Hello the_Gathering
Now you've gone and done it !!! :bounce: You've made me register at this forum, so that I can reply to your question. I simply had to get in and make one thing very clear:
The Asus A7N8X-X motherboard is NOT a dualchannel RAM motherboard !!!!
This is something I know for certain(100%). I got one myself, and then returned it to get get another one.
The A7N8X-X is the low end budget version of Asus Nforce2 motherboards:
http://www.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n8x-x/overview.htm
While it does have 400Mhz FSB and RAM support, it doesn't support dualchannel.
I think its a shame that Asus doesn't have budget motherboards that support dualchannel like for instance Gigabyte does. Not all people are interested in the more expensive motherboards with SATA, Dolby Digital, Dual LAN, RAID etc. etc.
Personally I've allways had Asus motherboards, but now I've broken that rule, and got myself a Gigabyte. Like Asus and others, Gigabyte have a lot of different Nforce2 motherboards, and it can be difficult for newbies to decide which one to get. I assume, you wanna go for a budget motherboard; therefore I would very much recommend the one I got: Gigabyte GA-7N400-L1 (Not GA-7N400-L).
Check this link:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-7N400-L1.htm
This sucker has Nforce2 400Ultra, and not "just" Nforce2 400 like the A7N8X-X, and it does indeed support dualchannel. It does require to be flashed with the newest BIOS - but which motherboards doesn't do that??
The Southbridge of GA-7N400-L1 is the same as A7N8X-X, and thus it doesn't have the luxury things like SATA, Dolby Digital, Dual LAN, RAID etc., as both of the boards bigger brothers have.
But IF one insists on getting Asus, then the newest "A7N8X Deluxe 2.0" is probably the one to get...
Hope I made things a little clearer
best regards