DDR2 600 Native Support
Although Intel's 925X, 915P and 915G chipsets claimed to only support DDR2 400/533, ASUS engineers successfully unleashed their true potential. This model offers native DDR2 600, eliminating the bottleneck when overclocking both the CPU and memory. With current processors supporting 800MHz FSB, ASUS motherboards, the only solutions with native DDR2 600, will provide superior performance for the most demanding applications.

FSB/MEM (freq.)	ASUS	Other brands
800/600 (Native)	V

Hyper Path2 - Shorten Memory Latency
The innovative ASUS Hyper Path2 significantly shortens the latency time between the CPU and memory and improves memory performance without sacrificing stability.

PCI Express Architecture
PCI Express is the latest I/O interconnect technology that will replace the existing PCI. With a bus bandwidth 4 times higher than that of AGP 8X interface, PCI Express x16 bus performs much better than AGP 8X in applications such as 3D gaming. PCI Express x1 also outperforms PCI interface with its exceptional high bandwidth up to 500MB/s. The high speed PCI Express interface creates new usages on desktop PCs e.g., Gigabit LAN, 1394b, and high-speed RAID systems.

AI Proactive

Stack Cool™
Cooler Overclocking and Quieter Operation!
Heat causes instability and shortens system lifecycle, and motherboard power circuitry is a major thermal source. The patented Stack Cool™ technology utilizes a mini PCB stacked against the main PCB to conduct heat away from power components, resulting in a 10° Celsius reduction. And voila! Cooler overclocking, quieter fan operation, greater stability and longer system life without you doing a thing.

AI NOS™
Boost performance when you need it the most!
Applications such as 3D games and video editing demand a huge chunk of system resource.
Inject "nitrous oxide" into your CPU! The patented AI NOS™ (Non-delay Overclocking System) technology intelligently detects system load and automatically boosts performance for the most demanding tasks. Unlike other dynamic overclocking techniques, AI NOS™ reacts much faster to satisfy your unending need for speeds.

AI NET2
Diagnose LAN connection before entering OS!
Network problems are often caused by bad cable connection.
AI NET2 remotely detects cable connection the second you turn on the system, and any faulty connections are reported back up to 100 meters at 1 meter accuracy.

High Definition Audio
Enjoy high-end sound system on your PC! The onboard 8-channel HD audio (High Definition Audio, previously codenamed Azalia) CODEC enables high-quality 192KHz/24-bit audio output, jack-sensing feature, retasking functions and multi-streaming technology that simultaneously sends different audio streams to different destinations. You can now talk to your partners on the headphone while playing a multi-channel network games. All of these are done on one computer. The Dolby Digital Live technology from Dolby Lab encodes the multi-channel audio source into AC-3 bit-stream and outputs it to S/PDIF port in real time.

Serial ATA & IDE RAID
The onboard ITE 8212F RAID controllers and the Intel ICH6R southbridge provide the complete solution to your RAID requirements on different storage standards. The Intel ICH6R supports RAID 0, 1 and Intel Matrix RAID Technology on 4 Serial ATA ports. For IDE hard disk drives, the ITE 8212F controller provides RAID 0, 1 , 0+1 functionality for two ATA133 channels.

ASUS Q-Fan2
ASUS Q-Fan2 technology intelligently adjusts both CPU fan and chassis fan speeds according to system loading to ensure quiet, cool and efficient operation.

S/PDIF-out on Back I/O Port
This motherboard provides convenient connectivity to external home theater audio systems via an optical or coaxial S/PDIF-out (SONY-PHILIPS Digital Interface) jack. It allows to transfer digital audio without converting to analog format and keeps the best signal quality.

Max. 8 USB 2.0 ports supports
USB 2.0 is the latest connectivity standard for next generation components and peripherals. Backwards compatible with current USB 1.1 peripherals, USB 2.0 delivers transfer speeds up to 40 times faster at 480Mb/s, for easy connectivity and ultra-fast data transfers.

ASUS CrashFree BIOS2
The CrashFree BIOS2 feature now includes the BIOS auto-recovery function in a support CD. Users can reboot their system through the support CD when a bootable disk is not available, and go through the simple BIOS auto-recovery process.
ASUS motherboards now enable users to enjoy this protection feature without the need to pay for an optional ROM.

WinDVD Suite (On Retail Version Only)
ASUS motherboards, intensifying leadership in the IT industry, now bundle the versatile InterVideo WinDVD Suite. This multifaceted software set includes the latest multimedia software(OEM version), bringing forth the multimedia features of ASUS motherboards to the best!