Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe

Big B · Dec 13, 2006

<h2>Intro</h2>
 
It's been several years since I last got an Asus board for myself. It's not because I thought the board was crap---in fact I still have my original A7V putting along in my file server---it's that I found other boards offering more of the features I wanted. Upon recommendation of a trusted sales rep, I picked up Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe.
 
The A7N8X-E Deluxe is based off nVidia's nForce 2 Ultra 400 SPP/MCP-T chipset. At this point I could yammer on about the board, but instead, I'll give you the specs.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_board.jpg">
 

<ul>
<li>nForce 2 Ultra 400 SPP
<li>nForce 2 MCP-T
<li>3x 184-pin DDR DIMM
<li>1x AGP Pro 8x slot
<li>5x PCI 2.2 slots
<li>1x Asus WiFi slot
<li>6-channel audio
<li>2x IEEE1394
<li>6x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
<li>1x nVidia MCP-T 10/100 LAN
<li>1x Marvell Gigabit LAN
<li>2x PS/2 ports
<li>1x Parallel ports
<li>1x Serial ports
<li>Silicon Image Sil3112a SATA150/RAID chip
</ul>

 
Well, that's a nice load of features, now for a tour of the board.

Big B · Dec 13, 2006

<h2>Layout</h2>
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_board.jpg">
 
Just looking at the board, you can see it's pretty spacious. With the MCP-T integrating many of the board's features, a plethora of extra controller chips isn't required.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_sktmem.jpg">
 
The top half of the board is pretty spacious, which not every board can boast of. The only issue that could be a problem is the row of capacitors below the CPU socket. While it is kinda tight here, I've dealt with worse. The only other thing I can really complain about here is the lack of an ATX 12V auxillary power connector there. For my XP 2000+ Palimino, this probably isn't a big deal, but could be for those with a faster Socket A chip.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_dimm.jpg">
 
The DIMM slots are a good distance away from the CPU socket and are color coded to help install DIMM's for proper dual-channel operation. Being a 1 AGP/5 PCI slot design, you won't need to remove your video card to install more RAM. Personally, I can't see this being a major factor in a motherboard purchase anyway. The two red headers are for the IEEE1394 bracket that comes bundled, and make it pretty much impossible to use the 2nd PCI slot with most cards. Since many people don't use the first PCI slot, having these two headers moved up another inch or so would've made it a lot easier to work with.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_ide.jpg">
 
The IDE, floppy, and ATX power connectors are all up front. Asus tends to be pretty good about this stuff, and continues this on the A7N8X-E Deluxe.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_iopanel.jpg">
 
The I/O panel features most of the external connectors that come with the board. The RJ-45 jack on the left is the MCP-T powered one, and the other on the right is the Marvell gigabit one. All the audio jacks are in place here as well.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_pciagp.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_agpdimm.jpg">
 
As said before, this is a 1 AGP/5 PCI design. Asus has gone ahead and implemented an AGP Pro50 slot over a plain AGP 8x slot. The slot still support AGP 8x cards, but is able to provide extra juice for high-end workstation graphics cards. If you like to have the AGP retention clip, well, that's tough. Personally, I find them to be kind of a pain in the arse anyway.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_wifi.jpg">
 
Below the last PCI slot is Asus proprietary WiFi slot for a separate Asus WiFi card. This gives an optional 3rd way of running a network besides the two on-board NICs.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_gbe.jpg">
 
This is the Marvell gigabit NIC chip. Today, I think that all motherboards should have an integrated NIC as a standard port. Asus has gone one step further and added a 2nd NIC, something only DFI's NForce 2 LANParty boards can claim as well.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_mcpt.jpg">
 
Behind the first two PCI slots is the MCP-T. This bad boy runs the audio, IEEE1394, and USB2.0 in addition to the traditional features allocated to the traditional southbridge.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_sata.jpg">
 
Near the middle of the bottom of the board lies the SiL3112A SATA RAID chip and it's two SATA ports. While I am happy to see a new technology supported, I'd have like to see an IDE RAID chip or IDE/SATA combo controller chip instead of an SATA only. Many people, including myself, have perfectly working IDE drives that have ample storage and don't need to be replaced yet. The other option would be to offer an IDE to SATA converter card, which Abit has done on several of their boards sporting SATA.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_fpanel.jpg">
 
Neighboring SATA land is Asus own ASIC for temperature and voltage monitoring. The front-panel connectors are color coded, a small, but very helpful trend I've been seeing on most motherboards as of late.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_acc1.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_acc2.jpg">
 
Asus is known for having good bundles with their motherboards and does so again here. The custom I/O plate, USB 2.0 and IEEE1394 brackets and cables are here for the rest of the external ports. For the internal connectors you get 2 black IDE ribbon cables and a similar floppy cable, 2 SATA data cables, and a 2 headed SATA power converter cable.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x_acc3.jpg">
 
On the software and manual side, Asus drops in their driver/utility CD and Intervideo's WinDVD media suite.
The A7N8X-E Deluxe manual is of typical Asus quality--very good. There is also a multi-lingual quick setup guide, a motherboard reference sticker, and a flyer for the WiFi card.

Big B · Dec 13, 2006

<h2>BIOS</h2>
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bmain.jpg">
 
Asus has gone with a Phoenix-Award BIOS, but it's setup quite differently than how most companies setup their BIOS. A main screen isn't really there, but the first tab you get when getting into BIOS is regarding your IDE drives and time.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-badv.jpg">
 
The next tab is the one where most of the playing begins. The Advanced tab has the sub-menus that are going to be the most intresting to anyone wanting to tweak and/or overclock their system.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-badvbios.jpg">
 
The Advanced BIOS Features tab holds options regarding the boot sequence and a few other options.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bchipset1.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bchipset2.jpg">
 
Here's the fun stuff: the Advanced Chipset sub-menu. Voltages for the CPU and memory and AGP slots, memory timings, FSB adjustments...the works.

 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bmulti1.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bmulti2.jpg">
 
If your CPU is unlocked, Asus gives you a decent array of multipliers to play with.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bmemspd1.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bmemspd2.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bmemtime.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bmemspec.jpg">
 
You are able to set the memory speed in relation to the CPU anywhere from 1/2 the speed to twice that. Due to the way the nForce 2 chipset works, it's best to leave this setting at 100%. Besides the memory timings, you are also able to adjust the frequency spectrum which can help in overclocking. Lastly, you're able to set the base FSB frequency.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bagpfreq1.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bagpfreq2.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bagpspec.jpg">

 
The AGP frequency is adjustable from 50MHz to 100MHz in various steps. You are able to set in at a specific speed to help with overclocking, always a plus. As with the memory, the freqency spectrum is adjustable.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bvcore.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bvagp.jpg">
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bvdimm.jpg">
 
Voltages for the CPU are available upto 1.850V, AGP from 1.5 to 1.7, and DIMM from 2.6-2.8. I've seen other reviews having less than favorable overclocking results with the A7N8x-E Deluxe, and this may be a good reason for that.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bintperi.jpg">
 
The Integrated Peripherals section allows you to enable/disable most of the boards features, except for the SiL3112a SATA and Marvell Gigabit NIC. Basically, any device controlled directly by the nForce 2 chipset is here.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bpwr.jpg">
 
Like the name suggests, your power management stuff is under the Power Management sub-menu.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x-bhmon.jpg">
 
Lastly, you can keep an eye on your voltages and temps in the Hardware Monitor tab. If you run your CPU fan through the CPU fan header, you can use Q-Fan to automatically adjust it as necessary.

Big B · Dec 13, 2006

<h2>Benchmarks</h2>
 
Test setup as follows:
<ul>
<li>A7N8X-E Deluxe, BIOS 1008
<li>Athlon XP2000+ (Palimino/266MHz FSB)
<li>512MB PC2700 (2x256)
<li>Sapphire Radeon 9600XT
<li>Western Digital 60GB 7200 RPM HDD (OS install)
<li>Maxtor 20GB 7200 RPM HDD
<li>Maxtor 40GB 5400 RPM HDD
<li>MadDog 16x DVD-ROM
<li>Lite-ON 40/12/48 CD-RW
<li>SIIG ATA100 PCI controller card (CMD 694 chip)
<li>Sparkle 350W PSU
<li>Thermalright SK-7 w generic LED fan
<li>nForce drivers off Asus CD
<li>Omega Driver 2.5.14 (Catalyst 4.2)
<li>Windows XP Professional SP1a w latest updates
</ul>
I'd like to be more specific on the nForce driver version, but I used the set off Asus CD, which aren't really the 3.13 driver set, but the drivers for each component are pretty new.
 
The usual software is used:
<ul>
<li>SiSoft Sandra
<li>Quake 3 Demo 1.11
<li>3DMark 2001SE v 330
<li>Clibench
<li>ScienceMark
<ul>

 
For a comparison, previous results obtained from my Gigabyte KT400 review board will be used in Sandra, Clibench, and ScienceMark. Quake 3 and 3Dmark will not use these results due to the large difference between the Radeon 8500 and Radeon 9600XT cards.
 
Quake 3
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+q3.jpg">
 
As expected, the results between the resolutions are negligable. Higher resolutions will render noticable changes, that begins to encroach on the video card's power, not the CPU/Motherboard.
 
3DMark 2001
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+3dmark2k1.jpg">
 
Here, there is a larger gap between the two resolutions. A more powerful video card would probably show less of a gap here, but you can still see the video card isn't being too taxed at the low resolutions.
 
Sandra
 
CPU Arithmatic
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+sanarith.jpg">
 
The KT400 has a slight edge over the A7N8x-E, but it's nothing to be concerned with.
 
CPU Multimedia
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+sanmulti.jpg">
 
Again, the KT400 wins here, albeit with a slightly more significant lead.
 
Memory Bandwith
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+sanmem.jpg">
 
Thanks to the dual-channel bandwith of the nForce 2, the A7N8X-E blows the KT400 out of the water here. Not surprising.
 
Clibench
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+cli1.jpg">
 
Here, we see a reversal of the scene in the Sandra Arithmatic scores. Again, the difference is very slight.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+cli2.jpg">
 
The matrix operation is clearly favoring the A7N8X-E, but the KT400 has a lead over it in the eight queens test.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+cli3.jpg">
 
These tests are CPU dependent and show no change on the floating point score and very little with the number crunch operation, the edge going to the KT400.
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+cli4.jpg">
 
No surprise here. Dual-channel memory comes out far ahead, basically double of the KT400.

Big B · Dec 13, 2006

<h2>Benchmarks, Continued</h2>
 
Science Mark
 
<img src="http://www.zone365.com/z365-images-2/46a/a7n8x+scimark.jpg">
 
The KT400 beats out the A7N8X-E on two out of three, loosing only on the promethium test.
 
Overclocking
 
My XP2000+, like most Paliminos of this speed, isn't a very good overclocker, so the results weren't shocking. A front side bus of 142MHz was all I could hit with a fully stable CPU. No amount of extra voltage would help. While I've had it running slightly higher on an Iwill XP333-R, it was due to excessive overvolting the board provided, and only yeilded a semi-stable 144MHz FSB. Needless to say, I wasn't too disappointed with my limited results. I have read other reviews not having all that great of success with FSB's much over 200MHz, but that's a long ways off with my current CPU and memory.
 
Final Words
 
A few months back, I though I'd never be reviewing an nForce 2 board. The two boards I used from Epox and MSI threw fits with the memory I had: Samsung, Kingston, TwinMOS---none worked. I don't blame these companies, so much as nVidia. Since then, all companies with an nForce 2 board have done work and seem to have worked the bugs out. However, I can't deny I was a little nervous trying an nForce 2 board again after my previous encounters. The A7N8X-E Deluxe worked great the first time, no fuss---exactly like all motherboards should be.
 
The board has a few things I am concerned about. First, there isn't a 4-pin 12V auxillary power connection on the board. With an AGP 8x Pro slot, this could provide some extra juice for higher-end workstation graphics cards if used. 2nd, while I'm all for new technology, Asus has managed to alienate some people by only including SATA RAID. Some people may not like the extra jumpers for enabling/disabling some of the system's devices, but this is really a moot issue unless you're planning on doing that alot. Lastly, the IEEE1394 headers placement is extremely annoying, especially if you use several PCI cards.
 
OVerall, there's not alot to not like about the A7N8X-E Deluxe. It's stable, overclocked or not, comes with a full accessory bundle, well laid out, and works right out of the box. The board runs around $110-120 online, making it a pretty good deal for a board with 5.1 sound, firewire, SATA RAID and dual LAN--one being gigabit.
 
Final score
 
4.7 out of 5.

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Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe

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