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Review: ASUS P6T SE X58 motherboard: a new lease of life?

by Tarinder Sandhu on 12 February 2010, 13:55 3.65

Tags: ASUS P6T SE, ASUSTeK (TPE:2357), PC

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qavxz

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Final thoughts and rating

The P6T SE continues to provide the entry-level X58 chipset-based offering from ASUS. Coming in at around £140 and likely to be paired with the Core i7 920 CPU, initial impressions are good. The layout is sensible, the BIOS solid and the performance sharp.

Entry-level status means that the P6T SE does without a lot of the bells and whistles that, really, most people don't need. Whilst we can understand the lack of bundled brackets and the omission of a board-mounted button here or there in the name of cost, the absence of SLI certification is a considerable compromise that isn't made on some competitors' cheaper boards.

If you can look past SLI usage - ATI's CrossFireX is supported as a three-way combination - then the P6T SE is a good choice that will reward those who spend a little time optimising a mid-level overclock. If you can't, then there's always the P6T. Our benchmarks show it to be about as fast as the more-expensive Gigabyte EX58-UD5 and just as stable, so no complaints on the performance front.

Bottom line: Intel's newer P55 chipset may be garnering more of the limelight of late yet the combination of X58 and Core i7 920 remains alluring. ASUS' attempt at wooing the budget-conscious user rests with the sub-£150 P6T SE, which is a good, solid board with only one real foible. It remains worthy of consideration almost a year after it was launched. Indeed, with guaranteed support for the upcoming hexa-core Gulftown chip, there's considerable life in the old dog yet.

HEXUS Rating

We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.

The rating is given in relation to the category the component competes in, therefore the motherboard is evaluated with respect to our 'high-end components' criteria.

73%

ASUS P6T SE

HEXUS Where2Buy

The ASUS P6T SE is currently available from Scan.co.uk for £140.02

*As always, UK-based HEXUS.community discussion forum members will benefit from the SCAN2HEXUS Free Shipping initiative, which will save you a further few pounds plus also top-notch, priority customer service and technical support backed up by the SCANcare@HEXUS forum.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim



HEXUS Forums :: 17 Comments

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we'd probably chop the legacy PS/2 ports and add in a further two USB 2.0s.
Why oh Why do people keep saying this? That board already has 6 USB 2.0 on the rear, and I assume at least 3 on board headers for 6 more. That's a possible 12 devices without even taking USB Hubs into consideration. Seriously, how many USB ports does one computer need?!

The one thing that tends to stay with me through upgrade after upgrade and replacement PC after replacement PC is my trust PS/2 mouse and keyboard. I've had my current mouse over 5 years, and I've never found one as comfortable. I don't want to have to choose between changing my mouse and buying a USB - PS/2 converter just because someone else decides it's time everyone moves on from PS/2! PS/2 does a great job for mice and keyboards, so why not keep it on there?
C'mon, we're living in 2010 and not 1990. :)

We'd be interested to hear what other users have to say, because we'd happily see the back of PS/2 and have some other form of connectivity on the back.
PS2 is dead and gone… (or should be :angst:)

:)
Must be one of the few legacy ports remaining!
I'd rather see floppy and IDE gone rather than PS/2 as i still use a PS/2 keyboard :mrgreen: