Specification
| CPU support | Socket AM2 for AMD Athlon 64 X2/ Athlon 64 FX/ Athlon 64/ Sempron |
|---|---|
| Chipset | ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200/ATI SB600 |
| Hyper Transport | 2000/1600 MT/s |
| Memory | 4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 800/667/533, ECC and non-ECC, un-buffered memory, dual-channel |
| Expansion Slots | 2 x PCI Express x16 slot with CrossFire support at full x16, x16 mode 2 x PCI Express x1 2 x PCI |
| CrossFire | Dual x16 mode CrossFire support |
| Storage/RAID | ATI SB600 South Bridge: - 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33 - 4 x Serial ATA I/II 3.0Gb/s with RAID 0, 1, 0+1 support Jmicron360 SATA controller supports: - 1 x External Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s hard disk (SATA On-the-Go) |
| Audio | ADI 1988A 8-channel CODEC Universal Audio Jack Multi-Streaming Coaxial S/PDIF out |
| LAN | Marvell 88E8001 (PCI) Gigabit LAN Controller, featuring AI NET2 |
| IEEE 1394a | VIA VT6308P (PCI) controller supports: - 1x IEEE 1394a internal connection - 1x IEEE 1394a back panel connector |
| USB | 10 USB 2.0/1.1 ports |
| Backplane connections | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Out 1 x IEEE1394 1 x External SATA 1 x RJ45 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 8-Channel Audio I/O 1 x COM connector Internal I/O Connectors |
| Internal connections | 3 x USB 2.0 connector supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports 1 x IEEE1394a connector 4 x SATA 1 x IDE connector 1 x Floppy disk drive 1 x CPU/ 2 x Chassis/ 1 x Power FAN 1 x S/PDIF Out 24-pin ATX Power connector 4-pin ATX 12V Power Chassis Intrusion CD audio in Front panel Audio System panel Q-Connector pack inluded |
| Bundle | User's manual 2 x Serial ATA cables 1 x 2-port Serial ATA power cables 1 x 2-port USB2.0 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable 1 x ASUS Q-Connector (USB, 1394, system panel) FDD cable I/O shield |
The M2R32-MVP might be considered successor to the A8R32-MVP. We reviewed that board in a shootout against a Sapphire motherboard. All three boards have the same RD580 northbridge, but differing southbridges. The M2R32-MVP uses ATI's own SB600. We recently published a review of ATI's AM2 Xpress 3200 reference board, codenamed Sturgeon, so we'll be using Sturgeon for comparison frequently in this review.
The board we're testing here is a pre-production sample. As such, it should be more or less identical to the final product in terms of board layout, components and core features, but ASUS may well make a few tweaks to ensure compatibility or stability. With pre-production hardware comes a pre-production BIOS, so while we can comment on the BIOS features, some may be added (or removed) before production.
A quick perusal of the spec page shows that the board comes with coaxial S/PDIF and eSATA connections, which is good. No optical audio connection though, it seems. The network PHY, Marvell's 88E8001 is a 32-bit PCI device rather than PCIe. We should also state that this board is AMD live! ready.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the PCB.