Deluxe Introduction

Since 1989 ASUS has been manufacturing quality OEM (or after-market) motherboards for the PC-market. They were often the only alternative available to system builders seeking to assemble truly custom PCs. Asus has contributed as much as anyone to the birth of Overclocking, which simply couldn't have evolved without After-market boards and user-friendly BIOS. Several years ago Asus designed sand introduced System Overclocking software which allowed chnages to made to hardware thorugh the Operating system or Desktop. That feature was aptly named Proactive AI it's introduced the Art of Overclocking to the masses.



Not long after PC-Enthusiasts realized they could open their case and switch out parts, a debate arose as to which part in particular had the greatest impact on performance. For the longest time the consensus settled on the CPU; however, with the burgeoning OEM market, healthy competition fostered technological progress in every sub-sector. The graphic card became the "little darling" of tech-companies whom could only look enviously on what was effectively a monopoly among a few CPU makers. When the first truly successful OEM graphic card maker, 3DFx dissolved, its talent was distributed three ways forming Matrox, ATI and finally nVIDIA (arguably another monopoly). Gamers might argue while switching among similar model CPUs has an might have an impact on performance by virtue of speed increases, yet one's choice in they're graphics card could make or break a system. This was especially true of Intel based systems. While switching out a Pentium for a Celeron CPU will have a limited affect on performance the difference between a system utilizing on-board graphics’ (IGP) opposed to a high end graphics' card (GPU/fast DDR) would be substantial.

Of course most manufacturers will claim they're product’s contribution to the PC is essential. I've been guilty of this myself once claiming in a PSU review; "...without a PSU your PC is basically a sophisticated sandbox." Time has taught me all components have their place and removing any number of these seemingly benign parts would leave your system crippled. If; however, there is a hierarchical order among components perhaps one device more then any other approaches that pinnacle, the motherboard.

The motherboard, particularly its onboard chipset(s) are to the PC what the autonomic nervous system is to the human brain. Only the motherboard acts as translator, coordinator, accomodating and powering most internal/external devices associated with the PC. The motherboard acts as the platform for all these devices which convert analog to digital then digital to analog in their perspective input/output functions. My interest in Neurophilosophy revived my interst in PCs both as a device to run Paralell Ditributive Processing software (emulates synaptic strength ratios) and as common tool in the Nueroscience arsenal due to it's functional similarities to the human brain. Both effectively collect analog (empirical) data via peripherials, (5-senses) convert that data inot a eletrical signals and "process" that information in a binary fashion. I wonder if Asus realized the significance in using using a Neuroscience term "AI" for their AI Series (although in this case AI = Asus Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence). As we delve into the Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe based upon nVIDIA's C19 chipset. While this board has been out for the better part of a year she still has a few surprises in store.




nVIDIA SLI

When nVIDIA entered the motherboard chipset market with their nForce chipset in 2001 the evolution of the PC was forever changed. Undoubtedly NVIDIA’s experience as a graphic card maker gave them a unique perspective, Twin Bank memory architecture resulting in Dual Channel was a memory maker's dream come true. The impact on memory performance was nothing short of extraordinary and was directly responsible for Double Data Rate RAM. Another technological leap in FSB memory throughput was DASP (Dynamic Adaptive Speculative Pre-Processor) which acted as a pre-fetch expediting latency. Finally their MCP (Media Communications Processor) and APU (Audio Processor Unit) also raised the bar. In 2004 nVIDIA gave us SLI (Scalable Link Interface). While the technology and the P5ND2-SLI board have been out for sometime today’s review will reveal a few issues which were overlooked and re-test the P5ND2-SLI Deluxe as a mid-level gaming platform running Asus EN6600GT's in SLI. By now your probably familiar with how SLI works, if not the image below should help.




In the Box and Specifications

The P5ND2-SLi Deluxe arrived in perfect condition, packaged securely, with a plethora of extras.



The P5ND2 layout is conducive to easy placement and installation of cables/connectors.

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P5ND2-SLI Deluxe Specifications

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CPU Socket775 for Intel® Pentium Processor Extreme Edition / Pentium D* / Pentium 4 / Celeron CPU
Compatible with Intel® 05B/05A and 04B/04A processors
Intel® EM64T/ EIST*/Hyper-Threading Technology
* Refer to www.asus.com/support for Intel® Pentium D CPU and EIST support list
Chipset NVIDIA® nForce4™ SLI Intel® Edition
NVIDIA® MCP-04
Front Side Bus 800MHz (QDR) / 1066MHz (QDR) ~ 1600MHz (QDR)
Memory Dual channel memory architecture
4 x 240-pin DIMM sockets support max. 8GB DDR2 667/533 non-ECC memory
Support NVIDIA DASP 3.0 (dynamic adaptive speculative preprocessor) and QuickSync features
Expansion Slots 2 x PCI Express x16
- SLI mode: x8, x8
- Default (Single VGA) mode: x16, x1
2 x PCI Express x1
3 x PCI
PCI 2.2
SLI Under SLI mode: support two identical SLI-ready graphics cards
Under Default(Single VGA) mode:
- 1 x PCI Express x16 graphics card on the first slot (blue)
- 1 x PCI Express x1 card on second slot (black) ASUS EZ Selector
ASUS EZ Plug
ASUS SLI Warning LED
ASUS two-slot thermal design
ASUS PEG Link for dual PCI Express graphics cards
Storage/RAID NVIDIA® MCP-04 Southbridge supports NVRAID
- 2 x Ultra DMA 133/100/66/33
- 4 x Serial ATA 3 Gb/s
- NVRAID: RAID0, 1, 0+1, 5, and JBOD span cross Serial ATA and Parallel ATA drives
- Supports multi-RAID
- Supports up to 8 drives for RAID function
LAN Intel 82540EM Gigabit LAN controller
Audio Realtek ALC850 8-channel CODEC
Universal Audio Jack
Audio Sensing and Enumeration Technology
Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF out ports on back I/O
USB Supports up 10 USB2.0 ports
Overclocking Features Intelligent overclocking tools:
- AI NOS(Non-delay Overclocking System)
- AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner)
- ASUS PEG Link
- Automatically performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards
- ASUS CPU Lock Free
- ASUS Ai Booster Utility
Precision Tweaker:
- vDIMM: 8-step DRAM voltage control
- vCore: Adjustable CPU voltage at 0.0125V increment SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection)
- FSB tuning from 133MHz up to 400MHz at 1MHz increment
- Memory tuning from 400MHz up increment
- PCI Express frequency tuning from 100MHz up to 150MHz at 1MHz increment
Overclocking Protection:
- ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Other ASUS Special Features Fanless Design
AI NET2 network diagnosis before entering OS
CrashFree BIOS 2
Q-Fan
MyLogo2
EZ Flash
Multi-language BIOS
BIOS 4 Mb Flash ROM, AWARD BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3
Back Panel I/O Ports 1 x Parallel
1 x Optical + 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output
1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x PS/2 Mouse
2 x RJ45
4 x USB 2.0/1.1
1 x External SATA
1 x IEEE1394
8-Channel Audio I/O
Internal I/O Connectors 1 x SLI selector card connector
3 x USB connectors supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports
1 x COM connector
1 x GAME/MIDI connector
CPU Fan / 2x Chassis Fan/ Power Fan connectors
Front panel audio connector
Chassis Intrusion connector
CD / AUX audio in
24-pin ATX Power connector
4-pin ATX 12V Power connector
4-pin EZ Plug power connector
Support CD Drivers
ASUS PC Probe 2
ASUS Update
ASUS AI Booster
NVIDIA RAID
Anti-virus software (OEM version)
Accessories 1 x SLI connector
1 x SLI retention bracket
2 x SATA cables
SATA power cables for 2 devices
1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
1 x IDE cable
1 x FDD cable
1 x I/O Shield
User's manual
Form Factor ATX Form Factor, 12" x 9.6" (30.5cm x 24.5cm)

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Taking a closer look at the hardware ->

Memory speed woes

Reviewers praised the C19 based Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe although these same sentiments weren't echoed within the Overclocking and PC-Enthusiast forums concerning any C19 based motherboard. Initially I found a marked difference between memory settings made in BIOS and memory speeds as indicated by OEM monitoring/benchmarking utilities. One of the first things I do when testing a product is to verify settings made in the BIOS using widely accepted utilities such as CPU-Z, SiSoftware Sandra and Lavalys Everest Home Edition. In each case memory speeds were displayed at 1/2 the frequency (or data rate) set in the BIOS. This in conjunction with some truly extraordinary memory dividers had me jumping up and down to hit the reset button like a three-legged dog in a flea scratching contest. The screenshot below exemplifies what I was seeing.



Note the CPU-Z crop on the left indicates an 8:5 divider and a memory speed of 168.8MHz. On the right running Sandra Memory Bandwidth benchmark resulted in a 6754MB/s score. However looking down to the chipset/FSB/memory specs the FSB is accurate at 4x 270MHz (1080Mhz data rate), yet the memory speed below at 2x 168MHz (336MHz data rate) belies the score above. To exemplify this issue is in fact related to the software utilities mentioned above and not Asus C19 boards in particular I've provided a screenshot using Gigabyte's GA-8N-SLI Royal motherboard and CPU-Z.



It seems Gigabyte designers have got it right as Easy Tune 5 reads the memory frequency correctly. Regardless of the board used CPU-Z seems to struggle with the C19, misreading memory frequency by exactly 1/2 (multiply x4 for the actual memory speed). The divider on the nVIDIA SLI chipset is not manually adjustable (at least in usual manner) instead it changes in relation to the FSB, in this case 225FSb or 900MHz (QDR). The Sandra result above at 5332MB/s while running the same CPU and Corsair 5400UL memory is due to a lower FSB speed and higher CAS Latencies.

I've brought attention to these issues for several reasons. I was troubled to discover prior to my Corsair 5400UL article I was unable to find any mention of this after reading just about every Review pertaining to memory tested on C19 chipset based boards and/or reviews pertaining to C19 boards. I wanted to assure any P5ND2-SLI owners or anyone having purchased a C19 based motherboard they need not be overly concerned with CPU-Z or Sandra "misreading" memory speeds. Simply multiplying (x2 or x4) will give the correct frequency. The authors of CPU-Z and Sandra contacted me immediately after my Corsair 5400UL review and are currently re-testing to resolve the issue. nVIDIA's cooperation would be appreciated.


C19 thermal characteristics



This chipset runs hot, I measured almost 50*C placing a thermal-sensor on the heatsink base! I was surprised to see a passive heatsink on the North Bridge perform as well as it did. Despite the width of this passive beast which belies the C19 chipset's size, the C19 is no larger then Intel's 925XE North Bridge.



The architecture beneath the surface is where Intel and nVIDIA are markedly different. In the computer industry connotations of "size matters" are juxtaposed.



The PCI slots supporting SLI functions are labeled PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX16_2, PCIEX16_1 is a true 16X throughput, but only in single card mode. In single card mode two cards can be used, however PCIEX16_1 will run at 16X while PCIEX_2 will run at 1X. In SLI mode each slot operates at 8X. Utilizing both slots in Multi-Monitor, RAID or LAN card mode PCIEX16_1 runs at 8X and PCIEX16_2 can run at 8x, 4x, 2x, or 1x depending on the card in that slot. In SLI mode an additional Molex must be fed into the board just above PCIEX16_1.



To enable or disable SLI mode Asus EZ Select card must be installed in one of two positions. At the base of the card two small clips must be spread outward releasing the card. Juxtaposing and re-inserting the card based on edge label will determine Single Video Card or Dual Video Card as seen below.



Regardless of card type a red LED located adjacent to the SLI Molex will illuminate if the end-user overlooks connecting an additional molex when in SLI mode. I tested this feature with Gigabyte 6800GT's and Asus EN6600GT's in both cases the light would illuminate (in standby prior to power-up) if the molex were un-plugged.



Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe accommodates Intel Socket-775 architecture, which includes Pentium Extreme Edition, Pentium D, Pentium 4 and Celeron CPUs. The board also supports EM64T, EIST, and Hyper-Threading.



From this angle the capacitance (storage) surrounding the socket indicates nVIDIA was sure to provide plenty of storage for the power hungry Prescott. While the board can accommodate a more efficient Celeron, peak power must be considered.



The P5ND2-SLI Deluxe accommodates up to 8GB of non-ECC DDR2 from DDR2-533 to DDR2-667/800. A small inconvenience is the slots are difficult to access using larger nVIDIA graphic cards. The ATX power connector placement is also visible below as well as the floppy and primary IDE at the very bottom of the photo.



Storage: personally I tend to minimize storage because it's not as "sexy" as the overclockable devices. That is, until I'm waiting for a file to open. Regardless of ones RAM compliment, most files/programs must first be retrieved from your HDD, even DASP can't predict what program you'll use next. The ITE IT8712F-A is responsible for legacy "Super I/0" and can also serve to monitor HW (temp, volt etc.).



Primary Serial ATA storage is handled by the nVIDIA nForce South Bridge itself; MCP-04 can accommodate 2x Ultra DMA > 133 and 4x Serial ATA 3Gb/s as well as in RAID 0, RAID 1 RAID 0+1, RAID 5 for a total of 8 Multi RAID drives.



Additionally the P5ND2-SLI Dlx features the Silicon Image 3132 chip supporting 1x Internal and 1x External Serial-ATA 3Gb/s HDD's in RAID 0 and RAID-1



nVIDIA nForce-4 South Bridge features an Intel Edition Ggabit MAC with external PHY function shared the Marvelll Alaska 88E1111 Gigabit Ethernet transceiver (below).



In addtion the P5ND2-SLI Dlx also utilizes the Intel 8254OEM Gigabit LAN controller chip (below).



On-board sound is provided per Realtek's ALC850 an AC97' featuring four 16-bit two-channel DACs and a stereo 16-bit ADC. The chip offers 8-channel sound and all the accoutrements. It's simply amazing a chip this minute can handle all these functions? Although a far cry in quality from Burr Brown (now TI) audiophile grade DACs such as their PCM1704 24Bit /96Khz found in true high-end separates such as Wadia and Theta Digital. You haven't heard D/A conversion until you've heard Burr Brown DACs in a vacuum-tube output staged D/A converter.

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While this may seem un-important I found the P5ND2-SLi Dlx clearly labeled, for example its Front Panel connection pins which can be difficult to see unless your cable length allows connection outside of the case. A nice touch!



Finally at the heart of Asus AI Proactive software is the Winbond W83791SD H/W monitoring IC. The W83791SD features speech activation in compliance with the ASF (Alert Standard Forum who knew?).



Onto testing where we will discuss Asus AI in further detail ->

Asus has been a friend to the PC-Enthusiast and Overclocking communities, even to the extent they were admonished by Intel back in 2003 for unlocking Intel's PAT. Of the reviews on the Asus P4P800, more astute writers such as Dr. Michael Schutte of Lost Circuits Fame had un-wittingly revealed Intel’s binning process. While Springdale’s FCGBA count at 932 was less then it's sibling Canterwood (875) at 1005, it was essentially identical in architecture. As it's more costly to design and fabricate two separate North Bridge chips, many manufacturers will "bin" chips either by quality testing (those not up to 875 specs become 865) or as often happens, forced binning to ensure a budget chipset is produced. Insight into these processes are basically "Keys to the Kingdom of Overclocking."

The AI acronym in Asus overclocking software stands for Asus Intelligence Asus software was well thought out, offering a series of pre-programmed overclocking combinations which have been pre-tested for stability. Of course every CPU and brand of memory will react differently and Asus engineers have tested a long list of memory brands (ICs) prior to programming the software. When you drop down a submenu on the GUI pictured above you can choose between a percentage such as 105%, 110%...etc. or a FSB/Memory combination displayed as FSB 960/800, FSB 1280/800, FSB 1000/667, FSB 1333/667..etc. Whether you’re an Overclocker or not, the pre-programmed settings can assist you simply by exemplifying what's possible and what combinations work best (most stable). While I tested the AIBooster I prefer to overclock using the BIOS for its diversity.

Intel Test System
CPU	Pentium 630 Retail (SL7Z9 3.0GHz 2MB L2 1.25V ~ 1.388Vcore) Socket-775
Mainboards	Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe (BIOS 0605)
Memory	Corsairmicro 5400UL (2x512MB DC CL3-2-2-8)
Graphics	1.) 2x Asus EN6600GT 256MB GDDR3. 2.) AOpen Aeolus 7800GTX-DVD256 (SLI)
Power Supply	PCPower&Cooling TurboCool 850 SSI
Cooling	Alphacool 12V Cora 662 XP (passive H20-system)
Operating System	Windows XP

Testing:

Most articles will feature a plethora of tests usually including an overclocking section. As the P5ND2-SlI Deluxe has been out for sometime now, benchmarks will cover the basics, however; the entire review can be considered an endeavor in overclocking. The overclocking process was simplified thanks to Asus AIBooster and the Phoenix Award BIOS. This platform has been rock solid and running my P4 630 from 3GHz to 4GHz the system was stable under all conditions.

The Pentium 630 will be watercooled for all tests, using Alphacool CAPE KC42-X2 Copper CPU cooler with Socket-775 Lucite through mount. Our pump is the Alphacool AP1510 centrifugal 12V made by OASE, which is controlled by Alphacool DC Voltage converter which allows settings between 12V and 24V to increase/decrease cm height. Our heat exchanger is a passive design, Alphacool CAPE CORA 642 convect. MAXI (Silver) free-standing using Alphacool supplied Lucite hardware. Tubing is 10/8mm our non-conductive liquid from Midwest Cooling Technology MCT-5. Water-temps were measured using Thermaltake T-Type water temp indicator. Ambient temps, Case and other temps were measured using T.T.G.I. Digital 610 Rheostat.



Memory
Corsair Twin2X1204A-5400UL (2x512MB) was designed in cooperation with Asus to run in the nFocre-4 based P5ND2-SLI Deluxe at 675MHz at 3-2-2-8. I was able to run this memory at 3-2-2-6 and have overclocked the memory on this board as high as 850MHz. The C19's Divisor is setup to run DDR2 at 667MHz from a Default bus speed of 800FSB, therefore the base speed for this review will be 810FSB which allows the memory to be set at 675MHz.

Graphics
I decided to test this board as a midline SLI test system. Today we'll use Asus EN6600GT (256MB GDDR3) in SLI and Single card modes.


Memory Bandwidth and Latency Benchmarks
Benchmarks were run under the following system settings:
810FSB - 675MHz Memory CL3-2-2-6 SLI Mode
1066FSB - 775MHz Memory CL4-4-4-17 SLI Mode
1072FSB - 750MHz Memory CL3-2-2-8 SLI Mode

810FSB - 675MHz Memory CL3-2-2-6 Single Card Mode
1066FSB - 775Mhz Memory CL4-4-4-17 Single Card Mode
1072FSB - 750MHz Memory CL3-2-2-8 Single Card Mode

I've included CPU-Z screenshot for each series of CPU/mem speeds/Latencies maintained throughout the review. Of course there's no reason to include six CPU-Z screenshots since SLI mode has no bearing simply verifying these speeds. At no time did I have to raise the CPU Vcore or VDIMM beyond default (CPU) or manufacturer recommended (Memory).

810FSB/675Mem | 1066FSB/775Mem | 107FSB/750Mem










The P5ND2-SI Deluxe offers a truly flexible DDR2 platform. I've seen my highest DDR2 frequencies and ran tightest latencies at speed 750MHz at 3-2-2-8.

Onto Sandra CPU Multimedia, Arithmetic and PCMark benchmarks ->

Sandra Cont.







3D / Gaming Benchmarks

I've included the AOpen Aeolus 7800GTX in our 3D/Gaming benchmark section. The Aeolus will be included in the remainder of benchmarks beginning with PCMark05. The thumbnail below details the Aeolus 7800GTX core frequency at 450MHz in further detail. Memory on this card runs at 1255MHz GDDR3, the card was run in single card mode at default speeds.



The P5ND5-SLi Deluxe is after all an SLI motherboard ergo Gamers will most likely be the largest segment interested in the platform. The Asus Extreme N6600GT PCIex cards each feature 256MB of fast GDDR3. I found the cards memory compliment had a substantial (positive) impact on its performance. Finding 6600GT cards with 256MB of memory was almost impossible, Asus obviously saw the need. The fundamental architectural differences between the 6600 and 6800 differ in the amount of pipelines the latter having a full 16 activated, while the 6600 has 8. Core frequency on the 66-- is 500MHz while the 680 runs at 350MHz, with many OEM versions running at a slightly higher speed.







Discrepancies in the HardwareOC FarCry Steam benchmark may, at first glance seem ambiguous. While all the patches were installed and these benchmarks were repeated several times the results, while erratic have been repeated consistently. I've left the chart in-tact while still attempting to resolve what may or may not be a software and/or hardware issue. Undoubtedly with this much information a linear or progressive result cannot be expected based upon the latencies and CPU speeds. Results are the average of two runs at three different resolutions x3 FSB/memory combinations x3 graphic card combinations, this alone may explain "irregularities" where none might be expected.



Technical Summary

The P5ND2-SI Deluxe produced some of the best overclocking results both in CPU and memory speeds of any Socket-775 motherboard I've tested or owned to date. As a gaming platform the SLI platform offers excellent performance options, with an added versatility in the wide selection of cards the board accommodates in Single Card Mode. Also worthy of mention is Asus AI Booster, NOS overclocking and PC-Probe monitoring software which epitomize the User-friendly concept. Experienced PC-Enthusiasts and Budding Overclockers can benefit whether they choose to overclock through the phoenix BIOS, Windows, or simply use some of the pre-programmed formulas as a guideline. Insofar as memory performance nForce-4's DASP is proven; bearing no resemblance to "marcitecturing" hyperbole. The ability to run memory at 1T Command rate combined with DASP, effectively counters both the lackadaisical latencies associated with DDR2 and innate inefficiencies in Pentium-4 pipeline depths.

Pros
- Well thought out (SLI) design.
- Price drop,(since release $156 Newegg non-Deluxe version just $103 Newegg
- Excellent overclocking performance
- User-friendly overclocking/tweaking and monitoring software bundle
- Accommodates a wide selection of memory
- Excellent BIOS

Cons
- Price (could be even less)
- Active cooling on the NorthBridge would help performance


Conclusion

To be brutally honest, originally I was frustrated with this board concerned it was a lemon. This began with my inability to verify memory bus speeds accurately which, I presumed were negating memory performance. After finding this is most likely a prima facie formulaic problem with OEM software, my concerns dissipated. After investing some time and patience with this board I've had a complete reversal. The Asus P5D2-SLI Deluxe has been a pleasure to play with. Anyone on a budget but wanting SLI performance might consider the combination used in this review acquiring two Asus EN6600GT (256MB GDR3) which are just $199 Newegg each (Silencer Edition). The board is well thought out, the user manual detailed, straight forward and the board features every accouterment any Intel lover could ask for. Providing me with my best performance in every area to date, the only reason I wouldn't consider this motherboard is to purchase the new P5N32-SLI Deluxe, beyond that this would make a very nice Christmas gift for your favorite Overclocker, PC-Enthusiast or Gamer!

Question/Comments: forum thread