ASUS P5E3 and MSI X38 Platinum (Intel X38)
Author:
Date: 05.12.2007 |
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ASUS P5E3
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| Chipset |
Intel X38 |
| CPU |
LGA775 Pentium 4 FSB 1333/1066/800/533 MHz
Celeron Conroe/Prescott FSB 800/533 MHz
Dual-Core Pentium4 Smithfield/Presler
Quad-Core (Yorkfield/Kentsfield), Dual-Core (Wolfdale/Conroe) FSB 1333/1066/800 MHz
HyperThreading |
| Memory |
DDR3 800/1066/1333 |
| HDD |
1x UltraDMA/133
7x SerialATA(RAID)
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| Extras |
2 IEEE-1394a
Audio Intel HDA
12 USB 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet |
| Price: |
270 - 330$ (Price.ru) |
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MSI X38 Platinum
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| Chipset |
Intel X38 |
| CPU |
LGA775 Pentium 4 FSB 1333/1066/800/533 MHz
Celeron Conroe/Prescott FSB 800/533 MHz
Dual-Core Pentium4 Smithfield/Presler
Quad-Core (Yorkfield/Kentsfield), Dual-Core (Wolfdale/Conroe) FSB 1333/1066/800 MHz
HyperThreading |
| Memory |
DDR3 800/1066/1333 |
| HDD |
1x UltraDMA/133
8x SerialATA(2xRAID)
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| Extras |
2 IEEE-1394a
Audio Intel HDA
12 USB 2.0
2x Gigabit Ethernet |
| Price: |
300$ (Price.ru) |
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On the eve of the New Year sales, the number of motherboards based on Intel X38 is going up in leaps and bounds. Surprisingly, but each new motherboard is offering increasingly wide functionality. In particular, while the first reviewed board - Gigabyte X38-DQ6 - offered two PCI Express x16 slots and support for DDR2, the next board - Foxconn X38A - already offered three PCI Express x16 slots and support for both DDR2 and DDR3. Today, we are testing a motherboard of the ultimate class, MSI X38 Platinum, which offers 4 (!) PCI Express x16 slots; this board supports DDR3 only.
From a certain viewpoint, the X38 chipset has already been explored well enough, so in this review we are testing one more motherboard made by ASUS. This is a low model in the P5E line - ASUS P5E3.
Specifications
ASUS P5E3
MSI X38 Platinum
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ASUS P5E3 |
MSI X38 Platinum |
| CPU |
- Support for Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott (2M)/Gallatin/CedarMill) with the bus speeds 1066/800/533 MHz
- Dual-core Intel Pentium D/EE (Smithfield/Presler) with the bus speeds 800/1066 MHz
- Intel Celeron-D (Conroe-L, Prescott) with the bus speeds 800/533 MHz
- Support for Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad (Kentsfield, Conroe) with the bus speeds 1333/1066/800 MHz
- Support for Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad (Yorkfield, Wolfdale) with the bus speeds 1333/1066/800 MHz
- Socket LGA775
- Support for HyperThreading |
| Chipset |
- North bridge Intel X38 (MCH)
- South bridge Intel ICH9R
- Interbridge communication: DMI |
| System Memory |
- Four 240-pin slots for DDR3 SDRAM DIMM
- Maximum memory capacity 8GB
- Supported memory DDR3 800/1066/1333
- Dual-channel memory access
- Power indicator |
| Graphics |
- Two PCI Express x16 slots |
- Four PCI Express x16 slots |
| Expansion options |
- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots
- Two PCI Express x1 slot
- Twelve USB 2.0 ports (6 integrated + 6 additional)
- Two IEEE1394 ports (Firewire; one integrated + 2 additional)
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1
- Network controller Gigabit Ethernet |
- One 32-bit PCI Bus Master slot
- Two PCI Express x1 slot
- Twelve USB 2.0 ports (8 integrated + 4 additional)
- Two IEEE1394 ports (Firewire; one integrated + 2 additional)
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1
- Two Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers |
| Overclocking options |
- FSB adjustable within 200 to 800 MHz in 1 MHz increments; multiplier adjustable
- Adjustable voltage on the CPU, memory, FSB, and the chipset (NB + SB)
- ASUS AiBooster |
- FSB adjustable within 200 to 800 MHz in 1 MHz increments; multiplier adjustable;
- Adjustable voltage on the CPU, memory, FSB, and the chipset (nb+sb);
- MSI D.O.T. technology
- Dual CoreCenter |
| Disk subsystem |
- One line for UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (Marvell 88SE6111; with support for up to 2 ATAPI devices)
- Support for SerialATA II (6 links - ICH9R, with support for RAID)
- Support for SerialATA II (1 link - Marvell 88SE6111)
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM; |
- One line for UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (Marvell 88SE6111; with support for up to 2 ATAPI devices)
- Support for SerialATA II (6 links - ICH9R, with support for RAID)
- Support for SerialATA II (2 links - Sil 5723, with support for RAID 0,1, JBOD)
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM |
| BIOS |
- 8 Mbit Flash ROM
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features
- ASUS EZ Flash 2
- ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
- ASUS MyLogo 3
- ASUS OC Profile
- ASUS AI Remote
- Multi-languages BIOS |
- 8 Mbit Flash ROM
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features
- MSI POST
- Additional Dual CoreCell chip |
| Misc |
- One port for FDD, one serial port, port for PS/2 keyboard
- STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIFOut |
- One port for FDD, one serial port, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard
- STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIF Out |
| Power management |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB
- Main 24-pin ATX power connector
- Additional 4-pin power connector |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB
- Main 24-pin ATX power connector
- Additional 8-pin power connector |
| Monitoring |
- Monitoring the temperatures of the CPU, system, voltages, rotational speeds of the four fans
- Q-Fan 2
- ASUS PC Probe II |
- Monitoring the temperature of the CPU, system, voltages, rotational speeds of the three fans
- Smart Fan |
| Dimensions |
- ATX form factor, 245x305 mm (9.63" x 12") |
Retail boxes
Contents
- motherboard;
- User's Manual in English + brief usage guide;
- Drivers & Utilities DVD plus CD with third-party software;
- one ATA133 cable, FDD cable;
- 6x SerialATA cables + a power supply adapter (2 connectors);
- a cap for the rear panel of the housing;
- bracket for an additional Firewire and 2 USB 2.0 ports;
- an additional fan;
- Q-Connectors kit;
- USB-receiver AI Remote + a remote control;
- AI Remote user's guide;
- ASUS corporate logo sticker.
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- motherboard;
- User's Manual in English + brief usage guide;
- 2x CD with software & drivers (for XP and Vista);
- one ATA133 cable, FDD cable;
- 4x SerialATA cables + 2x power supply adapters (2 connectors);
- a cap for the rear panel of the housing;
- kit of additional connectors;
- 1x bracket for a Firewire port;
- 2x Crossfire bridges.
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The retail price of both the motherboards is high enough (about $300), and the products are aimed at those who can afford the DDR3 memory. And, from this viewpoint, the package bundle of the boards looks pretty scanty! In particular, the MSI board offers only the most necessary items: the cables and connectors,
a user's guide, and a couple of CDs with a pack of drivers and utilities for XP and Vista.
Besides, MSI X38 Platinum comes bundles with an additional Firewire port, plus a couple of bridges to link Crossfire video cards, and a pack of connectors to facilitate plugging in buttons of the housing to the board.
The package bundle of the ASUS motherboard looks a bit richer. Apart from the standard items (cables, etc.),
the user gets a well-made master usage manual, a brief guide, a DVD with drivers and utilities, as well as a CD with third-party software.
The bundled DVD contains a complete kit of all the required drivers (including drivers for Linux), a kit of ASUS proprietary utilities (PC Probe 2, including the 64-bit version), AIBooster, Update, MyLogo 3 + a kit of boot-up images). Besides, the disk contains Norton Internet Security 2006 (including a version for Vista - 2007.1), InterVideo WinDVD 8 Trial, DVDCopy5, MediaOne Gallery, Ulead PhotoImpact, CyberLink PowerBackup 2, Corel Snapfire Plus.
Then, the board comes bundled with a header for an additional Firewire and two USB 2.0 ports, Q-Connectors, as well as an additional fan.
We note it separately that the cap of the housing offers noise insulating coating:
Lastly, the board supports the AI Remote technology which implies a special IR-receiver (plugged in via a USB port) and a remote control.
The final conclusion regarding the package bundle: MSI - "3/5", ASUS - "4+/5".
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