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- Date:
- Tuesday , May 06, 2008
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe
ASUS comes out swinging with their latest NVIDIA chipset based AMD offering, the M3N-HT Deluxe. Based on the AMD version of the NVIDIA nForce 780a chipset, the board packs a lot of promise.
Introduction
ASUS is among the elite of the computer component vendors, with their much vaunted tier 1 status. They rightfully earned this status through years of delivering high performance and high quality products. ASUS’ motherboard designs push the technological limits, leading the market trends rather than trailing them. Their latest AMD board is a testament to their superior practices.
The ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe is ASUS’ latest AMD based motherboard solution. The board itself is designed around the NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI chipset, which offers support for all AMD Socket AM2 and AM2+ processors, DDR2 memory operating in Dual Channel mode up to 1066MHz officially, and triple card SLI graphics mode using matched NVIDIA graphics cards.
The M3N-HT Deluxe board is a feature complete solution, requiring an AMD AM2/AM2+ processor, DDR2 memory, a video card, drives, and a PSU for an operational system. ASUS chose to integrate the following ports in to the M3N-HT Deluxe: 1 ATA-133 IDE port and 6 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable) on the NVIDIA controller; 1 eSATA port on the Marvell controller; 10 USB 2.0 capable ports (4 in rear panel, and 3 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394 capable ports (2 onboard headers); 1 x NVIDIA GigE Ethernet port in the rear panel; ADI 8-channel HD audio CODEC featuring an S/PDIF RCA and optical output ports; HDMI and VGA video output ports in the rear panel; and PS/2 keyboard port support in the rear panel.
Main Specifications Overview:
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
Packaging
ASUS used their standard Ai Lifestyle art design for the M3N-HT Deluxe’ box The board supported technologies, including the chipset, CPU, and memory, are clearly marked on the box front. The M3N-HT Deluxe comes with the following accessories: ATA-133 and floppy ribbon cables; SATA driver and dual ended power cables; the rear panel shield; rear brackets for USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 ports; 1 clip-on cooling fan for use with the integrated heat pipe cooling solution; 2 NVIDIA SLI video card connectors – one for dual card SLI mode and the other for tri-card SLI mode; the Q-Connector modules; the ASUS Cool Mempipe add-on unit; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers disks. Note that the included driver disk is a DVD-ROM disk, not a CD-ROM disk. The Q-Connector modules allow for an easy interface for connecting in to the motherboard headers. You simply plug in your front panel jumpers in to the white connector and the USB 2.0 jumpers in to the blue connector block, and then plug both blocks in to the motherboard headers. It makes for a much easier install for those typically hard to reach header areas. The ASUS Cool Mempipe cooling modules integrates directly in to the onboard heat pipe cooling solution, attaching on top of the Northbridge heat sink. This module can be used to cool system memory modules by dissipating heat directly in to the existing heat pipe network.
Board Layout
ASUS did a fine job with the M3N-HT Deluxe’ design and layout, with no tight or overly packed areas apparent. The chipset cooler, a 3 point heat-pipe system, is laid out in an unobtrusive manner, with low profile piping and coolers used in the memory and PCI-Express port areas to minimize on board device contention. The board’s name and revision number are silk-screened on the board’s surface in between the primary PCI-Express x16 and PCI slot 1, with the revision used in testing being 1.02G. The serial number is located on a white sticker just above the upper set of DIMM slots. For the M3N-HT Deluxe’ capacitors, ASUS chose to use all metal solid-state components.
The area around the CPU socket is completely clear of obstructions, with low profile power components used for the close proximity capacitors. The CPU cooler hold-down mechanism is the standard AMD AM2+ cage design, with 4 board hold down points. The NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI Northbridge chipset is located directly to the left of the CPU socket, covered by a low profile copper cooler sitting in the center of the heat-pipe cooling solution. The heat-pipe cooler terminates above the CPU socket in a large thin-finned copper cooler, which covers the CPU power circuitry as well. The 8-pin ATX12V power connector is to the upper right of the CPU socket, with the CPU FAN header to its lower right.
The onboard DDR2 DIMM slots are situated directly below the CPU socket, in a bi-colored 2-by-2 configuration. Memory modules must be placed in like colored slots across the sets in order to activate Dual Channel memory mode. Just below the lower set of DIMM slots is the 24-pin ATX power connector.
The board’s NVIDIA based Southbridge chipset is located directly below the secondary PCI-Express x16 slot, covered by a low profile finned copper cooler. This cooler is one of the terminating ends of the onboard heat-pipe cooling solution. The CMOS battery, ATA-133 IDE port, and SATA 2 ports are located directly below the chipset, with the CMOS reset and chassis intrusion jumpers to the left of the battery. The front panel header is in the lower left corner of the board, with the USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, and COM port headers located directly above it. The standby power LED and PWR_FAN and CHA_FAN1 headers are located directly to the right of the front panel header. Note that the standby power LED illuminates when an active power source is connected to the board.
The M3N-HT Deluxe ships with a total of 3 PCI-Express x16 slots, 1 PCI-Express x1 slot, and 2 PCI slots. The floppy port and front panel audio header are located along the outside edge of the PCI-Express x1 slot, just above the COM port header. The CD_IN header is just above PCI slot 2, while the CHA_FAN2 header is located to the upper right of the primary PCI-Express x16 slot.
ASUS chose to integrate the following ports in to the M3N-HT Deluxe’ rear panel: PS/2 keyboard port; 4 USB 2.0 ports; 1 e-SATA port; 1 NVIDIA GigE Ethernet port; 6 analogue, S/PDIF RCA component and optical output audio ports; and HDMI and VGA video output ports.
AiSuite
ASUS chose to include their newly redesigned AiSuite Windows based monitoring utility in with the board drivers. The version of AiSuite shown is 1.03.29. The AiSuite utility supports a variety of monitoring and configuration settings including real time display of system voltages, fan speeds, temperatures, CPU FSB and speed, as well as multiple supported overclocking methods.
The AiBooster button gives access to the AiBooster interface, allowing for automated or full manual control of CPU FSB and multiplier, and system voltages.
The Performance screen allows for selection of a preconfigured overclocking level, where the system controls the voltages and various FSB settings, while the Advanced screen allows for full manual control. Note that for all voltage, CPU FSB and multiplier manipulation, supported options can be selected from a pull down master list.
Note that the AiBooster interface allows for selection and saving of pre-configured user profiles as well.
The Q-Fan button within the main AiSuite window allows for operational configuration of all fan headers through preset options.