ASUS P4PE Black Pearl Mainboard (i845PE)

i845PE chipset

This board differs from P4PE in design and accessory pack: this is again ASUS's stylish mainboard with a well-known name. The austere black-silvery design of the box and board (like in CUSL2-C Black Pearl) is replaced with the design of a piratical style. The box looks like a treasure box; users guides are like old maps showing a way to the treasures; the board and a flash drive supplied symbolize black and pink pearls.

Accessories:

Package of a stylish design;
Documentation: user manual in English, and brief installation manual in 12 languages;
Cables: FDD, ATA66/100/133 (both are covered with black cambric);

Bracket with 2 USB and Game ports;
Bracket with S/PDIF-Out connectors (TosLink and Coaxial);
USB flash drive, 32 MB with a neck strap and a USB extender;

Stickers for keyboard for Instant CD function;

Bracket for the rear computer panel;
2 CDs containing:

drivers;
DirectX 8.1;
Adobe Acrobat Reader;
3Deep;
PC-cillin 2002;
ASUS Live Update;
ASUS HotKey;
ASUS Logo;
ASUS PCProbe;
ASUS Screensaver;
Winbond Voice Editor;
InterVideo WinDVD;
InterVideo WinRip;
InterVideo WinDVD Creator;
InterVideo WinProducer.

The layout is not that bad, except maybe the audio-ins which are placed in front of the PCI, and connectors along the left side. It's not difficult to reach jumpers when the board is already installed. Their functions are shown on the textolite.

The 2-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 5 capacitors of 1500 uF and 3 of 1200 uF. Also, there are voltage regulators for the AGP and memory buses.

Integrated controllers:

audio controller based on the chipset and Analog Devices AD1980 AC'97 codec; 5.1 audio system supported, front audio inputs/outputs and SPDIF connectors provided;
network controller based on Broadcom BCM4401KFB chip supporting 10BaseT/100BaseTX.

Technologies:

ASUS Multi-Language BIOS;

ASUS Instant Music (for audio CD playback without OS booting).

+5 V supplied in the StandBy mode is indicated with the green LED. If a 3.3V card is inserted into the AGP slot the red LED will warn you that it's incompatible (it's impossible to turn on the computer even with the Power button).

Non-unsoldered connectors: FireWire and IDE/SATA RAID controllers and their connectors.

System monitoring is supported by ASUS ASB100-A Bach. It controls:

processor voltage, +3.3, +5 and +12 V;
speed of 3 fans;
temperatures of the processor (built-in sensor), the board (built-in sensor) and an external sensor connected to the board.

There are 3 connectors for adjustable connection of fans.

Brief board's characteristics: memory slots - 3 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 6 PCI; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0; dimensions - 305x230 mm.

Settings:

jumpers and switches	Jumper to clear up the CMOS
jumpers and switches	Jumper for starting up computer with a PS/2 keyboard
BIOS based on Award v6.0	Setup of memory timings	+	CAS Latency, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge Delay, Active Precharge Delay, Idle timer, Burst Length, Memory Turbo Mode
	Setup of memory frequency	+	Auto, CPU:DRAM = 1:1, 4:5, 3:4
	Setup of AGP bus	+
	Setup of PCI bus	+
	Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses	+	AGP(PCIx2) = 66.66-104.46 MHz in 0.4-0.6MHz steps
	Manual assignment of interrupts	+
	Changeable FSB frequency	+	100-200 MHz in 1MHz steps
	Changeable CPU multiplier	+	x8-x24
	Changeable core voltage	+	1.5-1.85 V in 0.025V steps
	Changeable memory voltage	+	Default, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.9 V
	Changeable chipset voltage	-
	Changeable AGP bus voltage	+	Default, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7 V

We used the BIOS 1002 as the latest available version.

The model has a unique design and a good pack of accessories, but its functions are not so rich as in the basic version (P4PE). Its speed characteristics, overclocking potential and adjustability are still high.

Test results:

Pentium 4 on FSB 800 MHz, and new flagship i875P

Dmitry Mayorov (destrax@ixbt.com)

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