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Asus A8N-VM CSM: NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Finally Arrives

 by Wesley Fink on December 1, 2005 12:04 AM EST
56 Comments | Add A Comment
56 Comments
More Features: Asus A8N-VM CSM


The 4 DIMMs support up to 4GB of ECC/non-ECC unregistered DDR memory in a dual-channel configuration. The color coding is correct here - match colors for each channel - but this places the DIMMs with no spacing in-between in a 2-dimm setup. IDE and Floppy cable connections are all at the upper right edge, which is normally the best location.

The 430 Southbridge supports 4 Sata2 ports, where the cheaper 410 supports just 2. Asus uses the full-surround SATA connector for a more durable port connection.

Keeping with the image of a higher end integrated chipset, Asus includes an IEE1394 Firewire port on the rear IO. You can also see the Dual video connectors in the IO ports. We tried running both ports at the same time and had no problem at all. IMPORTANT: The DVI-D port will only work with a digital display, such as a flat panel or digital TV. You cannot use an adapter on the DVI-D connection to drive an analog connection.

The BIOS options were surprisingly sparse on the Asus A8N-VM CSM. As you can see, there really aren't any voltage adjustments at all - no vCore, vDIMM, or chipset voltage adjustments. The board supports AMD Cool'n'Quiet, but then has no means of adjusting multipliers in BIOS. The CPU clock is adjustable, but with a very limited range from 200 to 240. The point is that there are extremely limited means to really overclock the A8N-VM.

Asus provides a fairly complete selection of memory adjustments, but without the most important voltage adjustment for memory, the adjustments are something of a moot point. There are no memory voltage adjustments at all in the current Asus BIOS.

We confirmed that the Graphics Clock Frequency was really 475 instead of the 425MHz seen in the base GeForce6100 chipset. While this should provide better graphics performance, you will see that the real impact is pretty small.

Basic Features: Asus A8N-VM CSM Test Setup
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  • Anton74 - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link

    It appears this type of board is mostly touted for HTPC use, but I think it's quite excellent for a capable office system as well because of the DVI connector, dual-head capability and gigabit LAN - and of course all the other connectivity goodness that's largely standard these days. And passive cooling, which I appreciate.

    I'm not aware of the existence of any other board with integrated graphics that has a DVI connector and can drive 2 monitors without additional expense. This is absolutely great for a very productive office setup without really breaking the bank (although using a cheaper Sempron CPU is out, since it's Socket 939).

    Of course, competing boards should follow based on this chipset, which is only going to be a good thing. (Are all GeForce 6150 boards expected to have DVI connectors?)

    By the way, are there some availability issues with this board? Newegg.com has had it listed out of stock for a good while now, periodically pushing back the ETA (which now isn't even mentioned anymore). Not many retailers seem to carry it yet, judging from the RTPE.

  • bob661 - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link

    quote:
    DVI connector and can drive 2 monitors
    The only issue with this is that you can't use one of those DVI to VGA converters on this board. There are several warnings on the website and in the manual not to do that.

  • Calin - Friday, December 2, 2005 - link

    There are many (cheaper, it's true) LCD panels that support VGA in, so this won't be such a big problem. Sad is that - if you want dual out, you need a panel with DVI input.

  • Anton74 - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link

    quote:
    The only issue with this is that you can't use one of those DVI to VGA converters on this board.

    Indeed, but for office applications - especially for those that care enough to invest in a dual head setup - LCD panels are generally more desirable I would think. I know it's what I want for my work system.

  • Degrador - Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - link

    The article has been removed?? Product Disclosure Statement?

  • ksherman - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link

    called an NDA (non-Disclosure Agreement) ;)

  • Degrador - Friday, December 2, 2005 - link

    lol, it is too, right term wasn't coming to mind :)

  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link

    The article got pushed back by a day to accommodate the Yonah exclusive yesterday. That's why it was temporarily removed.

    Take care,
    Anand

  • Degrador - Friday, December 2, 2005 - link

    Thanks for the reply Anand, it's nice to have a site where we can still get reasons for things :)

  • bob661 - Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - link

    It would have been nice if Asus included High Definition Audio on this board.
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