ASUS Crosshair mainboard review

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Crosshair vs M2N32-SLI Deluxe

We have tested one of ASUS's other top of the range motherboards earlier, the M2N32-SLI the luxe. This mother was already loaded with features, but as you have read on the previous pages the Crosshair has got a lot more. A one-on-one comparison between the two boards is found in the table below.

General
Brand	ASUS	ASUS
Product name	Crosshair	M2N32-SLI Deluxe
Product code	M2-CROSSHAIR
Tested by	Zahied Bholai	Zahied Bholai
Test Date	08/03/2006	05/23/2006
Details	Details	Details
Processor / Chipset / Memory
Form factor	ATX	ATX
Supported processor(s)	AMD Athlon 64 (X2) / Sempron	AMD Athlon 64 (X2) / Sempron
CPU socket	Socket AM2	Socket AM2
Processor bus	1000 MHz HyperTransport	1000 MHz HyperTransport
Supported memory	DDR2-800	DDR2-800
Dual channel memory
Chipset	nVidia nForce 590 SLI	nVidia nForce 590 SLI
Chipset - North bridge	nVidia C51XE	nVidia C51XE
Chipset - South bridge	nVidia MCP55PXE	nVidia MCP55PXE
nVidia SLI compatible
ATI Crossfire compatible
SLI Memory / EPP compatible
Expansion slosts
PCI Express x16 slots	2	2
PCI-Express x8 slots	0	0
PCI Express x4 slots	1	1
PCI Express x1 slots	0	1
Available PCI-Express lanes for video cards	32	32
AGP slots	0	0
PCI slots	3	2
DDR DIMM slots	0	0
DDR2 DIMM slots	4	4
Connectivity
USB 2.0 - Total	8	8
USB 2.0 - On board connectors	2	2
IEEE 1394 controller	TI TSB43AB22A	TI TSB43AB22A
Bluetooth
Audio
Onboard audio - Channels	7.1 channels	7.1 channels
Onboard audio - Codec chip	Analog Devices AD1988	Analog Devices AD1988
Onboard audio - Codec type	HDA	HDA
S/PDIF input
S/PDIF output
Dolby Digital Live
Network
LAN - Chip	Marvell Alaska 88E1116	Marvell Alaska 88E1116
LAN - Speed	1000 Mbit/s	1000 Mbit/s
LAN 2 - Chip	Marvell Alaska 88E1116	Marvell Alaska 88E1116
LAN 2 - Speed	1000 Mbit/s	1000 Mbit/s
WLAN - Chip		Realtek RTL8187L
WLAN - Speed	0	54 Mbit/s
Storage
Parallel ATA connectors	1	1
Serial ATA connectors	8	6
Extra PATA (RAID) controller
Extra SATA (RAID) controller	Silicon Image 3132	Silicon Image 3132
SCSI controller
RAID 0 support
RAID 1 support
RAID 5 support
Cooling / Overclocking
FAN connectors	6	7
AMD Cool'n'Quiet
Temperature controlled fan speed
Chipset cooler	Passive	Passive
Maximum FSB frequency	400 MHz	425 MHz
CPU voltage tweaking (maximum)	1.85 V	1.525 V
Memory voltage tweaking (maximum)	3.425 V	2.5 V
North bridge voltage tweaking (maximum)	1.575 V	1.400 V
South bridge voltage tweaking (maximum)	1.875 V	1.700 V
HyperTransport voltage tweaking (maximum)	1.575 V	1.500 V
PCI Express voltage tweaking (maximum)	0	1.750 V
Software overclocking
Dynamic overclocking
Alarm in case of fan fail
Alarm in case of CPU overheat
Shutdown in case of fan fail
Shutdown in case of CPU overheat
Multiplier changeable
PCI clock frequency changeable
PCI Express clock frequency changeable
Heatsinks on voltage regulators
Video card overclocking through BIOS
nVidia LinkBoost technology
Other
Power supply connector	24 pins	24 pins
Onboard speaker
BIOS type	Phoenix Award 6.00	Phoenix Award 6.00
Dual BIOS
Boot menu in BIOS
Flash software in BIOS
BIOS profiles
Problem diagnosis
Automatic BIOS-update software (Windows)
Power recovery
iRDA support
Extra's	LCD poster, Illuminated internal and external connectors, PCB illumination, Thermal sensors, Q-connector, Reset/Clear CMOS buttons, Power/Reset buttons, Extra cooler for voltage regulators, ASUS keychain, Retail 3DMark06, Array microphone	Array microphone, extra fan for voltage regulators