ASUS P7H57D-V EVO H57 LGA 1156 Motherboard Review

Conclusion

The P7H57D-V EVO motherboard is another fine example of great engineering from the gang at ASUS. Everything from the box and bundle to the TurboV EVO overclocking software exudes quality. The board is extremely stable even when pushed to the limits and has an overwhelming feature list, which include SATA 6G and USB 3.0.

Aside from SATA and USB, performance between motherboards these days is largely the same, with results being within the specific tests margin of error. The biggest differences are the features and quality of components, which typically shows up when it comes to overclocking. We found that the P7H57D-V EVO was an excellent overclocking motherboard, reaching the same clocks of the much more expensive P55 based ASUS P7P55D Premium.

The problem that I have with the P7H57D-V EVO motherboard is the price because at $199.99 it doesnt fit so well with the mainstream/value position of the Core i3 and Core i5 processors. All but two i5 CPUs are less expensive than this motherboard so to me it can be hard to justify the cost. The ASUS P7H57D also costs more than the two Intel H57 based motherboards on Newegg.com. The MSI H57M-ED65 retails for $159.99 and the Gigabyte GA-H57-USB3 runs $119.99. Both boards are micro-ATX, but the have the same chipset and main features like USB 3.0, support for DDR3 2133MHz memory and the Realtek ALC889 audio chipset for $80 less.

To cut right to the chase I think that being able to overclock the Intel HD GPU is really cool, but doesnt make a lot of sense because the performance still pales in comparison to something like a GeForce GT 240 or any of the new ATI HD 5000 series cards. For the GPU overclocking to seem appealing, you would need to be looking at the G6950 CPU. At that point you would probably be better off looking at one of ASUS H55 chipset motherboards with fewer features but much less money.

The TurboV EVO software is excellent for someone not versed in the ways overclocking. Within 20 minutes you can get a great overclock and added performance with just a couple clicks of the mouse. For seasoned tweakers, it can be helpful for finding some of the limits of low voltage overclocking.

With the introduction of Clarkdale and with AMD moving to Fusion, the future is a little muddy when it comes to integrated graphics. We see great performance per watt from dual core, quad threaded processors but the lines start to get blurry when comparing it to very slightly more expensive, true quad core CPU’s and especially where overclocking becomes a concern. It will be interesting to see how this will play out over the next year.

Legit Bottom Line: With the P7H57D-V EVO ASUS continues to deliver high quality motherboards with a dizzying array of features. If you are looking for rock solid overclocking of the CPU and integrated GPU on a new i3 or i5 series CPU, this is the hot ticket!