HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ Turbo 512MB

If you have ever been in the market for a graphics card, you are undoubtedly familiar with the constantly changing graphics card market. About every 8-10 months, new GPUs are introduced by NVIDIA and ATI, and after their introduction, dozens of graphics cards built by their add in board partners come to market. Because these add in board partners all use the same graphics chips supplied by the two major graphics card companies, they have to use their marketing savvy to create extra value and incentive for consumers to buy their products.
Over the years we’ve seen companies bundle the hottest new games, add new video connections, new cooling units, and even build their cards on unique colored PCBs. All of these strategies help to differentiate products from one another, and a company that has been doing this since their first line of X800 graphics cards is HIS, short for Hitech Information Systems. HIS has become widely known for using premium cooling solutions and pre-overclocking their graphics cards to provide a considerable amount of value and performance to gamers and enthusiasts alike.
Today we’ll be looking at one of the newest additions to the HIS product line, the ~$130 HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ Turbo 512MB PCI Express graphics card. Join us as we take a closer look at the card and see how it stacks up to the competition in the $100-$150 graphics card space.

Model Name HIS HD 2600 PRO IceQ Turbo 512MB/256MB DDR2 PCIe
Chipset Radeon HD 2600 PCIe Series
ASIC Radeon™ HD 2600PRO GPU
Pixel Pipelines 120 stream processing units* (Unified)
Vertex Engines 120 stream processing units* (Unified)
Manu. Process (Micron) 65nm
Transistor Fill Rate
Memory Size (MB) 512 / 256
Memory Type DDR2
RAMDAC (MHz) 400
Engine CLK (MHz) 650
Memory CLK (MHz) 1050
Memory Interface (bit) 128
Memory Bandwidth
Max. Resolution 2560*1600
Bus Interface PCI-Express x16
VGA No
2nd VGA No
DVI Yes
2nd DVI Yes
TV-out No
HDTV (YPrPb component output) No
Video-in Yes
TV Tuner No
FM Tuner No

When we opened the HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ Turbo’s box we found that the card shipped with a DVI to VGA adapter, an S-Video Cable, HDTV output cable, and an HDMI adapter. The HDMI adapter is a new addition to the Radeon HD 2000 series of graphics cards and allows you to output 5.1 audio and video to a HDMI ready television. Also included in the bundle is the standard user manual and driver disk, along with a paper that gives you access to Half-Life 2: Lost Coast and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch through Valve’s Steam service.

Corsair VX450W 450W Power Supply

It’s a fact that extremely large, high-wattage power supplies tend to get the most press online, as the vast majority of PSU manufacturers are caught up in the never-ending competition of trying to get the highest wattage products out there. While this competition has fostered innovation in this market, in addition to pushing down prices of lower-wattage power supplies, the negative effect that it’s had is that most people believe that ultra-high wattage power supplies are an absolute necessity with today’s mid-range to high-end systems.
This is a myth which power supply manufacturers are happy to let people to buy into, since they can see increased sales on high-dollar power supplies which are overkill in many circumstances. While it doesn’t hurt to get a power supply with an available wattage level higher than what is needed, in some cases we’re seeing people purchase power supplies with 4-5x the maximum power load level than their system requires. In the vast majority of system configurations on the market, even newer ones, you’ll be hard pressed to push past 400W of actual power usage. Unless you’re dealing with a couple of Radeon HD2900XT or 8800 Ultra graphics cards, it’s unlikely that you’ll even get close to touching 700-800W.
We’ve always held power supplies which are relatively low-wattage but extremely efficient at their rated level in high regard. Power supplies which simply do their job without the need for gimmicky features, simply providing clean power with close to inaudible noise levels, all without charging you an arm and a leg. Companies like Antec and SeaSonic have held down this market quite well over the past few years, although newcomer Corsair’s power supply units have been surprisingly solid. Their first units, the HX series, were a hit with an interesting modular cable configuration and ultra low noise levels for high-powered configurations.
Corsair is taking much of the same technology which was prevelant in their HX-series power supplies and bringing it down to a lower price point. Earlier this month, they introduced the VX-series power supply lineup. This simple linup consists of 450W and 550W units, and are targeted at single processor, single graphics card systems who want near inaudible noise levels, solid power, and a reliable manufacturer name. We recently got our hands on the 450W unit for a trial run. Extending Corsair’s legendary reputation in performance and quality, the new Corsair VX family of power supplies features the industry’s most efficient power management and ultra-quiet design for mainstream users. Unlike most power supplies in the market, the Corsair VX incorporates a single +12V power rail that delivers continuous power under heavy loads. This conservative design ensures reliable operation in today’s most demanding system configurations and adds compatibility for future platforms. The unique combination of rock solid performance and incredible value puts the Corsair VX family of power supplies in a class of its own. Ideal for home theater PCs and ENERGY STAR PCs, the VX line maximizes energy savings and minimum noise generation thanks to double-forward switching circuitry design. Each Corsair VX power supply is backed with an industry-leading 5-year warranty and 24/7 on-demand customer service.

Specifications
450W Rated Warrage
Single "Ultra-Quiet" 120mm Cooling Fan
Up to 85% Efficiency Under Wide Load Range
99% Active Power Factor Correction
ATX12V 2.2 Standards Compliant
Single High-Wattage +12V Rail
High Quality Japanese Capacitors
5 Year Warranty, 100,000 Hour MTBF
1 x 24-pin/20-pin Primary ATX Connector
1 x 8-pin/4-pin Secondary ATX Connector
1 x 6-pin PCI Express Power Connector
6 x Serial ATA Power Connectors
6 x 4-pin Molex Power Connecotrs
2 x 4-pin Floppy Drive Power Connectors
Extra Long Cables to Support Full-Size ATX Chassis
Looking over the specifications, the VX450W has just about everything we would expect from a PSU of this caliber, although there are some interesting aspects which should be noted here.
The power supply’s rated 85% efficiency is a great selling point, as the industry’s focus on “green” power supplies has taken root with consumers. Corsair claims that their unit is efficient between 81-85% across all voltage levels, which means very little power is wasted and turned into excess heat. High-efficiency power supplies also consume less power themselves, which is good for your power bill. Corsair claims that a typical system using this power supply will use around 225 watts on load (which is a fairly solid estimation), and at this level, the power supply will be 85% efficient.
Corsair has opted for a single +12V rail on this model, which supports up to 33A and 396W off a single line, which an interesting design choice. There have been countless arguments online regarding the merits of single vs. dual (or quad) +12V lines for high-end systems. Our feeling is that for single GPU based systems, running everything off a single highly-rated +12V rail will be just fine, and our tests have shown that this does not present any issues.
Since the power supply is targeted at mid-range systems, only one 6-pin PCI Express graphics card power connector is included by default. If you want to run a multi-GPU system with this power supply, it’s certainly possible using Molex to PCIe power adapters, although if you’re going into multi-GPU territory, Corsair’s higher-wattage HX series are likely a better choice. While it only officially supports one graphics card, you’ve got a full server-grade set of Primary (24-pin) and Secondary (8-pin) +12V ATX connectors, meaning the system can handle single, dual, and quad-core based systems without issue. This unit can also be used for multi-processor systems, if need be, although this isn’t the market which Corsair is targeting here. Also note that the unit does not have EPS12V certification.

Western Digital Scorpio WD2500BEVS 2.5-inch SATA HDD

Most of you probably already know that 2.5" notebook hard drives typically aren't as big or fast as hard drives found in desktop machines. In case you aren't aware, most laptops are sold with 5400RPM hard drives that range from 60GB to 100GB. In contrast, most desktops are currently sold with 7200RPM hard drives with capacities of up to 1TB. Just like desktop hard drives, though, laptop hard drives have gotten quite a bit bigger and faster over the last couple years.
While desktop hard drives hit 1TB (1,000GB) a while ago, laptop hard drives recently reached 250GB. At least one manufacturer will have a 320GB laptop hard drive available soon, but that still doesn't get us anywhere near 1TB in our laptops. Thankfully, though, if performance is your main concern, you can get a 7200RPM laptop hard drive now if you chose to do so.
Today, we have one of the largest laptop hard drives on the market in our labs, the 250GB Western Digital Scorpio WD2500BEVS. At 5400RPM, it may not be the mobile speed king, but this 2.5" SATA hard drive offers a plethora of nice features, like an 8MB cache and WD's WhisperDrive and ShockGuard technology. Plus, the benchmarks might just surprise you about how well a 5400RPM drive can perform. Read on to see how well the Scorpio WD2500BEVS performs compared to a 100GB 5400RPM 2.5" hard drive and a 500GB 7200RPM 3.5" drive.

PHYSICAL SPECS Capacity: 250 GBInterface: SATA 1.5 Gb/sSpindle Speed: 5400 RPMCache Buffer: 8 MBHeight: 9.5 mmLength: 100.2 mmWidth: 69.85 mmWeight: 0.117 kgPERFORMANCE SPECS Seek Times Average Latency: 4.20 msRead Seek Time: 12.0 msTrack-To-Track Seek Time: 2.0 msTransfer Rate Buffer To Host (Serial ATA): 1.5 Gb/s (Max)Buffer To Disk: 600 Mbits/s (Max)Acoustics Idle Mode: 24 dBA (average)Seek Mode 0: 26 dBA (average)Power Requirements Read/Write: 2.50 WattsIdle: 2.00 WattsStandby: 0.25 WattsSleep: 0.10 Watts

FEATURES Massive capacity - Whether they are in an external drive or a notebook computer, WD’s 250 GB 2.5-inch drives offer the most available capacity for space-hungry operating systems like Windows Vista™, plus plenty of room left over for photos, music, and video. Fast and efficient - With 5400 RPM spin speed and 12 ms access time, even the most demanding customer will appreciate the performance achieved by WD Scorpio drives. Quiet - In a notebook drive, silence is golden. WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive™ combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to yield one of the quietest 2.5-inch hard drives on the market. These algorithms also optimize the way a drive seeks for data, which significantly improves power consumption. So now silence (and longer battery life) is golden. Reliable and Rugged - WD's ShockGuard™ technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks. WD's SecurePark™ parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear, and improved non- operational shock tolerance. Tested for Compatibility - We perform tests on hundreds of systems and a multitude of platforms in our FIT Lab and Mobile Compatibility Lab to give our customers confidence that our drives will work in their systems. 3 Year Warranty

If you are already familiar with desktop hard drives, not much (other than the physical size) will surprise you about the appearance of the Scorpio WD2500BEVS. As you can see in the images above, the drive has a white label with black informational text on the top and green PCB on the bottom.
The Scorpio WD2500BEVS is a SATA drive, and as such, it features the same SATA power and data connectors that you are used to seeing on desktop SATA drives. For those of you wondering, yes, that does mean you could install this drive in your main desktop rig at home if you so desired. The benefits of installing a drive like this in a desktop system are that it requires considerably less power than a 3.5" drive, it is relatively quiet, and it is physically small, which means it doesn't take up much room.
The Scorpio WD2500BEVS achieves its quiet acoustic profile by way of Western Digital's exclusive WhisperDrive technology, which is essentially a set of seeking algorithms optimized to yield a low noise level. These algorithms will also help extend your laptop's battery life since they also affect the way the drive seeks for data, improving (lowering) power consumption. In addition to WhisperDrive, the Scorpio WD2500BEVS also boasts two technologies, ShockGuard and SecurePark, to keep your data safe.

Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6

Gigabyte has almost always been a well respected brand amongst PC enthusiasts, but it seems the company has come on very strong in the last year or so. Gigabyte has released a number of highly praised motherboards is recent months, like the GA-P35T-DQ6 and GA-965P-DQ6 2.0 that were all lauded for their feature sets, performance, and overclockability.
In this article, we're going to showcase yet another Gigabyte-built mobo - the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 - that seemingly out does every other current desktop motherboard in a number of key areas. How do four Gigabit LAN controllers, 10 SATA ports, 100% solid capacitors, and a unique wrap-around, passive, cooling apparatus strike you? And did we mention the board is based on NVIDIA's nForce 680i SLI chipset and has three full length, PCI Express x16 slots for multi-GPU action?
As you'll see on the pages ahead, Gigabyte has gone all out with the GA-N680SLI-DQ6. If you're a fan of Intel processors and also want to run a pair of GeForce cards in SLI mode, you're going to want to flip through the next few pages to see just what the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 is made of...

BIOS
2 4Mbit flash ROM
Use of licensed AWARD BIOS
PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 1.0b
Chipset
NVIDIA NFORCE 680i SLI MCP (Northbridge: C55XE, Southbridge: MCP55PXE)
Marvell 88E8052/88E8056 chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Marvell 88E1116 phy (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Realtek ALC888 DD audio codec
T.I. TSB43AB23 1394 chip
Processor
LGA775
Support Intel Core 2 Quad/Core 2 Duo/Pentium D/Pentium 4 Processor
Supports 1333/1066/800/533 MHz FSB
Internal I/O Connectors
1 24-pin ATX power connector
1 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 4-pin PCIe 12V power connector
1 floppy connector
1 IDE connector
10 SATA 3Gb/s connectors
1 CPU fan connector
1 system fan connector
1 power fan connector
1 front panel connector
1 front audio connector
1 CD In connector
1 S/PDIF In connector
3 USB 2.0/1.1 connectors for additional 6 ports by cables
2 IEEE 1394a connectors for additional 2 ports by cables
1 TPM connector
1 LPT connector
1 Power LED connector
1 Chassis Intrusion connector
Form Factor
ATX
30.5cm x 24.4cm

Rear Panel I/O
1 PS/2 keyboard port
1 PS/2 mouse port
1 serial port
1 IEEE 1394a port
1 S/PDIF out port (optical)
4 RJ-45 port
4 USB 2.0/1.1 ports
6 audio jacks
Expansion Slots
2 PCI Express x16 slots
1 PCI Express x8 slot
1 PCI Express x1 slot
3 PCI slots
H/W Monitoring
System voltage detection
CPU / System temperature detection
CPU / System / Power fan speed detection
CPU warning temperature
CPU / System / Power fan failure warning
CPU / System smart fan control
Other Features
Supports @BIOS
Supports Download Center
Supports Q-Flash
Supports EasyTune (Note 2)
Supports Xpress Install
Supports Xpress Recovery2
Supports Xpress BIOS Rescue
Memory
4 DDR2 DIMM memory slots
Supports up to 8 GB memory
Support Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533 unbuffered DIMMs
Supports 1.8V DDR2 DIMM
Supports DDR2 667/533/400 DIMM
Supports ECC type DRAM

nForce 650i SLI Shoot-Out: MSI P6N SLI vs Abit Fatal1

bank account's ability to fund another upgrade. That's when we fall back on the always practical approach to maximizing our bang for the buck. Thankfully, this usually doesn't equate to buying products we're too ashamed to put in a modded case. Many companies cater to the more value conscious crowd while still bringing in enthusiast-oriented features.
One example of a product that offers a lot of bang for the buck yet maintains a fair amount of enthusiast-oriented features is the NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI chipset. MSI and Abit both offer nForce 650i SLI motherboards that pack a lot of great features in, at very reasonable prices. Of course, most gaming enthusiasts probably drool over the $200+ nForce 680i SLI boards, but they simple cost too much for many of us. For $50-75+ less, you can buy an nForce 650i SLI board and enjoy most of the essential features found on the 680i SLI board. For a detailed look at the differences between the various nForce 600 Series motherboards, check out the table below.

The main difference between the 650i SLI and 680i SLI that seems to concern gaming enthusiasts is that the 650i SLI's PCI express slots have x8 electrical connections instead of x16 in SLI mode. The simple fact of the matter, though, is that SLI in dual x16 mode hasn't proven to offer significant benefit over SLI with dual x8 PCI express slots. As you can see in the tablet, the 650i SLI also lacks a third PCI express slot. In addition to the reduction in PCI express lanes, the 650i SLI chipset also lacks official support for SLI-ready memory with EPP (although some 650i boards like the Abit board in this article do support it) and most of the networking-related special features.
For most users, even enthusiasts, however, these extra features and capabilities are unlikely to be missed. In this article, we'll compare the MSI P6N SLI Platinum to the Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI and get a better idea of just how well the 650i SLI chipset performs.

AMD 690 Chipset Update: More Power, More Performance

Back in February of this year, we took a look at the AMD 690 series chipset and praised it for its affordability, power efficiency, and strong performance relative to its competition. Since then, the 690 series chipset has gone on to be somewhat of a success for AMD with over 35 different motherboards based on various flavors the chipset currently and more on the way.
Not content with the status quo, engineers at AMD have taken the 690 series chipset and optimized it further through some BIOS and software level enhancements that result in marked performance gains in a number of situations and also introduce some new features. We've got a motherboard from Gigabyte on the test bed that feature the latest updates and thought we'd compare its performance to the unaltered board we evaluated when the chipset was first introduced in an attempt to see just how much the platform's performance has changed.

CPU Support:
AMD Sempron, AMD Athlon 64, AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core and AMD Athlon 64 FX
PCI Express Interface:
1 - x16 Graphics
4 - x1 PCI Express links
2D Acceleration Features:
Highly optimized 128-bit engine, capable of processing multiple pixels per clock.
Supports a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 @ 32bpp
Game Acceleration including support for Microsoft's DirectDraw
3D Acceleration Features:
Full DirectX 9.0 support
3D Texture support, including projective 3D textures
Anti-aliasing using multi-sampling algorithm with support for 2, 4 and 6 samples
New generation rendering engine provides top 3D performance
Support for OpenGL format for Indirect Vertices in Vertex Walker
Motion Video Acceleration Features:
Enhanced MPEG-2 hardware decode acceleration
MPEG-4 decode support
Hardware acceleration for WMV9 playback
Supports top quality DVD and time-shifted SDTV/HDTV te levision playback with low CPU usage
TV Out:
Integrated TV encoder from ATI's Xilleon products with on-chip -DAC with integrated AVIVO engine
Supports Macrovision 7.1 copy protection standard (required by DVD players)
Supports the formats of YPbPr component out
SurroundView:
SurroundView feature allows support for up to three independent monitors for systems equipped with an additional ATI discrete graphics card

Multiple Display Features:
Dual Independent displays including two digital outputs
Resolution, refresh rates, and display rates can be completely independent for the two display paths
Both display controllers support true 30 bits per pixel throughout the display pipe
Supports both interlaced and non-interlaced displaysIntegrated HD Audio controller for HDMI audio data
Display Support:
Supports a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 @ 32bpp
DVI/HDMI:
Supports a TMDS interface, enabling DVI or HDMI 1.2
1650 Mbps/channel with 165MHz pixel clock rate per link
HDCP 1.1 support on data stream with on-chip key storage
Supports HDMI audio together with Realtek's driver providing single control for user on all audio adjustments
Supports HDMI audio enhancements, such as equalizer, 5.1 channel, surround sound effect, karaoke and head phone virtualization
Universal Connectivity:
A-Link Xpress II i/f to AMD Northbridges; providing high bandwidth for high speed peripherals
10 USB 2.0 ports
SATA Gen 2 PHY support at 3.0Gb/sec bandwidth
4 ports SATA AHCI controller supports NCQ and slumber modes
ATA 133 controller supports up to UDMA mode 6 with two drives (disk or optical)
HPET (high precision event timer), ACPI 3.0 and AHCI support for Windows Vista
UAA (Universal audio architecture) support for High Definition Audio and MODEM
PCI v2.3 (up to 6 slots)
LPC (Low Pin Count), SPI (New Flash Bus), and SM (System Management) bus management and arbitrations
Legacy PC compatible functions, RTC (Real Time Clock), interrupt controller and DMA controller

Asus Blitz Formula and Extreme P35 Motherboards

If you're a PC hardware enthusiast - and chances are pretty good that you are if you're reading HotHardware - Asus is a company that needs no introduction. Asus' track record for building quality products targeted squarely at power users is well known and documented, so we'll forego the history lesson here and get right to the point.
A couple of motherboards recently landed in the lab that filled a large void in the marketplace. Just after the introduction of Intel's new Core 2 Duo and Extreme processors with 1333MHz front side bus frequencies, if you wanted a motherboard that officially supported one of the new CPUs, that also had a balanced (and flexible) PCI Express lane configuration for better multi-GPU CrossFire support, you were basically up a creek. NVIDIA's nForce 680i SLI chipset supported the new processors, but we all know there is a large contingent of enthusiasts who prefer using Intel processors with Intel chipsets. Them's the breaks. Unfortunately, the P35 chipset was the only game in town with true 1333MHz FSB and CrossFire support, and like the P965 that came before it, its PCI Express lane configuration was unbalanced. With the P35, the first PEG slot got a full 16 lanes of PCI Express connectivity, while the second slot got only 4. In addition, those 4 lanes powering the second slot were connected to the Southbridge, which then in turn has to interface with the Northbridge over another link, adding latency to the equation. This setup works fine for single-GPU configurations, and admittedly works fine for CrossFire, but it doesn't offer optimal performance.
Asus saw the need for an enthusiast-class motherboard based on the P35 chipset, but with a more flexible PCI Express configuration. And leveraging what they undoubtedly learned from designing the PW564-WS , engineered the Blitz Extreme and Blitz Formula motherboards, complete with a PCI Express switch that allowed them to connect the P35 Northbridge's PCI Express lanes to a pair of PEG slots. Asus didn't stop there, however, and also outfitted the Blitz boards with a hybrid air / liquid cooling apparatus and a number of other features that are sure to please.

CPU
LGA775 socket for Intel Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo / Pentium Extreme / Pentium D / Pentium 4 / Celeron D Processors
Support Intel next gen 45nm Multi-Core CPU
Compatible with Intel 06/05B/05A processors
Chipset
Intel P35/ICH9R with Intel Fast Memory Access Technology
Front Side Bus 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz
Memory (Blitz Extreme)
Dual channel memory architecture
4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR3-1333*/1066/800, non-ECC and un-buffered memory
The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR3 1066MHz/DDR2 800. Due to the tuning by ASUS exclusive technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR3 1333/DDR2 1066MHz. Please refer to www.asus.com or user manual for Memory QVL
Memory (Blitz Formula)
Dual channel memory architecture
4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2-1066*/800/667 MHz, non-ECC and un-buffered memory
The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR2 800 MHz. Due to the tuning by ASUS exclusive technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR2 1066MHz. Please refer to www.asus.com or user manual for Memory QVL
Expansion Slots
2 x PCI Express x16 slot, support dual graphics solution
3 x PCI Express x1, PCIex1_1 (black) is compatible with audio slot
2 x PCI 2.2
CrossFire
Support ATI CrossFire graphics cards (both at x8 mode)
Storage
Southbridge
6 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports
Intel Matrix Storage Technology supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10.
JMicron JMB363 PATA and SATA controller
1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices
2 x External SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
LAN
Dual Gigabit LAN controllers, with AI NET2
High Definition Audio
SupremeFX II Audio Card
ADI 1988B 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC
Noise Filter
Coaxial, Optical S/PDIF out at back I/O
IEEE 1394a
2 x 1394a ports (1 x back I/O, 1 x onboard)
USB
Max. 12 USB2.0/1.1 ports(6 ports at mid-board, 6 ports at back panel)
BIOS
16Mb AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI2.0a Multi-Language BIOS

Overclocking Features
Crosslinx Technology
Extreme Tweaker
Loadline Calibration
Intelligent overclocking tools:
CPU level Up
AI NOS (Non-delay Overclocking System)
AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner)
ASUS AI Booster Utility
O.C Profile
Overclocking Protection:
COP EX (Component Overheat Protection - EX)
Voltiminder LED
ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Special Features
Fusion Block System
LCD Poster
EL I/O
Onboard Switches: Power / Reset
Q-Connector
Q-Fan Plus
ASUS EZ Flash2 / CrashFree BIOS3
ASUS MyLogo3
Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x PS/2 Keyboard port(purple)
1 x Optical + 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output
2 x External SATA
2 x LAN (RJ45) port
6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
1 x IEEE1394a port
1 x Clr CMOS switch
Internal I/O Connectors
3 x USB 2.0 connectors supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports
1 x Floppy disk drive connector
1 x IDE connector for two devices
6 x SATA connectors
8 x Fan connectors: 1 x CPU / 1 x PWR / 4 x Chassis / 2 x Optional
2 x thermal sensor connectors
1 x IEEE1394a connector
1 x S/PDIF output connector
1 x Chassis Intrusion connector
24-pin ATX Power connector
8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
1 x En/Dis-able Clr CMOS
1 x EL I/O Shield Connector
Manageability
WOL by PME, WOR by PME, Chasis Intrusion, PXE
Accessories
Fusion Block System Accessory
DIY Pedestal
ASUS Optional Fan
3 in 1 ASUS Q-Connector Kit
UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
Floppy disk drive cable
SATA data and power cables
2-port USB2.0 module
IEEE1394a module
EL I/O Shield
Thermal sensor cables
Cable Ties
User's manual
Software
The hottest 3D Game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Support DVD:
Drivers
ASUS PC Probe II
ASUS Update
ASUS AI Suite
Futuremark 3DMark06 Advanced Edition
Kaspersky Anti-Virus
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6" (30.5cm x 24.5cm)