Conclusions
At around $220 online, the A8N32-SLI Deluxe is significantly more expensive than the nForce4 SLI solutions currently available on the market. High-end nForce4 SLI boards from Abit, DFI, Gigabyte, MSI, and even Asus are widely available for $60 to $70 less than the A8N32-SLI Deluxe, and in most cases, they should be every bit as fast. However, there's a possibility that the A8N32-SLI's price will fall as other nForce4 SLI X16-based motherboards hit the market.

Honestly, $220 doesn't seem entirely unreasonable for a high-end SLI board like the A8N32-SLI Deluxe, especially if you place a premium on passive cooling. The board's nForce4 SLI X16 chipset is arguably the best core logic for the Athlon 64, and with auxiliary PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet and SATA RAID controllers, the A8N32-SLI Deluxe is loaded with integrated features and peripherals. And don't forget the eight-phase power solution, which I suspect was at least partially responsible for our board's phenomenal overclocking ability.

Of course, the A8N32-SLI Deluxe's high price tag also makes it hard to forgive the board's relatively pedestrian BIOS. Although the BIOS has enough tweaking and overclocking options to satisfy most users, it doesn't go above and beyond what's become standard fare for enthusiast-class boards. Perhaps I've been spoiled by Abit and DFI's BIOS innovations, which include new standards for hardware monitoring and fan speed control, and new features like Memtest86 integration, support for multiple configuration profiles, and overclocking options that coexist with Cool'n'Quiet. The A8N32-SLI Deluxe's BIOS is by no means inadequate, but it's far from inspiring.

BIOS quibbles aside, it's hard to fault the A8N32-SLI Deluxe. Sure, 16 lanes of PCI Express to each graphics card in SLI aren't necessary for most applications, but since when have enthusiasts shied away from excess? The extra lanes certainly don't hurt. So, despite the fact that it's not the most economical board around, the A8N32-SLI Deluxe still offers an attractive mix of features and performance, with apparent overclocking potential to spare.