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Asus P5N32-SLI: Dual x16 - What Dreams Are Made On . . .

 by Gary Key on October 27, 2005 12:05 AM EST
70 Comments | Add A Comment
70 Comments
Basic Features: Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe

Specification Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe
CPU Interface LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium XE, Celeron D, and Pentium D processors.
Chipset North bridge- NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI Intel Edition (Crush C19)
South bridge- NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI Edition (Athlon CK804)
Pentium D Support (Dual-Core) Full Support
Front Side Bus 1066 / 800 / 533 MHz
Front Side Bus Speeds 533-1600 MHz (in 1 MHz increments)
Memory Speeds Auto- 400-1200 MHz (in 1 MHz increments)
System Clock Mode Optimal, Linked, Expert
PCI Express 100 MHz to 150 MHz in 1 MHz increments
Dynamic Overclocking AI NOSTM (Non-delay Overclocking System)
AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner)
ASUS PEG Link (Automatically performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards)
ASUS CPU Lock Free
ASUS Ai Booster Utility Precision Tweaker for Windows
Core Voltage Auto, 1.1V - 1.70V in 0.0125V increments
DRAM Voltage Auto, 1.85 - 2.4V in 0.05V to 0.10V increments
Other Voltage North Bridge - Auto, 1.4V, 1.5V, 1.6V
South Bridge - Auto, 1.5V, 1.6V
FSB - Auto, 1.215, 1.315, 1.415
LDT (Hyper Transport) Ratios 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000
Memory Command Rate Auto, 1T, 2T (current BIOS defaults to 2T)
Memory Slots Four 240-pin DDR2 Slots
Dual-Channel Unbuffered Memory to 16GB
Expansion Slots (2) x16 PCIe Slots
(1) x4 PCIe Slot
(2) x1 PCIe Slots
(2) PCI Slots version 2.2
SLI (2) x16 Fully Supported
Onboard SATA (4)-Drive SATA 2 by nForce 4
Onboard IDE (2) ATA 133/100/66/33 ports, (4) drive support by nForce 4
SATA/IDE RAID NVIDIA® nForce4 SLI supports NVRAID
- 2 x Ultra DMA 133/100/66/33
- 4 x Serial ATA 3 Gb/s
- NVRAID: RAID0, 1, 0+1, 5, and JBOD
Silicon Image® 3132 SATA controller supports
- 1 x Internal Serial ATA 3 Gb/s hard disk
- 1 x External Serial ATA hard disk (SATA On-the-Go)
- RAID 0, 1
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 (9) USB 2.0 ports supported by NVIDIA nForce 4
(2) 1394 FireWire ports supported by TI 1394a
Onboard LAN Dual Gigabit Ethernet
PCIe Gigabit LAN Support
Marvell 88E1111 PHY, Marvell 88E8053
Onboard Audio Realtek ALC850 8-channel CODEC
Universal Audio Jack
Audio Sensing and Enumeration Technology
Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF out ports on back I/O
Power Connectors ATX 24-pin, 8-pin EATX 12V, 4-pin 12V EZ plug (required for SLI operation)
Internal I/O Connectors 2 x USB connectors supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports
2 x IEEE1394a connector
1 x COM connector
1 x GAME/MIDI connector
CPU Fan / 2x Chassis Fan/ Power Fan / 2x chipset fan connectors
Front panel audio connector
Chassis Intrusion connector
CD / AUX audio in
Other Features Fanless Design
AI NET2 network diagnosis
CrashFree BIOS 2
Q-Fan2
MyLogo2
EZ Flash
BIOS AMI 0047

The Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe is a member of the ALife product family and, as such, is a fully-featured flagship board targeted towards the PC gamer. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several dynamic overclocking features such as AI NOSTM (Non-delay dynamic Overclocking System), AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner with preset profiles), ASUS PEG Link (automatic performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards), ASUS CPU Lock Free (BIOS setting to unlock select multiplier locked CPUs), and the ASUS Ai Booster Utility Precision Tweaker software that allows control over certain system settings within Windows. The board also features the exclusive 8-Phase power design, Copper Heat Pipe technology for cooling the chipsets, Stack Cool 2 design to dissipate heat to the opposite side of the motherboard, and an external SATA II port on the back I/O panel.

The BIOS options are extensive on the P5N32-SLI Deluxe, with memory voltage to 2.4V, and an extensive range of chipset, bus, and vCore voltage adjustments. Memory ratios are handled like other nForce4 SLI Intel Edition boards in that the number of memory dividers is so numerous that you can simply enter a target memory clock and the BIOS will select the appropriate memory divider to produce a setting as near as possible to the requested value. The board fully supports manual memory timing adjustments or allows for an Auto setting that will set the memory to the SPD settings. This Auto setting will adjust the memory timing settings automatically when the system is overclocked. You have the ability to set the system clock mode to Auto (sync the fsb and memory to their rated standard), Linked (sync the fsb and memory proportionally as you increase the front side bus), or Manual (allows independent adjustment of the fsb and memory).

The new revision of the nForce4 SLI x16 Intel Edition Chipset fully supports all dual core Pentium D processors. We confirmed that the board worked properly at stock and over clocked settings with an Intel 820 processor and an 840 processor, and there were no problems with the board recognizing the two cores and four logical processors that are created with the Hyperthreading feature on the 840 EE processor.

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  • scottyfree111 - Friday, December 16, 2005 - link

    Gary, I got one of the first production runs of this board and I smelled something burning on the first post. I got it to work, but mobo temps were 46-48C. my friend got the same board a few weeks later in an almost identical setup (P43.46EE, dual Quadro FX-3400's, PC P&C 850 PSU) and got 28C mobo, and 29C (idle on the CPUw/Zalman 9500 cooler). So I RMA'd it, and am hoping for similar results. It should be back any day now and I'm hoping they replaced it. Asus forums list many unhappy campers having all sorts of Bios issues. Which Bios are you using now(212 maybe?) Also, I was disappointed that there are only 5 internal sata ports since I use 9 hard drives. I've been looking into using a Sil Image 5X1 port multiplier with a 4 bay esata enclosure from either Addonics or Cool Drives to get a RAID 0X4 on the Sil 3132 with my 4 WD740 Raptors for video capture/editing. Do you know anything about setting up an esata RAID? Thanks

  • MadAd - Friday, November 4, 2005 - link

    Thanks for the reply Gary, dont bust a gut though, 1920x1440 is really good enough :)

    Im just welcoming the recognition that people do use high res to do normal things like play games on (shock horror).

    Ive always found it strange that Anandtech reports on so much cutting edge hardware in the cpu, mobo and video areas, the bread and butter of a good review site, but seemed to ignore people with high end monitors in test results - at least you are putting that right now, thank you again.

  • MadAd - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link

    Hooray! a reviewer that benchmarks games up to high end video resolutions! Thank you thank you!!

    My own resolution of 1920x1200 wasnt mentioned but I got the picture from what you did cover, thank you again- The other Anand reviewers seem to think theres no life after 1600x1200. (but there is :¬) )

    Nice one

  • Gary Key - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link

    Hi,

    The review results will depend upon the monitor's capability during testing (several of my monitor's only go to 1600x1200 or 1280x1024). Also, please realize that a large majority of readers have 19" LCDs that only support up to 1280x1024. This is why we standardized on this resolution recently. However, we will start providing higher resolution benchmarks depending upon the hardware being reviewed (performance oriented boards) and time allowances. This is based upon the fact that the next step up for most buyers will be the 1600x1200 ~ 1920x1200 capable monitors.

    The higher end monitor's I have for testing do not support the 1920x1200 format. They support the 1920x1440 and up resolutions. However, that should change in the next month or so hopefully. ;-)

    I appreciate the comments and hopefully we can get you and others some 1920x1200 benchmarks in the near future.

    Thanks!

  • H0witzer - Saturday, October 29, 2005 - link

    As the owner of a P5ND2-SLI-Deluxe I have to say the C19 chipset gets WAY too hot. Not to mention the horrible stability of the BIOS. There has been Many complaints from ASUS owners about these issues. Another issue as of late has been power supplies blowing. I personally experience a 3 day old 500W Aspire power supply blowing, and after flashing the BIOS the entire system dying.

    I wonder about the stability of the NVIDIA chipset and how it will hold up in the long run. I would have liked to see a comparison against the P5WD2-Premium.

  • Gary Key - Saturday, October 29, 2005 - link

    I have read some of the horror stories about the P5ND2-SLI-Deluxe and agree about the thermal issues among others with the A2 stepping of the C19. The A3 and up steppings are better in this regard and the new board layout is significantly more robust than the P5ND2 series. I believe Asus realized their errors from several product releases lately (I went to Intel boards after an earlier issue with Asus) and are in the process of correcting them. This board has restored my faith in their new product lineup. This bios we tested with (0047) has been wonderful from both a stability and performance viewpoint. I personally use OCZ or PC Power and Cooling power supplies and have never had an issue with any board, good or bad. I did not have the P5WD2 to test against but I do have the P5LD2 now. :->

  • H0witzer - Sunday, October 30, 2005 - link

    Hey Gary,

    Thanks for taking the time to write back. Based on your article and statements here I am going to contact my online retailer who is processing my RMA and tell them to just issue a credit and I will purchase the P5N32-SLI instead. Don't worry i won't hold you responsible for my decision :-)

    I just figured it couldn't be any worse than the last board. Hopefully they fixed the things that were issues with the P5ND2-SLI Deluxe.

    One last question, when will this be available, have you heard anything yet? All the online retailers are saying Pre-Order.

  • Gary Key - Sunday, October 30, 2005 - link

    Good Day,

    I bought a couple of boards from NewEgg last week but I noticed this morning they are out of them. I will send them a message and see when their next batch is in. When you receive the board please email me and we can discuss specifics on the board and bios. I really think you will be pleased with this board. If not, please post your issues. I would appreciate another viewpoint or opinion on the board.

  • H0witzer - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link

    Hi Gary,

    Any word on why the boards all disapeared? Seems that No one has them anymore.

  • Gary Key - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link

    Good Day,

    We spoke with Asus tonight. The second production run of boards was slightly delayed due to a couple of minor hardware changes on the board that should not affect performance. They changed resistors in a couple of areas apparently. However, Asus will provide us a new board for testing to ensure results are indicative of the review board results. The next production run of boards should arrive within 7 business days according to our sources. I will post an update to the article if there are any changes with this new release.

    Thanks....
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