ASUS P5N7A-VM Desktop Computer Motherboard Teardown

Overview / Main Features

Form: uATX Form Factor

ODM/OEM: ASUS

ODM/OEM's Mobo Name: P5N7A-VM

Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce 9300/nForce 730i

CPU: Broad Range of Intel Core Duo, Pentium and Celerons (LGA 775 socket)

Desktop system integrators and OEM manufacturers. PC consumers via direct channels.

Released

Per online review, the product appears to have been released early Q4, 2008.

ASUS P5N7A-VM Desktop Computer Motherboard - Motherboard Top

Pricing - Around ~$130 USD street pricing from various e-tailers at the time of writing.

Availability - Worldwide (assumed).

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed a lifetime production volume of 3M units.

As a reminder, teardown volume production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.

ASUS P5N7A-VM Desktop Computer Motherboard Cost Analysis

Main Cost Drivers Representing 83% of Direct Materials Costs

GF-9300-730I-B2 - Nvidia - Northbridge / Southbridge - Single Chip, GeForce9300 and nForce730I

Boardtek (Suzhou) Co. - 4-Layer - FR4

NB/SB Heatsink / Cooler Assembly - Extruded / Machined Aluminum, Anodized, w/ Copper Heat Pipe, Aluminum Top Plate, Integral Mounting Clips & Insulator

FP-6R3RE561M-L8 - Fujitsu - Electrolytic Aluminum Conductive Polymer - 6.3V, 560uF, 105C, Low ESR (Qty:27)

1746664-1 - Tyco - CPU Socket - LGA775, w/ Shepherd Hook Lever

Ceramic Multilayer - X5R/X7R (Qty:361)

ALC1200 - Realtek - Codec - HD Audio

FP-016RE101M-NU - Fujitsu - Electrolytic Aluminum Conductive Polymer - 16V, 100uF, 105C, Low ESR (Qty:8)

W83627DHG - Winbond - I/O Controller - Super I/O Device, LPC Interface

P0903BDG - Niko Semiconductor - MOSFET - N-Channel, Enhancement Mode, 25V, 50A (Qty:13)

Materials and Manufacturing $79.93

What Is Not Included in our Cost Analysis

The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.

Manufacturing Notes

OEM/ODM/EMS Relationships / Manufacturing

Per iSuppli's "Global OEM Manufacturing and Design Analysis (GOMDA), we know that Asustek have their own design centers in Shanghai and Suzhou China as well as Taipei, Taiwan. Now, of course, Asustek has spun of their own manufacturing facilities (Pegatron) which is assumed to be producing this board, and it is assumed to be made in China to benefit from the lowest possible cost structure.

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

China is assumed to be the country of origin for the integration of this motherboard.

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of 'finished' sub-assemblies, we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.

Remember also that labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. ""Auto" inserted components (such as SMT components) placement China is assumed to be the country of origin for the integration of this motherboard.

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The component count of this Gigabyte motherboard is 1050 vs. an overall average component count we see historically in desktop motherboards of about 1190 total components, making this device below average in component count.

Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design.

Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.

Design Notes

The ASUS P5N7A-VM Motherboard is based around a single-chip Nvidia GeForce 9300 / nForce 730i solution, with a major I/O controller from Winbond (W83627DHG), a Realtek HD Audio codec and Ethernet transceiver, and a JMicron host controller (PCI Express to PATA).

Here is a summary of the major components used in the ASUS P5N7A-VM Motherboard design:

Northbridge/Southbridge

• Nvidia - GF-9300-730I-B2 - Single Chip, GeForce9300 and nForce730I

I/O & Interface

• I/O Controller - Winbond - W83627DHG - Super I/O Device, LPC Interface
• Codec - Realtek - ALC1200 - HD Audio
• Ethernet Transceiver - Realtek - RTL8211CL - Single Port, Gigabit, 10/100/1000Base-T
• Host Controller - JMicron Technology - JMB368 - PCI Express to PATA
• MUX/DEMUX - Pericom - PI3HDMI412FT-BZHE - 2:1, 4-Differential Channel, HDMI 1.3 Compliant