Gigabyte 7NNXP (nForce2 Ultra 400): Gigabyte Goes nForce
by Evan Lieb on July 5, 2003 10:53 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
In terms of features and speed, Gigabyte’s first foray into NVIDIA chipset-based motherboards is no slouch by any stretch of the imagination. The Gigabyte 7NNXP is based on NVIDIA's latest and greatest Athlon XP chipset, dubbed the nForce2 Ultra 400. The nForce2 Ultra 400 is different from NVIDIA's earlier nForce2 chipsets in only one way; official 400MHz FSB support. Results from NVIDIA's in-house testing confirmed that nForce2 Ultra 400 was able to reach higher FSB speeds than their older chipsets from last year, which reached average speeds of only 420MHz FSB. (However, nForce2 chipset steppings predating nForce2 Ultra 400 did gradually perform a bit better.)
If you refer back to our nForce2 6-way Motherboard roundup in December 2002, you'll see that nForce2 motherboards from ABIT, ASUS, Chaintech, Epox, Leadtek, and MSI were all revision 1.x. In other words, they were not based on the nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset. Now, virtually every single nForce2 motherboard available for purchase is based on NVIDIA’s nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset, and each motherboard is accordingly marked version 2.0. For example, the old ASUS A7N8X Deluxe motherboard (based on the original nForce2 chipset) was a revision 1.x motherboard, while the new ASUS A7N8X Deluxe motherboard (based on the nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset) is a revision 2.0 motherboard. This applies to all other motherboard manufacturers, not just ASUS.
When we first saw the Gigabyte 7NNXP motherboard we were delighted to see so many onboard features that previous nForce2 motherboards lacked. Read on to learn about these new features and why this motherboard may just be part of your next Athlon XP system.
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Anonymous User - Tuesday, July 8, 2003 - link
Yes, uhm, can we go back to GIF? I hate Flash. Look, I'm on dialup, and I'm lagged a LOT by big downloads, but I still prefer GIFs to Flash (which seems to load a tad faster). My friends all agree, and most of them are dialuppers too. Please, at least put up a poll or something so you can see how we all really feel about this stupid Flash stuff.NovaPolice - Monday, July 7, 2003 - link
It looked very good on paper but it hated every brand of ddr I had on hand. I went through a couple gigs of sticks before deciding to send it back.Anonymous User - Monday, July 7, 2003 - link
I have tested both this board, and the MSI K7N2Delta. The MSI board was FAR MORE stable, and a bit (7%) faster. I wonder why in this test the Gigabyte board is compared with an EPOX via board: Just to let it outperform, which is otherwise not possible?Anonymous User - Monday, July 7, 2003 - link
They say that CPU voltage is adjustable only up to 1.85v and that chipset voltage is adjustable by 5, 7.5 or 10%. I believe this to be wrong however. What the reviewer believes to be chipset voltage is actually CPU voltage also!! Check out the review over at Digital Daily and they show how voltage up to 2.035v is possible using a combination of these 2 seperate CPU voltage controls! Quite a large difference and large overlook by the reviewer.WooDaddy - Monday, July 7, 2003 - link
Evan, are you or anyone at Anandtech going to discuss the differences between the Ultra 400 and the standard nForce 2 chipsets? Maybe a general review with reference boards? Is there a big performance difference or limiting factor for future upgrades?Anonymous User - Monday, July 7, 2003 - link
The review does not include information on the presence of Heat Sink Mounting Holes. Suggestion, add info on mounting holes or lack of to all motherboard reveiws.Anonymous User - Monday, July 7, 2003 - link
It appears that the performance test results in the Gigabyte 7NNXP review are presented in Macromedia Flash Player 6.This is unfortunate, since I am among the many web users who dislike the Flash format, and resent the numerous pop-up "ads" requesting that version 6 be installed.
I regret that I will be unable to view these results, to find out what additional complexities required them to be displayed in Flash, rather than a standard, multi-platform/browser form such as GIFs. And I hope that this is not an indication that future results will be Flash-formatted, since I am a frequent AnandTech reader and will miss whatever informative content is Flashed.
Thanks.
Anonymous User - Sunday, July 6, 2003 - link
The Anandtech review claims Gigabyte replied in 33 hours..I Wonder who in Gigabyte Should I contact ,Or what e-mail address i should mail to,
To get a Reply in ANY time frame.
CrystalBay - Sunday, July 6, 2003 - link
Nice evaluation...However perhaps the six phase power DMS prolongs the overall life of these boards, rather than inherently more stable overclocking...Replacing a board thirteen months, two or three years down the line (If lucky) is common place...I like to see more board makers produce the bare bones 400's like Solteks NV400-64L...Why because these boards can be thrown away once a year or so...