A8N-SLI Deluxe,Premium,vanilla..please read

[mabaty]

I am set on this series of mobo for my build I am starting but what are the real diffrences between them? I will be using it mostly for basic computing and games, and I do not really see any diffrences other than maybe more ports for Harddrives...anyway so i am confused on which to get.

 

[rodney_ws]

I have an Asus A8N-SLI (vanilla) and it does fine for me... I wish I'd have bought a non-SLI board and saved a little $, but that was my mistake... SLI seemed a bit more promising than it really is. That said... my board has proved VERY stable even when my CPU was OC'd from 2.2 to 2.6 GHz.

Good luck and give a LOT of thought to whether you actually need an SLI board.

 

[waylander]

A8N SLI: Has what you need for SLI basic set up.
A8N SLI Deluxe: Dual gigabit lan and more raid options
A8N SLI Premium: Biggest difference is the cool pipe which gets rid of the chipset fan and AI selector which allows you to change from single or dual in windows.
A8N32 SLI Deluxe: Both slots run in x16, the others default to x8 when both slots are used.

I'm sure there are others but these are some of the major changes.

 

[mabaty]

Well i am set on SLI...but I too want to save some money and i do not want to spend 50-100 dollars more for a deluxe or premium, for just extra features that arnt that big of a deal. looking at the spec i just do not see really any diffrences..

 

[sailer]

I would skip the motherboards that you list and go with the A8N32 SLI Deluxe. As Waylander pointed out, it runs both slots in 16 rather than defaulting to 8. That will make a big difference if you do so SLI in the future. If you do go with the A8N SLI, get at least the deluxe board, preferably the premium. Those extra features do end up a big deal, and they save you having to buy extra PCI cards in the future if you do want DSL, etc., cards which take up valuable PCI slots.

 

[BINK]

Why not just use the Asus A8N-E if you are not going SLI
and don't require Firewire. :?:

 

[mabaty]

I am going SLI though

 

[mabaty]

Ok I am going crazy from reading reviews on which a8n-sli is better....it keeps going both ways ...duel x16(a8n32-sli) is not worth the extra money..then I hear it is because soon they will utilize this...then I hear that people have problems with it..then I hear the same for the a8n-sli prem, and deluxe....I mean I want a good board I am not a hardcore overclocker...but I DO want options incase I decide to play with overclocking and playing w/sli....I play games alot so this is what its for...I wont be running SLI at first but I want to be able to when the time comes to buy my PC a little more time before a rebuild...or when it matures some more, same with overclocking...WHICH BOARD!?

 

[DaBigHurt]

Wow, I was in this same situation you are right now, fact is, unless ur going to go SLI VERY SOON, like getting both of your cards at ONCE, go for the SLI(deluxe or premium), but if you want to go SLI some time in the future go for the 32, if you really want an s939 SLI setup that the AN832 is pretty much the best you can get and probably remain that way since s939's end is hours away; So the 32 will last the longest, plus you cant go wrong with dual X16.

But if you going to SLI some time in the next year, forget about getting an SLI board cuz by that time there will be a single card that can beat 2 of current cards in SLI.

deluxe or premium NOW
A8N32 FUTURE (NEAR FUTURE)

 

[oldsaw]

Even though I will never use the SLI option I opted for the Premium because of its fanless design - that isn't just one less fan but also one less of the usually noisier fans. The real boon, though, is its second onboard LAN which I hadn't considered much but which I now value highly.

 

[4Ryan6]

I had an ASUS A8N32 SLI Deluxe and it died and really wasn't that great a M/B in the first place, some dumdass layed out the M/B and I was a dumdass for buying the thing, it inherently has a problem with running an X-FI soundcard, at least with mine it did, and others too.

How stupid can ASUS be to locate the clear CMOS jumper at the end of the 2nd PCI-E slot, which ends up under your second SLI video card, just wait till you have to clear the CMOS the first time, you'll really love that.

Also the regular PCI slot layout is rather lame, theres 2 slots in between the PCI-Es and one below the 2nd PCI-E, well the video cards cooler will block the PCI slot right next to it, so that leaves 1 useable PCI slot in between the 2 PCI-Es and thats where my X-FI was located and when I ran in SLI mode in some games like F.E.A.R. severe distortion in sound and video occured.

Well I don't have those problems anymore cause the M/B I'm presently running rocks, and is solid, no sound and video distortion in F.E.A.R., CMOS jumper is located where you can get to it, active chipset cooling instead of that heatpipe crap, and 2 usable PCI slots!

Check my sig if you want a good M/B!

Oh and the EPoX also runs both PCI-Es at 16x.

 

[halcyon]

Even though I will never use the SLI option I opted for the Premium because of its fanless design - that isn't just one less fan but also one less of the usually noisier fans. The real boon, though, is its second onboard LAN which I hadn't considered much but which I now value highly.

I purchased exactly the same board for precisely the same reason. I've read that some folks are having trouble with getting it to POST...I'm keeping my fingers tightly crossed that I won't be bothered with that.

 

[halcyon]

Active cooling on the chipset. For some reason I just don't like the sound of that. I infer that after time that fan will fail and its another fan I'll have to worry about failing and replacing. I'm hopinig that the A8N-SLI Premium doesn't fail me. As it appears to fit my needs pretty closely. We'll see when it arrives, hopefully, this afternoon.

I only purchased it because I wanted a good board with passive chipset cooling and firewire...and IT still have 3 PCI slots. ASUS...don't let me down...you've been good to me in the past...don't let me down today! :?

 

[halcyon]

I got my A8N SLi Premium in yesterday, got it installed. ...and thank you Jesus...it's seems wonderful. It's got more features than I'll likely ever use and makes overclocking easy for an OC noob like myself. If it continues to be stable it will easily be the best motherboard this noob has ever had.

...definately worth the money to me.

I was really kinda scared it wouldn't POST based on some of what I'd read. I'm glad I've not had that issue with it yest...currently got my little A64 3.2K+ up to a baby OC of 2.2Ghz @ 34C. ...good enough for my purposes.

This confirms for me, so far, why I pay more for ASUS.