ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe Motherboard Review
Introduction and specifications
ASUS are still making waves across the PC hardware world - their excellent GPU's seem to be consistently well reviewed and likewise their motherboards have always been the product of choice for a great many enthusiasts over the years.
That drive to produce excellence no matter what the product has helped them to secure an enviable reputation as one of the PC world's top manufacturers. Even the HTPC market is in their sights with ASUS aiming squarely at the compact home cinema market with their brand new E35M1-I Deluxe. Using the ultra compact ITX form factor the board packs a truck load of current features like USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gbps (courtesy of AMD's Hudson M1 chipset) and AMD's low power Zacate E350 dual core processor.
The processor is AMD's APU (Accelerated Processor Unit) design and part of AMD's Brazos platform. It integrates the Northbridge, CPU and GPU on a single chip and as obviously impressive as all that is I would say that the peak power draw of only 18w is even more impressive!
Additional features such as the silent fanless heatsink design, an HDMI output, onboard bluetooth and 'N class' wireless and an extremely user friendly BIOS really stand out in a product that would normally be at the basic end of motherboard design.
Today we'll take a look at every aspect of this tiny board from the physical hardware engineered onto the board to the software that is bundled with it. Whilst it exists at a price point similar to that of a higher end board its potential low power performance, generous feature set and compact design may well offset that disadvantage and make for a competitive product.
Specifications
It's an impressive specification in a very compact design. Reasonable USB 3.0 connectivity and the excellent SATA 6.0Gbps support is nice to see. HD playback should also be well supported by the HD 6310 GPU which packs UVD3 and is DirectX 11 capable. Solid capacitors all round also help to instil the impression of a quality product.
Product on Review: E35M1-I Deluxe ITX Motherboard
Manufacturer: ASUS
Street Price: Around £128 at time of review
Manufacturer: ASUS
Street Price: Around £128 at time of review
ASUS are still making waves across the PC hardware world - their excellent GPU's seem to be consistently well reviewed and likewise their motherboards have always been the product of choice for a great many enthusiasts over the years.
That drive to produce excellence no matter what the product has helped them to secure an enviable reputation as one of the PC world's top manufacturers. Even the HTPC market is in their sights with ASUS aiming squarely at the compact home cinema market with their brand new E35M1-I Deluxe. Using the ultra compact ITX form factor the board packs a truck load of current features like USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gbps (courtesy of AMD's Hudson M1 chipset) and AMD's low power Zacate E350 dual core processor.
The processor is AMD's APU (Accelerated Processor Unit) design and part of AMD's Brazos platform. It integrates the Northbridge, CPU and GPU on a single chip and as obviously impressive as all that is I would say that the peak power draw of only 18w is even more impressive!
Additional features such as the silent fanless heatsink design, an HDMI output, onboard bluetooth and 'N class' wireless and an extremely user friendly BIOS really stand out in a product that would normally be at the basic end of motherboard design.
Today we'll take a look at every aspect of this tiny board from the physical hardware engineered onto the board to the software that is bundled with it. Whilst it exists at a price point similar to that of a higher end board its potential low power performance, generous feature set and compact design may well offset that disadvantage and make for a competitive product.
Specifications
It's an impressive specification in a very compact design. Reasonable USB 3.0 connectivity and the excellent SATA 6.0Gbps support is nice to see. HD playback should also be well supported by the HD 6310 GPU which packs UVD3 and is DirectX 11 capable. Solid capacitors all round also help to instil the impression of a quality product.
