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| NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Shootout : Results and Conclusion |
By Zachary Chan
Category : Mainboard
Published by Vijay Anand on Sunday, 29th May, 2005
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Features At A Glance
Now that we've completed our showcase of all eight nForce4 Ultra based motherboards, we move on towards the benchmarking and testing section of this shootout. The following table represents a guide to the different specifications and aspects of all the motherboards. This is useful as a quick guide for checking board features that we've covered in detail before.
Motherboard Feature Comparison 1
|
ABIT
Fatal1ty AN8 |
Chaintech
VNF4 Ultra |
DFI
LANParty UT Ultra-D |
ECS
KN1 Extreme |
| Chipset |
NVIDIA
nForce4 Ultra MCP |
NVIDIA
nForce4 Ultra MCP |
NVIDIA
nForce4 Ultra MCP |
NVIDIA
nForce4 Ultra MCP |
| DDR
DIMM Slots |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| PCI
Express Slots |
|
|
|
|
| PCI
Slots |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
| Other
Slots |
- |
- |
-
|
PCI
Extreme |
| ATA-133
Port (chipset) |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| SATA
II Ports (chipset) |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| ATA-133
(others) |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
| SATA
(others) |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
| COM
Ports (header) |
-
|
2 |
(1) |
1 |
| Parallel
Ports (header) |
- |
1 |
- |
(1) |
| USB
Ports (header) |
6(4) |
4(6) |
6(4) |
6(4) |
| FireWire
Ports (header) |
1(1) |
- |
1(1) |
2 |
| Gigabit
Ethernet |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
| Fast
Ethernet |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
| Audio
Chipset/Codec |
AudioMAX
(ALC658) |
ALC850 |
Karajan
(ALC850) |
ALC655 |
| Audio
Ports* |
F,
R, C, I, M |
F,
R, A, C, I, M |
F,
R, A, C, I, M |
F, R/I, C/M |
| S/PDIF |
In/Out |
- |
In/Out |
Out |
| Dimension
(mm) |
305
x 244 |
305
x 220 |
305
x 244 |
305
x 244 |
| FSB
Range |
200
- 410MHz |
200
- 400MHz |
200
- 456MHz |
200-250 |
| PCIe
Range |
100
- 145MHz |
100
- 145MHz |
100
- 145MHz |
- |
| Core
Voltage |
1.500V - 1.850V
|
0.900V - 1.700V
|
0.800V - 1.550V
|
+25mV
- +375mV |
| RAM
Voltage |
2.50V - 2.80V
|
2.70V - 2.90V
|
2.50V - 4.00V |
2.55V
- 3.11V |
| Chipset
Voltage |
1.50V - 1.80V
|
1.60V - 1.70V |
1.50V - 1.80V |
- |
| Multiplier
Selection |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Motherboard Feature Comparison 2
|
EPoX
EP-9NPA+ Ultra |
Gigabyte
GA-K8NXP-9 |
Gigabyte
GA-K8N Ultra-9 |
MSI
K8N Neo4 Platinum |
| Chipset |
NVIDIA
nForce4 Ultra MCP |
NVIDIA
nForce4 Ultra MCP |
NVIDIA
nForce4 Ultra MCP |
NVIDIA
nForce4 Ultra MCP |
| DDR
DIMM Slots |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| PCI
Express Slots |
|
|
|
|
| PCI
Slots |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
| Other
Slots |
- |
D.P.S. |
-
|
Communication
Slot |
| ATA-133
Port (chipset) |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| SATA
II Ports (chipset) |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| ATA-133
(others) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| SATA
(others) |
- |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| COM
Ports (header) |
1
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Parallel
Ports (header) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| USB
Ports (header) |
6(4) |
6(4) |
6(4) |
6(4) |
| FireWire
Ports (header) |
(2) |
2(1) |
2(1) |
1(1) |
| Gigabit
Ethernet |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| Fast
Ethernet |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Audio
Chipset/Codec |
ALC850 |
ALC850 |
ALC850 |
ALC850 |
| Audio
Ports* |
F,
R, A, C, I, M |
F,
R, A, C, I, M |
F,
R, A, C, I, M |
F,
R, A, C, I, M |
| S/PDIF |
Out |
In/Out |
In/Out |
Out |
| Dimension
(mm) |
305
x 244 |
305
x 244 |
305
x 244 |
305
x 244 |
| FSB
Range |
200
- 400MHz |
200
- 400MHz |
200
- 455MHz |
190-400 |
| PCIe
Range |
100
- 145MHz |
100
- 150MHz |
100
- 150MHz |
100
- 145MHz |
| Core
Voltage |
+0.025V - + 0.250V
|
0.800V - 1.750V
|
0.800V - 1.750V
|
0.825V - 1.550V
|
| RAM
Voltage |
2.50V - 3.10V
|
+0.1V - +0.2V
|
+0.1V - +0.2V |
2.50V - 2.85V
|
| Chipset
Voltage |
1.50V - 1.80V
|
+0.1V - +0.3V |
+0.1V - +0.3V |
1.50V - 1.85V |
| Multiplier
Selection |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
* F = Front left/right, R = Rear left/right, A = Alt. left/right (for 7.1), C = Center / Subwoofer, I = Line In, M = Microphone. Ports separated by a comma (,) indicates individual ports while those separated by a forward slash (/) indicates ports with dual functions. Ports listed include using the bundled optional bracket (if any).
** Ports in parentheses () denote optional ports available on the motherboard as headers only.
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