By: Jonathan Kwan
April 8, 2011
It was a dark and stormy night. It was somehow really bright, 'cause there was thy plug, with a little night light. Emitting a stream of photons, which has a 1:1 interaction with electrons [...] When my friend and I wrote this so-called poem in alternating lines back in February 2008 (As a joke in a Valentine's Day card for church fellowship, no less), we thought we were intrinsically creative and impeccably funny. You know, a matchless fusion of the art of using language and the mastering of scientific accuracy. Boys and girls -- for the boys, especially -- this is how the true meaning of art and science is derived. I can guarantee you right here and now, each and every girl who reads this will not be impressed by your nerdiness wonderful intelligence. Oh, am I starting a motherboard review introduction? In that case, we will need to exchange for a calendar that is two years older. In December 2006, it was indeed a dark and Canadian-December stormy night. It was really bright; under the illumination of a light that lit up the night. Beneath all this sits a FedEx package from ASUS' American headquarters in California, containing my first ever motherboard from the company for review. If I recall correctly, it was also the first 'workstation-class' motherboard from ASUS. And the ASUS P5W64-WS Professional was quite a motherboard to behold. The "Wall Street Quartet" -- a couple years before Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and AIG became infamous overnight -- created a new niche in the computer market for users desiring a whole different combination of performance, features, and stability. That is, much unlike characteristics of the real Wall Street Quartet we got to know later on. Fast forward to 2011 and many workstation-class motherboards later, back in our lab is the latest and greatest from ASUS. How well does the P8P67 WS Revolution live up to the legacy of its predecessors? As always, we have all the answers for you here at APH Networks. Read on to find out what we have found!
Our review unit of the ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution P67 motherboard for LGA 1155 Sandy Bridge processors came in a large, brown corrugated cardboard box from ASUS' American headquarters at Fremont, California, USA. Using FedEx International Economy, everything arrived safely to us here in Calgary safely and in excellent condition. Inside the not-so-mystery box are two other products that accompanied this workstation class motherboard; namely the more consumer and budget friendly ASUS P8P67 PRO and the mini mini mini mini... uhh sorry lost track there, the mini-ITX P8H67-I Deluxe, in which we will be covering in the next few weeks.
You know ASUS' chestnut/black colored motherboards are highly desirable among consumers when their crosstown competitor finally gave in and made it right in their latest models. Although we have learned since elementary school of why we should never judge a book by its cover, this assertion also implies the cover of the book is actually really important. ASUS knows this. So they took it a step further and completely redesigned all their retail packaging as well. Even though the box itself is still the same box at heart as it was in the last little while -- the compact and simple flap-top box is still alive and well in 2011 -- the new theme is reasonably attractive enough to stir the geek within all of us. Take a glance at our photo above. Now, imagine a hundred of these lined up wall to wall at your local computer store. Yes, that's the feeling. Kind of like a kid at a candy store? No, it has to be better than that. Grey dot matrix on black background. ASUS logo and slogan, top left corner. Model number, left center. Feature highlights, left, right, and above. Don't forget it is the new B3 revision! Still not enough? Open the front flap or flip the box around, and prepare to get your eyes busy with lots of fancy diagrams and wads of text on why the P8P67 WS Revolution is so brilliantly awesome. Okay, I am not going to waste any more of your time on the box. Before we crack in open, let's go through some specifications as obtained from the manufacturer's website, and we'll jump straight into the meat of this review.
CPU:
Intel® Socket 1155 for Intel® 2nd Generation Core™ i7 Processor/Core™ i5 Processor/Core™ i3 Processor/
LGA1155 socket for Intel® next generation server processor
Support Intel® 32nm CPU
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
* Refer to www.asus.com for Intel CPU support list
Chipset:
Intel® P67(B3) Express Chipset; Nvidia NF200*1
Memory:
4 x DIMM, Max. 32 GB, DDR3 2133(O.C.)*/1866(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
* Due to CPU behavior, DDR3 2200/2000/1800 MHz memory module will run at DDR3 2133/1866/1600 MHz frequency as default.
* Please refer to www.asus.com or user manual for Memory QVL.
Expansion Slots:
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (@ x16 or x8)
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (@ x8)
3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 (@ x1)
VGA:
CUDA support: Up to 4 NVIDIA Tesla GPUs
Multi-GPU Support:
Supports NVIDIA® Geforce 3-Way/2-Way SLI™ techonology
Supports ATI® CrossFireX™ technology, up to Quad CrossFireX™
Storage:
Intel® P67(B3) Express Chipset
- 2 xSATA 6.0 Gb/s ports (gray)
- 4 xSATA 3.0 Gb/s ports (blue)
- Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Support RAID 0,1,5,10
Marvell® 9128 PCIe SATA6Gb/s controller
- 2 xSATA Gb/s ports(navy blue) Support SATA RAID 0 and 1
LAN:
1 x Intel® 82574L GbE LAN 1 x Intel® 82579 Gigabit LAN- Dual interconnect between the Integrated LAN controller and Physical Layer (PHY)
- Support teaming function
Audio: ALC889 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- Multi-Streaming
- Jack-Sensing
- Front Panel Jack-Retasking
- Optical/Coxial S/PDIF out ports at back I/O
- ASUS Noise-Filer
IEEE 1394:
VIA VT6315N controller supports 2 x 1394a port(s)
USB:
NEC USB 3.0 controller
- 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (Blue, at back panel)
Intel® P67(B3) Express Chipset
- 14 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 8 ports at back panel)
ASUS Unique Features:
- ASUS Digi+ VRM Utility
ASUS Exclusive Features
- MemOK!
- AI Suite II
- ASUS EFI BIOS EZ Mode featuring friendly graphics user interface
ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution
- ASUS Fanless Design: Heat-pipe solution
- ASUS Fan Xpert
ASUS EZ DIY
- ASUS Q-Shield
- ASUS Q-Connector
- ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
- ASUS EZ Flash 2
ASUS Q-Design
- ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED)
- ASUS Q-Slot
- ASUS Q-DIMM
ASUS Workstation Special Features:
4 PCIe x 16 slots
G.P. Diagnosis Card bundled
Quick Gate:2 vertical USB 2.0 on board
ASUS SASsaby series Cards support
ASUS WS Diag. LED
ASUS WS Heartbeat
Back Panel I/O Ports:
1 x PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Combo port
1 x IEEE 1394a
2 x LAN(RJ45) port(s)
2 x USB 3.0/2.0
8 x USB 2.0/1.1
1 x S/PDIF Out (Optical and Coxial)
8-Channel Audio I/O
Internal I/O Connectors:
2 x USB 2.0/1.1 connector(s) support additional 4 USB ports
1 x MemOK! Button
1 x TPM connector
1 x CPU Fan connector(s) with PWM control
3 x Chassis Fan connector(s) with Q-fan control
1 x Power Fan connector(s)
1 x S/PDIF Out connector
24-pin ATX Power connector
8-pin ATX +12V Power connector
1 x COM port connector
4-pin EZ_PLUG Power connector
AAFP connector
2 x USB 2.0/1.1 vertical ports
20-pinfront panel connector
BIOS:
32 Mb Flash ROM , EFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.6, ACPI 2.0a, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
Manageability:
WfM 2.0,DMI 2.0,WOL by PME,WOR by PME,PXE
O/S Compatibility:
Win7 32/64 bit,Vista 32/64 bit and WinXP 32/64bit
Form Factor:
ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.5 cm )
CPU-Z screenshot of the motherboard tab running ASUS P8P67 WS Professional in Windows 7 Professional x64. At press time, we were using ASUS' 1202 BIOS revision. This is the latest BIOS revision at the time of writing this review.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Features, and Specifications
2. Bundle, Chipset, BIOS
3. A Closer Look, Board Layout, Test System
4. Benchmark: AIDA64 CPU
5. Benchmark: AIDA64 FPU
6. Benchmark: AIDA64 Memory
7. Benchmark: PCMark Vantage
8. Benchmark: 3DMark 11
9. Benchmark: PassMark PerformanceTest 7.0
10. Benchmark: SuperPI 1M, Cinebench R11.5
11. Onboard Sound (RMAA 6.2.3) Analyzation
12. Overclocking and Conclusion
