Introduction
When you look at ASUS motherboards, there are usually two modes of presentation: entry to mid-level boards are rather bland while high end boards try to blow you away. However, if there's one thing ASUS has brought forward throughout the years is a tradition for quality. When manufacturers like Abit and EpoX began catering to enthusiasts with overclocking flexibility the promise of pushing performance limits, ASUS seemed content with delivering solid and stable motherboards, though it meant that they were left out of the gaming picture. However, this is ancient history. As other top-tier manufacturers up the level of quality on their boards as well as encroaching competition from value and volume driven manufacturers, ASUS has been beefing up their high-end boards; introducing the premium AI Proactive and AiLife branding, packing in features and aggressive performance programming, all to make a bigger impact.
The ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboad.
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While the last few Intel based boards have gained accolades from us, the last AMD motherboard from ASUS we tested (A8N-SLI Deluxe) fell slightly short of our expectations with compatibility issues in some benchmarks. Since NVIDIA has launched their nForce4 SLI X16 chipset refresh, we decided to look at the updated SLI board from ASUS, the A8N32-SLI Deluxe. ASUS calls it the AiLife Gaming Edition motherboard and in the following pages, we'll tell you why you should be excited about it.
The ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe comes with the following bundle:
5 x SATA data cables
3 x SATA power converter cables (dual plugs)
1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable
1 x 40-conductor ATA data cable
1 x floppy drive data cable
SLI high-speed digital link interface bridge
MOSFET cooler fan
IEEE 1394a port bracket (2 ports)
USB 2.0 (2 ports) and Game port bracket
COM port bracket
I/O shield
Driver CD
InterVideo WinDVD Suite
User's Manual
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Technical Specifications
| CPU
Support |
- Supports AMD socket
939 Athlon 64 CPU
- Supports AMD socket
939 Athlon 64 FX CPU
- Supports AMD socket
939 Athlon X2 CPU
- Supports AMD Cool 'n'
Quiet Technology
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| Chipset |
- NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 SPP
- Bi-directional
1GHz (2000MT/s) HyperTransport interface
to processor and MCP
- 18 lanes flexible
PCI
Express configuration
- NVIDIA nForce4 SLI
X16 MCP
- Bi-directional
1GHz (2000MT/s) HyperTransport interface
to SPP
- 20 lanes flexible
PCI
Express configuration
- NVIDIA SLI Dual GPU
architecture
- Supports up to 6
PCI v2.3 slots
- Supports up to ten
USB 2.0 ports
- Dual controller
SATA II architecture
- Dual-channel Ultra
ATA-133 IDE controller
- IEEE 802.3 NVIDIA
MAC for 1000BASE-T
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| Memory |
- Dual channel memory
architecture integrated into processor
- Four 184-pin DDR DIMM
sockets
- Supports 2.5v DDR
SDRAM DIMM modules
- Supports up to 4GB
using PC1600 (DDR200), PC2100 (DDR266),
PC2700 (DDR333) and PC3200 (DDR400) unbuffered DDR SDRAM DIMM
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| Storage |
- NVIDIA nForce4 SLI
X16 MCP
- 4 x Ultra ATA
33/66/100/133 (data transfer rate up to
133MB/sec.)
- 4 x SATA II
(Serial ATA II 3.0Gbps interface)
- NVIDIA MediaShield
Technology
- Supports RAID 0,
RAID 1, RAID 0+1
- Supports
cross-controller RAID
- Silicon Image Sil3132 SATA II RAID controller
- 2 x SATA II (Serial ATA II 3.0Gbps interface)
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| Audio |
- Realtek ALC850 8-channel audio CODEC
- Coaxial and Optical S/PDIF Output
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| Networking |
- NVIDIA Gigabit LAN
co-supported by Marvell Alaska 88E1115
PHY chip (Transceiver)
- Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI Express Gigabit LAN
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| IEEE 1394 (FireWire) |
- Texas Instruments TSB43AB22A
- 2 x IEEE 1394a ports @ 400 Mbps speed
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| I/O Interface |
- 1 x Floppy connector
- 2 x Ultra ATA
IDE connectors
- 6 x SATA
connectors (1 x rear eSATA)
- 10 x USB 2.0 ports (4
x rear, 2 x bracket, 4 x header)
- 2 x IEEE
1394a ports (2 x bracket)
- 2 x RJ45 LAN
ports
- 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF
Output
- 1 x Optical S/PDIF Output
- 8-Channel Audio I/O
ports
- 1 x CD-IN
- 1 x 9-pin serial port (bracket)
- 1 x parallel port
(SPP/EPP/ECP)
- 1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2
mouse port
- 1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2
keyboard port
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| Expansion Slots |
- 2 x PCIe x16
slots,
PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a
compliant
- 1 x PCIe x4
slot, PCI
Express Bus specification v1.0a
compliant
- 3 x 32-bit
PCI slots,
PCI 2.3 compliant
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| Special Features |
- 8-Phase power design
- ASUS PEG Link
- ASUS AI Overclocking
- ASUS AI NET 2
- ASUS C.P.R. (CPU Parameter Recall)
- ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2
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| PCB |
- ATX Form Factor, 12"x
9.6"(30.5cm x 24.4cm)
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PS/2 and Parallel legacy connetors are available along with full set of analog and digital audio jacks, LAN, USB and even one eSATA connector.
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| Terms Of Service
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