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Reviews Around The Web
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Choose Web Reviews from this Maker:
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Wednesday, February 14, 2007
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The latest feature Asus has begun integrating into its motherboards is wireless networking - WiFi. With 802.11b/g support onboard already, setting up a wireless network at home or in the office for notebooks, printers, or other devices is pretty convenient. An 802.11g WLAN system supports data transfer speeds up to 54Mbps, which is more than enough for web surfing, streaming video or audio over the internet, and even LAN gaming. Cross one more thing off the to-get checklist for your new computer.... There is a good level of device integration built into the Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP already, so the two PCI Express x16 slots (one operates at PCI Express x16, one at PCI Express x4) for dual videocards, one PCI Express x1 and three 32-bit PCI slots.
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Tuesday, February 13, 2007
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However, there is one drawback with Skype, you have to sit in front of your computer and use a headset to talk to people, hardly the most intuitive way of making a call. However, there are options available, ranging from cheap USB connected handsets which still keep you in close vicinity to your computer, to what we'll be looking a bit closer to today, Wi-Fi enabled Skype handsets. You might wonder why you'd want a Wi-Fi telephone, although in this case it's a lot more than just a simple telephone as you'll see, but consider these handsets as a cordless phone and you'll see why they're so clever. The downside is that Wi-Fi technology is a lot more expensive than cordless telephone technology, or is it? Let's now take a closer look at a couple of Wi-Fi Skype phones from ASUS and Netgear and see where we stand.
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Monday, February 12, 2007
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The Asus M2-CROSSHAIR motherboard is a computer enthusiast's dream motherboard. Not only does it have quick access buttons for clearing the CMOS or just powering up, it has 16 bright blue LEDs spaced throughout the PCB to highlight SATA and USB ports, an integrated LCD status display panel on the rear I/O called the 'LCD Poster', and an electroluminescent I/O shield so the port names all glow light blue. All these features are extremely useful when there is little light to see what you're doing at the back of the computer, or inside.
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Friday, February 9, 2007
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To say that I'm impressed with the ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe board is an understatement. Doc uses the board in his primary gaming computer and that says a lot right there about what he and I think of the board in terms of features, performance and bundle. The bundle is excellent, as the inclusion of Wi-Fi AP Solo, MP3-In and everything else makes the P5W-DH Deluxe the most full-bundled motherboard on the test bench in a long time.
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Thursday, February 8, 2007
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With enterprise class hardware like the Asus P5W64 WS Pro motherboard, we get no less than four PCI Express x16 slots for videocards! The capability to support four PCI Express x16 videocards means this system can support up to eight monitors! That is a serious amount of desktop space! Based on the venerable Intel 975X Express chipset, the P5W64 WS Professional is ASUS' most current stab at a workstation motherboard. The multitude of PCI Express x16 slots is possible thanks to an IDT 89HA0324 PCI Express switch. The four PCI Express slots are configured in x16, x0, x4, x0 mode when one videocard is installed. When two graphics cards are installed, say for ATI Crossfire, the four PCI Express slots are split up in x8, x8, x4, x8 mode. Thus each Crossfire videocard would receive 8 lanes of PCI Express.
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Wednesday, February 7, 2007
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Whilst Asus has created a confusing range of mid-high end motherboards with slight variations, the P5N32-E SLI Plus appears to have hit the nail pretty much on the head. It still has the essential features needed for overclocking and stability, while still offering a decent I/O feature set at a price that's not going to mean selling your lungs. We can't argue with overclocking near to what the Striker Extreme is capable of for half the price. This makes the Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus a definite consideration for your next Core 2 upgrade.
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Tuesday, February 6, 2007
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The ASUS M2NPV-VM motherboard is an interesting board in many respects. The board is targeted towards the digital consumer with features like HDTV Out and the standard features of ASUS motherboards, making this board an excellent choice for the Home Theater enthusiast.
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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
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The COMMANDO motherboard is the newest recruit (Ed. stop with the military references!) to the ASUS Republic Of Gamers line-up and it's a welcome addition to the squad. The layout is excellent and the BIOS - from tweaking to overall range of options - is definitely the best we've seen from an ASUS motherboard thus far.
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One of the interesting things on the RoG series of boards is the ASUS LCD poster- ASUS basically places an LCD screen on the back panel that tells you of any problem with the setup. Think of it as an evolution to diagnostic LEDs found on other boards- instead of providing you a code that you need to look up, you're provided with the error message. Its a good idea, however, the placement on the back panel is less than ideal.
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We have seen that with the right combination of overclocking options and motherboard features that the P965 chipset is a power house. ASUS has already done pretty well with the P5B-E Plus we looked at last time; however, this was just a patch board for the Commando to arrive. Commando is the third board to come out in the "Republic of Gamers" series of boards, joining the Striker Extreme and the Crosshair boards. Based on the Intel P965 chipset it looks to have the goods, but how does it stack up and is it really worth the high price tag of over $300 USD?
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Thursday, January 25, 2007
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ASUS has a brand new entry into the motherboard market with the P5N32-E SLI Plus. Designed to be more robust with 100% solid capacitors, this new nForce 680i SLI entry may just be the one you've been holding out for.
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There is a lot to like about the Asus Striker Extreme and it is one of the best motherboards I've ever had the pleasure of using. In terms of features and performance, the Striker Extreme is a rock at the heart of Asus' Republic Of Gamers line. However, there are some things that really let this board down. First, its availability is undoubtedly poor as no one in the UK is stocking the board yet we have had our hands on hardware for over two months now. Second, the expected retail price is sky high and it?s questionable whether anyone would pay the premium for this board when there are much cheaper alternatives out on the market that will overclock just as far as the Striker, if not further.
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Wednesday, January 24, 2007
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The Asus P5B-E motherboard may be bland to look at but it's what's inside that counts right? ;-) There's a decent amount of onboard peripherals such as 7.1 channel Intel Azalia audio, IEEE 1394a, Gigabit LAN and an additional Serial ATA II controller. If you feel the need to add devices, the P5B-E has a lot of upgrade possibilities with three 32 bit PCI slots and three PCI Express x1 slots.
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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
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Today is ASUS's day in our labs. We have been sent the extremely feature packed ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard based on nVidia's new nForce 680i chipset for our testing purposes - it falls into the "Republic of Gamers" series of boards from ASUS and it's the first for the Intel platform. We are today going to see how well it performs and just what you get for the over $400 USD asking price when compared to a regular 680i motherboard and DFI's impressive RD600.
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Friday, January 12, 2007
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ASUS has done a wonderful job with their P5N-E SLI chipset. So wonderful, in fact that in many respects the performance of the board outdoes its bigger sibling the 680i SLI. The features that the nForce 680i SLI boards bring to the table that this
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