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Asus P5Q-EM Intel G45 Express Motherboard Review
Asus P5Q-EM Intel G45 Express Motherboard Review - PCSTATS
To complement the High Definition decoding of the G45 Express, the P5Q-EM offers up HDMI, DVI and VGA video outputs, allowing you to output HD video right to a home theatre display without any additional expense.
 89% Rating:   
Filed under: Motherboards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: ASUS Jan 27 2009   J. Apong  
Home > Reviews > Motherboards > ASUS P5Q-EM

Overclocking Test Report, Test System Specs

Overclocking Results:
stock max. oc
motherboard speed: 333 mhz

430 mhz

if you're new to Overclocking and not sure what to do, check out these two excellent Guides for some pointers:
Overclocking the CPU and Memory
Overclocking the Videocard

The Intel G45 Express chipset is largely based on the P45 Express, which has proven to be an outstanding overclocker. This made for some pretty high expectations for the Asus P5Q-EM motherboard. As standard, PCSTATS dropped in a 45nm 1333MHz FSB Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor and a 2GB set of Corsair's DOMINATOR Twin2X2048-8888C4DF memory. Like a fine wine, we just find overclocking 'easier' with Corsair memory in the socket.

Before overclocking began the CPU clock multiplier was lowered to 6x, and the memory set to run at 1:1. Starting at 333 MHz FSB the speed was increased in 15 MHz jumps.

While overclocking was easily accomplished by simply raising the FSB from 333 to 390MHz, the system became unstable in Windows until the G45 northbridge voltage was increased from 1.22V to 1.24V. The system then booted to 400MHz, but any further increases became unstable. Further voltage increases brought the northbridge to 1.26V, the vCore to 1.3V. This allowed the P5Q-EM motherboard to overclock to 430MHz FSB and remain stable in Windows Vista, but any increases past that wouldn't fly.

Honestly, we were hoping for better results based on the P5Q-EM's pedigree, but considering this is a microATX motherboard it's unlikely that those that buy it will be doing a whole lot of overclocking anyway.

BIOS Tweaking Tools

The BIOS controls how the motherboard communicates with all the peripherals connected to it, and is a crucial component for any good well rounded motherboard. PCSTATS is only going to highlight the tweaking features so you'll know what to expect.

As befitting an Asus motherboard, the P5Q-EM lets you tweak pretty much every setting on the motherboard, including every last aspect of RAM timing.

Voltages are keyed in directly in the BIOS, and can be raised in .01V increments. Rather annoyingly the current voltage isn't listed in the main motherboard voltage configuration screen.

Here it's possible to toggle between the various kinds of sound output available on the Asus P5Q-EM motherboard - over the HDMI cable or over the optical SPDIF cable to a separate home theatre stereo system. These options can also be disabled if a discrete sound card is used.

Prelude to Benchmarks

The details of how the Asus P5Q-EM motherboard test system was configured for benchmarking; the specific hardware, software drivers, operating system and benchmark versions is indicated below. In the second column are the general specs for the reference platforms this Intel G45 Express chipset-based motherboard is to be compared against. Please take a moment to look over PCSTATS test system configurations before moving on to the individual benchmark results on the next page.

PCSTATS Test System Configurations
test system reference system #1 reference system #1
processor: intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (775) AMD Athlon64 X2 5000+ (AM2) Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (775)
Clock Speed: 8 x 333 = 2.66GHz 13 x 200 MHz = 2.6 GHz 8 x 333 = 2.66GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q-EM (Intel G45) ECS A780GM-A (AMD 780G)
Biostar TF8200 A2+ (Geforce 8200)
Foxconn A690GM2MA (AMD 690G)
Foxconn A7DA-S (AMD 790GX)
Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a)

Intel DG45ID (Intel G45)
ECS G33T-M2 (Intel G33)
Asus P5NT Deluxe (NF 780i)
MSI P6N Diamond (NF 680i)
Biostar TF7150V-M7 (GF 7150)
Asrock Penryn1600SLIX3 (NF 680i)
Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6 (P35 Express)
MSI P35 Platinum (P35 Express)
Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe (P35 Express)
Asus BLITZ Formula (P35 Express)
Foxconn MARS (P35 Express)
Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 (X38 Express)
Asus Maximus Extreme (X38 Express)
Biostar TPower I45 (P45 Express)
ECS P45T-A (P45 Express)
MSI X48 Platinum (X48 Express)

Videocard: MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC
Memory: 2x 1024MB Corsair Twin2X2048-8888C4D (DDR2)

2x 1024MB Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4

2x 1024MB Corsair Twin2X2048-8888C4D
Hard Drive: 74GB Western Digital Raptor WD740
CDROM: AOpen Combo 52x
PowerSupply: PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 750W
Heatsink: Intel E6750 Reference AMD Athlon64 FX-62 Reference Intel E6750 Reference
Software Setup: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
Intel INF 9.0.0.1009
nVidia Forceware 169.25

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
nVidia NF 15.24
ATi Catalyst 8.8
nVIDIA Forceware 169.25

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
Intel INF 9.0.0.1009
nVidia Forceware 169.25
Benchmarks:

SYSMark 2007 Preview
SiSoft Sandra 2008
PCMark Vantage
3DMark06
3DMark Vantage
FEAR
Call of Juarez
Crysis

< Previous Page © 2023 PCSTATS.com Next Page >

 

Contents of Article: ASUS P5Q-EM
 Pg 1.  Asus P5Q-EM Intel G45 Express Motherboard Review
 Pg 2.  Intel G45 Express Chipset
 Pg 3.  High Definition Video Playback
 Pg 4.  Total System Power Draw Comparisons
 Pg 5.  Asus P5Q-EM Motherboard Highlights
 Pg 6.  — Overclocking Test Report, Test System Specs
 Pg 7.  Motherboard Benchmarks: SYSmark 2007 Preview
 Pg 8.  Motherboard Benchmarks: SiSoft Sandra 2008 - Processor
 Pg 9.  Motherboard Benchmarks: Sandra - Memory
 Pg 10.  Motherboard Benchmarks: PCMark Vantage
 Pg 11.  Motherboard IGP Benchmarks: 3DMark06
 Pg 12.  Motherboard IGP Benchmarks: 3DMark Vantage, FEAR
 Pg 13.  DX10 Motherboard IGP Benchmarks: Call of Juarez, Crysis
 Pg 14.  Intel X4500HD Graphics - Smooth HD Playback?

 
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