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Introduction and Specification

With so many changes to the platform, it’s a wonder that any motherboard manufacturers are able to produce high quality motherboards for the LGA775 Intel processors, let alone motherboards that impress us.  But the P5AD2 Premium is in fact one of those motherboards. 

While Asus’ name has been known for quality for some time, it seems to have taken that a step further this generation by offering a lot of new features and coming up with some very innovative cooling techniques.  They were the first (and still only if I recall correctly) manufacturer to bring integrated wireless to the motherboard with a whole lot more to boot. 

I suggest you read through our entire review to find out why this Asus motherboard was the first to receive our Editor’s Choice award at PC Perspective.

Specifications (from Asus website)

CPU	- LGA775 socket for Intel Pentium 4/Celeron CPU - Compatible with Intel 04B and 04A processors - Intel Hyper-Threading Technology ready
Chipset	Intel 925X Intel ICH6R
Front Side Bus	800 / 533 MHz
Memory	- Dual channel memory architecture - 4 x 240-pin DIMM sockets support max. 4GB DDR2 533/400 non-ECC memory - Intel Performance Acceleration Technology (Intel PAT)
Expansion Slots	1 x PCI Express x16 slot for discrete graphics card 2 x PCI Express x1 3 x PCI
Storage/Raid	Intel ICH6R South Bridge: - 1 x UltraDMA 100/66/33 - 4 x Serial ATA with Intel Matrix Storage Technology with RAID 0, 1 support Silicon Image 3114R RAID controller: - 4 x Serial ATA with JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 10, 5 (RAID 5 software patch available, no WHQL) ITE IDE RAID controller: - 2 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 with JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 0+1 support
LAN	Dual Gigabit LAN controllers 2 x Marvell PCIe 88E8053 Gigabit LAN Controller, features AI NET2
Wireless LAN: WiFi-g	54 Mbps IEEE 802.11g and backwards compatible with 11 Mbps 802.11b - Access Point function (under WinXP, 2003) - Bundle an external antenna - One-touch wizard - Wireless bridge, a.k.a. WDS or wireless repeater (under WinXP, 2003)
Audio	- C-Media High Definition Audio 8-channel CODEC - Coaxial, Optical S/PDIF out on back I/O port - Features Dolby Digital Live technology
IEEE 1394b/a	TI 1394b controller supports - 2 x 1394b ports @ 800 Mbps speed - 1 x 1394a ports @ 400 Mbps speed
USB	Max. 8 USB2.0 ports
ASUS AI Proactive Features	AI NOS (Non-delay Overclocking System) AI NET2 network diagnosis before entering OS WiFi-g powered by WiFi@HOME technology Stack Cool patented fanless cooling system
Overclocking Features	- AI NOS (Non-delay Overclocking System) - AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner) - CPU, Memory, and PCIe x16 voltage adjustable - SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection) from 100MHz up to 400MHz at 1MHz increment - Adjustable FSB/DDR ratio. Fixed PCI/PCIe frequencies. - ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Other ASUS Special Features	CrashFree BIOS 2 Q-Fan2 Post Reporter Multi-language BIOS MyLogo2
BIOS	8 Mb Flash ROM,AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3
Back Panel I/O Ports	1 x Parallel 1 x WLAN antenna jack (optional) 1 x Optical + 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x RJ45 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 1 x IEEE1394a 8-Channel Audio I/O
Internal I/O Connectors	2 x USB 2.0 connectors supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports 1 x LAN connector 2 x IEEE1394 connectors 1 x COM connector 1 x GAME/MIDI connector CPU / 2 x Chassis / Power Fan connectors Front panel High Definition Audio connector Chassis Intrusion connector CD audio-in connector 24-pin ATX Power connector 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector
Support CD	Drivers ASUS PC Probe ASUS LiveUpdate Utility Anti-virus software (OEM version)
Accessories	InterVideo WinDVD Suite (OEM version) 1 x Wireless LAN antenna (optional) 1 x 2-port IEEE1394b / 1-port RJ45 module 10 x Serial ATA cables 1 x SATA Extension module for external devices 4 x 2-port SATA power cable 1 x 2-port USB2.0 / Game module 1 x COM Port module 2 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable 1 x IDE cable 1 x FDD cable 1 x I/O Shield User's manual
Form Factor	ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6"(30.5cm x 24.5cm)

Next Page - Board Layout and Features

Review Index:
- Select - Summary Introduction and Specification Board Layout and Features Included Extras and Software BIOS Features BIOS Features (cont'd) AI N.O.S. and System Setup Synthetic: SiSoft Sandra, AIDA32 and Cachemem Gaming: Quake III and Unreal Tournament 2003 Gaming: X2 and 3D Marks Application: Winstones, Sysmark 2004 and Webmark 2004 Applicatoin: DivX and MP3 Encoding, WinRAR and PC Mark Professional: CineBench, SPECviewperf and KribiBench Scientific: ScienceMark 2.0 Beta Conclusions and Award