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- Date:
- Tuesday , October 11, 2005
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Albatron K8SLI
Are you looking for a small, no-nonsense, and inexpensive SLI motherboard? If so, you might want to consider the K8SLI, which is Albatron’s entry into the nForce4 SLI arena. How well does Albatron's board stack up against the competition from ABIT, MSI, and ECS?
Introduction
Albatron is a relative newcomer to the computer component marketplace, as they have shifted focus from the purely digital imaging realm only a few years back. Although Albatron has been able to establish themselves as a solid brand name with their quality line of video cards, their introduction into the nForce4 SLI motherboard space might not be so easy.
The K8SLI is one Albatron’s latest addition to their Athlon 64 socket 939-based motherboard product line. The board uses the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI chipset, with built-in support for the entire Athlon 64 socket 939 processor line, DDR type SDRAM modules operating in Dual Channel mode up to speeds of 400MHz officially, and PCI Express x16-based video cards operating in single card or dual card SLI mode. The K8SLI is feature complete, requiring only the following components for a working system: Athlon 64 socket 939 based CPU, DDR memory, PCI Express video card, drives, and PSU. Albatron chose to integrate the following components into the K8SLI’s design: 2 IDE ATA-133 and 4 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 capable across all ports); 8 USB 2.0 capable ports (4 in rear panel, and 2 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 1 NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet port in rear panel; NVIDIA 6-channel audio codec featuring S/PDIF RCA output port; 1 serial port; 1 parallel port; and PS/2 port support.
Main Specifications Overview:
CPU | AMD Athlon 64 socket 939-based processors |
Chipset | NVIDIA nForce4 SLI |
FSB | 200MHz |
BIOS | Phoenix AwardBIOS |
Memory | 4 184-pin DDR DIMMS, up to 4GB |
Expansion slots | 2 x PCI-Express x16 slots, 2 x PCI-Express x1 slot, 2 x PCI slots |
Onboard IDE | 2 x ATA 133 ports; 4 x SATA II ports |
USB 2.0 | 4 rear panel / 2 headers supporting 2 ports each (8 ports total) |
Audio | 6-Channel NVIDIA codec with S/PDIF RCA output port |
NIC | NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet controller |
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
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Packaging
The K8SLI motherboard comes in a standard sized box adorned with a military camouflage type theme, with a picture of a dual turret tank on the front center of the box. The supported processor and chipset are very clearly marked on the box front as well. Albatron packaged the following components with the K8SLI: ATA 133 and floppy ribbon cables, a single ended SATA drive power cable, the rear shield, the normal complement of driver CDs and manuals, an SLI bridging adapter, and the Albatron BIOS Security (ABS) card. The ABS card bundled with the board contains a backup BIOS that plugs into an onboard header should the original BIOS become inoperable.
Board Layout
The very first thing that you will notice about the K8SLI board is its size. While it is an ATX style board, its length is more akin to a smaller micro-ATX form factor board. That notwithstanding, the layout on the board is excellent with no real tight areas. This is due mostly to the reorganization of the component layout on the board – the DIMM slots are along the right side of the board, the CPU socket is shifted towards the right center, and the Northbridge chipset is in the exact center of the board. On the board itself, I could find no markings designating the board revision or serial numbers. Albatron chose to use capacitors manufactured by United Chemi-Con (USA, Japan) marked as KZG and G-Luxon (Taiwan).
The CPU socket is fully clear of obstructions, and it should allow for use of even the larger HSF and water block cooling devices. The CPU cooling apparatus is held to the chip via the standard 2 hole Athlon 64-based mounting mechanism. The actively cooled Northbridge chipset is located to the left of the CPU, with the HSF unit held to the chipset via 2 push-pin mounts. Just above the chipset are the ATX12V power connector and the AUXFAN header. The CPUFAN header is to the upper right of the CPU socket, with the 4 color coded DIMM slots directly to the right of the socket area. In order to enable Dual Channel memory mode, you must place DIMM modules in the like colored adjacent memory slots. The onboard floppy connector is located to the right of the DIMM slot bank, along the right edge of the board. Just below the chipset and CPU socket area are the 24-pin ATX power connector and the ATA-133 IDE ports. Note that the 24-pin ATX power connector will accept both 20-pin and 24-pin type power connectors.
The front panel header is located in the lower left corner of the board, with the onboard SPEAKER and CHASFAN headers just above it. To the right of the front panel header is the BIOSCN1 header, for use with the ABS card module included with the board. The onboard BIOS is directly to its right, with the CMOS battery and clear jumper directly above it. The 2 onboard USB 2.0 headers are located to the right of the CMOS clear jumper, with the onboard SATA II ports located directly below the right most USB 2.0 header.
The K8SLI comes standard with 2 PCI-Express x16 slots capable of operating in single card or dual card SLI mode, 2 PCI-Express x1 slots, and 2 PCI slots. The S/PDIF header, front audio header, and CD-IN port are located just above the secondary PCI-Express x16 slot. Note that pins 5-6 and 9-10 must be jumpered on the front panel audio header for the rear panel ports to function correctly.
The K8SLI’s rear panel contains the following ports: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports; serial and parallel ports; 4 USB 2.0 ports; 1 NVIDIA Gigabit LAN Ethernet port; 3 analog audio ports; and an S/PDIF RCA output port.