X-bit labs

ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe Mainboard Review (page 3)

Category: Mainboards

by Yury Mitrofanov

[ 04/20/2004 | 10:14 PM ]

Closer Look

Let’s start with those features that distinguish this mainboard from its predecessor. As I have already mentioned, the network controller from 3Com has been replaced with an 88E8001 chip from Marvell. There is no guessing about the purpose of the change: the Marvell chip features one thing that’s very important for deploying local networks – it can diagnose and report the damages in the network cable that occur at a distance of up to 100m from the computer. This is the chip:

Owners of nForce2-based mainboards will find their old acquaintance here: a Realtek RTL8201BL chip. This is a physical-level network controller that couples with the South Bridge to provide you another network connection. Its characteristics are not very good, but satisfying for a chipset-integrated solution.

If you don’t want to have a mess of network cables around your computer, try the wireless network solution from ASUS, which consists of the WiFi slot on the mainboard, ready to accommodate the exclusive WiFi expansion card, and an antenna:

You can find a more detailed description of the WiFi technology in our article called ASUS P4P800S Mainboard on i848P Chipset and ASUS WiFi-b Kit Review. Generally speaking, wireless networking is not yet widespread because of lower data-transfer rates compared to wired connections. At the same time, it may be convenient when it’s not possible or not reasonable to run cables around.

NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset doesn’t support the SerialATA interface and ASUS made up for this deficiency by integrating a Sil3112A chip from Silicon Image into the mainboard. It supports two SerialATA devices that you can unite into a RAID array of level 0 or 1. In fact, the SerialATA interface, originally a server technology, has long ceased to be a privilege of a small number of selected mainboards only – mainboard manufactures felt that users were interested in this technology and did their best to meet their demands.

The I/O capabilities of ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe are wide-reaching: four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, one COM, one LPT, two PS/2 ports for the mouse and keyboard, S/PDIF connectors, line-out, line-in, mic-in, center/bass and rear out audio jacks. More connectors are found onboard – you have a lot of room for expanding the capabilities of the mainboard further: one onboard pin-connector for attaching two USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire ports, audio connectors that you can attach to the front panel of the system case, an S/PDIF input and output, a game port, a second COM and an IrDA port. I guess that’s more than enough for a computer user.