Intel V8 versus AMD 4X4 Platform :: ASUS L1N64-SLI WS Motherboard

White Box

Like the Intel motherboard the L1N64-SLI is a board in a class by itself as it is the only market available motherboard for the new AMD L1 Socket F CPUs like the FX74 class we used in this review. This motherboard is geared more for the multitasking gamer than the professional level user and in that light it has features that reflect that PC environment. Featuring the NVIDIA 680a-SLI chipset, that is basically a 680i-SLI chipset with some altered features including a new ZIF interface called Socket F. This is a turn for AMD based systems as the CPU now has no pins just like the Intel line and relies on pins on the board making contact with the CPUs base connector pads to power the processor. The L1N64 has dual Socket F slots and supports up to 8GB of DDR2 memory via its four 240-pin DIMM slots. Not as much as the Intel's 32Gb of capacity, but enough for any performance users needs.

This board has all the things the enthusiasts crowd loves such as ADI 1988b 7.1 digital audio, SLI support and enough SATA ports (12) to satisfy just about anyone. The board sports dual Marvell Gigabit LAN ports and has eSATA capabilities, although that standard still seems a bit unstable for mainstream use and not a viable solution for the end user who wants problem free external storage. This board has another new twist as its Form Factor is in the CEB variety and it as well as the Intel board proves to be a hard motherboard to find a case to fit in it. The new FF is not all that strange it's just a tad bit bigger than a full sized ATX board. Asus always has excellent overclocking options and this board is no different as the BIOS have everything you need to experiment with system performance enhancement. The L1N64-SLI WS supports the Serial ATA technology through the Serial ATA interfaces. This provides high disk performance of up to 3.0 GB/s, with RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 Arrays and JBOD solutions. External SATA Connection support 3.0 GB/s only. This is a very nice motherboard for the market it is aimed at, it really does have everything you need to start the making of a great system.

Chipset Graph

Board Shot

Diagram

Rear I/O

Manual/Drivers