Asus P5N32-SLI: Dual x16 - What Dreams Are Made On . . .
by Gary Key on October 27, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Final Words
The Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe is outstanding and deserves serious consideration if you are an Intel enthusiast. It is hard to quantify this statement, but after spending considerable time with this board, it is truly a cut above most other boards in both quality and performance. The board is obviously targeted at the Intel gaming enthusiast, but it should not be dismissed as an everyday solution for people who are able to afford its $210 price tag.
The exclusive 8-phase voltage regulator power design is a must-have feature and is one of the main reasons why this board performs so well at overclocked settings. While I had initial doubts about the fanless heat pipe design based upon previous experiences, the design that Asus installed on this board has guaranteed that I will be looking for this type of cooling system in future boards. Asus also implemented their unique Stack Cool 2 that involves a special design on the printed circuit board that dissipates heat from the board components.
With that said, let's move on to our opinions of this board.
In the video area, if you're an Intel gamer, looking for SLI or not, this is the board for you. It fully supports NVIDIA SLI with two approved NVIDIA based video cards in full x16 operation and with the 81.85 drivers, it will provide you with significant performance enhancements over the x8 products at higher resolutions or when utilizing SLI-AA settings.
In the on-board audio area, this board offers the standard AC97 setup utilizing the familiar Realtek ALC850. While this solution is acceptable for office applications and Internet Poker Games, it does not match the HD Audio on-board solutions of the other nForce 4 SLI Intel Edition boards. While serious gamers and audiophiles will certainly want an add-in solution, it is not acceptable for a board of this caliber to be utilizing this codec considering the available alternatives.
In the storage area, this board offers the standard plethora of options available from the nForce4 SLI Chipset along with class leading performance. However, as with other recent boards, we would like to see the Firewire 800 (TI-1394b) as an option. The inclusion of an external SATA II port is beneficial for external storage solutions and supports up to 16 devices with port-multiplier functions.
In the performance area, this board was constantly at the top in all categories. The board is extremely balanced and will run all tested applications at its full overclock configuration as well as it does at stock settings. We believe the performance of this board to be outstanding and definitely showcases the ability of Asus's engineering efforts in the Intel market space.
Like Prospero, I think that I have found what dreams are made on.
Status Update - 0047 Bios used for Testing
The 0047 bios used for our testing was never publicly released by Asus for this board. Our test findings were based upon this bios and have not been replicated with the 0308 bios as of this writing.
The Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe is outstanding and deserves serious consideration if you are an Intel enthusiast. It is hard to quantify this statement, but after spending considerable time with this board, it is truly a cut above most other boards in both quality and performance. The board is obviously targeted at the Intel gaming enthusiast, but it should not be dismissed as an everyday solution for people who are able to afford its $210 price tag.
The exclusive 8-phase voltage regulator power design is a must-have feature and is one of the main reasons why this board performs so well at overclocked settings. While I had initial doubts about the fanless heat pipe design based upon previous experiences, the design that Asus installed on this board has guaranteed that I will be looking for this type of cooling system in future boards. Asus also implemented their unique Stack Cool 2 that involves a special design on the printed circuit board that dissipates heat from the board components.
With that said, let's move on to our opinions of this board.
In the video area, if you're an Intel gamer, looking for SLI or not, this is the board for you. It fully supports NVIDIA SLI with two approved NVIDIA based video cards in full x16 operation and with the 81.85 drivers, it will provide you with significant performance enhancements over the x8 products at higher resolutions or when utilizing SLI-AA settings.
In the on-board audio area, this board offers the standard AC97 setup utilizing the familiar Realtek ALC850. While this solution is acceptable for office applications and Internet Poker Games, it does not match the HD Audio on-board solutions of the other nForce 4 SLI Intel Edition boards. While serious gamers and audiophiles will certainly want an add-in solution, it is not acceptable for a board of this caliber to be utilizing this codec considering the available alternatives.
In the storage area, this board offers the standard plethora of options available from the nForce4 SLI Chipset along with class leading performance. However, as with other recent boards, we would like to see the Firewire 800 (TI-1394b) as an option. The inclusion of an external SATA II port is beneficial for external storage solutions and supports up to 16 devices with port-multiplier functions.
In the performance area, this board was constantly at the top in all categories. The board is extremely balanced and will run all tested applications at its full overclock configuration as well as it does at stock settings. We believe the performance of this board to be outstanding and definitely showcases the ability of Asus's engineering efforts in the Intel market space.
Like Prospero, I think that I have found what dreams are made on.
Status Update - 0047 Bios used for Testing
The 0047 bios used for our testing was never publicly released by Asus for this board. Our test findings were based upon this bios and have not been replicated with the 0308 bios as of this writing.
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Kensei - Friday, October 28, 2005 - link
I just wanted to say that I REALLY appreciate the wonderful combination of a person who is a very, very good writer and technologist. This extremely rare combination makes him one of the best technical writers I've come across in the past 20 years.It's not too hard to find people who are technically competent but very hard to find someone who can communicate well and knows what the hell they're talking about (ask anyone who has been to college). Quite frankly, he sets a standard that I think all AnandTech writers (ok... all technical writers) should strive to eventually achieve. This level of expertise typically takes years of practice to acquire even among the talented. Can't wait for his next article.
To quote the first post..."Mixing philosophy, classical literature and computer hardware reviews? Gotta love it."
Kensei
Gary Key - Monday, October 31, 2005 - link
I greatly appreciate the comments. This was my third article and hopefully I improve with each one although you have now placed a great deal of pressure on me. ;->The next article series will be a multiple board review. I am learning how to convey several different messages in a very condensed form. It will be different than this last article so I would appreciate comments, good or bad. I try my best to listen to the readers and follow up on suggestions.
I have two very good editors in Wes and Karen so it really is a team effort at AnandTech. I still have a great deal to learn and in fact will be taking a composition course this winter to improve my skills.
Kensei - Thursday, November 3, 2005 - link
You are welcome. I don't think you need a composition course so I'd be interested in hearing how much you learned once it's over. Hopefully I'm wrong, but you may be disappointed by the course. If this is a college course, you may find that people in English departments don't quite get technical writing. It's different (although not totally different) than writing good short stories.Keep up the good work and I look forward to your future articles.
Kensei
screwtech02 - Friday, October 28, 2005 - link
So let me get this straight... In "theory" i can run my 820 at a 250fsb or 4.0, with a ddr700 rating?? And the board will recognize both the cores?? I'm tempted to get this board, but after having the previous one from ASUS, i'm scared to death, it was a HORRIBLE overclocker, max i could get was 230fsb, and lousey mem performance.... But if you say this board is different, i may try one....Gary Key - Saturday, October 29, 2005 - link
Email me please and I can forward some testing results to you along with additional information.NegativeEntropy - Friday, October 28, 2005 - link
Please check your USB/Firewire/Ethernet throughput graphs for their use of MB (MegaByte) vs Mb (Megabit).Nice board :)
Gary Key - Friday, October 28, 2005 - link
I have corrected the charts. Thank you for noticing the issue. Sometimes you view something so much that you miss the obvious. :)noac - Friday, October 28, 2005 - link
I read that you thought most would fit - "an excellent amount of room for alternative cooling solutions". Im wondering more specifically if the Scythe Ninja will fit with/without the optional fans. BTW did you test them, the fans? Wondering how much noise they make and if they work well.Gary Key - Friday, October 28, 2005 - link
I do not have the Ninja although I know where to get one for a test. :) I received the optional fans a couple of days ago from Asus (tried to get them before publishing but it did not work out). I will try them this weekend and respond to your questions. They are designed to be used with watercooling or phase change setups. The stock Intel 840EE cooler (upgraded from other Pentium D units) provided enough air flow in the area to keep the MOFSETs cool. The aftermarket coolers I used provided more than enough air flow and fit great within the CPU area. Let me know if you need a listing of these heatsinks.yacoub - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
That's a freakin' awesome (if expensive) board!Btw THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for finally showing just how greatly sound enabled impacts the framerates on boards with on-board audio. Amazing that 17-19% of your CPU's power can be sapped by a stupid audio chip, especially when that turns into ~15fps drop in some games. Ugh.