Introduction and Specifications

Finally AMD gets a PCIe motherboard and SLI support. What can you expect from the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe as a mainboard solution?

Note: You may also want to read our review of the Asus A8N32-SLI as it is the updated version of this board with a newer chipset and passive cooling.

Introduction

NVIDIA’s SLI technology has been hyped enough already, so I won’t get too much into that here again, just to say that SLI is what a lot of our readers have been waiting for since its announcement months ago.  The Asus A8N-SLI motherboard is the first motherboard to reach my testing lab to support this new multi-GPU technology and so it has a lot to live up to, not to mention that the standard motherboard analysis has to be done on the product as well. 

We’ll start off with the Asus board specs:

Specifications (from Asus.com)

Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce4 Motherboard - Motherboards 62
CPU – Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64FX / Athlon 64
– AMD64 architecture enables simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing
– Supports AMD Cool ‘n’ Quiet Technology
Chipset NVIDIA nForce®4 SLI
Front Side Bus 2000 MT/s, 1600MT/s
Memory – 4 x 184-pin DIMM Sockets support max. 4GB DDR400/DDR333/DDR266 ECC/ non-ECC un-buffered DDR SDRAM memory
– Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Expansion Slots – 2 x PCI Express x16 slot
*SLI mode : x8 , x8
*Default(Single VGA) mode : x16, x1
– 2 x PCI Express x1
– 3 x PCI
SLI – Under SLI mode : support two SLI-ready graphics cards*
– Under Default(Single VGA) mode: supports all PCI Express graphics cards
– ASUS EZ Plug
– ASUS SLI Warning LED
– ASUS EZ Selector
– ASUS two-slot thermal design
– ASUS PEG Link for dual PCIe graphic cards
Storage/ RAID nForce4 Storage:
– 4 x SATA 3Gb/s
– 2 x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33
– NVRAID : RAID0, RAID1, RAID 0+1 and JBOD span cross SATA and PATA
Silicon Image 3114R RAID controller:
– 4 x Serial ATA with RAID0, 1, 0+1, 5 (RAID 5 software patch available, no WHQL)
LAN nForce4 built-in Gbit MAC with external Marvell PHY :
– NV ActiveArmor
– NV Firewall
– AI NET2
MARVELL PCI Gbit LAN controller :
– AI NET2
Audio Realtek ALC850, 8-channel CODEC
Audio Sensing and Enumeration Technology
Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF out ports on back I/O
IEEE 1394 TI 1394 controller supports 2 x 1394 ports
USB Max. 10 USB2.0 ports
ASUS AI Proactive Features AI NOS(Non-delay Overclocking System)
AI NET2 network diagnosis before entering OS
Overclocking Features AI NOS? (Non-delay Overclocking System)
AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner)
ASUS PEG Link for single/dual graphics cards

Precision Tweaker:
– vDIMM: 9-step DRAM voltage control
– vCore: Adjustable CPU voltage at 0.0125 increment
– SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection): allowing FSB tuning from 200MHz up to 400MHz at 1MHz increment
– PCIe Frequency: allowing PCIe frequency from 100MHz up to 200MHz at 1MHz increment

Adjustable FSB/DDR ratio. Fixed PCIe/PCI/SATA frequencies.
ASUS PEG Link for single/dual graphics cards
ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
ASUS Special Features Post Reporter
ASUS EZFlash
ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2
ASUS Q-Fan
ASUS MyLogo2
ASUS Multilanguage BIOS
ASUS Instant Music
ASUS SLI warning LED
ASUS EZ Selector
ASUS EZ Plug
BIOS 4 Mb Flash ROM, AWARD BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3
Back Panel I/O Ports 1 x Optical + 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output
1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x Parallel
2 x RJ45
1 x 1394
4 x USB 2.0/1.1
8-Channel Audio I/O
Internal I/O Connectors – 1 x SLI selector card connector
– 3 x USB 2.0 connector supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports
– 1 x IEEE1394 connectors
– 1 x Paraller connector
– 1 x COM connector
– 1 x GAME/MIDI connector
– CPU Fan / 2x Chassis Fan/ Power Fan/ Chipset Fan connectors
– Front panel audio connector
– Chassis Intrusion connector
– CD audio-in connector
– 24-pin ATX Power connector
– 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector
Support CD Drivers
ASUS PC Probe – PC Health Monitoring Software
ASUS LiveUpdate Utility
ASUS AI Booster
ASUS Cool ‘ n’ Quiet Utility
NVIDIA nTune Utility
Anti-virus software (OEM version)
Accessories SLI connector
1 x 1-port IEEE1394 module
1 x SLI retention bracket
8 x Serial ATA cables
1 x SATA Extension module for external devices
4 x 2-port SATA power cable
1 x 2-port USB2.0 / Game module
1 x 2-port USB2.0 module
1 x COM Port module
1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
1 x IDE cable
1 x FDD cable
1 x I/O Shield
User’s manual
Setting Sticker
WinDVD Suite
Form Factor ATX Form Factor, 12″x 9.6″(30.5cm x 24.5cm)
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce4 Motherboard - Motherboards 63

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