On the next few pages we'll show you some photos. The images were taken at high-resolution and then cropped and scaled down. The camera used was a Canon 450D 12 MegaPixel.

Right, first off box and bundling. One word: stuffed. everything you need and can think of is in the package. Plenty of cables, USB brackets, extra X58 chipset cooler should you want to use it (not really needed). That's what I call bundling gear, it's something ASUS is known for, that's for sure. Obviously in this price range you can have some demands for sure.

The one thing most noticeable (next to the mainboard) is obviously the OC Palm. It's located just below the mainboard on the right side. The device is in essence a Vista sideshow item that helps out as a real-time overclock controller and hardware monitor for your desktop. Now I was so fricking short on time that I did not even have the time to test it out just yet. Hopefully in a follow-up article we can show you some more on that. But if you guys remember ABIT's "3rd Eye device" it's much like that. This OC Palm with its 2.4" LCD screen does seem to get the benefit of the doubt really. The OC Palm is optional. You can save 40 bucks by buying the regular SKU.

The P6T also adopts the usage of TurboV, an overclocking tool that utilizes a micro-controller to provide precise overclocking adjustments. It allow users to adjust the CPU ratio (multiplier)* for instant CPU upgrades for real-time performance enhancements on the fly in Windows. TurboV can also be used to adjust the NB voltage, NB-PCIe voltage, CPU PLL voltage and DRAM voltage in 0.02V micro-intervals. Again on the fly, TurboV is able to do all this without exiting the operating system or rebooting.

Okay then, first real glimpse of the board. Nice design, everything is spot on and in the right place, we see loads of connectivity and some pretty extraordinary passive cooling. Nice. BTW the mainboard has 16+2 phase power regulation including Asus Six Engine and EPU.

Back panel connectivity: The motherboard comes with eight USB 2.0, eSATA, optical and digital S/PDIF and 7.1 channel surround sound including DTS "Surround Sensation UltraPC" features unique to Asus - Virtual (5.1) Surround, Bass Enhancement, Dialogue Clarify and Soundstage Expansion.

Lovely, two Gigabit LAN ports, FireWire, optical and coaxial S/PDIF outputs and audio jacks. There's even a PS/2 connector allowing backward compatibility, either a mouse or keyboard can be connected to it. I find this extremely nice connectivity, just the way I like to see it.

This is the new LGA 1366 socket for the upcoming Core i7 (Nehalem) processor from Intel. ASUS has gone for a 16-phase PWM for the processor and solid capacitors from Fujitsu rated to operate at up to 105 degrees Celsius. As you can expect from ASUS, heat-pipe based passive heatsinks are used to cool the MOSFETs surrounding the socket.