Review: ASUS P5K3 Deluxe - high-bandwidth mobo

Final thoughts, HEXUS.awards and HEXUS.right2reply

ASUS' decision to release a DDR3-equipped Bearlake motherboard, in the form of the P5K3 Deluxe WiFi, was an obvious move. The Intel P35 chipset supports this new-fangled memory technology immediately.

Our thoughts in this conclusion will revolve around whether it's currently worth investing in. Should you wish to be apprised of its other attributes - layout, for example - head on over to the P5K Deluxe's conclusion.

Thinking of the value proposition, the P5K3 Deluxe is priced at around £160, or £15 more than its DDR2 counterpart. Now, thinking about it in terms of platform attractiveness, high-speed DDR2 is pervasive and, consequently, reasonably-priced. The same cannot be said for, preferably, low-latency DDR3, of any speed, right now, so sourcing appropriate modules for the board to simply function, whilst not impossible, isn't as straightforward as it should be.

We're adamant that the P5K3 Deluxe will begin to look more impressive as faster-FSB CPUs are released along with a greater choice of reasonably-priced DDR3 modules.

As it currently stands, though, and looking at our benchmark results once more, it's hard to recommend a motherboard that's compromised by expensive memory which is currently barely any faster than incumbent DDR2.

HEXUS.certification

The ASUS P5K3 Deluxe WiFi passed our stringent tests without failure. It is presented with the HEXUS Labs certification. This is not an outright recommendation to buy, however.

ASUS P5K3 Deluxe WiFi

HEXUS Where2Buy

The ASUS P5K3 Deluxe WiFi is currently available for around £160 here.

It can also be purchased with 2GiB (2 x 1GiB) DDR3 1333MHz memory from Scan or YOYOtech.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS.net, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any of ASUS' representatives choose to do so, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

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I think DDR2 Is still the way too go.

I've just bought my first DDR2, so every time I read a review involving DDR3 I hope for a bad result! :)

Is it me of or are all the graphics for the charts missing.
the numbers are written at the bottom but why not just print them as text what use is a graphical image - surely thee has been some mistake?

Kate,

All seems to be displayed fine here. I'll take a further look into it.

Blackmage
I think DDR2 Is still the way too go.

Yeah, but only given that there's more choice out there at the moment. We'll say the same things when DDR3 gets to the level DDR2 is at the moment, and we're contemplating whether DDR4 is the way to go.

You have to assume it's more than simply bandwidth and higher latencies though - presumably things like ramping up the MB per chip is easier too, or has at least been considered when setting the DDR3 standard. DDR3 will likely be where most of the 2gb and 4gb sticks are going to come from.