ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP@n main features are:

• Socket: 775.
• Chipset: Intel X38 Express.
• Super I/O: Winbond W83627DHG
• Clock Generator: ICS 9LPRS918HKL
• Parallel IDE: One ATA-133 port controlled by JMicron JMB363 chip.
• Serial IDE: Six SATA-300 ports controlled by the south bridge chip, supporting RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 plus two eSATA-300 ports controlled by JMicron JMB363 chip.
• USB: Ten USB 2.0 ports (six soldered on the motherboard and four available through I/O brackets. This motherboard came with a bracket with two ports, so two ports are left over).
• FireWire (IEEE 1394a): Two ports controlled by Agere L-FW3227 chip, one soldered on the motherboard and another available through an I/O bracket that comes with the motherboard.
• On-board audio: Produced by the chipset together with Analog Devices AD1988B codec (eight channels, 24-bit resolution, up to 192 kHz sampling rate for both inputs and outputs, 92 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the inputs and 101 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the outputs).
• On-board video: No.
• On-board LAN: Two Gigabit Ethernet ports, one controlled by a Marvell 88E8056 chip connected to one PCI Express x1 bus and the other controlled by a Realtek RTL8110SC chip connected to the standard PCI bus. One IEEE 802.11n WiFi access point controlled by a Ralink RT2770F chip, with two omni-directional antennas.
• Buzzer: No.
• Power supply required: ATX12V 2.x (24-pin), EPS12V optional.
• Slots: Two x16 PCI Express 2.0 slots supporting CrossFire (blue), one x16 PCI Express 1.0 slot working at x4 (black), two x1 PCI Express 1.0 slots and two PCI slots.
• Memory: Four DDR-DIMM sockets (up to 8 GB up to DDR3-1800/PC3-14400).
• Number of CDs that come with this motherboard: Two.
• Programs included: Norton Internet Security 2007, Corel Snapfire Plus SE 1.2 plus motherboard drivers and utilities.
• Extra features: Web browsing and Skype without entering the operating system or even without a hard disk drive attached (Express Gate), passive cooling, aluminum solid capacitors, Q-Connector for the case frontal connectors, remote control (AI Remote), on-board flash drive for ReadyBoost (32 MB controlled by Phison PS2135 chip) and EPU (Energy Processing Unit).
• More Information: http://usa.asus.com
• Average price in the US*: USD 363.00

* Researched at Pricewatch.com on the day we published this first look article.