ASUS P5E3 Deluxe: X38 and DDR3 arrives... almost

Test Setup

ASUS P5E3 Deluxe Testbed
Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core, 2.4GHz, 8MB Unified Cache, 9x Multiplier, 1066FSB
CPU Voltage	1.1500V Stock
Cooling	Tuniq Tower 120
Power Supply	OCZ 1000W
Memory	Super Talent DDR3-1866
Memory Settings	5-5-4-12 (DDR3-1066)
Video Cards	MSI HD X2900 XT 512MB
Video Drivers	ATI Catalyst 7.9
Hard Drive	Western Digital 7200RPM 750GB SATA 3/Gbps 16MB Buffer
Optical Drives	Plextor PX-B900A, Toshiba SD-H802A
Case	Cooler Master Stacker 830 Evo
BIOS	0302
Operating System	Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
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Test conditions were maintained the same, as much as possible, over the platforms tested. Our game tests were run at settings of 1280x1024 HQ to ensure our MSI HD 2900 XT is not the bottleneck during testing. All results are reported in our charts and color-coded for easier identification of results.

We selected the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 as our processor of choice since it represents one of the better price to performance values in the midrange processor market and is the CPU we will concentrate on in future reviews. We are utilizing Microsoft Vista Home Premium 32-bit as our operating system along with a 4GB memory configuration. Even though Vista 32-bit cannot take advantage of the entire 4GB of memory address space (3.326GB), we found the additional 1.278GB of memory available provided improved performance during multi-tasking events and gaming. We would not recommend anything less than 2GB with Vista Home Premium. We will also provide select Vista 64-bit results in the X38 launch article.

We utilize new drive images on each board in order to minimize any potential driver conflicts. Our 3DMark results are generated utilizing the standard benchmark resolution for each program. We run each benchmark five times, throw out the two low and high scores, and report the remaining score. All results at stock speeds for this article are with memory timings at 5-5-4-12 (DDR3-1066) and at 6-6-6-15 (DDR3-1600) for our overclocking tests. Where possible, memory sub-timings were set exactly the same to ensure consistency between the boards.

Our choice of software applications to test is based on programs that enjoy widespread usage and produce repeatable and consistent results during testing. Microsoft Vista has thrown a monkey wrench into testing as the aggressive nature of the operating system to constantly optimize application loading and retrieval from memory or the storage system presents some interesting obstacles. This along with what we still see as a lack of driver maturity will continue to present problems in the near future with benchmark selections. Our normal process is to change our power settings to performance, delete the contents of the Prefetch folder, and then reboot after each benchmark run. This process results in consistency over the course of benchmark testing. All applications are run with administer privileges.

Note: Due to the preview nature of this article, including the use of a pre-release board, our benchmark test suite will be very limited. A full range of benchmarks will be available on September 24th, provided retail kits arrive as planned.