Presentation, bundle, and warranty
Being an ASUS the packaging promises an experience that’s not just Rock Solid, but also Heart Touching. Some would argue a motherboard can't be heart-touching, but they've never owned an abit TH7-II (my heart still flutters every time I hear an ambulance drive by)
A look around the back of the massive box outlines some of the key features, so it would be rude not to dive in.
Inside you'll find:
| Items | Quick-install guide |
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Original plans also included a kitchen sink but were scrapped due to retailers complaining about shipping costs.
The manual and Quick Start guide are included, along with a DVD containing drivers, utilities and a selection of free and trial software listed above.
A plentiful selection of cables, including not just a full compliment of six SATA data cables, but also three Molex-to-double-ended SATA power adapters, which is nice.
ASUS's excellent Q-connectors are also included to make connecting up your front panel buttons, LEDs and USB a breeze.
Speaking of breezes a fan which clips to the VRM heatsink to dissipate heat generated from the heatpipes in systems with low airflow around the CPU socket area, such as those using watercooling, is also provided. In use this fan could do with being a little quieter and is not one for those after a silent PC.
Things get a little more interesting here, however. First up is the AI Remote.
This comprises the remote itself, a USB receiver, and a small adhesive-backed hook that can be used for hanging it from your case.
It's a nice idea in theory but the remote itself is lacking in functionality and the software is a little on the obtrusive side, displaying overlays when a button is pressed, some of which remain for as long as a feature is enabled.
The main problem, however, is that it doesn't control Media Center's 10ft UI. With this now included in both Vista Home Premium and Ultimate, a standard Media Center remote would be far more useful and less obtrusive.
The Superbeam Array Microphone does a surprisingly good job of canceling out background noise and proves a worthwhile addition for those who prefer not to use a headset for VoIP, although the SoundMAX software manages to achieve reasonable results even with a cheap standard microphone.
ScreenDUO
Then at the bottom we find the crown jewel of the Premium Vista Edition's bundle, the ScreenDUO.
The ScreenDUO is a Vista SideShow device which allows information such as your calendar or task-lists to be viewed even when the main system is switched off. It can also, when connected to the PC via USB, control Windows Media Player or iTunes, display hardware-monitoring and various other small applets which can be seen here.
The observant amongst you at this point will have noticed the two SideShow gadgets listed as 'Not compatible'. This is because the ScreenDUO is not fully SideShow compliant, to the extent that the example gadgets shipped with Vista cannot be used with it. The compatible gadgets bundled with the device cover a broad enough range of functionality to make this a moot point, for now at least, but in the future as the number of SideShow gadgets available increases the ScreenDUO may find itself unable to take advantage.
Interestingly, ASUS has also included an application to allow the ScreenDUO to be used with XP just in case someone wants a Vista Edition motherboard without actually having a Vista-based PC. This involves using ASUS's own application to add or remove gadgets, but once this has been done operation is indistinguishable between XP and Vista.
ScreenDUO, in general, feels somewhat at odds with the idea of SideShow, being not far off the size of some mobile phones, and as an inputless device that's powered by the host system one cannot carry it around with them. Further, should power be lost to the device by unplugging, the system needs to be rebooted before it initialises correctly. Yet leave it plugged in and a lot of the its functionality could be carried out with a multimedia keyboard or the bundled remote, leaving it feel a little redundant.
Warranty
As with all ASUS motherboards a 3-year return-to-base warranty is included from the date of purchase on the customer's receipt. This warranty is transferable between owners so long as the original receipt is retained. This warranty is dealt with through ASUS UK and not its HQ, so returns are sent to a UK address.
ASUS quotes a turnaround of no more than 14 working days for hardware found to be faulty, with any defective hardware guaranteed to be replaced by a product of equal or higher specification. As previously stated at HEXUS, almost 3 weeks, once weekends are taken into account, is a long time to be left without your PC's motherboard.
Summary
For sheer quantity it's hard to argue with how many extras you get with the board, but beyond the initial cool factor of the remote and the SideShow device it's questionable how much use they will really get before getting packed back in the box to save just cluttering up the desk. The bundling of Norton as the anti-virus of choice is also disappointing, even more so when its a 90-day limited subscription, although with the likes of AVG offering higher-quality protection free of charge it's unlikely most enthusiasts will be too worried.
The warranty is certainly reasonable, although we would prefer to see a quicker turnaround time.