ASUS M2N32-SLI & Epox MF570SLI: AM2 Wunderkinder
by Wesley Fink on June 28, 2006 5:10 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Overclocking Comparison
The overclocking capabilities we have measured thus far with the nForce 500 chipsets and ATI RD580 AM2 are nothing short of extraordinary. Here is a new DDR2 memory controller and a refined AMD CPU on new chipsets that consistently reach over 300 clock frequency in overclocking. Both NVIDA and ATI have done a remarkable job in delivering new chipsets with this level of stability and headroom so soon after launch.
The ASUS tops all seven boards in overclocking, easily reaching overclocks we never could achieve in the last generation of 939 AMD processors. 350 at a 9x multiplier is remarkable - all the more so because it only required a 4x HT multiplier. The new 590 chipset makes 1500 HT, a 50% performance increase, an easy target. The same can be said for both platforms with ATI RD580.
The Epox and MSI, both based on the 570 chipset, occupy the bottom of the OC charts. The bottom in this case is still over 300 at a reduced multiplier and 250 at stock 12x. As stated earlier, we suspect 570 SLI may be artificially limited to a highest overclock of about 315 HTT.
The overclocking capabilities we have measured thus far with the nForce 500 chipsets and ATI RD580 AM2 are nothing short of extraordinary. Here is a new DDR2 memory controller and a refined AMD CPU on new chipsets that consistently reach over 300 clock frequency in overclocking. Both NVIDA and ATI have done a remarkable job in delivering new chipsets with this level of stability and headroom so soon after launch.
The ASUS tops all seven boards in overclocking, easily reaching overclocks we never could achieve in the last generation of 939 AMD processors. 350 at a 9x multiplier is remarkable - all the more so because it only required a 4x HT multiplier. The new 590 chipset makes 1500 HT, a 50% performance increase, an easy target. The same can be said for both platforms with ATI RD580.
The Epox and MSI, both based on the 570 chipset, occupy the bottom of the OC charts. The bottom in this case is still over 300 at a reduced multiplier and 250 at stock 12x. As stated earlier, we suspect 570 SLI may be artificially limited to a highest overclock of about 315 HTT.
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Missing Ghost - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - link
yep the choice of I/O ports on the back panel is pretty poorLarso - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - link
Perhaps someone should clarify this for me. I have been noticing how there is a growing interest in how the motherboard makers have done the power conversion for the CPU. Why has this become an issue to investigate?I don't think there was a similar focus on the power converters for the netburst chips, which I believe soaked a lot more juice than these AMD chips. I believe they managed to deliver stable power to the netbursts without needing an 8 phase converter cooled by heatpipes??
I'm fearing that the motherboard producers will start to create extravagant and foolishly designed converters to please the reviewers. I believe there is no good reason to go for an 8 phase design, when a 4 phase would do the job, considering the money that can be spend on each phase. And that ASUS need to cool the converter by heatpipe seems to indicate that the convertion have a bad effeciency, is this really a step forward?
I really enjoy reading more about the technical solutions on the motherboards, but it just seems to me that the power converter should be less of an issue now, than with the power hungry netburts?
Operandi - Friday, June 30, 2006 - link
A 8 phase design is more efficient then a 4 phase, not less.Missing Ghost - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - link
It seems to me that the heatpipes are more for cooling the chipset in fact.erwos - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - link
What WiFi chipset does it use? "It has WiFi" is not terribly precise.-Erwos
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - link
The WiFi chip used on the Asus WiFi module is Realtek RTL8187L. The Features have been updated to reflect this.Wesley Fink - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - link
Asus refers to the Wi-Fi in specifications as "WiFi Home USB wireless module supporting IEE 802.11 b/g". There is no mention at all of the supporting chip. The module is attached to the motherboard and the chip is loacated behind heatpipes. We can't read the model number, but the logo is clearly Realtek.highlnder69 - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - link
On page 8 under Half Life 2 - SLI Gaming Performance, I think that the Asus Single/SLI results are labeled incorrectly. It's currently showing the Single card configuration with the highest FPS results and the SLI with the lowest.Wesley Fink - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - link
You are correct, the labels were reversed. They are now corrected.DigitalFreak - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - link
Someone needs to teach the idiots at Asus about how to design the proper motherboard layout. With an SLI setup with dual width cards, there's no PCI-E slots available.