![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Monday , September 08, 2003
- Author:
- Keith Dugger
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS P4P800S-E Wireless Edition
ASUS adds an enhanced entry to their new value line. This mainboard has everything you need for a wireless access point in the box. Does the i848 chipset have the performance that will draw a crowd?
Subsystem Testing
Audio – CPU Utilization
We use Ziff Davis’ Audio Winbench to test the CPU utilization of audio subsystems. When designed and implemented correctly, the audio subsystem should have minimal impact on the CPU under use.
The P4P800S-E utilizes the SoundMAX (ADI AD1985) sound subsystem marketed as the AI Audio from ASUS. Our standard at [H]ard|OCP is 5% or less in this benchmark and the P4P800S-E stays close to this mark. All in all, the AI Audio will only pose a minimal impact potential to your system. As always, these results are based on a synthetic benchmark and may not be representative of your results.
Audio – Subjective Listening
Computer sound subsystems pull the extra duty of music jukebox and it is important that a subsystem can project the correct sound reproduction that music requires. I chose one of the newer Metallica songs, St. Anger to push this subsystem. I am quite unhappy with Metallica’s newest attempt at redefinition, but the unique drum tuning and bounces from ballad to heavy-metal angst really push the audio envelop. The AI Audio based around the SoundMAX never shuddered at my challenge. Absolutely zero sound defects to report.
Audio – In Game Testing
One of the other factors of sound subsystem quality is accurate sound reproduction during game play. Our very own Brent Justice provided his custom-designed benchmarking script based on recorded BOT matches to adequately test sound quality during game play. The benchmark runs through three loops of each demo, one with no sound, one with normal 3d sound, and, finally, one with EAX 3d sound.
The results are above for your viewing. As a part of these benchmarks, I listened in on the game play to determine subjectively if the sound subsystem performs as expected. Just as the subjective music test, the AI Audio did not pop, hiss, or crack under pressure. Great implementation.
USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394
Pairing a USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394 external drive from ACOMDATA HD060U2FE-72-USB 2.0/FireWire HDD with TCD Labs’ HDTach program gives us the ability to evaluate the capabilities of the onboard USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 controllers. The first test is with the drive connected to the USB 2.0 port and the second is with the drive connected to the IEEE 1494 port.
The results of the P4P800S-E USB 2.0 test are not really close to what USB 2.0 has offered us before when connected to the ACOMDATA drive. Read and write were both lower than desired. RAT (Random Access Time) was a few tenths of a millisecond slower (hardly noticeable), but a CPU utilization of 21% opens a risk of system impact.
The IEEE 1394 test really shows its usefulness to the P4P800S-E controller implementation. Good read and write averages are one thing, but the almost non-existent CPU utilization of 0.3% is almost guaranteed to have little impact on system performance. I said almost.
IDE/ATA Performance
The performance of the CPU, RAM, and hard drives affect overall usability of a system. Using the same TCD Labs’ HDTach, I tested the IDE performance of the ASUS. My test bench has Maxtor 40Gb ATA 133 model 6E040L0 hard drives on the IDE controllers and Seagate 80 Gb Barracuda SATA hard drives for SATA testing.
Testing was conducted with an IDE drive connected in a primary slave configuration, single SATA drive, SATA RAID 0, and SATA RAID 1.
The IDE controller performance results fall exactly where we would want them. The CPU utilization of only 3.4% is a great improvement over other results we have seen here lately.
The stand alone SATA test further proves that ASUS got the controller implementation off the South Bridge correct. Read/write averages and RBS numbers were right on target as was the RAT (Random Access Time). The CPU utilization on this controller is almost missing as well. Both the parallel and serial drive interfaces on the P4P800S-E are near perfect so far.
The RBS (Read Burst Speed) of the SATA RAID0/16K (140MB/s) test came close to maximizing the bus throughput and the average read speed is nearing the 50MB/s mark. These performance numbers should be welcome in any system.
SATA RAID0/128K is usually better suited for write operations and the results show that average read speed did suffer due to the larger block size; however, the average write speed was a bit slower that the RAID0/16K test, but other factors were still good.
A RAID 1 implementation will perform similarly to a single drive setup and this does little to change that. CPU utilization to a spike, but worthy of note is the dramatic drop in Random Access Time. 10.9ms is terrific!
Network Utilization Tests
I connected my home machine via an Intel Gigabit NIC and cross-over cable to the ASUS P4P800S-E to adequately test the network performance of the on-board NIC. I also connected via my machine’s Realtek 802.11b wireless PCI card to determine the capabilities of the P4P800S-E’s Wi-Fi@HOME connection. These tests are conducted by performing two series of tests. First, transferring approximately 600MB of various-sized MP3 audio files both upload and download and, second, transferring a single file of approximately 600MB both upload and download. To measure performance I used both Window Task Manager to get CPU utilization and Hagel Technologies’ DU Meter to measure the performance of the network subsystem itself.
ASUS utilizes the Intel Gigabit CSA on-board NIC for land-based connections.
The averages for both the small files upload were right on target, but the small files download test results fell a little short of what we would like to see. Still, being able to transfer the equivalent of a CDR full of data in 22 seconds isn’t bad. The CPU utilization maintained a decent running average.
The large file upload and download tests improved on the results of the small files tests while maintaining similar CPU requirements.
802.11B Network Utilization Tests
This is one of the first wireless product bundles we have tested. The most I can offer is that the wireless transfers were very consistent across tests. The implementation of the Wi-Fi connector slot had zero impact on the CPU. The Task Manager was flat lined through most of the 802.11b tests.
I found the Software AP easy to setup and use. The included software allows the user to setup a wireless access point and bridge the wireless and wired (primarily for use when connected to the Internet) connections. This enables wireless users to surf the Internet through the P4P800S-E’s connection. Within minutes I had enabled a secure wireless access point (software) using 128-bit WEP. The external omni-directional antenna transmitted well within standards; however, I would prefer the cable be a bit longer for optimal placement options. This board should satisfy those needing a wireless access point without requiring the purchase of an additional hardware WAP. I do think that ASUS should have included support for 802.11g at 54Mb/s. A 10Mb/s connection is perfect for sharing an Internet connection, but if the need arises to transfer large files one should be prepared to wait.
Editor's Note: Let's look at the big picture though. What is really interesting about this added 802.11B wireless feature is that it makes the Asus P4P800-E a tremendous buy. While this mainboard is just now entering the marketplace in North America, we found it to be priced around US$100, or about the same as many stand-alone Wireless Access Points.
My concern here overall would be the unit's range and we do not have decent facility to conduct testing in. I have a Linksys WAP in my home, and the ASUS add-in WiFi card seemed to work as well as the Linksys WAP. That of course is just one users experience.
Test Systems
The following system configurations were used for the Sandra memory benchmark graph, as well as all graphs listed under the Application and Gaming Benchmark sections:
ASUS P4P800S-E Wireless Edition (i848P) – Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz CPU (clocked at 16x200), Intel Pentium 4 3GHz CPU (clocked at 12x250), and an Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz CPU (clocked at 12x200 ) - 2 x 256Mb Corsair XMS3200 - ATI Radeon 9700 Pro w/ ATI Catalyst 2.3 drivers - 40 GB Maxtor ATA133 HDD - Allied 400w PSU - WindowsXP w/SP1
NOTE: For all benchmark tests done on the ASUS P4P800S-E motherboard, the optimized default BIOS settings were loaded for the benchmark tests. The following BIOS settings were also engaged during the tests: CAS = 2; Ras2Cas = 2; Active Precharge = 5; Ras Precharge = 2.
AOpen AX4SPE Max (i865PE) - Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz CPU (clocked at 12x250) - 2 x 256Mb Corsair XMS3200 - ATI Radeon 9700 Pro w/ ATI Catalyst 2.3 drivers - 40 GB Maxtor ATA133 HDD - Allied 400w PSU - WindowsXP w/SP1
ABIT IS7-G (i875P) - Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz CPU (clocked at 12x250), Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz CPU (clocked at 12x200)- 2 x 256Mb Corsair XMS3200 - ATI Radeon 9700 Pro w/ ATI Catalyst 2.3 drivers - 40 GB Maxtor ATA133 HDD - Allied 400w PSU - WindowsXP w/SP1
ABIT BH7 (i845PE) - Intel Pentium 4 2.53 GHz CPU (clocked at 19x133 for 2.53 GHz speed) - 2 x 256Mb Corsair XMS3200 - ATI Radeon 9700 Pro w/ ATI Catalyst 2.3 drivers - 40 GB Maxtor ATA133 HDD - Allied 400w PSU - WindowsXP w/SP1
ASUS A7N8X Barton (nForce2): AMD AthlonXP 3000+ CPU (clocked at 13x166); 2 x 256MB Corsair XMS3200; ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, onboard nForce2 10/100 NIC; 40 GB Maxtor ATA133 HDD, Zalman 300w PSU. WindowsXP w/SP1, ATi Catalyst 2.3.
Graphs are labeled as follows: Motherboard - CPU Clock - FSB Clock - Memory Clock
SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth Benchmark
Note that all results above were obtained running in Dual Channel mode except for the P4P800S-E and the BH7 boards.
The results of this synthetic memory benchmark show the differences between single- and dual-channel memory, but the three P4P800S-Es still push well past the BH7.