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Asus M2N32-SLI nForce 590 SLI AMD Motherboard Review

AI Lifestyle M2N32-SLI Deluxe Desktop Motherboard - nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP Chipset - Socket AM2 PGA-940 (1 x Processor Support - 8 GB - Floppy Controller, Serial ATA/300, Ultra ATA/133 ATA-7 - 2 x PCIe x16 Slot)
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Author: Ryan Shrout

Date: October 10, 2006

Subject: Motherboards

Manufacturer: Asus

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Introduction and Specifications

Introduction

The nForce 590 SLI chipset for the AMD AM2 platform was launched in conjunction with the processors in June of this year, and NVIDIA has enjoyed much success with it since then. The only major competition for it has been ATI's XPress 3200 chipset, and ATI hasn't had much success getting board vendors to actually make and sell those boards. NVIDIA, much like we saw with the nForce4 chipset in the Socket 939 days, is mopping up the chipset market not necessarily because of technical advantage, but due to the incapable competition.

Today we are reviewing the Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard, based on that same nForce 590 SLI chipset we were bragging about above. The Asus board wasn't the first to find its way to reviewer's hands, it was pretty close and there is a good chance this board has populated into many PC enthusiasts systems already.

Specifications (from Asus.com)

CPU	Support AMDÂ® Socket AM2 Athlon 64 X2/Athlon 64 FX/Athlon 64/Sempron AMD Cool 'n' Quiet™ Technology AMD64 architecture enables simultaneous 32-bit and 64-bit computing AMD Live!™ Ready
Chipset	NVIDIA nForceÂ® 590 SLI™ MCP NVIDIA LinkBoost™ Technology
Memory	Dual channel memory architecture 4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2-800/667/533, ECC and non-ECC, un-buffered memory
Expansion Slots	2 x PCI Express x16 slot with NVIDIAÂ® SLI™ technology support, at full x16, x16 speed 1 x PCI Express x4 1 x PCI Express x1 2 x PCI 2.2
SLI	Support two identical NVIDIA SLI-Ready graphics cards (both at x16 mode) ASUS two-slot thermal design ASUS PEG Link
Storage	NVIDIA nForceÂ® 590 SLI™ MCP supports: * 1 x Ultra DMA 133/100/66/33 * 6 x Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s * NVIDIA MediaShield™ RAID supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and JBOD span cross Serial ATA drives Silicon ImageÂ® 3132 SATA controller supports * 1 x Internal Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s * 1 x External Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s port on back I/O (SATA On-the-Go) * Support RAID 0, 1, and JBOD
LAN	Dual Gigabit LAN controllers support NVIDIA DualNetÂ® technology NVIDIA nForceÂ® 590 SLI™ MCP built-in dual Gigabit MAC with external Marvell PHY * Support Teaming and fail-over functions * Support TCP/IP Acceleration
Audio	ADI 1988B 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC Support Jack-Sensing, Enumeration, Multi-streaming and Jack-Retasking Coaxial, Optical S/PDIF out on back I/O port Support DTSÂ® Connect function
Wireless LAN	WiFi-AP Solo™ USB wireless module supports IEEE802.11b/g
IEEE 1394a	TI 1394 controller supports 2 x 1394a ports
USB	Wireless Edition: max. 8 USB2.0/1.1 ports
Special Features	ASUS EZ DIY: * Q-Connector * ASUS CrashFree BIOS3 * ASUS EZ Flash2 ASUS Music Alarm ASUS MyLogo3
Back Panel I/O Ports	1 x PS/2 Keyboard port 1 x PS/2 Mouses 1 x Optical + 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output 1 x External SATA 2 x LAN (RJ45) port 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 1 x IEEE 1394a port 1 x WiFi-g™ antenna jack (Wireless Edition only) 1 x COM port 8-channel Audio ports
Internal I/O Connectors	Wireless Edition: 2 x USB 2.0 connectors supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports 1 x Floppy disk drive connector 1 x IDE connector for two devices 7 x SATA connectors 1 x CPU / 4 x Chassis / 1x Chipset / 1 x Power Fan connectors 1 x IEEE1394a connector 1 x Parallel connector 1 x S/PDIF output connector 1 x ADH connector Chassis Intrusion connector Front Panel Audio connector CD audio in 24-pin ATX Power connector 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector System panel connector
BIOS	8Mb Flash ROM, AWARD BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3
Manageability	WOL by PME, WOR by PME, Chasis Intrusion, PXE
Accessories	1 x SLI bridge 1 x ASUS Array Mic 1 x ASUS Optional Fan 1 x ASUS Q-Connector Kit (USB, 1394, system panel; Retail version only) 1 x wireless antenna (Wireless Edition only) 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable 1 x Floppy disk drive cable 6 x SATA cables 3 x SATA power cable for 6 devices 1 x 2-port USB2.0 module 1 x IEEE1394a module 1 x I/O Shield InterVideoÂ® Media Launcher (OEM version only) User's manual
Support CD	Drivers ASUS WiFi-AP Solo™ Wizard (Wireless Edition only) ASUS PC Probe II ASUS Update ASUS AI Booster NVIDIA MediaShield™ RAID Anti-virus software (OEM version)
Form Factor	ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6"(30.5cm x 24.5cm)
Front Side Bus	2000/1600 MT/s
Overclocking Features	Intelligent overclocking tools: * ASUS AI NOS™ (Non-delay Overclocking System) * AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner) * AI Clock Skew * ASUS PEG Link - automatically performance tuning for graphics cards * ASUS O.C. Profile: overclocking configuration-sharing tool Precision Tweaker: * vDIMM: 25-step DRAM voltage control * vCore: Adjustable CPU voltage at 0.0125V increment * PCIe x16 Frequency: allowing PCIe x16 frequency from 100MHz up to 200MHz at 1MHz increment * SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection): allowing FSB tuning from 200MHz up to 400MHz at 1MHz increment Overclocking Protection: * ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall) ASUS AI Booster Utility Adjustable FSB/DDR2 ratio. Fixed PCI/PCIe frequencies

PC Perspective

Asus M2N32-SLI nForce 590 SLI AMD Motherboard Review

Introduction and Specifications

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