• Socket A for AMD Athlon XP /Athlon/Duron 600MHz-2.8GHz (2800+ XP took this from ASUS’s site) ready
  
• Chipset: North Bridge NVIDIA nForce2 SPP , South Bridge: NVIDIA nForce2 MCP-T
  
• FSB 333/266/200 MHz
  
• Memory: Dual Channel DDR 400 supported 3x184-pin DIMM Sockets. Maximum 3GB un-buffered PC3200/PC2700/PC2100/PC1600 non-ECC DDR RAM Memory (Twinbank)
  
• Expansion Slots: 1x AGP Pro/8x(1.5V only) , 5x PCI
  
• IDE Ports: 2x UDMA 133/100/66
  
• Serial ATA: Silicon Image Sil 3112A Controller with 2 ports. Supports RAID 0/1
  
• Audio: Realtek ALC650 6CH w/built in HP amplifier. Integrated APU (Audio Processing Unit). Soundstorm/Dolby Digital (AC-3) Encoder
  
• LAN: 2 Ports. MCP Integrated NVIDIA MAC+ Realtek 8201BL PHY. MCP integrated 3Com MAC+ Realtek AC101L PHY.
  
• 1394 2 Ports MCP-T Integrated IEEE1394a+ Realtek PHY 8801B
  
• Special Features: Post Reporter , Power Loss Restart, Q-Fan Technology, STR (Suspend To RAM), COP (CPU Overheating Protection) CPU Throttle
  
• Back Panel I/O Ports: 1x Parallel , 1x Serial, 1x PS/2 Keyboard, 1x PS/2 Mouse, 1x Audio I?O, 4x USB2.0, 1x Surround L/R audio jack+ 1x CNTR/OLFE audio jack, 2x RJ45
  
• Internal I/O Connectors: 2x USB 2.0 connector support additional support 2 USB 2.0 ports, CPU/Power/Chassis FAN connector, Game Connector, 20 pin ATX power connector, IDE LED connector, power LED connector, 2x 1394 Connector, 2x SATA (Serial ATA) Connector, WOR, WOL, Chassis Intrusion, SM Bus, SIR, Headphone, Front MIC, CD/AUX/Modem audio in, Front Panel Audio connector
  
• BIOS: 4Mb Flash ROM, Award BIOS, TCAV, PnP , DMI2.0, DMI, Green
  
• Support CD: Driver CD, Asus PC Probe, Trend Micro PC-Cillin 2002 anti-virus software with Windows XP support, ASUS LiveUpdate Utility
  
• Accessories: I/O Shield, SATA Cable , 2-port USB 2.0 , User’s Manual/Quick Reference Guide, Ultra-DMA 133 Cable, FDD cable, 2-Port 1394 Bracket, Ultra-DMA 133/100/66 cable, 9-pin COM cable
  
• Form Factor: ATX Form Factor
  

The Asus A7N8X is based on NVIDIA’s nForce2 chipset. It supports all modern Athlon/Athlon XP and Duron CPUs including the hard to find Athlon 2800+ XP and the upcoming Athlon 3000+ XP. When AMD sent out test samples of their new 2800+ XP CPUs last year, they shipped them with Asus A7N8X Deluxe. nForce2 also supports the available 200/266/333 FSB CPUs. For purposes of this review, I’ve decided to include a Athlon 2400+ XP, as it’s the most available CPU in my area.

Asus, like NVIDIA has a list of tested memory for their nForce2 motherboard on their website. They don’t recommend using memory not on the list. However, I used Kingston DDR333 memory in this review which worked great, even though it’s not on the tested memory list. You can install up to 3GB of un-buffered PC3200 DDR (400MHz DDR) in 3 memory slots. However, since the nForce2 supports Twin Bank memory, you should get better performance by using memory in slots 1 and 3 instead of 1,2, and 3 or 1 and 2 or 2 and 3.

The A7N8X comes with 1 AGP 8x slot and 5 PCI slots. I would have liked to see Asus put 6 PCI slots, but with the rest of the features of this motherboard and onboard sound fully the equal of almost any available add-in soundcard, it’s not as important as it might otherwise be. I would also have liked to have seen 64-bit PCI slots, but as this feature isn’t in heavy use on today’s PC motherboards, it’s not a negative. The AGP8x/Pro slot is fully compliant with AGP 3.0 specification. Both the ATI RADEON 9700 Pro and a Geforce4 Ti4200 8x based card work as advertised with the slot , correctly identifying and enabling AGP8X. However, in all honesty, AGP8X doesn’t make much of a difference with today’s applications or games.

The 2 UDMA 133/100/66 Ports included is standard in almost every motherboard chipset available today. I would liked to have seen a RAID controller, but that’s included with the Serial ATA connectors Serial ATA hard drives aren’t available in any kind of mass quantity, but it’s nice to see a motherboard with forward support for such a feature. I would have liked to see a Promise Serial ATA chip on the board, as I’ve never heard of SATA but as I don’t have a Serial ATA HDD anyway, it’s hard to make any kind of judgment on the support.

The A7N8X supports 6-channel digital/analog sound via a Realtek chip and also supports NVIDIA’s Soundstorm technology for AC-3 Encoding. This solution is fully the equal of the Creative Labs Audigy series, and only slightly less than an Audigy2 in terms of performance, features and sound quality. I’ve used the Audigy from CL for years, and going to the onboard sound of the A7N8X I hardly missed it. There are 6 audio jacks on the backside of the motherboard: Front, Rear, LFE, Microphone, Line-In and Center.

NVIDIA added something new to their nForce2 chipset. They added support for dual LANs onboard. In practical use, I connect one PC to the internet via my DSL connection and the other PC with a Ethernet card to the second RJ45 jack and can transfer information easily that way. You can setup a home network easily with 2 or more PCs by daisy-chaining the LANs. Unfortunately, NVIDIA and Asus didn’t include support for Gigabit Ethernet, as Asus has included with their A78VX based upon the VIA KT400 chipset.

The A7N8X comes with built-in Firewire (IEEE 1394) support. Present in the package is a 1394 bracket with 2 ports for easy connectivity. While I don’t have a Firewire device, it’s there if I need it. One nice thing about this motherboard is the 4 onboard USB 2.0 connectors. As I don’t currently have 4 USB 2.0 devices, it’s nice that they’re onboard. Asus also included a 2 port bracket to make a grand total of 6 USB 2.0 connectors.

The included User Manual is very comprehensive. If you need step-by-step instructions in putting a motherboard together, the User Manual takes you step by step, with illustrated pictures of what each component should attach to. Asus has traditionally done an excellent job with their manuals (my CUSL2-C had a similar manual).

I do have two small issues with the layout of the board and attaching cables. The floppy drive connector is in a common place as other motherboards today, right below the ATX power connector. When attaching a floppy drive connector, I had to remove the ATX power connector, due to the tightness of the space as I was working on inserting the cable. The other issue I had with the layout was the position of the audio connection. The audio connectors are right next to PCI slot 1. Attaching the audio cables prevents the usage of PCI slot 1. Actually, that is the only major issue with the layout I had.