Asus P5NSLI: NVIDIA nForce 570 Intel Edition

Name: Asus P5NSLI: NVIDIA nForce 570 Intel Edition - Page 13
Brand: Asus

by Marco Chiappetta — Friday, September 01, 2006, 11:00 AM EDT

Performance Summary: For years we've seen motherboards for the AMD platform perform at near identical levels, because the Athlon 64 features an on-die memory controller. And although each of the Intel Core 2 Duo compatible motherboards we tested here are equipped with different memory controllers that reside in their respective Northbridge chips, they too performed similarly. The nForce 570 SLI powered Asus P5NSLI's performance was just as good as much more expensive motherboards in every test we ran, regardless of which core logic chipset it was compared against.

We like the Asus P5NSLI on a couple of different levels. This motherboard has a relatively complete feature set that includes RAID, HD audio, Gigabit LAN, and of course SLI support, and its layout is generally good overall. It doesn't sport an eye-catching color scheme, or any otherwise flashy features, but considering the fact that this motherboard is targeted at mainstream users, we weren't expecting it to. The P5NSLI was also rock-solid stable throughout our tests and didn't exhibit any instability until overclocked well out of spec. Its BIOS and overclocking capabilities, however, left something to be desired. The board's maximum memory voltage of 2.1v is too low and could pose a problem with some high-end memory kits that require more voltage, and hitting a peak FSB of just over 320MHz will surely limit the P5NSLI's appeal with overclockers. The P5NSLI's redeeming feature is its price though. At approximately $120 the P5NSLI is currently the least expensive option for users looking to move to an affordable Core 2 Duo powered, SLI capable platform. Based on its competitive performance, feature set, and affordable price, we're giving the Asus P5NSLI an 8 on the Heat Meter.


Affordable SLI Good Layout All Passive Cooling Great Slot Configuration	2.1v Peak Memory Voltage Overclocking

Enter HotHardware's PC Hardware Forum - Discuss...

Digg This Article To Share With Others!

Tags: Nvidia, Intel, Asus, nforce, sli, edition, force, 570, id, NSL

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com