Layout and features
Let's see how ASUS does with the P4C800-E's layout.
ASUS doesn't go in for the garish colours and idiosyncratic layout that often marks out, say, Soltek's or DFI's boards. Indeed, if it were not for the company's name being present on the passive Northbridge heatsink it would be difficult to tell who makes the board. Layout feels subjectively good on first glance. There's plenty of space around the CPU's retention bracket and both power plugs, 20-pin and 4-pin, are grouped to one side. A pet hate of ours is to have cabling traverse the CPU area. ASUS has two fan headers on either side of the bracket whose retention holes, a little worryingly, are aligned with the passive heatsink. It's not a problem when using a reference heatsink, but it may become one with an aftermarket cooler.
We'd prefer it if the 20-pin power plug's notch was facing the primary IDE port. Having it looking towards the DDR slots makes removal a tad trickier. ASUS has been thoughtful enough to ensure that DDR locks can be fully disengaged with an AGP card in situ. It also makes dual-channel running a doddle. Use slots of the same colour or use the full complement. The acid test of a layout is to see just how easy it is to connect up the various drives and plugs. Speaking from experience, the P4C800-E is one of the easiest.
A lot of action is contained in the bottom-left of the board. Intel's ICH5R Southbridge provides native SATA support for independent, RAID0 and RAID1 running. The latter is controlled by BIOS settings. ASUS feels as if that's not enough storage potential for a deluxe board. Promise's PDC20378 hybrid controller can utilise 2 SATA disks (one on each port) and a further 2 PATA disks on the single port that's been rotated 90 degrees. The sum of this configuration is the possibility of RAID0, RAID1, RAID0+1 and Multi-RAID formats, using either 2,3 or 4 drives. Given 4 drives and 2 types of ports, RAID0 and RAID1 can be used independently of each other. Add to that ICH5R RAID and you have a scary amount of fast storage potential at your disposal. The only caveat to pure performance is the Promise controller's PCI bus usage.
Intel's ICH5R may be good for storage but it's lacking in the feature department. That's why ASUS has opted for VIA's VT6306 3-port FireWire controller. It's been around the block a few times now, yet it continually crops up in cutting-edge boards. ASUS only uses two ports, one whose header is just below the controller and the second on the back panel. I'd like to point out the sensible location of the clear CMOS jumper, on the top-right of the above picture. Too many board makers sandwich it between a couple of ports and make access a nightmare.
ASUS has decided to go with Intel's Northbridge-attached CSA Gigabit implementation. That's wise thinking considering the kind of bridge load Promise's controller, VIA's FireWire ASIC, and copious amounts of USB 2.0 usage can concurrently create. Analog Devices' AD1985 ICH5R-connecting CODEC is a cut above others that grace many a motherboard. Combined with the excellent SoundMax4 XL software it provides jack-sensing technology and expected 6-channel support. The software is slick and the CODEC is good. No complaints here.
Another deluxe nod arrives in the form of WiFi support. ASUS currently offers the Add-in (802.11b) card as an extra. We really think it should be included in the 'E's bundle.
S/PDIF-Out support is provided courtesy of ADI's CODEC. The rest is pretty standard fare. We reckon the ASUS P4C800-E deserves its deluxe tag, just. What's more, features have been integrated without sacrificing board layout. Above average from a builder's point of view.
