The Asus A7N8X Motherboard is the BEST for the Athlon XP Processor!
Written: Dec 17 '02 (Updated Jul 14 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A fast and reliable motherboard for the Athon XP!
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: This is truly a great motherboard made for speed, performance and Overclocking!
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| surferdude7's Full Review: ASUS A7N8X Motherboard |
The Asus A7N8X Motherboard is the right step in performance for the AMD Athlon XP processors especially those with the 333 MHz bus. For performance it gives you support for DDR 400 memory in dual channels, an AGP slot for video cards of 8x and the 333 MHz Front Side Bus. (FSB) Plus you get onboard video, 5.1 digital audio, onboard firewire and USB 2.0. This review is on the deluxe model!
The Memory
The Asus A7N8X Motherboard has three slots for up to 3 GB of memory. You can use non-ECC DDR RAM of PC3200, (DDR 400 MHz) PC2700, (DDR 333 MHz) PC2100 (DDR 266 MHz) and PC1600. (DDR 200 MHz)
For better performance Asus offers Dual DDR Memory Architecture. While a DDR 400 MHz runs at 3.2 GB per second, with the Dual DDR Memory Architecture it runs at twice the speed of 6.4 GB per second. Out of the three memory slots there are two blue slots and one black slot for DDR memory. To run the Dual DDR memory you need two identical memory Dimms with the same manufacture and same size in the two blue slots. Example on this motherboard we used two KINGMAX 256MB PC3200 400 MHz NON-ECC DDR DIMM for a total of 512 MB of memory.
The only drawback to this setup is if you use the third slot it will probably slow down the Dual DDR Memory Architecture because the third slot cannot run at double the bandwidth. So if you can afford it, buy the two biggest DDR Dimms that your pocketbook can afford because the double bandwidth speed is worth it.
The Bus
Asus shows that the motherboard will run the Front Side Bus at 200 MHz, 266 MHz and 333 MHz. The Athlon XP 2600, 2700 and 2800 run at 333 MHz. (A few early 2600 ran at 266 MHz)
Now not proven because AMD doesn’t have a 400 MHz FSB processor, but many people think that this motherboard with the dual DDR 400 memory will probably run at 400 MHz FSB once the processor is out. In fact some of the sellers show it as a 400 MHz FSB but Asus does not.
The AGP Slot
The Asus A7N8X gives you an AGP 8x video slot for maximum performance. This doubles the bandwidth of the 4x with better performance and smoother graphics.
Nvidia NForce2
The Nvidia NForce2 chipset is the power behind this motherboard with supporting DDR400 memory, the dual channel DDR and 8x AGP.
The Sound
Asus includes an Integrated APU (Audio Processor Unit) the Realtek ALC650 6-Channel with a built-in amplifier to give you true Digital Dolby 5.1 sound through the SPDIF/Surround outputs.
This sounds so good that you definitely do not need to add an audio card. I was impressed with the sound when playing a DVD movie in the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.
Overclocking
Yes this motherboard gives you the ability to Overclock it. Overclocking is to get more out of the processor than the manufacture wanted you to get.
Through the BIOS by Award you can make adjustment to tweak out the processor to all of its potentials. Now you can over tweak one where the processor doesn’t run stable and will lock up your system, so please know what you are doing and make adjustments a little at a time.
You can adjust the AGP frequency from 66MHz to 100MHz, CPU/Memory ratios are selectable to 200%, the CPU multiplier adjustments to 14X and the Vcore goes to 1.85. FSB in 1MHz increments up to 200 then there are 3 more adjustments of 204, 207 and 211MHz.
Generally speaking you can Overclock an AMD XP processor 200 to 300 MHz.
Other Specifications
The Asus A7N8X Motherboard also has two IDE ATA133 (UltraDMA) sockets for up to 4 IDE devices. Included are four USB connections with the option of two more, five PCI slots, 1 Parallel port, 1 Serial port, 1 PS/2 Keyboard port and 1 PS/2 Mouse port.
Also included are Onboard Firewire 1394 - 2 Ports MCP-T integrated IEEE 1394a Realtek PHY 8801B, Onboard LAN - MCP integrated 3Com MAC Broadcom AC101L PHY and Onboard Serial ATA - Silicon Image Sil 3112A Controller with 2 ports, support RAID 0/1.
What you get!
You get the Asus A7N8X Motherboard with back plates for a firewire, 2-port USB connections, a game port and SPDIF for audio. You also get 2 serial ATA cables, 2 firewire cables and a floppy cable.
A CD is included with the drivers, WinCinema, WinDVD, WinRIP, WinCoder and WinProducer. A quick start guide and manual is included.
Overall
The NForce2 chipset is a much better chipset then the KT400 for performance. The performance with this motherboard is very fast with the AMD Athlon XP 2700 processor. Overclocking I haven’t tried yet because it runs really fast and smooth so I don’t see any use in Overclocking it yet!
With the XP 2700 processor we ran two KINGMAX 256MB PC3200 400MHZ NON-ECC DDR DIMM. I would have liked to run two 512 chips but the cost of over $300 made that impossible for now. So we settled for the two chips for about $160. With this motherboard you definitely need to think about running the dual memory.
Installation was easy for me since I have changed many motherboards out, if this is your first one don’t worry anyone can do it if you take your time. Place the processor with cooling fan on the motherboard before you install it in the computer for easier installation. You can also install the memory before you install it into the computer. I did notice once the motherboard was mounted that if you wanted to change the processor you will have to remove a mounting bolt against the CPU lever or you cannot lift the lever with the bolt in.
The only jumper settings on the motherboard are if you are going to run a processor with a 200 MHz Front Side Bus, it is set on the default of 333/266 FSB when you get it.
The motherboard form factor is ATX with a size of 12 inches x 9.6 inches. The price range for the Asus A7N8X Motherboard with all accessories is about $150.
For performance and speed, I Highly recommend the Asus A7N8X Motherboard made for the AMD Athlon XP processor up to the 2800 . This is the fastest motherboard I have seen so far for the AMD processor when using the dual channel DDR memory!
Here is my review of the AMD Athlon XP 2700 Processor
Here is my review of the AMD Athlon XP 2600 Retail
Here is my review of the AMD Athlon XP 2100 Processor
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Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 145
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