11-Way P45 Motherboard Shootout

P45R2000-WiFi Software And Accessories

ASRock includes a functional version of its OC Tuner software with the P45R2000-WiFi. Though we weren’t able to overclock nearly as far with the software utility as we could in BIOS, minor adjustments were easy to make and registered in CPU-Z as expected.

OC Tuner opens to a system health monitor and fan controls page. Notice the button marked “Off”, which can be turned “On” to launch the program automatically at every boot.

A more elaborate hardware monitor page shows vital information such as line voltage, but doesn’t report the numeric values for the buses or bridges.

CPU FSB clock and clock multiplier, plus PCI Express frequencies, are adjustable under the “Over Clocking” menu.

CPU Core and DRAM voltage are among things that can be altered in the Voltage Control menu, and the changes we made were instantly detected by CPU-Z.

In addition to ASRock’s proprietary system tuner, the company’s driver CD includes McAfee Virus Scan.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Documentation & SoftwareMotherboard Manual
WiFi User’s Guide
Motherboard Driver DVD
Hardware4x SATA Data Cable
1x 80-conductor Ultra ATA cable
1x Floppy Cable
1x I/O Panel Shield
1x S/P-DIF out to HDMI pass-through cable
1x WiFi Antenna
1x WiFi Adapter Card
1x WiFi Antenna Slot Panel
1x 4-pin to SATA power adapter

ASRock’s accessory kit looks fairly good, but because the rear panel eSATA ports require two of the included SATA cable to carry the signal across the motherboard, eSATA users will need to buy additional internal SATA cables if they want to use more than two internal drives.

ASRock is the only company we’ve seen to include a cable for connecting the motherboard’s internal S/P-DIF output to an NVIDIA graphics card’s S/P-DIF pass through port, which allows motherboard audio to be carried through the graphics card’s HDMI output without creating a mess outside the case.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
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  • nickchalk
    Where are the lower price P45 M/B ?
    Asus P5Q pro is out for €110 and P5Q deluxe for €165 the price difference is about 70$ in Greece.
    Reply
  • nihility
    51 pages... You won't be upset if I read just the last 3 pages right?
    Reply
  • Proximon
    I suppose I can get some good from having read this. Did you get paid by the word? Maybe next time you could just put together a complete features chart so that we can have some convenient comparison? You know, so someone could go to a chart and see at a glance which boards had eSATA or firewire, or 8 USB.

    Reply
  • JPForums
    I'd rather have the overabundance of information than a lack of information. Presentation could use a little refining (I.E. comparison charts and the likes), but having the relevant information available at least is a good thing.
    Reply
  • the introduction and specifics are nice, the comparision isn't. so, why don't you test with an 8500 or qx9650? 6850 are outdated... and a mobo handling a c2d doesn't mean it can handle a quad too, see P5K for example (it stinks when it comes to a q6600).
    Reply
  • Crashman
    procithe introduction and specifics are nice, the comparision isn't. so, why don't you test with an 8500 or qx9650? 6850 are outdated... and a mobo handling a c2d doesn't mean it can handle a quad too, see P5K for example (it stinks when it comes to a q6600).
    Tom's Hardware wants the performance of current articles to reflect that of recent articles, so a "standard test platform" was chosen a while ago. It will get updated, but probably not before the new socket becomes widely available.
    Reply
  • zenmaster
    I would have liked to see something such as a P35 and an X48 as controls to help analyze the P45 Performance.

    In otherwords, What is the P45 Gaining me over the older P35.
    What would I gain by going to the X48. (Or Lose)
    Reply
  • Crashman
    zenmasterI would have liked to see something such as a P35 and an X48 as controls to help analyze the P45 Performance.In otherwords, What is the P45 Gaining me over the older P35.What would I gain by going to the X48. (Or Lose)http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-p45-chipset,1961.html
    Reply
  • johnbilicki
    The first 17 pages were filled with nothing but junk from ASUS. Do us a favor: don't even bother featuring or *MENTIONING* anything for any reason from a company that refuses to RMA 200-400 dollar brand new motherboards with anything other then used and usually broken junk. It destroyed my enthusiasm for the article.
    Reply
  • dobby
    nickchalkWhere are the lower price P45 M/B ?Asus P5Q pro is out for €110 and P5Q deluxe for €165 the price difference is about 70$ in Greece.
    the p5q PRo is a p43 board, i should know i have one
    Reply