ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus AiLifestyle Series - motherboard - ATX - nForce 650i SLI / 570 SLI

When I first set out to have a PC built for me, I found it remarkably quick and simple to choose the processor, graphics card, Ram and so on. However when it came to the Motherboard it was a whole different story.

My main driving points when selecting a motherboard were in the following order -

- Can it support the preselected components
- Support up to 8GB of ram for future upgrades
- Allow for an additional ...
...card with option to upgrade

This one I am glad to say after narrowing it down, met all my targets with flying colours. Next I got my PC built and delivered to my house... and this is how it's stood up so far.

On install of my own Operating System, I screwed up a few times and partially wrote to my Hard Drive but failed to complete the installation. (My fault entirely not the PC's) However the BIOS was quick and easy ... more

When I first set out to have a PC built for me, I found it remarkably quick and simple to choose the processor, graphics card, Ram and so on. However when it came to the Motherboard it was a whole different story.

My main driving points when selecting a motherboard were in the following order -

- Can it support the preselected components
- Support up to 8GB of ram for future upgrades
- Allow for an additional Graphics card to be installed
- Built in sound card with option to upgrade

This one I am glad to say after narrowing it down, met all my targets with flying colours. Next I got my PC built and delivered to my house... and this is how it's stood up so far.

On install of my own Operating System, I screwed up a few times and partially wrote to my Hard Drive but failed to complete the installation. (My fault entirely not the PC's) However the BIOS was quick and easy to navigate so I could easily sidestep my error.

Secondly - When the computer first booted up my Motherboard recognised all my components instantly hence meaning I did not have to worry about buying/selling components till I got it working

Next up I connected my PC to my main TV (See below for link to the TV this is connected to) which after a few changes of settings looked spot on!

And finally came the test of Gaming/Sound Card. I booted up the new Medal of Honour: Airborne game and the game played without a single flaw in addition the sound (which I have connected to my Hi-FI was also better than expected for an onboard sound card)

So all in all it's a good personal experience of this Motherboard I've had, however I do have two drawbacks which I shall now go into detail over.

Once every so often, say once every few days my computer crashes onto a large blue screen forcing me to reboot. I cannot be certain that the motherboard is causing this, and in my opinion its most likely the RAM thats causing the crash, however until I buy some extra parts to test what is causing this I can not say for certain what is causing it.

(Once i've tested I shall update the review to let you all know)

Finally the only other drawback i could possibly think of is the space available for new cards when upgrading. Due to the size of the heatsink in one area, it effectively makes the slot a smaller sapce.

Therefore it means I'm going to physically have to look at my upgrade before I buy to confirm it will fit. Howver I do not see this as a Major problem as with a little moving about of components it won't pose much of a problem.

As some of you may have read already I use my computer to work this my Panasonic TV found here http://www.ciao.co.uk/Panasonic_TX_32_LXD_70__Review_5718965

*Edit - Since this review I have found that this board was unstable - with my set up for a reason I couldn't identify. Reluctant to replace all my other parts I have since sold the motherboard and upgraded to a newer/more efficient motherboard.

I shall complete a review on this shortly. 

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