• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Hardware Secrets

Hardware Secrets

Uncomplicating the complicated

  • Case
  • Cooling
  • Memory
  • Mobile
    • Laptops
    • Smartphones
    • Tablets
  • Motherboard
  • Networking
  • Other
    • Audio
    • Cameras
    • Consumer Electronics
    • Desktops
    • Museum
    • Software
    • Tradeshows & Events
  • Peripherals
    • Headset
    • Keyboard
    • Mouse
    • Printers
  • Power
  • Storage
  • Video

ASUS M2N32-SLI De Luxe Motherboard Review

Our review of ASUS M2N32-SLI De Luxe, the most high-end socket AM2 motherboard from ASUS based on NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI chipset, which supports SLI technology, targeted to the new Athlon 64 CPUs supporting DDR2 memory.

Home » ASUS M2N32-SLI De Luxe Motherboard Review

Introduction

Contents

  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. More Features
  • 3. More Features (Cont'd)
  • 4. Main Specifications
  • 5. How We Tested
  • 6. Overall Performance
  • 7. Processing Performance
  • 8. 3D Performance: Quake III
  • 9. Overclocking
  • 10. Conclusions

M2N32-SLI De Luxe is the most high-end socket AM2 motherboard from ASUS, targeted to the new Athlon 64 CPUs supporting DDR2 memory. It is based on the new NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI chipset, supporting SLI technology. Let’s see how the performance of this latest release from ASUS is.

ASUS M2N32-SLI De LuxeFigure 1: ASUS M2N32-SLI De Luxe motherboard.

What really catches the eye when looking to this motherboard is its passive cooling solution, using copper heatsinks with heatpipes to cool down its north bridge, south bridge and MOSFET transistors. Two other socket AM2 motherboards from ASUS use a similar but simpler system, M2N-E (nForce 570 Ultra) and M2N-E SLI (nForce 570 SLI). Since the chipset used on these motherboards has only one chip and the voltage regulator has fewer transistors, they have only two heatsinks, instead of four like M2N32-SLI De Luxe, making this product from ASUS very unique.

ASUS M2N32-SLI De LuxeFigure 2: Passive cooling solution using copper heatsinks and heatpipes.

ASUS M2N32-SLI De LuxeFigure 3: Passive cooling solution using copper heatsinks and heatpipes.

The problem, in our opinion, is that this system produces a lot of heat. The whole idea behind passive coolers is to create a noiseless solution, the side effect, however, is that this solution increases the PC internal temperature. To address this issue, M2N32-SLI De Luxe comes with a fan to be optionally attached to one of the heatsinks, see Figure 4. But what is the point of having a passive cooling solution if you need to install a fan on it anyway?

ASUS M2N32-SLI De LuxeFigure 4: Optional fan to cool down the voltage regulator heatsink.

This optional fan has no effect on the CPU cooling, as the fins of the CPU heatsink are in a different direction, as you can see in Figure 5. And you can’t install this fan on the top of the other voltage regulator heatsink as the CPU cooler touches it, leaving no room between them for you to install this fan there (this fan needs some space surrounding the heatsink for its plastic clip to be attached).

ASUS M2N32-SLI De LuxeFigure 5: How the system looks like after the CPU cooler is installed.

Continue: More Features

Motherboard Reviews

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

As a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, this site may earn from qualifying purchases. We may also earn commissions on purchases from other retail websites.

How to Avoid Scams on Facebook Marketplace Once and For All

Social media scams generate more than 770 million US dollars in losses in the US alone, and it’s … [Read More...] about How to Avoid Scams on Facebook Marketplace Once and For All

AMD EPYC from Zen1 to Zen4. How it will change the CPU market?

AMD, together with Intel, is one of the major processor manufacturers known in today's market. … [Read More...] about AMD EPYC from Zen1 to Zen4. How it will change the CPU market?

Valorant Phoenix Tips & Tricks You Have to Know

The Phoenix character in Valorant is one of the most amazing to play. Being aggressive, Phoenix will … [Read More...] about Valorant Phoenix Tips & Tricks You Have to Know

Footer

For Performance

  • About
  • Contact
  • Articles
  • Editorials
  • First Look
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Privacy

Everything you need to know

  • Everything You Need to Know About the Dual-, Triple-, and Quad-Channel Memory Architectures
  • What You Should Know About the SPDIF Connection (2022 Guide)
  • Everything You Need to Know About the Intel Virtualization Technology
  • Everything You Need to Know About the CPU Power Management

Copyright © 2023 · All rights reserved - Hardwaresecrets.com
About Us · Privacy Policy · Contact