Installation
I like to take the boards I review and Install them into a standard ATX case, so the user looking to make a potential purchase, can get a general feel if the layout is sufficient for their needs. Nothing sucks quite as bad as purchasing a motherboard, only to discover the port placement makes it impossible to install your hardware, or route your cables. This will be an ongoing feature of my reviews. I do not take to the time to perfectly route each wire, so it will not appear as clean as a meticulous enthusiast level build.

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Shown here is just the board mounted in the case.

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Next up the some cables are routed. The layout is pretty clean and makes for any easy installation.

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The rest of the cables routed effortlessly, even with the large GTX280 video card in place.


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In this drawn back picture you can see that placing the IDE and SATA ports at 90 degree angles, made it possible to have the GTX 280 present, but not interfere with cable placement.

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In another interesting twist, ASUS places Voltiminder LED’s throughout the board. The LED’s display the voltage status for CPU, NB, SB, and Memory in a familiar green, yellow and red fashion. Red of course indicates high or even dangerous voltage ranges. One quick glance at the board when powered on, and you can get a quick visual reminder of the voltage levels you have selected for various board components.

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