Zap's Mini Review: Asus P5KPL-AM/PS

[Zap]

Zap's Mini Review: Asus P5KPL-AM/PS

(Purchased from Newegg for $49.99 with free shipping)

The Asus P5KPL-AM/PS is a budget motherboard for socket LGA 775 based on the Intel G31 chipset for all Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors.

SPECIFICATIONS

Asus P5KPL-AM/PS motherboard
Intel G31 chipset with ICH7
Supports socket LGA 775 Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad
Supports FSB 800/1066/1333/1600(OC)
Two DDR2 slots for dual channel operation, 4GB max
one PCI Express x16, one PCI Express x1, two PCI slots
four SATA 3Gb/s and one EIDE (two drives), plus one FDD
Realtek ALC662 HD audio with 6 channels
Realtek 8111C gigabit ethernet
Intel GMA 3100 onboard video with VGA output
Micro ATX form factor

BIOS

Smart Fan disabled/quiet/optimal/performance
vCore auto/+50mv/+100mv/+150mv
vICH auto/1.5v/1.6v
vMCH auto/1.25v/1.40v
vDIMM auto/1.85v-2.24375v in 0.00625v increments
FSB 200-600MHz

Available memory multipliers vary with installed CPU's FSB
200MHz FSB = auto/667/800MHz
266MHz FSB = auto/667/800/1067MHz
333MHz FSB = auto/667/800/1000/1110MHz

IMPRESSIONS

This is a nice little, budget board. Regular priced at $55 plus shipping, I scored two of them for $50 each with free shipping. Some may feel limited by the two RAM slots with 4GB max. Board uses solid capacitors for the CPU VRMs. Overall board layout is pretty decent, with the power connectors towards the edges of the motherboard.The four SATA ports are well out of the way of the PCI Express x16 slot, so even a dual slot video card won't cover them up. This is much better than so many other micro ATX boards, which invariably have some of the SATA ports covered up by large dual-slot video cards.

There are a few indications of cost cutting, such as the lack of a PC speaker onboard, but there is a place for it printed on the PCB. There are also two fan headers that are printed on the PCB, but the headers themselves are missing. Thus, the only fan header whatsoever is the 4 pin CPU fan header.

The PCB looks pretty sharp in a brownish black.

There are a lot of bad "reviews" at Newegg, but I did not have any such problems with the two that I purchased.

OVERCLOCKING

This was a partial disappointment. While voltage adjustments abound for the RAM, the CPU barely gets three slight bumps plus the memory multipliers were restrictive for low FSB chips - the very chips that are usually paired with budget boards such as this. The usual "fix" for this is to do a BSEL mod to the chip. I have an E7200 with just such a mod, and the board will only POST once with the chip, detecting the mod. Reboots resulted in no POST. Clearing the BIOS will allow it to POST again, once. This, combined with the lackluster RAM multiplier options with low FSB chips, makes for a bad budget overclocking choice. I tested a few processors with the multiplier set to 6x, memory set to lowest option with voltage bumped up all the way for all available settings (vCore/vDIMM/ICH/MCH) and memory set to very lax timings of 6-6-6-24. Memory was some DDR2-1066 2.2v. Here are some quick results. No stability tests were run. I was just interested (for now) in how high I can get the setup to POST.

With an E5200, 333MHz FSB was a no go, while 266MHz worked. I didn't test in-between numbers as this will let the chip hit 3.25GHz+ on the normal multiplier, which should be sufficient. This also reveals the BIOS limitations of a FSB strap.

I tested more thoroughly with an E7300, hitting 340MHz fine but 350MHz a no POST. With an E8400, 460MHz was fine but 480MHz was a no POST.

CONCLUSION

The BIOS is limiting the board, since obviously the board will at least POST at high FSB but only with chips having a high default FSB. It also won't accept a BSEL mod, which is disappointing. Still, at $50 plus a $73 E5200, hitting 3.2GHz+ should be pretty easy, making it a reasonable value proposition.

At $50 shipped, this is a great value for those wanting a super cheap motherboard that can support at least a bit of overclocking.

If the price is higher or if higher overclocking is desired (or underclocking/undervolting) then consider the Gigabyte G31 chipset boards. Those seem to have more tweakable BIOSes.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Zap
Some may feel limited by the two RAM slots with 4GB max.

FYI: G31/P31 really is hard-limited to 4GB MAX and only supports four DIMM ranks total. G31/P31 boards that implement four DIMM slots must use single-rank (single-sided) DIMMs when all four slots are populated. So two slots on G31/P31 makes the most sense, as you don't need to worry about whether you're getting single v. double rank (sided).

 

[Minot]

I read the reviews and gave considerable thought to purchasing the Asus P5KPL-AM/PS. I have a Celeron 440 that I needs a stable (yet inexpensive) home. I'd like to try running it at 333 MHz FSB to hit 3333 MHz core clock.

I"m leaning toward the Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L for three reasons:
- Newegg reviewers indicate the BIOS has more options
- The overclocks appear to be a little better than the Asus P5KPL-AM/PS
- There is a fan header for a sys fan

The price difference after shipping is $10. If there were sys fan headers I'd probably grab the Asus board as it's hard to beat $50 shipped. I've had great success with Gigabyte of late (i.e. GA-P35-DS3L), however, and that's pushing me toward biting the minor bullet and laying out the extra $10.


-MINOT-

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Originally posted by: Zap
Some may feel limited by the two RAM slots with 4GB max.

FYI: G31/P31 really is hard-limited to 4GB MAX and only supports four DIMM ranks total.

Thanks for the explanation.

Originally posted by: Minot
I have a Celeron 440 that I needs a stable (yet inexpensive) home. I'd like to try running it at 333 MHz FSB to hit 3333 MHz core clock.

I don't think you would be able to hit that on the Asus board. As I said in my review, not only did a 200MHz FSB chip fail to hit 333MHz FSB (even though with other chips it can do much higher), the board also did not like the BSEL mod which is usually a great way to "trick" boards. FWIW I have an Intel branded G33 chipset board that also won't take the BSEL mod.

 

[Skott]

Nice little review, Zap. Thanks for the info!

 

[Bl0cks]

Nice review. It encompassed everything I needed to know.

 

[isosunrise]

Great review. I finally had time to play with the P5KPL-AM/PS and an intel e5200 too.

In terms of overclocking, I find the setup stable (OCCT in Windows 7) with stock h/s on load at 58-62C...

3.4ghz (272x12.5) at default cpu voltage 1.25V (max OC at 1.25V)

3.7ghz (296x12.5) at cpu voltage 1.25V+150mV (~1.31V according to OCCT)

It does post at 3.8ghz, but errors in OCCT at 1.31V.

When I get time, I will try bumping the voltage to 1.4V; I bet I can get little more out of it.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: isosunrise
When I get time, I will try bumping the voltage to 1.4V; I bet I can get little more out of it.

Go for it! You plan on using the retail heatsink still? Please keep track of temperatures as that might be interesting information.

I did some playing around with underclocking and undervolting the E5200 on the Gigabyte board (Asus board won't allow undervolting) and I managed to run it at 1.2GHz 0.80v. Heatsink almost stayed cold to the touch, and only drew around 41W with just motherboard/CPU/RAM, and around 65W or so with three HDDs hooked up and booted into Windows.

 

[ShockwaveVT]

Thanks for the review Zap, I've been thinking about picking one of these up and the information you've provided is very useful.

Of course what had seemed like an easy choice for me at first, is now a dogfight between the P5KPL-AM/PS and GA-G31M-ES2L. Gigabit LAN is a criteria for me, so most of the other offerings at this price point are out except for Foxconn and that is a brand I have no personal experience with.

 

[E mil]

Hi everyone !!
I am new to this forum and... sorry, my english isn't good.

Looking on internet for a while and found this nice review. I have same MBO and have a question for Zap or ...

I OC my E8400 (C0) to 3,6 Ghz,+100mV (400x9), FSBRAM=1:1, temp=48-idle,69-load, RAM kingmax 800 (PC6400), everything else is on AUTO, and work fine (stable) for now.

You said "With an E8400, 460MHz was fine" (this is 4,14 GHz) , for me even at 410 MHz system won't boot.
What i'm doing wrong ??
Can this MBO go over 1600 Rated FSB.

Thanks !!

 

[lopri]

Sticky'ed for a better visibility of this excellent review.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: lopri
Sticky'ed for a better visibility of this excellent review.

I actually came in to this thread to ask why it is stickied. And I'm still not sure. Not a knock against Zap or the thread, but I see no reason why this should be stickied, especially two months after it was written.

 

[lopri]

Aluvus: I am trying out a different way to run stickies. Some will stick around long but some will not. This is an experiement in Motherboard Forums only, and I would welcome any suggestion.

As for Zap's reviews - He posts his mini-reviews for oft-overlooked products, and as you can see his reviews are top-notch. More than anything, they are user-oriented and unbiased. I believe it's a sticky material. In any case, we will have a different sticky next week, and a new one the following week, etc.

As I said above, suggestions are always welcome.

lop

 

[Zap]

Hey, my first stickied post! Thanks, lopri!

Originally posted by: E mil
Hi everyone !!

Hi E mil, and welcome to Anandtech Forums.

Originally posted by: E mil
You said "With an E8400, 460MHz was fine" (this is 4,14 GHz) , for me even at 410 MHz system won't boot.
What i'm doing wrong ??

I basically did a pure test of what the motherboard will sustain. If you read a couple paragraphs above, I said:

I tested a few processors with the multiplier set to 6x, memory set to lowest option with voltage bumped up all the way for all available settings (vCore/vDIMM/ICH/MCH) and memory set to very lax timings of 6-6-6-24. Memory was some DDR2-1066 2.2v. Here are some quick results. No stability tests were run. I was just interested (for now) in how high I can get the setup to POST.

So basically...

1) I did not run at 4.14GHz
2) I don't know if it was stable at all
3) This is just a quick exercise to see what the board might be capable of

For your own overclock you may want to lower your memory multiplier one notch to see if that is holding you back because as you raise FSB the memory becomes overclocked as well. Also, set voltage to +150mV. That is just barely above 10% more voltage so it should be a fairly safe level (Intel usually specifies +/-10%). As the chipset is only designed for 333MHz and you are already pushing close to 410MHz, you may have to raise ICH and MCH voltages.

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: lopri
Sticky'ed for a better visibility of this excellent review.

He also did a review of the Gigabyte G31 board which sounded like a better choice than the Asus.

 

[E mil]

For your own overclock you may want to lower your memory multiplier one notch to see if that is holding you back because as you raise FSB the memory becomes overclocked as well. Also, set voltage to +150mV. That is just barely above 10% more voltage so it should be a fairly safe level (Intel usually specifies +/-10%). As the chipset is only designed for 333MHz and you are already pushing close to 410MHz, you may have to raise ICH and MCH voltages.

I try everything you said, but nothing works.

Maybe I need to buy new MBO.

 

[Zap]

Maybe your CPU just won't clock that high? Or it needs more voltage than the board can give?

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Originally posted by: Minot
I"m leaning toward the Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L

I was looking for a cheap, good, micro board for a new build, so thanks for the "suggestion"...it sdaved me from having to ask for ideas!