Chaintech 7NJS Motherboard Review

Supplied by chaintech

For features and extras the Chaintech
7NJS Socket A NFORCE2 Zenith is practically untouchable! Chaintech went
all out when it came to extras inside the box. There is no other motherboard
bundle on the market today that can match it. Total up the extras separately
and the 7NJS provides more value. The price tag weighs in more than the competition
but the competition doesn’t pack anywhere near as much into the box. The 7NJS
is not as common a platform in overclocking circles but could it take a run
at the overclocking crown? This results in one of our most extensive reviews
to date. Every feature will be brought under the microscope.

Indeed Chaintech deserves awards for the 7NJS. Almost every other hardware
review tech site has bestowed their highest honors on this product. Site after
site gives it a “Top choice” or “Editor’s pick” but why?
The 7NJS isn’t the top performer or at least it isn’t in Icrontic’s battery
of “straight out of the box” tests. Every motherboard has to be “dialed
in” and this is no exception for the 7NJS but it’s a different story when
it is.

As a reader you may skip ahead to the last page in hopes of a shortcut to the
answers you’ve been seeking but it’s important to know why and what for. The
Chaintech 7NJS will exceed expectations for some and, perhaps, disappoint others.
The price tag is be a bit higher but just wait till the box is open. Option
for option and accessory for accessory the Chaintech 7NJS is a winner.

Take a deep breath and grab a pot of coffee because here are all the sides
to “yay” or “nay” question.

Specifications

Chaintech 7NJS supports all the flashy options…period.

The almost perfect Box

This is as close to perfection in product presentation as it
gets.

Chaintech have set the bar for all other motherboard manufacturers. The 7NJS
buyer will feel they have gotten their money’s worth and indeed they have. If
the average “cheapest” price today of an NFORCE2 motherboard floats
around $110 USD then a consumer would have to pay MORE to get everything separately
that comes bundled standard with the 7NJS. How much more depends on the purchase
point but it is safe to say that it’s a minimum of $20-$30 USD more.

The box contains the motherboard encased in a plastic tray. The tray removes
revealing the “next level” of contents. Remember that this box is
almost twice as thick as normal motherboard boxes.

the manual came out first.

There is a fold-out quick reference guide.

The installation CDs marks the first time in a long time where a jewel case
was included and 2 CDs.

The CD on the left contains sound, NFORCE2 and USB 2.0 and RAID drivers while
the CD on the right contains Adobe Acrobat Reader, Active Share, Norton Antivirus
2002 and Norton Personal Firewall 2002 and Imagemore.

The 7NJS box contains 1 floppy and 2 IDE round cables. This is approximately
a $25 USD value in itself.

The cables are better than a lot of round cables for flexibility. They are
as flexible as VANTEC but there is one minor difference.

Look carefully and a line will be seen running parallel to the plastic boot.
This is a lamination on the last section of the wires before being crimped into
the connector. These cables are of the same flexible quality and build as pricier
VANTEC but VANTEC offers twice as much lamination. Other than that they are
the same.

The Vantec cable is the lower of the two. (Black) There is no real difference
in the two except for the extra lamination to hold the wires together. This
is only of personal importance as it is felt that the extra lamination length
gives strength to that final connection with the plastic header. More support
means less chance of broken wires and corrupted data especially if always fiddling
with connecting and disconnecting the cables. The Chaintech cables are nevertheless
of good quality and highly flexible.

The other bright yellow cables are SATA and there are two.

The 7NJS comes with 6 Channel sound but it does have its drawbacks. The included
PCI bracket supplies audio to the center and subwoofer channels and rear speaker
channels.

The CMEDIA 8738, while pretty good, does not live up to the abilities of SoundStorm
sound which the NFORCE2 chip supports. Competitor’s NFORCE2 boards have gone
with the SoundStorm Dolby Digital 5.1 technology while Chaintech has not. Along
with AC3 97 Dolby the CMEDIA chip hangs its hat on a 3D audio positioning sound
or XEAR 3D sound that uses 2, 4, 5 or 6 speakers to create the illusion of virtual
speakers. 2 speakers can be configured to give the illusion of 4 and so on.
CMEDIA offers a PDF
file that covers the basics plus full explanations of XEAR
3D technology. Allegedly even those wearing only headphones can experience
a 5.1 speaker setup.

Chaintech includes a connector cable for the 6-channel bracket.

Which connects here but notice the two jumpers. Nowhere in the manual was an
explanation of what these jumpers do.

Competitor’s products often feature on-board SPDIF out while Chaintech has
opted for a PCI slot based SPDIF in/out system.

The SPDIF bracket only supports 2 channel sound in either 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz
sampling rates. There will be no Dolby Digital 5.1, five or four channel SPDIF
sound with the 7NJS but it does have SPDIF IN as well as OUT. The SPDIF bracket
has a set of dip switches. Another problem is that the manual doesn’t state
what they are for. Chaintech support states the correct settings for the dip
switches are 1,2 and 4 set to OFF and 3 set to ON.

As near as we can guess the recommended DIP switch settings will work but can
be adjusted if SPDIF out is not working. Try reversing the included optical
cable first.

UPDATE: March 27, 2003 We have answers!

Chaintech provides the first 2 of 3 FIREWIRE ports with a 1394 daughter card.

It’s inserted into an ACR slot and not a regular PCI slot. The daughter card
features 2 FIREWIRE ports for the rear of the PC case but also provides for
a connector to a front media port device.

The 2 foot long 1394 cable connection cable is included but could have been
longer; 3 Feet or more for the larger PC cases or those who wish to place the
CBOX2 in the top most drive bay.

Which brings us to the CBOX2.

The CBOX2 is a front panel device sporting 4 USB ports, 1 FIREWIRE port, mic-in
and headphone jacks and Chaintech’s DIGIDOC display.

The DIGIDOC display is a combination temperature and troubleshooting readout.
Below it is a GREEN LED display which illuminates or flashes when the computer
or other GREEN LED capable device is in standby mode. The GREEN LED can only
support one device at a time.

GREEN LED devices are attached to the CBOX2 by an included cable.

The CBOX2 connects to the motherboard via 2 ribbon cables for AUDIO and the
DIGIDOC. Each is marked but in case of confusion just match the pin holes as
each cable boot is different.

Two 2-foot USB cables are included to provide for four front access USB ports.

Lastly is the 1394 cable previously mentioned. It connects to the 1394 daughter
card.

The DIGIDOC is a troubleshooting diode display which has been found on-board
other motherboard manufacturer’s products. Chaintech moves it to the front panel
and doubles it as a temperature display device. The only problem is that the
display will continually show “FF” until the DIGIDOC software (or
Motherboard Monitor software) is started. The DIGIDOC display will then show
proper CPU temperature until it is exited. After that it will display that last
known temperature until restarted. A strange quirk but a quirk nonetheless.

The CBOX2 is beige but a handy Phillips screwdriver will make short work of
removing the “guts”.

The electronics easily removes and the only problem remains the removal of
the plastic DIGIDOC and GREEN LED windows.

It is highly recommended that the windows be taped. Why? The empty CBOX2 can
then be painted to match a case that is black.

The guts can stay safely away from misguided paint spray or, if handy with
a Dremel, mounted to another drive door. Remember that modding will void any
hope of a warranty. Do so at your own risk.

The CBOX2 has room for one connection but was not included with the 7NJS. A
Smart Card Reader connection is possible but not available.

The CBOX2 with its 6 cables can present a bit of confusion. There is no guide
as to what cable goes where. Only two cables are marked and while the GREEN
LED two wire may be easy to locate as well as the 1394 FIREWIRE cable…the
USB and ribbon cables can leave a “newb” lost. The solution is simple.
USB cables only fit on USB headers and each of the ribbon cables is different
so only a specific cable can fit on a specific header. Look at the pin holes
and match them to the pattern of pins.

Rounding out this endless box of goodies is the backplane guard which it is
significant to note that it is of sturdier construction than the normally flimsy
aluminum backplane guards.

A 5×6″ quick reference DIGIDOC sticker is included.

And a “snazzy” Chaintech case badge which I quite like.

Chaintech chose to include an item that has nothing to do with the operation
of the product but it certainly makes the 7NJS buyer feel like they are getting
more than their money’s worth.

It is a foam padded box containing the coveted Chaintech key chain.

Which can be used to hold those keys that you use to lock up the PC case.

Chaintech
has literally outdone themselves for packing a lot into a motherboard box. The
value is there for content and the tour of the motherboard hasn’t even begun.

Touring the board

The tour begins, as it usually does for Icrontic, with the socket area. Heatsink
mounting holes are visible and only two capacitors may cause mounting problems
depending on choice of heatsink. A sticker warns to use a heatsink. I’ve actually
heard of some turning on their computers without a heatsink to see what happens.
POOF! The processor dies within seconds. That’s what happens.

3 DIMM sockets support 3 GB of ram in the customary 2+1 NFORCE2 configuration.
Install in DIMM 2 and 3 when using two pieces of memory. DIMM 1 is the nearest
DIMM to the processor.

Could the DIMM lifter present a problem with the video card?

Installation will tell but there was a run of motherboards where the DIMM lifters
struck the video card making it awkward to remove the RAM.

The NFORCE2 chipset fan is a more unique design. Motherboard manufacturer’s
have stepped up the active cooling appearance on the northbridge chipset and
Chaintech is no exception.

The heatsink fan is held on by two outward pressure clips and the heastink
itself is held on by spring loaded pins.

Turn the motherboard over and very carefully use needle nose pliers to remove
the heatsink. Squeeze the pins gently and they should pop out or release far
enough to remove. Remember that doing so may void a warranty so do so at your
own risk.

The NFORCE2 heatsink was removed and for the first time ever no thermal paste
was found.

The heatsink was equally as squeaky clean.

The lack of thermal compound opens up a whole new can of digital worms. Chaintech
states the Northbridge does not get very hot (during normal operation). The
appearance of an effective heatsink may be more important for the buyer rather
than the actual operation of the product. Overclockers and enthusiasts will
most likely rise up against this stating higher numbers can be the result of,
amongst other things, a cooler Northbridge.

Regardless a thin coat of thermal paste can’t hurt.

Below the DIMMS are 3 IDE headers. Two are ATAPI devices (CDROM, etc) and the
third is for IDE hard drive RAID 0 or 1.

The onboard PROMISE 376 chip does dual function and this is its fault. The
third header on the far right allows for a PATA drive to be attached or run
in RAID 0 or RAID 1. PROMISE onboard RAID controllers are notoriously light
in their configuration abilities and rumor has it that because the PROMISE chip
controls both PATA and SATA headers means that SATA ATA150 speeds are not capable…only
ATA 133. The bus limits the performance to 133 MB/s and therefore cannot achieve
150 MB/s hard drive speeds for SATA drives.

Please note that on page 5 the motherboard layout diagram shows the IDE header
order as 1-3 with 1 as the nearest to the CPU. Page 14, however, shows the order
as 2,1 and then 3. Page 14 is the correct layout pattern for IDE header order.

The bright spot in all of this is the fact that the Chaintech 7NJS can allow
for a transition form PATA drives to SATA drives. Two SATA headers are provided.
(SATA 2 seen next to floppy and SATA one above right of PROMISE SATA chip.)

Below the IDE headers is the floppy connector, front panel connectors, USB
enable/disable jumpers, DIGIDOC connector pins, GREEN LED jumper, and just peeking
over the top of the left end of the floppy connector, a smart card reader header.
It’s a shame that the CBOX2 doesn’t come with a smart card reader.

And of course the Phoenix BIOS chip.

Below the PCI slots is the CMOS battery, infrared device connector, and the
wake on lan and wake on modem connectors.

Five PCI slots are standard and the presence of the backwards PCI slot otherwise
known as the ACR slot. The ACR slot is for the FIREWIRE daughter card.

The green jumper enables/disables the onboard audio and north of that are the
SPDIF and 6-Channel connector pin headers.

Next to the 6-Channel header are jumpers to configure MIC and Front Audio (Headphone
jack) to the front panel.

the backplane features 2 USB, LAN, Parallel, Com, GAME/MIDI port, MIC, LINE-IN
and front speaker output. The only outstanding quality is the shiny, pseudo-brass
look to the backplane components. It is a shame that they will be mostly hidden.
It is an attractive touch.

The CD-IN and AUX-IN position is an improvement as many motherboard makers
place these down at the PCI slot area which can be inconvenient for cabling.

The power connect is left of the processor socket. It isn’t a problem if time
is taken to properly
run cables. The only missing feature is a four-pin power socket for that
extra “oomph” if needed. Our test system did not experience any power
problems.

Installation

The Chaintech 7NJS Zenith is a smaller motherboard. It may not be known up
until installation but it will sure be apparent when it is installed. The 7NJS
has a standard height of 30 cm. but it is a centimeter and a half (5/8″)
narrower than other motherboards. Will this be a problem?

Potentially yes as some PC case motherboard trays may not be configurable for
the narrower Chaintech board. Usually there are three vertical rows of standoffs
to support a motherboard. In the test case AMK SX1000 only two rows could be
used. It just meant supporting the edge of the motherboard while connecting
ATAPI and IDE cables or clipping in the ram.

The power connector routed well. That’s if time is taken to do so.

Many pages ago there was a comment about a potential RAM lifter problem. Could
the narrower Chaintech board further increase the chance of the RAM lifters
striking the video card?

Happily no with the ATI 9700 PRO video card installed.

The SPDIF and 6-Channel PCI brackets leave a little bit of extra cabling to
contend with and with all cards installed only two PCI slots are available for
use by other devices.

The SPDIF bracket itself presents a problem.

Note the two lowest “round” objects. They seem rather innocent at
the moment but let’s move it down one slot in hopes of freeing up a third PCI
slot.

The two “round” connector housings barely, but just enough, touch
the top of a card below it. This prevents a good fit. The card below it is the
FIREWIRE daughter card which is ACR based and must occupy the bottom most slot.
Installing the SPDIF, 6-Channel and FIREWIRE card means four PCI slots are lost
to three items.

The “big picture” shows another problem with the 1394 (FIREWIRE)
cable. It isn’t long enough and has to stretch over top of the motherboard area.
It would have been nice to have a FIREWIRE cable twice as long to be able to
hide it more easily in larger cases. (It’s the black cable stretched from a
drive bay to the bottom left corner.)

The last hardware fault is the lack of two more USB ports at the rear. The
Chaintech 7NJS does have 6 USB ports but 4 of them are on the front panel. If
the user has a USB keyboard and mouse that means the 2 rear USB ports on the
backplane are occupied. So what? So what is a problem or inconvenience if the
user has a USB scanner or printer. Those cables must no plug into the front
panel and cannot be hidden around the rear. Front panel access is ideal for
items that are connected and disconnected on a regular basis such as USB digital
cameras….not for devices that are more permanent such as printers and scanners.

BIOS

There is a truth that must be told at this point. After many motherboards the
BIOS’s begin to blend together. Icrontic is lucky that we get to work closely
with our supplier partners. They remind us of what we have missed during those
late nights through bleary eyes.

At first go the Chaintech BIOS appears fairly extensive but not as extensive
as the top overclocker boards. We were wrong. There are fine tuning adjustments
throughout the ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES allowing 1 MHz changes up to 250 MHz
for the FSB Frequency, 50-100 MHz for AGP frequency, multiple memory frequency
combinations, CPU ratio up to 22.5x and CHAINTECH’S own unique OPTIMAL, AGGRESSIVE,
TURBO and EXPERT system performance settings.

Hardware protection for the investment can be and is in place as a rule in
adjustable 5 degree increments from 85 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius.
It is never off.

Voltage can really be applied and DIMM voltage can be raised to the frying
bacon level of 3.2 volts and CPU voltages levels can reach 2.15 volts. AGP voltage
can also be raised to 2.0 volts. This control will give overclockers plenty
of juice to hit the high scores.

Software Installation and pitfalls that await

No motherboard is 100% perfect and Chaintech has made it quite clear that their
product samples are not pre-tested or “golden samples”. They are pulled
from the line at random and shipped out. That means the review site, such as
ours, has the same odds of getting an astounding winner or a board with “personality”.

We got a board with a bit of “tude” and it’s important to share the
findings and solutions with you. We wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t.
Remember that these are the findings with our particular review sample and are
not the same for all Chaintech 7NJS boards but if yours is a bit quirky…this
may help.

Up until now there have been little or no problems with installing WindowsXP
on any of Icrontic’s review products. The Chaintech 7NJS will not present a
problem IF our suggested installation procedure is followed.

1. Attach a PATA drive to IDE 1 or 2 and install windows per usual. F6 will
   not be of use as there is no floppy driver for the PROMISE FASTTRAK 376 RAID
   controller.
2. Install windows and NVIDIA drivers from installation CD but DO NOT install
   the SW component of the NVIDIA NFORCE2 drivers. If you do this then your install
   is most likely doomed and may be solved by using ADD/REMOVE to uninstall the
   NFORCE2 drivers.
3. Update WindowsXP to Service Pack 1
4. Download the latest NVIDIA NFORCE2 driver pack from the NVIDIA site and
   then and only then can all the drivers be safely installed. The NVIDIA site
   states that the new driver pack must be installed AFTER service pack 1.
5. Update/install the PROMISE RAID software if you wish to use SATA headers
   or a PATA drive on IDE3. If you do not then a PATA drive on IDE 3 will result
   in the POST screen showing the NVIDIA boot agent working and a drive will
   not be found. USE CTL-F to get into the PROMISE RAID setup and even if it’s
   only a single drive…define an array using auto setup if you wish. This will
   not damage the installation but will allow for the drive to be recognized
   and bootable as the OS drive.

Icrontic found this installation path to be trouble free. The SW component
in the CD drivers caused a nervous breakdown of the OS and we started from scratch.
It is important to note that there are thousands of threads in tech forums that
tell installation and operational horror stories about motherboards…every
motherboard. Icrontic has worked with two other NFORCE2 boards without any of
the problems that we read about in our own forums and on other forums. The Chaintech
7NJS Zenith did present a few quirks. It was just our turn.

Our list of notable quirks includes a rather confusing USB keyboard support
problem and a lukewarm reception to the Digidoc software.

• USB support in BIOS is intermittent. After a BIOS flash our USB keyboard
  stopped functioning within BIOS. A PS/2 keyboard had to be used to navigate
  the BIOS. At times the USB keyboard chose to work in BIOS…and then didn’t.
  It always worked when the OS had loaded. It is undetermined if this is an
  NVIDIA NFORCE2 driver problem or a combination of Chaintech and NFORCE2. It
  has not occurred on two other NFORCE2 review samples from different manufacturers.
• FF always displays in the DIGIDOC window until the DIGIDOC software is
  started. Upon closing the Digidoc software the temperature readout will display
  normally.
• Page 5 of the manual states that the IDE header order is 1-3 with 3 being
  the furthest away from the CPU. Page 14 states the IDE header order is 2,
  1, and finally 3. Page 14 is correct.
• Digidoc will display FF immediately after posting VERIFYING DMA and will
  continue to do so UNTIL the Digidoc software is started.
• If the software is exited the front panel display will continue to display
  the last known temperature until the software is restarted.
• Digidoc software window will not move with mouse cursor. It is not drag
  and move. Click and drag the mouse but the window will not move until after
  the mouse is released and it does so in small “jumps”.
• Digidoc software appears not to be able to accurately display
  temperatures during high CPU utilization such as a burn-in program. Sisoft
  Sandra Burn-In was executed for a 25 times consecutive loop and it was only
  after the program terminated that the temperature readout changed on the
  Digidoc display and software. In a 25 degree Celsius room our 2600+ 333
  FSB processor idled at 50 degrees and reached a maximum of 57 degrees Celsius
  after 30 minutes of Sandra’s Burn-In. Only the PSU fan was in operation
  besides the heatsink.

Benchmarking…do pretty packages make pretty numbers?

The CHAINTECH 7NJS test system.

• AMD 2600+ Thoroughbred
  Core Processor
• CHAINTECH 7NJS
  Zenith motherboard
• ATI 9700 PRO Video Card
  Catalyst 2.3 drivers (Default settings w/VSYNC disabled)
• 2 x 256 MB Corsair PC3200 DDR RAM
• Sony 52x CD
• LG 40x CDRW
• 60 GB Maxtor ATA133 Hard Drive
• Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical Mouse
• Globalwin heatsink
• AMK SX1000 modded
  PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1

The ABIT
NF7-S test system.

• AMD 2600+ Thoroughbred
  Core Processor
• ABIT NF7-S motherboard
• ATI 9700 PRO Video Card
  Catalyst 2.3 drivers (Default settings w/VSYNC disabled)
• 2 x 256 MB Corsair PC3200 DDR RAM
• Sony 52x CD
• LG 40x CDRW
• 60 GB Maxtor ATA133 Hard Drive
• Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical Mouse
• Globalwin heatsink
• AMK SX1000 modded
  PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1

The GIGABYTE
GA-7VAXP ULTRA test system.

• AMD 2600+ 333 FSB
  Processor
• GA-7VAXP
  ULTRA REV 1.2 motherboard
• ATI 9700 PRO Video Card
  Catalyst 2.3 drivers (Default settings w/VSYNC disabled)
• 2 x 256 MB Corsair PC3200 DDR RAM
• Sony 52x CD
• LG 40x CDRW
• 60 GB Maxtor ATA133 Hard Drive
• Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical Mouse
• Globalwin CAK4-76T HSF
• AMK SX1000 modded
  PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1

The ASUS
A7N8X Deluxe test system.

• AMD 2600+ 333 FSB
  Processor
• ASUS
  A7N8X motherboard
• ATI 9700 PRO Video Card
  Catalyst 2.3 drivers (Default settings w/VSYNC disabled)
• 2 x 256 MB Corsair PC3200 DDR RAM
• Sony 52x CD
• LG 40x CDRW
• 60 GB Maxtor ATA133 Hard Drive
• Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical Mouse
• Globalwin CAK4-76T HSF
• AMK SX1000 modded
  PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1

Programs used

• 
  Sisoft Sandra 2002
• MadOnion
  3DMark 2001 SE
• Quake
  III Arena
• Commanche
  4
• GL
  Excess
• Drone
  Z
• SpecviewPerf 7.0
• Unreal Tournament 2003 flyby benchmark
• Adobe Photoshop 7.0
• PS Bench
• Adobe After Effects 5.5
• SoftimageXSI 2.0.1

All tests were run at default video card settings with VSYNC disabled. Bios
was optimized for system but not tweaked for any performance settings requiring
specialized knowledge of overclocking. In other words the BIOS settings were
standard as far as anyone can set the time and date, ensure the ram is 2 or
4 way interleave and at CAS 2 and AGP is chosen as the first boot video card
(8x). The BIOS settings were kept as close to conservative or default value
or as otherwise specified. The ASUS A7N8X memory settings were set to OPTIMAL
and AGGRESSIVE as disclosed. Memory was kept at DDR333 settings for synchronous
timing with the 2600+ 333FSB processor. Individual performance will vary with
any particular or specific timings or tweaks enabled by you.

1024 MB page file moved to D: partition. Temporary Internet files moved to
K: partition at end of drive. OS installed to C: and programs installed to
E:. All programs were benchmarked at 1024×768@75Hz with the exception of SoftimageXSI
which requires 1280×1024 resolution.

All motherboards were test “right out of the box”. No special
BIOS timings were set except for the time and date, boot order and health monitor
features. The BIOS was purposely kept to the factory conservative settings to
provide a base comparison. From there is only up.

For all tests an AMD 2600+ 333FSB processor and two sticks of Corsair memory
were used.

These may result in lesser or greater scores. Void where prohibited by law.
Don’t run with scissors. Chew each bite 32 times and always floss between meals.
Batteries not included. Wait one hour after a meal before swimming and use tonic
water to get stains out. Immerse a piece of tinfoil in a tray of warm water,
a tablespoon of water softener powder and a tablespoon of salt and dip silverware
in for instant cleaning.

3D Mark 2001 SE

Codecreatures

Commanche 4

The NFORCE2 boards pass by the KT400 chipset but the NJ7S lags.

GL Excess

GLEXCESS liked all the boards but the KT400 chipset of the Gigabyte
board seemed to have a little extra “oomph” in the higher screen settings.

Quake III high quality

Serious Sam

Sisoft Sandra CPU Arithmetic

It’s a close pack across the board tests and that tight range
is kept pretty much the same for FPU MIPS and the Sandra CPU Multimedia tests.
KT400 Chipset or NFORCE2…the battle for first changes place quite often by
mere points.

Sisoft Sandra CPU Multimedia

Sisoft Sandra Memory Benchmark

The NJ7S appears to be the winner with Sisoft Sandra Memory.

Specviewperf 7.0

SpecviewPerf still grounds itself in the manipulation of 3D graphics
on a business application level rather than on a gaming performance level. Again
the results are as expected.

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.

PS Bench

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 mainly CPU intensive and After Effects generally bypasses
the video card and relies solely on the processor for speed. The time taken
to render 900 frames basically shows how fast the processor is working on the
given task.

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. Softimage works
on somewhat similar principle to After Effects. A faster and more powerful video
card will translate to a smoother interface where complex scenes can be manipulated
in real time. Note that Softimage does not have an interface to real-time preview
a finished frame as unlike After Effects. Users can manipulate objects in a
choice of views from wire frame mode to simulated real-time shading mode. In
order to look at a finished frame a user must render the frame to disk which
bypasses the GPU. A faster processor will result in the faster render. The amount
of RAM is not as great an issue as the user is working frame by frame and the
graphics card is doing the bulk of the work while working within the GUI.

This is a most basic overview and there are specialty
hardware components that can enhance the speed and interactivity of complex
3D scenes and programs. The designers working on the test system use Softimage
on a less complex level to provide enhancements and elements to commercials,
promos and station ID elements. Though their work is quite complex to some it
a far cry from that of special effects in major film productions.

Softimage performs its best on a dual processor
system and by far the recommendation for heavy 3D rendering is a dual processor
AMD system.

The last benchmarks reveal that the 7NJS excels with 2D applications rather
than 3D.

An ounce of tweak is a pound of performance

The 7NJS may not be a top performer right out of the box but a simple setting
adjustment in the ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES of the BIOS from OPTIMAL to AGGRESSIVE
can make the difference.

Overclocking

I never was much of an overclocker. Perhaps it was is the fear of blowing a
chip. I never got used to it after blowing 3 in one day which meant 3 trips
to the store…and a few hundred dollars. Overclockers have an intimate knowledge
of their systems and know every nuance of a bump here or a tweak there. The
7NJS BIOS did allow for a lot of bumping and tweaking.

I’d never gotten high scores but in forum after forum there was chatter of
185, 190, 200 and 210 FSB speeds. The last two NFORCE2 boards wouldn’t deliver
right off the bat with the AMD 2600+ 333 FSB processor and I’m not saying that
they couldn’t but they never teased me to bump up the numbers. I didn’t expect
much from the 7NJS in 10 minutes worth of overclocking attempts either.

I was wrong.

Can’t say that didn’t raise eyebrows for me. CPU ratio was at default. CPU
interface was set to aggressive. Memory frequency was to auto and RAM was set
to 5-2-2-2. DIMM and CPU voltage had to be bumped up to 2.9 V and 1.95 V respectively.

Things got shaky up there for my first time on the overclocking high wire and
QUAKE and 3DMARK would dump but Sandra managed to squeeze off a few benchmarks
before I climbed down from the top of the overclocking circus tent.

Not bad for the first time working without a net. Imagine what the 7NJS could
do in the hands of an overclocking master?

Bump your head on 12.5x

The AMD 2600+ 333 FSB processor creeped up to 2.5 GHz but to go further the
key word is to underclock. Multipliers above 12.5 times with this chip are not
available. Booting at 13 times will only deliver 12.5 times. The chip needs
to be manually unlocked in order to have access to the higher multipliers. This
is standard for a lot of boards.

Conclusion

This is finally the “last page” and is there a packaged summation
that advises to rush out and buy or keep hunting? Obviously Chaintech’s
7NJS Zenith is one of the most well packaged, well presented, “more
features than you can shake a stick at” motherboard bundles around.

But it’s not the performance king and it’s not without its quirks.

Chaintech’s choice of the CMEDIA option will be questioned by some. Only two
channels are supported for SPDIF and Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding is missing.
That is the biggest let down. Dolby Digital 5.1 is becoming commonplace with
onboard audio. Chaintech’s 6-Channel sound is good and Xaer 3D brings unique
sound configurations for headphones, 2, 4 and 6 speaker configurations but the
lack of Dolby Digital 5.1 (Analog and digital) may not be a mistake but more
a “missing spice” to the final meal. Onboard audio on any motherboard
is an area of controversy. It is steadily improving but it’s no match for a
dedicated high-end performance PCI card which in turn is not match for a true
home theatre component system. Some say Soundstorm is better for music and some
say CMEDIA is better for gaming audio. Both deliver very good sound for a motherboard.
It’s all a matter of perspective. Why Chaintech chose the CMEDIA route could
be a matter of cost, business agreements, marketing strategy for a unique and
innovative solution or otherwise.

A simple USB PCI bracket would have provided two additional USB ports in the
rear for USB printer and/or scanner support. Four ports up front isn’t necessary.
Two is very welcome on the CBOX2 and removing the other two may have provided
room for a reader. An additional PCI USB bracket would have given greater choice
to the 7NJS owner for configuration.

Some may argue that the choice of a single LAN instead of NFORCE2’s support
of 3COM and NVIDIA was a mistake. I only plug in one CAT5 cable which goes to
my router so it makes very little difference to me as does the choice between
3COM or NVIDIA LAN. Both work equally well. This may be a con for some but it
matters not for us.

The DigiDoc trouble display will be a device to warm up to but will prove its
worth when diagnosing a problem. The temperature readout and display software
needs work. Motherboard Monitor provides a superior software interface. Front
USB/FIREWIRE/MIC/HEADPHONE and a trouble LED are a welcome addition as a standard
option. Remember that some PC cases are coming with front access for these options
in a variety of configurations.

The manual needs refinement. There is so much with the 7NJS that at times I
felt like I was trying to assemble a bicycle from a box of parts without instructions.
Read the manual very carefully and you should be able to accurately guess at
where a few things go. I’m an idiot and the manual isn’t idiot proof.

There is one detail that emerges from the stock setting benchmark tests. The
7NJS lags slightly behind on GPU/CPU tasks but keeps pace or leads the pack
for CPU intensive tasks. (3D vs. 2D). Overclocking showed a personal best for
me for which I tip my hat to Chaintech.

Chaintech included a PATA RAID header and two SATA RAID headers which is a
brilliant combination for these transitional times between drive formats. A
SATA to PATA adapter would have been another brilliant inclusion.

The Chaintech 7NJS Zenith is not a performance king amongst NFORCE2 motherboards
out of the box but it wears a larger crown. A shopper will be hard pressed to
find another package that looks better or contains more for the money.

Chaintech and the competition will have learned a lot from the Zenith line
as it raises the bar for consumer expectations. A typical consumer may not see
or care about benchmark numbers. They’ll see and feel the weight of the package
in their hands and look at the 7NJS with anticipation. Chaintech has shown marketing
prowess and for that they deserve an award.

The enthusiast may shy away from the 7NJS for the simple reason that it doesn’t
hold the limelight as the overclocking king…yet. It’s not in great quantities
in the overclocking circles and that may be more about price than ability. Overclockers
are notorious for wanting cheap things that go fast. That doesn’t mean the 7NJS
it is not capable of wearing the crown. The 7NJS served up a personal best for
this reviewer. The 7NJS BIOS allows for a great many settings and some pretty
scary voltage settings.

Chaintech has stood up and assembled a bundle that shows up the competition.
There is no doubt about it.

Our deepest appreciation to Chaintech.