What do we have here? Another X58 motherboard!
We reviewed the Intel DX58SO with our original Core i7 920 / 940 / 965 review, and we recently reviewed the MSI Eclipse - which overclocked to an amazing 4.1GHz just air cooled - so I am quite interested to see how this board will perform in relation to its Intel and MSI competitors.
And not just any motherboard, but the high end enthusiasts Asus P6T Deluxe OC Pal Edition - which has a neat USB color LCD gadget for overclocking, status monitoring, and viewing Yahoo widgets, all without going into the BIOS!
There are plenty of other features - which the packaging shows - like 100% solid state capacitors, 16+2 phase power, SLI and CrossFire support, SAS storage support - a new one for an enthusiasts board - not to mention Express Gate and the aforementioned palm device.
The back of the box features the specifications, and more marketing blurbage.
And if that was not enough - the front of the box is a flap that opens, so that Asus can write even more about the features of this (admittedly) feature packed board on the packaging itself.
Here are the specifications - taken straight from Asus' site:
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CPU
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Intel® Socket 1366 Core™ i7 Processor Extreme Edition/Core™ i7 Processor Supports Intel® Dynamic Speed Technology
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Chipset
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Intel® X58 / ICH10R
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System Bus
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Up to 6400 MT/s ; Intel® QuickPath Interconnection
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Memory
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6 x DIMM, Max. 12 GB, DDR3 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Triple channel memory architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
*Refer to www.asus.com or this user manual for the Memory QVL(Qualified Vendors Lidts).
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Expansion Slots
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3 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (at x16/x16/x1 or x16/x8/x8 mode)
1 x PCIe x4
2 x PCI
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Multi-GPU Support
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Supports NVIDIA® 2-Way or Quad-GPU SLI™ Technology
Supports ATI® CrossFireX™ Technology
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Storage
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Southbridge
6 xSATA 3 Gb/s ports
Intel Matrix Storage Technology Support RAID 0,1,5,10
Marvell 88SE6320
2 x SAS (RAID 0 and 1)
Marvell 88SE6111
1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices
1 xExternal SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
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LAN
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Dual Gigabit LAN controllers 2*Marvell88E8056® PCIe Gigabit LAN controller featuring AI NET2
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Audio
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ADI® AD2000B 8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- Support Jack-Detection, Multi-Streaming, and Front Panel Jack-Retasking
- Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports at back I/O
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IEEE 1394
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VIA® VT6308 controller supports 2 x 1394a ports (one at mid-board; one at back panel)
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USB
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14 USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 8 ports at back panel)
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ASUS Unique Features
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ASUS Exclusive Features:
- ASUS TurboV
- ASUS OC Palm
- ASUS True 16+2 Phase Power Design
- Express Gate SSD
ASUS Power Saving Solution
- ASUS EPU-6 Engine
- ASUS AI Nap
ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution:
- ASUS Fanless Design: Wind-Flow Heat-pipe solution
- ASUS Fanless Design: Stack Cool 2
- ASUS Fan Xpert
- ASUS Optional Fan for Water-cooling or Passive-Cooling only
ASUS Crystal Sound:
- ASUS Noise Filter
ASUS EZ DIY:
- ASUS Q-Shield
- ASUS Q-Connector
- ASUS O.C. Profile
- ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
- ASUS EZ Flash 2
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Overclocking Features
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ASUS TurboV utility
Precision Tweaker2:
- vCore: Adjustable CPU voltage at 0.00625V increment
- vCPU PLL: 36-step reference voltage control
- vDRAM Bus: 49-step DRAM voltage control
- vChipset(N.B.): 31-step chipset voltage control
- vNB-PCIe: 65-step chipset-PCIe voltage control
SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection)
- Internal Base Clock tuning from 100MHz up to 500MHz at 1MHz increment - PCI Express frequency tuning from 100MHz up to180MHz at 1MHz increment
Overclocking Protection:
- ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
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Special Features
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Multi-language BIOS
ASUS MyLogo 2
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Back Panel I/O Ports
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1 x PS/2 Keyboard/ Mouse combo port
1 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial + Optical)
1 x External SATA
1 x IEEE1394a
2 x RJ45 port
8 x USB 2.0/1.1
8-channel Audio I/O
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Internal I/O Connectors
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3 x USB connectors support additional 6 USB ports
1 x Floppy disk drive connector
1 x IDE connector
6 x SATA connectors
2 x SAS connectors
1 x CPU Fan connector
3 x Chassis Fan connector
1 x Power Fan connector
1 x IEEE1394a connector
Front panel audio connector
1 x S/PDIF Out Header
Chassis Intrusion connector
CD audio in
24-pin ATX Power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
System Panel(Q-Connector)
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BIOS
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16 Mb Flash ROM
AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 2.0a, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
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Manageability
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WfM 2.0,DMI 2.0,WOL by PME,WOR by PME,PXE
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Accessories
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OC Palm
UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
6 x Serial ATA cables
2 x SAS cables
ASUS Q-Shield
User's manual
2 in 1 Q-connector
1 x 2-port USB2.0 / 1-port IEEE1394 (4-pin) module
1 x SLI bridge cable
2 x Screw pillar
1 x Optional Fan for Water-Cooling or Passive-Cooling only
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Form Factor
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ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )
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