Conclusion

The ASUS P5W DH Deluxe has a lot of things going for it, though not for the reasons that ASUS is advertising the board for. The P5W DH Deluxe does feature some impressive multimedia capabilities, if you're going by its HD Audio with Dolby Master Studio and CrossFire capable graphics. However, these same features are also available on the older P5WD2-E Premium and are just as common as the next high-end motherboard you see in the market. The board doesn't come with an onboard video processor, doesn't have any video output options nor does it feature the Intel Viiv compliant ICH7DH Southbridge. Instead, ASUS is pinning the whole 'Digital Home' tag line on the DH Remote that is bundled with the board. Sure, it allows you to configure and control various media player software in Windows and offers a quick and easy way to power on/off/sleep your PC, but these are standard functions on any multimedia keyboard you can buy off the shelves. Of course the DH Remote offers further functionality and is a cool inclusion for those building a set top entertainment box, but we can't honestly say it makes a Digital Home motherboard.

Instead, let's focus back towards the enthusiast computing side of things. The P5W DH Deluxe comes as a straight upgrade for the P5WD2-E Premium with a cleaner layout, stronger cooling capabilities and much more enhanced VRM design. Expansion slot placement ensures enough room between the dual PCIe x16 slots to easily install two large Radeon X1K cards for CrossFire and we like how the staggered PCI and PCIe x1 slots leaves room for future cards.

In terms of features, the board also stands out with its WiFi-AP Solo component granting IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless capabilities and the EZ-Backup function featuring Silicon Image's SteelVine SATA RAID processor. For the first time, desktop users are able to take advantage of a complete hardware based, OS-independent RAID processing without needing to worry about installation, configuration or driver issues. EZ-Backup basically introduces plug-and-play SATA RAID and it works flawlessly.

Whether you're looking for features or performance, the P5W DH Deluxe is without doubt ASUS' new 975X Express flagship.

Performance-wise, you win some and you lose some with the P5W DH Deluxe. Throughout our benchmarking section, we noticed that the board consistently performed slightly below the older P5WD2-E Premium in terms of CPU and memory subsystem, but it did come out ahead in graphics and game tests. However, with a high overclocking bandwidth, these minor differences are easily negated in the hands of an enthusiast.

There are very little reasons not to like the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe. It is feature-packed, above average power design, stable, overclockable, performs well within expectations of a high-end LGA775 board and is silent. The board is indeed drool worthy, but as expected, the P5W DH Deluxe will knock your finances back to the Stone Age. It can be found on major on-line retailers ranging from US$235 to US$260, which makes it one of the most expensive Intel 975X Express motherboards today, so you'd better start saving.