On the surface, relationships between various motherboard vendors are usually kept above-board and cordial.  While there?s no love lost between the various companies, there?s a certain degree of civility that keeps the wheels of diplomacy greased and situations (mostly) polite. 

That?s why it was actually a bit surprising last week to receive an email from Gigabyte that point-blank accused ASUS of cheating.  In a world where benchmarks don?t ?favor? companies, they ?optimize? for them, cheating is a very loaded word.  It actually implies something BAD is going on, as opposed to all that ?good, healthy, optimization? that we all know and love.

The accusation centers around a BIOS option in the 925 / 915 ASUS boards called PCI Express Graphics Link Mode.  (PEG Link Mode for short.)  Gigabyte claims that the ASUS 925X / 915P series motherboard, as compared to other motherboard makers, scores significantly better results on certain 3D graphics performance tests,? This setting [PEG Link Mode] clandestinely overclocks the frequency of Memory and Core Engines of ATi based PCI-Express graphics.

ASUS, as you might expect, was less-than-thrilled with Gigabyte?s accusation, and fired back a PR barrage of its own, claiming that ?PEG (PCI Express Graphics) Link Mode, is a unique feature that enables users to boost graphics card performance for superior video quality.?

So which is it?  Feature or cheat? Lets take a look and let you decide.

The Facts of PEG:

• PEG Link Mode:  ATI Only for the Moment.  Gigabyte?s PR makes reference specifically to ATi cards, probably because PEG appears to do nothing to GeForce 6800?s.  We tested with the various options and features of the motherboard tweaked, and our 3D scores never budged an iota. 
  


• Unmentioned in Documentation:  If you went strictly by the manual, PEG mode didn?t exist until ASUS? official PR.  Despite having launched these boards a month ago, it goes completely unmentioned in the shipping manual.  Even the screenshot of the relevant BIOS page doesn?t display a ?PEG Link Mode? option.

This actually tends to imply that its not a cheat.  Companies that build cheats into their products tend to recommend / hype the cheat since that is, after all, the only way to make sure the damn thing gets recognition.  If ASUS had actually intended to use the PEG link to their advantage we?d have expected to receive all sorts of subtle nudges about ?using ATI cards for best performance? or ?make sure PEG mode is set for Fastest!?

We didn?t.  I actually half-wonder if ASUS didn?t leave the feature enabled by accident when moving from engineering BIOS to shipping retail versions.

Since it only works with ATI cards, ASUS made zero attempt to push or discuss the feature (and in fact, left it out entirely), and never communicated to us privately that we should be using it, I?ve got to say that if this is meant to be a cheat, it?s a poor one.  It seems much more likely that somewhat at ASUS goofed and made a mistake.

Gigabyte?s accusation may have fallen flat (in our opinion), but it actually raises a much broader, more important question that?s the true thrust behind this editorial. 

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• Why ?Smart Overclocking? Isn?t. (1 of 2)
• ?Smart? Overclocking Options Poorly Defined (2 of 2)