ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe Mempipe (NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI)
Performance tests
Note that ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe Mempipe sets the nominal HTT speed to some overstatement:
During the performance tests, we compared ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe Mempipe versus ASUS P5Q Deluxe (Intel P45) (CPU Intel E6550 @ 2.33 GHz) and Jetway HA03 Ultra (AMD 790X).
In our test setup, we used the following hardware:
Test setup |
| CPU |
AMD Phenom X3 8750 (2.4 GHz; Toliman) |
| Cooler |
Gigabyte 3D Cooler GP Edition |
| Video card |
ASUS 8800 GT (GeForce 8800 GT; PCI Express x16)
Driver version: 175.16 WHQL |
| Sound card |
- |
| HDD |
Samsung HD160JJ |
| Memory |
2x1024 MB GoodRAM DDR2 GP1066D264L5/2GDC |
| Power supply unit |
FSP 550 W |
| OS |
MS Vista |
Let's first take a look at the results of synthetic benchmarks.
Now on to the gaming benchmarks.
Tests of application software.
Video encoding (DivX, Xvid) was measured in seconds, i.e. the less the better.
Data compression (WinRAR) was measured in KB/sec, i.e. the more, the better.
Final Words
Above all, ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe Mempipe is a good enough implementation of the frequency capability of the NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI chipset and can be regarded as a framework for the high-end system based on an AMD processor. Among the major advantages of the chipset, we note support for the 3-way SLI, as well as the integrated video core which due to the HybridSLI is able both saving power in the high-end system and accelerating the speed of 3D applications with an entry-level video card.
However, we cannot avoid comparing this product versus a counterpart made by Intel. Even if we disregard the matter of performance (we'll come back to that in a review of the CPU Phenom), there is a great number of motherboards for Intel processors which offer more powerful expansion options at a comparable retail price (however, for the Intel system there are still no top-end chipsets with integrated graphics).
Another point is the overclocking capability. To date, for the Intel platform there are many motherboards which allow "squeezing out" the most of processors. Unfortunately, ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe Mempipe can't do that with the current BIOS version.
As regards the additional system for cooling the memory - Mempipe, we found no real advantage from using it. In our view, nominal heat spreaders for the overclocker memory do their job perfectly (especially with additional blowing), and modules without heat spreaders normally offer low overclocking capability and thus don't need any additional cooling.
Conclusion
Pros:
- excellent stability and performance;
- support for SLI, 3-way SLI;
- support for SerialATA II (7 links, RAID);
- support for ParallelATA (1 link);
- Gigabit LAN controller and integrated 8-channel High Definition Audio;
- support for USB2.0 (10 ports) and FireWire (2 ports);
- a selection of ASUS' proprietary technologies (PC Probe II, OC Profile, MyLogo2, Q-Fan 2, etc.);
- additional set of AI Proactive technologies (AI Overclocking, Express Gate, AI Net 2);
- passive/active system for cooling the board;
- MemPipe cooling system.
Cons:
The board's specific features:
- middling overclocking capability (HTT ~ 275 MHz).
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