Asus A8N-VM CSM: NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Finally Arrives
by Wesley Fink on December 1, 2005 12:04 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
NVIDIA launched their integrated graphics chipsets for Athlon 64 about two months ago. The NVIDIA 61x0 family consists of three combinations of Northbridge and Southbridge geared at different market segments.
As you can see, there are several features that are only available with this chipset combination. The 6150 runs at a 475MHz Graphics Clock instead of 425 and features a TV encoder, High Quality Video Scaling, and dual video (DVI-D and RGB) outputs. The nForce 430 adds 2 more SATA2 ports (4 total), support for Raid 5, NVIDIA Active Armor Firewall support, and the hooks for 1GB Ethernet. These additional features make the 6150/430 a much more attractive solution for Multimedia applications or as the core of a Home Theater PC (HTPC) box.
| Specifications: | NVIDIA GeForce 6150 NVIDIA nForce 430 |
NVIDIA GeForce 6100 NVIDIA nForce 430 |
NVIDIA GeForce 6100 NVIDIA nForce 410 |
| CPU | Athlon 64 or Sempron | Athlon 64 or Sempron | Athlon 64 or Sempron |
| PureVideo (High Definition) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 Support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TV Encoder | Yes | No | No |
| TMDS/DVI | Yes | No | No |
| Graphics Clock | 475 MHz | 425 MHz | 425 MHz |
| PCI-Express | 1x16 2x1 |
1x16 1x1 |
1x16 1x1 |
| MPEG-2/WMV9 Playback | HD(1080p/1080i) | SD | SD |
| Video Scaling | High Quality(5x4) | Basic (2x2) | Basic (2x2) |
| SATA/PATA drives | 4/4 | 4/4 | 2/4 |
| SATA speed | 3Gb/s | 3Gb/s | 3Gb/s |
| RAID | 0,1,0+1,5 | 0,1,0+1,5 | 0,1 |
| NVIDIA MediaShield | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| NVIDIA ActiveArmorTM Firewall | Yes | Yes | - |
| Ethernet | 10/100/1000 | 10/100/1000 | 10/100 |
| USB ports | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| NVIDIA nTuneTM Utility | Yes | Yes | Yes |
As you can see, there are several features that are only available with this chipset combination. The 6150 runs at a 475MHz Graphics Clock instead of 425 and features a TV encoder, High Quality Video Scaling, and dual video (DVI-D and RGB) outputs. The nForce 430 adds 2 more SATA2 ports (4 total), support for Raid 5, NVIDIA Active Armor Firewall support, and the hooks for 1GB Ethernet. These additional features make the 6150/430 a much more attractive solution for Multimedia applications or as the core of a Home Theater PC (HTPC) box.
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Wesley Fink - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link
The Asus DOES include HD Audio with the AD1986 codec - the same codec used for HD on the recently reviewed A8R-MVP. However, SPDIF is provided by an optional SPDIF module and TV out is also an optional module. That means you will need to buy optional modules to fully use these features.Donegrim - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link
or if they are just headers, solder some wires onto the approriate points. Well, you might save some money.TowerShield - Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - link
Doesn't it have HD Audio? Is the on-board sound not real HD?bob661 - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link
After looking through the manual for the board it appears that you have to buy a seperate S/PDIF (fiber optic) module in order to get the true 5.1 surround audio. Also, in order to get the TV Out (S-video) you have to buy that seperately too. 5.1 is not standard and neither is the TV Out. That sucks a bit. Why not include at least the optical out as standard considering most motherboards have it?LoneWolf15 - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link
I agree, ASUS made a big mistake in not including a TV-out +SPDIF (preferrably coax and optical) on a single backplate and including it with this mainboard. This looks like an incredible board for an HTPC product --and that one simple mistake takes it from perfect to missing the mark.bob661 - Thursday, December 1, 2005 - link
It DOES have the HD Audio module but you won't be able to get true 5.1 sound without the optical out.