Intel 945P Motherboards: Going from Hopeless to Enthusiastic
by Gary Key on November 15, 2005 12:02 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Basic Features: Intel 945P from Epox, Foxconn, and Asus
The Asus P5LD2 Deluxe is a member of the AiLife product family and, as such, is a fully featured flagship board targeted towards the PC enthusiast. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several dynamic overclocking features such as AI NOSTM (Non-delay dynamic Overclocking System), AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner with preset profiles), ASUS PEG Link (automatic performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards), ASUS HyperPath 3 (BIOS setting to reduce memory latency), and the ASUS Ai Booster Utility Precision Tweaker software that allows control over certain system settings within Windows. The board also features the Stack Cool 2 design to dissipate heat to the opposite side of the motherboard, the optional WiFi-TV package, and an external SATA II port on the back I/O panel.
The Foxconn 945P7AA-8EKRS2 is a member of the Intense product family and, as such, is their featured board targeted towards the PC gamer. The board ships with an accessory package along with several BIOS and software features such as SuperBoot (drastically reduces boot times), SuperRecovery (easy to operate tool designed to back up or recover hard disk data), SuperBIOS-Protect (protection against viruses designed to wipe BIOS information), SuperStep (software based monitoring utility with ability to change FSB settings), SuperUpdate (Windows based BIOS update), and SuperLogo (Windows utility designed to replace and backup the BIOS logo).
The Epox 5LDA+GLI is a featured mainstream board targeted towards the PC home and office user. The board ships with an accessory package along with several BIOS and software features such as Magic Health (BIOS based health reporting system at boot-up), EZ-Boot (ability to choose bootable devices at boot-up), EPTP (EPoX Thunder Probe software based monitoring utility), Magic Flash (Windows based BIOS update program that does not require a DOS flash utility or bootable diskette), and Magic Screen (Windows utility for personal bootup screen design). The board features the Piston V design featuring a 5-phase switching power system, which is designed to dissipate heat and provide cleaner power to the CPU. The board also features a CP80P post port debug LED, digital thermometer capability with a supplied thermo-stick, and power on and reset buttons located on the board.
| Specification | Epox 5LDA+GLI | Foxconn 945P7AA-8EKRS2 | Asus P5LD2 Deluxe |
| CPU Interface | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium 4 EE, Celeron D, and Pentium D processors | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium 4 EE, Celeron D, and Pentium D processors | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium 4 EE, Celeron D, and Pentium D processors |
| Chipset | Intel 945P ICH7R | Intel 945P ICH7R | Intel 945P ICH7R |
| Pentium D Support (Dual-Core) |
820D, 830D, 840D (840EE not supported by 945P Chipset) | 820D, 830D, 840D (840EE not supported by 945P Chipset) | 820D, 830D, 840D(840EE not supported by 945P Chipset) |
| Front Side Bus | 1066 / 800 / 533 MHz | 1066 / 800 / 533 MHz | 1066 / 800 / 533 MHz |
| Front Side Bus Speeds | 200 - 350 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) | 200 - 265 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) | 100 - 450 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) |
| Memory Speeds | Auto, (fsb based dividers), 400, 533, 667 | Auto, 400, 533, 667 | Auto, (fsb based dividers), 400, 533, 600, 667, 800 |
| PCI Express | Default, 100 MHz to 150 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) | Default, 100 MHz to 200 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) | Auto, 90 MHz to 150 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) |
| Dynamic Overclocking | EPoX Real Time Turbo (FSB adjustable overclocking system based on preset values and system load information) | Not Applicable | AI NOSTM (Non-delay Overclocking System); AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner); ASUS PEG Link (Automatically performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards); ASUS HyperPath 3 (memory performance); Precision Tweaker for Windows |
| Core Voltage | Default, -0.100V - +0.250V (in 0.1V increments) | Default, +0.0125 - +0.1875 (in 0.0125V increments) | Auto, 1.25V - 1.70V (in 0.0125V increments) |
| DRAM Voltage | Default, 1.80V - 2.15V (in 0.05V increments) | Default, +.03, +.06, +.10 | Auto, 1.80V - 2.3V (in 0.05V to 0.10V increments) |
| Other Voltage | MCH - Default, 1.50V - 1.80V (in 0.10V increments) | MCH - Default, +.03,+.06, +.10 | MCH - Auto, 1.50V - 1.65V (in 0.05V increments) ICH - Auto, 1.05V, 1.20V FSB - Auto, 1.2V, 1.3V, 1.4V |
| Memory Slots | (4) x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 667/533/400, non-ECC, un-buffered memory | (4) x DIMM, max. 4GB, DDR2 667/533/400, non-ECC, un-buffered memory | (4) x DIMM, max. 4GB, DDR2 667/533/400, non-ECC, un-buffered memory. |
| Expansion Slots | (1) x PCI-E x16 (1) x PCI-E x16 Universal Slot (1) x PCI-E x1 (3) x PCI 2.3 |
(1) x PCI-E x16 (2) x PCI-E x1 (3) x PCI 2.3 |
(1) x PCI-E x16 (1) x PCI-E x16 Universal Slot (1) x PCI-E x1 (3) x PCI 2.3 |
| Onboard SATA | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II Silicon Image 3132: (1) x Internal SATA II and (1) x External SATA II |
| Onboard IDE | Intel ICH7R: (1) x UltraDMA 100/66/33 |
Intel ICH7R: (1) x UltraDMA 100/66/33 ITE 8211F: (2) x UltraDMA 133/100/66 |
Intel ICH7R: (1) x UltraDMA 100/66/33 ITE 8211F: (2) x UltraDMA 133/100/66 |
| SATA/IDE RAID | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and Intel Matrix Storage technology | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and Intel Matrix Storage technology ITE 8211F: (2) x UltraDMA 133/100/66, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 1 + 0 |
Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and Intel Matrix Storage technology Silicon Image 3132: (1) x Internal SATA and (1) x External SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 10, 5 with Additional Port Multiplier |
| Onboard USB2.0 IEEE-1394 |
(8) USB2.0 ports (2)VIA-1394a ports |
(8) USB2.0 ports (2)TI-1394a ports |
(8) USB2.0 ports (2)TI-1394a ports |
| Onboard LAN | Marvell 88E8053 PCI-E Gb LAN | Broadcom 5789 PCI-E Gb LAN, Broadcom 5788 PCI Gb LAN | Marvell 88E8053 PCI-E Gb LAN |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC880, 8-channel High-Definition Audio CODEC, Jack Sensing and Universal Audio Jack, (1) x Coaxial S/PDIF out port (1) x Optical S/PDIF out port |
Realtek ALC880, 8-channel High-Definition Audio CODEC, Jack Sensing and Universal Audio Jack, (1) x Coaxial S/PDIF out port | Realtek ALC882M, 8-channel High-Definition Audio CODEC, Dolby® Master Studio, Jack Sensing and Universal Audio Jack, (1) x Coaxial S/PDIF out port (1) x Optical S/PDIF out port |
| Power Connectors | 24-pin ATX 4-pin ATX 12V |
24-pin ATX 4-pin ATX 12V |
24-pin ATX 4-pin EZ Plug 8-pin EATX 12V |
| Back Panel I/O Ports | 1 x Parallel 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Audio I/O 1 x Serial Port 1 x RJ45 2 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial+Optical) 4 x USB |
1 x Parallel 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Audio I/O 1 x Serial Port 2 x RJ45 1 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial) 4 x USB 1 x IEEE1394 |
1 x Parallel 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Audio I/O 1 x External SATA 1 x RJ45 2 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial+Optical) 4 x USB 1 x IEEE1394 |
| Other Features | EPTP - (EPoX Thunder Probe) for system hardware monitoring Magic Flash - for BIOS update without requiring DOS flash utility and bootable diskette Magic Screen - for personal bootup screen design |
SuperUtilities Suite - SuperBoot SuperBIOS-Protect SuperRecovery SuperSpeed SuperStep SuperLogo SuperUpdate |
ASUS WiFi-TV (optional) -Digital TV (DVB-T only), Analog TV, FM -WiFi@home 802.11a/b/g. ASUS AI Quiet ASUS Stack Cool 2 ASUS "SATA on the Go" External SATA connector |
| BIOS | Award 5lda5B11 | Award 515F1P29 | AMI 0312 |
The Asus P5LD2 Deluxe is a member of the AiLife product family and, as such, is a fully featured flagship board targeted towards the PC enthusiast. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several dynamic overclocking features such as AI NOSTM (Non-delay dynamic Overclocking System), AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner with preset profiles), ASUS PEG Link (automatic performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards), ASUS HyperPath 3 (BIOS setting to reduce memory latency), and the ASUS Ai Booster Utility Precision Tweaker software that allows control over certain system settings within Windows. The board also features the Stack Cool 2 design to dissipate heat to the opposite side of the motherboard, the optional WiFi-TV package, and an external SATA II port on the back I/O panel.
The Foxconn 945P7AA-8EKRS2 is a member of the Intense product family and, as such, is their featured board targeted towards the PC gamer. The board ships with an accessory package along with several BIOS and software features such as SuperBoot (drastically reduces boot times), SuperRecovery (easy to operate tool designed to back up or recover hard disk data), SuperBIOS-Protect (protection against viruses designed to wipe BIOS information), SuperStep (software based monitoring utility with ability to change FSB settings), SuperUpdate (Windows based BIOS update), and SuperLogo (Windows utility designed to replace and backup the BIOS logo).
The Epox 5LDA+GLI is a featured mainstream board targeted towards the PC home and office user. The board ships with an accessory package along with several BIOS and software features such as Magic Health (BIOS based health reporting system at boot-up), EZ-Boot (ability to choose bootable devices at boot-up), EPTP (EPoX Thunder Probe software based monitoring utility), Magic Flash (Windows based BIOS update program that does not require a DOS flash utility or bootable diskette), and Magic Screen (Windows utility for personal bootup screen design). The board features the Piston V design featuring a 5-phase switching power system, which is designed to dissipate heat and provide cleaner power to the CPU. The board also features a CP80P post port debug LED, digital thermometer capability with a supplied thermo-stick, and power on and reset buttons located on the board.
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MadAd - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
Overall another good review Gary, thanks a lot, just one thingQuote:
"We will be reviewing additional sound card results in our next article."
Could you please include at least one external USB sound card/processor? They are getting more and more available and my thinking is based on the observation that more and more mobo designs are making it hard to plug in PCI cards when you have double width x16 cards.
SLId double width cards in the P5N32 (as well as the A8N32, not being tested here) would only leave one pci slot and since I have an ide raid array with at least a year or 2s life in it, that leaves me with no slot for a sound card therefore say, a USB Audigy NX would be useful. This would apply to other people with other cards such as mpeg, extra nics etc... two other boards in the review here (Asus + Epox) leave only 2 pci slots so its still a possibility to offload sound to the usb, provided the performance was not horrible.
Thanks a lot
Gary Key - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
I will see what I can do. The next article will have the X-FI, HDA Mystique 7.1, and a surprise audio solution. ;-)
I completely agree about losing the slots and did not like Asus's AMD layout with both PCI slots in the middle. Due to SLI and CrossFire the available real estate on the board is shrinking rapidly and at this time we know of no PCI-e audio solutions on the horizon. It will be PCI or on-board for a while so proper slot layout or better audio solutions are a must.
I have found through repeated testing (over 300 runs) of our BF2 benchmark that the largest impact to the sound results were with the aircraft. We would get frame stuttering with the ALC88x solutions when the aircraft came on screen during the benchmark. However, the sound quality was very good in all games and was quite a surprise after hearing the SB Z2S in comparison (not saying it is better but good enough for most people). I am continuing testing in this area along with headphones and 7.1 output now instead of 2,4, and 5.1 output.
Missing Ghost - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
That's sad. I want pcie sound cards.yacoub - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
See, sound enabled can make a HUGE difference. Thanks for testing that, Gary. The obnoxious few around here that actually DON'T want you to test that because they think they know everything and "oh it doesn't make that much difference and it's just making more work for the reviewer" can go eat their feet. Here's damning proof it can and does make a huge difference in the performance even on this system with an 820D and 7800GTX OC!Houdani - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
Dude, no one argues that sound has no influence on benchmarks. Particularly the case of integrated sound. It makes sense to test the affect of sound when you're testing a motherboard which has on-board sound to see it's impact.HOWEVER, when you're reviewing a graphics card or processor, the sound should be removed from the equation entirely so as to test the product with the fewest amount of outside variables possible. After all, in those reviews we want to see the performance of the individual component, NOT the performance of the system as a whole.
yacoub - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
You might, but that would be silly. Gamers care infinitely more how the new graphics card does in the real world - ie, playing games - and that would be with sound enabled considering most of us are not deaf. It's great that it's all uber and whatnot - cool, that's fine. Now also show us how it does in a real rig under real conditions. It's not asking much and it's a lot more useful for those of us trying to decide which GPU we should get.peldor - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
It's just not interesting to do so. Anyone serious enough about gaming to buy an expensive video card can spend <$50 for a sound card which puts the actual fps difference into the low single digits. In a video card review, all that's going to happen is that the scores drop by 2-4 fps across the board. That's not going to really change the relative performance.yacoub - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
Situation: You have to upgrade your GPU no matter what. You have a soundcard you are happy with. You want to know if CardA will provide enough performance gain for your system or if you should go with CardB instead. You cannot tell that with the current GPU tests done at Anandtech.Houdani - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
Well, see, that's where I go out and read sound card reviews -- to see how much system overhead they require. I pick and choose based on individual price/performance for all the components, which gives me an idea of how the completed system will perform.We clearly have different philosophies for how we select our components, and there's nothing wrong with that. I just happen to prefer the "filtered" performance benchmarks which isolate (as much as possible) the individual components because that provides me with the purest data for making my buying choices. It's then up to me to put all the pieces together in my head, knowing the individual contributions for each component based on reviews for each part.
Today I get to enjoy the goodness of putting together a Shuttle SFF, X2 4400+, 7800GT, 2GB RAM, et al. Reading a review of the 7800GT on a DFI motherboard with an X-Fi soundcard isn't nearly as useful to me as reading a review of the vid card in an isolated environment. Why? Because my system isn't the same as the reviewer's benchmarking system. Therefore, the isolated scores of the video card works best for me. The same can be said for the HDD, memory, processor, optical drive, ...
yacoub - Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - link
Funny, when I'm in the market for a new GPU, I don't go read soundcard reviews - I already have a soundcard! What I would want to know, though, is whether or not a -CardA- is going to give me enough performance boost over my current card or if I need to step up to a -CardB-. Your backwards approach is funny, and it supports the status quo, but it still isn't logical.