nForce 4 SLI Motherboard Round-Up

Name: nForce 4 SLI Motherboard Round-Up - Page 2
Brand: nForce

by Marco Chiappetta — Wednesday, March 30, 2005, 06:00 PM EDT

Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI: Specification & Bundle

The first motherboard we've got on tap for you today is Gigabyte's K8NXP-SLI. Gigabyte loaded this motherboard up with such a comprehensive list of integrated peripherals, and included so many extras, that they have to ship it in two boxes. The main package folds open to reveal a list of features and awards, and each side holds its own box; one is for the motherboard itself and the other is for all of the cables, manuals, software, and accessories included with the K8NXP-SLI.

Specifications of the Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI

Tons O' Fun

Processor
•_Socket 939 supports AMD Athlon64 / 64 FX

Chipset
•_NVIDIA nForce4 SLI MCPs (media and communication processors)
•_Super I/O: ITE IT8712 chip

Integrated peripherals
•_Silicon Image sil 3114 controller
•_T.I. IEEE1394b controller
•_Marvell 8053 Gigabit Ethernet controller
•_CICADA8201 Gigabit LAN PHY chip
•_Realtek ALC850 Audio AC'97 Codec

Memory
•_Type: Dual channel DDR400 / 333/ 266 (184pin)
•_Max capacity: Up to 4GB by 4 DIMM slots

Internal I/O Connectors
•_8 x Serial ATA connector (4 X Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s)
•_2 x UDMA ATA 133/100/66 Bus Master IDE connectors
•_1 x FDD connector
•_3 x USB 2.0/1.1 connectors (supports 6 ports)
•_2 x IEEE 1394b connectors (supports 3 ports)
•_3 x cooling fan pin headers
•_CD in

Expansion Slots
•_2 x PCI-Express X 16 slot, supports two PCI-Express interface
•_Graphics cards with SLI mode
•_2 x PCI-Express X 1 slots
•_2 x PCI slots (PCI 2.3 compliant)

H/W Monitoring
•_System health status auto-detect and report by BIOS
•_Hardware detecting and reporting for case open, CPU voltage, and fan speed

Rear Panel I/O
•_4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
•_2 x RJ45 ports
•_Audio (4 x Line-out / 1 x Line-in / 1 x MIC) connector
•_Coaxial S/PDIF input/ output function
•_PS/2 Keyboard / Mouse
•_1 x COM port
•_1 x LPT

CPU/AGP/DIMM setting
•_CPU HT / Multiplier / Vcore Voltage adjustable via BIOS
•_PCI-ExpessX16 Voltage / Clock adjustable via BIOS
•_DIMM Voltage / Clock adjustable via BIOS

Power
•_ATX power connector and ATX 12V connector
•_Power-off by Windows 98 / Me / 2000 / XP shut down and switch

Form Factor
•_ATX form factor
•_30.5 x 24.4 cm

BIOS
•_2 X 4M bit flash ROM
•_Award BIOS

Other Features
•_NVIDIA SLI multi-GPU support
•_Dual Power System (DPS)
•_802.11g compatible Wireless adapter
•_Support NVIDIA Firewall
•_Norton Internet Security
•_Download Center
•_Xpress Installation
•_Xpress Recovery
•_Q-Flash
•_@BIOS

Gigabyte shipped a very complete assortment of manuals, cables, brackets and accessories with the K8NXP-SLI. Gigabyte included a pair of driver/utility CDs, a detailed hardware installation guide and a quick reference pamphlet, along with two fairly large user's manuals that outline the motherboard's main features, clearly explain how to fully utilize K8NXP-SLI's RAID functions, and also explain how to use the bundled wireless 802.11g LAN card. The RAID manual is a welcome addition because this board has multiple RAID controllers and has the ability to set up RAID arrays across both the SATA and PATA controllers. With this added layer of complexity, having a manual to reference while configuring an array is a definite plus. There were also a total of eight SATA cables, four Molex-to-SATA power adapters, a floppy cable, and an 80-Wire IDE cable included with this board, along with a custom I/O shield and three additional case brackets. The case brackets give users access to an additional four USB connectors and four FireWire connectors. There was also an SLI connector included with the board, and Gigabyte's proprietary DPS (Dual Power System) riser card. The DPS riser card upgrades the K8NXP-SLI to a 6-Phase power array, which should help with stability in extreme circumstances where a 3-Phase array may be stressed beyond its normal limits.