Board Layout:

The area surrounding the socket is fairly clean with a stock cooler on the chipset and an array of capacitors besides the socket. A stock cooler could pose an issue with overclocking, but considering that socket 754 overclocking is limited by other aspects, such as the lack of AGP/PCI lock and the inability to alter the multiplier, it would be difficult for the board to reach a point where stock cooling on the chipset would hinder much of the overclocking aspects. Perhaps the serious issue we have with the K8V-SE board is the row of capacitors. Due to their closeness to the socket, it would likely be the source of incompatible heatsinks. This might especially be true with larger sized offerings from Zalman and Thermalright. We suggest users consult heatsink compatibility charts on cooler manufacturer’s website before making the purchase. The 4-pin, 12v connector is located right around the top corner of the board, which is an ideal place to have such a connector. Other that the potential heatsink issue the board might have, the remaining layout is acceptable.

Right next to the socket are three color-coded memory slots that support up to 3GB of PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 memory. The color-codes doesn’t exactly distinguish anything in particular, as we were able to install our memory modules in all three slots and various two slot configurations to make sure the board recognized the modules correctly, which it did. Right above the memory slots are two IDE connectors and a power connector. The IDE connectors, powered by VIA’s 8237 southbridge, are located right on the edge of the board, which is a fairly nice location. The power connector, however, could use a better location. Even though the power cable wouldn’t pose much of a concern in this area, we are not sure why Asus decided to opt for this location and decided to leave out better ones. Maybe they could’ve situated the connector towards the far right corner and stacked the IDE connectors right above each other to allocate some space.

Moving towards the bottom is another odd thing we observed from Asus. They decided to rotate the floppy connector 90 degrees. Now, this is fine. In fact, it’s a great way to put the connectors, as it better supports cabling in larger cases, but why did Asus decided against the idea of rotating the two IDE connectors? This idea of rotating the connectors 90 degrees was first pioneered by Abit and from there it just became a success. Right underneath the floppy connector, there are two SATA ports that are also powered by VIA’s 8237 southbridge. Right next to the two SATA ports is another IDE connector and two additional serial ATA ports. The only difference is that they are supported via Promise R20378 RAID controller. The problem with VIA’s 8237 controller is that it only supports two IDE and two SATA disks with RAID capabilities of 0 and 1. Therefore, if manufacturers like Asus, Abit or others want to add more storage functionalities to the board, they have no choice, but to opt for third party disk controllers. The Promise R20378 controller has RAID 0, 1 and 0+1 capabilities. The necessary connection connectors are color-coded to make the installation process more hassle-free and easier for new users as well as for enthusiasts. One thing that we appreciate is the green LED light on the board. Surely, when you compare this feature to EPoX and Abit’s watchdog feature, the mere green LED is nothing. But it’s something nice to have during troubleshooting. If the light isn’t powered on then there’s definitely an issue with the cables, power supply or the board itself.

The board is equipped with a single AGP slot and five PCI slot along with a bonus feature. If you look towards the right of the PCI slots, you will find a Wi-Fi connector. This is a unique feature to Asus’ K8V-SE Deluxe board. The idea behind this connector is that you can plug-in a Wi-Fi card from Asus and have it function right out of the box, but the unfortunate thing is that you will have to purchase the card separately and it will occupy the fifth slot. Now, the problem with purchasing a separate Wi-Fi card from Asus is that the performance of the card is sub-par when you compare it to the ones from Linksys and other brands that specialize in networking accessories. And if you are going to use the slot anyways, why not purchase something that is more versatile with better support in the end. In conclusion, we would say that the Wi-Fi option is more or less a marketing strategy that looks good on paper, but doesn’t exactly deliver. From Asus’ perspective, it’s something nice to have on a board that can set you apart from others, but it’s not a practical solution to users.

The AGP slot is safely separated from the DRAM slots. This was a major issue, but more and more manufacturers have taken this into consideration and resolved it on many motherboards, at least the ones they offer to the enthusiast community. Now, this problem could still be visible on the more economic class boards, but we can’t complain too much when it comes to motherboards that designed for budget users in mind.

The onboard audio is supported via ADI’s AD1980, 6-channel audio codec with SPDIF out. Although Asus didn’t go with the Envy24 Vinyl audio, you should be fine for majority of the onboard necessities.

The board features four USB 2.0 connectors onboard and supports four more connectors with an additional bracket, thanks to VIA’s 8237 southbridge. It also contains one serial port, one parallel port, one RJ45 connector, one SPDIF out, one audio I/O, one IEEE/1394 port, and one PS/2 keyboard and mice port. Like the rest of the motherboard makers, Asus has included a Gigabit controller to satisfy the urge of wired networking users. It is powered via Marvell’s 88E8001 controller.

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