ASUS P5NT WS AiLifestyle Series - motherboard - ATX - nForce 680i LT SLI

Description: The Asus P5NT is a nVidia nForce 680i LT SLI-based, PC motherboard.Compared to other PC boards on the market, it is midpriced at around $225.This motherboard supports Celeron, Pentium 4, Pentium D, and Core 2 processors that use the LGA775 interface.

Pros: Is built around a nVidia nForce 680i LT SLI-based chipset, which is considerably more robust than some similarly priced boards.Also, this board has a serial ATA-300 and ATA-133 storage interface, which is somewhat more favorable than some similarly priced boards.This product supports up to 8GB of RAM.This is enough to satisfy even the most demanding user.In addition you can take advantage of the onboard Firewire (IEEE 1394) to connect to compatible peripherals at high data rates.

Cons: Has four Hi-Speed USB optional connections, which is less favorable than some similarly priced boards.For example, the ABIT IX38, an Intel X38 Express-based board at around $225, has two IEEE 1394 (FireWire) and 8 x Hi-Speed USB optional connections.

Suitability: A PC board, suited for use in a whitebox system, or as a motherboard replacement.

Value: Overall, this board has good features for the money.

Suggestions: (1) Be sure that you are using a LGA775-compatible processor with this motherboard.(2) If you want to take full advantage of the on-board SATA controller, you will want to consider a hard drive upgrade.Existing IDE hard drives will run on the ATA-133 bus.(3) For motherboard add-ons, check out the storage and components section of CNET's website.

CNET's Product Briefs are generated by a software tool that combines product specifications with knowledge of our editorial experts. They do not reflect hands-on assessment or labs testing. For more information about how we create Product Briefs, contact us.

• Manufacturer: Asus
• Part Number: P5NT WS

• General

• Product type (AE) Motherboard
• Form factor ATX
• Width 12 in
• Depth 9.6 in
• Compatible Processors Celeron D, Pentium 4, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Extreme, Pentium Extreme Edition
• 64-bit Processor Compatibility Yes
• Mainboard processor socket LGA775 Socket
• Mainboard / Multi-Core Support Dual-Core / Quad-core
• Chipset Type NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI
• Data bus speed 1333 MHz
• BIOS type Award
• Storage key information ATA-133, eSATA port, Serial ATA-300 (RAID)
• Power connectors 8-pin ATX12V connector, 24-pin main power connector

• Processor

• Installed Qty (Max Supported) 0 ( 1 )

• Memory

• Cache Memory Type None
• Supported RAM Technology DDR2 SDRAM
• Supported RAM Integrity Check Non-ECC
• RAM Installed ( Max ) 0 MB / 8 GB (max)
• Supported RAM Speed PC2-4300, PC2-5300, PC2-6400
• RAM Features Unbuffered, Dual channel memory architecture

• Audio

• Audio Output Sound card
• Audio codec Realtek ALC888
• Sound Output Mode 7.1 channel surround
• Audio output compliant standards High Definition Audio

• Telecom / Networking

• Modem None
• Networking Network adapter - Marvell Alaska 88E1116 - Ethernet, - Fast Ethernet, - Gigabit Ethernet

• Features

• BIOS Features ASUS MyLogo2, ASUS EZ Flash 2, DMI 2.0 support, WfM 2.0 support, ASUS O.C. Profile, Multilingual BIOS, SMBIOS 2.3 support
• Sleep / Wake Up Wake on LAN (WOL), Wake on ring (WOR)
• Hardware Features ASUS Q-Fan 2, Stack Cool 2, Jack retasking, ASUS Q-Connector, CrashFree BIOS 2, Heat pipe chipset cooling, Chassis intrusion detection, C.P.R. (CPU Parameter Recall), NVIDIA SLI Technology Support, ASUS AI NOS (Non-delay Overclocking System)

• Expansion / Connectivity

• Expansion Slots Total (Free) 1 Processor - LGA775 Socket, 4 Memory - DIMM 240-pin, 3 PCI Express x16, 1 PCI-X, 2 PCI Express x1, 1 PCI
• Storage Interfaces Serial ATA-300 - connector(s): 6 x 7pin Serial ATA - 6 device(s) - RAID 0 / RAID 1 / RAID 0+1 / RAID 5 / JBOD, ATA-133 - connector(s): 1 x 40pin IDC - 2 device(s), Silicon Image SiI3531 : Serial ATA-300 - connector(s): 1 x 7pin external SATA
• Interfaces 1 x Storage - Floppy interface - 34 pin IDC, 1 x Keyboard - Generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style), 1 x Mouse - Generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style), 1 x Audio - SPDIF output - TOSLINK, 1 x Audio - SPDIF output - RCA, 2 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45, 6 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A, IEEE 1394 (FireWire) - 6 pin FireWire, 1 x Storage - eSATA-300 - 7 pin external Serial ATA, 1 x Audio - Line-out (side surround) - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio - Line-out (rear) - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio - Line-out (center/subwoofer) - Mini-phone 3.5 mm, 1 x Microphone - Input - Mini-phone 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio - Line-out - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio - Line-in - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio - Line-in - 4 pin MPC
• Additional connectors (optional) 4 x Hi-Speed USB

• Miscellaneous

• Cables Included 1 x SLI bridge, 1 x Floppy cable, 1 x IDE cable, 6 x Serial ATA cable, 3 x Serial ATA power adapter, 1 x USB panel, 1 x IEEE 1394 panel
• Software Included ASUS AI Booster, ASUS PC Probe 2, ASUS Live Update, Drivers & utilities
• Microsoft Certifications Certified for Windows Vista
• Compliant Standards RoHS, Plug and Play

Asus

Manufacturer profile

• Website: http://www.asus.com/
• Address: 44370 Nobel Drive, Fremont, CA. 94538
• Phone: +1-510-739-3777
• Email: tmd1@asus.com
• Fax: +1-510-608-4555