ASUS P6T - Not the Deluxe Version but equally impressive...
by Gary Key on December 26, 2008 12:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Gary's First Looks
The competition in the X58 market is finally heating up and that is good news for enthusiasts and buyers alike. The retail introduction of the Foxconn BloodRage and DFI LP X58-T3eHS at the $299.99 price range is significant in this market sector as both boards were expected to be priced near the $400 mark. This pricing strategy should drive down the cost of the current $300 boards shortly, provided their performance and stability are on par or better than current products. This is something we should find out shortly as Raja has been busy testing these boards against the EVGA X58 SLI with the sub-zero setup.
In the meantime, the lower end (not really considering the price point is $210~$250) of the X58 market is starting to heat up, finally. Gigabyte has introduced their GA-EX58-UD3R product at $210 that is a well rounded board but with CrossFire support only. Gigabyte just introduced their UD4P board with CrossFire and SLI support in the $270 range. The MSI X58 Platinum (CrossFire only) is available for $220 and after the latest BIOS, this board is really starting to look an excellent performer for the money. Biostar's TPower X58 is another mid-level X58 product selling for $270 that supports CrossFire and SLI. We just purchased this board and the Gigabyte UD4P for our retail customer experience program discussed in our X58 roundup and should have results shortly.
All that said, we had a very interesting delivery a couple of days ago. ASUS dropped off their new P6T board that offers CrossFire and SLI support along with a smorgasbord of features for $250. Our first experiences with this board have been excellent with both performance and stability matching that of the $300 boards. To be honest, we think it is probably a better upgrade option than the $300 boards for users looking to move to the i7 platform that are not interested in extreme overclocks or rarely utilized features. Is it better than the Gigabyte and Biostar $270 boards? We have not had enough test time with the other boards yet to make a decision, but it appears they are basically equal when overclocking with an air cooler while application performance is just slightly better on the P6T.
Those wondering what the differences between the P6T and P6T Deluxe can refer to this chart. The quick run down is a change from the 16+2 phase setup to an 8+2 setup that we find just as stable so far, a single Realtek Gigabit LAN controller instead of dual Marvell controllers, Marvell SAS support is dropped but the two additional SATA ports are retained via a JMicron JMB322, and on-board audio switches from the ADI AD2000B to the Realtek ALC 1200 chipset. The P6T features true dual-slot card three-way CrossFire or SLI support compared to the two-way dual-slot card support on the Deluxe board. Also, the P6T features both an LGA 775 and 1366 mounting hole pattern that allows current LGA 775 liquid cooling users to retain their setup. We still recommend that air cooler users utilize an LGA 1366 setup (native or mount kit update) although you could get by with a LGA 775 design in a pinch.
We will have a first look up shortly featuring the BIOS layout and initial overclock results against our other mid-range boards, but in the meantime we think ASUS has a potential winner here.
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mvrx - Sunday, December 28, 2008 - link
note to motherboard makers: Get on those "enthusiast" class dual socket x58 boards. I'm not even able to find any real announcements of boards coming yet... I'm dying here with my 4 non-HT cores.. I need more more more..p.s. Hey all you jerks, stop telling me I get a good deal with 775 C2Q boards and current CPU's. I'm trying to live in the delusion that I have a big upgrade in my near future ;-)
p.p.s. I want 24GB of ram too. And don't lecture me that I won't be able to use it.
JonnyDough - Sunday, December 28, 2008 - link
Motherboard: $100.Dignity that comes with not spending double to get a few more pts in a meaningless benchmark? Priceless.
Some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's the X58 mobos.
X48/P45 and DDR2 = GG.
jkostans - Sunday, December 28, 2008 - link
Exactly, I was going to buy X58 the other day when I ordered parts but by the time I upgrade next I'll most likely need a new motherboard again. The GPU is the bottle neck in most systems, the extra $270 I was going to spend on an LGA1366 system just isn't worth a 1-5% increase in performance. I can put that money towards a new video card in 3 years or so.The0ne - Friday, December 26, 2008 - link
I wouldn't be able to use the top face SATA power connectors. The ones on the side would be difficult for routing with a 9800GX2. Chipset heaksink seems too close and too high to be able to use a big fan (120mm possibly). And lastly, can only use the last bottom PCI slows if you're using dual slot video cards.QChronoD - Friday, December 26, 2008 - link
So the boards are down to $250 nowThe cheapest CPU is only $280
and 3x2GB of memory costs around $200
Has intel stated that they will NEVER release anything faster for the 775?? Cause you could put together a C2Q for less than half that and just pop in a faster CPU late next year for cheap. This whole i7 system change just seems silly to me. (Especially if what I've heard is true and next summer they are comming out with a cheaper version)
ArKritz - Friday, December 26, 2008 - link
Imo. there are a good many differences in controllers, connections and slots. Not neccessarily for the worse on the vanilla board. Ppl will need to plan carefully in order to make the right choice.Chriz - Friday, December 26, 2008 - link
I don't like how the lone PCI Express x1 slot sits between the two x16 slots. Would you eve be able to use it if you have two dual slot video cards?nubie - Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - link
It doesn't matter because the third x16 slot will accept any size card: x1, x2, x4, x8Etern205 - Friday, December 26, 2008 - link
Differences between the boardsAsus P6T-Replaced 2 SAS ports with regular SATA ports, total 8 SATA ports.
Asus P6T Deluxe has 2 SAS ports and 6 SATA ports.
Asus P6T Deluxe OC Palm: Same as P6T Deluxe but comes with this screen module.
Asus P6T Deluxe V2- only 6 SATA ports and no SAS ports.
tyaiyama - Friday, January 9, 2009 - link
P6T and other products are totally different.1. Using P6T, 3-way SLI each occupying 2 slots are possible, but others are not.
2. P6T implements extra storage by 2 notorious JMicron chip, but others implement by Marvel chip. Others excluding V2 has SAS chip.
3. P6T implement single GbE using Realtek chip, but others implement dual GbE by Marvel chip.
4. P6T implements by Realtek chip, but others by ADI chip.
5. IEEE1394 is implemented by different VIA chip.
6. P6T has 12 USB, and others have 14.
7. P6T has 2 separate SPDIF Out, but others has one.
8. P6T has 2 separate PS2 KBD, and mouse port, but others has a one combo port.
9. P6T has 2 extra SATA connector, others excluding V2 has 2 extra SAS connector.
A. P6T has 8+2 phase power design, and others 16+2.