nForce4 SLI Motherboards: Premium Performance at a Bargain Price
by Gary Key on January 3, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup
We tested with the NVIDIA 7800GTX using NVIDIA 81.85 drivers to provide recent performance results. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1280x1024x32 unless otherwise noted. 3DMark and Aquamark3 benchmarks use a "Standard Score" setup, which is 1024x768 video resolution.
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD 4000+, San Diego Core |
| RAM: | 2 x 512mb OCZ PC4800 Elite Platinum Settings- DDR400 at (2-2-2-5, 1T) |
| Hard Drive(s): | 1 x Seagate 120GB 7200 RPM SATA (8MB Buffer) |
| System Platform Drivers: | NVIDIA nForce4 AMD 6.70 |
| Video Cards: | 1 x MSI 7800GTX (PCI Express) for all tests |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA nForce 81.85 WHQL |
| Audio Drivers: | RealTek A380 |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| Motherboards: | Asus A8N-SLI Premium Albatron K8SLI Foxconn NF4SK8AA-8KRS Asus A8R-MVP (ATI RD480/ULi1575) Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR (nForce4) |
We tested with the NVIDIA 7800GTX using NVIDIA 81.85 drivers to provide recent performance results. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1280x1024x32 unless otherwise noted. 3DMark and Aquamark3 benchmarks use a "Standard Score" setup, which is 1024x768 video resolution.
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Gary Key - Wednesday, January 4, 2006 - link
As stated in the article the current pricing structure lends itself to the purchase of an SLI capable motherboard if the nForce4 is your chipset of choice. Even if you do not utilize SLI you at least have the option of doing so, if not for gaming, then for multiple monitor support and excellent performance utilizing two x8 lanes. If you look at the current support from the motherboard suppliers and product plans it is very obvious that SLI/CrossFire capable motherboards are becoming the standard across all price points. Our statements were based on these facts regarding the motherboard choices available. If you consider the potential cost/performance benefits then why pay the same amount of money for a board that is not capable of SLI or CrossFire and will probably not receive the same level of support over the lifespan of the product.
bob661 - Wednesday, January 4, 2006 - link
Isn't this a contradiction?
Capt Caveman - Tuesday, January 3, 2006 - link
What are you talking about? You can get a SLI board for $70.andlcool - Tuesday, January 3, 2006 - link
for the asus one, it should be ddr and not ddr2.ElFenix - Tuesday, January 3, 2006 - link
still, should be a good price for stock speed boardsElFenix - Tuesday, January 3, 2006 - link
looking at the first chart i mean. doesn't seem to fall off much eh?<--- wants an edit function
Gary Key - Tuesday, January 3, 2006 - link
The Foxconn board offered excellent stability throughout testing although it certainly is not targeted at the overclocking crowd. The performance was certainly acceptable and without the benchmarks you probably would not be able to tell the difference between it and the other boards. The layout is really nice unless you plan on utilizing two video cards with two slot cooling solutions as the space becomes very tight between the two x16 slots.I would like an edit function also. ;->