ASUS P8P67 PRO

[cadaveca]

Bridging the gap from mainstream to enthusiast product lines, the ASUS P8P67 PRO is a natural fighter, built to meet the needs of almost any user. Featuring ASUS' new DIGI+ VRM, and several other uncommon features, and seeking to beat up the competition, the ASUS P8P67 PRO arrives on our testbench, ready for battle.

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[Maban]

You went through the trouble of taking off the heatsinks. Why not take a naked full board shot?

 

[InnocentCriminal]

I'm impressed with the results of the auto-overclocking but it sort of takes the fun out of it. Still, 5.1GHz that's freaking amazing!

 

[micropage7]

I'm impressed with the results of the auto-overclocking but it sort of takes the fun out of it. Still, 5.1GHz that's freaking amazing!

yep, but maybe it would be good if we know what raised from that auto

 

[bogie]

Can you post more info on overclocking, ie your voltages and stuff.

I will be overcloking my new P8P67 Deluxe on friday and could do with some handy info!

Thanks!

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Think you could recreate that thermal pad issue and retest the overclocking? If they're shipping boards like that it could explain perhaps some of the issues people have had with the P8P line. Seems chipset cooling is one area asus keeps failing on at the assembly stage. My P6X58D shipped missing sink screws. I know of one person that got their's with no screws at all.

 

[Jack Doph]

So.. how does this compare to the EVO version of this board?
Is the EVO worth the extra $30 or so?

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

The EVO has dual LAN and a faux north bridge cooler. I think those are the only things of note.

 

[PaulieG]

Nice review. Very nice catch on the mosfet cooling. I had to "remedy" this a couple of weeks ago.

The EVO has dual LAN and a faux north bridge cooler. I think those are the only things of note.

The EVO also has an LED display, which is something I miss on my Pro. Besides the missing LED, I'd say that the Pro is the best Asus board I've owned, except maybe the original Asus Maximus Formula.

The UEFI bios was very well done, and the board itself is quite stable. I was also pleased that it has a replaceable bios chip.

I didn't care for the autotune feature. It set my clock speeds at 5300 with something like1.425v, and not sustainable 24/7 because of cooling (and crunching non-stop), as Dave noted in the review. You would think that since this autotune feature is geared to those with less experience overclocking, they would have been far less aggressive.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

I think it's a toss up between my EVO and my P6X58D premium. I like the UFI, but the P6X absolutely did not waver under load at voltages of 1.25v and under. I mean it didn't fluctuate whatsoever which is just all kinds of nice... never having to ask yourself if it's unstable because of vdroop. That was the first and only board I had ever experienced that with. I don't understand why after achieving that level of perfect voltage stability they decided to let it slide this gen.

 

[PaulieG]

I think it's a toss up between my EVO and my P6X58D premium. I like the UFI, but the P6X absolutely did not waver under load at voltages of 1.25v and under. I mean it didn't fluctuate whatsoever which is just all kinds of nice... never having to ask yourself if it's unstable because of vdroop. That was the first and only board I had ever experienced that with. I don't understand why after achieving that level of perfect voltage stability they decided to let it slide this gen.

When LLC and current settings are adjusted correctly, I've seen very little vdroop on the Pro.

 

[N.E.A]

guys, i have the board, and it takes too much time to boot up..:S
and yes, i have a SSD installed.
Asus let me down this time and i am truly shocked..so if any of you is willing to buy a sandy bridge board, keep this board at the bottom of your list.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

On my EVO it either droops or it overshoots, in either case it fluctuates under load or idle just like every other board I've had besides the P6X. Seriously it didn't budge, and I don't recall even having to mess with LLC aside from bumping it up to 800mv on the differential amp.

 

[PaulieG]

guys, i have the board, and it takes too much time to boot up..:S
and yes, i have a SSD installed.
Asus let me down this time and i am truly shocked..so if any of you is willing to buy a sandy bridge board, keep this board at the bottom of your list.

The bios loading does take a bit long, but this was also the case with Asus P55 boards. However, Windows boot in 16 sec. with my SSD on this board. It seems kinda dramatic to trash a board because a bios check takes a few extra seconds.

On my EVO it either droops or it overshoots, in either case it fluctuates under load or idle just like every other board I've had besides the P6X. Seriously it didn't budge, and I don't recall even having to mess with LLC aside from bumping it up to 800mv on the differential amp.

Hmm. Have you seen others with this problem on the EVO? The Pro stays reasonably consistent with the right tweaks.

 

[Jack Doph]

Well.. I'm looking at going to the SB platform and was impressed by both the Pro and the EVO, but I might just go with the P8Z68-V Pro instead, depending on how well this is reviewed

 

[caleb]

Regarding the mosfets it was a similar case with P5K Premium, one of the heatsink's wasn't actually in any contact with the mosfet.
I think the boards aren't ideally flat and thats the main problem. On this picture here you can clearly see that its a little curved on the left side. Can you confirm or its just the picture ?
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/P8P67 PRO/images/backplate.jpg

 

[Yellow&Nerdy?]

As P67 boards go, Asus boards actually offer better value and more features. But Gigabyte's matte black boards do look amazing. So it's a hard choice.

I think this board is within that butter-zone of boards, where there's not a lot of unnecessary gimmicky features that you don't use, but cost more, but isn't a cheap-o board with cheap components and not enough features.

 

[cadaveca]

You went through the trouble of taking off the heatsinks. Why not take a naked full board shot?

Aye carumba, you know, it never even crossed my mind, as there's not really much to see under the heatsinks! Next time, I will take the picture!

yep, but maybe it would be good if we know what raised from that auto

I am always here to answer direct questions.

Can you post more info on overclocking, ie your voltages and stuff.

I will be overcloking my new P8P67 Deluxe on friday and could do with some handy info!

Thanks!

As I posted above, direct questions work best. Get your stuff, get started, and we can compare notes, for sure.

Think you could recreate that thermal pad issue and retest the overclocking? If they're shipping boards like that it could explain perhaps some of the issues people have had with the P8P line. Seems chipset cooling is one area asus keeps failing on at the assembly stage. My P6X58D shipped missing sink screws. I know of one person that got their's with no screws at all.

Well, frmo what's in the manual, I am led to belive that if you are not tweaking the DIGI+ VRM, maybe the heatsinks aren't needed. But as soon as you tweak it to provide more current, those heatsinks must be in place, as stated in the manual over and over and over again.

So.. how does this compare to the EVO version of this board?
Is the EVO worth the extra $30 or so?

I have not played wit hthe EVO, so can't comment on that.

Nice review. Very nice catch on the mosfet cooling. I had to "remedy" this a couple of weeks ago.

VRM is one of the main things I look at, and hence even looking there. VRM is a big deal when it comes to long-term overclocking, in my books, so I will always be doing such inspections.

I didn't care for the autotune feature. It set my clock speeds at 5300 with something like1.425v, and not sustainable 24/7 because of cooling (and crunching non-stop), as Dave noted in the review. You would think that since this autotune feature is geared to those with less experience overclocking, they would have been far less aggressive.

For those less experienced, there is the TPU switch.

guys, i have the board, and it takes too much time to boot up..:S
and yes, i have a SSD installed.
Asus let me down this time and i am truly shocked..so if any of you is willing to buy a sandy bridge board, keep this board at the bottom of your list.

Can't say the bootup is long with this board, but the P67A-UD4-B3 was worse at boot times.

Regarding the mosfets it was a similar case with P5K Premium, one of the heatsink's wasn't actually in any contact with the mosfet.
I think the boards aren't ideally flat and thats the main problem. On this picture here you can clearly see that its a little curved on the left side. Can you confirm or its just the picture ?
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/P8P67 PRO/images/backplate.jpg

Yes, that is exactly the issue, as far as I can tell. Very nice catch. I could edit pics like this backplate one so the boards appear perfectly flat, but they aren't.

I think this board is within that butter-zone of boards, where there's not a lot of unnecessary gimmicky features that you don't use, but cost more, but isn't a cheap-o board with cheap components and not enough features.

That's kind of an apt line of thought. If I was going to keep either board, which one would I keep? I cannot tell you, as I am currently debating this myself.

 

[Trackr]

Is there a point to reviewing a 4-month-old board right when it's replaced?

 

[cadaveca]

Is there a point to reviewing a 4-month-old board right when it's replaced?

I review what arrives on my doorstep, no questions asked. And no, I have not been sitting on this review for months, either...it's been in my house for less than two weeks.

Now, we don't have many P67 board reviews, and all of these boards I've done, and am doing, fit within the same price range.

While there are other options out there, these boards are still all viable options to build a system, and now that I've had the boards, I can help you guys out when you run into issues, or something doesn't work right.

I'll be spending the next couple of weeks pushing both boards that I've reviewed lately through some serious hardcore OC testing, and looking to either expose weaknesses, or strengths, at the upper clock limits that most users will be at, as well as looking for memory tweaking so that like with previous products, when someone needs settings for memory, or whatever, I can just rattle off what they need to set, and they can move on.

Keep in mind as well, although you may not have interest in this product, that doesn't mean others will not. We do have a global audience here on TPU, so there is going to be many users who need different things from thier PCs, and maybe this board is exactly what they are looking for.

I am always working to bring you guys reviews at or just after launch, but at the same time, I'm stil lrelatively new to the motherboard review scene, and it takes time for manufacturer's to get things set up to send stuff out, as they do need to know that they aren't wasting thier time when handing out review products. Each company has limited marketing funds, and I've gotta weasle my way in. I think we're off to a great start.

 

[Neuromancer]

Very nice review Cadaveca. My own is still at the editors desk LOL

Did you have an issues with EPU downclocking to 1.6 even when set to max performance mode?

"Does that power savings exact a performance penalty? Read on to find out."

After this statement, you go into the test system but do not mention what was set. Was all stock testing done at "max power savings?" (In my experience I would say no...as it really really does not like leaving 1.6GHz when that is set LOL)

 

[cadaveca]

Very nice review Cadaveca. My own is still at the editors desk LOL

Did you have an issues with EPU downclocking to 1.6 even when set to max performance mode?

"Does that power savings exact a performance penalty? Read on to find out."

After this statement, you go into the test system but do not mention what was set. Was all stock testing done at "max power savings?" (In my experience I would say no...as it really really does not like leaving 1.6GHz when that is set LOL)

All stock performance testing was done with whatever is set at stock, after a fresh OS install, and after driver and software CD install. Of course, I have to install the apps I test with too. I play with the software, and see what it does. I do a disk cleanup, and then a defrag, and then run benchmarks. At this point, if benchmarks are off, I'll check to see what is up. I DID find the clocks force-set to 1600 MHz after setting the switch back to the "OFF" position, so I simply rest the defaults in bios, and then tested to make sure clocks swere scaling as they should. When I was sure they were, I benched all the software, and the results are what you see.

We noticed only two watts consumed by the VRM at idle, while loaded that number jumped up to 73 watts, proving to be 5W less than the boards we previously tested. We enabled the EPU switch to see what further power savings could be had, and noticed a drop of another 6 watts at load, although we did have to tweak the bios a bit to get the clocks higher than 1600 MHz on the CPU for an adequate compare, as the EPU setting was set to "Maximum Power Savings". Does that power savings exact a performance penalty? Read on to find out.

Even without the maximum load enabled, the ASUS board was still 5W more efficient than the other tested products, and really that is what the last remark on that page referred to. The measurement listed with EPU enabled in the power ocnsumption graphs is with clocks scaling properly, and not sitting at 1600 MHz, as is the D.E.S. numbers for the Gigabyte board. It wouldn't be a fair compare if the clocks weren't the same.

 

[Neuromancer]

Good info. thanks

 

[heky]

@cadaveca
Are you planing to review the MSI P67A-GD65 by any chance? Would be real nice to compare different brands in the same price range.

Thanks for the reviews.

 

[cadaveca]

@cadaveca
Are you planing to review the MSI P67A-GD65 by any chance? Would be real nice to compare different brands in the same price range.

I haven't touched base with MSI, Zotac, Sapphire, Asrock, Biostar, Foxconn, or eVGA as of yet. Hopefully we can get them on "board" some time in the future.

Thanks for the reviews.

No problem. Thanks for the feedback!