FIRST LOOK: Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI
by Wesley Fink on November 24, 2004 9:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Our Take
Just when it looked like we'd all be waiting breathlessly for the lone Asus SLI board sometime in December, Gigabyte has delivered a very capable SLI board that will likely be available in the market at about the same time. Our experience with the K8NXP-SLI was extremely positive. The board was exceptionally smooth in performance and trouble-free in our benchmarking with both single and SLI nVidia video cards. We had no issues at all with memory and the BIOS adjustments were exemplary.The best way to look at the Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI is to see it as the SLI version of the regular and great performing K8NXP-9. The board offers the same features, the same BIOS options, the same basic layout, the same performance with a single video card, and the same outstanding overclocking that you will find with the K8NXP-9. We were definitely impressed with the Gigabyte K8NXP-9 and the SLI version is just icing on the cake.
The only problem that you will have is trying to decide which flavor of the Gigabyte nForce4 you want, since the only real difference in the 9 and SLI is the SLI option. Whichever you choose, we think that you will be very pleased with the features, flexibility, and performance you will find. Gigabyte is definitely back in the Athlon 64 market with the K8NXP-9 and K8NXP-SLI. We won't know exactly where these boards stand in the nF4/SLI hierarchy until some dust settles. However, we are very impressed with what we see in both these Gigabyte boards right now. Both boards are faster than the nForce4 Reference board and both were a real pleasure to use. The overclocking capabilities of both versions will give any enthusiast a lot of pleasure. When you consider the possibilities with the SLI version, the math of potential gets very exciting. The only fly in the ointment is the disappointing DIMM voltage adjustments provided. However, even this may be patchable with something like the OCZ DDR Memory Booster to boost voltage ranges.
As we were finishing this review, we also learned that MSI will have both their nForce4 and nForce4 SLI boards available for review in the next week to 10 days. That will provide even more choices - and more competition - for your holiday dollars.
We can certainly recommend either Gigabyte nForce4 motherboard for your system. We don't foresee any surprises on the horizon and both these boards are very capable. One of these boards is going into our memory test bed in the near future. But we have the same problem that you will have - we just can't decide which one!
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bob661 - Thursday, November 25, 2004 - link
Actually, there were quite a few people that asked for resolutions higher than 16x12. I think for SLI benches, high res testing is probably the best. People that didn't read the initial article would get the wrong impression of SLI.Omega215D - Thursday, November 25, 2004 - link
what i'd like to know is when are they going to start phasing out those useless serial ports and maybe the LPT printer ports? I figure if your going to spend money on performance parts might as well get USB printers and game controllers.Also, any idea on when USB will be fully bootable that way PS2 ports can be phased out? Just wanna save on IRQs and make room for more USB's or Firewires so I don't have to rely on slot taking expansions.
Wesley Fink - Thursday, November 25, 2004 - link
#2 - Read on in the review. I did test at 1280 x1024 also because 1024x768 was limiting in some benches - but not as much as you might expect. The 1024x768 was provided mostly to allow comparison to past motherboard reviews.I believe most will run 1280x1024 which is doable with most 19" flat panels. The cheapest flat panel I know of that runs 1600x1200 resolution is the 20.1" Dell at about $750. That's 16x12 entry level.
Most any decent 19" CRT can support 1600x1200 as you stated, but have you ever tried to play a game at 1600x1200 on a 19" CRT. I tried it just to see for this review and it was pretty ugly. However 16x12 was OK on the 22" Diamondtron, though I prefer 1280x1024 on the 19" flat panels for most gaming.
Anand got criticized for gearing everything in his SLI launch review to 1600x1200, so it figures I would get criticized for 1280x1024 which was suggested in the comments on his review. Guess we will never please everybody.
AnnoyedGrunt - Thursday, November 25, 2004 - link
Well, this was a Mobo review, so that's one reason why it would make sense to run in resolutions that were CPU limited instead of video card limited. I doubt there would be much of a difference in SLI performance between the ASUS and Gigabyte solutions (although it certainly wouldn't hurt to have more data).-D'oh!
Decoder - Thursday, November 25, 2004 - link
#2 . I agree with you 100%. I run my Dell 2001FP at 1600x1200 and i will going SLI so that i can play games at 1600x1200 only.Decoder - Thursday, November 25, 2004 - link
cnq - Thursday, November 25, 2004 - link
"Since 1600x1200 normally requires a 20" or larger flat panel monitor, we did not report 1600x1200 results, since most readers will not run at that resolution."Wesley, with all due respect, there is not a single reader who is waiting to buy SLI who says to himself, "Boy I'd really like to see how fast SLI does at middling resolutions. Yeah, that's why I'm splurging thousands for an SLI rig. 1024x768 all the way baby!"
*ALL* SLI buyers will be running EVERYTHING at 16x12 or even 20x15, since current single card solutions can keep up at 10x7 and 12x10. No one would be dumb enough to pair up a couple of 68GT's or 68U's and then limit themselves to resolutions that a single 66GT could handle.
People who buy SLI are going to have money to spend, so don't worry, their monitors WILL be able to handle 16x12. An ordinary $250 19" CRT can do that, much less the kind of monitors that SLI fanatics will have.
Any SLI prospective purchasers out there planning to run their games at 1024x768? Didn't think so.
C'mon Wesley, really. You're doing quite a disservice benchmarking SLI at resolutions that aren't even graphics card limited in the first place.
HiroProt - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
Great review, Wesley!Looks like Gigabyte has done it this time around. The question is: when can we buy these boards? I assume that the non-SLI version will be available first, since it already hit 1.0.
Do you have any more availability info, Wesley?