As we mentioned, nForce 780a supports HybridSLI, which is an umbrella name for two technologies: GeForce Boost and HybridPower.

GeForce Boost is a technology targeted to entry-level PCs with on-board video to increase 3D performance. On motherboards supporting this technology (besides nForce 780a, we have nForce 720a, nForce 730a, GeForce 8100, GeForce 8200 and GeForce 8300) when you install a “real” video card the on-board video can be configured under SLI mode with it, increasing the 3D performance. The problem is that the video card also has to support this feature and so far only GeForce 8400 GS and GeForce 8500 GT support it. Since this technology is targeted to entry-level video cards, it is completely useless on this motherboard, since we don’t think anyone buying this board will ever care to install a low-end video card.

HybridPower, on the other hand, is targeted to very high-end systems. This technology turns off your video cards when you are not playing games, saving energy. Under this situation video is provided by the chipset (i.e. on-board video). This looks like a terrific idea, but the problem is that so far only two video cards are compatible with HybridPower: GeForce 9800 GTX and GeForce 9800 GX2. So unless you have these video cards this technology is useless.

Both HybridSLI modes are available only under Windows Vista.

On the other hand you can use the on-board video provided by this motherboard with any video card to expand the number of simultaneous monitors you have attached to your system. NForce 780a provides two independent video outputs and on this motherboard one is provided thru a standard VGA connector and the second one is provided thru an HDMI connector, which can be converted into a DVI connector thru an adapter that comes with the product. So if you have two video cards you can have up to six video monitors displaying different images on your system (keep in mind that multiple monitors only work on 2D environment, i.e. when you are not playing games).

Speaking of compatibility and limitations, it is always good to remind that the 3-way SLI mode is only available on GeForce 8800 GTX and GeForce 8800 Ultra video cards and QuadSLI is only currently available with GeForce 9800 GX2 (each GX2 has two video processors, so when you install two on your system you have four video processors working in parallel).

On the memory side this motherboard brings four DDR2-DIMM sockets, supporting up to 8 GB of RAM. The maximum memory speed will depend on the CPU: regular socket AM2 CPUs accept up to DDR2-800/PC2-6400 while socket AM2+ CPUs accept up to DDR2-1066/PC2-8500. You can install DDR2-1066/PC2-8500 memories with socket AM2 CPUs, but they will work as if they were DDR2-800 modules.

ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe has six SATA-300 ports controlled by the chipset and supporting RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and JBOD and one eSATA-300 port controlled by a Marvell 88E6111 chip. This board also provides one ATA-133 port controlled by the chipset.

The audio section from this motherboard provides 7.1 audio, produced by the south bridge chip with the aid of an Analog Devices AD1988B codec, which provides a 92 dB signal-to-noise ratio for its inputs and 101 dB SNR for its outputs and a maximum sampling rate of 192 KHz for both inputs and outputs. These specs are terrific for the mainstream user.

This board has one coaxial and one optical SPDIF output soldered directly on the motherboard, which is great as you can easily connect it to your home theater receiver.

This product comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port, which is controlled by the chipset with the aid of an Atheros F1 chip in charge of the interface with the physical layer.

ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe has ten USB 2.0 ports, four soldered on the rear panel and four available thru three headers, and this motherboard comes with an I/O bracket with two ports, so four USB 2.0 ports are left over (you will probably use them on the I/O frontal panel provided by your case). This motherboard has also two Firewire ports controlled by an LSI L-FW3227 chip. Both ports are available only thru I/O brackets and the bracket that comes with this board has only one Firewire port (you will probably use the port that is left over on the I/O frontal panel provided by your case).

On Figure 3 you can see the motherboard rear panel: PS/2 keyboard connector, four USB 2.0 ports, coaxial and optical digital audio (SPDIF) outputs, VGA and HDMI connectors (for the on-board video feature, to be used if you use HybridPower feature), one Gigabit Ethernet port, one eSATA-300 port and complete set of 7.1 audio jacks.

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Figure 3: Motherboard rear panel.

As you can see, this motherboard does not have a PS/2 mouse connector, so you have to use a USB mouse with this motherboard. This board also doesn’t have parallel and serial ports, although one serial port is available thru an I/O bracket that doesn’t come with the product.