- Back to homepage
- Related articles
  Related articles

4-Way Intel P35 Motherboard Overclocking Roundup

Motherboards/Intel S775 by massman @ 2007-11-26

In this group test we compare the overclocking capabilities and performance of 4 motherboards based on the mid-range P35 Intel chipset. From the low cost Asus P5K, affordable Foxconn P35AP-S and MSI Platinum Combo to the expensive DFI P35 Lanparty, which one will come out on top? Find out in this article.

Foxconn P35AP-S: Box, bundle and board

Foxconn P35AP-S

The third contestant is the Foxconn P35AP-S motherboard, sent to us when we were about to finish the article. Talk about just in time, but we hmanaged to include it in our review anyway.

Let's start with the box itself.

Madshrimps (c)

Nothing fancy, nothing really big, just a clean front. What catches my eye is the sticker which explicitly mentions the support for Intel’s 45nm processors.

Madshrimps (c)

The back isn’t special either. A very small introduction to the board, nothing more.

When taking off the cover, we see another front. This time with more information and reasons why exactly you should buy this board.

Madshrimps (c)

Dual eSATA

Dual digital audio

100% solid connectors

...

Now we can finally open the box and see what's really important:

Madshrimps (c)

In my opinion, the bundle of 'extras' provided is really the bare minimum. Two sata cables is a bit poor these days. Furthermore, we find an I/O back plate, a driver cd, one floppy and hdd pata cable, the manual, an extra firewire connector and a quickstart guide.

About that last one, it's really impressive and user-friendly! The huge poster (it's really gigantic) explains how to install the processor, cooling and memory, and guides you through the most important screens of the bios.

Madshrimps (c)

Too big for a decent picture - thumbs up!

Let's have a look at the board itself...

Madshrimps (c)

... starting with the cpu socket area.

Madshrimps (c)

In my opinion a pretty good lay-out, using 4 phase PWM and cooling the mosfets passively. For the subzero cooling fanatics, I've made a clear shot in order to give you an example of how tough it is to insulate this motherboard.

Madshrimps (c)

Let's continue to the I/O connections.

Madshrimps (c)

PS/2 keyboard and mouse

2 x eSata

7.1 channel Audio jacks (6 jacks)

4 x USB 2.0

Gigabit LAN

IEEE1394

S/PDIF Out Coaxial

S/PDIF Out Fiber

Foxconn Digital connector

This pretty much covers every need, a very complete set of connections.

Moving on to the PCIe area.

Madshrimps (c)

Pretty much what a standard motherboard should have. No remarks, no problems at all.

Next up, the internal IO connections.

Madshrimps (c)

1 cpu and 5 x system fan connector

CD-in connector

Front Audio header

IRDA

Speaker

Floppy connector

Front Panel connector

2 x USB 2.0 connectors

6x SATAII connectors

Intruder

on-board power_LED

IEEE1394 connector

Buzzer

IDE connector

LED Debug port

3x on-board Buttons (On/off, Clear CMOS and Reset)

This is what we expect from any motherboard, except for the LED debug port and the three on-board buttons. Once again a signal towards the die-hard overclocking community. These on-board buttons are very much appreciated for testing the board when it's not yet installed inside a case.

Madshrimps (c)

Last but not least, the memory slots :

Madshrimps (c)

As you already know, this board supports both ddr2 and ddr3. You can use, not simultaneously though, 4x ddr2 memory sticks or 2x ddr3 sticks. Contrary to the MSI P35 Platinum Combo, you don't need to 'lock' the other slots when not using one kind of memory type.

Comment from Rutar @ 2007/11/26

the madshrimps roundup attack on motherboard reviews, I'd be affraid if I was still writing the outdated one motherboard reviews

Foxconn really works on their street cred with that board

Comment from geoffrey @ 2007/11/26

Owning a P5K myself, good performance considering its price, and not too overloaded with BIOS features which hardly make a difference and are too complicated to understand for people who just jumped in.

Liked the article btw

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/11/26

Can't beat the Asus P5K board in both price and performance.

Comment from Massman @ 2007/11/27

You can by overclocking

Comment from jmke @ 2007/11/27

if you overclock,how will you beat the price/performance value? since FSB OCing hardly has any effect in real world applications

Comment from Rutar @ 2007/11/27

I think it would be more noticable with a Quadcore, where the Vdrop is more important.

Comment from Massman @ 2007/11/27

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmke

if you overclock,how will you beat the price/performance value? since FSB OCing hardly has any effect in real world applications

You and me have different definitions of overclocking

. I see it as benching, you as cost-effective performance tweaking. In other words, I am willing to pay 45€ extra for a board which is faster, you're not.

Comment from thorgal @ 2007/11/28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Massman

You and me have different definitions of overclocking

. I see it as benching, you as cost-effective performance tweaking. In other words, I am willing to pay 45€ extra for a board which is faster, you're not.

I can second that, so am I

But the majority of people are not, unfortunately for the hardware vendors

Comment from jmke @ 2007/11/28

but Massman, as a reviewer you'll have to look at both sides of the overclocking approach

Comment from Massman @ 2007/11/28

That's why the Price/Perfomance winner =/= High-end winner

Comment from jmke @ 2007/11/29

nope

Comment from Kougar @ 2007/12/02

45nm support on 975X chipsets is iffy, best to check on a individual board by board basis. Some sites have run 45nm chips on 975X ASUS boards however.

Interesting review! Am I correct that the ASUS P5k only has 3 vRegs? That's pitiful, no wonder there are reports that Quadcores would kill the thing. Does explain the 0.1v vdroop problem too, my own 3vReg DS3 had about that same vdroop also with a E6300. To bad Gigabyte didn't show up to the party.

All information and graphics contained in Madshrimps are sole property of the Madshrimps crew and may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without written permission from us.