Additional BIOS Features
Asus includes three useful utilities for updating and saving BIOS firmware and custom settings.
Asus EZ Flash 2 allows you to flash the BIOS from either a floppy or USB flash drive, without the hassle of creating "bootable media". While a variety of companies, including Asus, also allow flashing the BIOS from within windows, EZ Flash 2 significantly reduces the risk of a "bad flash".
Two boxes below the "path" bar allow drive selection on the left side and file selection on the right. USB drives appear as "HDD-1" on the left side.
Though Asus didn’t have any updates for the P5E Premium WiFi-AP @n Edition at press time, we checked the website for updates to another model to gauge the "user experience". We often find Asus’ Taiwan site to be more up-to-date than its U.S. version, but both sites are usually very slow, taking up to two minutes to refresh a page. Once you’ve navigated to your motherboard model (assuming your browser didn’t time out), clicking the "download" link in the upper-left corner takes you directly to the appropriate downloads page for the model you were viewing. The site is easy to use for anyone who has the patience of a tree sloth - analogue modem users limited to 33k or slower connections can once again feel good about the speed of their local service...
The next interesting BIOS add-in is the Asus O.C. profile, which allows users to save custom BIOS settings for retrieval following any required "CLR_CMOS" operation. Overclockers who find they’ve taken their systems too far can easily return to a previously-saved configuration. Two profiles can be saved onto the BIOS ROM itself, while additional profiles can be transferred to a floppy or USB flash drive.
The ability to save overclocking profiles to a flash drive is a blessing to anyone who would like to transfer custom settings to an identical system, or share them with friends.
Accessories
| Accessories | |
|---|---|
| Documentation & Software | Motherboard Manual
Motherboard Driver DVD Chipset Fan Instructions |
| Hardware | 1x 80-conductor Ultra ATA cable
1x Floppy Cable 6x SATA Data Cable 1x 4-pin to SATA power adapter (two-device) 1x Port Breakout Plate (2x USB, 1x IEEE-1394) 2x Heatpipe Cooling Fan (Supplemental) 2x WiFi Antenna 1x I/O Panel Shield 1x Asus Q-Connector Kit |
The P5E3 Premium WiFi-AP @n Edition includes every cable needed to reach a full internal drive configuration, two WiFi antennas for its 802.11n wireless adapter, and two supplemental chipset/VRM cooling fans. The chipset/VRM sinks normally rely on CPU air cooler draft to function properly, and the supplemental fans are meant to restore the missing airflow whenever the P5E3 Premium WiFi-AP @n Edition is used in a liquid-cooled system.
A full multi-language user’s manual and driver/application DVD are also provided. The latter includes utilities such as ASUS PC Probe II, ASUS Update, ASUS AI Suite, Corel Snapfire Plus SE and Norton Internet Security.
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Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate? (P16)
Its no suprise that the manufacturers didn't really bother with a major redesign because this is the last of the current Intel architectures before we move to the CSI memory link in the upcoming CPUs. I say embrace the X48 and enjoy the greatest performance that Socket 775 will ever be able to deliver. Besides since when can you disagree with releasing a validated chipset in favour of overclocking? Some people just want a bloody good board that runs perfectly stable - we are not all overclockers you know (plus there is the issue of possibly invalidating warranties when overclocking is done)