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- Date:
- Tuesday , August 16, 2011
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS P8P67 Pro New B3 Revision Motherboard Review
ASUS' latest foray in to the Intel LGA1155 market shows up in a competitive package, the P8P67 Pro. The board combines the features and technologies you've come to expect from ASUS and promises not to disappoint. This motherboard also happens to target the sub-$180 market so it will be on the list for budget minded builds.
Introduction
ASUS remains one of the longest lived top-tier component manufacturer in the computer industry, with its unfailing approach to delivering high performance and quality products. The company continues to cultivate its loyalists as well as the general enthusiast market by advancing the design and technology used to keep its products cool and fast. Its latest innovations come from the use of pure digital components for product power management, with its latest product lines running faster and cooler than ever before.
The ASUS P8P67 Pro motherboard uses the Intel P67 chipset for support of the following technologies: the Intel LGA1155 Core i3, i5, and i7 processor lines; DDR3 memory operating in Dual Channel memory mode up to 1333MHz officially; and either NVIDIA SLI or ATI CrossFireX graphics mode using matched video cards. The board itself offers the following lineup of integrated devices: 4 SATA II 3Gb/s ports and 2 SATA III 6Gb/s ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable) on the Intel P67 controller; 2 SATA III 6Gb/s ports on the Marvel controller; 2 e-SATA 3Gb/s ports on the JMicron controller; 12 USB 2.0 capable ports (6 in rear panel, and 3 onboard header supporting 2 ports each); 4 USB 3.0 capable ports (2 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394 ports (1 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header support 1 port each); 1 Intel GigE Ethernet ports in the rear panel; Realtek 8-channel HD audio codec with integrated S/PDIF optical and RCA component output ports; MemOK! button; and PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports in the rear panel.
Main Specifications Overview:
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
Packaging
ASUS chose to keep the P8P67 Pro's box and art simple, featuring the board name and supported technologies on an eye catching black and white background. The following bundled components are included with the board: locking connector SATA drive cables; a 2-way NVIDIA SLI connector; rear panel bracket with USB 3.0 ports; the Q-Connector modules; the rear panel shield; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs. The Q-Connector modules allow for an easy interface for connecting in to the motherboard headers. You simply plug in your front panel jumpers in to the white connector and the USB 2.0 jumpers in to the blue connector block, and then plug both blocks in to the motherboard headers. It makes for a much easier install for those typically hard to reach header areas.
Board Layout
As we've come to expect from ASUS, the P8P67 Pro board design was masterfully done, with more than enough room between all ports and onboard components. ASUS even left a PCI-Express x1 port accessible, with its placement on the rear side of the primary PCI-Express x16 video card slot. The board revision is silk-screened to the surface, in between PCI slot 1 and the secondary PCI-Express x16 slot, with a revision 1.01 used for testing. While ASUS did not include the serial number on the board's surface, they did place it on a white sticker along the front edge of the box. For the board's power regulation needs, ASUS used high quality polymer solid-electrolyte capacitors and Ferrite core chokes in combination with its proprietary digital VRM controller.
The area surrounding the CPU socket is fully clear of obstructions, with all components in close proximity to the CPU being a small form factor type design. You should have minimal clearance issues even with the larger CPU cooling units. ASUS designed the socket to use the standard LGA1156 style hold down mechanism to fix the cooler in place. The CHA_FAN2 header and 8-pin ATX12V power connector are located to the upper right of the socket, while the CPU_FAN header is to its lower right.
Located directly below the CPU socket, the 4 onboard DDR3 memory slots are arranged in a bi-colored 2-by-2 configuration, with the blue colored slots being the primary use slots. Dual Channel memory mode becomes active with matching modules in slots across the sets. Just below the DIMM slots are the onboard USB 3.0 header, the 24-pin ATX power connector, the EPU switch, the MemOK! button, and the PWR_FAN header. The EPU switch is used to activate the onboard EPU controller for controller moderated power consumption. The MemOK! button can be used to reset memory settings to default system fail-safe settings in the event of a non-booting system due aggressive memory settings.
The Intel P67 Express chipset is located directly below PCI-Express x16 slots 1 and 2, covered by a massive low profile heat sink. The onboard SATA ports are directly below the chipset, with the light blue 3GB/s ports and the white 6GB/s ports tied to the P67 controller and the dark blue 6GB/s ports tied to the Marvell controller. The front panel header and CHA_FAN2 header are located to the lower left of the chipset. The CMOS clear jumper, standby power LED, and USB 2.0 headers are located just above along the left edge of the board. The CMOS battery is situated just under PCI slot 2. Note that the standby power LED illuminates when an active power source is connected to the board's power connectors.
ASUS chose to design the P8P67 Pro with a total of 7 device ports: 3 PCI-Express x16 slots, 2 PCI-Express x1 slots, and 2 PCI slots. For those that have PCI-Express x1 devices, the placement of the primary PCI-Express x1 slot will allow use of the port even with a video card in place. The USB 2.0 headers, TPU switch, IEEE 1394 header, S/PDIF output header, and front panel audio header are located along the outside of the tertiary PCI-Express x16 slot. When enabled, the TPU switch activates the board's controller moderated overclocking system, without the need for BIOS or the Windows based TurboV application interaction.
ASUS chose to integrate the following ports in to the P8P67's rear panel: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports; 6 USB 2.0 ports (red colored USB style ports); 2 USB 3.0 ports (blue colored USB style ports); 1 Intel GigE Ethernet port; 2 e-SATA 3Gb/s ports (green colored port is powered); Bluetooth module; and 6 analogue and S/PDIF optical and RCA component audio output ports.
TurboV EVO
For overclocking the P8P67 Pro board from within windows, ASUS provided us with their TurboV EVO applet, which integrates seamlessly in to their AI Suite utility.
The TurboV EVO applet can be accessed via the Tool button after opening the AI Suite application. The TurboV EVO screen is broken in to two separate tabs - TurboV and Auto Tuning. Notice the CPU bar along the right side of the app window as well. The TurboV tab displays current system voltage and bus speed settings, allowing for configuration of all displayed settings. Within the Advanced Mode tab are other adjustable system voltages, while the CPU Ratio tab allows for manual configuration of the current CPU multiplier setting. For all settings listed in the applet, the configurable settings shown mimic the settings available through the BIOS menus. The Auto Tuning tab houses a BIOS controlled overclocking interface through the use of pre-defined overclocking levels - Fast and Extreme.
DIGI+ VRM
ASUS also chose to include their DIGI+ VRM applet, also accessed using the Tools menu in the AI Suite utility.
The DIGI+ VRM applet is used to configure the board's power regulation circuitry, with the same options available as shown in the BIOS.