Introduction
ASUS is one of the leading manufacturers of motherboards, both in quality and in quantity. They are famous for their reliable, feature-packed motherboards with impressive bundles and performance.
Although ASUS has always been known for their cutting-edge (and pricey!) motherboards, they also cater to those on more restrictive budgets.
Today, we will be taking a look at their latest motherboard based on the NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI chipset - the ASUS P5NSLI motherboard.
Let's start with a look at the NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI chipset!
NVIDIA nForce 500 Series MCPs
The nForce 500 series is currently NVIDIA's top chipset solution for the Intel LGA775 platform. It consists of two MCPs (Media and Communications Processors) - the higher-end nForce 590 SLI and the nForce 570 SLI.
NVIDIA
nForce 590 SLI |
NVIDIA
nForce 570 SLI |
|
Target Segment | Enthusiast
SLI |
Performance
SLI |
Processor Socket | Intel Socket 775 |
Intel Socket 775 |
Processors Supported | Intel Core 2 Extreme Intel Core 2 Duo Intel Pentium D 9XX Intel Pentium D 8XX Intel Pentium 4 |
Intel Core 2 Extreme
Intel Core 2 Duo Intel Pentium D 9XX Intel Pentium D 8XX Intel Pentium 4 Intel Celeron D |
NVIDIA? SLI? Technology | Yes |
Yes |
FSB (MHz) | 1066
MHz |
1066
MHz |
DDR2 Memory (MHz) | 667 MHz |
667 MHz |
PCI
Express Lanes |
48
Lanes |
20
Lanes |
PCI
Express Links |
9
Links |
5
Links |
PCI
Express Slot Configuration |
x16,
x16, x8, x1, x1, x1, x1, x1, x1 |
x16,
x16, x8, x1, x1, x1 |
Number Of SATA/PATA Drives | 6
SATA 2 PATA |
4
SATA 4 PATA |
SATA Support | 3 Gb/s |
3 Gb/s |
RAID Support |
RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 0+1 RAID 5 |
RAID
0 RAID 1 RAID 0+1 |
NVIDIA MediaShield Storage Technology | Yes |
Yes |
NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet Connections | 2 |
1 |
NVIDIA FirstPacket Technology | Yes |
Yes |
NVIDIA DualNet Technology | Yes |
No |
NVIDIA nTune Utility | Yes |
Yes |
USB Ports | 10 |
8 |
PCI Slots | 5 |
5 |
Audio | HDA (Azalia) |
HDA (Azalia) |
The nForce 570 SLI is basically a "lite" version of the nForce 590 SLI, with fewer PCI Express lanes and links. It also dropped support for RAID 5 support, and the NVIDIA DualNet technology for a lower price.
Instead of 6 SATA and 2 PATA drives, the nForce 570 SLI supports 4 SATA and 4 PATA drives. The nForce 570 SLI also comes with support for two fewer USB ports than the nForce 590 SLI.