Introduction

The ASUS P5B series is probably the largest motherboard family in the market at the moment spanning 11 different SKUs spread over the Intel P965 and G965 chipsets. And now, ASUS expands it even further by adding another two models into the lineup, increasing the total to a whopping 13 boards in one series alone. Most of the P5B boards are variants of each other, with almost the same features, but designed with specialized functionality like the P5B/TeleSky. The two new additions follow in the same vein, but this time ASUS takes on a brand new front that many other manufacturers have yet to touch on - Windows Vista. Yes, every manufacturer and vendor worth their salt have been gunning for those little 'Vista Certified' logos on their products, but how many of them can boast of one that is tailored to actually use the new features that Vista provides? This is a fresh market that ASUS hopes to be tapping onto first.

motherboard top
The ASUS P5B Premium Vista Edition motherboard.

The two new ASUS boards in question are the P5B-Plus Vista Edition and P5B Premium Vista Edition; so what's new or special about them? You've seen our special preview of the ASUS WF5e SideShow notebook, well these are basically ASUS' SideShow capable motherboards. For this review, we've gotten our grubby little hands on the P5B Premium Vista Edition.

As usual, the box packaging for an ASUS high-end board is bursting through the seams. It's quite amazing how ASUS can keep adding peripherals into the same packaging box:-

4 x SATA data cables

3 x SATA power converter cables (dual plugs)

1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable

1 x 40-conductor IDE data cable

1 x floppy drive data cable

IEEE 1394a port bracket

USB 2.0 (2 ports) bracket

ASUS ScreenDUO

ASUS AI Remote set

ASUS Q-Connector set

ASUS array microphone

Cooler fan

I/O shield

Driver CDs

InterVideo MediaOne Gallery suite

User's manual

ASUS P5B Premium Vista Edition Technical Specifications
CPU Support Supports 90nm/65nm LGA775 processor package
Supports Intel Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Extreme
Supports Intel Pentium D / Pentium Processor Extreme Edition
Supports Intel Pentium 4 / Pentium 4 Extreme Edition
Intel Virtualization Technology ready

Chipset Northbridge: Intel P965
533 / 800 / 1066MHz front side bus
PCI Express x16 graphics
Southbridge: Intel ICH8R
Intel High Definition Audio
Supports six PCI Express x1 lanes
Supports up to ten USB 2.0 ports
Supports six SATA 3.0Gbps ports (with Matrix Storage Technology)
Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps MAC
Intel Quiet System Technology

Memory Supports four unbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDR2 SDRAM
Supports 800/677/533/400 dual channel DDR2 memory architecture

Storage Intel ICH8R Southbridge
6 x SATA 3.0Gbps interface
Intel Matrix Storage Technology
Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, RAID 10
eSATA support
JMicron JMB363 Controller
1 x Ultra ATA 33/66/100/133 (data transfer rate up to 133MB/sec.)
2 x SATA 3.0Gbps interface
Supports RAID 0, RAID 1
eSATA support

Audio Intel High Definition Audio (Azalia)
ADI 1988B HD Audio CODEC
Optical and coaxial S/PDIF

Networking Marvell 88E8053 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
Marvell 88E8001 PCI Gigabit Ethernet controller

IEEE 1394 (FireWire) Texas Instrument TSB43AB22A FireWire controller
2 x 1394a ports @ 400 Mbps speed

I/O Interface 1 x Floppy connector
1 x Ultra ATA IDE connectors
7 x SATA connectors
1 x eSATA connector
8 x USB 2.0 ports (4 x rear, 2 x bracket, 2 x header)
2 x IEEE 1394a ports (1 x rear, 1 x bracket)
2 x RJ45 LAN port
1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output
1 x Optical S/PDIF Output
8-Channel Audio I/O ports
1 x 9-pin serial port
1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2 mouse port
1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2 keyboard port

Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe x16 slots, PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant
1 x PCIe x1 slots, PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant
3 x 32-bit PCI slots, PCI 2.3 compliant

Special Features ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution
ASAP (ASUS Accelerated Propeller)
ASUS ScreenDUO
AI Nap
AI Gear
Stack Cool 2

PCB ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6"(30.5cm x 24.4cm)

rear
Rear I/O panel on the P5B Premium comes with PS/2 connectors, Serial port, Optical/Coaxial S/PDIF, FireWire, eSATA, surround audio, dual LAN and four USB 2.0.