ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Motherboard Review

[Capper]

ASUS has long been a name associated with both quality and performance. While most will say that ASUS motherboards are not the first choice of high end overclockers, many more will say that if you are looking for a rock solid motherboard with great features...ASUS should be your first choice. Today we look at ASUS' flagship board for the AMD socket 939 platform, the A8N32-SLI Deluxe

ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Motherboard Review
http://hardwarelogic.com/news/129/AR...006-04-06.html

[gvblake22]

Looks like a very nice board indeed. I have a question though, how effective is that heatpipe cooling solution on the chipset(s)? Did you happen to get any temperature measurements during load operation or overclocking? Have you ever experienced any problems due to a lack of cooling performance on the chipset?

[Capper]

I found the chipset cooler to be no better/worse than any other solution.
The problem with it is it doesn't perform well in a horizontal position.... and can't be used in a BTX type case

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by Capper

The problem with it is it doesn't perform well in a horizontal position.... and can't be used in a BTX type case

Yeah, that is an unfortunate design flaw.
Thanks for the info though :thup:

[Tyreal]

oh boo! I was expecting those heatpipes to do better than most others.

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

oh boo! I was expecting those heatpipes to do better than most others.

Depends on how you define "better." Keep in mind that the fanless heatpipe is 100% silent, so in that regard, it performs better than many other solutions out there, including Asus' own noisy fan found on the A8N-SLI Deluxe. The A8N32-SLI also bundles in a chipset fan for additional cooling, mostly targeting water cooled systems, so the surrounding area can be kept cool.

I'm currently writing up a review of the MSI K8N Diamond Plus, the only other nForce4 x16 SLI solution. Without giving too much away, I will say that I prefer the MSI to the Asus. Interesting though, the southbridge gets extremely hot to the touch, despite using a fan on the northbridge portion of the chipset heatpipe.

[fps justin]

couldn't you mod a quiet fan on there somehow? That would be sweet. I'm not into the whole silent thing but meeting halfway between quiet and performance is always sweet.

[Capper]

the board does include a small fan, but they only recommend using it for water cooling setups/ I tried it both ways and found it made no difference at all.
Thinking of it another way, a passive cooling solution that is decent is still better than an active cooling soltuion...thats one less part that can fail

[fps justin]

i suppose if you think about it that way, its a possitive to have passive cooling.

[Tyreal]

Amen. I was just expecting it to perform better.