Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 WARNING!!!

[Redstorm]

On Gigabytes web site the comparison Sheet lists the HyperTransport speed at 1600MHz and the Chipset as nForce4 4X

Looks like in the rush to market they are going to ship the A01 & A02 revision full knowing that it will not run stable at 2000MHz

Everyone who is looking to buy a nForce 4 board make sure you get the A03 revision that will run stable at 5X

I for one wont be buying a GA-K8NF-9 as HT @ 2000MHz is important to me.

Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9

CPU Type Socket 939
HyperTransport 1600 MHz
Chipset nForce4 4X
Memory type Dual Channel DDR 400/333/266/200
Memory socket DDR*4
Max. Memory 4 GB
Graphics interface PCI-Express X16
PCI-Express X16 (X8) 1
PCI-Express X1 (X2,X4) 2
PCI 3
ISA slot 0
AMR/CNR 0/0
VGA N/A
RAID Function Yes
LAN CICADA 8201 phy
Audio ALC 850
Codec channel 8
IDE ATA 2*PATA133 / 4*SATA
USB 1.1 Same as USB 2.0
USB 2.0 10 (6 by cable)
DualBIOS N/A
PCB size 30.5*24.4 cm
Form Factor ATX
IEEE 1394 1394b
Remark *Supports MIB2

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

It's not so important to me if this mobo is under $100.

 

[FairlightRacing]

I would agree, no way I'm paying through the nose for 2000MHz HT.

 

[travd]

How do I know if I'm buying an A03 revision?

 

[Megatomic]

HTT = 2000MHz? Is that what I read? HTT = just 800MHz on my NF3-250Gb board. What am I missing here? Does NF4 really run that fast and where is that performance realized the most?

 

[jbh129]

I have yet to see proof that HTT speeds offer any tangible benefit.

 

[Semi175]

Not under $100 but close, newegg has it for $119 now which is doable for me.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

It won't make that much of a difference.

The OP is wrong BTW. This is the NON-Ultra/basic version which is spec'd to have an 800MHz HTT. ALL the vanilla nF4s will have 800MHz HTTs in fact.

The Ultra version, the GA-K8NXP-9, does have a 1000MHz HTT, as well as nTune, ActiveArmor, SATA II, and such.

 

[travd]

Have you seen the abit AX8. PCI X, 2000Mz HT and similarly priced to the gigabyte. VIA chipset though.

 

[anonhart]

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo
It won't make that much of a difference.

The OP is wrong BTW. This is the NON-Ultra/basic version which is spec'd to have an 800MHz HTT. ALL the vanilla nF4s will have 800MHz HTTs in fact.

The Ultra version, the GA-K8NXP-9, does have a 1000MHz HTT, as well as nTune, ActiveArmor, SATA II, and such.

Are you sure? I clipped this from the GA-K8NF9 Manual:

CPU
Socket 939 for AMD AlthlonTM 64 / 64FX processor (K8)
1600MHz system bus
Supports core frequencies in excess of 3000+ and faster

The board is also referred to as Nforce4 4x

 

[Wyck]

That is what he said. The K8NF9 is the 4X chipset w/ 800mhz, the K8NXP is the 5x/SLI w/ 1000mhz. All the non-ultra chipsets are supposed to be 800mhz. It's not a rush-to-market, it's a budget board.

 

[Tommunist]

Is it possible to get the highest performing implementations of the NF4 chipset without SLI?

 

[gobucks]

let's clear some stuff up. People refer to HTT 4X as 800MHz or 1600MHz, because it depends on whether you are referring to total bandwidth or just one way bandwidth. HTT 5X is 1GHz or 2GHz in the same fashion. The non-ultra is revision A1 or A2 only, while the Ultra and SLI are A3. In addition to having a reduced multiplier, the NF4 non-Ultra is completely frequency locked, meaning absolutely no overclocking (this is no doubt because A1 and A2 can't support anything higher than 800MHz HTT). Personally, i think that the solution is just too crippled to be worth the money, kind of like how nvidia overcrippled the 6600 non-GT. Anyways, ultra boards should be hitting sub-$150 prices quite soon, so i'd start looking there. The K8NXP-9 is great, from the reviews i've seen.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

If the vanilla NF4s are multiplier locked in hardware, where even a BIOS flash wouldn't work, then they are certainly not worth it, especially considering all the other features they are missing.

And it looks like they are hardware locked - I pulled this from a roadmap:

nForce4 - 800Mhz HT - not overclockable, 4xSATA150, 2xATA133, 10xUSB2, Gigabit Ethernet, nVidia Firewall 2, nTune performance utility, 7.1 audio.
nForce4 Ultra - 1Ghz HT - unlocked, 4xSATA300, Secure Networking Engine (ActiveArmour).
nForce4 SLI - Programmable PCI Express lanes for single or dual GPU - either
1x16 or 2x8 lanes with x16 interface.

If I was quick enough, I would have payed the $200 for the ASUS SLI, but $250+ is just too much.

 

[travd]

What other features are missing, if overclocking isn't important. SATA300 only going to run at 300 with expensive HDs.

In this price range would it still be better to get a nforce 3 mobo (Neo2platinum etc) to have 2Ghz HT with AGP graphics?

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

The vanilla nForce4 has all the features from the nForce3 Ultra (except for AGP support), it's definately not a crippled chipset.

 

[travd]

In the UK there's barely £10 between the GA-K8NF-9 brand new and the best nforce3 boards second hand (MSI Neo2 platinum). With the GA-K8NF-9 and PCI X the better graphics cards are less, so you pay the same for slighty better performance and more future capabilites!

 

[flexy]

yes, the "non ultras" all will only go up to 800, and NOT 1000. Thats nothing new.

 

[canfibr]

Does the GA-K8NF-9 support NCQ?

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

Originally posted by: canfibr
Does the GA-K8NF-9 support NCQ?

Like the nForce3 Ultra (see my post above) it does not.

 

[Redstorm]

The Ultra is now up on Gigabytes web site, This is the one you want if you dont want SLI. the NF-9 is for the money savers - personaly I wouldn't touch it and save up for the Ultra.


Model GA-K8NXP-9
CPU Type Socket 939
HyperTransport 2000 MHz
Chipset nForce4 Ultra
Memory type Dual Channel DDR 400/333/266/200
Memory socket DDR*4
Max. Memory 4 GB
Graphics interface PCI-Express X16
PCI-Express X16 (X8) 1
PCI-Express X1 (X2,X4) 2
PCI 3
ISA slot 0
AMR/CNR 0/0
VGA N/A
RAID Function Yes
LAN Marvell 8053, CICADA 8201 phy
Audio ALC 850
Codec channel 8
IDE ATA 2*PATA133 / 4*SATA / 4*SATA||
USB 1.1 Same as USB 2.0
USB 2.0 10 (6 by cable)
DualBIOS Yes
PCB size 30.5*24.4 cm
Form Factor ATX
IEEE 1394 1394b * 3
Remark *Bundle DPS & WPKG WLAN card
*Supports MIB2
Model GA-K8NXP-9

 

[travd]

Can you still overclock with it though? Just the locked HT multiplier limits the overclock.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: travd
Can you still overclock with it though? Just the locked HT multiplier limits the overclock.

A locked HTT multiplier will kill any overclocking since you're stuck at X4.

In order to overclock the CPU you would need to raise the "FSB" frequency and lower the HTT multi.

Example: CPU (3200+) = 260x10 = 2.6 GHz, HTT = 260x4 = 1040 MHz, not gonna work. 260x3 = 780 MHz would work.

You may be able to push the HTT a little over 800 MHz, but that's about it, maybe 2.1 GHz CPU, 840 MHz HTT.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

It hasn't been confirmed yet that you can't lower the multiplier, as far as I know.

 

[Megadeth2]

If the people on here would just read in the detailed sections of Giga-Byte's website about this board. The HTT multiplier is preset to 4x, but it is adjustable via BIOS to 5x/4x/3x/2x/1x. If anyone would read on AMD Tech Forums (a thread on HTT), everyone acknowledges that 1600 vs 2000 on Socket 939 doesn't effect performance very greatly. If anyone reads on AMD Tech Forums other thread about the nForce 4, most people acknowledge that the HTT will be preset to 4x. They say that it is a good thing because then it is one less thing to change to get a decent initial overclock; suppose you have a 3200+ and are trying to oc. You can get 4x250=1000/2000HTT and 250x10=2500MHz. As far as overclocking goes, it looks very nice. There is a clockgen version that is compatible with all nForce4/nForce4Ultra/nForce4SLI boards so you know might be a very nice board after all and it is only $125. At least it has more features than that crap looking Chaintech VNF4 Zenith Value Edition...think about it...you're gonna pay for 2000 HTT when maybe the 1600 HTT will help you out more if you are an ocer...I wouldn't...you'll have to pay at least $100 more because that GA-K8NXP-9 on NF4U is $235 least I've seen it...think about it....