Intel P35 Express Comparison: ASUS & Gigabyte
ASUS P5K3 Deluxe: Specifications & Features
ASUS went all-out with Intel's P35 chipset and their product page currently displays a whopping thirteen P35 based boards. That is quite a selection and the differences between some of the boards may not be readily apparent at a glance. The board we're looking at today, the P5K3 Deluxe, is near the top of this very large heap. We say 'near' because it doesn't have some of the advanced gamer oriented features of ASUS' Republic Of Gamers series, which is represented on the P35 chipset by the Blitz Formula and the Blitz Extreme which we looked at recently. However, the P5K3 Deluxe is no ordinary pedestrian board for use in your grandma's word processing box (although you could, but we'd consider that a crime against silicon). The P5K3 Deluxe certainly doesn't lack in features as you'll see below.
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CPU
Chipset
Front Side Bus
Memory
Expansion Slots
Audio
Storage
LAN
Wireless LAN
Special Features
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Wireless LAN
Back Panel I/O Ports
Internal I/O Connecto r s
Accessories
Software
Form Factor
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As the lengthy specification sheet attests, the P5K3's "Deluxe" badge is well earned as it is full of high-end features like an 8-phase power design, 100% solid capacitor, Crossfire support, integrated Wi-Fi, and ASUS' proprietary Super Memspeed Technology. These are pretty self-
explanatory
except for ASUS' Super Memspeed Technology. Super Memspeed Technology is a feature that gives users native support for DDR3-1333 memory with a 1333MHz FSB processor. ASUS did this by taking advantage of the chipset strapping to enable a DDR3-1333 divider which is available at FSB settings of 333MHz and higher.
Other notable features include the 'Stack Cool 2' which is a special PCB design that effectively transfers heat from one side to the other, through the PCB, allowing the components to breath a bit better. Another handy feature implemented on the P5K3 Deluxe is called 'AI Slot Detector' and it involves a series of LEDs, one for each of the expansion slots. When a card is correctly seated in the expansion slot, the LED lights up as long as power is connected to the system.
The board also implements two power saving features dubbed 'AI Gear 2' and 'AI Nap'. AI Gear 2 allows users to create custom profiles for CPU frequency and vCore voltage and you can switch between the profiles in real time from within windows. This is a nice feature since you can underclock and undervolt when your doing something non-CPU intensive like word processing or surfing the web. AI Nap allows your computer to take a snooze when you're temporarily away from the computer, but it isn't a true suspend since all of your processes keep running. It simply throttles your system to its lowest setting. This is useful for downloading files during the night while you're sleeping or during the day while you're at work. You exit out of the snooze state in the same way as a screen saver and there is virtually no recovery time so you can get right back to work, or play as the case may be.
Other notable features include the 'Stack Cool 2' which is a special PCB design that effectively transfers heat from one side to the other, through the PCB, allowing the components to breath a bit better. Another handy feature implemented on the P5K3 Deluxe is called 'AI Slot Detector' and it involves a series of LEDs, one for each of the expansion slots. When a card is correctly seated in the expansion slot, the LED lights up as long as power is connected to the system.
The board also implements two power saving features dubbed 'AI Gear 2' and 'AI Nap'. AI Gear 2 allows users to create custom profiles for CPU frequency and vCore voltage and you can switch between the profiles in real time from within windows. This is a nice feature since you can underclock and undervolt when your doing something non-CPU intensive like word processing or surfing the web. AI Nap allows your computer to take a snooze when you're temporarily away from the computer, but it isn't a true suspend since all of your processes keep running. It simply throttles your system to its lowest setting. This is useful for downloading files during the night while you're sleeping or during the day while you're at work. You exit out of the snooze state in the same way as a screen saver and there is virtually no recovery time so you can get right back to work, or play as the case may be.
