ASUS has recently expanded their Intel P35 motherboard line-up with a new and rather unique addition called the P5K3 Premium. Like the P5K3 Deluxe, the Premium version also features exclusive support for DDR3 memory, but with a bit of a twist. Unlike traditional motherboards the P5K3 Premium has no DIMM slots for memory modules. This is because it features 2GB of DDR3 memory built directly onto the motherboard.

The onboard DDR3 (Qimonda IDSH51-03A1F1C-13G) memory chips are guaranteed by ASUS to reach 1500MHz when overclocked, though they are designed to work at 1333MHz using CAS8-8-8 timings. Given that 2GB of DDR3 memory starts at about $400 US, this is an excellent combo deal being offered by ASUS. Of course the disadvantage to buying a motherboard with onboard memory is that the capacity cannot be upgraded, which is a little concerning as we have found Windows Vista to already enjoy up to 4GB of memory in today’s games.



Link: Legion Hardware