Socket 939 Motherboard Roundup: ABIT, MSI, Gigabyte
The Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 is a limited edition motherboard that is part of Gigabyte's "6-Dual Deluxe" line of products. The "6-Dual" products are equipped with multiple peripherals such as dual BIOS EPROMS, dual RAID controllers, and dual LAN. Unlike the streamlined ABIT AV8, however, Gigabyte has packed the K8NSNXP-939 with as many bells and whistles as possible. This is arguably the most feature-rich motherboard in this roundup, but some notable items such as ABIT's diagnostic LEDs or the K8T's bundled wireless network adapter are absent...
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| Processor •_Socket 939 for AMD Athlon64/ 64 FX Chipset •_NVIDIA nForce3 Ultra Platform Processor •_Super I/O: ITE IT8712F chip Integrated peripherals •_Silicon Image sil3512 controller •_T.I. IEEE1394b controller •_Marvell 8001 Gigabit Ethernet controller •_ICS 1883 LAN PHY chip •_Realtek ALC850 Audio AC'97 Codec Memory •_Type: Dual channel DDR400/ 333/ 266 -184pin •_Max capacity: Up to 4GB by four DIMM slots Internal I/O Connectors •_4 x Serial ATA connector •_2 x UDMA ATA 133/100/66 Bus Master IDE connectors •_1 x FDD connector •_2 x USB 2.0/1.1 connectors (supports 4 ports) •_2 x IEEE 1394b connectors (supports 3 ports) •_S/PDIF input/output pin header •_3 x cooling fan pin headers •_CD/AUX in •_1 x Game/Midi connector BIOS •_2 X 4M bit flash ROM, Award BIOS Audio •_1 x Line-in / 1 x Line-out / 1 x Mic connector |
Expansion Slots •_1 x AGP slot (8x/4x-AGP 3.0 compliant), supports 1.5v display card only •_5 x PCI slots (PCI 2.3 compliant) Rear Panel I/O •_PS/2 Keyboard / Mouse •_4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports •_2 x RJ45 ports •_2 x COM ports •_1 x LPT CPU/AGP/DIMM setting •_CPU FSB / Multiplier / Vcore Voltage adjustable via BIOS •_AGP 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 H/W Monitoring •_System health status auto-detect and report by BIOS •_Hardware detecting and reporting for case open, CPU voltage, and fan speed Other Features •_Xpress Installation •_Xpress Recovery •_Q-Flash •_@BIOS |
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Bundled in with the K8NSNXP-939, Gigabyte shipped a nice assortment of manuals, cables, and brackets. Gigabyte included a detailed hardware installation guide and a quick reference pamphlet, along with two decent user's manuals outlining the motherboard's main features and clearly explaining the intricacies of the K8NSNXP-939's RAID functions. The RAID manual is a welcome addition because this board (and the K8N Neo2 Platinum) has the abilty to set up RAID arrays across both the SATA and PATA controllers. With this added layer of complexity, having a manual to reference will be quite useful for some users. There were also three SATA cables, three 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 four case brackets. The case brackets complement the K8NSNXP-939's on-board audio, add an additional four USB connectors, two FireWire connectors, and two external SATA connectors.
