Application:

 Athlon64 Motherboard

Provided by:

 Asus

Available at:

 Anywhere

MSRP:

$135.55

Availability:

Now

Review by:

 Michael

Edited by:

 Scott

Review date:

 October 16th, 2004
   
 

    

     Asus has held onto their typical look with the K8N-E Deluxe, using only basic colors for the identification of onboard connectors. Nothing UV reactive or otherwise reminiscent of a tie-dyed motherboard here. The only collage of colors will be found on the front-panel complex I/O header block as Asus has taken to color coding each set of headers and even identifying which pole is positive ON the block itself. Otherwise, the layout of the board is fairly typical.

      The location of the nVidia Media and Communications Processor (MCP) required Asus to use a low profile heatsink in order to guarantee that large PCI cards will not be blocked. Factoring in that most people don't use the PCI slot next to their AGP card, even if you decide to go with a larger 3rd party cooler, blocking two PCI slots from FULL LENGTH card use shouldn't be an issue. The floppy connector being located on this end of the board isn't exactly unusual, but I am a bigger fan of putting the connector along the very edge of the board and facing it outwards instead of up. The reaming expansion headers and drive connectors are located below the last PCI slot. Even the USB headers which are typically found between the 2nd and rd PCI slot have been re-located to the bottom of the board. The four red Serial ATA connectors belong to the Silicon Image Sil-3114 controller which is located just above the connectors in the picture. At the bottom right we can see the color coding used by Asus to identify the individual connectors that makeup the header block.

          Between the AGP slot and the CPU socket is where you'll find the two chipset native Serial ATA connectors. This leans quite heavily on the fact that SATA data cables are thin and for the most part, easy to route. However, not many enthusiasts are going to appreciate the placement of these connectors.

     In front of and between the first two PCI slots is the boards internal IEEE 1394 Firewire header. This can be connected to the supplied expansion port cover, or it can be connected to a connector existing in your PC enclosure. The pre-assembled connector in the Cooler Master "CM Stacker" enclosure worked perfectly with this header. Down below the last PCI slot reside the headers for the second COM port and the expandable game port connector.

     Rather than try and stuff everything below the PCI slot, the on board audio headers have been moved further up the motherboard. The CD and Auxiliary inputs have been moved back behind the rear panel Mutli-I/O panel, as well as the headers for the Front Panel I/O connectors. These cables in addition to the Serial ATA cables put a little more traffic in this area of the motherboard. Smartly, the 12volt 4-pin power supply connector has been placed at the very top edge of the board, above the CPU socket. Also, this picture shows that there is plenty of clearance between the CPU retention mechanisms and the filer capacitors that border it.

     Lastly, we go back to the top of the board where we find the three DIMM slots and the IDE connectors. The 20-pin ATX connector lies perfectly in this section of the board. Since most power supplies require the use of an adapter (24 pin to 20 pin) this arrangement keeps the bulky adapter out of the busiest regions of the motherboard.