Test Setup

Processor Intel Core i5 2500K ES
4 cores, 4 threads, 6MB L3
Motherboards ASUS P8P67
Cooling Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme with one 120MM fan
Power Supply Silverstone 1000W Silver (Power Testing)
OCZ ZX Series 1250w 80 PLUS Gold 
Memory Patriot Viper Extreme DDR3-2000MHz 9-11-9-27 2x4GB - 1.65v
Memory Settings DDR3-1333MHz - 9-9-9-24 1T at 1.65v
Video Cards Sapphire HD 5850 1GB
Video Drivers Catalyst 10.12
Hard Drive Crucial C300
Optical Drive Samsung SH-S223Q
Case Dimastech Bench Table
Operating System Windows 7 64-bit
SATA Testing Crucial C300
USB 2/3 Testing Patriot 64GB SuperSonic USB 3.0

Note - we will be moving to more recent drivers soon.  We still use the 10.12 at the minute to keep parity between motherboard reviews, but this will be updated in the near future.

Comparison to Previous Results:

Where applicable, the results in this review are directly compared to the following chipsets and boards which we have reviewed previously:
 
P67 H67 Z68 A75 A50M
ASRock
P67 Extreme4
ECS
H67H2-M
ASUS
P8Z68-V Pro
ASRock
A75 Extreme6
ASUS
E35M1-I Deluxe
ASUS
P8P67 Pro
Gigabyte
H67MA-UD2H
Gigabyte
Z68X-UD3H-B3
  ECS
HDC-I
Gigabyte
P67A-UD4
ASRock
H67M-GE/HT
    Zotac
FUSION350-A-E
ECS
P67H2-A2
       
ASRock
P67 Extreme6
       
MSI
P67A-GD65
       
ECS
P67H2-A
       
 
Power Consumption

Power consumption was tested on the system as a whole with a wall meter connected to the power supply, while in a dual GPU configuration.  This method allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency.  These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.

Power Consumption - Dual GPU

CPU Temperatures

With most users running boards on purely default BIOS settings, we are running at default settings for the CPU temperature tests.  This is, in our outward view, an indication of how well (or how adventurous) the vendor has their BIOS configured on automatic settings.  With a certain number of vendors not making CPU voltage, turbo voltage or LLC options configurable to the end user, which would directly effect power consumption and CPU temperatures at various usage levels, we find the test appropriate for the majority of cases. This does confict somewhat with some vendors' methology of providing a list of 'suggested' settings for reviewers to use.  But unless those settings being implemented automatically for the end user, all these settings do for us it attempt to skew the results, and thus provide an unbalanced 'out of the box' result list to the readers who will rely on those default settings to make a judgement.  

CPU Temperatures

The temperatures which I recorded are higher than motherboards from other manufacturers in a similar price bracket.

Board Features, In The Box and Software System Benchmarks
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  • ryedizzel - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link

    @Impulses: Saying they might be paid to review an older product is COMPLETELY different than saying they were paid to give it a favorable review.

    @Etern205: No you don't have the right to spit on their work just because you factory tours and home theater setups more interesting. They do a great job and everything here is free for you, so if you don't like it then gtfo.
  • Etern205 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link

    If a site is going down hill then it's going down hill, why are you kissing @ss?!
    I have my right to express my opinion/complaint as I wish because this site was uber awesome back in the old days. I've entered this field back in 99 and been reading here ever since (Anandtech started back in 97) because it's filled with interesting and fun to read articles that fills every one of my neurons with technical knowledge.
    This site became what it is today because of articles that attract enthusiast and power users. If they review consumer based product for the average Joe and Jane, will they ever be here today? I don't think so!
    About those tours they're leisure articles and yet still attracts
    enthusiast and power users. For Anand's home theater, you should actually take a look at that awesome article before telling others to GTFO.
    If you like to read on smartphones and other nonsense products, then there are plenty like Cnet or PCWorld.
  • Etern205 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link

    Yep, I yawn at SSD reviews because the main purpose of getting one is to speed up your apps or for those who thinks the sky is falling when they can't wait even a single second!
    You see reviews on SSD and are amazed by it's blazing speed, is it within your reach? Sure the price of SSD has dropped as you can get a 120GB Crucial M4 for less than $200. While sub $200 is quite a price drop for SSD and it's larger than 64GB, the price is still too high for some.

    And who says I can't complain? You work for Anand for what?
    This site use to have the most awesome articles, I hope their articles on BullDozer will turn this site around.

    Some of the articles I enjoy were the factory tours and especially Anand's personal home theater setup.
  • JonnyDough - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link

    That's why if you're money savvy you bought a 60GB Vertex II when they were hovering $100 after rebate. :)
  • Amazing2u - Friday, September 9, 2011 - link

    Geez... Stop yawning, you're putting me to sleep.

    I'm happy that Anandtech and it's writers have more diversified articles then "other" hardware sites that only publish boring stuff you see everywhere else.

    I happen to like those Smartphone and whatnot reviews.

    Keep up the great work! :)
    Sim
  • RussianSensation - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link

    While it's doubtful anyone with a $1500 GPU setup (HD6990 CF) will be using this board, there is nothing wrong with running say HD6870 / 6950 CF on this board. In fact PCIe 2.0 4x produces about a 7-8% penalty for a faster GPU like the GTX480:

    http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_480_...

    Not only that but HD6950 2GB setup in CF is more useful at 2560x1600 too, where PCIe limitation is only around 5% (see link above).

    LegitReviews even performed CF testing on this board to show that the difference is not as much as people believe: 2x HD6950s in CF tested in P8P67 (16x/4x) vs. P8P67 Deluxe (8x/8x):

    http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1500/9/

    The performance difference at 1920x1080 was:
    - 5.3% in AvP
    - 8.5% in Metro 2033
    - 2.9% in STALKER: cop

    Certainly not 30-50% less as some people probably imagine. For a budget board around $135, there weren't many boards better.

    However, I feel that Asrock has really stepped up their game with:

    1) Asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $125 on Newegg
    2) Asrock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 - $154 on Newegg

    I agree with you that AnandTech stopped focusing on motherboard reviews which is a real shame since if you review CPUs, you should also review motherboards since CPUs have to be inserted somewhere :)

    Cheers.
  • Impulses - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link

    Problem with this particular model is there's other equally economic models from other manufacturers that will do 8x/8x... I love ASUS, last three mobos before my current one were ASUS, but lately I think they've been allowing prices to creep up too much and/or introducing too many damn models. Everyone's guilty of the latter, but ASUS is the worst.

    As far as mobo reviews in general... Meh. I agree that they're a staple of sites like AT, but if it weren't for the P67 recall and the late introduction of Z68 almost every review of this generation of Intel boards would've read the same.

    There's just not anything all that exiting about mobo introductions anymore imo, just find a model with the integrated components that you need from your preferred manufacturer amongst the top 4 and look up one or two reviews to make sure it runs and OC reliably. Nothing really earth shattering or new to it... They're almost a commodity now like HDDs for data.
  • RussianSensation - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link

    Ya, like I said the Asrock Extreme3/4 series are very attractive. But again in the marketplace this board goes for $135 (Newegg) and I am sure it will be below that shortly. For someone who wants to run a single GPU, this $135 board has a lot to offer vs. the competition. You get 12+2 power phases, Bluetooth, the best UEFI imo, and 3 year warranty (of which the 1st year is advanced replacement so they send you a new board first).

    If you want to run 2 GPUs though, the Asrock Z68/P67 Extreme Gen3 series is far superior for $130-155.
  • Metaluna - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link

    And that 7-8% performance hit will be on only one of the two GPUs, so it will be even less significant to the overall graphics performance. And, if you put the lower-performing GPU in that slot, the impact is even lower.

    People really get way too hung up on abstract specs like PCIe lanes without taking time to evaluate what they actually mean in the real world.
  • gramboh - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link

    This board can be found for about $135CAD right now, really cheap compared to higher end P67/Z68 boards which are $180-220ish.

    Thanks for posting this, I was interested to see that it could hit 4.7+ GHz overclock.

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