ASUS P5WD2-E Premium Motherboard Review :: ASUS P5WD2-E Premiume Bundle

• ASUS P5WD2-E Premium motherboard
• 2-port USB bracket/Game port bracket
• Com1 port bracket
• Firewire bracket
• 6 SATA cables
• 3 SATA power cables
• Back Panel I/O plate
• 2 80-pin IDE cables
• 1 FDD cable
• Driver CD

Hardware bundles are important to the new motherboard user. I am of the mind that the more the motherboard manufacturer includes in the hardware bundle, the more value that motherboard brings to the table in comparison to bare motherboard bundles. A 2-port USB bracket brings the total USB ports on the board to 6. 8 USB ports can be installed with another USB 2.0 bracket.

Hardware bundle

SATA cables

Software bundle

SLI bridge

ASUS decided to include 6 SATA cables and 3 SATA power cables as part of the bundle. A Firewire bracket allows the digital video enthusiast to use Firewire. A pet peeve of mine is when mobo manufacturers only include one IDE cable. ASUS includes both necessary for full operation of the motherboard. Rounding out the hardware bundle is the Back Panel I/O plate, a COM1 bracket and a Game port. Software can make or break a motherboard bundle. ASUS decided to fully outfit their board with a full suite of antivirus software (90 day trial of Norton's Internet Security) and the Intervideo WinDVD suite including PhotoAlbum 1.0, WinDVD Creator 2, DVD Copy 2.5 and Disc Master 2.5.

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