Specs: Socket LGA775; Intel X48 Express; Max memory: 8GB (DDR3-1600); Slots: PCI-E x16 (3), PCI-E x1 (2), SATA 3Gbps (6), USB (12)
Intel’s X48 chipset has been a bit of an enigma in the industry since its launch, which definitely could be described as “under the radar.” As a follow-on to Intel’s X38 chipset that ushered the first PCI-E 2.0 motherboards, analysts and industry insiders didn't know what to make of the new high-end chipset. After all, according to Intel, the only major addition to the X38 chipset was that this new chipset would offer official support for 1,600MHz DDR3 memory and a 1,600MHz FSB. But was there more to the story?
In short, no. There isn’t much more to know about the X48 chipset beyond its ability to handle higher bus and memory speeds. The Intel X48 chipset is basically a “binned”-out screening of the X38. Think of these chips as the cream of the X38 crop, now dubbed X48. The first X48 motherboard to hit our test bench was the Asus P5E3 Premium. Asus was good enough not to play games with the model branding; the P5E3 Premium is a higher-end version of its P5E3 Deluxe X38-based board, but based on the X48 chipset. In fact, you can’t tell these two boards apart side-by-side, except for the silkscreened model numbers on their PCBs.
In addition to its two PEG slots and the ability to run AMD CrossFire graphics in dual-x16 mode, the P5E3 Premium also has a third full-length PCI-E x16 slot that will also run up to an x4 connection. There are also two more PCI-E x1 slots, two standard PCI slots, and just about every I/O option you could want, including six SATA 3Gbps ports, one UDMA port, two external eSATA ports, dual Gigabit LAN, 8-channel HD audio, optional Asus Wi-Fi AP, 12 USB ports, and two FireWire ports. Common to all Asus P5E series boards, this new premium board also comes equipped with what Asus calls an EPU (Energy Processing Unit). Essentially this is a digital voltage regulator and controller that adjusts the VRM circuit of the board from 4-phase to 8-phase, depending on load, thus improving efficiency of the array and CPU power savings features.
Speaking of loading, in our extensive testing of this board, we worked with the board's dividers (both CPU and memory) and bus speeds to see how far we could push the chipset. We were able to hit a bus speed of 528MHz, although we had to dial back our CPU multiplier to 6X so the processor remained stable. This motherboard proved itself to be one of the most stable we’ve seen in a long time under heavy overclocking loads. Asus actually reports that higher FSBs are attainable with dual core CPUs, but we were testing with a quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX9650.
The P5E3 Premium incorporates just about any setting you could want in its BIOS. In the “Extreme Tweaker” section, users can change clock frequencies and voltages for virtually every major chipset, CPU, or memory subsystem component. The CPU and PCI-E frequencies can be set in 1MHz increments. CPU multiplier and memory ratios are also adjustable. There are also numerous voltage options for the CPU, memory, chipset, and system timing PLLs. But perhaps the most interesting aspect for some will be that the BIOS lets users key in voltages and frequencies directly, without drilling down through menu options.
The P5E3’s overall performance was on par with other X38 chipset boards we’ve tested, except when we overclocked it to extremely high bus and memory speeds, where the little extra margin that the X48 brings can pay off slightly. Simply put, the P5E3 Premium takes advantage of what the new Intel X48 chipset has to offer and then some
Intel’s X48 chipset has been a bit of an enigma in the industry since its launch, which definitely could be described as “under the radar.” As a follow-on to Intel’s X38 chipset that ushered the first PCI-E 2.0 motherboards, analysts and industry insiders didn't know what to make of the new high-end chipset. After all, according to Intel, the only major addition to the X38 chipset was that this new chipset would offer official support for 1,600MHz DDR3 memory and a 1,600MHz FSB. But was there more to the story?
In short, no. There isn’t much more to know about the X48 chipset beyond its ability to handle higher bus and memory speeds. The Intel X48 chipset is basically a “binned”-out screening of the X38. Think of these chips as the cream of the X38 crop, now dubbed X48. The first X48 motherboard to hit our test bench was the Asus P5E3 Premium. Asus was good enough not to play games with the model branding; the P5E3 Premium is a higher-end version of its P5E3 Deluxe X38-based board, but based on the X48 chipset. In fact, you can’t tell these two boards apart side-by-side, except for the silkscreened model numbers on their PCBs.
In addition to its two PEG slots and the ability to run AMD CrossFire graphics in dual-x16 mode, the P5E3 Premium also has a third full-length PCI-E x16 slot that will also run up to an x4 connection. There are also two more PCI-E x1 slots, two standard PCI slots, and just about every I/O option you could want, including six SATA 3Gbps ports, one UDMA port, two external eSATA ports, dual Gigabit LAN, 8-channel HD audio, optional Asus Wi-Fi AP, 12 USB ports, and two FireWire ports. Common to all Asus P5E series boards, this new premium board also comes equipped with what Asus calls an EPU (Energy Processing Unit). Essentially this is a digital voltage regulator and controller that adjusts the VRM circuit of the board from 4-phase to 8-phase, depending on load, thus improving efficiency of the array and CPU power savings features.
Speaking of loading, in our extensive testing of this board, we worked with the board's dividers (both CPU and memory) and bus speeds to see how far we could push the chipset. We were able to hit a bus speed of 528MHz, although we had to dial back our CPU multiplier to 6X so the processor remained stable. This motherboard proved itself to be one of the most stable we’ve seen in a long time under heavy overclocking loads. Asus actually reports that higher FSBs are attainable with dual core CPUs, but we were testing with a quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX9650.
The P5E3 Premium incorporates just about any setting you could want in its BIOS. In the “Extreme Tweaker” section, users can change clock frequencies and voltages for virtually every major chipset, CPU, or memory subsystem component. The CPU and PCI-E frequencies can be set in 1MHz increments. CPU multiplier and memory ratios are also adjustable. There are also numerous voltage options for the CPU, memory, chipset, and system timing PLLs. But perhaps the most interesting aspect for some will be that the BIOS lets users key in voltages and frequencies directly, without drilling down through menu options.
The P5E3’s overall performance was on par with other X38 chipset boards we’ve tested, except when we overclocked it to extremely high bus and memory speeds, where the little extra margin that the X48 brings can pay off slightly. Simply put, the P5E3 Premium takes advantage of what the new Intel X48 chipset has to offer and then some
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