ASUS M2R32-MVP

Model
Brand ASUS
Model M2R32-MVP
Supported CPU
CPU Socket Type AM2
CPU Type Athlon 64 X2 / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64
FSB 1000MHz Hyper Transport (2000 MT/s)
Chipsets
North Bridge AMD 580X CrossFire
South Bridge ATI SB600
Memory
Number of Memory Slots 4×240pin
Memory Standard DDR2 800
Maximum Memory Supported 8GB
Dual Channel Supported Yes
Expansion Slots
PCI Express x16 2
PCI Express x1 2
PCI Slots 2
Storage Devices
PATA 1 x ATA100 2 Dev. Max
SATA 3Gb/s 4
SATA RAID 0/1/0+1
Onboard Video
Onboard Video Chipset None
Onboard Audio
Audio Chipset ADI 1988A
Audio Channels 8 Channels
Onboard LAN
LAN Chipset Marvell 88E8001
Max LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
Rear Panel Ports
PS/2 2
COM 1
USB 4 x USB 2.0
IEEE 1394 1 x IEEE 1394a
eSATA 3Gb/s 1
S/PDIF Out 1x Coaxial
Audio Ports 6 Ports
Onboard USB
Onboard USB 3 x USB 2.0 connectors support 6 ports
Onboard 1394
Onboard 1394 1 x 1394a connector supports 1 port
Physical Spec
Form Factor ATX
Dimensions 12.0" x 9.6"
Windows Vista Certified
Power Pin 24 Pin
Packaging
Package Contents M2R32-MVP
Rear I/O Panel Shield
User Manual
Driver Disk
IDE/PATA Cable
FDD Cable
SATA Cable
Power Cable
Bracket


Good Things
With AM2 socket, newer X580 northbridge, newest ATI 3200 south bridge for excellent gaming performance. Suitable for building a gaming rig. Board was easy to assemble and has a good layout. Everything so far seems supported under Linux (Fedora Core 6/7 and CentOS) with some tweaks (pci=nomsi,nommconf etc). BIOS has included updater which is great for non-Windows users. Completely stable for 72 hours straight of very high workload. RAID1 works fine.

Bad Things
This board will not support ATI CrossFire at resolutions above 1600x1200. This is not mentioned in the spec but is buried on page 148 of the user manual you have to download.

Suggestion
Out of the box, this motherboard does not support Brisbane core processors due to the lack of odd core multipliers, and the BIOS version the board shipped with doesn't support the odd multipliers (this is a return to old school stuff for AMD- 9.5, 10.5, 11.5 and so on) this is how you get the odd clocks (1.9 Ghz, 2.1 Ghz, 2.3 Ghz and so on). Once the BIOS are updated, Windows Vista goes right in with Brisbane.

ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP

Model
Brand ASUS
Model P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP
Supported CPU
CPU Socket Type LGA 775
CPU Type Quad-core / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium
FSB 1333/1066MHz
Chipsets
North Bridge Intel P35
South Bridge Intel ICH9R
Memory
Number of Memory Slots 4×240pin
Memory Standard DDR2 1066 / 800 / 667 MHz
The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR2 800MHz. Tuned by ASUS Super Memspeed Technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR2 1066MHz
Maximum Memory Supported 8GB
Dual Channel Supported Yes
Expansion Slots
PCI Express x16 2 x PCI-E x16 (blue @ x16 mode, black @ x4 or x1 mode)
PCI Express x1 2
PCI Slots 3
Storage Devices
PATA 1 x ATA100 2 Dev. Max
SATA 3Gb/s 6
SATA RAID 0/1/0+1/5
Onboard Video
Onboard Video Chipset None
Onboard Audio
Audio Chipset ADI AD1988B
Audio Channels 8 Channels
Onboard LAN
Max LAN Speed Dual 10/100/1000Mbps
Rear Panel Ports
PS/2 1
USB 6 x USB 2.0
IEEE 1394 1 x IEEE 1394a
eSATA 3Gb/s 2
S/PDIF Out 1x Optical, 1x Coaxial
Audio Ports 6 Ports
Onboard USB
Onboard USB 6 x USB 2.0
Onboard 1394
Onboard 1394 1x 1394a
Physical Spec
Form Factor ATX
Dimensions 12.0" x 9.6"
Features
Power Pin 24 Pin
Features The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR2 800MHz. Tuned by ASUS Super Memspeed Technology, this motherboard natively supports up to DDR2 1066MHz
Wireless LAN:
ASUS WiFi-AP Solo
54 Mbps IEEE 802.11g and backwards compatible with 11 Mbps IEEE 802.11b
- Software Access Point mode
- Station mode : Infrastruceure mode and Ad-Hoc model
ASUS Super Memspeed Technology Enhances Memory Speed up to 75%
Packaging
Package Contents P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP
Driver Disk
User Manual
Rear I/O Panel Shield
IDE/PATA Cable
FDD Cable
2 x SATA Cable
4-pin to SATA Power Cable
Bracket

Good Things
Installed and booted up perfectly no problems. I installed Vista ULT x64 works great. This motherboard has many features and overclocks very well so far. I use an Intel E4400 and overclocked it to 3.33 GHz on air w/ SHSF. I also overclocked DDR2 667 to 835MHz. So far board seems to work well. I use a couple of 250 Gb Western Digital hard drives, set up in RAID-0 and while the SATA DVD burner works very well. It supports the upcoming 45nm processors.

Bad Things
I really don't like the layout. While putting graphic card, it blocks some of SATA ports. While 2 of my PCI slots are blocked by graphic card. Clear CMOS jumper blocked also by VGA card as well as the battery. Overclocking softwares is badly designed.

About This Blog

I create this blog to provide insight for any potential buyers. Many of the reviews inside this blog also come from other users, which best represent my view on a particular motherboard product.

I hope this blog may become a good companion in your buying decision