ID Software Quake 4 1.3	Source: id Software

Quake 4 is the latest shooter from ID and is based on the Doom 3 engine. Tweaked to for more eye candy, Quake 4 promises to be tougher on videocards and systems than its predecessor was. Quake 4 also does not have a 60 fps limiter like Doom 3, with the Ultra setting, graphic textures can surpass the 500MB mark! Each test is run three times and with the third run being recorded.

ID Software Quake 4 1.3
LQ 640x480:	Points	Ranking
ASRock AM2V890-VSTA (K8T890 200/800 A64 5000+)	154.4
Albatron KM51PV-AM2 (GF6150 200/800 A64 5000+)	152.9
MSI K9N SLI Platinum (NF 570 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+)	150.5
Asus M2-CROSSHAIR (NF 590 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+)	146.4
Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H (975X 200/667 PD 840)	127.3
MSI P4N Diamond (NF4 SLI 200/800 PD 840)	150.5
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 PD 840)	113.8
ECS PN2 SLI2+ (NF 680i SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX Single)	203.7
ECS PN2 SLI2+ (NF 680i SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX SLI)	200.6
Asus P5N32-SLI Premium (NF 590 SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX Single)	203.5
Asus P5N32-SLI Premium (NF 590 SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX SLI)	198.7
Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.5
MSI 975X Platinum (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.8
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.8
Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	201.2
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.4
MSI P965 Platinum (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.1
Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus (NF 650i 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX Single)	204.3
Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus (NF 650i 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX SLI)	201.8

In the final benchmark of the day, the Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus motherboard puts on another great showing. It's definitely a high end gaming platform, so as along as you equip it with a fast videocard you're going to be very happy with its capabilities!

ASUS' High Value Motherboard

If you want to put together a nice PC platform for gaming, your options are pretty much limited to an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and most likely a nVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Intel Edition based motherboard. You simply can't do better than that right now. If you do not want to mortgage the house though, you should check out what Asus has done, its new motherboard competes easily with the nVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Intel Edition.

Asus has put together a heck of an nVIDIA nForce 650i SLI Intel Edition motherboard, in its P5N32-E SLI Plus. It combines the nForce 650i SPP Northbridge with the nForce 570i MCP Southbridge for full PCI Express x16 support for two videocards. It supports all the features you'd expect from a board of this class, and at $230 CDN ($197 US, £102 GBP) it's not overly expensive either. Compared to the ASUS Striker Extreme, the P5N32-E SLI Plus is over $150 CDN less expensive and you basically get everything it offers aside from a few pretty buttons, rear I/O LCD screen or the two port Serial ATA II controller. Given the choice I think I'll take the ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus and use the money saved to get a better videocard. ;-)

The Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus has a comprehensive feature set that we've already gone over pretty extensively - so I won't rehash that. Of course, it also supports SLI, and each of the primary two PCI Express x16 slots run at full speed. The white slot operates at PCI Express x8 for other high bandwidth devices.

The motherboard itself is a breeze to work with, the documentation is spot on, and the silent chipset cooling system is a nice touch. As you saw, the Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus motherboard was very quick in all the benchmarks PCSTATS tossed its way. If you primarily use your computer for workstation office tasks or 2D applications then the P5N32-E SLI Plus is definitely overkill. While it's one of the fastest motherboards PCSTATS has tested, you are not going to notice the difference between this motherboard and an entry level board when working in Microsoft Word.

The Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus is also one of the best overclocking Intel motherboards to pass through the test labs. Reaching a sky high 472 MHz is quite a feat! With the ability to push the CPU voltage to 1.9v and memory voltage to 3.425V, you know Asus means business when it says this board is overclocking friendly. If you are careless with the voltage options you will damage hardware, so take it slow and cautiously.

Any way you slice it, the Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus should be on your list of motherboards to check out. It has pretty much everything a modern day business computer needs, overclocks like there's no tomorrow for the tweakers, and slots in as one of the best performance-oriented nVIDIA nForce 650i SLI motherboards on the market. What's there to loose?

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