I have recently become a big fan of Asus products. The first contact i had with them was when i purchased an A8v deluxe motherboard for my pc. At the time, it was the best motherboard available on the market, but this was mainly due to the small number of manufacturers catering for this format. ... Read review
Advantages: Excellent all rounder with too many features to list Disadvantages: Not great for overclocking
...become a big fan of Asus products. The first contact i had with them was when i purchased an A8v deluxe motherboard for my pc. At the time, it was the best motherboard available on the market, but this was mainly due to the small number of manufacturers catering for this format.
Last month my younger brother pleaded with me to build him a computer which he can use for games, music, internet and all manner of things pc related. As ... ...countless (riveting) pc magazines, the Asus A8N-SLi board seemed to be the best option in terms of features and price.
Consequently, an order was placed with Scan computers (www.scan.co.uk) as they tend to be the most competitive retailer around. The board cost approximately 92 GBPs but can also be found slightly cheaper if purchased as a bundle.
The board arrived the next day and was opened immediately to check that everything ... more
I have recently become a big fan of Asus products. The first contact i had with them was when i purchased an A8v deluxe motherboard for my pc. At the time, it was the best motherboard available on the market, but this was mainly due to the small number of manufacturers catering for this format.
Last month my younger brother pleaded with me to build him a computer which he can use for games, music, internet and all manner of things pc related. As Microsoft are slowly integrating 64 bit capability into almost all of their upcoming software, and 32 bit is being slowly phased out, I decided on starting with a 64 bit system. There are currently 3 formats of 64 bit system available, namely socket 754, socket 940 and socket 939. These 3 formats differ in their chip types and also in their compatability with other components used in the pc. The socket 939s have dual on-chip memory controllers and dont require ecc registered ram (the more expensive memory) as is the case with the socket 940 format. Socket 754 is now being phased out and parts available for a system incorporating this format are either very hard to come by or are outdated. This led me to the conclusion that building a socket 939 system was the most viable option.
The base of any system is the motherboard and this more often than not determines the speed at which all other components communicate with eachother. After having read many reviews and countless (riveting) pc magazines, the Asus A8N-SLi board seemed to be the best option in terms of features and price. Consequently, an order was placed with Scan computers (www.scan.co.uk) as they tend to be the most competitive retailer around. The board cost approximately 92 GBPs but can also be found slightly cheaper if purchased as a bundle.
The board arrived the next day and was opened immediately to check that everything required was included. The motherboard actually came with more than was required. Installation was fairly easy but this varies on which case you are using to house it in.
The A8N-SLi is crammed with features, most of which do not require the purchasing of extra pci cards. For example, you wouldnt need a separate sound card as the board has on-board 8 channel surround sound capabilities with both optical and digital spdif outputs. The board also has onboard networking capabilities with the inclusion of dual Gigabit Lan capabilities. This is now a pretty common feature on most up-to-date motherboards, but this one also has an on-board hardware firewall which they call "NV Firewall". This not only stops unwelcome intruders from accessing your pc but also protects the components from unwelcome changes to system settings and the Bios. This feature can however be a bit of a pain when trying to setup a wireless network and i found that i had to initially disable it in order to access the internet.
The main point of this motherboard though has to be the SLi part. SLi or scalable link interface is not a new idea, however the technology used now is far more advanced than the original format used in 3dfx and voodoo cards. SLi allows the pc to have 2 graphics cards which are linked either by a bridge or a chip, with each card rendering different parts of the screen. The main advantage of this feature is of use to hardcore gamers who require high frame rates in the latest games with all of the options turned on (such as anisotropic filtering, etc). At the moment however the cost of 2 graphics cards which are SLi enabled is the main hurdle. The cost of these graphics cards will undoubtedly drop, so the SLi capability of this motherboard seems to be futureproof for the moment until a newer faster format is produced.
The motherboard also does away with a few pci slots and replaces them with the (up to 4 times) faster pci express slots, which will undoubtedly be the new format adopted by all future motherboards. It still incorporates 3 ordinary pci slots, so that if you are simply upgrading, you wont have to begin entirely from scratch.
If you have a digital camera aswell as an mp3 player and a host of other accessories which require USB or Firewire (IE1394), then you will no longer have to be searching around the back of your case for a spare dock or changing the cables around for each one. The A8N-SLi has the capability to have up to 10 USB slots (although a couple of these have to be configured using the cable from the pc case and the headers on the board), and 2 Firewire slots.
As far as storage capabilities go, the A8N-SLi has SATA (Serial ATA) and Raid capabilities which in a nutshell means that 2 identical drives can be placed in an array for faster read and write times. The SATA interface is also faster than the existing ide interface but a power supply with a SATA power cable is needed or an adapter to cater for the change, as not all SATA enabled products have typical molex connectors.
Aswell as these, the board hosts a myriad of patented Asus special features such as Asus EZFlash, which enables easy flashing and updating of the Bios, Asus Crashfree Bios which does exactly what it implies,Asus Qfan which automatically adjusts the fans according to temperatures and load of the pc and Asus Instant Music which allows cds to be played from the pc without entering into windows or whichever operating system you have (what good is this you may ask? it consumes less power and is quicker would be the simple answer).
Along with the board you are also supplied with every conceivable cable needed, a backplate for the case, a sticker, manual, a few external modules (com ports, firewire, usb, etc), win dvd suite cd and the drivers cd (which also has some useful software on it, such as an antivirus, cool ´n´quiet drivers, etc).
All in all, Asus have put together a first class motherboard which does just about everything you would ever need it to do, and its not as expensive as some of the other boards available (Gigabyte for example). So far, the board has performed exceptionally well with no crashes, and the Asus website caters for any updates required to either the software or Bios.
Advantages: Speed, Design Features and Reliability Disadvantages: Runs quite hot - ensure you install enough cooling fans
The A8N-SLI is a beast of a motherboard. It incorporates reliable, fast SLI capability, a great BIOS with loads of options and plenty of scope for overclocking. The board can house any AMD Socket 939 processor, including the latest FX-57 powerhouse! It includes AMD's hardware-level virus protection and can support the new SATAII standard in hard drive storage. I purchased an A8N two weeks ago and have thouroughly enjoyed building quite a formidable ... ...for grahpics, and the fact that AMD will be making Socket 939 processors for quite some time is reassuring.
The SLI capability, bundled with awesome upgrade potential make this my personal choice for any PC I build in the forseeable future. It may be worth mentioning that those who do not require a fast computer or huge graphics power need not buy an A8N-SLI, they would be much better off buying one of the cheaper options available. ...
jumanji87 01.09.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of ASUS A8N-SLI - motherboard - ATX - nForce4 SLI
Advantages: very high quality product Disadvantages: little expensive
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™
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
Front Side Bus:
1000MHZ or 800MHz
Expansion Slots:
- 2 x PCI Express x16 slot
*SLI mode : x8 , x8
... ...Express x1
- 3 x PCI
Audio:
Realtek ALC850, 8-channel CODEC
Audio Sensing and Enumeration Technology
Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF out ports on back I/O
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)
Up to 10 USB2.0 ports.
...
Raee123eed 05.12.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of ASUS A8N-SLI - motherboard - ATX - nForce4 SLI
Speed
Ease of Installation
Stability
Value For Money
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Advantages: Excelent choice when moving from AGP to PCI-E Disadvantages: Not quite the rolls royce in this range from ASUS
I've been an avid gamer for many years now and I can put my hand on my heart and say it's becoming an expensive pass-time.
So when the time came to move from My Athlon XP 3200+ gaming rig with AGP I took a small step in the right direction and went to an Athlon 64 system with AGP support until I could afford a PCI-E card. That way not taking the whole move in one big hit.
So fast forward and bit and I am ready to upgrade again, so off I go and start doing my homework. A friend of mine is even more of an enthusiast than me so you can't beat user experience, he was running an ASUSA8N32-SLI Deluxe - no surprises there, and I must say I was impresses with the board.
So back home I look into the ASUS range as I am a fan of their kit and have bought quite a few boards by them.
What I was pleased to see was a value version of the A ...
Advantages: Quiet ,fast, ease of install, value for money Disadvantages: IDE connectors too close to power connector. Power hungry
Although I was "happy" with my MSI K8SLI Platinum, there was the "phwoar" factor missing. You know, that little thing that makes your day better....(but more on that on another review...)
Anyway, I decided to invest in the AsusA8N-SLI Platinum, on the basis of the board being both affordable, and good value for money
(or at least I expected this to be the case :)), and so i spent £95 on the board (yes, there are possibly cheaper places, but this was bought over the counter, (you know, that thing with a person behind, where you can see who is selling you your goods)......:-)
The layout on the box was impeccable. Together with the board, we have the usual army of seemingly innocuous hardware, that somehow, you know you probably are not going to use, and that will just gather dust somewhere, and will truly get on the nerves of your ...
Advantages: SLI. AMD64 bit goodness, DDR memory still used, Hypertransport, Hardware Firewall, Cable testing ports Disadvantages: New PSU needed for 24 pin ATX and PCI-E power, BIOS updates required
oops, I did it again with such a SAD title that half the readers of this small review on the newest Nvidia chipset based motherboard for the AMD64 socket 939 platform, have probably closed their browsers in disbelief.
It was Just around the Christmas/New Year I decided that frankly my old XP3200+ based system could no longer cut the mustard so to speak, so off I went ( once I had been paid ) and bought nearly a complete system based around the AsusA8N-SLI Deluxe. As far as motherboards go, I only really like to use 2 of the well-known brands which are Abit and Asus. According to our Abit contact we have at work, would not have an SLImotherboard out for "quite a few months" I had only the Asus range to choose from.
Now I was torn between a new PCI-E based platform or an older based AGP system - and I thought seeing as SLI was ...
Product Information for "ASUS A8N-SLI - motherboard - ATX - nForce4 SLI" »
Audio
Audio Output
Sound card
Audio Codec
Realtek ALC850
Sound Output Mode
7.1 channel surround
Telecom / networking
Networking
Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
Features
BIOS Features
DMI 2.0 support, WfM 2.0 support, ASUS MyLogo2, SMBIOS 2.3 support, ASUS EZ Flash
Manual Settings
Processor core voltage, memory voltage, FSB ratio (CPU:PCI), FSB ratio (CPU:memory)
Hardware Features
EZ Plug, ASUS Q-Fan, CrashFree BIOS 2, ASUS Instant Music, AMD Cool 'n' Quiet Technology, ASUS Ai Proactive, NVIDIA Firewall
Manufacturer's product description
Representing motherboard engineering at its best, the performance of A8N-SLI is not for the faint of heart. The NVIDIA SLI (Scalable Link Interface) technology enables two PCI-Express cards on this motherboard to provide extreme performance over the edge. Enjoy the latest games with most visual effects; go ahead with the most graphics demanding multimedia utilities. Don't worry, this mobo is good enough for you, the question is, are you game enough for A8N-SLI.
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