How many people are going to be building RAID arrays out of more than two SATA600 SSDs? No HDD can even approach SATA300 speeds so it's not really an issue .
HDD burst speeds (reads) can surpass 3gbps. I just saw an article showing the Hitachi DeskStar 3TB 7K3000 can burst to about 5gbps...and just because you don't use more than two drives in a RAID array doesn't mean other people don't.
He didn't say other people don't. He implied only few do. This is a $150 board, not an enthusiast model. Anyone willing to shell out a couple grand on their SSDs alone should look elsewhere for a board, or more likely an add-on PCI-e x8 card with REAL RAID support, to better suit their needs.
But I wish it was a review of the P8P67 Pro... specifically the new 3.1 revision with USB 3 controllers by Asmedia (instead of NEC).
I prefer single-card graphics anyway - my GTX580 is enough for now :) Consoles have been holding back PC gaming for too long - PC games aren't very demanding on hardware these days :(
Why bother reviewing this board? Why not review this board when everyone was excited about Sandy Bridge? Is it because you guys are too busy with mobile products like smartphones that you guys have forgotten your roots? This same board you guys review on 9/8/2011 was also reviewed by Bit-tech on 1/12/2011! That's 8 months apart and this article made it seem it's just fresh off the factory floor!
I used to come to this site and every time it's fill with interesting articles that sometimes I'll read it more than once, and even print it and read on my couch. Now it's the opposite. Mobile phone review- yawn Case review- semi yawn, most cases interior are similar, it's just the brand you like to pick, cable management, and appearance SSD- major yawn! It's all about speed, blah blah blah. Nothing special, just buy the one fastest within your budget.
About this board, who every buys it for CFX is a idiot. The 2ne PCIe x16 runs at x4! You buy a pair of $800 dollar HD6990 to run quad CFX on x16/x4?! Enjoy your cripple quad CFX setup!!! Bawhahahahaha!!!
We've unfortunately had this board in for a while, but other products have been taking priority, meaning this one got delayed until a spot became available. Though it's worth a look just to see how such a product can still battle it out with the newer models. In other release related news, both Brendan and I on the motherboard team have full time jobs elsewhere, and you'd be surprised how much time has to go into even a single motherboard review, otherwise you get criticised for not examining every feature or might miss something critical, and of course it has to be up to AnandTech standards. We've done 17 motherboard reviews this year, which is a hard graft when every manufacturer wants to send you their latest and greatest on every chipset (P67, H67, H61, Z68, A75, A55, A50M, 990FX, 990X, 970 and so on), which means some you get sent just end up waiting a little while.
We have got some AMD lined up over the next couple of months which we hope the readership will enjoy.
Now there's the problem Ian. You both have full time jobs elsewhere. You both know how fast things change in the Tech arena. Reviewing a product that's been out for 8 months is a waste of time, unless your re-reviewing after a major fix for comparison. If something is sitting around for that long, it's time to simply pass on it and select an item that is more current. That being said, perhaps Anandtech needs to staff up...
Despite my understanding (I'm in the Air National Guard, have a daughter, and am about done with my post-deployment vacation) - I have to side with the commentators here. It would seem that a review on this board is a bit post-due, especially considering that it has a mature bios now compared to newer board releases which may not.
Honestly, it's still a relevant board (cheapest 8 SATA port P67/Z68 board in my part of the world at least), so I'm fine with it.
Actually, I really want Anandtech to do two things:
1) Review more motherboards! You're doing several times more smartphones than motherboards at this point, and while the phones are fine, motherboards are closer to the core of what I come here for.
2) Review motherboards that aren't top-of-the-line enthusiast boards. Most people never do use more than one GPU and it's often not really clear what else is there to justify paying 60-100% extra. Also, NOBODY is reviewing the mid or lower midrange boards! It's all about the pro and deluxe versions that the manufacturers push.
Etern205, show a little more respect for a website you visit for FREE. Also face the reality that tablets and cell phones are mini computers and are quickly becoming the platform of the future. And while you personally yawn at SSD reviews, I think you fail to realize how much this website has contributed to the success of that technology while helping various manufacturers.
Now don't get me wrong, I agree this particular motherboard review is a little late, especially considering its a P67 chipset. At this point I would only hope to see reviews on Z68 chipsets. In fact I had to get most of my recent buying information regarding Sandy Bridge from Tom's. So maybe ASUS paid Anand to shine light on older products in attempts to move inventory. But unfortunately that is how review websites make the money they need to operate (in addition to ad revenue). So again, unless you are a paying customer you are in no position to complain.
@Impulses: Saying they might be paid to review an older product is COMPLETELY different than saying they were paid to give it a favorable review.
@Etern205: No you don't have the right to spit on their work just because you factory tours and home theater setups more interesting. They do a great job and everything here is free for you, so if you don't like it then gtfo.
If a site is going down hill then it's going down hill, why are you kissing @ss?! I have my right to express my opinion/complaint as I wish because this site was uber awesome back in the old days. I've entered this field back in 99 and been reading here ever since (Anandtech started back in 97) because it's filled with interesting and fun to read articles that fills every one of my neurons with technical knowledge. This site became what it is today because of articles that attract enthusiast and power users. If they review consumer based product for the average Joe and Jane, will they ever be here today? I don't think so! About those tours they're leisure articles and yet still attracts enthusiast and power users. For Anand's home theater, you should actually take a look at that awesome article before telling others to GTFO. If you like to read on smartphones and other nonsense products, then there are plenty like Cnet or PCWorld.
Yep, I yawn at SSD reviews because the main purpose of getting one is to speed up your apps or for those who thinks the sky is falling when they can't wait even a single second! You see reviews on SSD and are amazed by it's blazing speed, is it within your reach? Sure the price of SSD has dropped as you can get a 120GB Crucial M4 for less than $200. While sub $200 is quite a price drop for SSD and it's larger than 64GB, the price is still too high for some.
And who says I can't complain? You work for Anand for what? This site use to have the most awesome articles, I hope their articles on BullDozer will turn this site around.
Some of the articles I enjoy were the factory tours and especially Anand's personal home theater setup.
I'm happy that Anandtech and it's writers have more diversified articles then "other" hardware sites that only publish boring stuff you see everywhere else.
I happen to like those Smartphone and whatnot reviews.
While it's doubtful anyone with a $1500 GPU setup (HD6990 CF) will be using this board, there is nothing wrong with running say HD6870 / 6950 CF on this board. In fact PCIe 2.0 4x produces about a 7-8% penalty for a faster GPU like the GTX480:
Not only that but HD6950 2GB setup in CF is more useful at 2560x1600 too, where PCIe limitation is only around 5% (see link above).
LegitReviews even performed CF testing on this board to show that the difference is not as much as people believe: 2x HD6950s in CF tested in P8P67 (16x/4x) vs. P8P67 Deluxe (8x/8x):
The performance difference at 1920x1080 was: - 5.3% in AvP - 8.5% in Metro 2033 - 2.9% in STALKER: cop
Certainly not 30-50% less as some people probably imagine. For a budget board around $135, there weren't many boards better.
However, I feel that Asrock has really stepped up their game with:
1) Asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $125 on Newegg 2) Asrock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 - $154 on Newegg
I agree with you that AnandTech stopped focusing on motherboard reviews which is a real shame since if you review CPUs, you should also review motherboards since CPUs have to be inserted somewhere :)
Problem with this particular model is there's other equally economic models from other manufacturers that will do 8x/8x... I love ASUS, last three mobos before my current one were ASUS, but lately I think they've been allowing prices to creep up too much and/or introducing too many damn models. Everyone's guilty of the latter, but ASUS is the worst.
As far as mobo reviews in general... Meh. I agree that they're a staple of sites like AT, but if it weren't for the P67 recall and the late introduction of Z68 almost every review of this generation of Intel boards would've read the same.
There's just not anything all that exiting about mobo introductions anymore imo, just find a model with the integrated components that you need from your preferred manufacturer amongst the top 4 and look up one or two reviews to make sure it runs and OC reliably. Nothing really earth shattering or new to it... They're almost a commodity now like HDDs for data.
Ya, like I said the Asrock Extreme3/4 series are very attractive. But again in the marketplace this board goes for $135 (Newegg) and I am sure it will be below that shortly. For someone who wants to run a single GPU, this $135 board has a lot to offer vs. the competition. You get 12+2 power phases, Bluetooth, the best UEFI imo, and 3 year warranty (of which the 1st year is advanced replacement so they send you a new board first).
If you want to run 2 GPUs though, the Asrock Z68/P67 Extreme Gen3 series is far superior for $130-155.
And that 7-8% performance hit will be on only one of the two GPUs, so it will be even less significant to the overall graphics performance. And, if you put the lower-performing GPU in that slot, the impact is even lower.
People really get way too hung up on abstract specs like PCIe lanes without taking time to evaluate what they actually mean in the real world.
I am so tired of LGA-1155 being portrayed as an "Enthusiast Board" -Dual-channel memory. -Narrow PCI Bus. -Virtually fixed core clock. -and the stake to the heart....on board graphics.
Wait...wait LGA-2011 and i7 3-series will spice up the M-board review business.
Onboard graphics has no performance penalty on a 2600K (let alone a 2500K) so throw that piss poor reason out the window.
Narrow PCI bus? Yes, because that's clearly dragging SB systems through the mud. So is the dual channel memory.
Fixed core clock? Who gives a crap? Yeah, because a locked core clock with an unlocked multiplier is a worse option than an unlocked core clock and a limited amount of multiplier options.
A) Memory bandwidth has very little discernible effect on non-benchmark applications. Modern CPUs are so good at cache management that there is almost 0 reason to chase memory bandwidth. Ironically, the 1156 CPUs probably need the bandwidth more (due to the onboard graphics) than the 2011 CPUs will.
B) If you need more than two PCI-e x8 slots, then you're the kind of person who will drop the cash on LGA-2011 anyway. This is a legit knock against P67 and Z68, but it also only affects the hardcore enthusiasts, the top 1% of the top 1% who are running 3 or 4 GPUs.
C) LGA-2011 is going to have fixed clocks too. With multipliers unlocked, this is kind of a moot point anyway.
D) Considering P67 doesn't even allow you to use the onboard graphics, I don't see how this is a valid complaint.
I think P67 is a perfectly acceptable "enthusiast" product, and honestly I'd be surprised if there is an LGA-2011 version of Ivy Bridge outside of the server space.
Not Hating... but I figured as soon as the Z series board was out, the H&P series boards would drop, rightfully so, in the bargain bin.
I obvious to me that the 2nd generation i7 have an internal memory architecture limitation. (ie they were not designed for enthusiasts) Cut and paste old North Bridge architecture on the die. The bandwidth(bitwidth) of the internal communication 3rd generation chips is nearly twice the 2nd generation and it has 20 Gbit DMI 2.0.
If you don't believe bandwidth matters, I have a bin full old 64 bit Geforce cards for sale. I play games on my X-box, My computers for Solid modeling and Finite element analysis and surfing pron.
I was under the understanding the issues with the base clock adjust-ability were issues with the on board GPU's sensitivity to frequency. I am hoping the base clock on the I7 3820 will have 30-40% overclock like the LGA1366 or my old E6600.
At <$300 the i7 3820 should be quite a deal ps my business picks up the $1,200 for the 32 GB of Corsair XMS.
Care to explain how a $355 mobo+cpu setup trades blows with an overclocked $999 i7 CPU on "enthusiast" LGA1366?
I hope you enjoy your $300 LGA2011 Motherboard + $500-1000 CPU for 1 quarter until IVB launches and obsoletes LGA2011 for anyone but workstation users.
If you've used any Intel Desktop Board in the past three years, you've used a UEFI-based configuration utility. It's just one designed to look like an old fashioned 'BIOS' screen. (P.S., technically it hasn't been a "BIOS" in a while, it's been a configuration utility.)
I looked around for a relatively cheap motherboard with 8+ SATA ports for a 2500k and this board was by far the cheapest. Reading up in forums (especially at the [H] where Asus is active) and at Newegg I got the impression that there was an unusual amount of problems with the generation of Asus boards, so I chickened out and picked up an Asrock instead.
[shrugs] I bought mine despite all those NewEgg reviews and [H] negativity (although that's primarily towards the Pro) and I've had 0 problems with mine.
Very happily running @ 4.6 with 16GB of ram (ie all dimm slots populated). No problems whatsoever.
Pick a board, there's always a problem here or there, it doesn't matter who the manufacturer is.
re: Asrock - I had an Asrock X58 Extreme die after Folding@home 24/7 for 2 months; after RMA'ing it I bought a Gigabyte and sold the Asrock. First and last time I'll buy an Asrock board.
I have the Pro version of this board which I got for around $140 on a very short and quick sale on Amazon. Having owned this board for more than 5 months now I'm really enjoying it's overclocking performance. At first the board wasn't stable and I guess I tried to do too many things before letting it settle in. I remember many sites, when SB came out, most of the ASUS versions. At the time of my build I initially bought a Gigabyte UD3 board which turned out to be a decent overclocker. I regretted at that time for not getting an Asus board that had glowing reviews and ridiculous overclocking stories.
After the board recall, I took that opportunity to turn the Gigabyte board in and switch to an Asus one. I think something may have gone amiss with the B3 stepping version of many P67 boards. I first got the Deluxe version and had to RMA that. From the getgo it would crash and hang, just when going through BIOS options.
Getting this board at first also wasnt smooth sailing. After managing to find a stable mini OC at around 4.0 Ghz, I have now OC'd it to 4.5 while maintaining the same temperatures on Hyper 212+ cooling (mid 30s C at idle and mid 50s C on load) and core voltage at max of 1.384 V.
I'm very happy with the board at the moment 5 months on and hope that it continues this way. I certainly hope to keep this computer for another 4-5 years at least. I went from a system with 2.0 Ghz E4400, 1.5 GB DDR, 128 MB Radeon 9600 XT AGP 8x, 15" monitor @ 1024 x 768 that still works 4 years later.
Upgraded to Intel i5 2500k OC 4.5 Ghz G. Skills Ripjaw series 8 GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM Asus P8P67 Pro Crucial 64GB C300 SSD XFX 6870 1 GB Radeon HD Asus 23" monitor @ 1920x1080 Rosewill 630w Single +12 V rail Corsair 600T case (In the process)
Man, that is a serious upgrade, I took pleasure reading your post thinking how awesome it must have been to power that new machine up for so long, must have been mind blowing how much faster it was, especially upgrading from a low res monitor to that, lol.
Its pretty well known that increasing bclk doesn't work well with socket 1155. With my Asrock Z68 Pro 3 and 2600K, ANY increase in bclk makes the system unstable. Lucky I have those multipliers to play with.
With your max overclock you say: "I was able to successfully boot up at 46x103 which gave me a final clock speed of 4738MHz. The system was nowhere near stable but it would get into Windows and run a few tests before crashing."
I bet if you had backed it off to 46x100 = 4600 you might have gotten it stable and the extra 138 Mhz are rather meaningless anyway. Just a thought.
I have this MOBO since day 0 as it was almost the only ASUS option in CompuUSA back in January 8.
I am using a 2600K with this and I've been very happy with the performance and stability. Basically 0 fails. Also 98% of the time this machine is isolated from the internet with very specific software and system updates.
Ok, I read about 2 previous reviews about this ASUS MOBO, but my point here is how good it is for 3D applications for the price and all you care is gaming. Great!, no complains just an observation.
Also I am using 2 graphic cards I don't care about the limit in the second card as in my case I am using an entry level Quadro 600 for pro 3D viewport applications and for the 8X I am using a 460 GTX 1GB for a few games and game engines. It works very well for me and also for a new rendering application still in beta called Octane. This is my exclusive 3D machine, but I knew very well what I was going to do with this motherboard.
As many of you I don't like the direction the computer industry is taking with tablets and smartphones, but I understand for the massive market a desktop PC or even a laptop is not the best option. Ouch, I hope not to see a considerable increase in prices for desktop parts in the next years.
I like to think of this as a happy time of coincidence when power users benefited from the growing consumer market needs. But that ship is not with us anymore.
I don't really see the point of this board anymore. At $140 it's not really one of the cheaper boards out there.. and for 20-30 dollars less you can opt out for the better performing Z68. (Sure it might be MATX but even so) It doesn't really have a place in the current lineup unless they lower the price down enough to make it make it interesting.
I'm not trying to be sarcastic --I'm just wondering why it seems like the P67 chipset is being reviewed (in some cases, even hyped) by tech sites and a lot of users I see in hardware forums now that the Z68 chipset is out.
For almost every price tier of P67 chipset, I can find a Z68 chipset board within $10-20. The ASUS P8Z68-V is only $15 more than the $150 price of the P8P67 here, and it has more features. There are also lower-priced variants (the V-LX and V-LE) and the higher end V-Pro to round it out.
I'm just confused as to why the P67 chipset is relevant now that the Z68 chipset is available.
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52 Comments
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DanNeely - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
How are raid 5/10 supposed to work on the two gray SATA6GB ports? You need 3/4 drives to implement those levels.IanCutress - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
The ASUS website suggests you can build an array across all the PCH SATA3/6 ports, just not the controller ones.Ian
JonnyDough - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Well that seems silly if your array only runs at SATA II speeds...LtGoonRush - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
How many people are going to be building RAID arrays out of more than two SATA600 SSDs? No HDD can even approach SATA300 speeds so it's not really an issue .etamin - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
HDD burst speeds (reads) can surpass 3gbps. I just saw an article showing the Hitachi DeskStar 3TB 7K3000 can burst to about 5gbps...and just because you don't use more than two drives in a RAID array doesn't mean other people don't.WillR - Saturday, September 10, 2011 - link
He didn't say other people don't. He implied only few do. This is a $150 board, not an enthusiast model. Anyone willing to shell out a couple grand on their SSDs alone should look elsewhere for a board, or more likely an add-on PCI-e x8 card with REAL RAID support, to better suit their needs.DanNeely - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Ok, that would make sense. The review could be clearer on the point though.Taft12 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
mdadmDanNeely - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Soft-raid is completely chipset irrelevant.hurrakan - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Thanks for the review.But I wish it was a review of the P8P67 Pro... specifically the new 3.1 revision with USB 3 controllers by Asmedia (instead of NEC).
I prefer single-card graphics anyway - my GTX580 is enough for now :) Consoles have been holding back PC gaming for too long - PC games aren't very demanding on hardware these days :(
Etern205 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Why bother reviewing this board?Why not review this board when everyone was excited about Sandy Bridge?
Is it because you guys are too busy with mobile products like smartphones that you guys have forgotten your roots?
This same board you guys review on 9/8/2011 was also reviewed by Bit-tech on 1/12/2011!
That's 8 months apart and this article made it seem it's just fresh off the factory floor!
I used to come to this site and every time it's fill with interesting articles that sometimes I'll read it more than once, and even print it and read on my couch. Now it's the opposite.
Mobile phone review- yawn
Case review- semi yawn, most cases interior are similar, it's just the brand you like to pick, cable management, and appearance
SSD- major yawn! It's all about speed, blah blah blah. Nothing special, just buy the one fastest within your budget.
About this board, who every buys it for CFX is a idiot. The 2ne PCIe x16 runs at x4!
You buy a pair of $800 dollar HD6990 to run quad CFX on x16/x4?!
Enjoy your cripple quad CFX setup!!!
Bawhahahahaha!!!
IanCutress - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
We've unfortunately had this board in for a while, but other products have been taking priority, meaning this one got delayed until a spot became available. Though it's worth a look just to see how such a product can still battle it out with the newer models. In other release related news, both Brendan and I on the motherboard team have full time jobs elsewhere, and you'd be surprised how much time has to go into even a single motherboard review, otherwise you get criticised for not examining every feature or might miss something critical, and of course it has to be up to AnandTech standards. We've done 17 motherboard reviews this year, which is a hard graft when every manufacturer wants to send you their latest and greatest on every chipset (P67, H67, H61, Z68, A75, A55, A50M, 990FX, 990X, 970 and so on), which means some you get sent just end up waiting a little while.We have got some AMD lined up over the next couple of months which we hope the readership will enjoy.
Ian
Etern205 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Yes!Please please post interesting articles on BullDozer
Can't wait! :)
MrAv8er - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Now there's the problem Ian. You both have full time jobs elsewhere. You both know how fast things change in the Tech arena. Reviewing a product that's been out for 8 months is a waste of time, unless your re-reviewing after a major fix for comparison. If something is sitting around for that long, it's time to simply pass on it and select an item that is more current. That being said, perhaps Anandtech needs to staff up...JonnyDough - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Despite my understanding (I'm in the Air National Guard, have a daughter, and am about done with my post-deployment vacation) - I have to side with the commentators here. It would seem that a review on this board is a bit post-due, especially considering that it has a mature bios now compared to newer board releases which may not.Mumrik - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Honestly, it's still a relevant board (cheapest 8 SATA port P67/Z68 board in my part of the world at least), so I'm fine with it.Actually, I really want Anandtech to do two things:
1) Review more motherboards! You're doing several times more smartphones than motherboards at this point, and while the phones are fine, motherboards are closer to the core of what I come here for.
2) Review motherboards that aren't top-of-the-line enthusiast boards. Most people never do use more than one GPU and it's often not really clear what else is there to justify paying 60-100% extra. Also, NOBODY is reviewing the mid or lower midrange boards! It's all about the pro and deluxe versions that the manufacturers push.
Mumrik - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Alright, maybe not "several times", but I really would love more comparison articles of relevant ATX motherboards.ryedizzel - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Etern205, show a little more respect for a website you visit for FREE. Also face the reality that tablets and cell phones are mini computers and are quickly becoming the platform of the future. And while you personally yawn at SSD reviews, I think you fail to realize how much this website has contributed to the success of that technology while helping various manufacturers.Now don't get me wrong, I agree this particular motherboard review is a little late, especially considering its a P67 chipset. At this point I would only hope to see reviews on Z68 chipsets. In fact I had to get most of my recent buying information regarding Sandy Bridge from Tom's. So maybe ASUS paid Anand to shine light on older products in attempts to move inventory. But unfortunately that is how review websites make the money they need to operate (in addition to ad revenue). So again, unless you are a paying customer you are in no position to complain.
Impulses - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
If I worked at AT I'd find your accusation of payoffs way more insulting than his original complaint about the coverage... Talk about lack of respect.A5 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
LOL, yeah for real."Be respectful!
Oh yeah, I totally think they're getting paid off for reviews!"
ryedizzel - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
@Impulses: Saying they might be paid to review an older product is COMPLETELY different than saying they were paid to give it a favorable review.@Etern205: No you don't have the right to spit on their work just because you factory tours and home theater setups more interesting. They do a great job and everything here is free for you, so if you don't like it then gtfo.
Etern205 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
If a site is going down hill then it's going down hill, why are you kissing @ss?!I have my right to express my opinion/complaint as I wish because this site was uber awesome back in the old days. I've entered this field back in 99 and been reading here ever since (Anandtech started back in 97) because it's filled with interesting and fun to read articles that fills every one of my neurons with technical knowledge.
This site became what it is today because of articles that attract enthusiast and power users. If they review consumer based product for the average Joe and Jane, will they ever be here today? I don't think so!
About those tours they're leisure articles and yet still attracts
enthusiast and power users. For Anand's home theater, you should actually take a look at that awesome article before telling others to GTFO.
If you like to read on smartphones and other nonsense products, then there are plenty like Cnet or PCWorld.
Etern205 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Yep, I yawn at SSD reviews because the main purpose of getting one is to speed up your apps or for those who thinks the sky is falling when they can't wait even a single second!You see reviews on SSD and are amazed by it's blazing speed, is it within your reach? Sure the price of SSD has dropped as you can get a 120GB Crucial M4 for less than $200. While sub $200 is quite a price drop for SSD and it's larger than 64GB, the price is still too high for some.
And who says I can't complain? You work for Anand for what?
This site use to have the most awesome articles, I hope their articles on BullDozer will turn this site around.
Some of the articles I enjoy were the factory tours and especially Anand's personal home theater setup.
JonnyDough - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
That's why if you're money savvy you bought a 60GB Vertex II when they were hovering $100 after rebate. :)Amazing2u - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
Geez... Stop yawning, you're putting me to sleep.I'm happy that Anandtech and it's writers have more diversified articles then "other" hardware sites that only publish boring stuff you see everywhere else.
I happen to like those Smartphone and whatnot reviews.
Keep up the great work! :)
Sim
RussianSensation - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
While it's doubtful anyone with a $1500 GPU setup (HD6990 CF) will be using this board, there is nothing wrong with running say HD6870 / 6950 CF on this board. In fact PCIe 2.0 4x produces about a 7-8% penalty for a faster GPU like the GTX480:http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_480_...
Not only that but HD6950 2GB setup in CF is more useful at 2560x1600 too, where PCIe limitation is only around 5% (see link above).
LegitReviews even performed CF testing on this board to show that the difference is not as much as people believe: 2x HD6950s in CF tested in P8P67 (16x/4x) vs. P8P67 Deluxe (8x/8x):
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1500/9/
The performance difference at 1920x1080 was:
- 5.3% in AvP
- 8.5% in Metro 2033
- 2.9% in STALKER: cop
Certainly not 30-50% less as some people probably imagine. For a budget board around $135, there weren't many boards better.
However, I feel that Asrock has really stepped up their game with:
1) Asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $125 on Newegg
2) Asrock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 - $154 on Newegg
I agree with you that AnandTech stopped focusing on motherboard reviews which is a real shame since if you review CPUs, you should also review motherboards since CPUs have to be inserted somewhere :)
Cheers.
Impulses - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Problem with this particular model is there's other equally economic models from other manufacturers that will do 8x/8x... I love ASUS, last three mobos before my current one were ASUS, but lately I think they've been allowing prices to creep up too much and/or introducing too many damn models. Everyone's guilty of the latter, but ASUS is the worst.As far as mobo reviews in general... Meh. I agree that they're a staple of sites like AT, but if it weren't for the P67 recall and the late introduction of Z68 almost every review of this generation of Intel boards would've read the same.
There's just not anything all that exiting about mobo introductions anymore imo, just find a model with the integrated components that you need from your preferred manufacturer amongst the top 4 and look up one or two reviews to make sure it runs and OC reliably. Nothing really earth shattering or new to it... They're almost a commodity now like HDDs for data.
RussianSensation - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Ya, like I said the Asrock Extreme3/4 series are very attractive. But again in the marketplace this board goes for $135 (Newegg) and I am sure it will be below that shortly. For someone who wants to run a single GPU, this $135 board has a lot to offer vs. the competition. You get 12+2 power phases, Bluetooth, the best UEFI imo, and 3 year warranty (of which the 1st year is advanced replacement so they send you a new board first).If you want to run 2 GPUs though, the Asrock Z68/P67 Extreme Gen3 series is far superior for $130-155.
Metaluna - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
And that 7-8% performance hit will be on only one of the two GPUs, so it will be even less significant to the overall graphics performance. And, if you put the lower-performing GPU in that slot, the impact is even lower.People really get way too hung up on abstract specs like PCIe lanes without taking time to evaluate what they actually mean in the real world.
gramboh - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
This board can be found for about $135CAD right now, really cheap compared to higher end P67/Z68 boards which are $180-220ish.Thanks for posting this, I was interested to see that it could hit 4.7+ GHz overclock.
Blaster1618 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
I am so tired of LGA-1155 being portrayed as an "Enthusiast Board"-Dual-channel memory.
-Narrow PCI Bus.
-Virtually fixed core clock.
-and the stake to the heart....on board graphics.
Wait...wait LGA-2011 and i7 3-series will spice up the M-board review business.
zero2dash - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Troll much?Onboard graphics has no performance penalty on a 2600K (let alone a 2500K) so throw that piss poor reason out the window.
Narrow PCI bus? Yes, because that's clearly dragging SB systems through the mud. So is the dual channel memory.
Fixed core clock? Who gives a crap? Yeah, because a locked core clock with an unlocked multiplier is a worse option than an unlocked core clock and a limited amount of multiplier options.
Have fun paying for those quad channel ram kits.
A5 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
A) Memory bandwidth has very little discernible effect on non-benchmark applications. Modern CPUs are so good at cache management that there is almost 0 reason to chase memory bandwidth. Ironically, the 1156 CPUs probably need the bandwidth more (due to the onboard graphics) than the 2011 CPUs will.B) If you need more than two PCI-e x8 slots, then you're the kind of person who will drop the cash on LGA-2011 anyway. This is a legit knock against P67 and Z68, but it also only affects the hardcore enthusiasts, the top 1% of the top 1% who are running 3 or 4 GPUs.
C) LGA-2011 is going to have fixed clocks too. With multipliers unlocked, this is kind of a moot point anyway.
D) Considering P67 doesn't even allow you to use the onboard graphics, I don't see how this is a valid complaint.
I think P67 is a perfectly acceptable "enthusiast" product, and honestly I'd be surprised if there is an LGA-2011 version of Ivy Bridge outside of the server space.
RussianSensation - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
You should leave him alone :)He is probably going to future-proof his LGA-2011 setup with 32GB (4x8GB) for $1200:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
....because 32GBs in Quad-Channel LGA2011 Pawwwwwwwns all!
Blaster1618 - Saturday, September 10, 2011 - link
Not Hating... but I figured as soon as the Z series board was out, the H&P series boards would drop, rightfully so, in the bargain bin.I obvious to me that the 2nd generation i7 have an internal memory architecture limitation. (ie they were not designed for enthusiasts) Cut and paste old North Bridge architecture on the die. The bandwidth(bitwidth) of the internal communication 3rd generation chips is nearly twice the 2nd generation and it has 20 Gbit DMI 2.0.
If you don't believe bandwidth matters, I have a bin full old 64 bit Geforce cards for sale. I play games on my X-box, My computers for Solid modeling and Finite element analysis and surfing pron.
I was under the understanding the issues with the base clock adjust-ability were issues with the on board GPU's sensitivity to frequency. I am hoping the base clock on the I7 3820 will have 30-40% overclock like the LGA1366 or my old E6600.
At <$300 the i7 3820 should be quite a deal ps my business picks up the $1,200 for the 32 GB of Corsair XMS.
RussianSensation - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
2500k - $220This board - $135
vs. i7-990X
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-...
Care to explain how a $355 mobo+cpu setup trades blows with an overclocked $999 i7 CPU on "enthusiast" LGA1366?
I hope you enjoy your $300 LGA2011 Motherboard + $500-1000 CPU for 1 quarter until IVB launches and obsoletes LGA2011 for anyone but workstation users.
Etern205 - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
pfff....Yep, have fun waiting for that Ivy Bridge of yours....
http://vr-zone.com/articles/the-upgrade-path-to-iv...
CharonPDX - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
If you've used any Intel Desktop Board in the past three years, you've used a UEFI-based configuration utility. It's just one designed to look like an old fashioned 'BIOS' screen. (P.S., technically it hasn't been a "BIOS" in a while, it's been a configuration utility.)Concillian - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
So why is the P8P67 consuming 20 more watts at idle than the P8P67 Pro in it's review?Shouldn't the less featured board be using less power?
Mumrik - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
I looked around for a relatively cheap motherboard with 8+ SATA ports for a 2500k and this board was by far the cheapest. Reading up in forums (especially at the [H] where Asus is active) and at Newegg I got the impression that there was an unusual amount of problems with the generation of Asus boards, so I chickened out and picked up an Asrock instead.pc_void - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
I'm in the middle of rma with a different Asus board atm that has to be counted by [gasp] months.zero2dash - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
[shrugs]I bought mine despite all those NewEgg reviews and [H] negativity (although that's primarily towards the Pro) and I've had 0 problems with mine.
Very happily running @ 4.6 with 16GB of ram (ie all dimm slots populated). No problems whatsoever.
Pick a board, there's always a problem here or there, it doesn't matter who the manufacturer is.
re: Asrock - I had an Asrock X58 Extreme die after Folding@home 24/7 for 2 months; after RMA'ing it I bought a Gigabyte and sold the Asrock. First and last time I'll buy an Asrock board.
pc_void - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Btw, Asrock boards are also made where Asus boards are made @ Foxconn - that says quite a lot right there.faizoff - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
I have the Pro version of this board which I got for around $140 on a very short and quick sale on Amazon. Having owned this board for more than 5 months now I'm really enjoying it's overclocking performance. At first the board wasn't stable and I guess I tried to do too many things before letting it settle in. I remember many sites, when SB came out, most of the ASUS versions. At the time of my build I initially bought a Gigabyte UD3 board which turned out to be a decent overclocker. I regretted at that time for not getting an Asus board that had glowing reviews and ridiculous overclocking stories.After the board recall, I took that opportunity to turn the Gigabyte board in and switch to an Asus one. I think something may have gone amiss with the B3 stepping version of many P67 boards. I first got the Deluxe version and had to RMA that. From the getgo it would crash and hang, just when going through BIOS options.
Getting this board at first also wasnt smooth sailing. After managing to find a stable mini OC at around 4.0 Ghz, I have now OC'd it to 4.5 while maintaining the same temperatures on Hyper 212+ cooling (mid 30s C at idle and mid 50s C on load) and core voltage at max of 1.384 V.
I'm very happy with the board at the moment 5 months on and hope that it continues this way. I certainly hope to keep this computer for another 4-5 years at least. I went from a system with 2.0 Ghz E4400, 1.5 GB DDR, 128 MB Radeon 9600 XT AGP 8x, 15" monitor @ 1024 x 768 that still works 4 years later.
Upgraded to
Intel i5 2500k OC 4.5 Ghz
G. Skills Ripjaw series 8 GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM
Asus P8P67 Pro
Crucial 64GB C300 SSD
XFX 6870 1 GB Radeon HD
Asus 23" monitor @ 1920x1080
Rosewill 630w Single +12 V rail
Corsair 600T case (In the process)
gramboh - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
Man, that is a serious upgrade, I took pleasure reading your post thinking how awesome it must have been to power that new machine up for so long, must have been mind blowing how much faster it was, especially upgrading from a low res monitor to that, lol.Ratman6161 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Its pretty well known that increasing bclk doesn't work well with socket 1155. With my Asrock Z68 Pro 3 and 2600K, ANY increase in bclk makes the system unstable. Lucky I have those multipliers to play with.With your max overclock you say: "I was able to successfully boot up at 46x103 which gave me a final clock speed of 4738MHz. The system was nowhere near stable but it would get into Windows and run a few tests before crashing."
I bet if you had backed it off to 46x100 = 4600 you might have gotten it stable and the extra 138 Mhz are rather meaningless anyway. Just a thought.
cactusdog - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
I have to agree with the guy about the reviews on here lately... too many smartphone reviews and random stuff most of us arent interested in.jecs - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
I have this MOBO since day 0 as it was almost the only ASUS option in CompuUSA back in January 8.I am using a 2600K with this and I've been very happy with the performance and stability. Basically 0 fails. Also 98% of the time this machine is isolated from the internet with very specific software and system updates.
Ok, I read about 2 previous reviews about this ASUS MOBO, but my point here is how good it is for 3D applications for the price and all you care is gaming. Great!, no complains just an observation.
Also I am using 2 graphic cards I don't care about the limit in the second card as in my case I am using an entry level Quadro 600 for pro 3D viewport applications and for the 8X I am using a 460 GTX 1GB for a few games and game engines. It works very well for me and also for a new rendering application still in beta called Octane. This is my exclusive 3D machine, but I knew very well what I was going to do with this motherboard.
jecs - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
As many of you I don't like the direction the computer industry is taking with tablets and smartphones, but I understand for the massive market a desktop PC or even a laptop is not the best option. Ouch, I hope not to see a considerable increase in prices for desktop parts in the next years.I like to think of this as a happy time of coincidence when power users benefited from the growing consumer market needs. But that ship is not with us anymore.
just4U - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
I don't really see the point of this board anymore. At $140 it's not really one of the cheaper boards out there.. and for 20-30 dollars less you can opt out for the better performing Z68. (Sure it might be MATX but even so) It doesn't really have a place in the current lineup unless they lower the price down enough to make it make it interesting.LoneWolf15 - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
I'm not trying to be sarcastic --I'm just wondering why it seems like the P67 chipset is being reviewed (in some cases, even hyped) by tech sites and a lot of users I see in hardware forums now that the Z68 chipset is out.For almost every price tier of P67 chipset, I can find a Z68 chipset board within $10-20. The ASUS P8Z68-V is only $15 more than the $150 price of the P8P67 here, and it has more features. There are also lower-priced variants (the V-LX and V-LE) and the higher end V-Pro to round it out.
I'm just confused as to why the P67 chipset is relevant now that the Z68 chipset is available.
faizoff - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link
I agree with others that reviewing a P67 board at this time is moot. I'd rather read reviews on the Z68 series and see what I'm missing out on. :-)But sometimes it's nice to look back on boards and see how they've fared months after release.