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
Test Setup
*Samsung TCCD from OCZ and other Memory manufacturers is currently binned into several speed grades. Our test memory would be equivalent to current OCZ PC4800.
Tests used OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 (current equivalent OCZ PC4800) which uses Samsung TCCD chips. All memory ran at 2-2-2-7 timing in all benchmarks.
We tested the Asus A8N32-SLI using both single and SLI MSI NVIDIA 7800GTX with NVIDIA video driver 81.85. Once we discovered the improved performance, we also ran a full retest of graphics and gaming benchmarks on the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR for comparison. Resolutions in standard benchmarks were 1280x1024x32 unless otherwise noted. Some standard tests like 3DMarks and Aquamark set standard tests automatically to 1024x768 to force a consistent comparison. Gaming benchmarks were run at 1600x1200 with 4x Anti-Aliasing and 8x Anisotropic Filtering enabled wherever possible. SLI game benchmarks were also run with 4xAA and 8xAF where possible.
Results for the Asus A8N32-SLI are in red, while results for the retest of the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR are color-coded orange. Results for the other boards are in blue. Other board tests used the 6800 Ultra for testing unless otherwise noted and are included for reference.
We added Quake 4, F.E.A.R., and Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory to game benchmarks in this review. Asus targets the A8N32-SLI at the gamer, and these recent games should provide a better picture of the Asus performance in the latest games. We will be adding Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty 2 benchmarks in future reviews. The benchmarks that we have been testing for these two games are not completely reliable for both single-video and SLI testing, so they were not usable in a review that compares SLI performance. As we find solutions to these issues, we will benchmark with these new games.
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (2.4GHz) Socket 939 |
| RAM: | 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2* (Equivalent to current OCZ OC4800) |
| Hard Drive(s): | Seagate 120GB 7200 RPM SATA (8MB Buffer) |
| Video AGP & IDE Bus Master Drivers: | NVIDIA 6.82 Platform NVIDIA 6.70/6.66 Platform ATI Catalyst Platform 5.10 |
| Video Cards: | MSI NVIDIA 7800GTX NVIDIA 6800 Ultra ATI X850XT Crossfire |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA 81.85 Release ATI Catalyst 5.10 NVIDIA nForce 78.01 |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 Direct X 9.0c |
| Motherboards: | Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe DFI LANParty UT RDX200 (ATI RD480) ATI Crossfire AMD Reference Board SiS 756 Reference Board ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 (ULi M1695/1567) Sapphire A9RX480 (ATI) Jetway 939GT4-SLI-G (nForce4) ULi AP9567A (M1695/M1567) DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR (nForce4) DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D (nForce4) MSI K8N Neo4/SLI Platinum (nForce4) |
Tests used OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 (current equivalent OCZ PC4800) which uses Samsung TCCD chips. All memory ran at 2-2-2-7 timing in all benchmarks.
We tested the Asus A8N32-SLI using both single and SLI MSI NVIDIA 7800GTX with NVIDIA video driver 81.85. Once we discovered the improved performance, we also ran a full retest of graphics and gaming benchmarks on the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR for comparison. Resolutions in standard benchmarks were 1280x1024x32 unless otherwise noted. Some standard tests like 3DMarks and Aquamark set standard tests automatically to 1024x768 to force a consistent comparison. Gaming benchmarks were run at 1600x1200 with 4x Anti-Aliasing and 8x Anisotropic Filtering enabled wherever possible. SLI game benchmarks were also run with 4xAA and 8xAF where possible.
Results for the Asus A8N32-SLI are in red, while results for the retest of the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR are color-coded orange. Results for the other boards are in blue. Other board tests used the 6800 Ultra for testing unless otherwise noted and are included for reference.
We added Quake 4, F.E.A.R., and Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory to game benchmarks in this review. Asus targets the A8N32-SLI at the gamer, and these recent games should provide a better picture of the Asus performance in the latest games. We will be adding Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty 2 benchmarks in future reviews. The benchmarks that we have been testing for these two games are not completely reliable for both single-video and SLI testing, so they were not usable in a review that compares SLI performance. As we find solutions to these issues, we will benchmark with these new games.
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Wesley Fink - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
Both the Asus and DFI were definitely running 1 x16 in single video card mode. The single video card results - using the same 81.85/6.82 drivers, video cards, CPU, and memory - were the most surprising results. I really don't have an explanation for the performance differences here, since there is very little performance difference in older titles but a large difference in the just released games. We are hoping nVidia can shed some light on these benchmark results.n7 - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
This actually looks like a very good mobo.However, knowing Asus, i'm sure we will we won't find it reasonably priced anywhere.
If it came down in price, & they offered a non-SLI version for those of us who don't want SLI, i'd get interested :)
aLeoN - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
What kind of rich enthusiast wouldn't want to spend top dollar for the top of the line equipment? Don't get me wrong, I'd like exactly what you do but they've only changed to 8 phase cooling and x16 sli over the current nf4 boards right? Imo it doesn't sound like a very profitable idea if you threw phase change cooling onto an A8N-E but I'll keep my fingers crossed for the both of us.Zebo - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
hehe - the real trick is turning pyrite into gold..Tortise into hare... Anyone can empty thier wallet out or max thier credit card out, as the case may be, on top of the line eqiupment. Takes real skill to turn budget parts into them. IMO.aLeoN - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
Right on man! I have a friend who demands near top of the line and doesn't hesitate to have something better than our circle of friends. I'm planning a OC rig for just about a grand that would topple his $3000+ (invested in over a couple years) rig, forcing him to upgrade it with his $1500 now (he was saving it till something good came out or me and a couple other friends get something better). It's people like these that drive our economy! =Dgnumantsc - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
Wes the chart for Far Cry on Single Video shows a percent increase of 0.4% with the numbers showing 74.3 vs. 47.5. Shouldn't it be 74.5?Wesley Fink - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
The chart is correct, and I did a dyslexic in the table. The correct numbers are 47.3 nad 47.5. The table has been corrected.Zebo - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
Yes sir just gunna have to wait for another C51 review to see if it's nV's chipset or something ASUS is doing. Definity shocking to see large performance gaps like that so I'm sure you tested and retested and retested after that too.Wesley Fink - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
Sorry, I will fix the Typo. I made sure all jumpers were reset to single video mode on the DFI and double checked the readout in BIOS before runnign single video tests.Phantronius - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link
Damnit, I spent alot of money on my Asus A8N Premium board. Grrrrrrr...!! I want a 17% boost in single card performance!!!