Nvidia GeForce 9300 Launch Roundup :: ASUS P5N7A-VM Layout

Author: Ben Sun · 10-16-2008 · Category: Motherboards


Nvidia GeForce 9300 Launch Roundup

Part NumberP5N7A-VM
ManufacturerASUS
Price CheckFind Best Price
DownloadsBIO
Drivers
Manuals
ChipsetNvidia GeForce 9300
North BridgeNvidia GeForce 9300
SocketLGA775 Socket
Processor TypesQuad Core, Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Duo, Pentium 4, Pentium D
Number of CPUs1
Front Side Bus1333/1066/800
Memory TypeDDR2
Memory ChannelsDual
Maximum Memory8GB
External Graphics PCI Express x16
IGP GeForce 9300
South Bridge Nvidia GeForce 9300
Audio8-channel
IDE133/100/66
SCSINone
SATA3.0 GB/s
RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, 10
LAN 10/100/1000 4 LAN Ports
FirewireIEEE 1394a
USBUSB 2.0
Expansion Slots
BIOS AMI
Form Factor mini-ATX

The ASUS P5N7A-VM motherboard is a mini-ATX motherboard based upon NVIDIA’s GeForce 9300 chipset. The CPU area is completely clear of obstructions, meaning that virtually any CPU cooler can be installed on the Socket LGA-775 interface without interfering with the cooler. ASUS has an interesting design for the chipset cooler with a heatsink that has handles on it. ASUS uses 100% made in Japan capacitors, which are of the highest quality.


Nvidia GeForce 9300 Launch Roundup CPU area

CPU area

Nvidia GeForce 9300 Launch Roundup Memory

Memory

Nvidia GeForce 9300 Launch Roundup SATA

SATA


The left side of the board has headers for three USB 2.0 brackets, a Firewire bracket and five SATA ports for HDDs. Note that while the chipset supports six SATA ports natively, the sixth one on this board is located on the rear IO for external SATA. The bottom of the board has an IDE connector, the 24-pin power connector, the FDD connector and the COM1 connector. There are two headers for fans and the CPU Fan header on the board.

The board has a PCI Express x16 slot, a PCI Express x1 slot and two PCI slots for device expansion. As the board is not a full-sized board this would be sufficient for most users. There are four DIMM memory slots for up to 8GB of DDR2-800MHz memory. The memory is color-coded so to run in Dual Channel mode, you would need to install the memory in like-colored slots.


Nvidia GeForce 9300 Launch Roundup Expansion

Expansion

Nvidia GeForce 9300 Launch Roundup Chipset Cooler

Chipset Cooler


The onboard audio on the ASUS P5N7A-VM motherboard consists of the new Realtek ALC1200 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC. This CODEC is so new it hasn’t even been listed on Realtek’s website yet. It is basically similar to the ALC889a chip that has been laying around with two key differences, DTS Ultra PC and the lack of Digital Surround sound in the form of DTS Connect or Dolby Digital Live support.DTS Ultra allows the user of a Stereo speaker system or headphones to have surround sound like capability. It is similar to Sonic Focus’s technology but seems to be better.


Nvidia GeForce 9300 Launch Roundup IO

IO


The rear IO on the board is extremely interesting. ASUS includes a PS/2 keyboard port for legacy keyboards. The mouse port is replaced by two USB 2.0 ports, bringing the total on the back panel IO to 6. A Gigabit Ethernet port is present, as well as the 6 standard jacks for the onboard audio. Where SSUS goes beyond the norm is by their inclusion of a HDMI port, a DisplayPort, a VGA port, and a Dual LINK DVI port. This offers the highest range of compatibility with monitors. DisplayPort monitors have taken over for HDMI equipped and VGA equipped monitors as the standard.


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