Conclusion
AUSU brings a bit to the table with the E45M1-I by offering built in connectivity and some excellent software solutions to take advantage of the rapidly evolving integration of life and technology. From Web based storage and syncing with your Bluetooth device to Blu-Ray movies and streaming services to office applications and web browsing the E45M1-I and ASUS have you covered. Want to play with it and speed things up a bit? ASUS has that covered as well. At the flick of a switch, the push of a button in AI Suite or setting it up yourself in BIOS you can help your hardware reach its maximum potential.
Well if I could compare Apples to oranges I would have an interesting time giving this board an award. The HTPC that was filling the role previously was a 3.2Ghz i7 with 16GB of memory, 500GB HDD and a Radeon 6770 GFX card. I honestly can’t tell the E45M1-I is the slower machine and with the SSD the faster boot times, increased responsiveness and silent operation would lead me to believe in a blind taste test that the E45M1-I was the better, faster machine. Sadly it is not but it is definitely more responsive.
How does it get judged? http://bit.ly/KRbBY7
Yes the comparison boards are Intel and the Intel D525 may show a little better in CPU bound benchmarks but the thing is it is not about CPU bound benchmarks, it is about the whole package and this package is better by quite a bit than other boards competing in this price range.
Due to the lack of direct competition in this market segment and its ability to fulfill its designed tasks flawlessly, the value added features and excellent software, Gold is the only real outcome here.
Jump: INTRODUCTION
Jump: SPECIFICATIONS
Jump: BIOS AND BIOS GALLERY, AI SUITE AND INCLUDED SOFTWARE
Jump: METHODOLOGY, TEST SETUP, POWER AND CPU USAGE
Jump: TESTING AND OVERCLOCKING
