Check this out for another Review
http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/cpu_mobo/asus/amd/s939/a8nslipr/
Overclocking
We inserted the A8N-SLI into our Koolance PC3-720SL and turned on the fans to the max. We were able to take the system to a very nice 302FSB overclock, but in order to do so, we needed to run only one 6800GT. In SLI mode, we had some issues at that speed, but lowering the FSB to an even 300MHz remedied that issue. We should also point out that we were only able to hit the 300MHz range with the board running two sticks of 512MB Corsair PC3200XL. With four sticks, the system only reached 222FSB
Final Words
ASUS did a fine job with the nForce 4 SLI with their ASUS A8N-SLI Premium motherboard. The A8N-SLI was very reliable for the most part, and performed quite nicely. Add all the extras ASUS puts into the package, and the board becomes quite a bargain.
To get the downsides out of the way first, our test sample was very picky with the hard drives we used. Our typical setup procedure for testing is to first install Windows XP (slipstreamed with SP1, post-SP1 hotfixes and DirectX 9C), followed by the chipset drivers, then the video drivers and sound drivers. On our Seagate 7200.7 120GB and Maxtor 120GB SATA (first-gen) drives in single drive mode via the NVIDIA SATA1, at totally random intervals, the system would blue screen during the boot process. Once in Windows, things ran fine, but one out of every three or four boot or reboot attempts, the system would blue screen. We did not experience these issues with a PATA based Western Digital SE and a SATA Seagate 7200.7 160GB, so we’re at a loss to explain why we had these problems. We’re still awaiting an answer from ASUS on this matter, but be sure to checkout their support forums to see if your primary hard drive is being reported as troublesome.
Other than the hard drive issues, we experienced no problems with the board. Once up and running, the A8N-SLI handled all our stress tests with aplomb in a stock and overclocked state. What we were able to do with the A8N-SLI which we were never able to do with our K8T890 boards was to run four 512MB sticks of ram at once. The ram modules were Corsair PC3200 ProSeries, and although the memory controller is integrated into the CPU die, we’ve found getting all the modules to work at once has always been a crapshoot. Not so with the A8N-SLI Premium, though overclocking was limited with this ram setup.
While we’ll be posting a more detailed look at SLI very soon, we have to say that we’re sold on this technology. Yes, not all games support SLI (that is, not all of them get a boost), but NVIDIA is committed to increasing support with each new driver release. Furthermore, for games that do support SLI, the improvement in performance is very impressive. We also liked the retention tab for the SLI bridge as it does a good job of keeping the SLI configuration secure.
We did not talk much about some of the other features, such as ActiveArmor and NVRAID as we’ve covered them in our nForce4 AMD and Intel overviews, but for those who are concerned with security (and who isn’t), the A8N-SLI’s network and storage features will make your PC one of the most secure at the next LAN party, and the SLI component will make it one of the fastest.
Pros: Great performance, ActiveArmor, impressive storage options, SLI, good overclocker and stable. Good software utilities.
Cons: May have some issues with first gen SATA drives. Status still unknown.
Bottom Line: In single card mode, the race is close with the A8N-SLI Premium taking most of the application tests, and flip flopping with the K8T890 in the gaming tests. Turn on SLI though, and the race will not even be close provided your games can make use of it.
This is what Viper Lair have to say about ASUS A8N SLI Premium
Forum Discussions
http://www.planetamd64.com/index.php?showtopic=4389
http://www.viperlair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4638
http://forum.pcstats.com/showthread.php?p=248760#post248760
PreOrder Link
http://www.computerhq.com/ASUS_A8N-SLI_Premium_nForce4_Socket/A8N-SLI_Premium/products/partinfo-id-533549.html
It is available for $299 @ computerhq.com
Currently this is the update on this Mobo which i have got.
