September High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 3

AMD Motherboard: Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe

Current Cost: $212
Months on list: 2
Price Change: +$4

Last month we switched to Socket AM2 and chose the ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe as our motherboard platform. The board has really performed well as our reference AMD test base, so there is no reason to change it for September. This motherboard is based on the new NVIDIA 590 SLI chipset, which is similar to an updated nForce4 SLI platform to the AM2 socket. This is the high-end chipset in the NVIDIA line, and includes support for all the latest technologies, including SATA 3.0 Gb/sec./NCQ, PCI Express, Gigabit LAN, and dual-channel DDR2, along with NVIDIA features such as LinkBoost, MediaShield, and DualNet. Obviously, the most impressive feature is the chipset's ability to utilize two PCI Express-based video cards in SLI format, giving high-end gamers an easy upgrade to faster performance.

The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe is a serious performance motherboard with all the features our High-end Guide demands. It supports all AM2 Athlon 64 (X2/FX) and Sempron-based processors, and offers 4 DIMM sockets capable of up to dual-channel DDR800 operation. The board features dual PCI Express x16 slots for single or SLI graphics, 1 x PCIe x4, 1 x PCIe x1, and 2 x PCI expansion slots. ASUS also includes a full host of storage options, including six native SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports, two SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports through the onboard Silicon Image controller (including one back port for SATA On-the-Go), and a single PATA connector. Networking is taken care of through NVIDIA's Dual Gigabit LAN, the ADI 1988B supplies 8-channel high definition audio, and ASUS even includes WLAN through a USB wireless module that supports IEEE802.11b/g.

The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe also includes a wicked advanced thermal design, consisting of three core features. The most visible is the fanless, heat pipe thermal cooling, which includes a chipset heatsink linked to several heat pipes and heat fins/sinks for maximum thermal protection without the noise of a cooling fan. The motherboard also supports an 8-phase power design, which not only protects the CPU and power module from potential damage, but also generates less heat than conventional power designs. ASUS has also implemented their Stack Cool 2 cooling solution, which transfers heat from critical components to the other side of the PCB.

There are also a ton of ASUS-specific features such as AI Gear (adjust system profiles on the fly), AI Nap (low power mode, while still downloading or running applications), Precision Tweaker (enhanced overclocking), AI Clock Skew (automatically skews the memory clock signal timing, improving memory overclocking) and AI NOS (Non-delay Overclocking System), just to name a few.

Intel Motherboard: ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe

Current Cost: $202
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

The Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 may use the same LGA775 interface, but care should be taken to match it with a fully compatible and high-performance motherboard. Our first choice was the powerful i975X chipset, but prices for these continue to be high, and the mainstream market has been taken over by the new Intel P965. Unfortunately, it does not feature standard NVIDIA SLI 2xPCIex16 support, and the upcoming nForce 590 SLI for Intel release is still some time off. The only option right now is to select a high-end nForce4 SLI X16 motherboard that also has its Core 2 Duo/Extreme compatibility bases covered.

That translates into a slightly newer revision of our previous selection, as ASUS has released a Core 2-certified ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe version of their popular nForce4 SLI X16 motherboard. The features speak for themselves, and these include support for single or dual PCI Express video cards, dual-channel DDR2, PCIe peripheral support, up to a 1066MHz FSB, dual core processor compatibility, SATA 3.0 Gb/sec./NCQ, and Intel EM64T, among others. Basically, this is a P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe updated with the "SE" name to denote Core 2 compatibility.

ASUS motherboards are a real favorite of the high-end gaming crowd, and this is mostly due to the company's design philosophy of combining high performance with exceptional quality. The ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe utilizes the nForce4 SLI X16 chipset, and offers dual PCIe x16 slots, 2 x PCI Express x1, 1 x PCI Express x4, and 2 x PCI expansion slots. Storage requirements are handled with 2 x PATA and 4 x Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s, and the motherboard also features Dual Gigabit LAN, Realtek ALC850 8-channel audio, IEEE 1394a Firewire, NVIDIA Firewall, and an external SATA connector. This motherboard also includes a fanless thermal heat pipe design, featuring an 8-phase power design, Stack Cool 2, and two-slot thermal design for enhanced cooling between dual PCI Express video cards.