Motherboard Asus P8H67: specifications and reviews

It's rather strange to hear from the owners of computer devices purchased in the budget segment, about the superiority of products to competitors from a more expensive class. But this is quite real, especially when it comes to the motherboard Asus P8H67. It is positioned by its manufacturer in the multimedia segment, and the device's functionality allows to use the motherboard even for fans of resource-intensive dynamic games.

The foresight of Asus technologists

The size of the mini-ITX motherboard has been known on the market for a decade, from the very day when VIA Technologies introduced the world's first mobile Barabone platform. However, no one dared to develop a miniature system further. Within the walls of the Taiwanese corporation, they decided to violate all the rules and launch the universal motherboard Asus P8H67, the characteristics of which will satisfy both gamblers and ordinary users who prefer to use the computer as a home theater.

First meeting

A small package with a motherboard will certainly attract the attention of any potential buyer. Displays of the box are quite informative, and the user can study the specifications without removing the device from the package. The Asus P8H67 motherboard is a standard package, which all manufacturers can boast on the market of similar devices. In the box, the user, in addition to the main board and the interface plug, will find two SATA III cables and two antennas to amplify the Wi-Fi signal.

The motherboard looks more like a Lego designer, assembled in a hurry of all the components in the package. The miniature area of the printed circuit board forced the manufacturer to more compactly place the connectors and components on the PCB. True, the owners' opinions on this issue are contradictory, because close-lying components heat up faster.

Several modifications of the device

Motherboard Asus P8H67 is presented on the market in three basic versions:

1. For normal use (Pro). It is to this modification that most buyers pay attention, because in the price category up to 6000 rubles the choice is small among similar devices.
2. For maximum functionality (Deluxe). The manufacturer focused on the capabilities of the device, providing a fee with multimedia functionality and mobility capabilities.
3. To create a game platform (Evo). Potential buyers are attracted by an interesting system, on the basis of which can be built not only the multimedia center, but also a gaming computer with two video adapters.

All modifications have the same base, including a chipset and controllers, but there are significant differences between them in the layout of expansion cards and in the interface connectors. So, in order to provide the motherboard with huge functionality, the manufacturer had to install reduced-size SO-DDR3 memory controllers, which are used in laptops.

Silence is the guarantee of health

Yes, the manufacturer had to fight for every square millimeter of the printed circuit board, this is indicated by the transfer of SATA III ports to the upper part and the location of the two bridges in the immediate vicinity. Even a battery for maintaining the power of the BIOS Asus P8H67 is located perpendicular to the printed circuit board. But when studying the connector for the processor, the user will find that there is a lot of free space around the socket, and the batteries (solid capacitors) have a small height (not higher than the processor).

The manufacturer should pay tribute - he was concerned about installing a huge radiator as a cooling system, because the lack of rotating components of the cooler allows you to create a noiseless system. Proof of this is the installation of a reinforced plate for the processor socket, which is located on the back of the motherboard. Judging by the feedback of the owners, there was no problem with passive cooling during the operation of the computer.

Characteristics of graphic accelerator

The motherboard Asus P8H67 supports the work with integrated graphics, however, for this the user will have to install the appropriate processor from the Intel Core I3 / I5 / I7 series with the integrated graphics core. On the interface panel, the owner will find digital and analog video outputs, so there will be no problems with connecting the monitor.

Special attention should be paid to the game PCIex16 interface for installing a discrete video adapter. In their responses, many users assure that all video cards existing on the market are supported, the only limitation is that the overall device must fit into the small chassis of the system unit.

There is not much memory

The mass media has a lot of negative feedback about the support of RAM memory by the Asus P8H67 motherboard. Once again, Intel Corporation decided to save on the DDR3 controller and did not provide support for high-performance RAM modules. Working within 1066-1333 MHz, to achieve high performance in games (when memory synchronously works with the processor) will not succeed. As for the maximum amount supported by the chip, then here is the full order. For gaming solutions, the limit is 32 GB, and for other modifications - 16 GB.

With the media, things are much better. First, the manufacturer did not abandon the old IDE interface, which pleased owners of older optical drives and hard drives. Also on the board there are 6 SATA III-controllers and one PCIex1 port. Accordingly, the user can install many hard drives, including fast SSD disks.

Device control panel

Any user will be more comfortable if the manufacturer provides any shell for installing drivers and working with proprietary software - it is definitely easier to manually launch applications hidden in folders on an optical disk. With the convenience of installation complete order with the motherboard Asus P8H67 M Pro. BIOS, drivers, utilities and programs have a special shell that runs independently from the disk and helps the user to cope with the task.

As for the BIOS itself, it is also equipped with its own UEFI graphical shell, which provides the user with full control of I / O. From the point of view of convenience, even the most demanding customer is unlikely to find fault with the shell, because you can manage anything.

Finally

The motherboard Asus P8H67 really attracts attention: small size, huge functionality and gaming capabilities allow the product to be universal in the computer market. However, judging by the feedback of the owners, there are still drawbacks. Fans of resource-intensive games will have to give preference to an inexpensive video card from the average game class, because the cooling system of the flagships simply can not fit in a compact package. In any case, the verdict is positive, because in the market, in fact, there is no alternative, so this platform has a great future.