Test System

Initial Setup

We first assembled the P7P55D-E PRO system using an Intel-provided stock cooler, flashed the latest BIOS, took our BIOS screenshots, and then installed the OS, after a quick MemTest x86+ session. Once Windows 7 64-bit was installed, we loaded all the included software and drivers, as well as updating our videocard's drivers to AMD's latest, Catalyst 11.2. The picture seen above shows how the system was configured at stock, with all available BIOS options set to "AUTO", and XMP disabled.

PWM Power Consumption

Our first task was to truly verify system stability, and while doing so, we measure CPU power consumption. We isolate the power coming through the 8-pin ATX connector using an in-line meter that provides voltage and current readings, as well as total wattage passed through it. While this may not prove to isolate the CPU power draw in all instances, it does serve as a good indicator of board efficiency, and boy, were we ever surprised by the ASUS P7P55D-E PRO! Giving similar idle numbers to our personal favorite, the Maximus III Gene, under load there was a very different picture painted, with the P7P55D-E PRO showing up the Gene, and completely obliterating the H55-based product by near 30 W. "Xtreme Design", for sure! Will that lowered power consumption affect performance? Let's check the numbers!

Performance Results

We spent several days with the ASUS P7P55D-E PRO before beginning our performance compares, running various configurations and CPUs, and checking hardware compatibility. We verified our power consumption numbers using various different power supplies, and played many hours of games with some members of the TPU community to get an overall feel for the board, and to verify stability. Once completed, we tore down the system, mounted our Noctua cooler, and put the board through the paces. On to the results!

SuperPi

SuperPI serves as our memory-focused benchmark, being highly single-threaded. The numbers provided were right where expected after our "usage testing", just slightly below the Gene, but faster than the H55 board. The difference is small enough to be overlooked, but big enough to be noticed under high levels of system stress.

wPrime

wPrime is much more CPU-focused, but memory plays its role as well. We were quite surprised to find the P7P55D-E PRO coming out on bottom here, beat by both the other boards by a fair margin.

3DMark Vantage

3DMark Vantage showed similar results to SuperPI, with the P7P55D-E PRO right in the middle of the pack, but the final numbers were close enough to be simple variations between runs.

3DMark11

3DMark11 was even closer than Vantage, and much less related to wPrime than we first suspected. The P7P55D-E PRO wins out overall here, and while sipping the power at the same time. This is impressive, to say the least.

F1 2010

Our first real-world 3D performance test comes from CodeMasters, in the form of the "F1 2010" included benchmark. We let the game recommend us settings, and then disabled V-SYNC and AA to eliminate bottlenecks introduced by the GPU itself. Once again, the P7P55D-E PRO finished the test lap at the top of the pack, yet again completely obliterating the H55-based contender.

Mafia 2

"Mafia II" is a new addition to our benchmark lineup, featuring some physics-based calculations that can bring many systems to their knees. We maxed out the visual settings, but left AF and AA at the bare minimum, with the "APEX Physics" setting on high. While performance was far too low for us to find gameplay acceptable at these settings, we were once again suprised to find the P7P55D-E PRO holding it's own with the Gene.

HDTune Pro

To test drive performance we employed HDTune Pro, which proved to maybe give a hint as to why the board performed as it did, with drive performance at the bottom of the list, but not too far behind the other two.

HandBrake Encoding

Handbrake was used for encoding testing, and provided results much similar to HDTune Pro, leaving us to wonder if it isn't drive performance alone holding the P7P55D-E PRO back.

CineBench Encoding

In Cinebench, the P7P55D-E PRO again sat near the middle in the GPU test, and came in last place in the CPU portion.

RightMark Audio Analyzer

RightMark Audio Analyzer proved to be our biggest disappointment, as we hinted at earlier when looking at the CODEC used in the P7P55D-E PRO. The volume measured before audio distortion was noticed was a very low 76.6 dBA, something that could use a bit of improvement, but a problem that was not too noticible during our usage testing. Given the amount of other features that the board supports, we would have gladly given up something like "Express Gate" in order to get better audio.