ASUS always provides quality motherboards with lots of innovative features and the M3N-HT tries desperately to live up to that reputation. In this era of multiple, monster sized video cards and gigantic power supplies, the new 780a chipset offers an energy saving feature that I applaud and feel should eventually be implemented in all enthusiast motherboards in some fashion. The onboard graphics is no slouch either as it is designed for High Definition video playback. Add to this features like 3-way SLI, ESA and PCIe 2.0, and its hard not to get excited about the possibilities..

NVidia has finally brought a modern chipset to the Socket AM2+ market, while surprising many buyers with the inclusion of onboard graphics in an “enthusiast” part. It’s certainly competitive with AMD’s top-rated 790FX, and it opens buyers to several advanced graphics options. While it lacks clear leadership in most areas, support for 3-way and Hybrid SLI are key benefits. We did find clear performance leadership in one of the tested models, but the “winner” lacked any onboard video connector for the chipset’s HybridPower mode and wouldn’t even boot with four memory modules installed. On the other hand the second-place finisher, though well balanced, was far from a record -setting performer.

Asus is getting ready to announce yet another Nvidia-based AMD motherboard, although this one comes with a slight twist, it has a PCI-X slot. PCI-X is generally found in servers and workstations, and as such the name for this upcoming motherboard is the M3N-WS, WS standing for workstation. We're not quite sure if this board will use the 780a or 750a chipset, as it's hard to tell just by looking at a picture, but either which way, this board features an N200 chip. The rest of the slots consists of a x16 PCIe, two x1 PCIe and two PCI slots.

TPower N750 features Hybrid SLI technology to deliver multi-GPU benefits when combined with an Nvidia discrete GPU. Hybrid SLI technology increases graphics performance with GeForce Boost and provides intelligent power management with HybridPower, highlighted the company.

Despite its well-featured firmware, there's no disguising the fact that the M3A-H/HDMI is a cut-down board; other models offer more connectors of various sorts, plus conveniences like onboard power and reset buttons. But Asus has pruned thoughtfully, and what remains will be ample for the vast majority of desktop or entertainment PCs. Factor in the powerful integrated graphics which means that, for almost all uses, you won't need a graphics card, and for £60 it's a very appealing formula.

This guy clearly doesn't know motherboards. This is an integrated video motherboard. It is not a cut down model. Integrated video boards don't have onboard power switches, or fancy lights. It is not meant for an enthusiast class system.