Fusion E-350 Review: ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe, ECS HDC-I and Zotac FUSION350-A-E
by Ian Cutress on July 14, 2011 11:00 AM ESTFeatures
| ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe | |
| Market Segment | HTPC |
| CPU Interface | FT1 BGA |
| CPU Support | Fusion |
| Chipset | Hudson-M1 (A50M) |
| Memory Slots |
Two DDR3 DIMM Maximum 8 GB Non-ECC Unbuffered |
| Expansion Slots |
One PCIe x16 (x4 speed) One mini-PCIe for Wifi |
| Onboard |
5 x SATA 6Gbps Ports 1 x USB 3.0 header 2 x USB 2.0 headers 1 x MemOK Switch 2 x Fan Headers 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector 1 x SPDIF Out Connector |
| Onboard LAN | Realtek® 8111E PCIe Gigabit LAN controller |
| Onboard Audio |
ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC Supports DTS Surround Sensation Ultra-PC |
| Power Connectors |
24-pin ATX Power Connector 4-pin 12V CPU Power Connector |
| Fan Headers |
1 x CPU (3-pin) 1 x CHA (3-pin) |
| IO Panel |
2 x Antenna 1 x PS/2 Port 2 x USB 3.0 4 x USB 2.0 1 x HDMI 1 x Optical SPDIF Output 1 x DVI 1 x Bluetooth Reciever 1 x eSATA 6 Gbps 1 x Gigabit Ethernet 3 x Audio Jacks |
| BIOS Version | 0902 |
| Warranty Period | 3 Year |
In The Box
I was quite disappointed when I opened the box - there's not a lot in here:
- Two antennas
- Two SATA cables - locking and right angled
- I/O Shield
- User Guide
- Quick Start Guide
With this being the most expensive ASUS Fusion board, I'd have expected a USB 3.0 bracket or something in there.
Software
My issue with ASUS software is the installer, surprisingly enough. The first thing it asks you to do is install Norton Internet Security 2011. I imagine that's the first thing that goes through a person's mind when they're installing an ASUS motherboard (insert sarcasm), rather than any of the Ethernet, audio or wifi drivers. Actually, if Norton fails to install, it suggests you connect online to download Norton Power Eraser - again, this is impossible if you haven't installed the Ethernet/wifi drivers!
The other software with the E35M1-I Deluxe is straightforward - ASUS' main software tool is the AI Suite II, which we've covered extensively in previous reviews, but here receives a severe cut-down version. The new addition is ASUS Vibe, a vain attempt to provide an interface for music and radio stations as well as game demos.
AI Suite II
There are no overclocking controls in the AI Suite II this time - the only tool which isn't related to monitoring or updating is Fan Xpert, which allows adjustment of the two fan headers on board. The software was, for me, sluggish to respond to my changes.
The software does allow straightforward BIOS updating, which is always good to have.
ASUS Vibe
In an effort to provide functionality to their boards, ASUS have decided to include Vibe - a simple piece of software which provides one click access to music stations, radio stations and game demos. The radio stations are amazingly synced to your location - I got links to an array of BBC radio stations as I'm in the UK. They are all run within the software window itself, but the games require downloads.
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CZroe - Saturday, July 16, 2011 - link
Regarding the Asus board not having HDMI1.4, you never seem to confirm that the others do or don't. have it. Should I assume they do or don't?"...and a Wifi card with a pair of antenna"
Antennae is the plural of "antenna." ;)
You wonder about the VGA reference in the Asus board's BIOS, but other boards clearly include a DVI to VGA adapter. Even if the Asus board doesn't include it, it could be referring to that unless it is DVI-D only. Does it support a VGA adapter?
"how overclocking effects gaming"
"Effects" should be affects.
Akdor 1154 - Saturday, July 16, 2011 - link
Given these boards are clearly pushed at the HTPC usage scenario (HDMI, TOSLINK optical outputs, one of the most powerful onboard GPUs ever made, passive cooling, etc) it is very disappointing to not see any of this functionality tested out.How did they perform decoding video? Given the high CPU usage on network utilization, is there any issue playing high bitrate content from a NAS somewhere else? Can I encode? How did the GPU perform on OpenCL tasks (namely, again, content encoding)? Can the PCI-E slot take a TV tuner? What about Flash, if only for Youtube? How about upscaling low-resolution content?
And for the love of God, given two passive and one active cooling setups, how did they fare in a REAL case? Don't know many people who run their HTPCs in open-air, and the nice small cases available can be quite restrictive in terms of airflow - so will the passively cooled boards even be suitable for these? How about fan noise? It would seem Zotac and ASUS went passive because of noise concerns, so how bad was the ECS's little 40mm fan?
What about WiFi performance? You complained about one only supporting HDMI 1.3b; did the others support 1.4 (and hence 3D) perfectly? Did you test this? There was an issue with Windows' audio buffer latency - it would have been great to see this actually tested out to see if it made any difference, instead of a vague "some people might be able to hear it". Did the problematic board skip at all?
Summing up the lack of insight in the way this review was carried out.. <b>did you even test Blu-Ray playback</b>?
I'd love to see this information added to this review - I'd also be interested to know how many people you think would purchase this intending to run Metro 2033 on it.
And finally it seems your comment form is broken in Opera.
evolucion8 - Sunday, July 17, 2011 - link
And the odd thing is when they were testing its IGP performance with Metro 2033, calling it "the Crysis of DX11 until Crysis 2 arrives, so Crysis 2 haven't been released yet? Mishmash of old and new sentences of old articles glued together. Pretty much the same thing that apoppin does on Allienbabletech and his horrible lack of focus and handbacked marketing propagandism.Plus the fact that the review has a lack of objectivity as it isnt compared to its direct rival the Atom/ION combination. I wonder who will stick a GTX 580, play games or will use it for WinRaR archiving. Atom and Fusion aren't powerhouses, are CPU's for very basic stuff and HTPC and they would had done tests in that arena, like web browsing tests, movie playback, Flash tests, USB and HD performance etc. Totally irrelevant, how low can this go?! Definitively one of the worst reviews I've ever seen.
Overall, a HTPC oriented system tested with unconventional tests against much more expensive and powerful solutions. It is like taking a Ferrari and test its performance under water and in outerspace and comparing it against the Columbia Shuttle and Navy's Nuclear Submarine. Things had gone under spiral lately and integrity has been long gone in here, a pity.
PR3ACH3R - Sunday, July 17, 2011 - link
@ Ian CutressThanks for the review,
I think you touched upon a few important points like thermal performance, but as a whole, this review leaves a lot to be desired.
it is incomplete, & fails to address what the target audience of these products, wants to know.
Did this review help me decide what board to buy for HTPC use?
I'm afraid not.
Ichinisan - Sunday, July 31, 2011 - link
It's pretty clear why the Asus BIOS mentions "VGA." The Asus and Zotac boards have DVI-I connectors, so they have extra pins for analog and work with a VGA adapters.dakky21 - Saturday, November 5, 2011 - link
I registered on this board just to say that... not ALL boards have overclock function !!!!I just bought HDC-I v1.0 yesterday, in fact only because I read it had overclock option, but what a cold shower - it does not have. At least not where it should be, under Frequency/Voltage control in BIOS.
dakky21 - Sunday, November 6, 2011 - link
To clarify, my board has BIOS version 2.10.1208 (03/24/2011) and there is NO Turbo Mode in Frequency/Voltage control. No way of getting around 33% more speed. Unfortunately, I bought this board just because of that. Never again trust reviewers or ECS...