Conclusion

Well, we've come to the end of our review and its no surprise to see another ASUS Premium board that was decked out to the high heavens. The P5WD2 Premium WiFi-TV Edition was just about the most complete all-in-one motherboard available today. While features like multiple RAID and LAN controllers aren't hard to find, it is really the combination of features that made the board stand out. Looking at the components that ASUS built into the board, it was a clear message that the main purpose of the board is for a robust and powerful lifestyle entertainment product (a la the AI Life branding). Dual graphic slots allowing multi-display setup, Dolby Digital Live connection to consumer AV products, massive storage options, the inclusion of Wireless LAN and a digital TV Tuner in the WiFi-TV Edition just about seals the deal. FireWire capabilities were also available as icing on the cake. Catered for every aspect of consumer computing, the only thing this baby lacked was Bluetooth connectivity.

In terms of board cooling, ASUS' R&D have lead them to deliver Stack Cool, their proprietary way of channeling heat over an extra PCB layer thus dissipating it faster. The P5WD2 Premium featured a second generation Stack Cool implementation. Named Stack Cool 2, they have now covered the entire PCB instead of the just CPU socket area. Due to this, you'd probably not notice it at all if not for the Stack Cool 2 branding. While we were unable to provide precise numbers to support or debunk ASUS' claim of a whopping 20°C temperature decrease, the feature will work to an extent due to the fact that Stack Cool 2 is by all means equivalent to a board with a higher number of PCB layers (though ASUS would have us believe that the Stack Cool layer is specially designed).

Cool Blue, ASUS Stack Cool 2 covers the entire bottom of the board. The question remains however, on just how useful is this implementation.

Feature-wise, there is no doubt the P5WD2 Premium is an excellent board, but the controversy starts when we examine at its performance. Looking at our benchmark results, the board pumped out some really exceptional scores, but as we discovered, this was due to default memory overclocking at DDR2-667 settings. ASUS seemed to be using a non-standard memory divider of 3:4, resulting in a much higher running frequency (effective DDR2-710) than specifications. In spite of the 'overclocked' DDR2-667 speeds though, our board remained rock solid throughout testing. However, the scores obtained by the board only managed to beat the nForce4 SLI Intel Edition P5ND2-SLI Deluxe by a notch.

It is important to note that the problem isn't pervasive and would only manifest itself in one circumstance. Only users that run on a 266MHz FSB or higher with DDR2-667 option selected would be affected. Think of it like a special overclock just for you folks. If you happen to be using a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (1066MHz PSB) with DDR2-533 memory, there wouldn't have been any problems since the memory divider for a 266MHz FSB and DDR2-533 memory is correct at 1:1. The same goes for users who are using regular 200MHz FSB (800MHz PSB) Pentium 4 or Pentium D, where the memory dividers all seem to be correct (DDR2-667 here was 3:5).

We understand that the P5WD2 Premium would have an updated revision that supports DDR2-1066, whereas our board was only selectable up to DDR2-889. We hope that by then, ASUS would have corrected the divider options. ASUS might have been better off, if they had displayed the actual divider settings in the BIOS instead of generic DDR2 speeds so users can better choose. As it is, the current setting is not only misleading, but users might run into compatibility problems with memory modules that cannot handle the divider.

The P5WD2 Premium is itself a jam packed board and the WiFi-TV Edition opens up great home entertainment and connectivity features.

The P5WD2 Premium can be found going for about US$224. If you are gunning for the WiFi-TV Edition, be prepared to fork out an extra US$50 for the WiFi-TV bundle. We feel that the price is justifiable for such a comprehensive motherboard. Excellent features, good overclocking potential and stability are hallmarks of a winner. However, memory compatibility problems even with supposedly qualified modules and the shady divider issue pushes down our rating on an otherwise fabulous board.