Intel P35 / X38 Motherboards Roundup
ASUS P5E3 Deluxe (Intel X38; DDR3)
ASUS P5E3 Deluxe is a cheaper alternative to the ASUS Maximus Extreme version. Although to date the price difference is not significant, the P5E3 Deluxe offers a higher potential in price reduction than that of the Maximus Extreme version.
The board uses a really powerful and massive cooling system, with a lot of heat pipes. However, there is no water block on on the north bridge of the chipset - it is a privilege of boards of the Republic of Gamers series.
Nevertheless, as our overclocking experiments have revealed, the capabilities of both the motherboards are absolutely identical.
The same applies to the expansion options which are absolutely identical. In particular, the board uses two Gigabit LAN controllers, two Firewire ports, one additional SerialATA/ParallelATA/RAID controller, as well as 12 USB2.0 ports.
There is a difference in the implementation of the 8-channel audio subsystem which is integrated into the P5E3 Deluxe (on the Maximus Extreme version, it was implemented on a separate SupremeFX II board). The layout of slots is also identical: three PCI Express x16, two PCI Express x1, and two PCI slots.
However, the layout of the rear panel has some differences, but it is the same in terms of the functionality.
The only thing that you won't find is the support for unique features of the Republic of Gamers series (buttons to clear the CMOS settings, and a connector to plug in the LCD Poster).
As regards the package bundle, it looks scarcer than that of the Extreme version. However, in the box with P5E3 Deluxe the user will find an AI Remote unit with a remote control, as well as 2 additional fans (there is only one in the Extreme version).
As regards the BIOS, the section that deals with tuning the memory settings is fully identical to that of the Extreme version.
On the contrary, the system monitoring is much more modest.
Like Maximus Extreme, the P5E3 Deluxe allows for saving all the BIOS settings into memory and loading them on demand. It supports two independent profiles:
The overclocking tools have no shortcomings at all:
ASUS P5E3 Deluxe allows adjusting the FSB within 200 to 800 MHz, raising the CPU voltage to 1.7V, on the memory - to 2.78V, on the north bridge - to 1.91V, on the south bridge - to 1.2V, and on the FSB bus - to 1.5V. And, despite the more modest ranges of voltage adjustment, we were able to attain the record-breaking FSB=568MHz as easily as we did that on Maximus Extreme.
Here goes the interim conclusion. If the user decided he would need a high-end motherboard aimed at DDR3 memory, the reasonable option is to choose between P5E3 Deluxe and Maximus Extreme keeping the price difference in mind.
Pros:
- High stability and good performance level;
- Three PCI Express x16 slots;
- Support for SerialATA II/RAID ( 8 links; ICH9R + JMB 363);
- Support for one P-ATA link (JMB363);
- Integrated 8-channel audio and two LAN (Gigabit Ethernet) controllers;
- Support for USB2.0 (12 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire, 2 ports);
- Attractive package bundle (includes AI Remote, additional fans);
- Passive/active system for cooling the chipset and the power supply module;
- A wide selection of ASUS' proprietary technologies (PC Probe II, EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3, MyLogo2, Q-Fan 2, etc.);
- Additional set of AI Proactive technologies (AI Overclock, OC Profile, AI Net 2, etc.);
- Support for AI Remote;
Cons:
The board's specific features:
- Record-breaking CPU overclocking results;
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