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Written by Chris Tom
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Tuesday, 06 May 2008 23:32 |
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APH Networks and Overclockers Club have both reviewed the Asus M3N-HT motherboard. This one is based on the nForce 780a SLI chipset. I've found it for sale at one place. AllStarShop has it here for $256.95. Yeah, that is not cheap. I'm hoping this board would be under $200 in the $150 range but we will see. So what do we say about the ASUS M3N-HT? It performs as well as, or sometimes better than, AMD's flagship chipset, the 790FX. The scores were marginally better for the newer 780a chipset. The option for AMD processor users to finally have a great choice of motherboard chipsets and designs is a plus. No longer are you stuck with certain options, like only being able to use Crossfire. Now you can run that NVIDIA SLi rig with your Phenom X4 and kick some serious butt. The ASUS M3N-HT has many upgradable options such as the ability to run triple SLi if you have the cards available, or Dual SLi if you do not want to spend that much on GPUs. The temperature test with the Mempipe was not the greatest drop in temperature, but when a user is overclocking, every degree is a help to get the maximum out of his system. The Express Gate feature is a noble idea with a wealth of uses, especially if you need to get online to get a driver when you cannot get Windows to operate. The fact that Express Gate does not recognize a USB keyboard or mouse is very disappointing since that is what most computer users have these days. Being a Linux guru, this is a simple fix with an update that I hope to see in the near future.
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