Asus P5K3 Premium Black Pearl Edition Review

The "Black Pearl" edition P5K3 Premium motherboard has several distinctive features that sets it apart from the crowd. First and foremost is the lack of DIMM slots for the system memory. The reason becomes evident when you take a closer look. The memory is actually built onto the board and is heavily heatsinked to reduce its operating temperatures and improve its ability to overclock. With speeds guaranteed at 1500MHz or above, it needs the help. The second distinctive feature is the "Stack Cool 2" method of using the specially designed ten-layered PCB to help cool critical electrical components by transferring heat directly through the PCB. Asus claims a 20 degree celsius reduction of operating temperatures on the critical onboard components.