DFI LanParty UT NF590 SLI-M2R/G

Since before the AM2 platform was launched in May, enthusiasts everywhere were anticipating DFI’s LanParty board. Sadly, we had to wait a little while as they had some kinks to work out. It’s finally here though, so we can all relax and see what it’s all about! DFI made a huge splash early last year with their LanParty Ultra-D and SLI-DR motherboards. Both were craved due to the major overclocking potential that both boards supplied. This quickly led to special versions of the boards being released, like the Expert and the rare Venus.

We took a look at one of ASUS’ top boards a few weeks ago, the M2N32-SLI Deluxe. That board left me impressed, because it’s well rounded for multiple uses. However, where it did lack was the overclocking arena, due to it’s low overall voltage options. However, DFI is not worried about giving the user plenty of voltage and tweaking options to play with… as we will see in our look at the BIOS. If this board is anything to the AM2 platform as the Ultra-D was to the 939, we may just have a winner.

DFI LanParty NF590 SLI-M2R/G Features
• Supports all AMD AM2 Processors
• Equipped with NVIDIAs nForce 590MCP Chipset
• Supports Dual Channel DDR2-533, DDR2-667 & DDR2-800
• CMOS Reloaded
• Extensive BIOS options catered to overclockers
• Realtek ALC885 8-Channel On-Board Audio
• 6 S-ATA supported by nForce Chipset & 2 S-ATA supported by SiI 3132
• Quiet Chipset Cooling

This board is not packed with a slew of extra features like the M2N32-SLI Deluxe was, but that’s a good thing. This board is catered directly to enthusiasts who would never use the extra features included like that board has. As far as AM2 boards go though, this one is packed to the brim with top rate components, such as NVIDIAs top SLI-capable chipset.

For those new to the nForce 590MCP chipset, here are the main features that it offers.

nForce 590 MCP Benefits
• Designed to offer a lot of overclocking headroom.
• Linkboost – Increases the bus speed of PCI-E slots when equipped with supported GPUs
• FirstPacket – Optimized network technology that helps put priority to network gaming traffic.
• SLI-Ready Memory – Uses EPP enhanced modules if you require them.
• DualNet – Increased performance with the dual-gigabit ethernet ports that features TCP/IP offloading.
• Support for S-ATA RAID configurations, including RAID5.

So, now that I have whet your appetite, let’s take a look at the board and it’s layout!