Product Listing

ASUS P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP Edition (Intel P965)

By Zachary Chan - 25 Aug 2006

Conclusion

Conclusion

Unlike some of its competitors, ASUS seems to be firmly grounded on the fact that the Intel 975X Express will still be used as the enthusiast-class Core 2 chipset. The testament to this is in their P5W DH Deluxe motherboard, a typical ASUS flagship motherboard built to the brim with features and their only high-end Core 2 Duo motherboard now to have CrossFire support for the gaming community. However, continuing a long line of high-performance motherboards, ASUS adds the P5B Deluxe into their lineup. Unlike the P5W DH Deluxe that tries to be the best at everything, the P5B Deluxe is a more streamlined motherboard.

While not the flagship in ASUS' series, the P5B Deluxe is no slouch in the features department either. It sports a fully fleshed out ICH8R Southbridge, maximizing the use of its PCI Express resources with an additional SATA controller, LAN controller and providing the option to use a second graphics card for a multi-monitor setup. Dual Gigabit LAN ports are no longer a premium feature for today's high-end boards, but if you grab the P5B Deluxe Wi-Fi AP Edition, you've got yourself an innovative USB powered IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN controller as well.

Performance-wise, our benchmarks basically showed us what we've come to expect from an Intel P965 motherboard. Between the Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 and the ASUS P5B Deluxe, there were little performance differences that won't greatly impact real world performance, but we have to admit that the P5B Deluxe was a step faster overall. The board also kept up well with the P5W DH Deluxe, proving that the P965 is just as good a chipset for single GPU performance.

Overclocking again becomes the major highlight of a new Core 2 Duo motherboard and the P5B Deluxe doesn't get to be exempted from being put to the test. If 1200MHz PSB (400MHz FSB) was the milestone for the pre-Core 2 days, we're looking at breaking new ground by overclocking up to 1960MHz PSB (490MHz FSB) with a Core 2 Duo on the ASUS P5B Deluxe. Of course, this extreme overclocking bandwidth is only capable with the right memory as well since you'll be pushing DDR2-1000 speeds easily even on the lowest memory divider.

Another fine offering from ASUS. If you've got the money to spend on a high-end system, this board comes highly recommended.

While we're not the kind to be easily impressed by the gamut of manufacturer technologies re-hashed, re-named and re-used in so many products in the market, one of the best features that we've noted while testing the P5B Deluxe was how cool the chipset was running. In our past review of the lower mid-class Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 motherboard, the heatsink over the MCH was too hot to keep our finger on for more than a few seconds, but lucky for the high-end DQ6 model's massive heat pipe cooling, that wasn't an issue. Similarly the ASUS P5B Deluxe heat-pipe only felt warm, even during overclocking. Whether this is due to the heat-pipe, ASUS Stack Cool 2 or better voltage regulation, bottom line is that the P5B Deluxe is able to operate at desirable temperatures.

The average price for the WiFi-AP Edition is around US$230 while you can probably expect to pay around US$20-30 less for the regular P5B Deluxe. With all things considered, the ASUS P5B Deluxe is an excellent motherboard that holds up well against all competition as a performance and overclocking platform if you're looking to build a high-end Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Extreme system.

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