The Battle of the P67 Boards - ASUS vs. Gigabyte at $190
by Ian Cutress on January 20, 2011 4:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Gigabyte
- Asus
- P67
Board Features
| Gigabyte P67A-UD4 | |
| Market Segment | Performance |
| CPU Interface | LGA 1155 |
| CPU Support | i3/i5/i7 Sandy Bridge |
| Chipset | P67 |
| Base Clock Frequency | 80 MHz to 200 MHz in 0.1 MHz increments |
| DDR3 Memory Speed | 1333 MHz by default, 800-2133 MHz supported |
| Core Voltage | Auto, 0.750V to 1.700V in 0.005V intervals |
| CPU Clock Multiplier | Dependant on CPU |
| DRAM Voltage | Auto, 0.90V to 2.60V in 0.020V intervals |
| DRAM Command Rate | Auto, 1N to 3N |
| Memory Slots |
Four 240-pin DDR3 DIMM slots in dual-channel Regular unbuffered DD3 memory Up to 32GB total supported |
| Expansion Slots |
2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (PCIe 1 operates at x16 in single mode, PCIe 2 operates at x8 in single mode, or x8/x8 in dual) 3 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots 2 x PCI slots Supports ATI Crossfire Supports NVIDIA SLI |
| Onboard SATA/RAID |
a) 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports (white) supporting RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 b) 4 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports (black) supporting RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 c) 2 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s ports from Marvell 88SE9128, RAID 0, 1 a) + b) are capable of cross channel RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| Onboard |
4 x SATA 3 Gb/s w/ RAID 2 x SATA 6 Gb/s w/ RAID 2 x eSATA 6 Gb/s w/ RAID 1 x Front panel audio header 1 x S/PDIF Out header 3 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header via Renesas (NEC) D720200 chip 1 x Serial port header 1 x Clearing CMOS jumper |
| Onboard LAN | Gigabit Ethernet via Realtek RTL8111E |
| Onboard Audio | 7.1 channel Realtek ALC892 codec |
| Power Connectors |
24-pin EATX Power connector 8-pin EATX 12V Power connector |
| Fan Headers |
1 x CPU fan header 2 x System fan headers 1 x Power fan header |
| I/O Panel |
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Out connector 1 x Optical S/PDIF Out connector 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports via Renesas (NEC) D720200 chip 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s ports 1 x RJ-45 port 8-channel Audio I/O ports |
| BIOS Revision | F7 Beta |
In the Box
- I/O shield
- SLI 3-slot bridge
- 4 x right-angled SATA connectors
Compared to the ASUS P8P67 Pro, both boxes do not come with much in the way of extra peripherals. Here we get an SLI 3-slot bridge (compared to the 2-slot on the ASUS) but lose the USB 3.0 rear bracket, meaning that one will have to be obtained in order to use the USB 3.0 header on the Gigabyte board.
Software
Smart 6
Smart 6 tries to encapsulate a good portion of the myriad of software available in easy-to-use quick buttons, and is essentially identical to the X58 and P55 iterations of the software. The QuickBoot portion attempts to speed up boot times by bypassing the lengthy BIOS post, assuming there has been no physical hardware change. QuickBoost is a single screen overclocking utility, similar to the EasyTune6 front page. Recovery2 helps roll back the system to a previous set of settings without predefinition of a backup time flag, and also the TimeLock, which is almost superfluous given Windows7 has Parental Controls.
The idea behind TimeLock is similar to that on the Xbox360 parental controls – specify a certain number of hours per day (in this case, two different values for weekdays and weekends) for which the computer can be in use.
@BIOS
@BIOS is the staple Gigabyte BIOS update utility, and has been for a few iterations now. Users should note that to flash the latest BIOS files, the version of @BIOS on the CD is insufficient, and @BIOS 2.1 is required. 2.1 can be downloaded from the Gigabyte website.
Dynamic Energy Saver 2
Another program that Gigabyte has been using on various chipsets is the Dynamic Energy Saver 2. As you can see from the picture, various power saving features can be enabled or disabled through user settings, or you can let the software determine the best course of action.
EasyTune6
The OS overclocking tools are predominantly housed in EasyTune6. The front screen has those easy to use OC buttons, but only having three up to 4 GHz is somewhat limiting on the Sandy Bridge platform, given that most processors will happily do 4.4 GHz plus. There is no system of auto-overclocking detection similar to the ASUS boards.
Despite the software having an option for ‘real time ratio change’, of which there is an option in the BIOS to enable/disable, I could not get this to work. Upon setting a new multiplier, I was asked to reboot to apply it.
As always with EasyTune6, going to advance mode allows voltage manipulation. While it is nice to have such a wide variety of options, given that for Sandy Bridge all you really need is CPU VCore, DRAM and CPU PLL, it would have been easy just to include those in the ‘easy’ mode.
Fan control is basic in EasyTune6. Even in advanced mode, as shown above, you can choose where to put the initial and final ramp positions in terms of temperature against max RPM, but there is no option to define further points on the curve, or no determination of separate fans, so all chassis fans will be controlled by this one profile.
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publiorama - Sunday, January 23, 2011 - link
I have a serious question about these mobos.Both Asus and Gigabyte P67 motherboards don't have "VT-D enable" option in their BIOS, whereas P55 does. Asrock P67 have it.
So up to now, VT-D are non usable on Asus and Gb.
What the hell is this ?? You got a CPU with VT-D and you cannot use it ??
Have you some info about this ??
That is a huge problem for many people.
Cashano - Sunday, January 23, 2011 - link
You need a non-K CPU (ii5-2400, i5-2500, i7-2600), so this wont be used for any OC-PC builder.Cashano
publiorama - Sunday, January 23, 2011 - link
It's sure you need a non-K CPU.I'm talking about motherboards.
In Asus and Gb mobos there's NO VT-D option at all. In asrock P67 there is, and even the old asus P55 have that option.
I'am asking if someone knows if VT-D support in Asus and Gb will be in some BIOS update, or watherver else.
akula2 - Friday, February 4, 2011 - link
I'm not sure about P67 Vt-d from Gigabyte or Asus, yet. But P55 offers the Vt-d support.Next, if you are looking for P67 with Vt-d, then get Intel's Extreme Series board, DP67BG (but wait till April, till Intel replaces its stock):
http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/...
That MOBO fares very well, check out some reviews. But if you are OC freak, especially compare everything with Gigabyte/Asus then forget it.
As of today, I've suspended procuring P67 MOBOs because of SATA bug plus Vt-d wasn't clear enough. I've to wait till April or so.
radium69 - Sunday, January 23, 2011 - link
I remember when I used to buy my Abit IP35 PRO "Off limits" it cost me $150 . It had nearly EVERYTHING, and it was a great motherboard. It's still going rocksolid with a modest overclock for over 3 years?I have build a lot of PCs, which housed a GIGABYTE DS3L motherboard, damn great motherboard, great features. And the price? $110. Overclockability? Just simply awesome. Running some older core 2 duo's with a modest overclock of 400/500mhz.
BSOD's? NONE all in 2-3 years so far.
It was THE bang for the budget motherboard for normal users. Offcourse we are all enthousiasts, but that doesn't mean we have enthousiast wallets...
And for $190, it SHOULD come with just about everything AND have high quality parts.
It's just that simple. I'lll be waiting for the sub $150 in depth reviews. That's where the majority is at. And so should you (anandtech) too.
knirfie - Tuesday, January 25, 2011 - link
Too bad LAN performance wasn't compared, this is often ignored because nearly all boards use Realtek cr*p.However, the Asus board uses an Intel solution, it would be interesting to see how badly the Intel chip beats the RTL8111 in terms of CPU load, throughput, etc.
spikexp - Tuesday, January 25, 2011 - link
So if I can get a p8p67 pro + 2500k for the same price (exact same) of aASRock P67 Extreme4 + 2500k.
The p8p67 pro would be better?
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