DailyTech - ASUS Announces nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition Motherboard

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Hardware ASUS Announces nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition Motherboard
Anh Tuan Huynh (Blog) - September 21, 2006 3:09 PM

39 comment(s) - last by jlaavenger.. on Oct 14 at 4:24 AM

ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP brings nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition to the market

ASUS has announced its P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP motherboard. The new P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP is powered by NVIDIA’s nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition which was first shown at Computex 2006. This motherboard supports Intel Core 2 processors with three physical PCI Express x16 slots. Two of the three slots are full speed PCI Express x16 slots while the third slot is unknown, though most likely an x4 or x2 slot. While three physical PCI Express x16 slots isn’t anything new, Asustek's press release makes interesting claims regarding the third PCI slot.

Asustek's press release states "The motherboard incorporated three PCI Express x16 slots (two for SLI-ready dual-GPU graphics cards and one reserved for NVIDIA’s Physics card) to enable unparalleled graphics performance and gaming realism." While not much detail is available on NVIDIA’s physics card, NVIDIA may be executing a physics plan similar to ATI’s triple play physics. NVIDIA SLI and Quad-SLI technologies are supported on the P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP. Other expansion slots include two PCI and one PCI Express x1 slots.

Other notable features include 8-phase power design, integrated WiFi-AP, passive coolers, dual Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire, e.SATA, SupremeFX and DTS Connect. Asustek's SupremeFX technology places audio components on a separate riser card to improve sound quality by distancing the components away from other components which can create electrical noise. Audio is powered by an Analog Devices SoundMAX high definition audio codec for eight channels of 24-bit/192 KHz sound. DTS Connect is also supported for multi-channel audio via a single S/PDIF cable.

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C55

By bob661 on 9/21/2006 3:46:14 PM , Rating: 2

Does this have the newer C55XE (sp?) chip on it?

RE: C55

By dice1111 on 9/21/2006 4:04:39 PM , Rating: 2

Finally these are out! If someone can tell us if it has the new C55 chip on it, i'm off to the store when this becomes avaliable (maybe pending review).

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RE: C55

By Mitchy on 9/21/2006 4:25:42 PM , Rating: 2

What's the C55 Chip?

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RE: C55

By Naviblue on 9/21/2006 4:46:12 PM , Rating: 3

C55 Chip = Upgraded Northbridge chip from Nvidia which is supposely going to bring to the table better overclocking capabilities along with other various improvements.

Someone with some kind of inside scope should really chime in and answer whether or not this board will be equipped with the C55 *cough* Anand *cough*(assuming that it is a good overclocking chipset after all). Because if not, it's just be a "slightly" better version of the ASUS P5N32-SLI and I'm pretty sure nobody out there wants a rehash motherboard (with added sparklies) for profit purposes.

It could be possible that Asus is waiting to equip their R.O.G. motherboard with the C55, if they ever plan on releasing a "good" gaming motherboard for the Intel camp rather than these "lifestyle" boards that my grandma would use to record The Golden Girls. Sorry for my sarcasm, but I'm honestly tired of waiting for a good SLI board from Asus with good overclocking capabilities.

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RE: C55

By friky19 on 9/21/2006 5:00:47 PM , Rating: 3

no it doesnt have the c55, we've called excaliberpc like 200 times asking this, and they verified that its the c19.

this is off their site:

* We have received numberous inquries about the chipset on P5N32-SLI PREMIUM/WIFI-AP and here is the answer to it.

Chipset: C19 SLI X16 / MCP55
Branding: NF590 SLI SPP/ MCP
Release Date: Soft Estimate: 2-5 Days

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RE: C55

By bob661 on 9/21/2006 6:33:53 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
no it doesnt have the c55

Thanks much bud. I've heard rumors but it's good to know for sure. I guess I'll be waiting till the C55 is implemented.

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RE: C55

By jlaavenger on 9/22/2006 9:36:50 AM , Rating: 2

Does this mean you can have quad sli, a physx card and an X-Fi sound card as well?

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No Legacy Ports

By JonMooring on 9/21/2006 4:17:55 PM , Rating: 2

Something to note is that ASUS has followed in ABIT and other brands' footsteps and removed legacy ports from their boards. I'm excited about that! Can't wait to pick one of these up, match my 7900 GT KO, and get an E6600 to replace my 805.

RE: No Legacy Ports

By bob661 on 9/21/2006 4:25:51 PM , Rating: 2

Ummm. There's still PS/2 ports on this board. Not exactly legacy free yet.

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RE: No Legacy Ports

By soydios on 9/21/2006 4:51:03 PM , Rating: 2

I just built a nice new computer a month ago (E6600, X1900XT, P5W-DH, etc.), and the $10 Logitech Internet Pro keyboard I got for it uses a PS/2 port. So, those are still handy.

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RE: No Legacy Ports

By rqle on 9/22/2006 4:26:31 AM , Rating: 2

still wish they remove them, they can add a PS/2 $1.50 USB adapter (1 USB = 2 PS/2 ports) if you still need PS/2 ports.

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RE: No Legacy Ports

By Missing Ghost on 9/21/2006 9:09:44 PM , Rating: 2

PS/2 isn't legacy, people still use them for the keyboard. It will most probably continue to be used for lots of years.

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Intel/nVidia 4x4 platform in November

By hstewarth on 9/21/2006 4:07:39 PM , Rating: 2

With November release of Desktop Quad cpus from Intel - doesn't this means with dual SLI cards - that Intel and nVidia will have a 4x4 enviroment before AMD.

I assume these motherboard will be quad compatible - nVidia should wait if not.

Also it would be nice if nVidia make a nForce Pro for the 771 socket systems - especially now that ATI is part of AMD and AMD nForce Pro will likely not be use much longer.

RE: Intel/nVidia 4x4 platform in November

By bob661 on 9/21/2006 4:25:08 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
AMD nForce Pro will likely not be use much longer.

Why won't it be used anymore?

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RE: Intel/nVidia 4x4 platform in November

By hstewarth on 9/21/2006 7:46:25 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Why won't it be used anymore?

3 letters - ATI

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RE: Intel/nVidia 4x4 platform in November

By ZmaxDP on 9/22/2006 1:59:35 PM , Rating: 2

I doubt nVidia is going to stop developing chipsets for AMD just because they own ATI. It is still a good business for nVidia.

As for the 4X4, that has existed for AMD for a long time, they just hadn't branded it as such. 4x4, I believe, refers to a "new" enthusiast offering of motherboards with two CPU sockets utilizing AMD Opteron 2XX dual core processors. As such, you have 4 cores, and 4 graphics cores if you install two dual core graphics cards. Though my little computer lacks the capability for the 4 graphics cores as I still have AGP, I have been running quad core on the CPU side for over a year with AMD.

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about the integrated WiFi...

By One43637 on 9/21/2006 5:20:13 PM , Rating: 2

when the A8N32-SLI first came out they had two version of that motherboard. the difference between the two was the integrated WiFi.

i remember back then, there was either a shortage of the one that had the WiFi, or there just weren't any at all that were released for consumers because i don't recall ever hearing about anyone that received the WiFi version.

RE: about the integrated WiFi...

By bob661 on 9/21/2006 6:35:48 PM , Rating: 2

You had to buy a Wifi card that fit in the orange slot to get that option. It wasn't a seperate mobo.

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RE: about the integrated WiFi...

By Webgod on 9/22/2006 10:09:07 AM , Rating: 2

You're thinking about MSI, they have the orange slot.

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3rd PCI-E slot

By DigitalFreak on 9/21/2006 6:14:56 PM , Rating: 2

According to the manual, the middle PCI-E slot is 8x slot (16x physical). No mention in the manual as to the chip used for the northbridge.

RE: 3rd PCI-E slot

By Webgod on 9/22/2006 10:32:09 AM , Rating: 2

We have to hope that was a proofreading error on Asus' part. Not having dual x16 (even for what it's worth compared to dual x8) would be a blunder. That would inhibit Quad SLI if you were using two dual GPU cards, which is kind of the main case for having dual x16 - just for that upgradeability, and having the latest chipset to have the latest. I think a lot of people wanted the latest nVIDIA chipset just to have more of the bugs worked out.

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RE: 3rd PCI-E slot

By Webgod on 9/22/2006 11:22:32 AM , Rating: 2

DigitalFreak: The Asus page states, "Two full-bandwidth 16-lane PCI Express links ensure maximum graphics performance for next-generation GPUs and games."

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=0...

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won't OC that much

By pplapeu on 9/21/2006 8:02:07 PM , Rating: 2

I read the c19 won't OC much in a couple of reviews. I will beat stock clocked Intel chipsets as a concolation prize, however.

RE: won't OC that much

By FXi on 9/21/2006 8:38:50 PM , Rating: 2

It doesn't beat a 975 chipset in any but a few tests...

Asus did the chipset about as proud as it could be done. It's still a dog though. Not touching it. Since this is yet another iteration they couldn't do well, I'm not even willing to say the C55 is going to be any good until I've seen it proven and tested.

Good luck first adopters of either this or the C55... You're going to need it.

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RE: won't OC that much

By bob661 on 9/22/2006 1:01:33 AM , Rating: 2

The C55 is currently used in the AMD version of this board. I don't OC so maybe you can cheack out the reviews for the AMD version.

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Asus Intel Crosshair?

By danz32 on 9/21/2006 8:03:05 PM , Rating: 2

Does anybody know if Asus is planning on making a Crosshair / Republic of Gamers Series board for Core 2 Socket 775?

RE: Asus Intel Crosshair?

By SuperSix on 9/22/2006 12:38:07 PM , Rating: 2

Yes - Asus was in our office training this A.M. and said they are working on a R.O.G. S775 version.

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RE: Asus Intel Crosshair?

By SuperSix on 9/22/2006 12:39:39 PM , Rating: 2

They also said that their current PhysX card is going to be coming out in a PCI x1 version, no mention of an Nvidia Physics card though.

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Not touching this.

By RMSistight on 9/22/2006 2:10:33 AM , Rating: 2

Yup. I'll hold out for DFI's updated board with the new C55 chip. But the problem is that by that time, Intel's quad core would be out soon and AMD's is right around the corner.

RE: Not touching this.

By RedStar on 9/22/2006 4:14:19 AM , Rating: 2

quad core will set you back 999$ --and we can barely used dual core now.

so wait for dfi in october and ..BAM.. BUY!!

i have been waiting eons now...always 1 lille thing holding me back.

October is it!

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RE: Not touching this.

By Osmosis1 on 9/22/2006 10:41:43 PM , Rating: 2

Yeah, it makes sense to wait for a mobo with the C55 in it instead of buying the old C19. Anyway, I read somewhere that the C55 will be released by Nvidia in October, so DFI might take longer to finish the new boards.

What's the point of thinking about Quad-Core now? Even if they work far better that the Core2 they will be more expensive for sure. If I keep thinking about what's the newest or the fastest to buy, I will never end up buying anything at all.

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Childish

By AncientPC on 9/22/2006 11:33:46 AM , Rating: 2

Coloring scheme makes the board look like a pile of Legos.

RE: Childish

By JNo on 9/26/2006 12:57:39 PM , Rating: 2

pile of Legos is what I want

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nForce 590 SLI Intel reference board

By The Thai Tempest on 9/22/2006 12:39:14 PM , Rating: 2

I've read the nForce 590 SLI Intel preview articles, and they proclaimed how great the board is with lots of features and overclocking ability. Then I read about the C19 northbridge chipset and how very limited its oc ability is. Now after reading the post that Asus's P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP has the C19 chipset, I'm disappointed and confused. I thought maybe the 570 would have the C19 because it's a mainstream/budget board, and the 590 would have the C55 chipset because it's an enthusiast board. Anyone know if the reference board they reviewed had the C19 chipset? And if so, why the reviews seem contradictory?

RE: nForce 590 SLI Intel reference board

By Osmosis1 on 9/22/2006 10:55:10 PM , Rating: 2

Yes, the reference motherboard had the C19 chipset, why? Because by the time they released the board there was no knowledge about the limited OC capabilities of the C19 for Intel CPU's. Just wait and see what happens with the new C55, don't bother about the test, it's an old chipset.

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hmmm SLI+physics

By S3anister on 9/21/2006 3:58:36 PM , Rating: 3

that is something that is going to be interesting.

Well ... crud

By EarthsDM on 9/21/2006 4:36:41 PM , Rating: 2

I bought my 7800 GTXes from Asus, and there isn't enough space between the PCIX slots for those cards : (

Audio offload

By FightingChance on 9/21/2006 4:45:53 PM , Rating: 2

Nice, technology like DTS connect is helping emphasize the use of outside amp/decoders, like game consoles. When penetration gets high enough you may start seeing proper multi-source realtime sound in PC games again, this time without any proprietary stranglehold.

Is the Supreme Audio card better than a Creative X-Fi card? It looks like

By jlaavenger on 10/14/2006 4:24:15 AM , Rating: 2

Is the Supreme Audio card better than a Creative X-Fi card? It looks like you can switch sound cards.

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