Asus Commando

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/03/06/asus_commando/1.html

 

Quality review to Bit-tech's high standards as usual.

On a side note, anyone know what ever happened to the Asus Frontlinker? Maybe somebody at HQ can pull some strings and find out?

 

So is the Asus P5B Deluxe the better board in terms of value/features then?

 

Depends what you're after, Wifi? Solid state caps? LCD screen? Onboard switches? A couple more heatpipes to provide better stability during the summer? Slightly better overclocking potential, 400 or 450? You have to judge if the £20 is worth it considering your needs.

Nu: I'll put it on my list to ask Asus at CeBit.

 

Awesome review yet again, there's a flurry of mobo's coming atm, it's awesome.

Looks like a good board really, have you any quibbles that didn't make it to review?

 

As always a good review by Bit-tech.
Seems quite a variable board going by the forums - some people think that it's as simple a case of QC & whether they were made in the new Chinese factory or not.
Also a lot of reports of them being noisy, Clunk over on Hexus had 3 which I think have all gone back (certainly 2 have).

Plans for an AB9 QuadGT review?

 

@ BUFF

Noisy when using the optional cooler?

 

Noisy? As in electrically? Because the thing doesn't have a single fan. I never used the optional cooler, and it survived 24 hours of stress test without it.

When I see Abit at CeBit I'll ask for one. We gave up on the AB9 Pro since ours died

We had 3 EVGA 680i boards and every one was bad, so sometimes you get good and bad batches of any manufacturer.

 

lots of threads on the net about toroid buzz (even at stock) - as I said Clunk on Hexus returned 3 ...

e.g. http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=29&threadid=1994876&enterthread=y

 

@ BUFF

That sounds like a group of defective boards, when you said noisy I assumed every board was inherently noisy.

I've used the Asus P5B-Deluxe without this problem, so I'm guessing it's not a widespread issue?

 

well they've been in the US, UK & Europe so it's a big group ...

HardOCP just posted their review today & they too struggled to get over ~460fsb.

 

@ Bindibadgi

Can you confirm the review board did not have this 'buzzing' issue? It would put me off buying it to be honest.

 

Well the labs aren't exactly quiet with some seven machines running on and off, but I'm usually pretty susceptible to high pitched whines and this didn't have any that I noticed the entire time.

I was actually looking at a way to stop the coils whining the other day: apparently if you move them whilst the board is running (with something non metallic) until they seem better, and drop liquid neophrane/silicon on them it kills the noise.

We've had this board since mid-Jan though, so if recent board batches are iffy either try to wait or buy from somewhere noone else does?

 

@ Bindibadgi

Thanks for the follow up.

I think I'll probably go for the P5B-Deluxe instead, I would be concerned that I couldn't return the Commando because it 'whines'...

 

Go for it, you'll save twenty quid in the process and gain onboard WiFi. Asus even do a Vista edition P5B now.

 

Vista Edition?

 

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&model=1520&modelmenu=1

 

so whats the difference, it supports a TPM module (but you have to buy it separately)
And it supports readyboost - though i don't understand how that makes any difference to the motherboard at all
And i guess it has vista drivers

did i miss anything ?

 

Had a commando since it came out, not noticed a whine or anything off the board. Running it will an E6700 and it never skips a beat, one of the better boards i have had. the optional cooler i havent used a there is plenty airflow within the case.

 

Thanks for that, and welcome to the forums