![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Wednesday, January 21, 2004
- Author:
- Keith Dugger
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe
ASUS further strengthens their nForce2 Ultra 400 position with the new A7N8X-E Deluxe. Can the enhanced motherboard for AthlonXPs keep pace with today’s speed champions? That’s what we are here to find out.
BIOS
The A7N8X-E Deluxe sports the Phoenix – AwardBIOS. Navigation and save options are available through the main screen shown here.
Most of the important settings available for enthusiasts are located in the Advanced Chipset Features submenu. FSB, multiplier, and memory timings are our concentration.
The CPU External Frequency setting stretches through a range from 100 – 300MHz and the CPU Frequency Multiplier offers unordered options from 6.5x – 17.0x. These options present plenty of overclocking combinations.
Continuing down the settings list, the Memory Frequency setting is next. Available settings are By SDP, 50% -- 200%, and AUTO. The SDRAM Active Precharge Delay can be set from a low of 1 to a high of 15.
SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay and RAS Precharge Delay settings range from 1 – 7. Finally, the SDRAM CAS Latency can be set to AUTO, 2T, 2.5T, or 3T. The available memory timings settings cover even the most aggressive needs.
CPU Vcore options are 1.650V – 1.850V. The limit here falls short as 2.0V has been needed on some boards to meet that aggressive overclock. I imagine that this range with suit most needs, though.
Once the system clock is pushed out of spec, an untamed AGP can bring instabilities to your system, but the A7N8X-E Deluxe allows you to set the AGP Frequency to AUTO or to 50MHz – 100MHz. This option is a terrific addition when the AGP bus is not locked.
The DDR Reference Voltage (2.6V, 2.7V, 2.8V available) and AGP VDDQ Voltage (1.5V, 1.6V, 1.7V available) can also be changed. Only the DDR voltage is a little short of the sometimes needed 2.9V.
The Hardware Monitor tab of the AwardBIOS is equipped to monitor the system temperature and change the fan speeds to your liking. Available options are shown in the pictures.
Finally, this board allows for the option to boot from the following USB devices: FDD, ZIP, CDROM, and HDD. We are also offered the option to disable the following on-board devices: USB, Audio, NVIDIA 10/100Mbps LAN, IEEE 1394, FDD, Serial and Parallel Ports, and GAME/MIDI port. As already mentioned, the Marvell Gigabit LAN controller can also be disabled via a motherboard jumper.