ASUS P5K-E/WiFi-AP Motherboard

Conclusions

ASUS P5K-E/WiFi-AP is a really nice mainstream motherboard, featuring all you need to have an updated Intel-based computer: DDR2-1066 support, 1,333 MHz external bus support, six SATA-300 ports supporting RAID, two eSATA ports, two FireWire ports, Gigabit Ethernet, on-board optical and coaxial SPDIF connectors and, of course, its exclusive WiFi access point working under 802.11g or b, allowing you to create your own wireless network without needing a wireless broadband router.

The quality of the on-board audio of this motherboard is also something we need to say: with over 100 dB signal-to-noise ratio on its output you get the same quality of good add-on sound cards. Its input signal-to-noise ratio, however, is low for today’s standards, with only 92 dB while it should have at least 95 dB. Even though this is enough for the regular user, if you are looking for a motherboard for professionally capturing and editing analog audio (converting LPs, VHS tapes, etc) you should look for a different motherboard or install a better add-on sound card on this board.

Of course there are features missing if you are looking for a truly high-end motherboard, such as SLI support, DDR3 memory support, PCI Express 2.0 slots, two Gigabit Ethernet ports and support for the forthcoming 1,600 MHz external bus. But if you want those options you will have to pay high bucks for them (expect the SLI, which is available on several cost-effective motherboards) and honestly today these features don’t make sense for Average Joe – maybe one or two years from now.

Also on the good side is the manufacturing quality of the board, with passive heatsinks that eliminate the noise produced by the motherboard and solid aluminum capacitors, which provides a higher life span compared to traditional electrolytic capacitors plus you won’t face the infamous capacitor leakage problem. But for a truly high-end motherboard ASUS could have used ferrite coils on the voltage regulator circuit instead of the traditional iron coils.

Of course this isn’t the cheapest motherboard around – but it isn’t also the most expensive. For users willing to have top features, and WiFi acces
s point and good manufacturing quality this motherboard is a good pick. Trying to save some bucks buying the non-WiFi version doesn’t make any sense: at Newegg.com the price difference between the two is of just five bucks. Newegg.com, by the way, sells this motherboard by USD 150.00 – a good price for a P35 motherboard, comparable to other good models such as Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R. With the detail that other P35 boards don’t come with a WiFi access point.