ASUS P5E-VM HDMI <GREEN> LGA 775 Intel G35 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: HDMI onboard. DX10 support (I haven't tried this, reviews say there isn't any benefit at the moment). Lots of USB ports, and IEEE1394a. Supports newer 1333 MHz cpu, which are cheaper than equivalent 1066 chips now. mATX so you don't have to use a big ATX case for your HTPC. Onboard audio sounds pretty good over SPDIF. (No optical output, only coax.)

Cons: Only one PCI slot. When I was done migrating my components from the former mobo I had a stack of cards that no longer had a place to go. If you use a lot of add-on cards this might not be a good board for you. Integrated graphics don't seem to be all that great, even just for video use. (My Vista Exp Score is 3.8/3.9 for the graphics areas, which doesn't seem too bad but I've definitely had more problems with video than I did with the X1950PRO AGP card in the mobo this one replaced.) The video resolution is not (easily) customizable. From forums it seems to be possible to edit the registry, but I haven't tried it. A previous mobo upgrade ran from the same install of Vista, but this mobo wouldn't load vista at all so I had to do a format and reload.

Overall Review: I have zero gaming expectation for this system so I'd hoped the Intel IGP would be enough, but looks like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get a new video card. The chipset is pretty new, so there might be some improvement with new drivers, but I don't have high hopes. Out of the box the IGP only showed about 4 resolutions. After about 20 minutes I figured out that I had to uncheck "only show supported modes" in the Vista graphics advanced settings, then I was able to see more modes in the Intel Graphics settings box. Still, the one closest to my tv's optimal setting is slightly overscanning. My ATI card had a utility to custom set the resolution right in CCC. BOTTOM LINE: Pretty good board that has a few bugs. Intel IGP falls just short for video (HD, divx, MS DVR) but fine for office work/internet.

Pros: I've had this board for 5 months and it runs solid! Great micro board with all the fun extras! Bought this back in February and I have had no problems whatsoever. Overclocking capabilities are great and layout is OK. The black theme makes it an eye catcher compared to some of ASUS's previous boards. The HDMI interface and X3500 graphics are decent for web browsing, DVD playback, and basic computing. Lots of SATA and USB! Put a Q6600 in this thing with a few gigs of memory and you will have a screaming system! I can load Windows XP in a flash from a cold boot. For budget gaming this is simply the best bang for your buck in my opinion. Slap a premium video card in this thing and you have a real winner! ASUS's Bios Updater has been flawless! Not one hiccup!

Cons: The board gets somewhat hot under load but I easily solved that problem with an Antec Spot cooler! Runs cool now at a steady 29 C compared to 34 C before. I believe the threshold is 45 C. Also, the heat-sink on this thing is massive! Research your CPU coolers carefully, not all will fit! The Freezer Pro 7 will fit but you will need some modifications to keep the fins from touching.

Overall Review: For the price, you really cannot get anything more stable/solid. Its a fantastic board loaded with goodies. Perfect for Media Center builds and gaming rigs. Very pleased with ASUS! I use to be an Intel board enthusiast but I am way too impressed with this board to go back. Take a chance, you'll be happy!

Pros: HDMI, Intel G35, Perfect for an HTPC, although that's not what I bought it for. The pros pretty much speak for themselves. Supports Quad Core processors, 8GB RAM. I also noticed the board is generally made from very high quality materials and components, very solid and stable. I overclocked my Q6600 G0 stepping processor to 3.2GHz on stock fans ONLY, no after-market coolers and no crazy water-cooling systems. Used an X-QPack 2 Case for this build, runs idle at 31C OC'd, and about 20C to 21C without OC'ing. Came with ASUS case sticker/badge. Q-Connector REALLY helps in assembly and disassembly.

Cons: The IDE PATA cable supplied with this board is fairly short (Between the two device connectors), if the two devices you are trying to connect with it are far away from each other in your case the cable will not be enough, it's fairly short between its connectors. The only way it would work is if you have your PATA devices right on top of each other. For example: you cannot connect your DVD drive as well as a Hard Drive in the back of your case or at the bottom or something. The HD Audio Driver is hard to install on XP, it also does NOT sound clear until you upgrade the BIOS, so upgrade the BIOS to the latest version before you play around with the HD Audio Driver & do not use the supplied CD for drivers, use the ASUS website to download all the latest drivers it'll save you some serious time!

Overall Review: Used this board for a portable HD Gaming PC. My Rig: Q6600 G0 Stepping, PQI 4GB DDR800 RAM, EVGA GeForce 8600GTS on Windows XP 64bit, and Vista Ultimate 64bit. I was using a GIGABYTE GA-73VM-S2 before, but I RMA'd the unit, it wasn't stable when overclocking, while this one is ROCK SOLID. Shipping was SUPERB! It took UPS 1 and a half days to get it to me! (To Florida!) And I just paid the cheapest shipping! ROCK ON NewEgg!

Pros: Overclocking options in the Bios usually only found in full size ATX performance boards , excellent quality and layout ICH9R raid support w/ 6 sata ports and supports newer 45nm CPUs all in a mATX board no doubt in my mind this is the best mATX board out

Cons: flaky bios but easily updated with a usb flash drive for some reason it defaulted the stock CPU voltage to .75v and kept crashing in vista installation ... BSOD made me check voltage bumped it to 1.1v and all was well and full size 9800GX2 covers the sata ports even using 90degree angle connectors you would still loose 2 of the 6 ports not enough of a con for me to knock the board

Overall Review: this board OC's extremely well and can compete with any full size ATX board out too bad it dont have dual PCIe X16 slots now that would be cool anyway its running an E8500 w/ 24/7 OC @ 3.9ghz rock solid stable @ 1.22v and DDR2 800 @ 1000mhz @ 2.2v with a 9800GX2 in a NZXT Rogue lan Box

Pros: EXCELLENT motherboard. Using it in an HTPC hooked up to my TV. Gigantic amount of built in options, very good overclocking potential. All I did was raise the FSB on my E8400 and it got up to 3.6ghz no sweat- if it wasn't for the fact I'm leaving it at the default 3ghz I could have probably gotten it up to 4ghz or more with voltage adjustment. Has full Linux support (running Gentoo with kernel 2.6.24-r4), minus some minor driver issues with the video card.

Cons: The onboard video card (an Intel X3500) is still having its drivers for Linux being updated pretty continuously, so some things are still buggy with the video. I had to run Xorg-X11 7.3 with the latest drivers (xf86-video-intel 2.2.99.902 I believe) to get it to work properly and fix issues with visual tearing during full screen video playback. And even then, the card was fairly stuttery still so I ended up just putting a geforce 8400 gs I had in it. But I have rather specific requirements for my system so this may not apply. Also, I could never get Suspend to RAM to work correctly, but that's no big deal.

Overall Review: I am so glad I bought this board. I was thinking of going with something cheaper but this board has been beyond excellent. A Zalman 8700 fits perfectly on this as well, and keeps my E8400 nice and cool around ~40 C at idle. If you update to the latest version of lm_sensors and kernel in Linux you can get full monitoring of the individual CPU core temps, chipset temp, and voltages too.

Pros: If the motherboard I received worked, I would have liked all of its features. I like the layout of the board for a HTPC. The on-board serial port (if used)is way away from the back of the motherboard. i doubt any serial cables to DB25 adapters would be long enough. I was attempting to use this motherboard in an Antec Fusion 430 Black case and it fit well.

Cons: Although advertised as supporting 45 nm CPUs, my revision 1.00G motherboard did not. It shipped with an old BIOS which made me have to borrow an E2140 legacy processor just to get it to post. Only then could I upgrade to the latest BIOS. However, the latest BIOS didn't recognize my E8400. Google the 1.00G rev of this boar...bad news. Too bad this is what I rec'd. I RMA'd to Newegg and we'll see what they ship back.

Overall Review: Why does Newegg ship Rev 1.00G with non-45 nm support boards when I ordered on 21 March 2008? I should have received a later rev with a BIOS that will do what is advertised on the box, i.e. 45 nm CPU support.

Pros: Works with 45nm E8400 right out of the box, easy to setup, decent video (for HTPC), gigabyte, firewire, plenty of usb ports. Sata raid works perfect. Overall good board for HTPC lovers or those (like me) who hates 'towers'. Fits in any cube just fine.

Cons: Longer boot time then other similar boards ie abit, gygabyte. VERY Hot NB and SB despite huge heatsink on NB - solved by installing 2 40mm fans. Not all cpu coolers can fit due to big NB heatsink.

Overall Review: This board is not for OC, stable boots means nothing. Try to load Adobe Photoshop a Illustrator at same time, or better try to encode HDV video with adobe premiere in OC mode. It will crash in no time. And PPL get real and do a stress load test before you post "great for OC" 4.0Gh +...what a nonesense. Yes I can push E8400 up to 4.2 with 1.375v and it will boot vista 64 just fine, but then what? Run any serious stuff and its goes 'blue'. If you want to OC then go with Abit 35Pro or similar.

Pros: Nice MOBO, all you really need unless you are planning to run an SLI setup. Love all the OC'ing features! Chipset runs DX 10 and Aero on Vista64 nicely. Good onboard sound. I like the "Q" connectors for some reason. Looks cool.

Cons: I hope that a BIOS update will fix my slow startup issues. After setting up OC'ing profile it now takes a while to boot to the "post menu". Highly annoying!!! PLEASE FIX!!!!! I keep it on most of the time but still agitating.

Overall Review: Vista scores the onboard video as a 4.1 in gaming, 4.4 for aero. Have an all newegg build(noting DOA); antec 900 box, 2 seagate 320g Raid 0, 4 gig patriot extreme performance ram 5.5.5.12 OC'ed 968fsb, e6750 clocked at 3.2 fsb 1600 fsb freq at 400 stock voltage, Artic freezer pro & AS-5, PCP&C PSU 610W, Vista 64. Vista scores CPU at 5.8, Memory at 5.9, HD Speed & Size at 5.9, once I get an 8800gt graphics will surely be 5.9, onboard good enough for now.