Ahhh... I just love it when NDA's expire!
Today NVIDIA unveils its 700a series of motherboard chipsets for Socket AM2. The new chipset supports the best integrated NVIDIA graphics yet, including full support for HDMI and high definition playback - and if that was not enough, you can do up to triple SLI on the 780a!
With the Phenom rev B3's finally out there NVIDIA thinks that people will snap up the new boards - and they could be right. While it is true that at this moment the Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Quad processors do have a definite lead in speed over the Phenoms - and overclock better - the Phenom's are a good bang for the buck, and as our GPU guy Kevin showed in his article, after you reach a certain level of performance, GPU's count - and processors do not influence gaming performance any more.
Okay, but before we give you all the skinny, take a quick peek at the Asus M3N-HT Deluxe / Mempipe Edition motherboard that we are doing this 780a launch with:
And here are the specifications:
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CPU
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AMD Socket AM2+ Processors
AMD® Socket AM2/AM2+ for AMD Phenom™ FX / Phenom / Athlon™ / Sempron™
AMD Cool'n'Quiet™ Technology
AMD Live!™ Ready
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Chipset
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NVIDIA nForce® 780a SLI
NVIDIA ESA (Enthusiast System Architecture) Support
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System Bus
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2000/1600 for AM2 CPU
Up to 5200 MT/s; HyperTransport™ 3.0 interface for AM2+ CPU
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Memory
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4 x DIMM, Max. 8 GB, DDR2 1066/800/667/533 ECC,Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
* DDR2 1066 is supported by AM2+ CPU only
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Expansion Slots
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3 x PCIe x16 support NVIDIA 3-Way SLI Tech @ dual x16 or x16, x8, x8
1 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI 2.2
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VGA
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Integrated NVIDIA GeForce® 8 Series GPU
AMD® Socket AM2+ for Hybrid SLI™ Support (support Windows® Vista only.)
Supports HDMI™ Technology with max. resolution up to 1920 x 1200
Supports DVI with max. resolution up to 1920 × 1440 @ 60 MHz
Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 1920 × 1440 @ 75 Hz
HDMI/DVI/RGB Support
Supports Microsoft® DirectX 10, OpenGL 2.0, Pixel Shader 4.0
Support PCIe 2.0 / 1.0 Architecture
Maximum shared memory of 512MB
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Scalable Link Interface (SLI™)
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Support NVIDIA Hybrid SLI-Ready graphics cards
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Storage
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Chipset
1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66
6 xSATA 3 Gb/s ports (Use SATA1-4 for IDE mode.)
NVIDIA® MediaShield™ RAID Support RAID 0,1,0+1,5,JBOD
Marvell® 6111 SATA controller
1 x External SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (SATA On the Go)
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LAN
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NVIDIA Gigabit MAC
Atheros F1 Gigabit PHY featuring AI NET 2
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Audio
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ADI® AD1988B 8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports at back I/O
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IEEE 1394
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LSI® FW322 controller supports 2 x 1394a ports
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USB
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10 USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 4 ports at back panel)
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ASUS AI Lifestyle Features
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ASUS Express Gate
- Web browser, file downloading and uploading*
- Further free features upgradable
- Onboard flash with Express Gate installed
* File downloading and uploading through USB devices only
ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution
- ASUS Fanless Design: Cool Mempipe solution
- ASUS Fanless Design: Heat-pipe solution
- ASUS Fanless Design: Stack Cool 2
- ASUS 8+2 Phase Power Design
- ASUS AI Gear 2
- ASUS AI Nap
- ASUS Q-Fan 2
- ASUS Optional Fan for Water-cooling or Passive-Cooling only
ASUS Crystal Sound
- ASUS AI Audio 2
- ASUS Noise Filter
ASUS EZ DIY
- ASUS Q-Shield
- ASUS Q-Connector
- ASUS O.C. Profile
- ASUS EZ Flash 2
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Overclocking Features
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Intelligent overclocking tools
- AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner)
- ASUS AI Booster Utility
2 Precision Tweaker 2
- vChipset 16-step Chipset voltage control
- vDIMM: 35 -step DRAM voltage control
- vCore: Adjustable CPU voltage at 0.0125V increment
- vHT Bus: 16-step Chipset voltage control
SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection)
- FSB tuning from 200MHz up to 600MHz at 1MHz increment
- PCI Express frequency tuning from 100MHz up to 200MHz at 1MHz increment
- Memory tuning from 533MHz up to 1066MHz
Overclocking Protection
- ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
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Special Features
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Multi-language BIOS
ASUS MyLogo 2
Uses 100% All High-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors!
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Back Panel I/O Ports
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1 x D-Sub
1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x HDMI
1 x External SATA
1 x S/PDIF Out
1 x LAN(RJ45) port
4 x USB 2.0/1.1
8 -Channel Audio I/O
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Internal I/O Connectors
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3 x USB connectors (6 ports)
1 x Floppy disk drive connector
1 x IDE connector
6 x SATA connectors
2 x IEEE 1394a connector
1 x CPU Fan connector
2 x Chassis Fan connector
1 x Power Fan connector
1 x S/PDIF Out connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
24-pin ATX Power connector
Front panel audio connector
COM connector
Chassis Intrusion connector
CD/AUX audio in
System Panel
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BIOS
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8 Mb Flash ROM
DMI 2.0
PnP
WfM 2.0
SM BIOS 2.5
Award BIOS
ACPI 2.0
ASUS EZ Flash 2
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O/S Compatibility
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Windows Vista
Windows XP
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Accessories
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ASUS Cool Mempipe
UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
FDD cable
SATA cables
SATA power cables
Q-Shield
User's manual
1 x Multi-function module (IEEE 1394 + USB2.0)
1 x HDMI to DVI Convertor
1 x SLI bridge
1 x 3-way SLI bridge
3 in 1 Q-connector
Optional Fan for Water-Cooling or Passive-Cooling only
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Support Disc
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Drivers
ASUS PC Probe II
Express Gate
ASUS AI Suite
Anti-virus software (OEM version)
ASUS Update
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Form Factor
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ATX Form Factor
12 inch x9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x24.4 cm )
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Not exactly short of features, is it?
Okay, now let's take a closer look at what NVIDIA has been up to...
