Design and Construction

The ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard is designed as an all-in-one unit with a bonanza of features. The designers at ASUS thought of everyone when they built this motherboard.

Included are standard, well-known technologies like ATA, 3COM Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE1394 (Firewire), USB 2.0, up to 3 GB of RAM, and unbelievably rich 6-channel audio.

Designed with the powerful NVIDIA nForce2 chipset, the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard even includes something that should benefit those of you who are overclockers - C.O.P. (CPU Overheating Protection). This is a circuit that will shut down your CPU before it reaches a critical temperature threshold.
 

Chipset and Memory

The NVIDIA nForce2 is an advanced chipset that works great with the current generation of AMD processors. Of course future expansion is always a concern of computer users. That’s why the nForce2 chipset ups the ante in future compatibility by offering support for up to 400 MZ frontside bus memory.

Until you upgrade your processor, however, you will do just well to use PC2700 memory instead of the PC3200 DDR memory the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard currently supports. Speaking of memory, whether you use PC2700 or PC3200, you will benefit from this motherboard’s dual-channel memory controllers boosting bandwidth up to 6.4 GB/s.
 

Overclocking Features

Overclockers will be delighted with the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard. You can tweak settings in voltages, frontside bus and memory bus in a number of different increments—making this the best motherboard out there for overclockers. CPU and memory settings can be configured for Optimal (default) and Aggressive settings.
 

Performance

The ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard performed admirably in a number of benchmark scores. The free benchmarking tool PCMark2002 reported a CPU performance increase of between 1-2% above other motherboards in this category, with memory performing even better. While this is not a huge increase it does make this an above average motherboard.
 

Other Features

The ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard offers something for everyone. If you’re a video hobbyist you’ll be pleased with the FireWire support, allowing you plug your digital camcorder into the computer and edit and polish all of your home movies to perfection. Additionally USB 2.0 is included as well - with 6 connectors!

An ATA RAID Controller on the motherboard will allow you to mount robust RAID hard drives should you need them. And if you like audio you will absolutely love the NVIDIA “SoundStream” technology that produces 6-channel, Dolby Stereo sound. It’s all included in the motherboard, making this the best motherboard around.
 

Shortcomings

No product is absolutely perfect in every respect, however, and the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard does have a few shortcomings. For one thing, there is no support built into the motherboard for integrated graphics.

This was deliberate however. In the past integrated graphics did not perform as well as graphics generated by an AGP card. So you can simply install your own AGP card in the provided slot. Also some users have complained that some of the slots and connectors tend to crowd too closely on the motherboard. So you’ll have to be careful during installation.
 

Conclusion

In this brief ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard review we’ve made a compelling case that the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard is the best motherboard for your money.

This is truly a complete package deal. All of the major technologies are included on this board. Additionally it includes a number of bonuses, like 6 channel Dolby sound, which are sure to make this motherboard a standout from the competition.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like buying one or more separate products when one product does it all—without compromising any quality. This product is perfect for everyone from simple users to heavy performance hogs.