ASUS have provided the P6T-SE with a colourful and vibrant box. It includes all the important information with the front typically covering the basics and the rear outlining yet more of the specific features and functions of the motherboard.


Box front.


Box rear.

Upon opening we find a driver CD and a selection of SATA cables, an IDE cable, I/O backplate and the well known Q-connector for easy front panel connection.


Cables and other goodies.

Also included are a Quick Start guide and the main P6T-SE user manual.


Instruction booklets.

Taking a look at the board itself you’d be hard pushed to imagine what is ‘budget’ about it. Heatsinks on everything that matter including the CPU’s power section.


The P6T-SE.

The layout is tidy enough and the primarily black and blue finish is quite nice. I would say that the ram slots orange colour scheme may not be to everyone’s taste.


It's nicely laid out and looks good.

The rear of the board is clutter free with only a Foxconn CPU backplate in place as well as a reference to ASUS’s own Stack Cool 2 heat dissipation technology.


P6T-SE rear.

Up close we can see the Core i7 socket itself. This is the first Socket 1366 board that i’ve looked at and the size of the socket is quite a surprise.


The Core i7 socket.

Indeed, only once the securing collar is swung back and the blanking plate removed can the sheer acreage be comprehended – it’s obviously to accommodate one serious chip! That’ll be quad core with hyperthreading too – in effect this produces 8 available threads for windows and other programs to use.


Socket open.