ASUS A8n-e Premium NForce 4

[geogecko]

This is the North American Motherboard and General Product Support address that I've been e-mailing to. I've only got one response to about 4 e-mails so far. Go ahead and use it. I'll also send another message today, and maybe someone at ASUS will get the point...

tsd@asus.com

 

[marky9074]

Oh yeah forgot about that!

To change the subject.....what is the second best choice, bearing in mind blocking of PCI-E slot by Zalman etc etc. If there are issue with Asus SLI which we know clears the slot what alternatives do with have with the active boards.

No one has mentioned (I dont think) the Gigabyte K8NXP-9 nForce4 Ultra, and the DFI has (or has not) got issues with long term reliability. The chaintech is probably no better (spec) than the AN8-E. I think the Abit board has gone off on a tangent. So what is left as a possible alternative to the Deluxe?

Mark

 

[geogecko]

Offerings from MSI don't look promising, if replacing the stock HSF. It looks like on the Ultra, you would have issues with 2 of the 4 PCI slots, and you may not even be able to install your GPU in the 16x slot. The SLI version looks slightly better, in that you would only block the second GPU slot (so if you weren't going to use SLI, you would be okay). That board has 3 PCI slots.

That Gigabyte you mention is a toss up. I think someone would have to try it before we would know if it would block the GPU slot. I think if you mounted the Zalman correctly, you could get a GPU to work (shorter fins of the chipset cooler to the left of the motherboard).

I'm really in a situation, as I have to decide in the next two weeks what board to use. I'd love to just go with the A8N-SLI, but we know the reputation right now. If ASUS would come out with this board, I'd probably buy two of them in an instant... If I can get reliable information that this board may be coming out, then I would consider delaying the build of my case (if they will let me). I don't want to specify that I want the case for the SLI layout, then two weeks later, find out that this board came out.

 

[LrngToFly]

I'm hoping ASUS will announce it at CeBIT next week....

Maybe AMD will announce those Rev E "Venice" core Athlon 64s w/ SSE3 too!

 

[geogecko]

Got any information on CeBIT? Like when and where it is? Also, is there an official web site or anything? I assume that most likely, we should just stay tuned to ASUS's web site, AnandTech, Tom's HW, and ExtremeTech to find out.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

I bet all the future ASUS nForce4 boards will use this heatsink/fan:
http://www.clubic.com/t/screenshot120212.html

If they were going to use a passive one you can be certain it would not be the one pictured before. That thing is just too small to be even called a heatsink.

 

[LrngToFly]

CeBIT is Europe's big annual tech show- it's in Germany. It is one of those 3-4 shows that companies often use to launch products every year.

http://www.cebit.de/homepage_e?x=1

ASUS will be there I'm sure.


edit:

looks like they'll have two booths- anyone want to fly to Germany next week and ask someone in person???

ASUS COMPUTER
D-40880 Ratingen
Hall 15, Stand B05


ASUS COMPUTER
D-40880 Ratingen
Hall 2, Stand A10

 

[geogecko]

Yes, please someone fly to Germany, or better yet, why not a German go to CeBIT and have a little talk with ASUS.

Questions to ask:
1. Where is the A8N-E PREMIUM
2. Why are there so many versions of the A8N-SLI board?

CD_GNR: Is this yet another version of the A8N-SLI, that's different from the standard and Deluxe versions? What does this one add?

 

[joshd2012]

http://www.asus.it/support/support.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

This shows that BIOS were added for the A8N-e on Feb 21st.

 

[geogecko]

True, but there is no Premium BIOS yet. Although I did see the A8N-SLI Premium BIOS listed...

 

[vwgeek]

Originally posted by: geogecko
I'm really in a situation, as I have to decide in the next two weeks what board to use. I'd love to just go with the A8N-SLI, but we know the reputation right now. If ASUS would come out with this board, I'd probably buy two of them in an instant... If I can get reliable information that this board may be coming out, then I would consider delaying the build of my case (if they will let me). I don't want to specify that I want the case for the SLI layout, then two weeks later, find out that this board came out.

Are you set on the nForce4 chipset? I've been looking around at all the offerings, and for various reasons, don't really like any of the non-SLI nForce4 offerings. I'm looking at the possibility of going with the Abit AX8. I know it's Via, but there's nothing that's a must-have for me with nForce4. Also, the Abit has a passively cooled chipset.

 

[jose]

gogecko, I got the A8N-SLI from ZZF. I really wanted a non-sli mobo w/ a parallel w/ no problems from Asus or DFI for my Linux server.

I selected my video cards based on price and selection and warranty and game bundles.. The DFI board is great but I hope the A8N-SLI is problem free..

I won't try MSI because of all the problems the prev. neo2 had. I did order a Zalman NB32J heat sink for $5 & a Sunon mag levatition 40mm fan for $6 to replace the stock cooler on the
A8N. The stock cooler of the DFI is really nice..

Regards,
Jose

 

[marky9074]

Sits down with head spinning....

Where the hell did this SLI-Premium pop out from? I have only ever seen an SLI & SLI Deluxe.... I cant see it on the US or UK Asus sites....

Mark

 

[geogecko]

I'm pretty much set on the nForce4, mainly, because I've been following it in the news (keeping up with it). I don't know much about the VIA chipsets, although, from what I've read, they are pretty comparable to the nForce4 (the newer VIA chips, that is). I have a VIA chipset in my current motherboard, and I have had some compatability issues with it, but the board is pretty old now, and old ABIT board. I like the feature set from the nForce4 chipset, and will also be using an nVidia GPU (not that I have too).

Ah, I see jose. I started to think that, maybe you bought them at different times, and one was cheaper, etc.

How will you mount the Sunon fan on the Zalman? Is it a fairly easy thing to do? Is this Sunon fan supposed to be quiet? Do you know what RPM it runs?

No idea about the SLI Premium version. I searched, and all I found was one thread talking about it, and it only had 2 posts. The link posted earlier is the only picture I came across. Interesting to note that they replaced one of the 1x PCI-E slots with a 4x one... Not sure what else is different though. Although it seems as though this may be the cure for all the problems with the first SLI and SLI Deluxe boards.

 

[marky9074]

Originally posted by: vwgeek

Are you set on the nForce4 chipset? I've been looking around at all the offerings, and for various reasons, don't really like any of the non-SLI nForce4 offerings. I'm looking at the possibility of going with the Abit AX8. I know it's Via, but there's nothing that's a must-have for me with nForce4. Also, the Abit has a passively cooled chipset.

Why dont you look at the Asus A8V-E Deluxe + Zalman. This has the same spec as Abit AX8 plus wifi?

I have to admit maybe I might go this way as well, I mean how long is it going to be until the new SATA disks come out? Our mobos will probably be out of date before we see these....

Mark

 

[vwgeek]

Originally posted by: marky9074
Why dont you look at the Asus A8V-E Deluxe + Zalman. This has the same spec as Abit AX8 plus wifi?

I have to admit maybe I might go this way as well, I mean how long is it going to be until the new SATA disks come out? Our mobos will probably be out of date before we see these....

Mark

Yes, the A8V-E Deluxe looks good, too. It only supports 2 SATA drives, though, and I don't need wi-fi. I'll be starting out w/2 SATA drives, so that limits future expandibility without adding another PCI card. Adding a Zalman would be no problem, I suppose. Would that void the warranty?

 

[geogecko]

For those that wanted a translated version of the French site that posted the picture of the A8N-SLI Premium... Hmm... Looks as if I could specify this motherboard for my new case, based on the layout of the SLI Deluxe, and then buy it later once it comes out. They speculate that ASUS will release it at CeBIT.

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfis...r%3d88197%26cat%3dnews%26idcat%3d18877

 

[MalfurionStormrage]

Originally posted by: vwgeek

Originally posted by: marky9074
Why dont you look at the Asus A8V-E Deluxe + Zalman. This has the same spec as Abit AX8 plus wifi?

I have to admit maybe I might go this way as well, I mean how long is it going to be until the new SATA disks come out? Our mobos will probably be out of date before we see these....

Mark

Yes, the A8V-E Deluxe looks good, too. It only supports 2 SATA drives, though, and I don't need wi-fi. I'll be starting out w/2 SATA drives, so that limits future expandibility without adding another PCI card. Adding a Zalman would be no problem, I suppose. Would that void the warranty?

The two SATA ports was a deal breaker for me too. I have only seen one review on it (gamerpc.com) and the nForce4 had better benches and a far better feature set for the same price. I really wanted to stay with ASUS for an AMD build but the lack of an nForce4 non-SLI solution and a sub-standard deluxe board release on the KT890 chipset encouraged me to stay away.

To anyone from ASUS who may be reading this thread: You lost me as a customer for the AMD side.

In regard to your warranty: Yes, it will void it.

 

[LrngToFly]

> To anyone from ASUS who may be reading this thread: You lost me as a customer for the AMD side.

In about three weeks, if they don't have their NF4 Ultra board out, they'll be losing me too! I'm about to build 3 systems...

 

[marky9074]

Yer, I am suprised about the A8V-E Deluxe board, as the AGP A8V Deluxe has 4 SATA. There seems to be no consistancy in their naming policies and spec levels at all...

Mark

 

[geogecko]

Looks as if the new A8N-SLI Premium does away with the SLI jumper. I guess they must be using some kind of electronic switches controlled by BIOS or something.

If we hear about this new SLI Premium before the A8N-E, then I may just go ahead with it. We shall see at CeBIT...

 

[marky9074]

Yeah the premium has sparked my interest now, but will the premium be uh humm at a premium?!

I note the chipset being at 45 degrees to the normal square to the board alignment, that should make it even better for swapping out the fan with the Zalman. On the subject of the Zalman, I hate it that it states 'works on all chipsets bar ones that have integrated video'. It just sounds so 'simple'....

 

[stickybytes]

a quick question; when is CeBIT?

 

[joshd2012]

The reason I choose to go with nForce4 was because of all the problems people are having with VIA chipsets recognizing SATA drives. It is simply rediculous, in my opinion, for me to have to struggle to get a motherboard to recognize something plugged into it. With that said, I do not see anyway of avoiding it if these freakin' boards don't get here soon.

BTW, my email came back with a link to available products. Thanks ASUS, that answered my question about this mysterious unavailable board.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Here's a press release from Pericom on the ASUS-SLI Premium - http://www.pericom.com/press/pr.php?prid=92