SUMMARY: When nVidia first launched their dual graphics platform, it initially come under some scrutiny for only offering two 8x PCI-E ports. Many months later nVidia announced their nForce 4 SLI X16 chipset which offers two full speed PCI-E slots, each with 16 lanes. Today we've got a very exclusive look at the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard. We closely examine the performance of the two different PCI Express port lane configurations to determine if it's actually worth upgrading to the new chipset or not!
Before we begin let’s take a quick look at the specifications of the motherboard...
CPU
Socket 939 for AMD® Athlon™ 64 FX / Athlon 64 X2 / Athlon 64 / Sempron™ processor AMD Cool 'n' Quiet™ Technology * Refer to www.asus.com for AMD CPU support list
Dual channel memory architecture 4 x DIMM, max. 4GB, DDR 400 / 333 / 266, ECC, non-ECC, un-buffered memory * Refer to www.asus.com or user manual for "Memory QVL (Qualify Vendor List)
Expansion Slots
2 x PCI-E x16 with SLI™ support at full x16, x16 mode 1 x PCI-E x4 (Support PCI-E x4 or PCI-E x1 card) 3 x PCI 2.2
SLI
Support two identical SLI-ready graphics cards (both x16 mode) ASUS EZ Plug ASUS two-slot thermal design ASUS Soft SLI Bridge ASUS PEG Link for dual PCI Express graphics cards
Storage/RAID
NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 Southbridge supports - 2 x Ultra DMA 133 / 100 / 66 / 33 - 4 x Serial ATA 3 Gb/s - NV RAID: RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and JBOD on Serial ATA drives Silicon Image 3132 SATA controller supports - 1 x Internal Serial ATA 3 Gb/s hard disk - 1 x External Serial ATA hard disk (SATA On-the-Go) - Support RAID 0, 1
LAN
Dual Gigabit LAN Marvell® 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit LAN controller NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 Southbridge built-in Gigabit MAC with external Marvell 88E1111 PHY supports: - NV Firewall - NV RIS (Remote Installation Service) - NV ActiveArmor - AI NET
Audio
Realtek® ALC850 8-channel CODEC Universal Audio Jack Audio Sensing and Enumeration Technology Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports on back I/O
IEEE 1394
TI® 1394a controller supports: - 2 x IEEE 1394a connectors at midboard
USB
10 x USB 2.0/1.1
ASUS AI Life Features
Stack Cool 2 SATA on the Go (External SATA on back I/O port)
Overclocking Features
Intelligent overclocking tools: - AI NOS™ (Non-delay Overclocking System) - AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner) - ASUS PEG Link - Automatically performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards Precision Tweaker: - vDIMM: 8-step DRAM voltage control - vCore: Adjustable CPU voltage at 0.0125V increment SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection) - FSB tuning from 200MHz up to 400MHz at 1MHz increment - Memory tuning from 400MHz up to 800MHz - PCI Express frequency tuning from 100MHz up to 200MHz at 1MHz increment Overclocking Protection: - ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Special Features
ASUS 8-Phase Power Design ASUS Fanless Design ASUS AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner) ASUS AI NET2 ASUS C.P.R. (CPU Parameter Recall) ASUS MyLogo2 ASUS Q-Fan2
Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Parallel 1 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial + Optical) 1 x External SATA 2 x RJ45 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 1 x Wireless LAN antenna jack 1 x Wireless LAN activity LED 8-Channel Audio I/O
Internal I/O Connectors
6 x USB 2.0/1.1 1 x Floppy disk drive connector 2 x IDE connector 5 x SATA connectors 1 x CPU / 2 x Chassis / 2 x Chipset / 1 x Power Fan connectors 1 x GAME / MIDI connector 2 x IEEE1394a connector 1 x COM connector Front panel audio connector Chassis Intrusion connector CD / AUX audio in 24-pin ATX Power connector 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector 4-pin EZ Plug power connector
BIOS
8 Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash, ASUS CrashFree BIOS2
Cabling Installation & Maintenance provides information to industry professionals involved in the purchase, design, installation and maintenance of premises and campus-wide cabling systems.
Copyright © 1999-2008 Tweak Town Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.