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- Date:
- Tuesday , March 22, 2005
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
GIGABYTE GA-K8NXP-SLI
GIGABYTE’s premier socket 939 offering, the nForce4 based GA-K8NXP-SLI, comes bundled with its own single card SLI video card. Read on to find out just how well this motherboard stacks up to the competition.
Introduction
GIGABYTE is well respected in the community for their fast and stable stock solutions. While not a heavyweight in the overclocking arena, they have come full circle with their motherboard overclocking capabilities. GIGABYTE’s latest motherboard offering does not detract from this trend.
The GA-K8NXP-SLI is GIGABYTE’s newest member of their AMD Athlon64 socket 939 line of offerings. The motherboard uses the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI chipset, which supports all Athlon64 socket 939 type processors, DDR type SDRAM RAM operating in Dual Channel mode up to speeds of 400MHz officially, as well as PCI Express x16-based video cards operating in either single card or dual card SLI type configuration. Like most current motherboard offerings, the GA-K8NXP-SLI is a feature complete solution, requiring a minimal amount of components for a working system including the following: an Athlon64 socket 939-based CPU; DDR memory; drives; and PSU. Note that the board is packaged with a single slot, dual core PCI-Express-based NVIDIA 6600GT video card, making that one less necessary item. GIGABYTE integrated the following into the GA-K8NXP-SLI’s design: 2 IDE ATA-133 ports and 4 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 capable) on the NVIDIA RAID controller; 4 SATA ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and 5) on the Silicon Image 3114 controller; 10 USB 2.0 capable ports (4 in rear panel, and 3 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 3 IEEE 1394 capable ports (2 onboard headers supporting a total of 3 ports); 1 Marvell Yukon Gigabit Ethernet port in rear panel; 1 NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet port in rear panel with integrated hardware Firewall support; Realtek 8-channel audio codec featuring S/PDIF RCA input / output ports; and serial, parallel, and PS/2 port support.
Main Specifications Overview:
CPU | AMD Athlon64 socket 939 based processors |
Chipset | NVIDIA nForce4 SLI MCP |
FSB | 200MHz |
BIOS | Phoenix AwardBIOS |
Memory | 4 184-pin DDR DIMMS, up to 4GB |
Expansion slots | 2 x PCI-Express x16 slot, 2 x PCI-Express x1 slot, 2 x PCI slots |
Onboard IDE | 2 x ATA 133 ports; 4 x SATA ports; 4 x SATA II ports |
USB 2.0 | 4 rear panel / 3 headers supporting 2 ports each (10 ports total) |
IEEE 1394 | 2 headers supporting 3 ports (2 full sized ports, 1 mini port) |
Audio | 8-Channel Realtek codec with S/PDIF RCA based input / output ports |
NIC | 1 x NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet controller, 1 x Marvell Yukon Gigabit Ethernet controller, 1 x GIGABYTE 802.11g wireless PCI adapter card |
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
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Packaging
The GA-K8NXP-SLI’s box is adorned with GIGABYTE’s 8SIGMA series board logo, with the chipset and supported processors prominently displayed as well. GIGABYTE really surprised me with the thoroughness in their selection of included items. The GA-K8NXP-SLI comes standard with the following: add-in power card for full 6-phase power support; GIGABYTE PCI 54G wireless adapter; 3 rear panel adapters supporting 2 IEEE 1394 ports and 6 USB 2.0 ports; SATA drive and dual ended power cables; ATA-133 and floppy ribbon cables; SLI bridge adapter and card support; GIGABYTE dual core SLI video card; 6 pin to dual MOLEX PCI-Express power adapter; S-VIDEO to component output adapter; full version game CDs; and the standard complement of manuals and driver CDs/disks.
Board Layout
GIGABYTE did a good job with the board layout and component placement on the GA-K8NXP-SLI. However, there are a few tight spots on the board. Two such areas are around the CPU socket with the secondary power card installed and around the NVIDIA-based SATA ports with a larger PCI-Express x16 card installed. From what I could tell, the board did not seem to have any distinguishing version or serial number markings. For capacitors, GIGABYTE chose to use the following manufacturers: United Chemi-Con (USA, Japan) – marked KZG; Rubycon (Japan) – marked MCZ; Sanyo (USA); Nichicon (Japan).
The area directly around the CPU socket is relatively clear of obstacles, allowing for the use of larger heatsinks or water blocks. This area may become a bit tight to work in with the secondary power module plugged into the board, however. For heatsink mounting, GIGABYTE chose to implement the standard Athlon64 2 hole design. To the upper left of the CPU socket is the front panel audio header. Note that pins 5-6 and 9-10 must be jumpered for the rear panel analogue audio ports to function correctly. To the right and below the front panel audio header is the CPU_FAN header. The secondary power module slot is located to the right of the CPU socket, along the edge of the board, with the ATX12V connector located directly above the power card slot.
The GA-K8NXP-SLI comes standard with a total of 4 DDR DIMM slots, in a multi-colored 2-by-2 configuration. Note that 2 DIMM modules must be placed in similar colored adjacent slots in order to enable Dual Channel memory mode. Directly below the DIMM slots are the CMOS battery, the ATA-133 IDE ports, the floppy port, the 24-pin ATX power connector, and the PWR_FAN header. Note that the 24-pin ATX connector will accepted either 20-pin or 24-pin ATX power plugs.
The nForce4 SLI chipset is located just below the primary PCI-Express x16 slot. A low profile heatsink fan unit actively cools the chipset. In testing, we found that the HSF unit did not interfere at all with insertion of a PCI-Express card into the primary x16 slot. Directly below the chipset are the 4 NVIDIA SATA II ports, the NB_FAN header, and the CMOS reset header. Note that in order to clear the CMOS, a jumper must be placed on the CMOS reset header. For normal operation, the CMOS clear header must remain unjumpered. To the lower left of the SATA II ports are the front panel header and the SYS_FAN header. The onboard USB 2.0 headers are located in the lower left corner of the board. Just above the USB 2.0 headers are the Silicon Image RAID controller and its SATA-150 ports, as well as the IEEE 1394 headers.
The GA-K8NXP-SLI comes standard with 2 PCI-Express x16 slots, 2 PCI-Express x1 slots, and 2 PCI slots. To the left of PCI slot 2 is the infrared header. The CD_IN port is located just above PCI slot 1. The SLI mode slot is located between the 2 PCI-Express x16 slots, just below the x1 slot.
The GA-K8NXP-SLI’s rear panel contains the following integrated ports: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports; S/PDIF RCA input and output jacks; serial and parallel ports; 4 USB 2.0 ports; 1 NVIDIA Gigabit LAN Ethernet port; 1 Marvell Gigabit LAN Ethernet port; and 6 analogue audio ports.
GIGABYTE EasyTune
For Windows-based monitoring and overclocking, GIGABYTE chose to package version 5 of their EasyTune software with the GA-K8NXP-SLI mainboard. From the default overclocking screen, the application offers 2 modes of operation, Easy and Advanced. Easy Mode allows for increasing the current CPU FSB by percentage using the provided up and down arrow keys. Advanced Mode allows for bus speed and voltage tweaking of most of the same options allowed through the BIOS including CPU, DDR, and PCI-Express bus speed and voltage.
The PC Health button gives access to a variety of submenus for monitoring various system fan header activity and voltages, as well as the ability to control alerts. The Hardware Monitor option lists current values for all monitored system voltages, fan header readings, and temperatures. The Setting option allows for configuration of minimum allowable fan speed and maximum safe component temperature thresholds. The Alert Audio Setting controls the alert action taken by the system when one of the monitored fan headers speed goes below the minimum speed threshold, or if a monitored temperature goes above the maximum temperature threshold.