ASUS P5KPL-AM motherboard: specifications, description and reviews

Often on reviews there are motherboards, which occupied a low price segment, as this is the most popular product. At the same time there are also descriptions of models that blew up the market. The board from ASUS P5KPL-AM characteristics got high-end, but due to its cost was available to many buyers. Now it is difficult to say whether this model can be called a "golden mean", since the capabilities of the 2008 PC and the current ones differ markedly.

Improvement

Often this new motherboard is called multimedia. For what reason, we will find out further. Immediately it is worth saying that it was based on the Intel G31 Express, which was then considered a budget system logic. The main advantage of the motherboard was the overclocking of the bus and support for a new type of memory.

We can not fail to mention the younger model ASUS P5KPL-VM. It was also based on the above chipset, but it did not have very high performance and medium capabilities. Therefore, this board is often used in assemblies of office PCs.

Packaging

As always, the models that came out in 2008 did not stand out as a particularly rich box. Now attention to the packaging is intact. Manufacturers want to create a brighter, more stylish, attractive box, at that time there was no such goal, since the competition was not as serious as it is now.

On the front, the model ASUS P5KPL-AM was indicated on the package. Characteristics are presented in a shortened format. There is information about overclocking, the type of memory supported and the presence of eight-channel audio.

On the back of the information a little more. There is an image of the motherboard itself, also some technologies, the presence of certain interfaces and so on. Complete set complete. There is, as usual, a disk with drivers and software for Windows Vista. Manual and user manual.

Here you can also find a triple of cables for Serial ATA, UltraDMA and FDD. There is an adapter for SATA, a proprietary sticker and, as always, you can put a stub on the back panel.

Appearance

Before you figure out which motherboard ASUS P5KPL-AM specifications received, we will study the design of the product. Of course, nothing special and radically different from previous models, this one does not. Textolite is made in the format of the form-factor MicroATX. Any problems with the installation of this "womb" should not arise: all the elements are located conveniently to connect the periphery.

Several capacitors were placed on the board. Polymeric is not so much, although they are distinguished by their durability, the manufacturer placed them in the area of power stabilization nodes. In the remaining places there are capacitors with liquid electrolytes. But they, unfortunately, can not boast of impeccable work.

For RAM, only two slots are visible on the board. You can expand the RAM to a maximum of 4 GB. For cooling on this model, aluminum radiators of small size meet. For some reason they decided to disguise themselves as copper ones. Although a person who understands all this, will say that such a substitution does not affect effectiveness. Radiators noticeably heat up during checks and analysis.

Element base

Approaching the answer to the question about what ASUS P5KPL-AM characteristics, you need to touch on the interface panel and in general the availability of slots on the card. The system panel did not receive a multi-colored marking. On the other hand, there is an instruction manual, although it is English-speaking. Nevertheless, thanks to it you can understand the connection, in case of emergency there is also a guide on the Internet.

The green LED from the LED has changed its place and is located at the bottom of the board. For the PCI format, there are two slots, one refers to the PCIE type x1, and the other is for PCIe x16 graphics cards. USB-connectors are also enough on this model - eight pieces.

The interface panel does not stand out as remarkable. There are ports for mouse and keyboard that are rarely found. Also there are 6 slots for the audio system. For USB only 4 ports, which at the present time is sometimes not enough. There is a connector for the Internet cable. It's nice to have a COM port, VGA video output and parallel LPT.

You can install a cooling system on the board, the maximum of three fans. One of them is processor for 4 contacts, the others - for the case for 3 contacts. The slot for connecting the cooler is in the lower right corner, this is where the processor fan should fit. In "BIOS" there is a setting of its speed and automatic adjustment.

Specification

As mentioned earlier, the ASUS P5KPL-AM features nothing special, but thanks to overclocking it is transferred to the category of multimedia models. As already mentioned, the supported chipset format is Intel G31. RAM has only two slots and can increase up to 4 GB.

The supported memory type is DDR2-1066, which is an interesting solution in the budget model. The system bus was able to overclock to 1.6 GHz. Although Intel claimed that this value could reach 1333 MHz. A memory can be overclocked to 800 MHz.

The South Bridge on the board is installed in the Intel ICH7 format and can support four SATA II connectors . It is worth noting that they can not be combined into an array. Nearby is also the port for Ultra DMA.

The audio subsystem on the board has an 8-channel VIA VT1708B codec. The audio jack can accept two ports at once: HDA and AC'97. But the high quality of the sound did not have to be counted, since the network controller was not gigabit, but worked in 10/100 Mb / s mode.

The board ASUS P5KPL-AM power characteristics also did not get very powerful. The stabilizer has only 3 phases, but operates on field effect transistors with the type of channel N. There are also polymer capacitors and chokes with a core made of ferromagnet.

Well, in the end worth mentioning the compatibility of this model with the processors. The slot for it is LGA775. At the same time, the motherboard can function with Intel Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme, Pentium 4, Pentium D and Pentium Extreme.

Capabilities

I must say that this motherboard model has ample opportunities. We are talking, of course, about the settings in the "BIOS". For those who want to try additional overclocking, there is a special section where you can increase the frequencies proportionally to 30%. If you switch to the user settings, the FSB clock speed is automatically increased to 600 MHz.

With food, it's a little more difficult. Its settings have five categories, while sometimes it's hard to guess by name what it's about. In addition, the voltage varies slightly, but at the same time with a large step.

In BIOS there is an opportunity to monitor the temperature of the board and the processor, the speed of the fan, the voltage supply. You can also turn on technology that automatically adjusts the cooler.

Variety

At one time, the motherboard ASUS P5KPL-AM SE came to the market. Its characteristics were slightly different from the previous model. It was still based on the Intel G31 chip. Connector for LGA775 processor. The system bus could have a frequency from 533 MHz to 1.6 GHz.

The Celeron E1000 and 400 series were added to the supported processors. The memory type for DDR2 DIMM changed and it was possible to increase its frequency to 1066 MHz. But the number of slots was still only two, and the maximum amount of RAM was 4 GB.

In general, ASUS P5KPL-AM SE board received a slightly weaker performance. There was also a built-in Intel GMA 3100 video adapter. But the sound scheme had a weaker version 5.1. Less is also the PCI slots, SATA 3GB / S and SATA. The minimum bus frequency was 533 MHz, and in the previous model - 800 MHz.

Modification

Another interesting variant of the monitored motherboard was the model ASUS P5KPL-AM IN / ROEM / SI. The characteristics are again almost identical. The processor is still Intel G31. Also, support for chips is identical. The possible bus frequencies have not changed: the minimum frequency is 800 MHz, and the maximum frequency is 1.6 GHz.

With memory things are the same. The only thing that catches your eye is the change of eight-channel sound to six-channel sound. Accordingly, another codec is installed - VIA VT1705. Changes its version and network controller, but it still remains with the indicators of 10/100 Mb / s. In addition, there is a difference in the number of ports. There were fewer USB connectors, and the audio system got rid of the slots. No COM ports here.

As a result, the ASUS P5KPL-AM IN / ROEM / SI characteristics got almost the same with the reference version: it's difficult to find differences for those who do not understand. Yes, and the surveyed model was still the most purchased, because few wanted to understand the huge variety of modifications.

Variation

Among all the others there is, of course, one more model ASUS P5KPL-AM EPU. Characteristics again have barely noticeably changed. There are more SATA 3Gb / s slots. The expansion ports also received replenishment. Not much changed the set of connectors in general. Still, the main transformation of this option is that the network controller has finally become gigabit. In the rest there are no changes.

Reviews

Most praise in the board ASUS P5KPL-AM SE specifications. For the cost that had to be given to users, it was possible to get an excellent average PC. At the same time, thanks to a pile of connectors, slots and ports, it was possible to install any peripherals without compatibility problems.

Motherboard ASUS P5KPL-AM IN / ROEM characteristics really got decent. Any modification of this series is praised for overclocking, which shows a good result, as well as for the almost ideal arrangement of the board elements. Do not let the company and in general. Many boards have long served users.

Of course, by 2012, it already required a change, as the technology moved forward, and some ports were no longer needed. Also, new processors appeared that were more productive. But the board was for many an excellent product, which had a built-in video adapter, audio codec and network controller.