Asus P5KC

Hello,

I own a P5KC since 5 months and it works faultless (Vista Ultimate 32 bits)
with an Intel Core 2 Duo 6750 @ 3.4 GHz (stock fan and voltage), and 2x2GB
DDR2 Corsair PC6400 (800MHz) memory @ about 920 MHz (5-5-5-1 with 2.0 V
instead of stock 1.9 V (there are 4 sockets for DDR2, and 2 for DDR3, but
you cannot mix DDR2 and DDR3). Take note that about 3.3GB of the 4GB ram are
available for the user (this is not a bug, and is OS dependent: Vista uses
part of the RAM depending on the hardware installed on the MB; google if you
want to know more).

I don't use DDR3 (too expensive - certainly for 4 GB - and no real
performance gain at the moment).
I use a Nvidia 8800GT graphics card with 512 MB.
I also use on-board sound and (wired) Gibabit controler.
Connected are 2 SATA and 1 IDE HD, 1 SATA and 1 IDE DVD burner.

Other P5Kxxx models support ICH9R for full Intel raid (P5KC has non raid
ICH9 with the much less flexible JMicron raid 0/1 controler [only supporting
2 disks: 1 SATA and 1 eSATA], and I don't use it, which isn't a big
trouble).
Also, there's no on-board Wifi of any type; some other models have it, but I
don't know if they support (pre-)N protocol or only B and G.
Note that the single IDE controler connector couldn't be placed at a worse
place than it is: if you're unlucky with your (IDE) HD placement in your
case, a standard length IDE cable will not be long enough (look at P5KC
pictures at Asus site, or download the manual)

If I had to choose a MB now, I would evaluate the other Asus models (P5Bxxx,
P5Kxxx, ...) supporting Intel chipsets (which implies dual graphics
capability with ATI's Crossfire, and not with Nvidia's SLI); also, support
of raid ICH9R would be nice.

Anyway for the P5KC I own, performance and stability are at the moment the
biggest positive points.


"CODco" <Dave.McKinnon.TakeThisOut@telus.net> wrote in message
news:Kjekj.6492$vp3.2503@edtnps90...
> Considering this board for new system build. Looking for feedback from
> those who are using this board with ram and cpu recommendations.
 >> Stay informed about: Asus P5KC 

In article <Kjekj.6492$vp3.2503@edtnps90>, Dave.McKinnon.TakeThisOut@telus.net
says...
|Considering this board for new system build. Looking for feedback from
|those who are using this board with ram and cpu recommendations.
|

Biggest weakness for many is lack of a PS2 mouse port and location of
the IDE ports at the bottom of the board. Not a problem if you use USB
mouse or SATA drives.

I can not get my 3 year old Sony DVD burner to burn at full speed using
the IDE port. I replaced it with an OEM ASUS DVD burner for $30 from
newegg.

Passive cooling does not always keep the motherboard temps as low as
many would like.

Serial port header on MB but no out board connector.


Running Q6600 Intel CPU and 2gb DDR2.


If you buy a P5KC I suggest the following.

go with all SATA drives.
make sure the case you use can keep it cool or hang a better heatsink
and mini fan on the chipset.
make sure the power supply can handle the total load.
BIOS updates come out for this every coupl eof months.. watch their web
site.
 >> Stay informed about: Asus P5KC