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The ASUS P4S8X is definitely one
of the most innovative boards we tested in our labs. With a
strong feature set like USB 2.0, AGP 8x, Serial ATA, RAID and 6
channel audio, 1394 (optional). With these new features, it
definitely brings the overall I/O performance to another level.
In our tests, the performance of this
board is pretty good if you were to run in the official DDR333 mode but
it lost to the SiS 648 ref board and the Shuttle AS45GTR. This could be
due to the ram timings that are set within the BIOS. At the unofficial
DDR400, we are unable to complete most of the tests and it is very
unstable even with the Corsair DDR400 CAS 2.5 module set to run in SPD
mode.
Overclocking wise, we managed to
overclock up to 150Mhz FSB using our P4 2.4B processor. If you are into
overclocking, the FSB is only selectable up to 166Mhz FSB. I suppose
this will change in the near future. Some users were asking me whether
there are any FIX PCI mode, well the answer is No. Thus you can't set
FSB above 133 and run the PCI/AGP at 33/66 FIX. Vcore/CPU/AGP voltages
are adjustable.
The board layout really needs to be
improved. The AGP Slot's retention clip is too close to the DIMM slots
and makes it quite difficult to remove DDR if the AGP card is installed.
Documentation is concise and the
multi-language BIOS is definitely a welcomed move. Installation is very
straightforward, there is ample space around the CPU. Most of the
heatsinks should have no problems fitting it. Bundled with the package
is a free copy of the intervideo WinCinema
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