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Performance
We compared the performance of ASUS P4P800 on i865PE chipset with that of ASUS P4C800 on i875P chipset. This comparison will help us to estimate, how greatly ASUS managed to speed up its i865PE based solution and if it will catch up with the far more expensive i875P based board. Besides, we also included the results for Soltek SL-86SPE-L mainboard. This solution is also based on i865PE, but boasts no tricky technologies like HyperPath. That is why we will be able to estimate the performance of regular i865PE based mainboards as well.
The testbed was configured as follows:
- Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz CPU;
- Mainboards: ASUS P4P800 (BIOS version 1.08), ASUS P4Ñ800 Deluxe (BIOS version 1.07); Soltek SL-86SPE-L (BIOS version 1.0);
- 512MB (2x256MB) DDR400 SDRAM from OCZ (2-2-2-5 timings);
- ATI RADEON 9700 PRO graphics card, Catalyst 3.4 driver;
- Seagate Barracuda ATA IV 80GB HDD.
The tests were run in MS Windows XP SP1 operation system. The BIOS’s of tested mainboards were set for maximum performance.
The table below contains the results obtained by our testing participants in various applications:
| ASUS P4P800 | ASUS P4C800 | Soltek SL-86SPE-L |
Business Winstone 2002 | 33.6 | 33.6 | 32.8 |
Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2003 | 49.1 | 49 | 48.1 |
3DMark2001 SE, Default | 17293 | 17163 | 16461 |
3DMark03, Default | 5230 | 5228 | 5179 |
3DMark03, CPU Score | 739 | 736 | 695 |
PCMark2002, Memory score | 9964 | 9987 | 8429 |
Unreal Tournament 2003, dm-antalus, 1024x768x32 | 65.58 | 65.59 | 61.23 |
RTCW, Checkpoint, 1024x768x32 | 194.7 | 194.5 | 179.7 |
Splinter Cell, 1TbilisiDemo, 1024x768x32 | 47.48 | 47.43 | 47.33 |
Serious Sam 2, The Grand Cathedral, 1024x768x32 | 110.8 | 109.9 | 105 |
SiSoft Sandra 2002, RAM Buffered Bandwidth | 5021 | 5023 | 4434 |
As we see, ASUS P4P800 can compete with P4C800 (i875P) on equal terms, and even outperform it sometimes. As for the regular i865PE based mainboard, it falls pretty far behind i875P and ASUS P4P800.
This way, ASUS really managed to prove the world that i865PE chipset is not any worse than i875P, and that the users shouldn’t pay more for i875P based mainboards.
Conclusion
Well, ASUS P4P800 is a really excellent product. Its major advantage is the performance as high as that of i875P based solutions. This way, ASUS offers a very good way for hardware enthusiasts to save quite a bit of money. If they had to buy i875P based mainboards to get the maximum performance a while ago, now they can achieve the same with a considerably less expensive i865PE based solution.
Moreover, ASUS P4P800 boasts pretty rich overclocking friendly options and very high stability. The only thing that upset us about this mainboard is a really poor bundle. Otherwise, ASUS P4P800 is a great choice.
Highs:
- Performance as high as that of i875P based mainboards;
- High stability, even with 4 memory modules installed;
- Rich options for processor overclocking;
- Remarkable set of supported technologies: Q-Fan and Ai technologies;
- ICH5 South Bridge with SerialATA RAID support;
- Allows boot-up from USB-devices;
- Smart PCB design.
Lows:
- Poor bundle, there is even no bracket with the USB connectors.
