Abit NI8 SLI: nVidia SLI for the Intel Gamer
by Randi Sica & Wesley Fink on October 7, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Overclocking performance
Disk Controller Performance
In our testing of both the MCP-04 and Silicon Image 3132 SATAII controllers, the 3132 has the slight edge in Random Access Time whereas the native MCP-04 has a slight advantage in the Read Speed and Read Burst Speed categories. With the WD 36GB 10,000 RPM Raptor controlled by either solution, this board provided very quick load times and system boot-up.
Maximum overclock data was added to Performance graphs beginning with the nForce4 SLI roundup several months ago. The overclocking performance graphs should allow for better comparison of the overclocking capabilities of tested boards. For more details on the specific overclocking abilities of a specific board, please refer to the Overclocking and Memory Stress Test section of individual board reviews. These charts illustrate a comparison to both Intel nForce4 boards as well as 955X based boards. As clearly as can be discerned, the ABIT was the poorest Front Side Bus overclocker of all current C19 and 955x based boards tested here at AnandTech.
Disk Controller Performance
HD Tach (version 3.0.1.0) |
MCP-04 controller | Silicon Image 3132 |
Random Access Time | 9.1ms | 8.9ms |
Read Speed average | 50.3 MB/s | 50.2 MB/s |
Read Burst Speed | 100.2 MB/s | 99.5 MB/s |
In our testing of both the MCP-04 and Silicon Image 3132 SATAII controllers, the 3132 has the slight edge in Random Access Time whereas the native MCP-04 has a slight advantage in the Read Speed and Read Burst Speed categories. With the WD 36GB 10,000 RPM Raptor controlled by either solution, this board provided very quick load times and system boot-up.
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TheInvincibleMustard - Saturday, October 8, 2005 - link
Thanks for clearing that up, Wesley ... here I was thinking that AT had gone off their rockers for a moment :D-TIM
jojo4u - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
A new Forceware was also used in the gaming tests.smn198 - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
Agreed. This is not a motherboard test.TheInvincibleMustard - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
QFT ... what's the point in testing a new board while conveniently slipping a new processor into it as well? That's akin to "Let's compare this Accord versus this Corolla, oh and by the way, the Accord has nitrous, aftermarket shocks, aftermarket brakes, aftermarket muffler ..."Thanks for an article that shows that dual-core is better than single-core in multi-threaded applications ... funny, I thought Anandtech did one of those articles a while back ...
-TIM
PS -- WTF is up with no Firewire on this board? Mobos http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">less than $80 shipped have IEEE1394 connectivity for cryin' out loud ...
TheInvincibleMustard - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
Err ... well ... I tried to QFT, but apparently it didn't work? Whatever, I still agree with you guys.-TIM
ksherman - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
Man, I REALLY like the passively cooled chipset... wish DFI did that in the nF4 boards...mongoosesRawesome - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
eh, not so impressed myself. what ABIT did looks expensive and it doesn't get the job done adequately. DFI includes temperature controlled fans in their BIOS, which makes their fans bearable. A nice thing about Nforce 3/4 boards is that you really only have one chip to cool.Who exactly is Abit targeting with this board? Who games with Intel? A64s are cheap, nforce 4 boards are cheap, and they perform better. I realize that in the corporate world, there are people out there that only use Intel, but I figured gamers were different. I just can't see this board really being that popular.
KristopherKubicki - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link
ASUS did it first with the "Premium" series stuff.Kristopher
emc2-1955 - Sunday, August 29, 2010 - link
I got an Abit NI8 SLI with an extreme processor and 4 gig of ram. The problem is that to takes forever to load. I've tried it with windows xp pro and windows 7 can anyone tell me what I chould check any tips