The bundled DVD includes numerous onboard drivers and utilities. ASUS also bundle Norton Internet Security 2010 so the system is ready to go and secure following installation. The drivers are for RAID, USB 3.0 and SATA III 6Gbps support. It is recommended to install all the drivers and for the latest ones, visit ASUS's download page. There are also three specific ASUS application on the drivers tab. The ASUS TurboV utility allows users to overclock the CPU from a windows environment. The EPU-6 engine is an additional power management tool giving users the freedom of choosing how fast the CPU should run depending on the task at hand. Finally there's is the Express Gate feature which we will touch on later.


The Utilities tab reveals some more handy utilities, the PC Probe II and AI Suite being two useful hardware monitoring programs.


The final tab on the driver DVD prompts users to install the ASUS exclusive Express Gate operating system bringing users a range of quick launch applications as soon as the system boots.


Express Gate has been a unique feature present on most premium ASUS motherboard over the past few years. It is an exclusive Linux based operating system that users can access on system boot up to immediately connect to the internet. Powered by Splashtop, ASUS Express Gate features an intuitive graphical user interface, a web browser based on Mozilla Firefox 3.0, a Skype VoIP client and an additional chat client based on Pidgin. The web search is powered by Yahoo. User can also browse photo albums or conveniently access their emails without having to go into Windows. It only takes a few seconds for the Express Gate splash screen to appear once the system is switched on but it will proceed to the regular boot sequence if the user decides not to interact with it. The Express Gate feature can be configured in BIOS and can also be switched off if not required.