So today we'll be doing a quick unboxing of the ASUS P7H57D-V
EVO. Now that may be a slightly confusing um model number to most, but I
can explain it. P7 is the latest generation of Intel processor, so it
denotes socket 1156. H57 is the chipset.
D means that it includes both true USB 3.0 and true SATA 6 GB per second. I
don't know what the V means and I don't know what the EVO means, but I was pretty close. Okay, so it's Windows 7
ready. As I mentioned before, it includes support for LG 1156. That means
Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7. But you
should also note that on the Core i3 and the Core i5 dual cores, you also have
support for the onboard video included
with those processors. That feature won't work with Core i5 quad cores or
with Core i7s. So, let's go around to the back and see what ASUS has to say
for themselves with this board. You've got SLI and Crossfire X support, which
seems at first like kind of a weird thing for an H series chipset, which is
a value series chipset, but this board is quite feature complete. And really,
it gives ASUS a way to release a powerful board with lots of features
that includes support for onboard video as well as hybrid video should you
require it. So, let's have a look at the accessories that are included. The first
thing we find is an IO shield. This is their premium looking IO shield with the
the fluffy back um silvery thing on the back and a black um
Okay, moving on. Then we have an ESATA and USB 2.0 PCI back plate. Next we have
an IDE cable should you require it. Maybe you have an old DVD drive that
uses one. Then we have an SLI bridge. It's flexible.
Then we have their Q connector. So, this makes life a little bit easier for you
if you're using an older case that doesn't have the uh the USB connectors
in a in a block. And it also makes your life a little bit easier for installing
the front switches. Okay. Then we have
four SATA cables, two right angle and two straight. They're black cables,
which I always like to see. It makes your build look just a little bit nicer
if you don't have like bright red or like bright yellow cables included.
Okay. Okay. Then we've got a users guide which includes a support DVD as well as
an ASUS sticker. Don't use this DVD. Download the latest drivers and
utilities off the ASUS website. All right, let's get the midplate.
ASUS's big thing for the last couple years has been green packaging. They
don't use any foam in their packaging. It's uh you know, see piece of cardboard
on the back of the motherboard instead of foam. It hasn't affected the
reliability of the boards. So, it's uh it's a great great step that they've
made. All right. So, like most LGA1 1156
boards, and by that I mean all, there is an LGA1 1156 socket right in the middle.
So, that's where you're going to have your support for Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7. Up at the top of the board, not
quite in its ideal location, but it should still be quite easy to do cable
management up to here. You've got your 8 pin CPU connector. So, that's one
indicator that this is not a low-end board is that you do have an 8 pin CPU
connector rather than a 4 pin. It's designed to deliver quite a lot of power
to the CPU. It'd be quite comfortable overclocking a Core i7 on this
particular board. Moving along to the right, we have ASUS's uh trademark dual
channel DDR3 with their easy install uh
system here. So, that means that you've only got a clip on the top side, and all
you do is slide the module in from the one side and then clip it in from the
top. Very nice to see. Here we've got our 24 pin connector as well as ASUS's
memo button. So that makes sure that no matter what modules you install in here,
you press that button, it'll run them at a safe setting that makes it so you can
post and then adjust according to what you require. Okay, moving down the
board, we've got the chipset covered by a quite ineffective looking heat sink,
but that should tell you a little bit about the chipset here. The H57 chipset
is not really doing a whole lot. It doesn't get very hot. So, ASUS is able
to make more of a fashion statement with their heat sink rather than have it
actually worry about it cooling a really hot chip. Next, we have our IDE
connector, which is there. And then we have the six SATA 2 ports that are going
to be run off the H57 chipset. Down
along the bottom of the board, we have our front panel connectors as well as a
couple, oh, by a couple, I mean four USB
2.0 front headers. All of these blue ones are for USB 2.0. And then down at
the very bottom here, we have our SATA 6 GB per second connectors. Personally, I
would have liked to see these up where the IDE connector was rather than down
there, but um I guess that's life. Okay,
then we have oh, FireWire support. That's nice. We have a FireWire port
right here. And then our front audio is right there. So that is where all the
ports are. Now let's have a look at the PCI slot layout. Cameraman's racing
ahead of me here. PCI slot layout is down here. There you go. Okay. So we
have two PCIe 1X, two PCI, three PCIe
1X, pardon me. And then you have two PCIe 16X slots. But you can clearly see
here the pins only go up to here. So this one runs at 16x electrical and this
one runs at 8x electrical. Now, that doesn't actually have any real world
impact on Crossfire configuration, so don't worry about that. But if you're
running a single graphics card, you're going to want to throw it in here just
because. All right, here they're using their Fortress of Solitude style uh
MOSFET coolers here. I really like these. I think they're very stylish
looking and they do a reasonably good job of cooling. These are held down by
push pins. And so, we can have a look at the top one there as well. Very cool.
ASUS has really figured out color schemes on their boards in the last
couple years. I mean, that's uh it used to be like, you know, the cardboard
yellow orangey brown PCBs and just
random looking. Now everything's sort of like an icy sort of theme look.
Moving on. Next, we have USB 2.0 ports.
1 2 3 4. That is all. Not a whole lot in
terms of USB 2.0 ports. One PS2, one
optical audio out. We have HDMI, DVI and
VGA out. Then we have FireWire and ESATA, 1 GB Ethernet, and 7.1 audio. Did
I mention USB 3.0? So, you've actually got a total of six USB ports, and two of
them are USB 3.0. Now, with so many cases having four front USB ports, I can
see why ASUS opted to include more internal headers rather than including
more ports on the back of the board. So, that seems like a pretty smart move.
Thank you for checking out my unboxing of the P7H57D-V
Evo.