ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe Motherboard Review - PAGE 2

At first glance, the E35M1-I Deluxe seems to pack a lot; the PCB is crowded with components of every kind. The large fanless heatsink is pretty impressive with its three heatpipes, which extend awkwardly outside the case via the I/O panel. The expansion slot comes in the form of a full-length PCI-E wired at x4. The memory slots also accomodate desktop-sized DIMMs.

The cooling system is solidly attached with six metal screws. The back of the E35M1-I Deluxe reveals that the PCB is brown, since it's not hidden under a plethora of components.

The E35M1-I Deluxe leaves a strong impression with an internal USB 3.0 header and a Turbo Key II instant overclocking switch. The USB 3.0 controller is slightly hidden under the heatsink and can still be seen if you look hard enough. There is also a 4-pin CPU power connector and a CMOS clear jumper.

Even more impressive is the inclusion of the Energy Processing Unit (EPU) which yielded great results on full-sized desktop motherboards, such as Neoseeker's AM3 test platform, the M4A89GTD PRO/USB3. The motherboard battery is hung vertically, closely to the heatsink.

ASUS does not stop there, as the MemOK! button is present. A mini-PCIe slot is also included, with a WLAN card already pre-installed into it. Its antennae run up to the I/O panel, as will be shown later. The front panel and chassis intrusion header are also located in this area, but unfortunately the former is not the same shape as the one present on most ASUS motherboards compatible with the Q-Connector.

Further to the left are two USB 2.0 headers, five SATA 6Gbps ports courtesy of the Fusion Controller Hub, the front panel audio header and the S/PDIF output. The small green LED indicates whether or not power is supplied to the board.

One will find six USB ports at the back of the board. ASUS has packed a second USB 3.0 controller to speed up two of them. The video connectivity is handled by a DVI and HDMI port; that's right, there is no VGA. This isn't really a terrible decision, as pretty much all display adapters now should support its digital counterparts instead. In fact, many manufacturers including AMD plan to drop support for analog video interfaces by 2013. There is a PS/2 port for older mice and keyboards, though. The analog audio connections have also suffered, as the board only supplies three. This is just enough for a 5.1 Surround system, but that doesn't leave any room for a microphone unless that goes through the front panel I/O. The onboard Realtek ALC892 can still offer 7.1 Surround sound via optical S/PDIF though. Lastly, the networking options include Gigabit Ethernet, a built-in Bluetooth adapter, and the standard connectors for both Wifi antennae. One can also admire the useless heatpipe ends going through the I/O shield.

The packaging includes two SATA cables, the I/O shield, a user guide and driver DVD. There are also some oddly shaped Wifi antennae.

These antennae connect to the back of the board through an 80cm long wire. The rod in the middle tilts upwards so that the circle part works as the base, which has some small magnets for attaching onto a steel surface. Of course, should these prove to be overkill for one's system, they can always be swapped for the more common black foldable antennae.