nForce4 Ultra Roundup: Charting the Mainstream
by Wesley Fink on July 5, 2005 10:28 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
ECS KN1 Extreme: Features and Layout
| Specification | ECS KN1 Extreme |
| CPU Interface | Socket 939 Athlon 64 |
| Chipset | nForce4 Ultra (single chip) |
| BUS Speeds | 200MHz to 400MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| PCI/AGP Speeds | Asynchronous (Fixed) |
| PCI Express | Fixed |
| Core Voltage | Normal, +25mV to +375mV in 25mV increments (to 1.875V on 1.5V CPU) |
| DRAM Voltage | Auto, 2.55V to 3.11V in 0.08V increments |
| Chipset Voltage | NA |
| Hyper Transport Ratios | Auto, 1X to 5X in 1X increments |
| LDT Bus Transfer | 16/16, 16/8, 8/16, 8/8 |
| CPU Ratios | Startup, 4x to 25x in 0.5x increments |
| DRAM Speeds | Auto, 100, 133, 166, 200 |
| Memory Command Rate | Auto |
| Memory Slots | Four 184-pin DDR Dual-Channel Slots Unbuffered ECC or non-ECC Memory to 4GB Total |
| Expansion Slots | 1 x16 PCIe Slots 2 x1 PCIe 3 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA | 4-Drive SATA 2 by nF4 2 Drives by SiS 180 |
| Onboard IDE | Two Standard NVIDIA ATA133/100/66 (4 drives) |
| SATA/IDE RAID | 4-Drive SATA 2 PLUS 4-Drive IDE (8 total) Can be combined in RAID 0, 1 PLUS 2 Drives by SiS 180 RAID 0, 1 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 10 USB 2.0 ports supported nF4 2 1394A FireWire ports by TI TSB43AB22A |
| Onboard LAN | Dual Gigabit PCIe Ethernet Gigabit PCIe by Marvel 88E1111 PHY 10/100 PCI by Realtek RTL8100C |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC850 8-Channel codec with 6 UAJ audio jacks, CD-in, front audio, Optical and Coaxial SPDIF Out |
| Other Features | AMD X2 Support with 1.1A or higher BIOS Slot LEDs, Power Transistor Fan and Duct |
| BIOS | Award 1.1A (6/02/05) |
ECS reserves the Extreme label for their top motherboards aimed at the computer enthusiast. While the Extreme boards have been very high on features, they have remained very affordable, often competing with boards that have much more modest feature sets. ECS decided some time ago that they wanted to go after the computer enthusiast; however, the path has been anything but a smooth one. As we have said in other reviews, it is one thing to aim for a board at the enthusiast market, but it is quite another to deliver the features and performance that enthusiasts really want.
Our last review of an ECS Extreme was in the Intel 915 roundup, where the ECS PF4 915P Extreme earned an Editors Choice in that huge roundup. For this roundup, we are taking a closer look at the ECS KN1 Extreme, based on the NVIDIA nForce Ultra chipset.
The ECS certainly has most of the BIOS options that an enthusiast is looking for. Memory voltage goes to 3.11V, which is significantly better than many top-name motherboards, which still have trouble supplying more than 2.8V as a memory voltage option. It would be better if options went to 3.5V, but in fairness, this range will provide the voltage needed for any memory except the high-voltage 2-2-2 OCZ VX and Mushkin Redline, which need 3.5V for best performance. Similarly, processor voltage options to +375mv are very adequate with today's CPUs, and the bus speeds to 400 and full range of processor ratios give users the option to make the most of the Athlon 64 capabilities. The only question that remains is whether or not the nice options mean anything on the KN1 Extreme; in other words, do they actually function?
Click image to enlarge.
There is nothing to complain about in the rest of the layout as ECS did a very good job on the KN1 Extreme. The ATX 24-pin and 12V 4-pin power connectors are on board edges where they belong. The IDE ports are in the ideal position, the 6 SATA ports fully clear the PCIe slot, and the additional connectors are on the bottom edge of the board, outside of the slot area.
ECS also thoughtfully included both coaxial and optical SPDIF out connectors on the rear panel, which also features dual-LAN (gigabit PCIe and 10/100 PCI) connectors. Perhaps manufacturers could label their dual LAN connections because even though I have a 50/50 chance, I seem always to plug the 10/100 when I'm looking for the Gigabit LAN. ECS also features a lime-green shroud with cooling fan for the power transistors, a feature more typical of Abit than ECS. All-in-all, the layout, feature set, and BIOS options are right on target for the audience that ECS hopes to attract.
We should mention in passing that, at first, we couldn't find the CPU ratios in BIOS. After complaining to ECS that there were no ratios, they pointed us to the Power Management tab, where Hammer FID controls were located. This certainly was not an intuitive placement for CPU ratios, although we do get the logic that Hammer FID or ratios are there because of Cool'N'Quiet, which is definitely related to Power Management. In any event, the ratios are there in Power Management, so we might save you a bit of searching.
DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D: Overclocking and Stress Testing
ECS KN1 Extreme: Overclocking and Stress Testing
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arfan - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
"So ECS, Foxconn, Biostar - we can only suggest that you need to add features and performance that will make an AMD user want to buy your boards. "Why u think's ECS is bad ???
From your benchmark, ECS is not too bad, their ranking in the middle until top1.
Sorry, if myenglish is so bad.
smn198 - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
Page 1: "There are no performance differences in the SLI and Ultra chipsets, or even the base nForce4 for that matter. These chipsets differ only in which features are available to the buyer - but they beat with the same heart."I thought the base nForce4 had a 800MHz HT where as the Ultra and SLI have 1GHz. Is that not correct?
Frallan - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
For PSU requirements read the mfg websites. Especially the DFI comes with explicit requirements.480W 24pin ATX 2.0+ PSU and from experiance Id have to say that U want a 1st tier PSU on top of that. Anecdotal advices that its possible to run a DFI SLI set up overclocked from a 350W PSU exists but fact remains that a good solid 500W+ ATX 2.0+ PSU will help U with stability.
Calin - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
What I want to ask: does the processor works with four DS DIMMS at 1T command rate at lower frequency? By what you say (that 2T command rate is much slower than 1T command rate), then 1T command rate at 333MHz would be faster than 2T command rate at 400MHz.Vesperan - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
I love the look of that Epox board. Pity noone imports Epox products into New Zealand any more.GhostlyGhost - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
Ermm.. It's "Marvell". With two l's.Heidfirst - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
I think that you must have a bad example of the ABIT. A no. of other sites (HardOCP, Hexus etc.) have all been over 300 ref. clock with it.Not to mention that there is also now the non-Fatality AN8 Ultra which is cheaper & yet has better sound & 3.55Vdimm instead of 2.8V on the Fatality ...
Affectionate-Bed-980 - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
I think the Neo4 should've been included even though it was in the SLI test. Same with the Asus board. Those are really important boards. I'm sure if you add up the Asus and MSI users they would outnumber Biostar + Foxconn + Chaintech + ECS. Iono. just my 2 cents. I dont want to go look at the SLI review and then compare it to this review to see other boards and do a mental benchmark merge to get hte relative performance.You know what we should make? We should make the uber super chart system. Kinda like THG's CPU charts. Just make the interactive system comparation machine. Choose a CPU, a mobo, a gfx card etc. If you bench every component (not every combo), but just CPUs vs CPUs, mobos vs mobos, you can get the relative score and construct a relative table for combinations..... hmm just a thought.
Palek - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
A few mistakes made it into the final article...-------------------------------------------------
Page 7
1. The following bit does not belong in this review. Cut and paste?
"There are absolutely no PCIe slots at all on the Neo4/SLI except for the pair of x16 slots for SLI video. MSI tells us that the 2nd PCIe can function as a PCIe x1 slot if you're not using it for video, but that is it for PCIe. Does this really matter? Right now, it really isn't important, since we had a very hard time even finding a PCIe x1 LAN card for the new PCI Express. It may matter in the future, but by that time, you will likely have moved on to a newer version of whatever chipset is the latest wonder. This is particularly clear when you look at the feature set of the MSI, since it is definitely a cut above the other boards in this roundup."
2. "SPDIG" should be SPDIF, or S/PDIF if you want to be really accurate.
Page 11
1. The title row of the table is incorrect. The motherboard name should read:
"DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra"
2. Link to next page is also incorrect, same as above.
Page 12
1. Title of the page is incorrect, same as above.
2. Title row of the table is incorrect, same as above.
Page 13
1. "SPDIG" round two.
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Also, do guys have any idea why placing the codec on a daughter card reduces CPU overhead? Obviously there is something more going on than just the physical relocation of the chips. Any theories or explanations?
Xenoterranos - Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - link
Just a word about the soundblaster Live on the MSI board..."That price tag [200$] may be a bit high for the average gamer who just spent most of his/her savings on a Pentium II / Voodoo2 setup, however if you're going to swallow the cost of an expensive sound card it might as well be the Creative Labs SB Live!"
That was Anandtech back in '99. And you're getting this for free! (well, almost)