ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe mini-ITX Motherboard

Introduction:

I think mini ITX format now means the vast majority of platforms based
on Intel processors or Atom S1156. There are several AM3 Socket based
motherboards available in the market, but there is the shadow of Core
Duo i3 / H55 that remained. Still among all these, one more model is
on paper at least as interesting as the stars of the market, the Asus
Deluxe M4A88T-I. Compatible with the Phenom II X6 (95W) along with
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB3, it need not be ashamed to face 'stars of
the market" like Gigabyte H55N USB3 or last-ITX Zotac -USB3. We will
see if it can become a credible alternative to the latter in this
review.

Presentation:

With a quiet arrival in the market when other boards/chipset like
h55/57 or Atom / Ion had the control on the market, the Asus M4A88T
DELUXE-I however appeared as an important alternative. For starters,
it can receive all AM3 market which is less than 95W TDP which
according to the official list allows the use of PHENOM II X6 1055T
clocked at 2.8 GHz, a first in this format!

Less space was used in the PCB level. Based on the AM3socket, the card
has 3 ports S-ATA 2.0, USB 2.0 connector (the second is used by the
WiFi card, two fan connectors (1x and 1x 3pin 4pins), one 16x PCIe
slot and two SO-DIMM DDR3. The 24-pin connector and 4 pins are pushed
onto the processor side of the card as in the gigabyte-H55N USB3 and
Intel DH57JG. This is an advantage for operating with an air flow from
front to rear.

The 880g is passively cooled by a blue radiator, but the template
seems perfectly designed to avoid limiting the choice of radiators.
Similarly, the socket processor is ideally located and allows the
installation of heaters in large surface. Unusual in this format, two
small switches are located on the rear section. These are owed to
functions and unlock CORE II TURBO KEY.

The rear panel also reveals some unique features like a Bluetooth
receiver and an optical output coaxial (rare in Mini-ITX) in addition
to the usual optical out. As per the Video, there is a DVI and HDMI.
We also found WIFI two outputs (with remote antennas) and a PS2 port
mixed (keyboard / mouse). Finally, all connections are present because
you can note the presence of two USB 3.0 ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports and
one eSATA port, which have most comprehensive market in this format.

The alternative of the SO-DIMM is bad, but can save space and maintain
a PCB and well stocked. For example, if one had to regret a single
thing, probably the limitation to 3 S-ATA ports which seems to lack
the largest in restricting the use NAS. Even if that number meets the
majority of customers potential by allowing the use of an optical
drive, a SSD and a disk storage competition has accustomed us to
minimum 4 ports. Aside from that, it would be difficult to expect more
from 289 cm.