Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe: NVIDIA Dual x16 for the Athlon 64
by Wesley Fink on November 6, 2005 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Overclocking
Maximum overclock data was added to our Performance graphs beginning with the nForce4 SLI roundup several months ago. The overclocking performance graphs allow a better comparison of the overclocking capabilities of tested boards. For more details on the specific overclocking abilities of a specific board, please refer to the Overclocking and Memory Stress Test section of individual board reviews.
It should be pointed out that even at these very high overclocks, the A8N32-SLI remained much cooler than other boards that we have tested for overclocking abilities. Those willing to spend some time with this Asus will be likely rewarded with ever higher performance than what we achieved.
Asus claims cooler operation and greater OC abilities with their 8-phase power and Stack Cool 2 design, and we have no reason to argue with that claim. This board is remarkably stable no matter how hard you push it.
When you compare 310 with the poor overclocking that we found on the earlier Asus A8N-SLI, it is remarkable how much progress Asus has made on the AMD front. Asus is one of the best regarded brands for Intel motherboards, but their AMD designs have not recently shown the same design finesse that made several Asus Intel designs almost legendary performers. We clearly can’t count Asus out in AMD any more. The A8N32-SLI Deluxe is a terrific board!
Performance of Features
If you look closely at the auxiliary chips used on the Intel version of this board (the Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe), you will see that they are exactly the same as those used on this AMD version. Base NVIDIA chipsets are also all but identical.
After running a few tests of feature performance, we found performance of the A8N32-SLI features virtually the same as those detailed in Asus P5N32-SLI: Dual x16 - What Dreams Are Made On... This should not be surprising to anyone. With that reality in mind, we decided not to repeat detailed results of features performance. If you want to know more about how the features of the A8N32-SLI perform, please refer to test results beginning on page 11 of the recent Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe review.
Maximum overclock data was added to our Performance graphs beginning with the nForce4 SLI roundup several months ago. The overclocking performance graphs allow a better comparison of the overclocking capabilities of tested boards. For more details on the specific overclocking abilities of a specific board, please refer to the Overclocking and Memory Stress Test section of individual board reviews.
It should be pointed out that even at these very high overclocks, the A8N32-SLI remained much cooler than other boards that we have tested for overclocking abilities. Those willing to spend some time with this Asus will be likely rewarded with ever higher performance than what we achieved.
Asus claims cooler operation and greater OC abilities with their 8-phase power and Stack Cool 2 design, and we have no reason to argue with that claim. This board is remarkably stable no matter how hard you push it.
When you compare 310 with the poor overclocking that we found on the earlier Asus A8N-SLI, it is remarkable how much progress Asus has made on the AMD front. Asus is one of the best regarded brands for Intel motherboards, but their AMD designs have not recently shown the same design finesse that made several Asus Intel designs almost legendary performers. We clearly can’t count Asus out in AMD any more. The A8N32-SLI Deluxe is a terrific board!
Performance of Features
If you look closely at the auxiliary chips used on the Intel version of this board (the Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe), you will see that they are exactly the same as those used on this AMD version. Base NVIDIA chipsets are also all but identical.
After running a few tests of feature performance, we found performance of the A8N32-SLI features virtually the same as those detailed in Asus P5N32-SLI: Dual x16 - What Dreams Are Made On... This should not be surprising to anyone. With that reality in mind, we decided not to repeat detailed results of features performance. If you want to know more about how the features of the A8N32-SLI perform, please refer to test results beginning on page 11 of the recent Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe review.
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GliderPilot - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
Well i have finally gotten my replacement board, and again i have a major issue with it. It seems that in some fit of wisdom, one of asus's underpaid engineers placed a heatpipe right in the way of the x4 PCIe slot. You might not have a use for them, but i certainly do. I have a PowerColor Theatre 550Pro x1 TV Tuner that is right now occupying an x16 slot. While i dont intend to do SLI, i would dearly like to have dual tuners without having to have one on pci, the other on PCIewbloon - Sunday, December 18, 2005 - link
I'm not a big gamer. But I currently drive 2 monitors and with the new system want to drive at least 3 monitors and possibly a TV.So my question is can I drive two video boards but not in SLI mode, since it is my understanding that SLI will only drive one monitor.
I understand that I could get away with a board like the DFI Ultra and have 16 lanes to one card and 4 lanes to another and that would probably meet my needs but I'd like stretch the envelope where ever possible because the future keeps coming despite my best efforts.
Terry Clark
GliderPilot - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
unless you are gaming on both cards (which probably wont) having 4 lanes is more than sufficient. The bandwidth would be comparable to AGP4 in the downstream. This solution is about as future proof as it gets. To answer your question, yes this board basically has 2 full bandwidth X16 slots, what you do with them is up to you. Buying this board soley for the extra 16 lanes is really a waste of money, unless there is some other reason you like itBibbidyBobidyBoo - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
I recently purchased this motherboard and an Antec NeoHe 550W PS and the combo worked great for about 5 to 10 min and then the computer spontaneously shuts down. The issue is with the PS not the MB. The Antec TruePowerII 550W PS works just fine. I believe the incompatibility is from the amount of current supplied on the 12V and 5V lines, it may match the ATX2.2 spec however it is not completely backwards compatible with this Asus MB.Beware this issue has also been noted on other Asus MB’s.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp...">Newegg Customer Reviews">http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp...
JNo - Thursday, November 10, 2005 - link
Can someone confirm to me that no single x16 video slot version of this Asus motherboard exists? I get the impression that none does. Also, anyone know if the latest zalman CPU coolers fit? Finally, I know most here wouldn't care for the Asus automatic overclocking results but for someone like me, can you please inform me, Wesley, as to how much of a boost does the inbuilt Asus overclocking facility provide please?Many thanks
Capt Caveman - Monday, November 14, 2005 - link
Umm, this new chipset is for SLI, thus the chipset name x16 SLI. The pci-e video slot is already x16 on every single video slot socket 939 pci-e motherboard. Up til now, SLI motherboards had to split the x16 into two x8 pci-e graphic slots. Thus, you will never see a single slot video care motherboard using this chipset.And yes, it has been confirmed by current users that the Zalman coolers fit.
Due to the fact that Asus's Overclocking Utilities lack a number of settings that are available in the bios, ie. memory settings, you'll only be able to get a small overclock before the system becomes instable. Overclocking via the bios is the only way to go to ensure a stable overclock.
qquizz - Sunday, November 6, 2005 - link
Whatever happened to BF2 benchies?huges84 - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
Quoted from page 7
DieLate - Sunday, November 6, 2005 - link
Wesley, any chance of a measurement of northbridge & "stack cool" heatsinks? If you or someone else with one could measure how high off the motherboard they rise, that would be great.I'm hoping the Thermaltake Big Typhoon or Thermalright SI-120 would fit, as they have somewhere around 2" raised off the board (though the heatpipes might still hit the northbridge heatsink :( ).
DieLate - Tuesday, November 8, 2005 - link
Nevermind.I have confirmed elsewhere the TT BT fits without any issues.