ASUS A8N-E Motherboard

It's back to our weekly SLS walk about once again, right here at VR-Zone

First, we found the ASUS A8N-E motherboard over at Fuwell. Though the A8N-SLi family of motherboards had been selling in Singapore for quite a while, the A8N-E only came recently. Based on the Nforce 4 Ultra chipset, this motherboard is built for users who don't intend to go SLi, and save on their boards. However, with the availability of an open ended PCIe x4 slot, together with a graphics card fastening clip, it might proof useful for users who want pseudo SLi, in 16x/4x configuration, or just multi-monitor setup. Priced at $ 195, it is considered cheap.

 

 

The packaging of the ASUS A8N-E.

 

A label found on the board, with highlights of the key features found on this board.

 

The board from top down. Notice, the black slot, on top of those conventional PCI slot? That is the PCIe x4 slot, and there's even a clip for graphics card.

 

A closer look at the open ended PCIe x4 slot. Such slots could be used for graphics cards.

 

The silk-screen markings found on the ASUS A8N-E motherboard. PCB Revision 2.00 for the model we found.

 

Solid design SATA connectors on this board. No more fragile SATA ports anymore.

 

A Realtek ALC850 chip controls the 7.1 audio on this board.

 

This Marvell 88E1111 chip would provide a Physical Hardware Layer to the Nforce 4 chipset, in providing Gigabit LAN.

 

The chipset fan on this board.

 

Like those higher end boards from ASUS, this board comes with a large strip of heatsink, covering the MOSFETs beside the CPU. Such heatsinks will provide additional cooling to these hot MOSFETs.

 

The rear I/O connectors on this board.

 

 

 

 

ABIT AW8 Motherboard

Next, over at Cybermind, we spotted ABIT's flagship Intel based motherboard, the ABIT AW8. Based on the Intel i955X chipset, this board has high end features, to match users who has high end needs. It even comes with ABIT's Q-OTES cooling system for the Northbridge. Such cooling system provides a totally fanless, yet sufficient cooling, via copper fins, and heatpipes. This board goes for $ 339.

 

This is the packaging of the ABIT AW8.

 

A label found on the box of the packaging, with highlights to the key features found on the board.

 

This is how the board look from top down.

 

The silk screen label on the board, with a sticker, indicating the board revision. The board we found is Revision 1.0.

 

The block on top of the Northbridge. The heatpipe is attached to this block, while the other end goes to the copper fin portion, near the I/O connectors.

 

The other end of the heatpipe comes here. Thin copper fins would capture moving air, from the CPU heatsink, effectively cooling down the Northbridge.

 

All of the MOSFETs around the CPU area are all covered up with heatsinks. Since this board is made to overclock, such installations are pretty standard.

 

A Broadcom BCM5789KFB chip controls the Gigabit LAN via PCIe lanes.

 

It seems that such solid SATA ports are catching up the trend. The ABIT AW8 also has these solid ports.

 

This AW8, like most of the other recent ABIT boards, have this uGuru technology, which will assist in overclocking, and provide monitoring of vital information on the board.

 

The I/O connectors on the board. Due to the Q-OTES, the Audio connectors had been shifted on to a daughter card.

 

The separate AudioMax daughter card for the board. Though it's a separate card, it's still 7.1 audio like other boards.

 

A Realtek ALC882M chip is found of the AudioMax daughter card, providing 7.1 audio, HD audio, and supports Dolby Master Studio audio standards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABIT AL8-V Motherboard

Next, over at Fuwell, we found the cheaper brother of that ABIT board, the ABIT AL8-V. Based on the Intel i945P chipset, it is a cut down version, providing slightly less performance as compared to the i955X chipsets. However, for users who want to go dual core, this is still a pretty good choice. Priced at $ 249, this is one enthusiast level board.

 

The packaging of the ABIT AL8-V.

 

The label found on the packaging, with highlights to the key features found on the board.

 

This is how the board looks like from the top.

 

The silk screen label on the board, together with a label, with the board revision. Revision 1.0 for the board we found.

 

Like the AW8, this AL8-V comes with a similar Broadcom BCM5789KFB PCIe Gigabit LAN controller.

 

This board also has uGuru technology, meant for overclocking.

 

The trademark vertical Northbridge fan found once again on the AL8-V.

 

The SATA ports on this board. Very solid build, thus no more breaking of SATA ports.

 

A Realtek ALC880 chip takes charge of the 7.1 sound on this board. It complies to AC97 standard, and Intel HD Audio standard too.

 

The rear I/O connectors found on the board.

 

 

 

 

 

Foxconn NF4SKAA Motherboard

Foxconn had been pretty active recently. Now, Foxconn had rolled out their Nforce 4 SLi board onto Singaporean shelves. The Foxconn NF4SK8AA would provide a cheap option to those who are eyeing such a SLi board. Although no price had been given to us at press time, we were told that this board aims to be the cheapest SLi board in the market. This board could be found at DAT Computers.

 

The Foxconn NF4SKAA from top down.

 

A closer look at the SLi switch card. Foxconn had made this card really small, to save PCB space. The WinFast name comes from Leadtek actually, as they sold their motherboard business to Foxconn.

 

A Realtek ALC 850 controller chip takes charge of the on board 7.1 audio.

 

 

A Marvel 88E1111 chip would provide a Physical Hardware Controller to the Nforce 4 chipset, for the operation of it's Gigabit LAN.

 

The rear I/O connectors for this board.

 

A label found on the packaging, with the key features of this board.

 

The packaging for this board. A rather plain looking design.

 

 

Some New Xpertvision Graphics Cards

Over at Fuwell, we spotted some budget graphics card. The Xpertvision 9550V+ is a budget graphics card, yet, it comes with some very different memory modules. Coupled with DDR2 memory, this card is set to have a higher memory clock as compared to most other cards. Priced at $ 139, it is slightly costlier then other 9550s, but for the extra memory clock, it is pretty worth it.

 

 

This is the packaging for the Xpertvision 9550V+.

 

The card itself.

 

Infineon DDR2, 2.8ns memories could be found on this card.

 

The back of the card.

 

The I/O connectors on the card. Pretty standard with a DVI, TV-Out, and a VGA out put connectors.

 

Of course, for PCI Express users, there's also something for you. The Xpertvision X550V+. Based on the ATi Radeon X550 chipset, this card is actually architecturally similar to the X300 chip, but comes with a higher core clock. Great for budget users, this card, is priced similarly to the Xpertvision 9550V+, at $ 139, and could also be found at Fuwell.

 

The packaging of the Xpertvision X550V+. Very similar to the 9550V+, except for the sticker.

 

The card itself. Other then the slot, it looks similar to the 9550V+ also.

 

Similar Infineon DDR2, 2.8ns memory could be found on this card.

 

The back of the card.

 

The I/O connectors for the card.

 

 

Several New Geforce 7800 GT Landings in Singapore

Of course, for those who are more willing to spend, yet not wanting to blow their entire budget on graphics card, here's something for you. Since the arrival of Nvidia Geforce 7800 GT, many brands of such cards started popping out. MSI is another brand that has such a card. The MSI NX7800 GT comes with a very nice packaging, with a pretty reference card in it. Priced at $ 719, this card could be found at Fuwell.

 

The MSI NX 7800 GT from top down.

 

A closer look at the heatsink design.

 

The I/O connectors found on the card. Dual DVI and a S-Video out, standard among all 7800 GT cards.

 

The back of the card.

 

The packaging for this card.

 

Appearing on retail shelves this week, we found the Sparkle Geforce 7800 GT. With a large eye catching blue box, this card might catch the attention of a potential Geforce 7800 GT buyer. Priced at $ 720, this card could be found at DAT Computers.

 

The large blue box of the Sparkle Geforce 7800 GT.

 

The Sparkle card itself.

 

A closer look at the heatsink design.

 

Similar to most other 7800 GT, this Sparkle 7800 GT comes with Dual DVI connectors, and a S-Video out.

 

The back of the card.

 

That just wraps up this week's SLS Walk About, so catch you all next week, right here at VR-Zone :)