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Gigabyte K8NXP-9 nForce4 Ultra Motherboard Review
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Hardcoreware.net has a review of one of the first Nforce 4 Ultra chipset boards that will hit the market soon for AMD Athlon 64 processors.
Overall, I can't be more pleased with the features and performance of our first NF4 Ultra board. Everything works flawlessly, which is even more of an accomplishment on a pre-release sample. PCI-E works without a hitch, and the Firewall with ActiveArmor hardware acceleration works and performs great.
The one hitch is that most NF4 Ultra boards will probably not have much in the way of integrated audio. Then again, we haven't seen much from the Intel side of things, even though they support high bit rates and frequencies.
As far as the Gigabyte K8NXP-9 itself, the board is absolutely stellar; at least is SHOULD be, once a final BIOS is released.
If things remain the way they are, and a PCI lock is not offered, I'd have to lower my respect for this board. However the way things are, it looks to be one of the most full featured AMD boards money can buy. You have EIGHT SATA ports, and up to TEN USB 2.0 ports from the get-go, with no hubs required! The board is laid out flawlessly, and was rock solid during all our testing. You even get a WiFi-G card!
Posted by: SKYHN
Its looking like there wont be ANY nForce4 boards with AGP 
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Yeah there's a strong push towards pci-express. Anyway, if you already got a good AGP graphica card, the nforce 3 boards are still a good deal. And cheaper too.
Posted by: IceBreaker
This board sells for 129€ over here - and only as a "test version", without cables, drivers or user manual http://www.touslessmileys.com/modul...ge.php/1766.gif
Posted by: SKYHN
Yep, thats what Im planning on getting. Only problem is I want the Ultra chipset(so i can run 512x4 ram), and Asus doesnt make one. Thinking about getting the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum. I like how the memory is horizontal above the CPU instead of vertical next to it. And most of the reviews say its the best S939 board.
I had read Asus planned to come out with an AGP nForce4, but i havent seen anything about one.
Posted by: IceBreaker
Is PCI-Express required to make the most of recent cards such as the X800XT & 9800U or will AGP-8X bandwidth suffice without any risk of bottlenecks?
Posted by: SKYHN
AGP technically is still enough. But with the next generation, it wont be. So they are pushing it out now so that the market has accepted PCI-E as the new standard by the time the next generation comes around.
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