Introduction

Earlier this year I brought you the ASUS P5K64WS, a professional graphics workstation motherboard based on the Intel P35 chipset, sporting four PCI-E x 16 slots. My premise was that there are people that desire the features of a high-end motherboard, but rather than use it for overclocking or gaming, their primary needs are graphics power for CAD, creating animation, or using several monitors at one time. This is the niche market for upper end single-processor and dual-processor Macs, which with any decent video capability at all start at well over 3 grand, and can run dangerously close to the 5-figure mark.

The P5K64WS sought to fit the needs of those needing a powerful single-processor rig with serious graphics capabilities. Can you get much more serious than a quartet of Radeon, FireGL, or FireMV video cards in one rig?

The P5K64 WS turned out to be an excellent enthusiast motherboard, overclocking surprisingly well, and having good stability when stressed. I ended up using it for my DDR3 test platform for several months, until I received an nForce 790i SLI board. I was well pleased.

Today I will be looking at ASUS' workstation motherboard based on the X38 chipset, the P5E64WS Professional. It is similar to the earlier board in that it has the capability for a quad of graphics cards, DDR3 system memory, and other features that will satisfy the enthusiast as well as the engineer. This one has even more features for the enthusiast, and a much more serious heatpipe cooling system. Fortunately, I will be able to pack more than one GPU onto this board, so hopefully I'll be able to better see the graphics capabilities of the board. Stay tuned to see!

Packaging

The P5E64 WS Professional is packaged like Asus' midrange motherboards, in a sleeved flat box. The graphics are no-nonsense, there is some European-styled architecture in the background, with features and specs listed thoughout.

Open the box, we find the bundle on top of a cardboard divider, with the motherboard tucked under, in a static-free sleeve.