Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe Motherboard Review :: The Layout

The layout of the bundle is interesting to say the least. The 4-pin power connector is on the top of the board, allowing for easy access to the power supply without impeding airflow to the CPU, the 20-pin ATX power connector is below the floppy connector and above one of the IDE connectors. This positioning is not optimal, as it may require you to move a cable to install or remove a IDE cable.

20-pin ATX power

4-pin power connector

The main concern with this motherboard's layout is the aforementioned positioning of two PCI slots in between the PCI Express x16 slots. I won't rehash the argument here but ASUS did a far better job with the layout of the LGA-775 version of this motherboard. On that board, there is a PCI Express x1 slot above the first video card slot and two PCI slots below the 2nd PCI Express x16 slot.

Heat pipe

grill

2nd grill

South Bridge fan header

South Bridge Fan

AI Life

ASUS Logo

NVIDIA's new chipset is a two chip design, differing from the previous nForce4 by having 32 PCI Express lanes controlled by the North Bridge. ASUS chose to cool the chipset with their heatpipe technology. The heatpipe draws the hot air from the NorthBridge chipset to the South Bridge and then to the rear of the board where the grill takes the air away from the CPU area. To me this is great as the chipset didn't get hot while in operation. ASUS also includes an extra fan for the South Bridge in case you want to keep the chipset cooler.

USB Headers

IEEE-1394 Headers

Audio plug

Front Panel

ITE chip

Power Fan header

Chassis Fan

EZ Plug

ASUS decided to include two headers for USB brackets on the board. That brings the total USB ports possible on the A8N32-SLI Deluxe to 8 (4 onboard). Also present on the board is two IEEE-1394 headers for Firewire devices. The Audio and CD Audio connections are together near the bottom of two PCI slots. The Front Panel connections are situated together. ASUS labeled the connectors, so you don't need to consult the manual to install the motherboard. The EZ Plug is necessary to run SLI mode.

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