Bundle and presentation
ASUS' presentation skills are usually top notch.
ASUS' usual packaging comes out to the fore. It's difficult to distinguish between ASUS-branded boards without paying close attention to the model number and specification label. ASUS is pushing the P4R800-V as a motherboard that's highly capable in the multimedia department and not necessarily a performance trailblazer. The weighty box is indication that there's more than just a basic board lurking underneath.
Any decent bundle should, in our opinion, start off with an excellent manual. Our sincere belief is that an easy-to-digest manual is as important as any board feature. ASUS does another excellent job with a main manual (not pictured) that's written in good English and covers all the salient points in the right amount of detail. Motherboard documentation often seems like an afterthought for some companies, not with ASUS. A multilanguage quick setup guide is more applicable to the seasoned enthusiast. We're also fans of individual and brand-specific touches. ASUS uses black company-branded IDE cables and includes its obligatory extra jumper set and a serial port.
A combined PCI plate that gives an extra 2 USB 2.0 ports (making a total of 6) and provides a GAME port is what we'd expect from ASUS. However, as VIA's VT6307 FireWire400 controller can service 2 ports and only 1 is present on the back panel, the other should have been included here, too.
S/PDIF support was conspicuously missing from the back panel. ASUS rectifies this with another PCI slot-taking board that provides S/PDIF-out support in both coaxial and optical forms.
From a software view, ASUS has an efficient driver CD that breaks installation down into sections labelled drivers (ATI All In One, Marvell Gigabit, USB 2.0) and utilities, comprising of ASUS PCProbe, ASUS Update (a Windows-based BIOS-flashing utility), PC Cillin 2002 (how old is that!). ASUS long-standing relationship with InterVideo guarantees a value-adding package. Here. InterVideo includes its WinDVD Platinum Suite, replete with WinDVD Platinum 5 (6-channel version to match the board's ability), WinDVD Creator Platinum 2 (DVD authoring tool), and WinRip 2 (all-in-one MP3 program).
A decent enough bundle from ASUS. We'd have liked Wi-Fi support straight out of the box, seeing as the board has the compliant Wi-Fi slot.
