Introduction
The ASUS M5A97 R2.0 is an entry-level motherboard for AMD socket AM3+ processors. It uses the AMD 970 chipset, which is a simpler version of the AMD 990FX. Let’s take a look at it!
The main difference between the AMD 970 chipset and the high-end AMD 990FX is the multi-graphics support. While the 990FX supports two x16 slots (or four x8 slots) and SLI/CrossFireX arrays, the AMD 970 supports only one PCI Express x16 slot (plus one x4 slot) only in CrossFireX configuration.
So far, ASUS has launched three different motherboard models based on the AMD 970 chipset; we list the differences between them in the table below. Prices were researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this article.
|
Specification |
M5A97 LE R2.0 |
M5A97 R2.0 |
M5A97 EVO |
|
Form Factor |
ATX |
ATX |
ATX |
|
Memory Sockets |
4 |
4 |
4 |
|
PCI Express x16 2.0 |
2 (x16/x4) |
2 (x16/x4) |
2 (x16/x4) |
|
PCI Express x1 2.0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Standard PCI |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
CrossFireX |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
SLI |
No |
No |
No |
|
SATA-300 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
SATA-600 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
|
eSATA-300 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
eSATA-600 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
USB 2.0 |
12 |
12 |
14 |
|
USB 3.0 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
|
FireWire |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Gigabit Ethernet |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Audio |
ALC887 |
ALC887 |
ALC892 |
|
Voltage Regulator |
4+2 |
4+2 |
6+2 |
|
Price |
USD 90 |
USD 100 |
NA |
You can see the ASUS M5A97 R2.0 motherboard in Figure 1.
Figure 1: ASUS M5A97 R2.0 motherboard
- Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Slots
- 3. Memory Support
- 4. On Board Peripherals
- 5. Other Features
- 6. Voltage Regulator
- 7. Overclocking Options
- 8. Main Specifications
- 9. Conclusions
