ASUS M2N32-SLI based on the NVIDIA 590SLI chipset is definnitely a gem. The board is basically packed with so many features that will appeal not only to the mainstream  enthusiasts but also to the gamers.

It supports 2 PCIe x16 with SLI support at full x16,x16 speed. There is another 1 PCIe X4 slot supporting PCIe x4 or x1 card. There are 1 x PCIe x1 slot and 2 x PCI 2.2 slots.

The NForce 590 SLI MCP supports 1 x IDE upto 2 UDMA 133/100/66/33 devices, 6 SATA II 3.0 Gb/s. It can run in RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and JBOD configuration spanning across SATA drives via the onboard Mediashield RAID controller. There is an additional Sil 3132 SATA II controller which supports 1 internal SATA II port and 1 external SATA II port. It supports RAID 0,1, and JBOD.

The board has Dual GbE featuring AI NET2 using MCP MAC with Marvell PHY (x2) It supports teaming and Fail Over functions.  8 ch audio is supported using SoundMax ADI AD1998B codec. It supports jack sensing, multi streaming, DTS connect etc. This wireless edition also supprot Wi-Fi@Home USB wireless module for 802.11 b/g. 2 x 1394 ports and support up to 8 USB 2.0 ports on the standard edition 10 USB 2.0 ports supported on the Wireless edition.

Performance levels are superb. This is especially in games that are optimised for the NV platform. With two cards, SLI can be used to further enhance the performance. The PEG Link and Auto overclocking features are neat but ought to be use with trial and error. There was once i set everything to default and 3DMark06 just couldn't complete. I have to set it to manual and change the values myself to ensure it do not o/c by default.

The overclocking options on this board is shocking! I am not sure if the options in this BIOS will make it to the Final public BIOS. There are way too many options that you can tweak your memory if you have the time to find the best spot. In our case, we were able to o/c the 2.0GHz 4000+ X2 CPU from 2GHz to 2.95GHz just by increasing the CLK with a 1.5v setting to the CPU, RAM runs at DDR2-600. In another test, we lowered theCPU multiplier to 9x and was able to overclock the CLK to 310MHz achieving 9x310 with SUperPI32M running stable. Imagine if you have used watercooling, you could have reached higher. The BIOS also comes with an alarm clk and ez-flash utility.

Installation is quite straightforward for this board. I was abit worried by the heatpipes blocking the graphics cards. Looks like my worries were unfounded. The only thing i hate is the VGA retention clips. It seems to be designed for left hander. It is so difficult to squeeze your fingers to release the notch to remove the graphics card.

Packed with a full bag of cables, accessories, fans etc, the ASUS M2N32-SLI is really a powerful package for anyone that wants to have lots of fun with it, whether to use it as a music station, a game station, a WIFI station or whatsoever. It is very complete in feature. The only thing would come down to the cost of owning one. Other than that it is an excellent product.

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