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Asus P5K3 Premium/WiFi-AP Review
[Abstract]
IntroductionMention 'black pearl' these days and you'll probably conjure up an image of a dilapidated pirate ship and a half-crazy Johnny Depp. However, a natural black pearl (as in real pearls...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
Technically speaking, the ASUS P5K3 Premium is a gimmicky upgrade to the P5K3 Deluxe. However, unlike other similarly gimmicky enthusiast products, we feel that ASUS has really done themselves proud with the board. The P5K3 Deluxe itself is already a very full featured motherboard with wireless LAN onboard and all its other features. Now after throwing in integrated memory and more cooling into the picture, it still does not feel like a heavily bloated motherboard. Perhaps it is the tight integration and engineering on ASUS' part or maybe it is because there are no 'fats' to the board, just 1.3KG of pure muscle. The features implemented are actually integral to the functionality and performance of the board and there aren't redundant stuff like large LCD panels or flashing gizmos that most users will not miss whether they are there or not.
Put all your fears aside, the P5K3 Premium does not disappoint. The quality of the build and components used to make the P5K3 Premium Black Pearl Edition are some of the best to ever make way into a motherboard. The DDR3 memory integration is extremely well done and its performance is superb. Based on every benchmark that we ran for this review, the stock settings of the Qimonda memory on the board puts the P5K3 Premium ahead of the P5K3 Deluxe that was configured with retail over-the-shelf memory modules. This shows ASUS' commitment into making the P5K3 Premium extremely competitive with current and future products.
The ASUS P5K3 Premium Black Pearl Edition is certainly an incredible motherboard, but you will have to decide if the prospect of being stuck with 2GB of memory worth it. |
In our opinion, this was a move that had to be made because of the permanent nature of integrated memory. Yes, you will not be able to upgrade your memory and that is something that cannot be helped, but 2GB can last most people till the next motherboard upgrade comes along. What can be helped though is the available bandwidth of the onboard memory. Depending on the CPU you use, the memory can scale from DDR3-1066 to beyond DDR3-1600, while maintaining pretty tight timings. ASUS made sure though that the memory chosen for the P5K3 Premium will outlast and outperform the competition for a long time coming.
Although the P5K3 Premium is not the best overclocker we've come across as far as pure FSB overclocking is concerned, its extensive BIOS package, great DDR3 overclocking performance and overall platform synergy and integration convinced us to award the P5K3 Premium with our Most Overclockable Product (M.O.P.).
There is no doubt, the ASUS P5K3 Premium Black Pearl Edition is one of the best DDR3 motherboards you can get today. This is the Lamborghini of motherboards. Of course, you can be expected to shell out major dough for it and that goes without question. We don't have an exact pricing for the P5K3 Premium right now, but if we consider the price of the ASUS P5K3 Deluxe which goes for around US$250, and a matched pair kit of 2GB DDR3-1333 memory that goes for US$380 today, that will come up to a US$630 price tag if we shopped conservatively. As the P5K3 Premium is a complete package by itself, we expect ASUS to attach a premium, which could potentially put the board near US$1000 or more. Some unconfirmed sources have listed the board's initial pricing to be US$1299! Sound ludicrous, but then again that is to be expected from a one-of-a-kind motherboard - just as with real rare black pearls.
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