Hard Drive Performance
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Average Read Speed
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CPU Utilisation
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Asus P5WD2-e Premium
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53MB
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2%
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ECS KN1 SLI Extreme
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47.6MB
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5%
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The Asus and ECS are very close in SATA-II performance. Average read rate is an absolute tie, burst transfer goes to the nF4. While it appears as though the ECS is edging out the Asus, the most important bit of information here is CPU load, with ECS at 5%, the Asus a mere 2%. With transfer rates and burst data writes/reads this close, CPU utilization will become a factor over the long haul.
Network Performance
We used to test the networking speed, and Windows Task Manager for CPU usage. With gigabyte NIC's installed in these systems I am getting hard pressed to actually make them work, you need a lot of files. I copied a variety of files totaling 2.8GB, varying in size of 300kb to as much as 150MB per file from the Asus machine to the DFI box and back. Then I performed the same test with a 3.7GB ISO image. This test was performed at stock CPU speeds and a crossover cable.
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| Asus P5WD2-e Premium |
46.9
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21
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| ECS KN1 SLI Extreme |
37.4
|
10
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| Download |
|
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| Asus P5WD2-e Premium |
48.3
|
22
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| ECS KN1 SLI Extreme |
37.1
|
11
|
As you can see, Asus has the upper hand here, surprising as that may be, as both motherboards are using the Marvell Yukon 10/100/1000 NIC. A caveat here is that although Asus outperforms the ECS, Asus also uses more CPU, a substantial amount more (100% +).
Overclocking
A quick couple of graphs to show what 4.4GHz buys you over the 3.2GHz stock speeds.
A nice little improvement in PiFast and TMPGEnc, granted we have increased the clock by over 30%.
Final Words
are well known for high quality and performance, a hard combo to attain, much less maintain on a constant basis. With the , Asus once again shows us a motherboard thats not only built well, it performs like no other I have tested previously. Overclocking is not just a possibility, it is a requirement with this board; simplistic enablement of Overclocking for the beginner, and advanced controls for those of us that like the outer edge a bit more. Add to that HD audio, silent heat dissipation, dual GB NIC's and Crossfire™, you have one board that is going to set the benchmark for others to match.
Little things like intelligent riser / connector positioning as well as forward thinking eSATA-II support help lift the P5WD2-E Premium to new heights. The price is up there, often you get what you pay for, I don't see this as an exception to that rule.
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