Asus P5WD2 Premium: DDR2-1066 and the Promise of 955x SLI
by Wesley Fink on May 11, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
With every introduction of new chipsets and processors, one of the first products to reach reviewers is boards from Asus. This is really no surprise, since Asus is the largest independent motherboard maker in the world, and Asus has resources for development that many motherboard makers can only dream of.
We have noticed a trend over many years that Asus is particularly adept at designing boards for Intel processors. This makes perfect sense when you realize the very close working relationship that Asus engineers have with Intel engineers. It is the reason why you saw Asus pioneering PAT on the 865 Northwood chipset - just one of many innovations that Asus has brought to motherboards for Intel processors.
With the Intel preview of Dual-Core processors, Asus managed to deliver a board based on the new nForce4 chipset for Intel supporting dual-core processors - something that NVIDIA was not able to deliver by that time frame. We were very impressed with the performance of the Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe, so we were excited to take a look at the Asus board based on the Intel 955x chipset, the Asus P5WD2 Premium. Asus has implemented many unique options on this board - not the least of which are FSB options to 1066, and the promise of "semi-SLI" performance for the future.
This review is not another Intel dual-core processor platform comparison. This was covered in Dual Core Intel Platform Shootout - NVIDIA nForce4 vs. Intel 955X. If you are interested in how the nForce4 Intel compares to an Intel 955x in multi-tasking, you should take a closer look at the platform shootout. This review takes a closer look at the unique features, performance, and overclocking capabilities of the Asus P5WD2 Premium, which is based on the Intel 955x chipset. We also compare features, performance, and overclocking to the Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe, which is the Asus NF4 Intel solution.
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HardwareD00d - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
Wow, 3% increase. That falls within a margin of error.HardwareD00d - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
This article did an excellent job of showing why DDR2 is total crap. Until they can tighten up the timings, DDR533==DDR667==DDR800 pretty much.quicksilverXP - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
Hey,What bios was your board running at? I purchased two recently, and both of them don't have the DDR2-800 option. I noticed you have 7 ratios available while mine only has 5, and only up to DDR2-667. My Bios version is 0124 from the POST screen. Can you help me out?
KristopherKubicki - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
"Heatsink" is one word. If you are describing a general "heat sink" (there is a distinction), then you are talking about something else.Furthermore, fans are in fact considered active cooling. Active cooling by definition is any cooling device that can be disabled/enabled at will. Heatsinks are passive; fans, peltiers, etc are not.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3A...
Kristopher
Darth Farter - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
well, anyone know where I can find this?what is the msrp for these (dual core) boards, cause those $255/$245 prices on newegg/ZZF are hard to ignore...
fishbits - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
"a fan doesn't actually cool anything, it just pushes air around"Try disabling the fans in your rig and A/C, take temp readings before and after and get back with us. Moving same temp to same temp isn't cooling. Moving cooler air (or water or other) to something that is hotter (chip, compressor, radiator, etc) most definitely actively cools it.
ElFenix - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
heat sink is two wordsfans are not active cooling. air conditioning is active cooling, turning the ceiling fan on in your room is not. a fan doesn't actually cool anything, it just pushes air around.
thanks!
Doughboy - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
My retail package also did not include the WiFi/Tuner and Remote. Still a great board though. :)jonny13 - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
Why the hell is Doom3 listed under DirectX 9 gaming?Someone should tell Carmack that he was actually coding in DirectX 9 and not OpenGL like he thought...
Also, on the third graph of the General Benchmarks, you have the orange color as the Asus P5ND2-SLI instead of the Asus P5WD2 like every other chart. If you are going to use colors for the graphs, at least be consistant.
bob661 - Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - link
#6Hypertransport is an open standard. Neither AMD nor NV owns it.
#10
A64's also use Hypertransport to connect the processor to the northbridge.