ASUS P5E3 Deluxe Features (cont’d)

ASUS Express Gate

Tired of waiting a minute or more to boot up your system just so you can browse the Internet? Perhaps you want to get online real quick so you can browse the local showings for the latest movie or place an order on Newegg? If so you’ll appreciated ASUS’s Express Gate feature.

Express Gate consists of a built-in flash memory chip that rests between a PEG slot and a PCI slot. Loaded on this flash memory chip is a Linux distribution from Splashtop. When booting up the P5E3 Deluxe motherboard, you’ll be presented with the Express Gate splash screen. From there you have the option to load up BIOS, boot into the OS, reboot or shut down the computer, or you can click the “Web” and “Skype” icons to load these applications in Splashtop.

The Splashtop OS boots up very quickly, with our Core 2 Extreme QX6850 system and 2GB of RAM we could load the web browser in just six seconds. The Splashtop browser itself is good, it supports features like tabbed browsing and it can save all your passwords if you’d like. Obviously once you’ve launched the browser you can then launch your favorite IM client and chat with friends, check your email, or browse the Internet. We didn’t have any problems viewing all of our favorite sites with the Splashtop browser, it makes an excellent alternative to booting into your primary OS if all you want to do is browse the web. The only downside we found is we were limited to a maximum resolution of 1440x1050.

Q-Connector

One feature ASUS continues to provide on all of their motherboards is Q-Connector. Q-Connector makes it easier for you to hook up items like the pin headers for your system speaker, power button/LED, etc. Instead of having to whip out the user manual to see where these pins are connected to the motherboard, simply plug the pins into ASUS’ Q-Connector which then goes on the motherboard. It makes things a lot easier than reaching inside your case to hook these devices up individually, which can be a tedious process sometimes.

SATA on the Go

While it initially got off to a slow start, eSATA is finally beginning to grow in popularity. ASUS’s SATA on the Go feature provides two eSATA ports on the back plate of the P5E3 Deluxe motherboard, allowing easy access for the end user.

Stack Cool 2

To help combat heat, ASUS provides their Stack Cool 2 feature. Stack Cool 2 is designed to transfer heat off the motherboard and its components. ASUS’s 1st generation Stack Cool cooling sat directly underneath the CPU, helping to dissipate heat from the processor and all the surrounding power circuitry. Their second-generation Stack Cool 2 cooling covers the entire motherboard, essentially adding an extra layer to the PCB to help disperse heat.

Accessories

Besides the aforementioned wireless antennas and Q-Connectors, ASUS also bundles an IR remote with the P5E3 Deluxe. This remote can be used to power the system on/off/suspend as well as performing media playback functions (play/pause, rewind, etc). You can also program the remote to perform specific functions if you’d like.

In addition to the AI Remote and its accompanying IR blaster, ASUS also includes two additional fans you can use to help cool the motherboard. Say for instance, you’re overclocking your system and you’d like to place additional cooling on the chipset’s North Bridge or the VRM components supplying power to the CPU.