ASUS P5N-E SLI vs ASUS Striker Extreme Review

We enthusiasts tend to be reluctant to shell out for high-end products when the market is peppered with mid-range gems that cost less than half as much as the opulent Striker. One of those mid-range gems might just be Asus’ own P5N-E SLI. The P5N-E lacks many of the extras that come with the Striker—including the fancy heatpipes, flashy lights, and LCD display—but you still get nForce 650i core logic, passive chipset cooling, SLI support, and enough BIOS-level overclocking options to exploit the full potential of a Core 2 Duo. With motherboards doing little to affect overall system performance, especially when it comes to applications and games, the P5N-E SLI should be every bit as fast as the Striker.

Clearly, we had to put these boards to the test to see how a mid-range mobo like P5N-E SLI stacks up against the flagship Striker Extreme.

..So the Striker Extreme doesn’t quite live up to our admittedly lofty expectations, but the P5N-E SLI more than exceeds what we typically ask from a $120 motherboard. For the most part, the board is every bit as fast as the Striker. You also get a decent array of BIOS options and just enough onboard peripherals. And then there’s the board’s overclocking potential, which, if our sample is any indication, is simply jaw-dropping.

The Tech Report