Eight P35-DDR2 Motherboards Compared

BIOS And Overclocking

FSB settings go as high as 800 MHz, but we'd realistically expect the board to reach its maximum stable FSB figure at a far lower selection even when using a "perfect" CPU. Like its DDR3 sibling, the DDR2-suppporting P5K Deluxe doesn't allow direct selection of a memory ratio; instead it provides a list of data rates, and the BIOS attempts to select the most appropriate new ratio as the front side bus frequency is increased.

Voltage controls are more than adequate for aggressive overclocking. An exceptionally broad range of CPU core voltages allows overclocking even the oldest LGA775 processors, while fine 0.0125V increments are perfect for fine-tuning temperamental cores. Chipset voltage selections go beyond what will likely be useful for adding stability at high bus speeds, while maximum DRAM voltage slightly exceeds the tolerable limits of most high-end modules. The P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP adds Command Rate to the memory timing selection, a setting not often seen on Intel chipset boards.

Unfortunately, the tested P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP didn't reach the lofty goals set by its high BIOS limits, instead taking an E6700 normally capable of reaching 3.46 GHz to only 3.41 GHz. On the other hand, dropping the processor's multiplier to six allowed the board to reach a respectable 455 MHz FSB on this FSB-resistant early stepping core.

Accessories

The P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP accessory kit is very extensive, but its four SATA cables are two fewer than the six provided with the P5K3 version, and the P5K also doesn't include the P5K3's optional chipset cooling fan.

The Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP Edition motherboard starts at around $225 and is available through a variety of online venders.