There are many reasons why system integrators love motherboards built with nVIDIA's nForce2 chipset as much as they do; it's an extremely powerful and totally loaded core logic, and it boasts many features too. Until recently though, there wasn't a Pentium 4 chipset that offered a similar level of versatility, that is until ATi released their Radeon 9100 IGP Northbridge.

Like the nVidia nForce2, the ATI Radeon 9100 IGP is no slouch when it comes to integrated chipset performance, and easily puts Intel's integrated solution, the i865G to shame on the graphics front. Definitely not too shabby for ATi's first stab at a core logic chipset! The Radeon 9100 IGP is especially good for those of us who are looking to build a lean machine. The integrated DX8 Radeon 9100 IGP is not the fastest thing we've ever used, but it does deliver playable frame rates at 640x480 in most games. That's a feat that no other integrated videocard can do.

With a retail price of just $160 CDN ($119 US), the Asus P4R800-V Deluxe motherboard is nicely affordable, and when you're ready to install that new videocard sometime in the future, the 8x AGP port is ready to rock and roll. Until then, the Asus' integrated graphics should serve quite capable.

Asus P4R800-V Deluxe Includes: Ultra/133 IDE Cable, Floppy Drive Cable, 2x Serial ATA Cables, One Molex to two Serial ATA Power Connectors, Motherboard Sticker, Quick Installation Guide, Users Manual, USB/Game Port Bracket, Audio Bracket, COM2 Bracket, Jumpers, WinDVD Suite

Included in the Asus deluxe package is 5.1 audio, IEEE 1394, Serial ATA RAID and Gigabit LAN. In terms of expansion, you get five 32bit PCI slots which should be plenty. The P4R800-V DLX is compatible with all Socket 478 Pentium 4 processors including the new Prescott chips and the the four DIMM slots can use up to a maximum of 4GB of PC2100/2700 memory and 2GB of PC3200 DDR RAM.

The P4R800-V DLX uses the typical tan/brown coloured PCB which shouldn't be a surprise, Asus has never been into coloured PCB's. The general layout of the motherboard is very good, the main IDE and ATX power connector are to the right of the DIMM slots. Because the floppy drive and third IDE connector are on the lower half of the motherboard, Asus places them on their side which helps to keep them out of the way.

The Asus P4R800-V Deluxe does not have a PCI slot just below the AGP, a pretty good move considering many videocard coolers now take up two PCI slots. Too bad there isn't a fan header anywhere near that AGP slot for an after market fan.

The P4R800-V DLX is well labelled so you probably won't have to refer to the manual during installation, which is always nice. I love how almost all the manufacturers now colour coordinate and label the positive values on the front panel I/O. :-)

To help keep obstruction clear of the AGP/PCI devices, the Asus P4R800-V Deluxe has all of its headers along the edge of the motherboard. The Radeon 9100IGP does not produce a lot of heat, so the Asus P4R800-V Deluxe only uses a medium-sized passive heatsink.

I'm typically not a big fan of proprietary slots, but I don't mind the one found on the bottom of this board for Asus' 802.11b wireless card. You see it's specifically designed for the Asus WiFi-B Adapter (which runs though the USB port) and it's actually readily available here by itself, which should mean you can get it just about anywhere.

The best part is you can get an 802.11b wireless adapter for your PC for only $30 CDN! Not bad for those of you moving to a wireless LAN.