Supplied by Gigabyte
*lowest price date of review www.pricewatch.com
As one of the first Socket 939 motherboards, the K8NSNXP-939 from Gigabyte, offers a wealth of features. The Dual Power System (DPS) has now become a permanent feature and the adoption of NVIDIA’s nForce3 Ultra chipset brings hefty promises of massive hard drive support, NVIDIA’s firewall and disk management.
The Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 is the first Socket 939 motherboard for Gigabyte and the new AMD Athlon 64 939-pin processors mark the next evolution and upgrade pathway for AMD. Socket 939 is the most notable feature and right in behind it is the NVIDIA nForce3 Ultra chipset. The nForce3 chipset supports up to, on this particular motherboard, 4 SATA and 2 PATA hard drives in RAID 0, 1 and 0+1 which Gigabyte has named Raid Deluxe. 8-channel audio, IEEE 1394b (800 Mb/s Firewire), Dual Lan, Gigabyte’s Dual Power System (DPS Gold) and Gigabyte’s ever present Dual Bios round out the other high points.
Gigabyte have two motherboards under the K8NSNXP model number. It’s only the “-939” that separates the Socket 754 version from the Socket 939 version. Remember that come time of purchase else you may come home with your shiny, new K8NSNXP and discover it’s for Socket 754 when you should have ordered the K8NSNXP-939 for Socket 939.
Specifications
| GA-K8NSNXP-939 |
| nForce3 Ultra chipset |
| Processor |
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| Chipset |
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| Memory |
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| Internal I/O Connectors |
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| Expansion Slots |
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| Rear Panel I/O |
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| CPU/AGP/DIMM setting |
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| Power |
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| Form Factor |
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| H/W Monitoring |
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| BIOS |
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| Other Features |
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What’s in the box
Gigabyte includes the standard issue install CD, SATA Raid manual and motherboard manual.
The manual is informative for the new user but it lacks inclusion of the ADVANCED BIOS SETTINGS that a user can access at the main BIOS menu by pressing CTRL-F1.
Three SATA cables are included.
Along with 1 EIDE floppy and 1 PATA ribbon cable. It’s clear that the motherboard platform is slowly migrating away from PATA hard drives.
This PCI bracket device is for porting the SATA motherboard headers to the rear PCI slots of a case. An external PATA hard drive array/cabinet can then be hooked up.
Gigabyte includes two styles of SATA power connector cables.
Four USB headers are on the backplane with two more side by side with the two styles of 1394 ports.
Another PCI USB bracket brings the total USB ports to 8.
Gigabyte has revised the S/PDIF bracket. Now seen is a different faceplate from prior motherboard models and the inclusion of the spring loaded cover door on the optical port.
Lastly is the backplane PC case guard and a Gigabyte case and keyboard badge.
Touring the board
The motherboard tour begins at the socket and moves clockwise around the board.
Socket 939 is now part of desktop PC life. Socket 939 (and 940) have the plastic heatsink frame while the popular predecessor, Socket A (462), did not.
Above the socket is the ATX 12 volt 4-pin connector. Note the group of seven capacitors. There’ll be more about those further into the article.
Four DIMM sockets support up to 4 GB of Dual Channel memory. Dual Channel is enabled with 2 memory modules inserted in the red or purple sockets. Dual Channel is also enabled with 4 memory modules inserted. The PATA/Optical drive, floppy and ATX connectors are placed conveniently near the top of the board.
Hiding above the IDE 1 header and behind the ATX power connector is the power fan header. This header is out in the wasteland as any system fans would be at the rear of the case or lower front.
Gigabyte’s Dual Bios is pretty much a standard on their mid to higher end motherboard products. If the BIOS should ever fail then the secondary BIOS kicks in and can overwrite the main BIOS to return it to operational condition. The CMOS clear jumper is located just above the Dual BIOS chips.
Active cooling is on the NVIDIA nForce3 Ultra chipset.
Down at the lower right of the motherboard are the color coded front panel connectors and USB headers.
Next to the USB headers are the first two of four SATA headers. The text may say SATA II but these two are controlled by the Silicon Image SII3512 chip.
The Silicon Image 3512 chip is a two port chip providing Serial ATA 1.5 Gbps (150 MB/s) data transfer speed for RAID 0 and RAID 1 function. Even though the Gigabyte specs lead you to believe that RAID 0+1 is supported, it is, but not by this chip. This isn’t a Gigabyte deception and all motherboards with this chip work the same way. The two SATA headers at the bottom of the board are controlled by this chip and not by the NVIDIA nForce3 chip which the assumption can be made that four SATA drives cannot be striped together.
Texas Instruments provides support for the faster 1394b Firewire ports via the TSB82AA2 and TSB81BA3 chips.
Five PCI slots are available which is still a standard compliment for most motherboards.
Note the two other SATA headers above the AGP slot. These are controlled by the nForce3 chipset and here’s where the RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 0+1 support lies.
Below the PCI slots is the game header, S/PDIF header and info link header.
To the left of the PCI slots is the Marvel 88E8001 chip. This chip controls the LAN 1 port and provides for 32-bit Gigabit ethernet. It will support 10, 100 or 1000 Mbps connections.
Tucked away is a tiny Realtek ALC850 chip that drives the 8 channel audio portion of this board. It’s 16-bit, 48 KHz sampling rate device with an A-Weighted Signal to Noise (SNR) ratio of 86 dB digital to analog and 93 dB analog to digital. Total harmonic distortion is 70 dB digital to analog and 86 dB analog to digital. A PCI higher end audio card like the M-Audio Revolution has an SNR of 100 dB analog to digital and 107 dB digital to analog. Motherboard audio has come a long way in the last year.
The surround header is located relatively far away from the S/PDIF header. Those few inches will mean that one cable from the PCI audio bracket goes one way while a second cable goes another. It isn’t a problem but it isn’t very neat.
The ITE IT8712F-A chip “provides the most commonly used legacy Super I/O functionality plus the latest Environment Control initiatives, such as H/W Monitor, Fan Speed Controller, ITE’s “SmartGuardian” function and Smart Card Reader Interface.”
The backplane features PS/2 mouse and keyboard support, parallel and serial ports, NVIDIA LAN, Gigabit LAN, four USB 2.0 ports and 1/8″ jack sensing audio connectors.
Gigabyte’s Dual Power System (DPS) used to be a daughter card setup but now it is incorporated into the K8NSNXP-939 motherboard. In the manual this is refereed to as the DPVRM (Dual Power Voltage Regulator Module) and on the box and card it is known as the Dual Power System (DPS). DPVRM would be the more accurate term as DPS does not act as a second PSU but a “6-phase power circuit design to provide a more solid and durable power supply.”
The power mofsets are cooled by an elaborate heatsink housing with active cooling.
The DPS is cooled by an Everflow fan which is nearly impossible to find the specifications for. Rumor has it that Everflow is Thermaltake’s own brand.
And the entire DPS GOLD system is illuminated.
Inside the BIOS
The ADVANCED BIOS menu is accessed by pressing CTRL-F1.
Standard CMOS features are, well, standard.
2X AGP support is now gone from BIOS. It would take some bit of digging in a used PC parts store to find 2x AGP video cards.
The ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES menu gives access to aperture size, CPU thermal throttling, HyperTransport link frequency and RAM timings.
CPU thermal throttling occurs when the processor is in the Suspend to RAM mode (STR) but does not affect processor performance otherwise. It is a percentage of clock speed the processor “backs down” to while in STR.
HT Frequency is the HyperTransport bandwidth. Maximum was 800 MHz so it’s simple to do the math now that we know 1000 MHz is running with the Socket 939 processor; 200 MHz times the multiplier indicated.
The INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS menu presents no new surprises.
Nor does POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP, PNP/PCI CONFIGURATION or PC HEALTH STATUS.
Gigabyte is taking a run at overclocking again with the Motherboard Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.B.). It’s a feature that’s been seen before on other Gigabyte motherboards. CPU clock ratio goes from 4x to 25x in 0.5 increments.
CPU overclock in MHz is manually entered. 999 can be entered so that’s the new goal to aim at for overclockers.
AGP overclock is also entered manually from 001 to 999 though, sadly, the memory controller now on-die has presented a new set of overclocking challenges to enthusiasts.
CPU voltage can be set from 0.800 Volts to 1.700 Volts.
AGP, and HT Link voltage control is only plus 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 volts and DRR voltage is only plus 0.1 and 0.2 volts over.
Is the BIOS extensive? Overclockers are challenged since AMD moved the memory controller on-die. The RAM timing functions are most certainly extensive but Socket 940 and 939 processors are finicky about overclocking the CPU clock ratios. Expect small gains only.
Installation and things that go bork
Every Gigabyte board we’ve looked at has not been without it’s wish list. The wish list has always been minor and mostly boiled down to a location of a header or an inclusion of a feature. It was surprising to encounter a problem so obvious as what we discovered.
The seven capacitors above the socket interfere with the stock AMD Socket 939 heatsink.
Here it is from the beginning. First the heatsink in place but not clipped in.
Note the capacitors are aligned and it appears the armature of the heatsink sits snug against the capacitors. The heatsink is loosely positioned and no anywhere near the proper alignment.
Now a close up showing how tight space becomes as the heatsink is fit into proper position.
And when the heatsink is firmly pushed into place the capacitors begin to present a problem.
And a problem they are which we have contacted Gigabyte about.
The installation process was smooth once past the heastink/capacitor problem but have a look at the placement of the two NVIDIA SATA headers just above the video card.
In the ANTEC/Chenming/AMK SX1xxx case the position is quite good for the hard drives but this changes from PC case to PC case. If the drives are lower then the SATA cables will have to reach up past the video card.
A word or two about nForce Ultra
For a complete and detailed explanation of the capabilities of the NVIDIA nForce3 250 Gb chipset see our preview. nForce3 Ultra is NVIDIA’s next development in the nForce chipset line. With the Ultra comes the NVIDIA Firewall, Networking Technology and SATA RAID control. The nForce control functions are accessible after installing the ForceWare drivers downloaded from the NVIDIA website. The install disk included in the Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 box will not make these features accessible.
The ForceWare Network Access Manager is an easy to understand interface for configuring network access and the firewall. It can be incredibly easy or very detailed. Not too many words will be spent on the NVIDIA nForce3 chipset as it’s already been covered in our preview. Suffice it to say that nForce3 has made network configuration and firewall protection easy and configurable. A hint for those sharing drives over a LAN. A custom profile must be created otherwise the default protection levels will stop internet/drive sharing. Use the wizards once CUSTOM has been chosen from the firewall basic configuration menu.
The chipset or perhaps software isn’t without it’s glitches. Normally when the CAT5 cable is pulled an error icon should appear in the taskbar such as the example in the following image. It didn’t.
More than that the network connection failed altogether even when the CAT5 cable was plugged back in. The network connection would only re-establish if the PC was rebooted or the NIC manually forced to auto negotiate such as disabling the connection in the control panel and re-enabling it again.
Even more unfortunate was the total failure of the Marvell Gigabit ethernet.
The Marvell Yukon drivers that came with the install CD would not work. The Gigabit LAN 1 port was all but dead but a bit of detective work found the latest drivers (v.7.14.1.3 at this time) and it cured the problem.
EasyTune4/Overclocking
Gigabyte’s EasyTune4 makes the first jumps into overclocking painless. It will never replace the true art of nudging a system towards its peak but it will get the novice user off the ground. The EasyTune4 icon can automatically load into the startup tray.
Double-click the icon and the GUI appears.
In our quick spin of EasyTune4 overclocking the board maxed out at 2520 MHz. Socket 939 processors will underclock on the multiplier but they will not exceed their default multiplier setting.
8 Channel Audio
Both work but which one; nVMixer or Realtek audio?
First this motherboard does not feature the NVIDIA SoundStorm audio package nor its reincarnation. There is a choice of GUI interfaces on the desktop and software translation language under the hood to the Realtek AC97 audio. Installation of the ForceWare drivers overrides any other audio interface. The RealTek audio interface must be installed afterwards to get the Gigabyte RealTek control panel and the audio portion of the ForceWare drivers must be reinstalled to go back again. Don’t look to the CD for the NVIDIA audio drivers. Those are for the SoundStorm package and will not install. Use the latest ForceWare drivers from the NVIDIA website.
The perceived audio quality between the two is identical. The choice of GUI is one of preference as both will result in the same 8-channel sound. Neither is Dolby on the motherboard. A Dolby software decoder, such as in a DVD software interface, must be used. It’s a matter of personal preference for the GUI.
Cool’n’Quiet
What will prove to be this year’s hit is AMD’s Cool’n’Quiet. AMD’s Cool’n’Quiet, unlike Intel’s similar offering, isn’t just for notebooks and here’s what it does for desktops.
- Cool’n’Quiet cuts processor speed when the processor is at idle.
- Cool’n’Quiet cuts processor voltage when the processor is at idle.
- Cool’n’Quiet instantaneously ramps up processor speed and voltage in accordance to CPU load.
Let’s talk about the benefits. The first is heat output. A processor that runs at lower voltage outputs less heat. Less heat means that a thermistor controlled CPU cooling fan can reduce speed and thus noise level. The second is power usage. A processor that runs at a lower voltage consumes less power and this power consumption saving adds up on the monthly bill for a business; small, medium or large. Basically it’s the reverse of the P4 Thermal Control Circuit; it runs flat out when it needs to otherwise it backs off to reduce power usage and heat output.
It is active on the Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 and only needs the software from the CD or downloaded from AMD. Check our review for more information on what Cool’n’Quiet is and what it may save you in real dollars.
Benchmarks.
The test systems.
- AMD FX-53 Processor (32-bit mode Socket 939)
- Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 motherboard
- ATI 9800 PRO 256 MB Video Card Catalyst 4.2 drivers (Application preference ticked for Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering in both Direct 3D and OpenGL, VSYNC disabled BIOS AGP aperture set to 256)
- 2 x 512 MB Corsair PC3200LL TwinX DDR RAM in DIMM 1 and 2
- LG 8x DVD +/- RW
- 80 GB Seagate Hard Drive
- Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
- USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse
- Retail boxed heatsink
- AMK SX1000 modded PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
- Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
- Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 updated DX90.b installed.
- AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Processor (32-bit mode Socket 939)
- ASUS A8V motherboard
- ATI 9800 PRO 256 MB Video Card Catalyst 4.2 drivers (Application preference ticked for Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering in both Direct 3D and OpenGL, VSYNC disabled BIOS AGP aperture set to 256)
- 2 x 512 MB Corsair PC3200LL TwinX DDR RAM in DIMM 1 and 3
- LG 8x DVD +/- RW
- 80 GB Seagate Hard Drive
- Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
- USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse
- Retail HSF
- AMK SX1000 modded PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
- Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
- Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 updated DX90.b installed.
- AMD FX-53 Processor
(32-bit mode Socket 940) - Gigabyte
8NNXP-940 motherboard - ATI 9800 PRO 256 MB Video
Card Catalyst 4.2 drivers (Application preference ticked for Anti-Aliasing
and Anisotropic Filtering in both Direct 3D and OpenGL, VSYNC disabled BIOS
AGP aperture set to 256) - 2 x 512 MB Crucial
PC3200 ECC REG DDR RAM in DIMM 1 and 3 - Sony 52x CD
- 80 GB Seagate Hard Drive
- Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
- USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse
- Retail boxed heatsink
- AMK SX1000
modded PC case (window, fans, cables, loom) - Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
- Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 updated DX90.b installed.
- AMD FX-53 Processor (32-bit mode Socket 940)
- ASUS SK8N motherboard
- ASUS SK8N motherboard
- ATI 9800 PRO 256 MB Video Card Catalyst 4.2 drivers (Application preference ticked for Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering in both Direct 3D and OpenGL, VSYNC disabled BIOS AGP aperture set to 256)
- 2 x 512 MB Crucial PC3200 ECC REG DDR RAM in DIMM 1 and 3
- Sony 52x CD
- 80 GB Seagate Hard Drive
- Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
- USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse
- Retail boxed heatsink
- AMK SX1000 modded PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
- Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
- Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 updated DX90.b installed.
Programs used
Sisoft Sandra 2004- MadOnion
3DMark 2001 SE - MadOnion
3DMark 2003 - Quake
III Arena - GL
Excess - SpecviewPerf 7.1
- Serious Sam SE
- Splinter Cell (Chinese Embassy timedemo)
- Unreal Tournament 2003 flyby benchmarks
- Aquamark3
- Jurassic Park Operation Genesis (Exercise cut scene/FRAPS)
- Call of Duty demo (40,000 frames played/FRAPS)
- X2
Demo - Wolfenstein Enemy Territory (Railgun demo)
- Fraps
- Adobe After Effects 5.5
- Softimage 2.0.1
All tests were run at default video card settings with VSYNC disabled. Anti-Aliasing
and Anisotropic Filtering was left ticked for application preference. AGP aperture
was set to 256 MB. Windows visual effects
was set for ADJUST FOR BEST PERFORMANCE.
Individual performance will vary with any particular or specific timings or
tweaks enabled by you. A 1024 MB page file was moved to D: partition. Temporary
Internet files moved to J: partition at end of drive. OS installed to C: and
programs installed to E:. All programs were benchmarked with initial monitor
settings at 1024×768@75Hz. Your own mileage may very.
In the following graphs the ASUS A8V (Socket 939) was mistakenly identified as the ASUS K8V. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.
3DMark 2003
3D Mark 2003 was originally designed to measure performance specifically in
shader-heavy titles.
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Aquamark3
Aquamark3 is a newer benchmark from Massive Development. For the most part
it is a DirectX 8.1 benchmark though it is run with DirectX 90b installed. Four
measurement sets were used. The first has high and low detail with Anti Aliasing
and Anisotropic filtering turned off. The second has high and low detail with
Anti-Aliasing (6x) and Anisotropic filtering (16x) set at max.
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GL Excess
GL Excess is an OPENGL benchmark that is optimized for DX8.1.
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Quake III high quality
Quake III continues to hang around. This benchmark is one that
most can’t just let go of and it retains grandfather rights in the community.
Many of today’s games are based upon the Quake engine. It wasn’t too long ago that we thought topping 100
FPS was fast. Now we sit at over 300 FPS with the screen set to a high resolution
and detail.
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Serious Sam
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UT2003 Flyby
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UT2004 Benchmark
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Wolfenstein Enemy Territory: Railgun timedemo
Wolfenstein Enemy Territory uses an improved version of the heavily
modified Quake III engine from Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The Railgun time
demo results were recorded.
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X2 Rolling Demo
X2 – The Threat is a teaser with a benchmark option for Egosoft’s
upcoming release. It does not use pixel shaders.
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Call of Duty Demo
Call of Duty is a new game thus using the latest in optimizations.
FRAPS was used to record the average number of frames per second over a minimum
of 100,000 played frames. Call of Duty also finds its roots in the Quake III
engine.
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SplinterCell (Chinese Embassy Timedemo)
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Specviewperf 7.1
SpecviewPerf measures the 3D rendering performance of systems
running under OPENGL.
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The following two tests are targeted mainly towards CPU performance and will
show if any “flaws” are in board design affecting the ability of the
CPU to crunch through the data. While in render mode the two test programs virtually
bypass ram and GPU.
Adobe After Effects 5.5
Adobe After Effects is a tool to produce motion
graphics and visual effects for film, video, multimedia and the web. It is primarily
a 2D application using imported graphics or digital footage or self generated
effects. A project was created that was a combination of many video footage
files, resizing and rasterizing effects, text animations and multiple layer
effects. This “average” combination was felt to best demonstrate advantages
and/or disadvantages that a real world user may experience rather than isolating
and benchmarking a particular effect.
There is no official benchmark for After Effects
but tasks can be timed to show specific results. Rendering, or the task of building
and compiling frames, is primarily CPU intensive and After Effects generally bypasses
the video card to rely solely upon the processor for speed. The time taken
to render 900 frames shows how fast the processor is working on the
given task.
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Softimage XSI can simply bring
any computer to its knees. It’s an incredibly powerful 3D animation program
that has the ability to become so complex that single processor systems have
been known to “think” for days when rendering an animation. A faster and more powerful video
card will translate to a smoother interface where complex scenes are manipulated
in real time. Users can manipulate objects in a
choice of views from wire frame mode to simulated real-time shading mode. A user must render a frame to disk, which
bypasses the GPU, in
order to look at a finished product. A faster processor will result in a faster render.
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Benchmark Conclusions
On average the K8NSNXP-939 runs 2nd place in gaming benchmarks compared to the ASUS K8V. Second place is only the difference of a very few frames per second. Socket 939 does make up significant ground in Specview Perf besting even the formidable Socket 940 FX-53 processor. The “system killer” Softimage benchmark shows the K8NSNXP-939 as the winner once again and the K8NSNXP places a third place in After Effects losing to its competition by 1 and 2 seconds respectively; a photo finish.
The “dragstrip of benchmarks” is something to keep in perspective. One product may best another by split seconds or a handful of frames which will not make the difference to user feel. A memory timing tweak here and there could make the difference between “loser” and “winner”. The choice of platform comes down to features, stability and ease of use when processors are the same.
Conclusions
Gigabyte expects to ship over 16 million motherboards in 2004 up from 13.5 in 2003. That’s a lot of motherboards. Take a look through the Gigabyte website and start counting just how many models of motherboards Gigabyte produces. I gave up at 300 and there’s still more.
The K8NSNXP-939 is another of Gigabyte’s flagship products. It has even more potential…for a price. That’s the Achilles Heal for motherboard producers and where some explanation of non-included features could lie. An option, such as NVIDIA SoundStorm may only be a few dollars more to implement by the manufacturer but will translate to $10 or $20 more at the consumer level. This could put the total price beyond acceptable levels. The novice only knows what they see and what their pocketbook tells them. When faced with a package that boldly screams “8-Channel Sound!” for less dollars than one that proudly sports “NVIDIA SoundStorm” for a few dollars more; which is most likely the choice?
The NVIDIA nForce3 chipset does have the capability for Gigabit LAN (which, of course, NVIDIA says is better) but it may have been more expensive to implement than the Marvell Gigabit LAN. 1000 Mbps isn’t a benefit since most users are standalone and connect only to the Internet. Those users who connect PC to PC can hugely benefit from equipping both with Gigabit ethernet. Remember the golden rule: “you’re as good as your weakest link.” If connecting through a router to another PC then a 10/100 router slows a Gigabit ethernet back down to 10/100 speeds.
Gigabyte flagship boards are extremely well-equipped on the motherboard and in the accessories. Two different SATA chipsets is an oddity but many manufacturers adopting the nForce3 chipset will face this challenge as well to stay within competitive price. Gigabyte boards are also “flashy”. The gold/polished brass look of DPS and the nForce3 cooler give it a luxurious look. This is outdone only by DFI who have taken the LANPARTY series of motherboards to the n’th degree of “look at me!”
The thorn in our sides is the installation CD. The Express Installation worked well but installation of the Marvell Gigabit LAN was painful but eventually overcome. The basic NVIDIA drivers were on the disk but the latest ForceWare drivers had to be downloaded from the NVIDIA website to gain access to the functions of the nForce3 chipset. Perhaps there are some licensing issues or politics under the radar. The installation disk is swimming with folders and the novice will be stupefied as to what to install.
This is the unfortunate downfall of all motherboard manufacturers adopting parts of the nForce3 chipset and combining it with other chipsets; drivers, drivers and more drivers. The Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 will give up a wealth of data with respect to the NVIDIA nForce3 chipset in action as well as investigating SATA RAID 0 and 1 on both chipsets. Those two subjects will provide for enough article content on their own.
Is this the “ultimate” motherboard from Gigabyte? Certainly it is latest ultimate motherboard from Gigabyte but there’s still room for growth. Gigabyte has the option to produce a 939-pin motherboard with every feature of the nForce3 chipset implemented but, like all manufacturers who go this route, it will be at a cost to the consumer.
The Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 is one formidable platform.
Our thanks to Gigabyte for
their support of this and many other sites.
Highs
- Large memory and hard drive support
- Top end performance
- Fully featured
- Socket 939
Lows
- More expensive
- Installation CD is troublesome.
| Attribute | Score | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus items & software | 9.5 | Everything included. No missing connectors for 1394b, audio and USB. |
| Design & layout | 9.5 | Gigabyte has made improvements to the orientation of the DPS module from previous motherboards incorporating this feature. The only quirk is the placement of the power fan header. |
| Documentation | 9 | Gigabyte includes 2 manuals (motherboard and Sata Raid) which are excellent for the novice and intermediate user but need to be updated in a few areas including documentation on the hidden BIOS features revealed by CTRL-F1. |
| Features & options | 9.5 | Dual LAN, 8-channel audio, 8 x USB, 1394b, S/PDIF optical and digital, SATA RAID x 2 (NVIDIA and SI)…is there more? |
| Fine-tuning features | 8 | Overclockers may find AMD’s memory controller on-die a challenge to overclocking. The BIOS has extensive adjustments. Some users may desire greater control/adjustment over DDR, AGP and HT voltage. |
| Overclocking features | 9 | Extensive adjustments in the BIOS with the exception of AGP, DDR and HT voltage control which most motherboards follow this same route. |
| Performance & stability | 9 | Very good performer. No complications during benchmarks with a PATA hard drive. SATA drives were not tested on NVIDIA or SI chipsets. |
| Presentation | 9.5 | Gigabyte definitely has attractive presentation and packaging. |
| Price / value | 8.5 | It’s not cheap but there’s a lot onboard. |
| Total score | 81.5/90 | 90.6% |
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