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Board
Layout
 The
layout of the board is pretty standard. I like that Asus has
rotated the SATA ports to their sides. This eliminates any
clearance issues you may have with large video cards and SATA cables.
However, in smaller cases, it my cause problems some HDD cages.
Asus has included SATA cables with 90 degree connectors to help with any
clearance issues that may arise.
The 790i chipset is the
first to support SLI with more than two cards. The two blue slots
that you see are PCI-E 2.0 slots and the white one is PCI-E 1.1.
The Supreme FX II audio card will fit in the black slot above the PCI-E
slots.
Like most performance chipsets on the market, they tend to get a little
warm. Asus is using a very kewl heatpipe on the Striker II called
the Fusion Block. The Fusion Block can be used as is, and is very
effective or it can be hooked into a water cooling setup to really keep
things cool. The Fusion Block cools the chipset
and the power circuitry. The Fusion Block is attached to the board
with back plates for more security.
One of the kewlest features of the Fusion Block is
it lights up. This board has a lot of bling so you are sure to be
the envy of the next LAN party you attend. In this picture you can
also see a green LED just above the sticker on the board. This is
part of the voltiminder system and we'll discuss it later.
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