ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe OC Palm

Have you ever heard the term: "We don't play; we went to private school because they didn't have recess!"? The term while somewhat colloquial in origin refers to individuals and/or corporate entities that have an extremely strong and impressive work ethic that yields a profound end result. We at Benchmark Reviews have often felt that a term of this type would be analogous with computer component manufacturers such as ASUS. A perfect example of what we are talking about was the recent launch of the Intel i7 processor family coupled with motherboards utilizing the Intel X58 chipset. While some manufacturers were able to meet or in some cases even beat the launch date with a single motherboard that supported this new technology, ASUS had four similar yet different boards essentially ready for unveiling well before the launch date. Pretty impressive we'd say!

After a very extensive testing phase, Benchmark Reviews will today present its findings with regard to the ASUS P6T Deluxe X58 motherboard. Before getting into the meat of our review there are a few facts about the versions of this board that we'd like to share. The ASUS P6T Deluxe X58 motherboard actually comes in two editions: 1) The P6T Deluxe edition which includes the motherboard and a bevy of accessories; and 2) The P6T Deluxe OC Palm edition which includes all of the items from the Deluxe edition plus the OC Palm device. With the ASUS OC Palm device which is a small side monitor, you can perform overclocking functions; and monitor system temperatures and fan speeds. The OC Palm also supports the Yahoo! Widgets feature for online displays of real-time info like weather, stock prices and web-mail alerts.

We should clarify that P6T Deluxe edition and the P6T OC Palm edition were considered as one product of the four that ASUS had ready for prime time on launch day. Our review today will encompass not only the features of the P6T Deluxe but those that the OC Palm monitoring interface brings to the table.

About the company: ASUSTek Computer, Inc.

ASUS, a technology-oriented company blessed with one of the world's top R&D teams, is well known for high-quality and innovative technology. As a leading provider of 3C (computers, communications and consumer electronics) total solutions, ASUS offers a complete product portfolio to compete in the new millennium.

In 2006, the company shipped 55 million motherboards, which means one in three desktop PCs sold last year was powered by an ASUS motherboard. Our 2006 revenues reached US$16.5 billion, and is expected to garner US$23 billion in 2007.

ASUS products' top quality stems from product development. It's like learning Chinese Kung-Fu; one must begin with cultivating the "Chi" and inner strength. Besides innovating cutting-edge features, ASUS engineers also pay special attention to EMI (electromagnetic interference), thermal, acoustics and details that usually go unnoticed to achieve complete customer satisfaction. ASUS notebooks are the first TCO'99-certified notebooks worldwide. The requirements for this honor include radiation emission control, energy (battery consumption), ecology (environment friendly) and ergonomics.

To succeed in this ultra-competitive industry, great products need to be complimented by speed-to-market, cost and service. That's why all 100,000 over employees of ASUS strive for the "ASUS Way of Total Quality Management" to offer the best quality without compromising cost and time-to-market while providing maximum value to all customers through world-class services.

With unyielding commitment to innovation and quality, ASUS won 2,168 awards in 2006, meaning on average, the company received over 5 awards everyday last year. BusinessWeek ranked ASUS amongst its "InfoTech 100" for the 9th straight year. The readers of Tom's Hardware Guide, the world's largest IT website, selected ASUS as the best maker of motherboards and graphics cards. Furthermore, the company is ranked as No.1 in quality products and services by the Wall Street Journal.

ASUS P6T Deluxe Features

LGA1366 The Best Intel Bloomfield Processor Ready - This motherboard supports the latest Intel Core i7 processors in LGA1366 package which has memory controller integrated to support 3-channel (6 DIMMs) DDR3 memory. Supporting Intel(R) QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) with system bus up to 6.4GT/s and a max bandwidth of up to 25.6GB/s, the Intel Core i7 processor is one of the most powerful and energy efficient CPU in the world.

Double Speed; Double Bandwidth - This motherboard supports the latest PCIe 2.0 devices for double speed and bandwidth which enhances system performance.

SLI and CrossFireX on Demand - The P6T Deluxe Series breaks the boundaries to bring you the multi-GPU choice of either Nvidia SLI^TM or ATI CrossFireX^TM. Get ready to change your gaming style with faster frame rates!

Triple-Channel DDR3 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 - The motherboard supports DDR3 memory that features data transfer rates of 1600 (O.C.) /1333 / 1066 MHz to meet the higher bandwidth requirements of the latest 3D graphics, multimedia, and Internet applications. The triple-channel DDR3 architecture enlarges the bandwidth of your system memory to boost system performance.

ASUS TurboV - Feel the adrenaline rush of real-time OC - now a reality with the ASUS TurboV. This extreme OC tool lets you set new ambitions on the OC stage with an advanced and easy-to-use interface - allowing you to overclock without exiting or rebooting the OS. With micro adjustments of the CPU PLL, NB, NB-PCIe, and DRAM voltages in 0.02v intervals, there are no limits - only extreme results to break new OC records!

ASUS True 16+2 Phase Power Design - The groundbreaking 16+2 phase VRM design is brought to the ASUS motherboards. 16+2 phase power design, 16-phase for vCore and extra 2-phase for QPI/Memory controller inside CPU, can provide the highest power efficiency, and hence generates less heat to effectively enhance the overclocking capability. With the high quality power components such as low RDS (on) MOSFETs, Ferrite core chokes with lower hysteresis loss and 100% Japan-made high quality conductive polymer capacitors, ASUS 16+2 phase VRM design also ensure longer component life and minimum power loss.

ASUS Express Gate SSD - Taking only 5 seconds to go online from bootup, Express Gate is the one-stop gateway to instant fun! It´s a unique motherboard built-in OS. You can utilize the most popular Instant Messengers (IM) like MSN, Skype, Google talk, QQ, and Yahoo! Messenger to keep in touch with friends, or quickly check on the weather and e-mails just before leaving your house. What´s more, the user-friendly picture manager lets you view your pictures without entering Windows at anytime!

ASUS EPU - The ASUS EPU providing total system power savings by detecting current PC loadings and intelligently moderating power in real-time. It automatically provides the most appropriate power usage for the CPU, VGA card, memory, chipset, hard drives, and system fan- helping save power and money!

AI Nap - With AI Nap, users can instantly snooze your PC without terminating the tasks. System will continue operating at minimum power and noise when user is temporarily away. It keeps downloading files or running applications in quietest state while you´re sleeping. Simply click keyboard or mouse, you can swiftly wake up the system in few seconds.

Wind-Flow Thermal Design - Enjoy a super cool and quiet PC environment with the innovative Wind Flow Thermal Design. With specifically-engineered copper pipes, this thermal design effectively manages the airflow of the CPU fan and directs system heat away from the PC - resulting in efficient heat dissipation to lower overall system temperature and prolong system lifespans.

Stack Cool 2 - Stack Cool 2 is a fanless cooling solution offered exclusively by ASUS. It effectively and noiselessly transfers heat generated by the critical components to the other side of the specially designed PCB (printed circuit board) for effective heat dissipation - making temperatures cooler by up to 20°C.

Fan Xpert - ASUS Fan Xpert intelligently allows users to adjust both the CPU and chassis fan speed according to different ambient temperature , which is caused by different climate conditions in different geographic regions and system loading.Built-in variety of useful profiles offer flexible controls of fan speed to achieve a quiet and cool environment.

Noise Filtering - This feature detects repetitive and stationary noises like computer fans, air conditioners, and other background noises then eliminates it in the incoming audio stream while recording.

Q- Shield - The specially designed ASUS Q-Shield does without the usual "fingers" - making it convenient and easy to install. With better electric conductivity, it ideally protects your motherboard against static electricity and shields it against Electronic Magnetic Interference (EMI).

Q-Connector - The ASUS Q-Connector allows you to connect or disconnect chassis front panel cables in one easy step with one complete module. This unique adapter eliminates the trouble of plugging in one cable at a time, making connection quick and accurate.

EZ-Flash 2 - EZ Flash 2 is a user-friendly BIOS update utility. Simply launch this tool and update BIOS from a USB flash disk before entering the OS. You can update your BIOS only in a few clicks without preparing an additional floppy diskette or using an OS-based flash utility.

O.C. Profile - Freely share and distribute favorite overclocking settings. The motherboard features the ASUS O.C. Profile that allows users to conveniently store or load multiple BIOS settings. The BIOS settings can be stored in the CMOS or a separate file, giving users freedom to share and distribute their favorite overclocking settings.

SAS Onboard - SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) is a workstation-level storage solution, which is faster than traditional SATA drive and with the server-level data reliability. Backward-compatible with SATA devices, onboard SAS ports can be both flexible and future proofed.

SATA on the Go - The motherboard supports the next-generation hard drives based on the Serial ATA (SATA) 3Gb/s storage specification, delivering enhanced scalability and doubling the bus bandwidth for high-speed data retrieval and saves. The external SATA port located at the back I/O provides smart setup and hot-plug functions. Easily backup photos, videos and other entertainment contents on external devices.

Dual Gigabit LAN - The integrated dual Gigabit LAN design allows a PC to serve as a network gateway for managing traffic between two separate networks. This capability ensures rapid transfer of data from WAN to LAN without any added arbitration or latency.

IEEE 1394a interface - IEEE 1394a interface provides high speed digital interface for audio/video appliances such as digital television, digital video camcorders, storage peripherals & other PC portable devices.

High Definition Audio - The onboard 8-channel HD audio (High Definition Audio, previously codenamed Azalia) CODEC enables high-quality 192KHz/24-bit audio output, jack-sensing feature, retasking functions and multi-streaming technology that simultaneously sends different audio streams to different destinations. You can now talk to your partners on the headphone while playing a multi-channel network games. All of these are done on one computer.

S/PDIF-out on Back I/O Port -This motherboard provides convenient connectivity to external home theater audio systems via coaxial and optical S/PDIF-out (SONY-PHILIPS Digital Interface) jacks. It allows to transfer digital audio without converting to analog format and keeps the best signal quality.

The motherboard and its packaging comply with the European Union´s Restriction on the use of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). This is in line with the ASUS vision of creating environment-friendly and recyclable products and packaging to safeguard consumers´ health while minimizing the impact on the environment.

ASUS P6T Deluxe Specifications

Fulfilling demand for users that require a motherboard able to achieve extraordinary overclocking capability, ASUS, world-leader in motherboard production, has unveiled the new ASUS P6T DELUXE amid high user expectation. This innovative motherboard utilizes Intel's latest platform, and features the exclusive ASUS Super Hybrid Engine concept that encompasses the TurboV and EPU technologies to deliver the twofold benefits of overclocking and power efficiency. TurboV is an advanced overclocking application that enables easy overclocking without the need to exit or reboot the operating system; while the EPU automatically provides users exceptional power efficiency. Equipped with Super Hybrid Engine, users will enjoy the best overclocking environment and address environmental concerns at the same time.

Closer Look: P6T Deluxe Part 1

As evidence by the long list of features and specifications include on the last two pages ASUS brings an almost unbelievable number of features to the table with the ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe. My review experience has shown that in some cases this can be a dual edged sword in that some of the features either conflict or haven't reached a level of maturity where they perform as advertised. My experience in reviewing ASUS motherboards boards has shown the number of problems of this type to be very limited, especially over the last three year time span.

A look at the area immediately adjacent to the 1366-pin LGA slot reveals the 16+2 phase power design. There is a 16-phase power system for vCore and extra 2-phase for the QPI/Memory controller inside the CPU. ASUS uses high quality power components such as low RDS (on) MOSFETs, Ferrite core chokes with lower hysteresis loss and 100% Japan-made high quality conductive polymer capacitors, ASUS 16+2 phase VRM design also ensure longer component life and minimum power loss.

The ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe provides a full six memory slots that allow for a maximum capacity of 12 GB of DDR3 at full performance potential. Other manufacturers such as Intel opted to only include four memory slots. In these boards the full memory performance potential is only achieved with the primary three slots filled. The forth slot allows you to add an additional 2GB of DRAM, but that module is only accessed at single-channel performance rate, decreasing performance of that module by 66.66%. As you can see in the image below the memory slots are colored coded orange and black. If your are only using three sticks of DDR3 we found it best to populate the orange slots.

The ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe uses the Intel ICH10R south bridge chip. The ICH10R supports 6 SATA2, 300 MB ports as well as Intel Matrix Storage Technology support for RAID 0, 1, 10 and 5. A Marvell 88SE6111 provides and controls one UltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices and one External SATA 3Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go). Also on board the ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe is a Marvell 88SE6320 chip which provides support for 2 x SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) devices in either RAID 0 or 1. Notice the placement of the SATA and SAS ports, they are completely functional yet out of the way so that they don't interfere when using a long graphics card such as the GTX260 used in this review.

The 1366-pin LGA socket that supports the Intel i7 Nehalem series of processors used on all X58 based motherboards is approximately 1.5 times the size if the previous 775-pin socket used with X48, X38, P35, and P45 based motherboards. The socket operates in the same manner as with the Core 2 Duo series of processors but provides one distinct advantage; the only protruding pins are located in the center of processor's core making it much less likely to bend a pin on installation.

The ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe is equipped with one PCIE x4 slot, two PCIE 2.0 x16 slots and two PCI slots. (See image and configurations below)

Closer Look: P6T Deluxe Part 2

The ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition utilizes essentially the same stalwart packaging that debuted with the Blitz series of motherboards. The package is constructed to protect your valuable cargo from any extracurricular activities the guys in the big trucks may decide to put it through. The packaging is stalwart and consists of separate inner containers for both the motherboard and the accessories.

The rear panel I/O panel provide the following connectors:

1. PS/2 keyboard or mouse combo port
2. Coaxial S/PDIF Out port
3. LAN 2 RJ45 port
4. USB 2.0 ports 7 and 8
5. LAN 1 RJ45 port
6. Center/Subwoofer port (orange)
7. Rear Speaker Out port (black)
8. Line In port (light blue)
9. Line Out port (lime)
10. Microphone port (pink)
11. Side Speaker Out port (gray)
12. USB 2.0 ports 1 and 2
13. External SATA port
14. IEEE 1394a port
15. USB 2.0 ports 3 and 4
16. Optical SP/DIF Out port
17. USB 2.0 ports 5 and 6

As we have stated before in our previous motherboard reviews the amount of accessories included with most of the new motherboards on today's market is nothing shy of phenomenal! ASUS goes well beyond this point with their newest series of boards! Take a gander at what they package with the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition:

• OC Palm
• 1 x USB Cable for OC Palm
• UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
• 6 x Serial ATA cables
• 1 x 2-port Serial ATA power cable
• ASUS Q-Shield
• User's manual
• 2 in 1 Q-connector
• 1 x 2-port USB2.0 + 1-port IEEE1394 module
• 1 x Optional Fans for Water-Cooling or Passive-Cooling
• 2 x Screw pillar
• Support Disc
  • Utilities
  • ASUS PC Probe II
  • ASUS AI Suite
  • ASUS Update
  • EPU 6 Power Conservation Utility
  • OC Palm Driver
  • TurboV Overclocking Utility
  • ASUS Express Gate SSD

OC Palm Monitoring Device

ASUS OC Palm

The ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition includes the OC Palm Monitor which is both a display and an interface with certain ASUS utilities installed on your system. It connects to your computer by means of a USB cable supplied with the OC PALM and establishes a rudimentary interface between the two. You use the arrow buttons on the left to navigate and change options then use the return and enter buttons on the right of the screen to activate the or return from the chosen option. In the initial screen we see first of three categorical options available to us: TurboV.

The TurboV option requires the TurboV overclocking utility from the Utility Disk be installed. While only just a few overclocking options are available they are important ones that you are very likely to tweak in while finding your rig's best overclock. We activated the utility by clicking the enter key which is the lower key on the right of the screen. Four parameters are then displayed for the user to either monitor or change.

To change a parameter use the up or down arrows to highlight it and then press the enter key. You then may use the up or down arrows to change that parameter and the return key to confirm the change. You will be asked by the utility software if you are sure the change is in order and you can either confirm it with the enter key and the parameter will be changed or click the return key to deny the change.

The next of the categories is the Hardware Monitor which when selected gives you the option of monitoring several aspects of your system's hardware.

You use the same technique with the Hardware monitor as you used with the TurboV category, simply highlight the area you want to monitor and click the enter key. You must have the latest version of PC Probe II installed for the Hardware Monitor to work. We found this out the hard way as the version included on the ASUS Utility Disk was a slightly older version and the Hardware Monitor failed to operate with it. We got the latest version from the ASUS FTP site and all was well. Here's a look at the temperature:

Then Voltage:

Finally Fan Speed:

The final category which we chose not to test is the ability to run Yahoo! Widgets. With the proper Widgets installed you can monitor everything from the weather to how well your stocks are doing, which in this day and time might not be to your liking.

The OC Palm device has quite a bit of potential and we can see devices of this type becoming much more widespread in the enthusiast community especially once they are able to change more of your system's settings. The ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe is available either with or without the OC Palm Monitor, choosing the motherboard edition that includes the OC Palm will add about $30 to the cost of the board. Depending on your perspective this may or may not be a wise investment, but we truly liked the ability to have a monitor of this type giving you immediate feedback regarding your system's current state.

ASUS Express Gate SSD

Express Gate SSD is ASUS's own tailored version of DesktopVM's Splashtop software a small Linux based operating environment that is contained on a 512 MB flash drive on the ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe. My first encounter with Express Gate was in a review I did at another site on the ASUS P5E3 Premium. The product debuted with this motherboard and ASUS has seen fit to include it with all their enthusiast level motherboards released since that time.

The Express Gate concept really peaked my interest when I first saw it, but at that time it was in its infancy and was literally read only. I thought then that having the ability to download a necessary driver or utility to help resolve a catastrophic problem would really be cool, especially if you only have one system. Since that time that issue has been remedied as you can now download to any attached external USB drive. Express Gate literally boots in just over 5 seconds and puts you on line with a FoxFire based browser. ASUS has added online games, chat, Skype, and a photo editor to the mix. Express Gate SSD is controlled in the system BIOS where it can be activated or deactivated at will.

The on-line games are what I would call very rudimentary, but certainly good enough to kill an hour here and there.

The photo editor is no Photo Shop and the term editor may be stretching it a bit, it is more likely to be classed as a photo viewer with very basic editing capabilities.

All in all Express Gate SSD can be a life saver, especially if you have a broken system and need help from a forum or a special utility to fix a major problem. The concept of having a secondary operating system on board for emergencies or just for a quick look at something on the web is a novel idea and one that we like a lot. We expect to see Express Gate grow and proper with ASUS at the helm.

ASUS TurboV

The ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard adopts the usage of TurboV-an advanced overclocking tool that utilizes a micro-controller to provide precise overclocking adjustments, and allow users to conveniently adjust the CPU ratio (multiplier) for instant CPU upgrades for real-time performance enhancements. TurboV can also provide adjustments to the NB voltage, NB-PCIe voltage, CPU PLL voltage and DRAM voltage in 0.02V micro-intervals. These precise overclocking options make it easier for hardcore users to fine-tune their overclocking settings and strive for enhanced results with reduced failure rates. TurboV is able to do all of this on-the-fly without exiting the operating system or rebooting.

While there are a number of overclocking utilities available that function in a similar manner to TurboV, it is by far the most comprehensive product of its type that we have seen to date. Probably the only complaint we have with the version that we tested was that the section that allows you to adjust the CPU ratios would not allow you to adjust each core separately. In the same vein the lowest the utility would allow you to take the multiplier was stock multiplier your processor is equipped with, this was a bit frustrating when using the completely unlocked Intel i7-965. As with any utility of this type you can push to far to fast and cause your computer to blue-screen.

ASUS EPU-6 Engine and AI Suite

Power conservation appears to be a current mission for the vast majority of motherboard manufacturers, and with good reason. It is our opinion that the trend over the last year of having to buy huge, and in most cases extremely expensive power supplies to make your system perform up to its peak is not the direction we need to be headed in. ASUS has made a commitment to help keep power demand low on your system when you don't need peak performance and for most users that would average between 70% - 80% of the time.

In lieu of the current trend towards power efficiency, the ASUS P6T Deluxe also utilizes the ASUS exclusive EPU technology. This hardware-based feature controls 6 major components: the CPU, VGA card, memory, chipset, hard drives, and the CPU cooler/system fan. Equipped with a database containing all of the Intel CPU profiles, the EPU intelligently identifies and selects the correct CPU profile and calibrates the best possible settings to ensure the best power management.

In terms of the Chipset and Memory, the EPU provides enhanced power efficiency - improving thermal capabilities, enhances system stability to provide longer component lifespan and higher overclocking capability. As for VGA cards, the EPU automatically detects system loading and adjusts the VGA card's voltage and frequency-saving up to 37%** VGA power during everyday computing. With monitoring of the hard disk and fans, power wastage is reduced during periods of idling data access-helping to minimize hard drive and fan noise for quieter acoustics.

The ASUS EPU-6 controller software is easy to install and for full functionality it also requires the installation of the ASUS AI utility. The EPU-6 Engine has four modes of operation: Turbo, Normal, Medium Power Savings, and Maximum Power Savings. As the image above shows each of the modes of operation of quite configurable, from highly overclocked in Turbo Mode to significantly downclocked in maximum power save mode. All major settings in the system BIOS must be set to the AUTO mode for the EPU-6 engine to function properly. The chart below reflects the user options available in each mode of operation.

The image below shows the EPU-6 Engine working in full cooperation with the AI Suite of software. The AI software can be thought of as a central hub for controlling many of the extra features the ASUS P6T Deluxe brings to the table.

We had a huge amount of features and functions to test with the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition motherboard. We could not leave this feature without running a simple test that involves gaming, a subject near and dear to the hearts of our readers. We used Crysis as our test venue and first ran a series of three tests using the default settings in Turbo Mode (1% overclock), all of the game's settings were at high; no AA or AF were used. We then repeated the same series of tests using the EPU-6 engine's Maximum Power Savings mode. A comparison of the average results showed only a 5 FPS differential between the two, but a huge power savings averaging around 15%. You make the call if this feature is worthwhile. We feel the EPU-6 engine rocks and features of this type need to be utilized by the vast majority of computer users in an effort to conserve energy before the government makes it mandatory and we no longer have the choice.

ASUS P6T Deluxe BIOS Part 1

The BIOS framework for the ASUS P6T Deluxe X58 motherboard is per usual controlled by the American Megatrends, Inc. BIOS. The features shown in the images below are from the latest BIOS available for the P5E3 at the time we began testing, version 0904.

Main BIOS Screen

The Main BIOS screen appears to be no different than that used on any version of any ASUS BIOS that we've seen over the past year. The features here are self explanatory and we won't insult your intelligence by reviewing each of them.

AI Tweaker BIOS Screen(s)

The AI Tweaker BIOS screens include all the features relevant to the entire board's system frequency, memory, in other words all of the overclocking features are located here. It is quite large and requires several images (below) to be able to view all of the included features.

Advanced BIOS Screen(s)

The Advanced BIOS screens contain options for changing: CPU configuration, USB devices, AI Net 2, on-board devices, and Plug and Play options.

ASUS P6T Deluxe BIOS Part 2

Power BIOS Screen(s)

The Power BIOS screens allow you to change settings for advanced power management and ACPI. Probably the single most interesting feature here is the Hardware Monitor which literally monitors either the RPM, temperature, or voltage on almost every phase of your boards operation. These values can be displayed on screen using the latest version of ASUS Probe II software included with the board on the utilities disk.

Boot BIOS Screen(s)

The Boot BIOS Menu give you all of the parameters that control disk arrangement, system boot options, boot configurations, and BIOS security.

Tools BIOS Screen(s)

The Tools BIOS Menu gives you all of the parameters that special features such as: Easy Gate SSD, EZ Flash 2, configuring and saving your various OC profile, and accessing some of the network functions of AI Net 2.

Being a long time user of ASUS motherboards I have grown quite accustomed to their BIOS adjustments and locations within the BIOS framework. I find the AMI BIOS used on the majority of their boards to be the simplest yet most feature laden BIOS in existence. You can control almost every aspect of your board and it's accompanying hardware by relatively easy BIOS tweaks. Rather than providing than providing a long winded diatribe on the vast majority of the BIOS adjustments in the previous images we thought it might be helpful to present a table with the parameters and features that you would likely use. The table highlights all of the most manually adjustable features in the AI Tweaker BIOS that you can use for comparison purposes.

Testing Methodology

This is Benchmark Review's forth review/article where the Intel i7 series of processors was used. The focus in this review shifts from solely the processor to more that of the motherboard. In our other releases we strictly used the Intel DX58S0 $mackover motherboard with the only comparison being the different processors we tested. Today we'll use a single processor, the Intel i7-965 Extreme Edition and compare its performance using the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition Motherboard heads-up versus the Intel DX58S0. In our previous reviews we also compared a previous generation X48 motherboard, the ASUS P5E3 using an overclocked Intel X3350 processor to establish some semblance of comparison to then versus now. To put is mildly, the P5E3 and X3350 were completely outclassed in every arena except for gaming in which the results were a bit closer. For that reason to day we will be comparing only the two X58 motherboards using the fastest processor currently on the planet, mano-a-mano. For those extreme enthusiasts out there we also tested both motherboards using our full array of benchmarks overclocked.

Unfortunately when testing systems of this type there is not set of "grass roots" tests that will completely speak to the to the system's overall performance. It is therefore necessary to comparatively test the performance of the CPU, Memory, Hard Drive(s) and Graphical Rendering and then draw your assumptions from the results of these tests. We chose an array of benchmarking tools (captioned below) that we felt would give our readers a complete of a picture of each system's performance. Each benchmark test program begins after a system restart, and the very first result for every test will be ignored since it often only caches the test. We then ran each of the tests a minimum of three times and reported an average of each test's results.

System #1

• Motherboard: ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition
• Processor: Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition [3.20 GHz clock speed]
• Processor Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P with 1366 adapter kit
• System Memory: QIMONDA 3 x 1GB DDR3 1067 CL7 non-ECC UDIMM
• Drive: Intel High Performance SATA SSD X25-M 80GB MLC

System #2

• Motherboard: Intel Extreme Motherboard DX58SO
• Processor: Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition [3.20 GHz clock speed]
• Processor Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P with 1366 adapter kit
• System Memory: QIMONDA 3 x 1GB DDR3 1067 CL7 non-ECC UDIMM
• Drive: Intel High Performance SATA SSD X25-M 80GB MLC

Common Components

• Graphics Card: Zotac GTX 260 Amp²!
• Optical Drive: ASUS DRW-2014L1T SATA Optical Drive
• Enclosure: Lian Li PC-A7010B Black Aluminum Full-Tower ATX Case
• PSU: Thermaltake W0132 Toughpower Cable Management 1000 Watt
• Monitor: Dell 24-Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor 2407FPW
• KVM Switch: ATEN CS1782 USB 2.0 DVI KVM Switch
• Operating System: Windows Vista 32-bit Ultimate SP-1 with all current updates

Benchmark Applications

• PCMark Vantage
• 3DMark Vantage v1.01
• 3DMark06 v1.1.0
• SANDRA 2009
• SuperPi Mod 1.5XS
• EVEREST Ultimate v4.60.1500
• Cinebench R10
• World In Conflict
• Crysis v1.21 Benchmark

ASUS P6T Deluxe: Overclocking

In recent years Intel has become much more understanding that the enthusiast community has grown quite large and that raw performance ranks number one with this consumer group. For that reason Intel has softened their view significantly regarding the overclocking of their processors and motherboards. In fact with the materials provided with the Core i7 review kit Intel even included a rather in depth 22 page document entitled Intel Extreme Motherboard DX58SO ...Performance Tuning Process. This document elaborates quite freely on the best way to overclock the Core i7 family of processors. In the document Intel states that there are four multipliers on the motherboard which are used to set the system speed:

1. CPU Speed: When multiplied by the system base clock speed (default 133.33 MHz) gives the CPU frequency. Four multipliers are used to define different speeds based on the number of active CPU cores.
2. Memory Speed: When multiplied by the system base clock speed gives the memory frequency. For example a memory multiplier of 10 times the base clock of 133.33 MHz results in a memory frequency of 1333 MHz.
3. Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) Speed: Selectable transfer rate of data transferred between the CPU and the IOH.
4. Uncore Speed: This multiplier applies to the non-CPU related items in the processor. The limit on this multiplier is set by the memory multiplier.

What Intel relates in their documentation is completely accurate when it comes to their motherboard, the DX58SO. The ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe brings a much more robust BIOS to the table that offers the ability to adjust a number of features not present on the DX58SO, especially in the realm of voltage manipulation. Whether these additional features are truly necessary, we will soon see. Two features that the Intel DX58SO motherboard offers that are not present on the ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe is the ability individually manipulate each individual core's ratio and the ability to run turbo boost when the system is overclocked.

When we overclocked the DX58SO in previous reviews we left turbo boost enable and were able to comfortably run the system at 4.035 GHz. We realized at the time that due to the very nature of turbo boost we probably got a high overclocked value that we would have been able to attain with turbo boost disabled. Since the ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe does not offer turbo boost as a BIOS option when the system is overclocked we were forced to not use this feature in our overclocking exploits with the P6T. We we able to attain the same overclocked level with ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe without turbo boost as we did with the DX58SO with turbo boost enabled using a multiplier of 28 and a base clock of 144 MHz. Unfortunately, those levels were not as stable as we would have liked to see with the ASUS P6T. We were able to achieve a completely stable overclock of 3.875 GHz upping the multiplier to 29 and leaving the base clock at the stock 133 MHz speed.

It was at this point we decided to compare the two systems overclocked at their respective levels, the Intel DX58SO using turbo boost and the ASUS P6T without turbo boost. We thought the results would be quite interesting and help to either prove or disprove the merits of turbo boost.

PCMark Vantage System Tests

PCMark Vantage is the first objective hardware performance benchmark for PCs running 32 and 64 bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista. PCMark Vantage is perfectly suited for benchmarking any type of Microsoft Windows Vista PC from multimedia home entertainment systems and laptops to dedicated workstations and hi-end gaming rigs.

Regardless of whether the person benchmarking is an artist or an IT Professional, PCMark Vantage shows the user where their system soars or falls flat, and how to get the most performance possible out of their hardware. PCMark Vantage is easy enough for even the most casual enthusiast to use yet supports in-depth, professional industry grade testing.

3DMark Vantage System Tests

3DMark Vantage is a PC benchmark suite designed to test the DirectX10 performance of your graphics card. We've been making 3DMark for over 10 years, with each new edition using the latest 3D technology to determine real-world performance.

A 3DMark score is an overall measure of your system's 3D gaming capabilities, based on comprehensive real-time 3D graphics and processor tests. By comparing your score with those submitted by millions of other gamers you can see how your gaming rig performs, making it easier to choose the most effective upgrades or finding other ways to optimize your system.

3DMark is widely used by the PC industry, press and media as well as individual users and gamers, for comparing performance levels between whole systems or even specific components.

3DMark06 System Tests

3DMark is a computer benchmark by Futuremark (formerly named Mad Onion) to determine the DirectX 9 performance of 3D game performance with graphics cards. 3DMark06 uses advanced real-time 3D game workloads to measure PC performance using a suite of DirectX 9 3D graphics tests, CPU tests, and 3D feature tests.

3DMark06 tests include all new HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, SM2.0 graphics tests, AI and physics driven single and multiple cores or processor CPU tests and a collection of comprehensive feature tests to reliably measure next generation gaming performance today. Some enthusiasts may note that Benchmark Reviews does not include CPU-bound tests in our benchmark battery, and that only graphic-bound tests are included.

SANDRA 2009 System Tests

SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software. It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what's really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.

EVEREST Ultimate System Tests

EVEREST Ultimate Edition is an industry leading system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology. During system optimizations and tweaking it provides essential system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities to check the effects of the applied settings. CPU, FPU and memory benchmarks are available to measure the actual system performance and compare it to previous states or other systems. Furthermore, complete software, operating system and security information makes EVEREST Ultimate Edition a comprehensive system diagnostics tool that offers a total of 100 pages of information about your PC.

CINEBENCH 10 System Tests

CINEBENCH is a real-world test suite that assesses your computer's performance capabilities. MAXON CINEBENCH is based on MAXON's award-winning animation software, CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more. MAXON CINEBENCH runs several tests on your computer to measure the performance of the main processor and the graphics card under real world circumstances. The benchmark application makes use of up to 16 CPUs or CPU cores and is available for Windows (32-bit and 64-Bit) and Macintosh (PPC and Intel-based). The resulting values among different operating systems are 100% comparable and therefore very useful with regard to purchasing decision-making. It can also be used as a marketing tool for hardware vendors or simply to compare hardware among colleagues or friends.

We used the predefined benchmark included with the software and reported the rendering scores for both a single core (1 CPU) and for all four cores (All CPUs). We also ran the built in Open GL benchmark that is included with the CINEBENCH benchmarking suite.

SuperPi System Tests

Super Pi is used by many overclockers to test the performance and stability of their computers. In the overclocking community, the standard program provides a benchmark for enthusiasts to compare "world record" pi calculation times and demonstrate their overclocking abilities. The program can also be used to test the stability of a certain overclock speed. If a computer is able to calculate PI to the 32 millionth place after the decimal without mistake, it is considered to be moderately stable in terms of RAM and CPU. However, longer tests with other CPU/RAM intensive calculation programs will run for hours instead of minutes and may better stress system stability. While Super Pi is not the fastest program for calculating Pi, it remains very popular in the hardware and overclocking communities.

We ran and reported calculations for 1M, 2M, and 4M.

Crysis System Tests

Crysis uses a new graphics engine: the CryENGINE2, which is the successor to Far Cry's CryENGINE. CryENGINE2 is among the first engines to use the Direct3D 10 (DirectX10) framework of Windows Vista, but can also run using DirectX9, both on Vista and Windows XP.

Roy Taylor, Vice President of Content Relations at NVIDIA, has spoken on the subject of the engine's complexity, stating that Crysis has over a million lines of code, 1GB of texture data, and 85,000 shaders. To get the most out of modern multicore processor architectures, CPU intensive subsystems of CryENGINE 2 such as physics, networking and sound, have been re-written to support multi-threading.

Crysis offers an in-game benchmark tool, which is similar to World in Conflict. This short test does place some high amounts of stress on a graphics card, since there are so many landscape features rendered. For benchmarking purposes, Crysis can mean trouble as it places a high demand on both GPU and CPU resources. Benchmark Reviews uses the Crysis Benchmark Tool by Mad Boris to test frame rates in batches, which allows the results of many tests to be averaged.

We ran the Crysis benchmarks in DirectX9 only with all settings at high. We are reporting results at resolutions of 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200 with no anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering utilized.

World in Conflict System Tests

The latest version of Massive's proprietary Masstech engine utilizes DX10 technology and features advanced lighting and physics effects, and allows for a full 360 degree range of camera control. Massive's MassTech engine scales down to accommodate a wide range of PC specifications, if you've played a modern PC game within the last two years, you'll be able to play World in Conflict.

World in Conflict offers an in-game benchmark; which records the minimum, average, and maximum frame rates during the test. Very recently another hardware review website made the assertion that these tests are worthless, but we couldn't disagree more. When used to compare video cards which are dependant on the same driver and use the same GPU architecture, the in-game benchmark works very well and comparisons are apples-to-apples.

We ran the World in Conflict benchmarks in DirectX9 only with all settings at very high. We are reporting results at resolutions of 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200 with 4 x AA and 16 x AF utilized.

Power Consumption

To measure power we used our Seasonic Power Angel a nifty little tool that measures a variety of electrical values. We used a high-end UPS as our power source to eliminate any power spikes and to condition the current being supplied to the test systems. The Seasonic Power Angel was placed in line between the UPS and the test system to measure the power utilization in Watts. We measured the idle load after 15 minutes of totally idle activity on the desktop with no processes running that mandated additional power demand. Load was measured taking extended peak power measurements while running a variety of software applications in the background to achieve 100% load on all cores. Something to remember when looking at our load temperatures is that we are running an NVIDIA GTX based graphics card on our test rig, and they aren't power misers when loaded.

Intel X58 Final Thoughts

Benchmark Analysis

When looking at our benchmarking results we see as with any two closely matched boards some that are very close and some that are not so close. In any case the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition was the clear winner on all of the benchmarks that we ran. We were somewhat concerned initially that the lack of turbo boost on the P6T might put it at a disadvantage in the overclocking realm. Such was not the case, as it is apparent at least in this series of tests that turbo boost works quite well at stock processor speeds giving as much as 266 MHz boost in some cases to the base clock rate. In the realm of overclocking we can't be certain of how much turbo boost may have helped or hurt the Intel DX58SO, but its obvious the lesser clocked ASUS P6T Deluxe certainly was the performance winner.

Remembering that this is a review specific to the Intel Core i7-965XE we next need to look at the differences between it and its siblings. The Core i7-965XE is unquestionably faster than all of its lesser clocked kin. On all tests aside from gaming we see an average performance increase over the i7-940 of 5% - 7% and with the i7-920 that performance increase widens to the 10% - 12% range. When we compare the i7-965 overclocked to 4.035 GHz to i7-920 overclocked to 3.6 GHz we see very nice scalability on the part of both processors. Along with that scalability we see the gap between the two narrowed considerably with only a 2% - 4% performance improvement noted for the Core i7-965XE.

Other Thoughts

There is no doubt that ASUS's stellar reputation for making extremely high quality, enthusiast grade motherboards isn't in jeopardy as the P6T X58 Deluxe OC Palm Edition takes their previous generation of boards and once again improves upon them. This highly feature laden motherboard functioned flawlessly in all our testing. Given the heat output of the 130 Watt i7-965 we never saw temperatures on any aspect of the board move into a range that would raise concern.

We discussed most of the major features in detail earlier in the review and they were each very exciting and despite our earlier concerns functioned without any major issues. There are a few of the features that we have not discussed yet that are certainly worthy of mention:

• CrossFire & SLI Support - We did not have the time to test this function in this review, but rest assured that day will come. We are ecstatic to finally see an enthusiast grade board with both of thee excellent technologies on board. It's been a long time coming and we realized a long time ago that the politics would take much longer to address than the technology aspects of combining the two. This feature alone makes this motherboard a huge value for the enthusiast gamer.
• Serial Attached SCSI Onboard Support - This is another feature that we didn't have time to test, but we again see value-added benefit to this feature's addition. We say this from the perspective that this feature allows the ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe to function not only as an enthusiast's dream, but also as a high-end workstation. SAS is still somewhat in its infancy, but we don't expect that to be the case for long and truly expect to see that market along with solid state drives literally explode over the next year or so.
• Quiet Thermal Design - ASUS is no noobie when it comes to passive cooling. They have used this technology quite successfully on all their enthusiast grade boards for the last several years. The ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe uses a design that is new and slightly different from their previous generations of boards, but it is every bit as functional. A special design is used on the PCB to help increase heat dissipation and lower noise.

As you can probably tell from our word thus far we are extremely pleased with ASUS's latest offering, ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition. We remind you again that the board is available in two separate editions, the OC Palm edition which has the OC Palm monitoring device and the standard Deluxe edition which includes only the board and its accessories. If the $30.00 or so difference in price isn't a major issue to your budget we highly suggest you consider the OC Palm edition as this device's potential with software revisions is literally endless. If the OC Palm is not your cup of tea then a cheaper, equally high performing option is available.

ASUS P6T X58 Deluxe Conclusion

This review of the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition is one of the longer and most thorough reviews of a motherboard we have written. We could have probably written another ten pages and still not covered every feature and function this board has to offer. There however, comes a point where a lengthy review can have a diminishing benefit to our readers as the information can start to become convoluted and boggle the mind. For that reason we had to stop where we did, but rest assured you will hear much more from this board at Benchmark Reviews as it will become my primary motherboard for reviews until something a good deal better comes along.

Presentation although being one of the most subjective categories we judge, is no less equally important in a product's consumer appeal. The ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition has a persuasive elegance about it while still keeping much of the same popular layout as previous generations of ASUS have. The P6T Deluxe comes with every feature humanly possible and they all impressively work and coexist without any major conflict.

With regard to appearance, much of what we alluded to in the presentation category also applies here with appearance. While presentation deals more with the obvious and ostentatious appearance deals with the subtle and sublime, much of which is in the eyes of the beholder. We've always like the appearance of the ASUS enthusiast caliber motherboards and the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition is certainly no exception. The ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition motherboard and all of its components and features literally have a classy swagger to them that literally scream take me home.

The construction of the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition like all of its predecessors, rock solid. The board is constructed around 8 ply PCB and all of its components are top of the heap, so what's not to like?

In the case of the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition, it makes the fastest performing production processor currently on the planet even a bit faster than Intel's own mother board did. We feel that just about sums it up!

The ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition is currently priced at $338.99 at New Egg. While some might argue that this is too expensive, we feel that given all the features this X58 board brings to the table that it is priced at a very reasonable level. Considering that the other boards of it's caliber are priced in the same range and have in many cases less than half the features, we feel the price is actually quite good. Cost-conscious shoppers might like the standard (non-OC Palm edition) ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard more; especially when it costs significantly less.

Pros:

+ Supports both CrossFire and SLI
+ Express Gate for casual browsing and emergencies
+ Most feature laden board we've seen in some time
+ Excellent performance
+ Provides a slew of utilities that are all beneficial
+ The OC Palm is an excellent monitoring device for both hardware and overclocking
+ Given the performance and features, the price is right
+ Power saving EPU-6 engine is second to none
+ Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Onboard Support
+ Quiet thermal design keeps the board extremely cool given the demands

Cons:

- Inability to independently adjust each core's multiplier
- Turbo Boost not available when overclocking

Ratings:

• Presentation: 9.5
• Appearance: 9.5
• Construction: 9.5
• Functionality: 9.5
• Value: 9.5

Final Score: 9.5 out of 10.

Benchmark Reviews Gold Tachometer Award for Quality Recognition

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