Asus tackles the same low-cost SLI performance market as its rival ECS, but with a slightly different approach that gives the P5N-E SLI somewhat more gamer and overclocker appeal.

Handy added features such as an eSATA controller and FireWire push the P5N-E SLI a bit upscale from its ECS rival, but at higher cost amounting to roughly a $10 price difference. Since these two features are usually worth around a $15 increase in typical motherboard prices, Asus might have a value leader on its hands.

But it's not all roses for budget-minded Asus fans, as the P5N-E SLI also gives up a few things offered by its rival: The P5N-E SLI has two fewer expansion slots, three fewer analog audio jacks, and one less digital audio output. Concerning the analog and digital audio connectors, the P5N-E SLI actually has solder points for these parts, so omitting them seems just a little cheap of Asus. Furthering that theme, Asus soldered its BIOS chip directly to the motherboard, eliminating any hope of replacement after a bad flash.

The best reason we can find to choose Asus is its stellar overclocking stability, far and away the best results we've seen from our old pre-retail processor core. This might be just the perfect board for overclockers who don't care about onboard audio, so long as adding a sound card to one of the two available PCI slots isn't a problem.

Pros:

• Superb overclocking stability surpasses even high-end motherboards we've tested
• eSATA and FireWire controllers in a budget-minded performance board
• SLI support eases eventual system upgrades

Cons:

• Not enough analog audio ports to support the audio controller's 7.1 channels
• Few expansion slots
• Soldered on BIOS prevents "bad flash" chip replacement.

The Verdict: The Asus P5N-E SLI is the perfect budget SLI board for overclocking extremist, but falls just a little too close to midrange prices to take the award for value.