron.

ASUS P5B. Design, functionality

In the case of the P5B series, ASUS decided not to use the same design for all boards in the series. Different models partially coincide in terms of the layout of certain elements, the design of power circuits, the layout, the number and position of slots, but differ in the number additional controllers, their location, the presence of certain internal connectors.

So, on the P5B board, we will find only three additional chips - an audio codec, a network controller, and the already mentioned JMicron chip. Let's start with the last one. The JMB363 controller, the most common and popular among various board manufacturers, supports both Parallel ATA and Serial ATA. There is only one IDE connector on the motherboard, which is supposed to be used to connect an optical drive. Serial ATA ports support RAID 0 or 1. However, ASUS developers decided to use one of the ports to connect an external hard drive with External SATA (SATA-on-the-go) interface - it is displayed on the ports panel. Therefore, organizing a RAID on the P5B is hardly possible, this is a rather significant shortcoming of the board.

Analog Devices audio codec differs in sound quality from the more common Realtek codecs; there is nothing special to write about the Realtek RTL8111B network controller either.

The port panel has two digital S/PDIF connectors, six analog connectors, 4 USB ports, and PS/2 ports. The COM port has been removed, but if desired, it can be returned ("pants" with a connector are not included in the kit), the LPT port is preserved.

Manufacturer	ASUSTeK
Model	P5B
Chipset	Intel P965 Express
socket	Socket T (LGA775)
Form factor	ATX, 30.5 x 23 cm
average price	$125-150
Functionality		Extension
Integrated graphics:	-	Memory:
HDD/ODD connection:		type	DDR2
controller #1	(built-in)	ECC	-
Serial ATA	3 Gbps	slots	2+2
RAID	-	Expansion slots:
eSATA	-	PCI Express x16	1
ports	4	PCI Express x8	-
Parallel ATA	-	PCI Express x4	-
RAID	-	PCI Express x1	3
channels	-	PCI	3
controller #2	J Micron JMB363	other	-
Serial ATA	3 Gbps	Internal connectors:
RAID	0, 1	nutrition	24+4
eSATA	+	built-in sound:
ports	2	front panel	+ (AC"97/HDA)
Parallel ATA	there is	CD-In	+
RAID	-	aux-in	-
channels	1	S/PDIF In	-
floppy drive	+	S/PDIF Out	+
Built-in sound:		USB	3x2
interface	HD Audio	firewire	-
codec (controller)	AD1988A	Case Intrusion	+
channels	7.1+2	IrDA	-
S/PDIF	out	SMBus/I2O	+
detection	+	other	COM
reassignment	+	External connectors:
3D	EAX1/2, DS3D, A3D	PS/2	2
Dolby/DTS encoding	-	COM	-
microphones	x2,NR	LPT	1
other	-	Game	-
Built-in network:		USB	4
controller	Realtek RTL8111B	firewire	-
codec	(built-in)	audio jack	6
GbE support	+	S/PDIF coaxial	1
Virtual Tester	-	S/PDIF optical	1
other	-	VGA	-
WiFi:		DVI	-
controller	-	LAN RJ-45	1
protocols	-	eSATA	1
firewire	-	other	-
other	-

Lacks in functionality can be compensated for by expansion cards, fortunately, there are enough slots on the P5B. The developers managed to place three PCI and PCI Express x1 slots in such a way that the devices will not interfere with each other: the video card does not block the memory latches, PCI cards do not rest against the heatsink or IDE connector, etc. The processor area is almost free from high capacitors, the power connectors and fan connectors are very well located.

However, there are a couple of inconvenient moments in the design of the board. We did not like the IDE connector - it is located at the very bottom (when the case is vertically oriented), and to connect an optical drive to it, the latter will either have to be lowered into the last bay of the case, or a cable should be laid over the video card. The jumper for clearing the CMOS is also very inconveniently located, it is difficult to feel it with your fingers: the video card, cables, and the wire from the fan interfere.

The P5B model is equipped with a three-channel processor power regulator (VRM), which is not too powerful for extreme overclocking. Cooling for transistors is not used. Chipset microcircuits are individually equipped with heatsinks: the MCH northbridge is large and high, spring-mounted, the ICH southbridge is flat needle-shaped, with ordinary plastic latches.

BIOS Setup

We are pleased to note that the junior model of the series has retained all the necessary settings, so it can be easily used for experiments with optimization and overclocking of memory and processor:

• FSB frequency - up to 650 MHz in 1 MHz steps;
• memory multiplier - 1:1, 5:4, 3:2, 5:3 and 2:1 of the FSB frequency;
• PCI Express frequency - up to 150 MHz in 1 MHz increments;
• voltages: Vcore (up to 1.7V in 0.0125V steps), Vdimm (up to 2.45V in 0.10 or 0.05V steps), Vtt (1.2 - 1.45V), MCH voltages (up to 1.7V) and ICH (up to 1.8V) .

The P5B has very few settings for the memory controller in the BIOS: basic timings (tCL, tRAS, tRCD, tRP, tWR) are supplemented with less relevant for overclocking tRRD, tWRD, tRWD, etc.

The entire set of settings made can be stored in CMOS memory; only two profiles are available. You can also store BIOS and CMOS content on a hard drive, USB flash drive, or floppy disk; built in BIOS utility supports devices with file system FAT.

A proprietary anti-freeze system called C.P.R. (CPU Parameters Recall), allows you to do without the procedure for clearing CMOS during freezes. It is enough to turn off the power, and then turn it on again, as the BIOS will boot the system with safe settings and offer to correct the incorrect parameters without clearing them. Because C.P.R. works correctly in 95% of cases (except for some memory settings, the system cannot determine the fact of freezing), the savings in time and nerves during overclocking are enormous.

We also mention the proprietary BIOS firmware utility that supports USB flash drives and hard disks. It can be launched directly from the BIOS or by pressing a key combination during the initial boot (POST).

Testing

Most users consider the incredible overclocking headroom to be the main advantage of the modern Intel platform (Core 2 Duo processor plus 965 series chipset). Many motherboards are capable of operating at more than 500 MHz FSB (at nominal 266 MHz), and Core processors 2 Duo - at a frequency of 3.5 GHz and higher. At the same time, the power consumption and heating of the components remain within the normal range, liquid cooling or powerful (and at the same time noisy) coolers are not at all necessary. Therefore, we will start with overclocking.

Overclocking We were unable to achieve stable operation from the board at an FSB frequency of 500 MHz. The board loaded confidently at both 480 and 490 MHz, but problems were periodically observed: freezes, including during loading, inability to reboot, etc. Stable operation was observed up to about 475 MHz FSB. We suspect that the problem lies in insufficiently efficient cooling of the chipset with a significant increase in its supply voltage (1.55 V and higher); we plan to return to this issue later.

Our test configuration included:

• processor Core 2 Duo E6400 revision B2: nominal frequency 2.13 GHz (bus 266 MHz), 2 MB L2 cache;
• ASUS P5B board revision 1.04G, BIOS version 1102;
• two memory sticks Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 1 GB;
• video card Foxconn GeForce 7900GS;
• hard drive WD Caviar SE 250 GB, Serial ATA/300;
• block GlacialPower 550W;
• operating room Windows system XPSP2 32bit.

Without lowering the multiplier, the processor ran stable at 3.4 GHz (425 x 8) with a Vcore of 1.45 V, which is about a 60% increase; further overclocking required the use of a more powerful cooler than the GlacialTech 5050. We decided to stop at this mark and not take additional measures to improve cooling. The memory worked at a frequency of 850 (425) MHz with timings of 5-5-5-15-2. We also tested the board at nominal frequencies to determine the amount of performance gain from overclocking.

Motherboard	ASUS P5B	ASUS P5B@425
- chipset	Intel P965
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6400
- clock frequency	2.13 GHz	3.4GHz
- L1 cache	2 x 64 Kb
- kzsh L2	2 MB
Memory	Corsair XMS2
- volume	2 x 1 GB
- clock frequency	400 MHz (DDR2-800)	425 MHz
- delays	5-5-5-15-2	5-5-5-15-2
video card	GeForce 7900GS
HDD	WD Caviar SE
Comprehensive test (Sysmark04 SE)
office productivity	228	286
communication	197	225
Document Creation	276	387
data analysis	219	269
Internet Content Creation	364	532
3D Creation	324	494
2D Creation	444	630
web publication	336	483
Compression and archiving
MPEG2 -> WMV9	12.75	19.2
MPEG2 -> Xvid	23.28	34.5
MPEG2 -> DivX	38.12	57.22
WAV -> MP3	98	62
WAV -> AAC	157	100
WinRAR 3.41	1082	1230
7-Zip 4.42	2503	2934
Other tests
Photoshop CS2	3.4	5.1
Premiere Pro 2.0	11.24	17.24
Visual Studio .NET 2003	327	218
Solidworks 2005	2.08	2.92
Pro/Engineer WildFire 2.0	2.03	2.89

We ran a series of tests and got the following results:

• in the integrated test SYSMark 2004 SE, the increase ranged from 14% (mail and Internet) to 53% (3D Studio Max 8); graphics and video processing programs won at least 40%;
• when compressing video, the increase is about 50%, regardless of the codec (DivX, Xvid, WMV);
• archivers won no more than 15% - for them, the speed of memory access is more important;
• in Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Premiere Pro 2, again, see an increase of about 50%;
• 3D design programs received about 40% of the winnings;
• compilation speed in Visual Studio .NET has increased by a third.

Thus, we get a quite tangible and significant benefit from overclocking the processor, and without spending on special expensive memory (many DDR2-800 modules can operate at 425 MHz), power supply, cooler.

findings

The ASUS P5B motherboard can be described as a well-thought-out, balanced and reliable (according to service centers) product that fits well into its niche. With limited functionality, this board offers a wide range of options for expansion and connection of external devices, has a well-designed BIOS with a sufficient number of options. Easy to assemble, easy to set up, allows you to decently overclock the processor. Unfortunately, the cost of the board for its class is very high, which does not allow recommending it to a wide audience of users.

• successful layout;
• the presence of an eSATA port;
• fan control support;
• thoughtful BIOS Setup;
• an effective anti-freeze system;
• simple and convenient BIOS flashing utility;
• the possibility of overclocking the processor bus (up to 470-478 MHz).

• overcharge;
• inconvenient location of the IDE connector;
• not designed for extreme overclocking;
• BIOS oddities.

Max KURMAZ,
[email protected]
Project GIGAMARK

We thank the company "CDL Systems" for the provided motherboard ASUS

Thank you online storeEvent-pc.com for the provided processor Intel Core 2 duos

Thank you online storeultraprice.by for the memory provided by Corsair

Number of supported boards Intel processors Core 2 Duo is growing steadily. ASUS motherboards based on the P965 chipset have recently appeared in stores, among which the most powerful and interesting is the ASUS P5B Deluxe-WiFi model. The main features of this product are the presence of two PCI Express x16 slots, support for wireless Wi-Fi (however, due to the installation of the appropriate module, the number of USB ports has been reduced from 10 to 8) and the presence of an effective passive cooling system for the chipset and power module (8-phase !). In addition, one interesting component appeared in the package, but let's not get ahead of ourselves ...

Specification ASUS P5B Deluxe-WiFi

CPU	- Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott (2M)/Gallatin/ CedarMill) with bus frequency 1066/800/533 MHz; - Dual-core Intel Pentium D / EE (Smithfield / Presler) with a bus frequency of 800/1066 MHz; - Intel Celeron-D (Prescott) with a bus frequency of 533 MHz; - Support for Intel Core 2 Duo; - Socket LGA775; - Support for processors with HyperThreading technology;
Chipset	- Northbridge Intel® 82P965 Memory Controller Hub (MCH); - South Bridge Intel® 82801HR Enhanced I/O Controller Hub (ICH8R); - Communication between bridges: DMI;
System memory	- Four 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM DIMM slots; - Maximum memory capacity 8GB; - Supported memory type DDR2 533/667/800/889/1066; - Dual-channel memory access is possible; - Power indicator;
Graphic arts	- Two PCI Express x16 slots;
Expandability	- Three 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots; - One PCI Express x1 slot; - Eight USB 2.0 ports (4 built-in + 4 optional); - Two IEEE1394 ports (Firewire; one built-in + 1 optional); - Built-in High Definition Audio 7.1; - Two Gigabit Ethernet network controllers; - Wi-Fi controller (802.11g);
Overclocking options	- Changing the FSB frequency from 100 to 650 MHz in 1 MHz steps; - Changing the voltage on the processor, memory, FSB, SATA, PCI-E and chipset (MCH + ICH); - ASUS NOS (Non-Delay Overclocking System) technology; - ASUS AiBooster utility;
Disk subsystem	- 1 channel UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (JMB363; supports up to 2 ATAPI devices); - Support for the SerialATA II protocol (6 channels - ICH8R, with RAID support); - Support for the SerialATA II protocol (2 channels - JMB363, with support for RAID 0.1, JBOD); - Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM;
BIOS	- 8 Mbit Flash ROM; - AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features; - Technology ASUS EZ Flash 2; - Technology ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3; - ASUS MyLogo2 technology; - Multi-languages ​​BIOS;
Miscellaneous	- One port for FDD, one serial port, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard; - Power indicator on the board; - STR (Suspend to RAM) ; - SPDIF out;
Power Management	- Wake up from modem, mouse, keyboard, network, timer and USB; - Main 24-pin ATX power connector; - Additional 8-pin power connector;
Monitoring	- Tracking the temperature of the processor, system, voltage, rotation speed of five fans; - Technology ASUS Q-Fan 2; - Technology ASUS AI Gear, AI Nap; - ASUS PC Probe II utility;
The size	- ATX form factor, 245mm x 305mm (9.63" x 12") ;

Box

box with ASUS board P5B is inside the dust jacket:

One page flips out, and the user can briefly get acquainted with all ASUS proprietary technologies.

Equipment

• Motherboard;
• CD disk with software and drivers;
• CD with additional software (InterVideo software package) + description;
• One ATA-133 cable, FDD cable;
• Six SerialATA cables + three power adapters (six connectors);
• User manual in English;
• Bracket with additional Firewire port;
• Bracket with 2 additional USB ports 2.0;
• WiFi antenna;
• ASUS WiFi Solo User Manual;
• Additional fan;
• A set of additional connectors;
• Plug on the rear panel of the case;
• ASUS logo sticker;
• Microphone Soundmax.

Standard components are almost sufficient. In particular, the package includes 6 SerialATA cables, 3 power adapters with 6 connectors, a ParallelATA cable and a floppy drive cable.

In addition, there is one bracket with two USB2.0 ports and a bracket with a Firewire port.

However, to fully realize the full potential of the board, you need another bracket with two USB ports, one SerialATA cable, and an appropriate power adapter.

There were no complaints about the user manual. Also note that the CD-ROM contains a complete set of necessary drivers (including drivers for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions, drivers for Linux, as well as proprietary utilities, and Norton InternetSecurity 2006 antivirus).

Additional software (InterVideo software package (MediaOne Gallery, WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum, PhotoAlbum, Disk Master 2.5 Platinum, DVD Copy 2.5 Platinum) is located on another CD and is provided with brief description. There is also an installation and configuration brochure. wireless communication Wi-Fi standard.

The Wi-Fi module is installed directly on the board and has a special connector for connecting an antenna (the connector is located on the rear panel). The antenna itself is included in the kit:

Separately, we note the "bonus" items of equipment. Firstly, this is an additional "turbine" fan, which is installed on the heatsink of the power supply module.

Secondly, this is a special additional connector ( Q uick Connection Kit), to which you can connect all the cables from the case (the "Power", "Reset" buttons, the cable from the "HDD" indicator, etc.), and then connect them to the board with one hand movement.

Finally, a dedicated SoundMAX microphone is included.

This device is not developed by ASUS, but manufactured by Andrea. Using two spaced microphones, the developers have achieved a partial reduction in interference and sound reflections, and also eliminated background noise using the Noise Filter function.

Final conclusion: thanks to various additional components, as well as a quite decent standard set of cables, flat cables, etc., the board package looks very good. And even without accurate information about the price, we can easily give a rating of "5".

ASUS P5B Deluxe-WiFi board

The design of the board is quite convenient from the assembler's point of view: the power connectors are installed along the edges of the board, and the latches of the DIMM slots are not blocked by the PCI Express video card. Besides, the connector of the built-in IDE controller is located parallel to the board plane (which makes it easier to connect the cable).

The only difficulty can be the inconvenient location of the additional SerialATA port, which is located near the rear panel. Although if you use it to connect external devices, then the convenience of the location is obvious!

I want to once again draw attention to the power connectors of the board. An 8-pin connector is installed on the left edge. Moreover, the board is able to work with 20 + 4 power supplies, and the contacts not used in this case are covered with a plastic cover.

A 4-pin CPU_FAN connector for the corresponding cooler is installed next to the processor socket.

In addition to it, the board has six more (!) 3-pin connectors: PWR_FAN - near the DIMM slots, CHA_FAN1 and CHA_FAN3 - on the left edge of the board, CHA_FAN2 and CHA_FAN4 near the north bridge, and CHA_FAN5 - near the south. Note that ASUS releases several models on this PCB design, but the CHA_FAN4 and CHA_FAN5 connectors are only on the P5B Deluxe-WiFi version.

Only a passive heatsink is installed on the northbridge, which is connected to the heatsink on the power module using a heat pipe. Accordingly, heat is transferred from the chipset to this heatsink, from which it is dissipated. This scheme works especially effectively if an additional fan (included) is installed on the power module heatsink.

There are four 240-pin DIMM slots for DDR2 memory modules under the northbridge. They are divided into two groups of two slots. The first two slots are for the first channel of the controller, the last two are for the second channel.

Note that the board supports DDR2-533/667/800/889/1066 memory, and the total memory capacity is 8 GB. As soon as voltage is applied to the board, a pair of green LEDs mounted on the back of the board lights up. And as soon as the system starts, a couple of red ones, located in the same place, light up. On the front side of the board there is a transparent ASUS logo, which is effectively illuminated by the mentioned LEDs.

The board has two PCI Express x16 slots (both with latches), which are designed for video cards.

However, due to internal limitations of the P965 chipset, the board does not support dual graphics cards using NVIDIA SLI or ATI Crossfire technologies. By the way, only 2 or 4 lanes of the PCI Express bus are actually allocated to the second PCI Express x16 slot.

In addition to the above slots, the ASUS P5B board has three more "regular" PCI slots, as well as one PCI Express x1 slot.

Expandability

The ASUS P5B Deluxe-WiFi board has an ICH8R southbridge with a heatsink. As a result, the board supports 6 SerialATA II ports, and allows you to combine disks into RAID arrays levels 0, 1, 5 and 10 (MatrixRAID).

In addition, 2 more SerialATA II devices can be connected to the JMB363 controller manufactured by JMicron (the chip is located near the rear panel).

One port is brought to the back panel of the board, and the other is located near the back panel. The same controller provides support for one ParallelATA channel.

In total, 10 hard drives (8 SATA + 2 PATA) can be connected to the ASUS P5B Deluxe-WiFi board.

Further, the board has only 8 USB2.0 ports (out of 10 supported by ICH8R). Of these, 4 ports are installed on the rear panel, and 4 more are connected using a bracket (one bracket with two ports is included). Most likely, the decrease in the number of USB ports is due to the installation of a Wi-Fi module on the board.

In addition, the ASUS P5B board supports a different kind of serial bus- IEEE1394 ("Firewire"). To do this, a TSB43AB22A controller manufactured by Texas Instruments is installed on the board.

As a result, the board supports 2 Firewire ports: one is located on the rear panel, the other is connected using a bracket (included).

Now a few words about the network: the board has two high-speed network controllers: Marvell 88E8056 (Gigabit Ethernet),

and Marvell 88E8001 (Gigabit Ethernet).

Back panel The board has a rather non-standard configuration.

In particular, ASUS engineers completely abandoned support for the LPT port, and one COM port. In their places are optical and coaxial SP-DIF outputs, as well as one SerialATA II port and a Firewire port. However, the second COM port is provided by the PCB design, but the ASUS P5B Deluxe-WiFi is missing.

The traditional scheme of jumpers on the board:

There is only one jumper on the ASUS P5B board: CLRTC - jumper for resetting CMOS (located near the battery).

Now let's talk about the BIOS settings.

BIOS

The ASUS P5B BIOS is based on the AMI BIOS version.

In the memory settings section, the following set of timings:

An important parameter that affects performance is the setting of the memory frequency. It is located in the overclocking settings section.

Now consider the section on system monitoring.

The board displays the current temperatures of the processor and system, the rotation speeds of five (out of seven!) fans, as well as voltage levels. In addition, coolers connected to CPU_FAN and CHA_FAN1-3 can change their rotation speed depending on the temperature of the processor and system. Moreover, for the processor cooler there is a separate set of Q-FAN 2 settings, and for coolers connected to CHA_FAN1 - CHA_FAN3 there is one set of general settings.

In addition, you can follow the readings of system monitoring in Windows. The ASUS PCProbe 2 system monitoring utility is designed for this purpose.

The board also works with the ASUS Update utility, which is designed to update drivers, BIOS firmware and change the POST screen (MyLogo2 function). And finally, the board supports the CrashFree BIOS 3 function (corrupted firmware recovery using a floppy disk, CD or Flash disk).

Traditionally for motherboards manufactured by ASUS, the BIOS supports displaying parameters in several languages ​​(Multilanguages ​​BIOS).

The BIOS also gives the user access to configure all the functions of modern processors:

There are several ways to update the BIOS version. First take advantage AFUDOS utilities(DOS) and ASUS Update (Windows), and in the latter case, you can write a POST image to the BIOS (the MyLogo 2 function is designed for this). Secondly, the user can use the EZ Flash 2 utility, which is built into the BIOS. And the file with new firmware can be located not only on the usual 3" floppy disk, but also on a hard disk or USB flash drive.

But probably due to BIOS flaws, the EZ Flash 2 utility crashed immediately after launch.

In conclusion, we note the OC Profile technology, which allows you to save all BIOS settings in memory and load them if necessary. ASUS P5B Deluxe WiFi supports two independent profiles:

By the way, there is no usual crib with a BIOS chip on the board.

Apparently, the functions of the BIOS are performed by this microcircuit.

It is this that makes it possible to realize additional functions and technologies (such as OC Profile). That is, it is very likely that ASUS engineers are trying to combine BIOS functions and additional functions in one chip. And the traditional approach is to have a BIOS + install an additional chip on the board, such as abit mGuru, MSI CoreCell and Foxconn FoxOne / TigerOne.

Overclocking and stability

Before moving on to overclocking, consider the power converter. It has an 8-phase circuit (!), which has four 1000 uF capacitors and 11 821 uF capacitors.

To facilitate the thermal mode of the power supply module, as well as to actively cool the north bridge (important for overclocking), the user can install an additional fan (included).

Now we turn to the consideration of overclocking functions.

First, the ASUS P5B board allows you to change the frequency system bus in the range from 100 to 650 MHz in 1 MHz steps.

It is convenient that the required FSB frequency value can be entered from the keyboard.

Secondly, the ASUS P5B board allows you to change the voltage on the processor (Vcore) in a very wide range: from 1.1 V to 1.7 V in 0.0125 V steps.

In addition, we have at our disposal a function to increase the voltage on the chipset, moreover, as on the north bridge (from 1.5 V to 1.65 V in 0.05 V steps),

as well as in the south.

Available values ​​are 1.057 V and 1.215 V. In addition, it is possible to increase the voltage on the FSB from 1.2 V to 1.45 V in 0.05-0.1 V steps.

The user also has a function that increases the voltage on the PCI Express bus and on SATA in the range from 1.5 V to 1.8 V in 0.1 V steps:

It is also possible to change the frequency of the PCI Express bus, in the range from 90 MHz to 150 MHz,

and fix the PCI bus (this is important for the correct operation of PATA hard drives):

Now let's try the overclocking functions in practice. So, the ASUS P5B board showed excellent results: stable operation at FSB = 476 MHz with a processor based on the Conroe core.

It is worth noting several important points. Firstly, the P965 chipset is somewhat inferior to the i975X in terms of overclocking capabilities. This, first of all, concerns the setting of the memory frequency. The i975X has the ability to lower the memory clock multiplier, while the P965 does not. In other words, on the motherboard with the P965 chipset, the memory operates either synchronously or at a higher frequency than the FSB. It is clear that in order to achieve the best overclocking results, it is necessary to set the synchronous mode (for P965), since at high FSB frequencies (from 400 MHz and higher) the memory works at the limit of its capabilities, and requires an increase in voltage and improved cooling.

Secondly, at high FSB frequencies (again, from 400 MHz and higher), stability is achieved by increasing the voltage on the north bridge of the chipset. Accordingly, there is a need to improve the cooling of the chipset.

Thirdly, a lot depends on the processor model. Of course, the E6300 is the cheapest, and allows for an impressive percentage of clock speed gains. But due to the very small multiplier, it cannot be the "overclocker's choice". And this role is claimed by the E6400 model, which costs ~$40 more, but has a multiplier = 7. This means that in order to reach the technological limit (3.5 GHz) of this processor, it is necessary to increase the FSB frequency from 266 MHz to 500 MHz, which quite achievable. However, the new stepping (B2) may increase the overclocking potential, and thus force the user to more carefully select system components and improve the cooling system. It should be noted here that some enthusiasts have achieved FSB frequencies >=550 MHz using the ASUS P5B Deluxe board. True, for this, a physical modification of the board was used to increase the voltage on the north bridge. It is clear that in this case the warranty for the board is lost, but if ASUS programmers release new version BIOS with an extended Vdd range, then there is no need for a soldering iron, and this board will be able to compete for the title of the best overclocking platform (we will draw the corresponding conclusion in a comparative review of motherboards based on the P965 chipset at the end of the year).

findings

The ASUS P5B Deluxe-WiFi board is a very interesting and attractive product. An excellent combination of good equipment, powerful expansion options and "advanced" functionality makes this motherboard one of the leaders among motherboards based on the P965 chipset. The only point that may affect the conclusions is some uncertainty with the retail price. And if the latter is at the level of competitors, then we definitely recommend this board for purchase.

Let's emphasize the following features of the board: passive cooling system for the chipset and power module with the possibility of installing an additional fan; the presence on board seven (!) connectors for connecting fans; quite a decent bundle, which includes a SoundMAX microphone (worth $35); the presence of a Wi-Fi wireless module, the presence of two PCI Express x16 slots, as well as support for 8 SerialATA II channels and one ParallelATA channel.

In addition, we note support for such proprietary technologies as CrashFree BIOS 3, EZ Flash 2, OC Profiles, as well as support for proprietary utilities PC Probe II, AI Booster and ASUS UpdateMyLogo2.

And finally, let's say a few words about the excellent results in the overclocking area. Even despite some limitations of the P965 chipset, which do not allow lowering the memory frequency, the ASUS P5B Deluxe-WiFi showed excellent stability at a very high FSB = 476 MHz!

As for the shortcomings of the board, we didn't find them despite the thorough testing.

Conclusion

Pros:

• High stability and good performance level;
• 8-phase power circuit;
• The presence of two slots PCI Express x16;
• SerialATA II/RAID support (8 channels; ICH8R + JMB363);
• Support for one P-ATA link (JMB363);
• Built-in 8-channel audio and two network controllers (Gigabit Ethernet);
• Support USB2.0 (8 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire; 2 ports);
• WiFi support;
• Excellent equipment (including SoundMAX microphone, additional fan);
• A wide range of branded ASUS technologies(PC Probe II, EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3, MyLogo2, Q-Fan 2, etc.);
• Additional set of AI Proactive technologies (AI Overclock, N.O.S., AI Net 2, etc.);
• Passive/active cooling system for chipset and power module.

Minuses:

• Not found.

Board Features:

• Excellent results of overclocking the processor and memory;
• There is a SerialATA II port on the rear panel; no LPT and one COM port.

Had excellent specifications, supported all advanced processor solutions and made it possible to create the most productive computing systems. It also had a corresponding cost ($200), and it belonged to the premium class of computer components. It is about her that will be discussed in this material.

Equipment

Since this motherboard belonged to premium-level solutions, it had the appropriate bundle. The prudent manufacturer has included everything that is possible in it:

• Deluxe motherboard.
• Instruction in English.
• 2 disks with drivers, specialized software and documentation in electronic form.
• Metal plug for back cover personal computer cases.
• 1 to connect hard drive legacy format and FDD for switching with an internal 3.5” floppy drive.
• 6 with the help of which new modifications of drives are connected to the system board.
• Sticker with the logo of the manufacturer.

Processor socket and chipset

Underlies the Asus P5B Deluxe. The characteristics of the chipset indicated that this motherboard is based on the 965 chipset. and the southern one was developed by Intel. The model of the first of them is 82P965. Its main component is the controller random access memory. In turn, it was designated 80281HR, its task is to provide interaction with external controllers that were installed in expansion slots.

Additional built-in controllers

Asus P5B Deluxe boasted an impressive set of additional controllers. The following third-party components have been included in this list:

1. 2 network controllers 88E8001 from Marvell. Due to this, this motherboard could well perform the functions of a bridge and connect two separate sections of a local computer network.
2. The increased quality of the output sound was provided by the AD1988B controller from ADI. Its specifications met the requirements of CH7.1.
3. The JMB361 controller from JMicron provided dynamic speed control for the cooling system fans of both the motherboard itself and the processor unit.

Processors

Asus P5B Deluxe boasted an impressive list of supported CPUs. The following processor models may have been installed on this motherboard:

• The niche of the least productive solutions in this case was occupied by Celeron and Celeron-D. The first of them included only one core and had low level performance, which made it possible to solve the most simple tasks. In the second case, there were already two cores on one silicon crystal, and this circumstance allowed such chips to be used in gaming systems entry level.
• One step up in the hierarchy were the Pentium 4 and Pentium-D series CPUs. As in the previous case, the first processor solution consisted of one computing module, and the second - of two. A higher level of performance was provided by a larger cache and increased clock rates.
• The premium CPUs in this case were the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad. The first family was equipped with 2 high-performance cores, and the second - with four.

RAM

As noted earlier, the RAM controller was included in the north bridge of the system logic set. It could address up to 8 GB of DDR2 RAM. The recommended module frequencies are 533, 667 and 800 MHz. It was possible to install higher-speed strips with frequencies of the order of 1066 MHz, but this did not give a special increase in performance for the reason that they still worked at the maximum possible 800 MHz.

The RAM controller was dual-channel. As a result, in conjunction with it, 2 modules of 1 GB each looked more preferable than one of 2 GB. Such an organization of the RAM subsystem made it possible to obtain an additional 10-15 percent performance.

List of expansion slots and communication options

Three types of expansion slots were located on the Asus P5B Deluxe. This list included the following:

• 2 slots for installing discrete graphics format PCI-E version 16.0.
• 1 PCI-E 1.0 controller slot
• 3 PCI slots for legacy controller modifications.

The list of communication connectors and ports included:

• 2 PS/2 sockets.
• 4 universal USB ports.
• One parallel LPT port.
• 2 RJ-45 network sockets.

Overclocking options

Impressive performance enhancements have been implemented in the Asus P5B Deluxe. Processors can be overclocked in the following ways:

• Increasing the system bus frequency to 650 MHz. The minimum increment in this case was 1 MHz.
• Increasing the CPU frequency multiplier.

In addition to this, it was possible to regulate the voltage on the processor in real time. All this made it possible to increase the speed of the computing system as quickly as possible.

Brief installation instructions

Mounting the system board of this model must be performed as follows:

1. We install the board in the case and fix it with bolts. A bolt must be installed in each mounting hole.
2. We install the rest of the computer components inside the system unit.
3. We connect the front panel to the connectors in the lower right corner of the board.
4. We carry out the switching of the power supply to all components of the computer system.
5. We connect the motherboard, drives and other PC components to each other.

Results

The deluxe motherboard is the ultimate premium solution. Its capabilities made it possible to create Personal Computer any level. But it is preferable to use it as part of high-performance computing systems.

Stanislav G. 5 years ago

Yandex Market

Super Mom supports all processors and 4 nuclear extremes, it's just that each percentage on the Asus website has its own BIOS, otherwise the glitches will be as they write below and above that. Swears on percents but works. Set the BIOS that this particular processor needs and you will be happy ... And it supports all the cool 2-4 core processors on 1066-1333Mz buses ... look at the asus carefully there are 20 bios pieces, if not more, and you will be happy. I wanted to buy a NAS server for the Home Cloud so that from a TV, etc. worked ... and stupidly assembled on this mother so all the store NAS servers just rest. So .... if the hands are straight, then everything will work out. I removed all the cooling, left one for blowing, there was no noise at all and the temperature was 35 degrees. Learn...

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Pros: Works 9 years non-stop

Cons: None

Dmitry K. 6 years ago

Yandex Market

I absolutely agree with the previous speakers. The board-based computer has been operating for the ninth year, the last two years as home server with a raid array of 8 terabytes. On the workstation I later took the P5Q Turbo - there is no comparison. Constantly some incomprehensibility in the operation of the computer arise. Of the shortcomings, I can note only two points - the Q6600 works with a 4-core processor, but the BIOS all the time swears that such a processor is not known to it. The processor appears in the list of supported ones, the bios is the latest version. Well, I didn’t understand the raid either - I tried to create a hardware REID 5, but from 4 terabyte disks a 2 terabyte array was created, which is inadequate for REID 5. I had to make a software one.) In general, I would like to note a generally unpleasant moment that Asus abruptly drops product support. It is sad.

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Pros: Reliability, performance, built-in RAID

Cons: none noted

Sergey Gladunets 7 years ago

Yandex Market

Has been working for seven years. Since 2007, I have installed Core 2 Quad Q6600 2400Mhz (it easily runs up to 3600Mhz) and Hynix 4GB 800Mhz. At the end of the summer of 2008, I installed the Nvidia GeForce GTX280 vidyuhi (which worked for 13 months, after roasting for another 2 months) and with it a 730-watt Hyper power supply. Now I'm sitting on the Radeon HD6870 and have been using it for the third year as system disk SSD OCZ Vertex 64GB. I plan to buy Sound Blaster ZxR because I love good sound, PCI-E connector latest generation(narrow) allows you to do this. Everything works like clockwork. I am very happy with my platform, because of the SSD and good coolers everything works silently, I see no reason to switch to something new. Yes, by the way, I have been doing repairs since 2004. cell phones, and therefore you have to actively use USB - it still clearly defines everything, it never fails. Thanks to the guys at Asus for a flawless product).

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Advantages: Good, reliable, all necessary interfaces are present (Sata, IDE, E-Sata, USB, COM-Port, optical audio, etc.).

Disadvantages: Problem in some online games due to the built-in sound (it's more likely even in the drivers, but the manufacturer stopped supporting this sound chip).

Guest 9 years ago

Yandex Market

not so picky about additions, and so the fee is around KUL!

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Pros: Overclockable! cold northbridge (due to a well-thought-out cooling system with a standard fan on the bridge radiator)

Disadvantages: Every six months you have to wipe the dust and vacuum the case! :-)

Today's hero of the review has long disappeared from store shelves, and can no longer be found on the Internet. If you try, you can, of course, get this motherboard, Asus P5B Deluxe, from other users. Although it doesn't make much sense. Now this model is just an example of how the company's motherboard production has developed. The novelties changed their format a long time ago, acquired powerful chipsets and got rid of extra connectors on the interface panel.

Pay

The Asus P5B Deluxe model received powerful characteristics. In 2006, it was practically the strongest motherboard on the market. Even when the P5K series on the updated chipset appeared on sale, this "motherboard" was in demand and interesting for buyers. At the time of the release of the novelty, the P5B model was a reliable warrant, as it had served faithfully for six months.

In addition, like any new product, the series was overpriced. Therefore, users were happy to support production and the already supposedly “outdated” motherboard.

Supply

The new Asus P5B Deluxe board came in standard packaging. There was nothing special about her. The entire series was produced in just such a box. She was painted blue. There was a lot of information up front. The model of the board was indicated, support for the main chipsets. Also, in several languages, the slogan was indicated: "Set the speed as you want!", Which immediately hinted to buyers overclocking potential models.

There was even more information on the back of the box. Here the chipset format, proprietary technologies, new options, etc. were indicated. A diagram was also shown on which it was possible to find the main elements on the product, where the cooling system, processor, audio system, and power were located.

Technology

Continuing to look at the box, one could find the core technologies. Let's dwell on them in more detail. The manufacturer mentioned AI NOS, which you will not surprise anyone with now. Then it was quite an interesting and very necessary solution for many buyers. The technology made it possible to automatically overclock the board, taking into account the load on the system.

The next AI Gear option introduced several profiles, allowing you to tune the entire system so that the chip frequency, system bus and voltage adjustments are balanced. Thus, the "motherboard" did not create a lot of noise and reduced power consumption.

AI Nap also worked on the noise level of the board. The technology allowed to reduce noise and power consumption. Now this feature is not surprising to users. And then everyone could “put to sleep” their PC without losing data and work processes.

Set

There was an instruction in the box for Asus P5B Deluxe. It was not rich in descriptions and details, but in principle it allowed to successfully install the "motherboard" into the case. Those who did not have enough of this information could find extra help in the Internet. Also in the box was a disk with drivers, software compatible with Windows Vista.

Among other things, one could find cables for FDD, which is not used anywhere now, UltraDMA, 4 pieces of Serial ATA. They equipped the package with two SATA power adapters, a panel plug, and a bracket with two USB connectors. A bonus sticker was included in the box.

Layout

It turned out interesting and appearance Asus P5B Deluxe. The design review is interesting, first of all, with the layout element base. It is executed well, although over time there were practical complaints. The first thing that catches your eye is the poor placement of PCIE x1. Only a small board can be placed in this slot, since there is a heatsink for the north bridge nearby.

By the way, both "bridges" received aluminum protection, but during overclocking and other powerful loads, the radiators did not fully cope. If the PC case is small, then getting close to the Floppy port is very inconvenient. Therefore, it was often necessary to use a cable to install the board.

The JMicron JMB363 controller is responsible for the operation of two hard drives in the array. To form them in a heap, you can also use External SATA, but this, as practice has shown, is very inconvenient. The above controller not only organizes the work of the hard drive correctly, but also provides an IDE port, which you will no longer find on the board.

Ports

More than 10 years ago, motherboards had a huge number of slots and connectors that you don't see today. Some of them were redundant even then. Some were enough, some were not. One way or another, the board was loaded enough.

This model has three ports for PCI, the same number for PCIE x1, there is also a PCIE x16 slot. The latter uses a graphics card for the Asus P5B Deluxe. Depending on the modification, this board may have 8 or 10 USB connectors. Most often, four of them are displayed on the interface panel.

The COM port is also left in stock. There is a controller for the Internet, which operates at speeds up to 1 Gb / s. An eight-channel code is responsible for the sound. The power stabilizer has three channels and is formed on fairly reliable polymer capacitors. There are no additional cooling elements, in addition to field-effect transistors.

The interface panel has acquired two connectors - for a PS / 2 keyboard and mouse. There is a parallel LPT here. For audio ports - six places, four USB connectors and a connection point network cable. In addition, there is SATA On-the-Go, S/PDIF coaxial and optical.

Four fans are installed on the board. For the processor, it is a four-pin. The other three have three contacts. The connector for the cooler is located slightly away from the chip, not far from the memory slots. The remaining places for connecting fans are placed conveniently for even distribution of cooling.

By the way, the cooler is also endowed with a special technology that automatically adjusts the speed of the fan associated with the processor and other mechanisms located nearby.

Support

The new board model supported a large number of processors. So it was possible to connect Intel Pentium 4, Pentium D / EE, Celeron-D and Core 2 Duo. The socket had an LGA775 connector, which also allowed HyperThreading technology to function. Thus, the processor core could execute large quantity data streams.

The northbridge worked with 82P965 and the southbridge worked with 82801HR. For memory, there were four ports that supported the DDR2 format. Its maximum volume reached 8 GB, which at that time was quite a lot. Memory frequencies could reach 1066 MHz. Access to the RAM is dual-channel, and the board had an additional power indicator.

Control

Asus P5B Deluxe BIOS update was successful. The AMI version has a wide variety of settings and adjustments. In principle, the menu is intuitive, here you can easily deal with overclocking the system.

Overclocking causes the clock frequency of the chip to be increased up to 400 MHz. The operating frequency of the memory is accelerated from 533 to 1067 MHz, which in 2006 was a very good indicator. The PCI Express bus is also easy to speed up to 150 MHz.

To make the system work balanced, you can change the memory supply voltage. Thus, raise it from 1.8 V to 2.45 V. If the user understands little about this, then there is also auto mode, which independently selects the voltage depending on the load on the system.

The same thing happens with the chip core supply voltage. It increases to 1.7 V. You can also increase the voltage for the north and south bridges, FSB and ICH Chipset.

AT BIOS menu can be seen for the Asus P5B Deluxe system performance in progress. For example, changes in the temperature of the motherboard and processor, the speed of the fans, the supply voltage and its value. The main functions that work with the cooler are immediately turned on and off.

For high-quality overclocking, it is best to update the BIOS version. For this there is special utility from the manufacturer Update.

Modifications

It should be noted that the Asus P5B Deluxe model is not the only one in the series. There is also the usual version, which differs only in the support of certain technologies. There is also an improved model. In general, all series of the line were popular among buyers. They liked the fact that there is a choice in a different price segment. Someone needed a regular motherboard, someone, on the contrary, wanted a more functional and powerful one.

This is how Asus P5B Deluxe-WiFi appeared. The first most obvious difference from other modifications is the equipment. So, for this model, not only a disk with drivers and software was put in the box, but also another CD with additional software. There is an ATA-133 wire. For Serial ATA - six cables at once.

Inside there is a bar for Firewire and with two additional USB 2.0 connectors. As the name suggests, there should be an antenna inside for wireless network, here it is. It even has a separate user manual.

The box contains an additional fan, several connectors, a plug, a sticker and a microphone.

The board has several additional ports. One of the main advantages is the presence of two PCI Express x16, which expands the capabilities of this board and allows you to connect two vidyuhi at once. But it is also interesting that if it is theoretically possible, then practically it cannot be realized, since the chip itself does not have SLI or Crossfire technologies.

Overclocking

Before you know how much you managed to speed up the memory for the Asus P5B Deluxe-WiFi, you need to consider the power supply. It is here created according to the scheme for 8 phases. It has only 15 capacitors: some of them received a capacity of 1000 microfarads, and some 821 microfarads.

For overclocking, it is always better to use an additional fan. It's very nice to have it in stock. It allows you to actively cool the north bridge, and also makes the overclocking process stable and correct.

Since the modifications differ slightly from each other, the BIOS has also been updated to version 0509 or 0701. The system bus frequency increases to 650 MHz, PCI Express can be overclocked to 150 MHz, the processor to 476 MHz. Memory, depending on the options, increases the frequency to 1 GHz.

findings

The Asus P5B Deluxe motherboard was a great option back in the day. Now it can be found on very ancient PCs, it does not have the necessary connectors to connect the latest peripherals, is also designed for moderate power consumption. But it would be rather strange if the user wanted to “squeeze out” unprecedented performance from this model after 10 years.

At that time, the "motherboard" was considered an advanced model, which had a good bundle and was the leader among those who received the P965 chipset. Depending on the modification, the version had a passive type cooling system with 4 or 7 fan slots.

The "motherboard" supported a lot of newfangled technologies that allowed you to automatically configure the system, overclocking. Also allowed to adjust the speed of the fans. There was support for proprietary software.

The overclocking potential also turned out to be quite good. The chipset was the only element that limited some frequency performance. Although even in this scenario, the processor could be accelerated to 476 MHz, and this is an excellent result.

The Asus P5B Deluxe-WiFi version has become the most popular. It was stronger in many respects due to a good cooling system, unlike the simplest P5B modification. It also organized the formation of arrays well and had Firewire, a technology that was lacking for a younger brother.

Everything has been improved in the Asus P5B Deluxe-WiFi. What was missing was added, some elements, on the contrary, were removed. By the time the older version was released, the BIOS was also updated, on which the overclocking potential largely depended. The power system has been improved, temperature monitoring has become more accurate.