Squeezing More Out of the 650i SLI Chipset: Asus P5N-E SLI Motherboard Review- Page 2/5
April 27, 2007
By
Thomas Soderstrom
Layout and Features
The first thing we noticed when glancing at the P5N-E SLI is a return of the "paddle card" -- the manual selector card that allows a builder to choose between having one PCI Express x16 graphics card slot (with the full set of sixteen pathways) or two PCI Express x8 slots (with eight each, obviously). Other SLI-capable boards we've tested recently used either an automatic electronic switch or, as was the case with the ECS 650i motherboard, dual slots that are locked into x8 mode.
Other than the two graphics card slots, the board includes only two PCI and one PCI Express x1 card slots, for total support of five cards. ATX-sized boards can theoretically support up to seven.
Power connector placement is nearly ideal for traditional cases, with the four-pin ATX12V connector in the top-rear corner and the 24-pin ATX connector along the front edge. Other internal connections include two Ultra ATA connections (four drives), four Serial ATA ports, two USB 2.0 breakout headers (two ports each), one IEEE-1394 FireWire port, a floppy header, a Serial port header, and way back in the far corner, a front-panel audio breakout connector.
Floppy drive users will be disappointed with the connector's placement near the bottom-rear edge, which may force them to drag the cable across every card in the system. Also, we wish good luck to anyone trying to stretch a front-panel audio cable from an upper front-bay location to the lower-rear motherboard corner.
The P5N-E SLI uses a large passive Northbridge heatsink rather than a fan-assisted cooler. This choice prevents overheating due to fan wear but may require die-hard overclockers to use a downdraft cooler instead of a now-popular cross-draft design.
The board also has several additional heatsink holes, two for the missing Southbridge sink and two for adding a VRM sink. Neither of these omitted heatsinks will likely be needed even in a highly overclocked configuration, but the holes are there just in case.
The P5N-E SLI gets a jump on lower-cost competitors by adding two more interface controllers. Starting with the expected Marvell 88E81116 Gigabit Ethernet and Realtek ALC883 7.1-channel audio codec, Asus adds a VIA VT6308P IEEE1394 FireWire controller and JMicron JMB360 Serial ATA controller.
A look around back shows what the extra two controllers are for: The P5N-E SLI includes eSATA (external SATA) and FireWire ports on the port panel. Other connections include PS/2 keyboard and mouse, Parallel, Digital Coaxial (S/PDIF) Audio, four USB 2.0, and three analog audio jacks.
For a board that contains the extra conveniences of FireWire and eSATA, reducing the cut-rate ALC883 7.1 codec back even further to 5.1 sound by limiting the number of jacks seems frivolous. The price difference between a six-jack and a three-jack connector is minimal for companies buying in large quantities, and the solder points for the extra connections are already on this board.
We expect a low-cost cable kit with any reduced-price motherboard, but Asus' cable selection doesn't disappoint: The P5N-E SLI includes one floppy, one 80-conductor Ultra-ATA, one two-drive Serial ATA power adapter, two Serial ATA data cables, and one dual-port USB breakout plate. Also included are the manual, setup CD, bonus software pack, rectangular port shield, Asus case badge, SLI bridge, and Asus Q-Connector kit.
Software selection is good for a board targeted at the lowest price point of the SLI performance market, which may be why Asus calls its CD the "Superb Software Library." Besides having drivers for both XP and Vista, the P5N-E SLI includes Norton Internet Security 2007 for Windows Vista, Norton Internet Security 2006 for Windows XP, and Corel Snapfire 11 SE. For people who think trial versions and freeware add value, Asus also includes Intervideo DVD Copy 5 trial version and Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Events
IE 7
Firefox 2.0
