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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Gary Key - Sunday, October 30, 2005 - link
Asus will be clarifying the supported range of CPUs with the Lock Free setting. I noticed a difference this weekend on the retail board and bios with a CPU stepping range I thought was fully supported. I know the EE series all work properly, the balance I am not sure of at this time.
Gary Key - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
It will allow you to go down to 14x only in my testing. I did not have an issue with the dual core cpus down to 14x or raising the 820D to 16x. However, I have a single core cpu coming and will verify the settings with it. Please email me so I can repsond to you directly.Spacecomber - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
I think a more to the point intro would have been to ask whether a $250 motherboard can make up for the shortcomings in the current line of Intel desktop processors and make them more attractive to the computer enthusiast.Then again, maybe people who are sticking with their Prescotts really are dreamers.
Gary Key - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
Good point and one that Intel finally understands but we will have to wait until next summer to see the results. :) However, this board does make up for some of the current Intel CPU shortcomings and is truly an enthusiast board for Intel customers.tuteja1986 - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
Asus were leader once and i think are going to take the leader crown again: )They have been getting good success with:
Dual GPU 7800GTX
Now This motherboard
Also they are working on 7300 go
Good work and keep it up
Bozo Galora - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
reads like an ad for asuswho the hell would use a current Intel cpu?
not the 80% of the people who come to AT
I'll take the upcoming (delayed again) DFI NF4 Expert mobo, thank you
Gary Key - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
If it means anything, I purchased a pair of these boards after I completed the initial testing to replace a couple of systems in our household. I am that confident in the board and its ability.
About 80%+ of the buying public currently although the numbers are greatly skewed in their favor by large OEM and Retail sales. Actually, the newer Intel products are decent performers at a good price point. However, I completly agree that AMD owns the performance market and should receive wider credit for their efforts over the past couple of years.
Agreed, but sometimes it is good to visit the other side of the fence. A few short years ago your statements would have held true for people with AMD systems. ;-)
An excellent choice but while you are waiting you could purchase this board now. :-)
karioskasra - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
Dreams are made on an Intel platform? Did I miss something here...Gary Key - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
If you have an Intel CPU, then no, you did not miss anything. ;->I fully understand the performance and cost advantages the current AMD64 platform has over Intel. However, this should not dismiss the fact that the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI platform along with the implementation of it by Asus is an excellent solution regardless of CPU choice.
I personally own several AMD64 platforms but in reality you would be hard pressed at this time to tell the difference in performance between the two without benchmarks. I realize there will be a small population that can but overall an current Intel based system is fine for gaming and applications.
ksherman - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link
I REALLY like the fan less northbridge cooling setup... Wish my DFI had one like it. Esp. since my Zalman 7700 will keep those heasinks nice and cool...