P4P800 Deluxe

[JayWill321]

hey guys i know we been talking about the ic7 as been the best board out there. Well i just read a review on the p4p800 dx (865 chipset) and well it pretty much beats the ic7 in every benchmark

http://www17.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030521/800fsb-18.html


now im reall stumped and that was with an 800fsb cpu

[mdzcpa]

Not is all as it seems:)

It indeed appears that a few of the new 865 boards have some serious punch at stock speeds. This is for a number of reasons. First you have the MSI Neo 865 board which automatically overclocks (http://www17.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030521/800fsb-06.html) without telling the users. And now it seems something is askew with the Asus P4P800.

OPP over at XS has been putting that board through the grinder and has made an interesting discovery. At spec speed (200mhz FSB) the board does beat all others...even all the Canterwood boards. However, at equivalent overclocked FSB and CPU speeds, the P4P800 drops back behind the Canterwood boards by about 8% (where you might expect an 865 board to be). This has led many of us to beleive the Asus is "up to something" with the P4P. Perhaps Asus has found a way to enable and validate PAT on their 865 board...but only at stock speeds.

A clue of what Asus might be up to lies in BIOS of the IC7. There lies a "Performance Enhancement" BIOS choice with the settings of Disabled, Fast, Turbo, and Ultra. All the settings work when not overclocked and it does provide a nice performance kick. (These settings are NOT memory settings which are adjusted elswhere in the BIOS). Overclocked, most users cannot go beyond the Fast setting. From this, we are thinking that these new Intel chipsets have additional adjustable timings that some motherbaords are taking advantage of.

Bottom line....we might not be seeing an apples to apples comparision from these boards. And if you plan on overclocking, the P4P800 loses it's advantge quickly.

[Skoob]

Please show me 1 article where an overclocked p4p800 falls behind a canterwood by 8%.

[Ruantic]

I believe mdzcpa is referring to something better than reviews, real world user reasults. I may be mistaken, but i've followed along on a quite large thread on the board over at xs. And asus does indeed claim pat is availavable on the board, Intel of course says no....

I'm sure mdzcpa will jump in here when he can. To be honest I doubt most folks would notice the performance difference one way or another, If your squeeking 3D marks then its a different story. Imo ALL the Sprindale/Canterwoods are so close performance wise that unless your a hardcore bencher the difference is negligable. That being the case I would say, Budget, Features, and support should dictate most purchases.....

I will add I think the IC7-G is still the best choice, may not be the all-time fastest, but i sure love mine.....

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Skoob
Please show me 1 article where an overclocked p4p800 falls behind a canterwood by 8%.

As Ruantic stated so appropriately, my comments are based on valuable actual hands on use by OPP, not some superficial review. He knows exactly what he is doing, and his conclusions are quite clear. The P4P drops behind the P4C, MSI 875 NEO, and IC7-G at equivalent overclocked FSB speeds. The P4P can reach higher FSB speeds, but even fails to catch the Canterwood boards with the higher FSB advantage.

I don't put nearly the same amount of credibility in any website review as i do with hands on use by those I personally know and trust. Even so, I'm not sure any reviewer has put those boards up head to head in an overclocked situation anyway.

OPP's results speak volumes about board choices for those who are planning to overclock the newest Intel gear.

[Skoob]

Thanks. I just wanted to know if this was real or conjured because I am trying to decide which board to go for. Unfortunately for me, most of the new canterwood boards that I like don't have dual ide raid, something the p4p800 has that I need.

Like you said, no one has comared these 2 boards overclocked side by side with the same cpu and hardware. 8% is still a great claim to make without real world benchs. Why not assume 12% or 5%?

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Skoob
Like you said, no one has comared these 2 boards overclocked side by side with the same cpu and hardware. 8% is still a great claim to make without real world benchs. Why not assume 12% or 5%?

No assumption...that is the difference OPP had in 3Dmark2001SE benchmark scores between the P4P and P4C.

To be honest, the P4P is indeed a great board. For the price it is nearly impossible to beat. It is definitely the fastest 865P board out there and has super features. I wouldn't hesistate to recommend it.

The only reason to go Canterwood is to gaurantee the absolute best in performance by today's standards. If you plan on overclocking, know that the 865 boards which scream at stock FSB speeds lose thier edge when overclocked. This has been confirmed by a number of hands on users around the net.

[Ruantic]

Opp must not have thought to much of it, its already up for sale in xs trading area....

[Skoob]

What does OPP stand for? I always love to browse new websites.

[mdzcpa]

OPP is short for Oppainter (his screen name).

Oppainter has been into overclocking for quite some time now and has become somewhat of a legend in the overclocking scene. He has moved around from site to site over the years, but he can currently be found hanging out around XS (xtremesystems). Not only do I consider him a personal friend, but also as someone who I trust 100% for concrete hads on knowledge.

He also holds the current 3DMark2001SE benchmark world record.

[JayWill321]

hey guys well i decided to go with the p4c800 dx.... ordered that and a 2.8c tonight off newegg for a total of 476... i wanted the 3.0 but couldnt bare to see myself shell out 430 for a cpu... 283 was was already a lot but these chips are sweet and i can just oc it to 3.0 anyways well ill post some pics and stuff when i get the board... should be in a couple of days

jason

[mdzcpa]

Sounds Yummy:) Keep us posted on how it goes!

[JayWill321]

hey md do u think the onboard sound is any good? I have Creative Digital 5700 5.1 system and it sounded great on the asus a7n8x dx board sound. Was wondering if it will be anygood on the P4C.

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by JayWill321
hey md do u think the onboard sound is any good? I have Creative Digital 5700 5.1 system and it sounded great on the asus a7n8x dx board sound. Was wondering if it will be anygood on the P4C.


The onboard sound will be "adequate". It is no match for the Soundstorm that comes on the NF2 boards, but it does just fine for gaming and general music listening. I use the onbaord sound on my IC7...it's great for me. However, more discerning users may want something better though.