Power Consumption

Given the increased size (ATX versys micro ATX) and extras like USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps (plus PLX chip), only seeing an addition of a single extra watt at idle is impressive from the Asus H57, and under load it's even more so - dropping 4-5W on both Gigabyte boards.

Conclusion

Distilling the results, the Asus H57 overclocks very well but that doesn't translate into the best results we've seen. At stock speeds it's very nippy though: topping the tables in all our multimedia performance charts, however gaming is a bit more luckwarm on all accounts.

At £145, it's not cheap, although it's easy to see where the money has been spent - it uses the high-end variant of the latest Intel chipset and features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps ports. It's a decent overclocker, but hits the same sort of speed as the H55-based Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H we saw recently. You can also find better overclocking with cheaper P55 boards, such as the GA-P55M-UD2.

The Asus P7H57D-V EVO as a motherboard is particularly good. Its technology works perfectly, it has a great BIOS and it will look fantastic in a case as the backbone to any build. Unfortunately, right now, it's just difficult to justify really buying one. You’ve got to really want a Core i3 or i5 Clarkdale CPU with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps to want this H57 board. Generally speaking, if you just want performance and have an eye on your budget, then plump for a P55 or H55 board.

• Performance
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• 9/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• -
• 6/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

Score Guide