Tom's Hardware > All Reviews > Components > Motherboards > 11-Way P45 Motherboard Shootout

11-Way P45 Motherboard Shootout

09:30 - Monday 25 August 2008 by Thomas Soderstrom

1. Introduction
2. ASRock P45R2000-WiFi
3. P45R2000-WiFi Onboard Devices
4. P45R2000-WiFi BIOS And Overclocking
5. P45R2000-WiFi Software And Accessories
6. ASRock P45TS-R
7. P45TS-R Onboard Devices
8. P45TS-R BIOS And Overclocking
9. P45TS-R Software And Accessories
10. Asus Maximus II Formula
11. Maximus II Formula Onboard Devices
12. Maximus II Formula BIOS And Overclocking
13. Maximus II Formula Software And Accessories
14. Asus P5Q Deluxe
15. P5Q Deluxe Onboard Devices
16. P5Q Deluxe BIOS And Overclocking
17. P5Q Deluxe Software And Accessories
18. Biostar TSeries TP45 HP
19. TP45 HP Onboard Devices
20. TP45 HP BIOS And Overclocking
21. TP45 HP Software And Accessories
22. Biostar TPower i45
23. TPower i45 Onboard Devices
24. TPower i45 BIOS And Overclocking
25. TPower i45 Software And Accessories
26. ECS Black Series P45T-A
27. P45T-A Onboard Devices

28. P45T-A BIOS And Overclocking
29. P45T-A Software And Accessories
30. Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6
31. EP45-DQ6 Onboard Devices
32. EP45-DQ6 BIOS And Overclocking
33. EP45-DQ6 Software And Accessories
34. Jetway HI04
35. HI04 Onboard Devices
36. HI04 BIOS And Overclocking
37. HI04 Software And Accessories
38. MSI P45 Platinum
39. P45 Platinum Onboard Devices
40. P45 Platinum BIOS And Overclocking
41. P45 Platinum Software And Accessories
42. MSI P45D3 Platinum
43. P45 D3 Platinum BIOS And Overclocking
44. P45D3 Platinum Software And Accessories
45. Test Hardware
46. Benchmark Configuration
47. Benchmark Results: 3D Games
48. Benchmark Results: Applications
49. Benchmark Results: Video Encoding And Synthetics
50. Performance Analysis
51. Onboard Audio Quality
52. Power Consumption And Temperature
53. Overclocking
54. Conclusion

When Intel released its mainstream P45 Express chipset, the biggest news was that it supported PCI Express 2.0. Formerly available from Intel only on high-end X38 and X48 motherboards, many of us still failed to understand the significance of this bandwidth-doubling technology to current-generation hardware. After all, the first-generation x16 slots found on P35 Express motherboards are still fast enough for any graphics card, so why bother updating?

In order to truly understand how important PCI Express 2.0 is to the (upper) mainstream gaming market, one has to consider the P45 Express northbridge’s other key feature: its ability to split those sixteen lanes into two x8 pathways.

The ability to run two PCI Express graphics cards in x8 mode hasn’t been available from Intel since the days of its 975X chipset. Dual-graphics P965 and P35 motherboards usually relied on x4 pathways for the second slot, starving the second card with a lowly 2 GB/s transfer rate. By allowing its 16 PCI Express pathways to be divided into two x8-mode slots, the P45 Express can now deliver the same 8 GB/s bandwidth to two graphics cards that its P35 predecessor could deliver to only one.

Other updates to the P45 Express technology, such as the ability to support a total of 16GB RAM rather than the 8GB of the P35 Express, are far less significant to the majority of its mainstream/performance market. In fact, those who would never even consider using Crossfire technology might prefer to save some money by purchasing a less-expensive P35 motherboard, as implied in our earlier P45 Express technology overview

Given that the P45 Express’ major features target gaming enthusiasts, it comes as no surprise that many manufacturers have chosen this mainstream part as the basis for reduced-cost, high-end products. Others have chosen to use only a minimum number of high-end features to bring added value to the budget/performance market. Today’s eleven motherboards represent that range of products bound by these philosophies.