ASUS Previews Industry's Most Energy-Efficient Motherboards

[Eclecticos]

ASUS worldwide leader in component and notebook design and manufacturing, today previewed the P5Q series of motherboards equipped with the exclusive ASUS EPU Energy Processing Unit. This energy-conserving series is based on the upcoming Intel P45 chipset, and features full support for the latest Intel processors and memory technologies. Thanks to the inclusion of the exclusive ASUS EPU, the P5Q series claims the leadership position as the most energy efficient motherboard on the market. The P5Q energy-saving series of motherboards consists of P5Q Deluxe, P5Q-E, P5QC, P5Q PRO and P5Q.

Source: Asus.com

[intel igent]

i wonder how they OC?

[erocker]

Originally Posted by intel igent

i wonder how they OC?

Good question! I wonder if one would have to turn the EPU "off" in order to OC with some stability. Either way, saving on the ol' electric bill is something I strangely am becoming more interested in.

[tkpenalty]

*Tkpenalty yawns at PR exercise*

[Eclecticos]

I figured it would be a good topic for conversation.
I will be sure to write something interesting for you to read next time.

Some additional information:

Spare the Earth with ASUS’ New EPU Technology
The P5Q series joins the ever-expanding list of ASUS’ EPU-equipped motherboards. As the world’s only on-board power microprocessor, the EPU features auto phase switching that detects and optimizes power utilization in real-time with improved VRM efficiency.

Quick Access to the Web, Less Power Used
Needing only five seconds to start the PC system, the ASUS Express Gate allows users to easily and quickly access the Internet, listen to music, and view pictures without entering Windows or otherwise accessing the hard disk. This breakthrough mini operating system brings convenience and power savings to today’s fast-paced lifestyle.

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

*Tkpenalty yawns at PR exercise*

*throws a penut in tkpenaltys mouth as he yawns* STRIKE!!!!!!

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Eclecticos

Quick Access to the Web, Less Power Used
Needing only five seconds to start the PC system, the ASUS Express Gate allows users to easily and quickly access the Internet, listen to music, and view pictures without entering Windows or otherwise accessing the hard disk. This breakthrough mini operating system brings convenience and power savings to today’s fast-paced lifestyle.

this feature has always intrigued me - it sounds interesting but im not exactly sure how its supposed to work. is there a internet browser built into the bios or am i missing something?? also how likely is the system to be 'infected' or 'attacked' by haXors while in browsing mode??? what about aditional plug ins like flash or quicktime used to view some websites???

TPU needs to hire a Asus rep to explain all this monkey nuts to us

(i would expect its pretty safe since you dont boot into windows....)

[intel igent]

Originally Posted by Eclecticos

I figured it would be a good topic for conversation.
I will be sure to write something interesting for you to read next time.

Some additional information:

Spare the Earth with ASUS’ New EPU Technology
The P5Q series joins the ever-expanding list of ASUS’ EPU-equipped motherboards. As the world’s only on-board power microprocessor, the EPU features auto phase switching that detects and optimizes power utilization in real-time with improved VRM efficiency.

Quick Access to the Web, Less Power Used
Needing only five seconds to start the PC system, the ASUS Express Gate allows users to easily and quickly access the Internet, listen to music, and view pictures without entering Windows or otherwise accessing the hard disk. This breakthrough mini operating system brings convenience and power savings to today’s fast-paced lifestyle.

i think these are really good ideas coming out of ASUS

[Mussels]

the onboard OS is going to be a mini linux, i assume there will be some flash memory on the mobo and it shows up as a bootable device.

More or less, think of linux with a media player, web browser and chat program built in, as well as drivers for all the onboard features.

[Exavier]

This is interesting..I like the idea, as it would negate the need for me to have these things on my actual XP per se, meaning I don't get distracted when I'm working, and can just use the gateway when I want to use media/intarwebs/msn
I like..
any forthcoming information about board spec? I'm assuming DDR3..

[btarunr]

Meh..I can underclock my CPU and call myself energy efficient....though I don't spend extra money on a 'energy efficient' board.

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Mussels

the onboard OS is going to be a mini linux, i assume there will be some flash memory on the mobo and it shows up as a bootable device.

More or less, think of linux with a media player, web browser and chat program built in, as well as drivers for all the onboard features.

how bout if u were using a creative XFi instead of the built in sound?

Asus have had a feature for a while where you can play a music cd without having to boot the pc up/load into windows but it never seem to work for me as i dont use the old ps/2 ports to plug my keyboard in & also seeing as i always had an additional sound card plugged in.

[tkpenalty]

*Tkpenalty yawns again*

These features ARENT exactly new. Its just switching off power phases which does use less power, but you are going to stress the phases that aren't being used more. It does save power, but today's CPUs are so energy efficient that this feature doesn't really have much of an effect.

[InnocentCriminal]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

TPU needs to hire a Asus rep to explain all this monkey nuts to us.

Y'know what, that's not a bad idea. I highly doubt that manufacturers would be able to spare the free time, but we could (like other forums) have a rep from ASUS, Gigabyte etc etc it'd be extremely useful.

Hmm... would W1zz be opposed to people e-mailing and inviting reps to the forums?

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by InnocentCriminal

Y'know what, that's not a bad idea. I highly doubt that manufacturers would be able to spare the free time, but we could (like other forums) have a rep from ASUS, Gigabyte etc etc it'd be extremely useful.

Hmm... would W1zz be opposed to people e-mailing and inviting reps to the forums?

everybody knows Asus can make kick ass products - but kick ass products will only get you so far. even though Asus no doubt have their own forums & their own people looking after the forums - even though it maybe difficult to hire a rep from any respectable manufacturer - if Asus did agree that would build more upon what is already a strong foundation of great reliable products & not just that - by joining/endorsing etc sites like these is another great way to build a reputation with the enthusiast community.

anybody can tell you that a mobo or graphics card is kick ass but having somebody there from the parent company to represent their kick ass products - i dunno about everyone else but it makes me feel a lot more 'secure' when buying their products as theyve gone throw lengths to back their products & not just to everyday people either.

I think Guru3d has 1 or 2 more reps - i know 1 of them is from Creative.

having a 'PR' team trolling enthusiast sites all day is a small price to pay for securing more sales as well as a bigger epenis

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

*Tkpenalty yawns again*

*flicks a moldy malteser into tkpenaltys mouth*

[Dangle]

I'm not a rep from Asus, but I can easily explain the reasoning behind this. There's LOADS of money to be made off of people's fears, and some people will pay anything to make themselves feel like they're helping polar bears (sounds like religious corruption and guilt-trips). Neither Intel, Asus, Apple, Msft, Nvda, ATI, AMD, Ford, Toyota, GE, or GM is a 501C3 non-profit organization. Their primary goal is to make money and they are all successful because they know how to do it.

[D4S4]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Meh..I can underclock my CPU and call myself energy efficient....though I don't spend extra money on a 'energy efficient' board.

My video card runs @300/600MHz in 2D mode. Do I qualify for an prestigious "energy efficient" tag?

I guess these are going to be low-end, mainstream boards and mostly used in dells and other corporate computers.

But if they overclock well, there's no reason not to get one, but I personally dislike ASUS.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

how bout if u were using a creative XFi instead of the built in sound?

Asus have had a feature for a while where you can play a music cd without having to boot the pc up/load into windows but it never seem to work for me as i dont use the old ps/2 ports to plug my keyboard in & also seeing as i always had an additional sound card plugged in.

my old aopen board in the athlonXP days had something similar, and it required the use of all onboard features. You couldnt use external hardware, only onboard.

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by D4S4

My video card runs @300/600MHz in 2D mode. Do I qualify for an prestigious "energy efficient" tag?

Yes, since the GPU draws lesser power.

Originally Posted by D4S4

I guess these are going to be low-end, mainstream boards and mostly used in dells and other corporate computers.

Quite the opposite. Energy efficiency will be used as a premium feature. Watch how Gigabyte charges about $10 more for it's GA-Exxx-Dxx boards (eg: GA-EP35-DS3R).

Originally Posted by D4S4

But if they overclock well, there's no reason not to get one, but I personally dislike ASUS.

Energy efficient boards do nothing more than underclocking and turning off power-phases. A bad idea to overclock with energy saving features enabled....I OC, it UC, system f UC ked

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Energy efficient boards do nothing more than underclocking and turning off power-phases. A bad idea to overclock with energy saving features enabled....I OC, it UC, system f UC ked

It sounds like it may be different to that, and real-time optimising voltages and such. Remember that anything that gets hot means its wasted energy - if this tweaks voltages and reduces power loss, its possible it wont even affect overclocking and may help it. (similar to an anti-vdroop setting)

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by Mussels

It sounds like it may be different to that, and real-time optimising voltages and such. Remember that anything that gets hot means its wasted energy - if this tweaks voltages and reduces power loss, its possible it wont even affect overclocking and may help it. (similar to an anti-vdroop setting)

I get the point but along with that, the so-called 'EPU' turns off power-phases....which could affect the OC. Even a mediocre OC for a 130W CPU can jack up its consumption to upto 140W or higher. It's critical that power phases maintain stability...and when a CPU is overclocked and running at a said parameter, if the EPU turns off a phase, it could hit the OC'ed CPU's stability, lack of proper power could heat it further. It's when an OC'ed CPU gets proper power when it is at the peak of efficiency.

[VIPER]

"ASUS worldwide leader in component and notebook design and manufacturing...... Thanks to the inclusion of the exclusive ASUS EPU, the P5Q series claims the leadership position as the most energy efficient motherboard on the market...."

Yeah, sure... I wonder why the tests that put face2face EPU and DES presents a different situation?